Her head jerked up and she met his gaze when he uttered the singular word in Makath. She was so unused to hearing a non-shadow use the language that it startled her. She listened to his words and nodded thoughtfully. “You are right. At this point, anything could be possible. Maybe its better we don’t dismiss any possibilities.” She said softly, glancing away from him and scanning the area once more. It seemed to be a habit she picked up, keeping her eyes roaming the scene around her as if she were expecting trouble and wanted to see it coming.
“Getting people to talk is hard. Getting them to volunteer information is nearly impossible. I’m glad you two were willing to work with me.” She said abruptly, even as Marvis set off. Kelski tilted her head in thought then stopped the old man at the last moment. “Wait a moment, Marvis.” She thought of the date it was today, when the killings started, and how many bodies there were. “Ask those people you know… the Manowar man maybe or sailors you know… about ships that came in between the twentieth and the twenty second… somewhere in there. See if anyone remembers any. The killings started the twenty second, which could have been when the ship touched dock, but I bet whatever is doing this waited at least overnight or longer before it started hunting so that would put it docking on the twentieth or twenty-first. It would need time to look around, find a place to stay, get settled… like Kynier said.” She added, speculating but it was the best she could do.
Then she nodded him on his way when he agreed to ask the question as well in his other snooping.
Turning to Kynier again, she looked thoughtful. “We can do it either way or split up and cover more ground searching individually.” She said, glancing down at the impromptu map they’d made in the earth. Kelski noted in her mind the places Kynier X’d as being hangouts for Old Wayde. It sounded like the man had a sensible head on his shoulders when he picked out spots to linger. Kelski truly didn’t want to split up because whatever was killing wasn’t killing in the normal fashion and was more than likely dangerous. Two pairs of eyes, four sets of weapons… all made for better odds against something so prone to murder. But she wasn’t afraid to strike out on her own if necessary. The truth is she wanted to give the other Nightstalker an excuse to leave if he wanted. Kelski figured he’d see her as a burden, even when she intended not to be one.
“Thank you.” She said, gesturing to the X’s. “I didn’t know the man and had no clue where his usual spots were.” The woman was polite, friendly, but not in the least familiar. Her eyes flashed with surprise, the silver of her gaze flooding with curiosity when she saw something in his eyes a moment. He broke his gaze off, and she wondered if somehow the whole search wasn’t personal. “You… did you know any of the victims?” She asked cautiously. Maybe she’d imagined the intense flood of emotion in his eyes. But Kelski was astute. She was sure she saw something. If he was emotionally invested, he might endanger both of them. So she watched carefully, then heard what else he had to say.
Kelski nodded at his explanation of being in the city a few years. “I’ve been here a full year now as of this season. It’s went fast. I only just realized it has been a year recently. I don’t think I’ve ever sensed another Nightstalker here, even passing through. So I do think you are right. We’re the only ones here.” She said, referring to those marked by Akajia.
“That might be a smart way to be.” Kelski said, misinterpreting what he meant. She figured he refereed to some affiliations he might have held with gangs or any number of the groups found in Sunberth. “The gangs are so unstable and they turn on each other so much. I don’t blame anyone that wants to keep clear of obligations. It’s definitely good for self-preservation.” She said with a quiet smile.
“I find gathering like minds helpful, myself. My Master is trying to bring back some old traditions where like-minded people can gather together for strength outside of the gang structure. Sometimes things like Guilds can be used to subtly counter the gangs. They are mainly strong if they are used for knowledge sharing and situational support. He’s been teaching me about the Guild Systems that… ma… craftsman used to fall under before the Valterrian happened. They had these halls… co-owned by everyone in the guild… and they had meetings there, social gatherings, places where knowledge was shared, and even a healer for the guild that had a few rooms if members needed to stay overnight. The Guilds could take on all kinds of jobs together. People could go to them for help and they’d sometimes collect bounties.. things like that. And there were even apprenticeships available for people that qualified.” Kelski said casually. Truthfully Kynier had looked uncomfortable and Kelski had just wanted to give him something to think on instead of whatever was causing that flash of distraction in his gaze.
Kynier’s question surprised her because it came from someone who followed Akajia. “Isn’t that what she is? At least to me and to a lot of creatures...” Kelski responded, referring to Akajia’s Night Mother status. “All the creatures of the night belong to her. Not just the shadows, but the things that sleep beyond Syna’s light and make the night their waking home. She nurtures them, guards them, shelters them in her darkness or provides them the cover to carry on their lives within. What else does a Mother do? She loves them all deeply.” Kelski said firmly, in response to Kynier’s question. “And when I speak to her, I always call her Night Mother.” Kelski added, looking thoughtful. Akajia was truly the closest mother figure she’d ever had. And while that might have seemed sad to others, to Kelski she had zero complaints about Akajia’s influence in her life. She was very devoted to her patroness; loyal and obedient.
“Akajia is not the only Goddess or God I follow. I have strong ties to Semele and Xhyvas as well. I have been studying Sylir because we live in this place so devoid of his influence. My Master thinks I should be paying attention to Zulrav’s voice also, though he is new to me. I’ve been a creature of the sky all my life, but did not know there was a God of the Winds.” She remarked absently, scanning the area again. She’d not really stopped scanning since Kynier had met up with her over the first body. She was always watchful, aware, and expecting trouble.
In the end, they’d decided to start at the harbor and the smattering of buildings that included boathouses and sheds. Normally Kelski wouldn’t mind the doors or walls if structures had windows. If she could see in, she could get in, but in Sunberth windows were a vulnerability and something people avoided on such things. She waited for Kynier to break in using strange devices she’d never seen, and held her crossbow at ready. She dutifully also tapped her well, pulled djed and shifted her gaze into magesight. She’d been practicing maneuvering with the vision, blending it with her own sharp eagles view. Gilthas had tasked her to practice her morphing on low light and infravision changes in her eyes since Eagles were diurnal. But it had proved harder than she thought to shift her eyes to adjust to such things. Eyes that could view lowlight and infravision had unusual structures that she’d studied, but moving and functioning beyond simply staring under the transformation had proven hard. Luckily her Nightstalker status gave her better lowlight vision than she should be allowed.
Between that and her magesight, all Kelski saw diving for cover in the structure was a bunch of rather large rats that looked like they might be part Brat. She scanned the area in the doorway, shook her head, and blinked… her eyes shining with the djed driven power within them. “It’s clear. There’s nothing here but rats and brats.” Kelski whispered from the doorway, studying the small structure’s internal space.” After a moment, she sighed. “This is going to take a long time.” She said, nodding to the next building. They need to move on. If they were going to show any progress, they had to be methodical and keep moving.
This building only had three walls, the third was leaning up against what looked like a rotting boat that could be seen just inside its walls. It was ironic the inside was holding the outside up. They were actually doing Kynier’s preference of starting out – working in – pattern here at the harbor… but the method would work well to eliminate all the small buildings, sheds, and perhaps even some of the further in cottages.
“It’s frustrating not knowing what we are looking for.” She whispered in Makath. Then paused, shadows gathering around them, and quietly questioned the newcomers. “Have any of you seen anything strange here? We are seeking a killer.” She added, carefully and quietly in Makath explaining to the creatures why the two Nightstalkers were there.
A particularly large shadow moved forward, separating itself from the others and causing an odd angled half-wall near them to lengthen unnaturally as it approached. “Death walks here. It walks all of the bay. It hungers for something, tearing out the tongues of those that dare cry out. But it feeds on more than flesh. It feeds on power.” The shadow said. Others whispered agreements, though the details were sketchy. They were not forthcoming, which indicated to Kelski that they didn’t know much. Shadows were fickle things… they observed all, but often didn’t process what they observed unless someone tuned them into it.
“Watch please… watch well. This creature is of interest to us.” She said as the shadows scattered, then waited giving Kynier time to check into the building with three walls. She’d wait as backup, since he had no need to pick a lock. The row of buildings was all over the place… some strong, some falling down, some of stone, some of wood… it was ramshackle, like the rest of Sunberth. Nothing matched, nothing belonged together.
Kelski continued to scan the area, switching as rapidly as she could from her Nightstalker tendencies to magesight to normal vision. Tapping the well for auristics was easier and easier. The practice was good for her. She could do it now almost as instinctual as blinking, but once the vision was raised, there was a struggle in determining what she saw still. The area was threaded with activity, glowing with the auras and fading auras of life. Emotions were everywhere... and sensations that read in auras like hunger and fear. Kelski was getting better at recognizing these things. It still took concentration and effort, but the execution was easier. There were people here, as she picked up, but less than normal. They lounged about in the shadows, some of them obviously drunk or wasted from drugs, tucked into corners sleeping or staked out in empty sheds that no one seemed to own but the homeless.
They moved from building to building together, taking turns opening doors and invading privacy. More than once they ran into quick trysts, outside the bars mainly, though Kelski did accidentally interrupt one mugging though she did nothing to stop it. Sunberth was Sunberth and full of predators. Muggers weren’t what they were after this night. When the fishing shacks and storage sheds were completely searched, they decided to walk each dock, looking carefully.
“I don’t know what we are looking for…” She said again, glancing at the man she’d partnered up with for this adventure. Frustration was laced across her voice. Kelski wasn’t patient on the best of days but this was worse yet. They were doing something, but the actions seemed empty. How could they find a liar of a predator they knew nothing about? She dug a toe into the gravel, angry, when a soft voice interrupted both Nightstalkers.
It was the bigger shadow, from earlier, that had stepped forward between the first and second boathouse. It did a shadow’s version of clearing its throat and getting the pair’s attention. “Nightstalkers……” It started, its voice deep and old, male perhaps, though in Makath Kelski couldn’t tell. “Nightstalkers… I have news…. death walks. It’s feeding behind the place men fight. There were two deaths in the ring this evening. Fresh bodies were left for the caretaker of Dira. It sniffs about them, eager…. you should go see.” Kelski glanced at Kynier a moment, eyebrows rising. Place men fight? Wasn’t that all over Sunberth?
Then she thought of Krieg and Tall Johnny’s. Her face went pale.
