The Emperor's Mask (Magebreakers Book 2) by Ben S. Dobson

Author:Ben S. Dobson [Dobson, Ben S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-29T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

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“IS BROKEN HERE,” said Kadka, peering up at the ten foot wall around the Uuthar estate. “I can climb.” After leaving Bastian’s, she and Carver had waited for the cover of dark to sneak along the banks of the Aud, careful to stay out of sight. It wouldn’t look good if the Mageblade patrols found a half-orc creeping around the Roost at night.

Here, where the estate walls butted up against the river, a number of bricks were loose or broken—enough to work as handholds. As Carver was so fond of noting, people who relied on wards and magic tended to let the old fashioned methods fall by the wayside.

“Alright,” whispered Carver, peering nervously over his shoulder. “Wait until you hear me shouting before you go. I’ll make sure the guards are distracted.”

“Go, then.” Kadka shooed Carver away. The plan was the plan—there was no purpose going over it for the tenth time.

He scurried away down the river, keeping low so that the walls of the estates along the bank hid him from sight. Kadka leaned back against the bricks to wait. She hated waiting. She’d learned to do it well enough in her youth, hunting prey in the Svernan tundra, but never patiently, and the time she’d spent guarding doors at the University hadn’t made her like it any better.

Finally, after a quarter hour, she heard shouting from the far side of the estate. Her orcish ears had no trouble recognizing Carver’s voice: “I demand to see Senator Uuthar! I have questions she hasn’t answered, and I won’t be denied!”

As good a signal as any. Kadka took the mimic vial from her trouser pocket, careful not to prick her hand on the needle, and then, without hesitation, jabbed it into her shoulder.

It stung, but not unbearably. A sudden warmth passed through her body, and she grinned wide. Magic never got old.

Carver shouted again, far across the grounds: “The Magebreakers won’t rest until our questions are answered!” That must have been hard for him—he hated that name. She could picture vividly the way he’d have cringed as he said it.

No time to enjoy the thought. She had to get in before the vial’s magic ran out.

Kadka turned, and started climbing.

Carver was still yelling as she peeked her head over the wall. She’d picked an isolated spot in one corner of the grounds, and there were no lights here. Her keen night vision picked out two guards beside a small gate to the riverbank halfway across the garden, and no one else. The rest must have already gone towards the noise. No Mageblades inside the walls either—according to Carver, House Uuthar lacked any notable magicless members to protect from the Mask.

The way was clear. Now all she could do was hope Bastian’s device worked, and that she hadn’t already run out of time. She took a breath and heaved herself over, preparing to smash her face against an invisible wall. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Instead, she felt the tingle on her skin that she always felt passing through a ward.

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