Finding Victory

A world of Indines "fanfic" by Matthew

Six, five, four... Adelia silently counted to herself as the guard walked by. In three seconds, the guard would be out of sight and she would have one minute to work before the next guard on patrol walked by.

Three, two, one, zero. She silently dashed out of her hiding spot, swiftly grabbing lock picks from one of the many pockets hidden inside her cloak. Clearly they hadn't expected anyone to get sneak in this far. The lock was a simple one with no added magic protections. They trained her. They antagonized her. They should have known better.

-----

“Allow me to introduce Adelia Selif. She is a dignitary from Bex and something of a starlet of the Jeffreys's social calendar,” an old noble proudly proclaims to a small gathering of noblewomen.

Adelia mentally sighed. She didn't couldn't even remember the name of this old man, but he was acting like he had discovered her and was showing off his prize ward. She was on a job though, so she had to keep up appearances. “Oh please, I'm nothing important. I was simply sent to this country for cultural exchange. And I am truly humbled that all of you have shown me such kindness since my arrival all those years ago. I never would have imagined I would have the honor of being invited to a ball in the palace of your king.”

“Adelia you say?” Adelia's focus shifted to the back of the head of the woman now speaking. “Why I used to know an Adelia from Bex, but she died long ago. I suppose it must a popular name.” The woman turned to face Adelia and all the color drained from Adelia's face in an instant. “YOU! Guards capture her, she is a thief! That necklace is mine and she is believed to have stolen countless other relics in Relecour”

Adelia froze as a million thoughts swirled in her mind. “Why are they in Jeffreys?” “Should I try and play innocent?” “How many people in the room are realizing I stole from them?” “Do I stand a chance if I run?” “Will any of the people that think they are my friend protect me?” “What is Reginald going to do?” Then she saw the guards starting to approach. She knew she had a chance if she ran. She didn't know if she had a chance if she was caught. So she ran.

-----

Adelia shook her head. While she could pick this lock in her sleep, the work was too monotonous. She had let her mind wander. And to that night of all nights. It was nearly a year ago, but it was the reason that she was here. She heard the click of the lock opening. She silently slipped into the room with 30 seconds left till the next guard showed up.

She scanned the room. It was barely more than a large closet, but it had exactly what Adelia was looking for, papers. More specifically,the room was where all the shipping manifests for the base were kept. The last base she had attacked had records indicating that a person had been shipped here. She needed to confirm whether that person was still here or not.

-----

“Adelia!” She winced as she opened her eyes to look at the jaguar beastman holding her hand. She smiled without even realizing it.

“Reginald, I'm sorry. I messed up. Someone from my past was here and...” She was holding back the tears now. This was supposed to be their biggest heist. It would keep their home supplied for years. They could abandon this lifestyle and just farm in peace for the rest of their days. But instead, they would get nothing. She would have to burn the identity and they would have to start all over in another city.

“That's not important right now. We need to leave now. Can you walk?”

She was puzzled for a second. Why wouldn't she be able to walk? Then as she sat upright, the searing pain reminded her. She had been stabbed with a spear as she ran. It barely missed a lung, but she was bleeding a lot. She had managed to escape her pursuers by hiding in a rafter. “I'm sorry, you go first. I need a little more time to catch my breath.”

“I'll carry you then.” He belted out without thinking.

“You aren't as subtle as me. You'll need every ounce of speed to escape all the guards. Carrying me will just slow you down. Once I catch my breath, I'll slip out without them being the wiser.” She was bluffing and could barely tell how convincing she was being. She knew the wound was fatal and she only had a little bit of time till she bled out for good.

“But,” Reginald tried to get a word in before she cut him off.

“Every second you waste arguing with me is going to make your escape harder. You don't want to make me a widow just because you wouldn't listen to me do you?” She had to hold on long enough to get him to leave. That was the only thing that mattered now.

He looked down dejectly. “Alright, but only if you promise me that we are going to meet back up at home.”

She gave the biggest smile she could manage. “Of course, there is no place I would rather be.”

Reginald jumped down from the rafters, landing on the guard he apparently had knocked out when he entered. He sadly looked back up at her before dashing out the door. She didn't know if he actually believed her or not, but it didn't matter. He was safe, so it didn't matter that she was going to die in that room. The fact that he was safe was the only thought she could hold onto as she began to drift in and out of consciousness.

-----

She put her head into her hands. Had she had him stay would she be here now? Could she have stopped all of this by just being a little more selfish and wishing for him to be with her as she passed on? It didn't matter, but it didn't stop her mind from wandering as she looked over the records. She couldn't find what she was looking for. She had found a record indicating that the previous base had sent assault hardware at the time that the other records indicated that a person had been shipped here, but she could find nothing indicating a person had arrived her, and nothing indicating a person had been sent out. Were the first records wrong? Did the shipment never arrive here? Did they realize what she was after and destroy all the relevant records meaning she had no leads? Was this a trap?

She stared at the records again. The two bases were on paper controlled by different groups. Both of those groups, like the organization that raised her, were controlled by the Seven Sisters. So the they all worked together for whatever goals the sisters were working towards, but that doesn't mean that their internal paperwork is the same. Her eye kept glancing at the paper that said assault hardware. That was description was incredibly vague and the timeline did match up.

If her husband was here, then they would likely move him as soon as she began to attack the base. So she had to move immediately to rescue him. The paperwork said that the assault hardware had been put into E block. The diagrams her information broker had gotten her indicated that was close to where she was. She had no choice, she would begin her attack there and hope that her guess was right regarding the “assault hardware.” She waited for the footsteps in the hallway to fall silent before she set out for her new goal.

-----

She didn't know how much time had passed since Reginald had left. If she could still hold a coherent train of thought, she'd probably consider it a miracle that she could still think at all. She was simply waiting to die while watching the unchanging scenery of an unconscious guard on the ground. As she closed her eyes possibly for the last time, the eternal scene was broken by a mage bursting into the room.

“Hey what happened here? Are you alright?” The mage practically screamed while shaking the unconscious guard. “Don't worry, I know some healing magic, we'll get you back on your feet in no time.”

The word healing forced Adelia's mind back into action. She was yards away from someone who could close the wound. She was yards away from all she needed to escape, but there was nothing she could do. She was a wanted criminal, the only way she'd be healed by him was in cuffs. She managed a single coherent thought while watching the mage prepare the healing spell. “If only I could steal that spell.” And at that moment, everything changed.

She could see clearer than she ever could before. She saw a mist gathering around the mage. She saw the mist condensing into an arrow pointed at the soldier. And she knew that she was seeing the healing spell forming. It could have been a hallucination, but she didn't have time to care, she needed to grab that arrow. She came down from the rafters, landing on the poor soldier grabbing the arrow as she fell. The mage too surprised to do anything as his spell suddenly vanished mid casting. And so she put the arrow into her chest, and the clouds lifted from her mind.

The wound closed. Her senses returned as her blood was replenished. She might not have been at 100%, but she was good enough to knock out the mage before he realized what had happened. And so she ran.

-----

Adelia smirked as she watched a golem wander around E block. The first time she had activated the Eye of Sigeberht, it had been out of desperation, but the time she spent at Argent had given her significantly better control of it. The necklace allowed her to see and manipulate mana and spells. While a researcher might have used such an ability to better master magic or advance the world's understanding of magic, in her hands it was the ultimate thief tool that allowed her to steal magic from anyone or anything. While holding a spell, the caster would even forget how to cast it.

She creeped closer to the golem. There were countless spells enchanted on the thing, but there was one spell she focused on more than any other. The spell that enabled its movement, without that the golem would be incapacitated and it seemed to be the highest concentration of mana she could find at the moment. And so she put her hand in the air near the golem. To anyone else it would seem she was touching the air, but to her, she could see the fabric of mana making the enchanment slipping out from the confines of the golem. And she pulled on the frabic, ripping it from the golem causing the golem to fall down like a puppet with its strings cut.

Other guards in the area turned upon hearing the accompanying crashing sound, but they were too late. Adelia was already putting the spell into the kitsune mask that she carried on her belt. She had stolen the mask from Framboise during the Festival of Masks. Adelia felt it was fitting that a tool of one of the Seven Sisters would be used on a rampage against them. The mask pulsed to life with lines of pale blue mana glowing on it making the design even more intricate than it was before. She put the mask on and felt her strength and speed increase several fold as the mask used the mana of the spell to enhance her body well beyond the mask's intended scope. She wouldn't be able to hold onto the spell forever before it slipped back, but the guards were nothing more than fodder before her now.

-----

Adelia wearily looked over the horizon. She was nearly home. The extra checkpoints and security had slowed her down a few weeks, but she had managed to get home without major incident. They hadn't managed to make any money on this trip, but she knew that all the villagers would be exited for her to be back all the same. That's why it was home. Everyone in the village was family, and that made it the happiest place in the world for her.

She was starting to feel uncomfortable though. Normally she should have seen someone by now. Paranoia began to set in. They couldn't know where she lived. There shouldn't be any records. She was paranoid about that sort of thing for this exact reason. Unless they followed her they wouldn't have been able to find a small village in the middle of no man's land. A horrible thought crossed her mind though. What if they followed Reginald?

The moment the thought crossed her mind, she broke out into a dash. They had to be alright. They couldn't be gone. But when she arrived, she found the village empty of all life. All she found was silence. Silence and graves.

Out of desperation, she began digging them up. She had to know if someone might have escaped whatever happened here. And days later when she finished, everyone was accounted for. Except for Reginald.

She knew this was a message. They wanted the Eye of Sigeberht that she had ran away with when she faked her death on her last mission. Her husband was their bargaining chip, and the village was a warning of what defying them meant. And so she set out with the Eye of Sigeberht. She was going to bring them the Eye, and use it to completely destroy them until they returned her husband. And well if they hurt him, her rampage would never stop. But first she needed to practice. And what better place to practice than a school full of mages in training. After all, no one would be shocked if one of their spells happened to fizzle or hit the wrong target.

-----

She took the mask off as she sighed. She had cleared the area of guards, but the other blocks would be bringing in reinforcements soon. She took the movement spell out of the mask, placing it into a rock that had broken off the golem when it fell. She couldn't risk losing control of the spell and it re-activating the full golem later. She found herself in front of a room identified in the documents as where the “assault hardware” was put. If Reginald was the “assault hardware,” this was where he was. She hesitantly opened the door and found herself nearly blinded when she opened the door.

The amount of mana in the room was simply unreal. She could only recall seeing this once before, Larimore Burman. She had seen him at Argent on occasion and the amount of mana he carried was beyond anything else. She calmed herself down and dimmed the vision of the Eye of Sigeberht. Inside the room, she saw two people, a guard and an unarmed man. She could instantly tell that the man was the source of the mana, or more precisely, a scar on the man's chest where something had been inserted. She couldn't tell what it was, but the object seemed to beat as though it were a heart with mana being expelled with every beat.

“Intruder? A.H. Destroy her!” The two guards belted out.

The man lifted his arm and a stream of fire came hurtling towards the door. Adelia jumped out of the way managing to only get singed. However the rescue mission had now gone south. She knew this base belonged to Nabatina, but she wasn't actually expecting to face anything as strong as a dragon as all the sisters seemed to be gathering for something. She wasn't even sure she could control a clump of mana that large. She began running to get some distance before the assault hardware could get out of the room.

She had to think. She stood no chance in a direct fight. The man hadn't attacked of his own volition though, he had been commanded. He was listed as hardware. Perhaps he was like a golem? She could remove the spell animating him to remove the threat?

She glanced back as he walked out of the room. She could see the flow of mana in his body, and she didn't see anything that looked like any of the control spells used at Argent. So while that theory wasn't impossible, she didn't have time to risk grabbing different spells. And then an icicle flew straight towards her. The icicle missed her body, but pinned her cloak to the wall. She instinctively untied the cloak on feeling the tug, but the attack was far too close for comfort.

She had seconds to decide on a course of action before the next attack struck. As she considered her options, she saw that a black clump of mana was in his neck. The clump seemed to be blocking any mana from going to or from his head. Without time to second guess herself she dashed straight for him. He swung his arm and a boulder appeared out of nowhere heading straight for her. She dodged to the right at the last second. If he had any surprise, he didn't show it on his face. Moments later, she grabbed onto him, and felt a surge of electricity course through her. Unable to stay on him, she fell backwards, taking the block of black mana with her.

“Where am I?” The man hollowly asked as he looked around taking in his surroundings.

“Did he just speak? Since when has A.H. been able to speak?” The guard mumbles as he walked out of the room to inspect the intruder now that she was out.

“The last thing I remember was an experiment? I was supposed to gain power equal to dragon? Who's there? Why are you laughing?” The man yells out while turning around the room looking for the source of a voice that only he could hear.

“I think you need to cal...” The guard tries to get out before the man grabs the guard by the throat. “It was you wasn't it? You are a dragon sympathizer?” As the man winds up his other arm to punch the guard in the stomach, his hand becomes coated in rock. The punch that follows leaves the guard lying on the ground surrounded by his lunch.

“No, someone else.” He looks around as more guards enter. “So it was one of you then? Which one of you is Sigeberht? I will kill any dragon or dragon sympathizer here! I may not know where I am, but I am Nicomedes, a proud soldier in the war against the cruel dragon tyrants!” As he speaks armor of rock forms all over his body shaped like draconic bones and a broadsword of flame forms in his hand.

“A.H. has gone wild. Stop by him by any means necessary! Nabatina will have our heads no matter what, but some of us may only get maimed if he doesn't escape!” The head guard screams out in terror. The rest of the guards seem confused by the poor attempt at motivation before recognizing the true terror that now awaited them. And so they charged hoping for death rather than the fate that would otherwise await them.

-----

Adelia managed to recover while the guards were charging and fled to hiding spot away from the fighting. She witnessed Nicomedes forming new weapons on the fly as he charged through wave after wave of the guards.

“This body is mine!” Nicomedes screamed out at one point before coating himself in a body of stone scales and changing his fighting style to be more primal, ripping into his opponents with claws made of lightning or biting into them with a dragon maw of flame. By the time the battle had concluded, he had swapped fighting styles half a dozen times, ending with him in the bone armor.

Adelia begins to slowly approach him, “So are you feeling better?”

“Another enemy?” He spits out while she approaches.

“Nope. I am not here to fight. I sort of saved you earlier while I was searching for my husband who was taken by these guys.” She sighs. “Although I guess the lead I was following was you instead of him, so I'm back to square one.”

“So you too are an enemy of the Draconic Empire then?” As Nicomedes speaks a small tube of water forms on his back which slowly shapes itself in the form of a dragon head.

“Are you mad, clearly these barbarians were in the service of the rebels and were imprisoning me here to keep me from returning to my home! Woman! You are to aid me in my return to my homeland. You will be rewarded with your life once they release me from this simpleton!” The water head proclaims.

Adelia looks at the two(?) of them wearily. “I don't know what the two of you are going on about. The Draconic Empire hasn't existed for a long time. If I hadn't...encountered an occasional relic from it in my line of work, I'd honestly just think it was a fairy tale.”

“So we won the war? But what happened to my fellow soldiers?” Nicomedes blurts out.

“The empire could never fall! Stop spewing your lies.” The dragon head spews full of venom.

“Look, I don't care if you believe me or not. We need to get out of here before they decide to send in some soldiers better than those rent-a-mercs that you just obliterated. I could certainly use your power as I go rampaging through their bases, which might hold a clue that could help you sort out whatever happened to you, so I am willing to help you adjust to this strange new world you find yourselves in. But for now we need to run.” Adelia says as she begins to head towards her escape route.

“Fine, I'll go along with this for now.” Nicomedes says as he grabs the water dragon head.

“Bah, just you wait till I reclaim my true glory.” The head says as it reforms outside of Nicomedes's grip.

Note: Adelia and Nicomedes/Sigeberht are my create a characters for Festival of Masks and Empyreal. So details here are somehwere betetween character prototype and "canonish" depending on whether the Grand Chronicle makes any major changes. Story is set sometime during the events of the second half of Devastation (or maybe after it) with the flashbacks being set probably during the first half of Devastation or maybe a little before it begins.