They ran down the hall of the inn, the din outside turning into a full-fledged riot. Kethry stopped Jace before he had a chance to go down the stairs, and pointed above her head. "Wait," she advised. "Let's get up onto the roof and see what the situation looks like. We can just hump it from there. All the buildings here are pretty close, so we should be able to drop off in an alley not far."
Jace hesitated, then looked down the stairwell. There were people starting to come into the inn, and they were not of the calm variety. "Okay," he nodded. "Let's do it." With that, he held his hands out for Kethry to balance herself on, allowing her to reach the panel and pry it open. She hoisted herself up, then set to navigating the rafters to the ventilation window that would be their escape while he pulled himself up and replaced the panel. She was fairly certain they would both fit through it, at least, and when she couldn't find the latch for it, she gave it a swift kick with the bottom of her booted foot.
Out on the rooftop, Jace realized how high they actually were. He raised his eyebrows as he lifted the hood of his cloak back over his slightly-too-long dark brown hair. He'd have to get Kethry to take one of her razor-sharp knives to it eventually, or he'd be stealing her ribbons.
"Jace, over here!" she called, her voice hushed, but urgent. He turned to observe his partner scaling one of the higher arches of the inn and silently prayed she didn't fall and kill herself. He knew better then to doubt her physical abilities, but at the same time, this was also the woman who'd spent the better part of her evening (and morning) vomiting all over the very inn upon which they climed.
As he drew near, the sun fell low against the spired and gothique city-planet. The commotion of the Rakdos riot had grown to epic proportions in such a short time, and he realized that it could only mean one thing: the Defiler was awake. Suddenly, the earlier issue he'd had with the energy he'd taken in made sense, and he grit his teeth as he climbed up to Kethry's vantage point. "Kethry," he said, his voice holding a note of warning to it. It was often how he said her name; were she a faithful pet rather than his traveling companion, her name may have been 'No'.
"Just – shut up and stop worrying for a second," she chided, glancing over her shoulder as he pulled himself up to her side. Her eyes were glittering, full of curiosity and a mischievous sort of interest that made Jace incredibly uneasy. When she became rapt in something, she would be hard-pressed to let it go, and he didn't need her suddenly feeling the call of the Rakdos cult and stripping down to dance naked beneath the blood-drenched heights of their conclaves. "Look," she whispered.
He looked. The riot was honestly more of a parade, a sort of carnival, but it was terrible. The Wojeks had been overpowered by the Rix Maadi guildmages that seemed to command the display, their horrific costumes of jester-like design decorated with blood and bone fragments of their deceased victims. They danced wildly on top of litters carried by skeletal roustabouts that were armed to the teeth with wicked scythes and serrated blades that were tipped with rust. The entire bazaar was overrun, and it was also on fire.
"Yawgmoth's tail," he hissed. "Kethry, as delightfully terrifying as this carnage carnival is, we shouldn't be here, much less spectating only a few stories above the Rix Maadi mages," he advised. He was all set to climb down when she unwrapped one of her arms around the spire she clung to and thumped him in the shoulder.
"Jace!" she protested. "Come on. You're a Planeswalker. You can just blast us out of here if we're spotted – and besides that, you're like, the master of illusions," she said, emphasizing the word with a comical, mocking sound to her voice. "It isn't like they're even going to spot us up here, let alone come up here and get us. Please?" she said, scrunching her face up in the most adorable way. "Just for a little. I just want to watch," she begged.
He lowered his head to the tiles that lined the roof, softly bumping it against the scratchy-textured shingles. "Fine," he conceded, a heavy sigh forming the word. "But only for a little, Kethravyn," he said, laying down the terms of his agreement. He used her full name, trying to convey how serious he was. He rolled his eyes when she jumped around in place, pulling herself up higher and situating against the crook between the peak of the roof and the ornamental spire on which she'd been steadying herself.
"Come on, come up and watch with me," she encouraged. She held her hand down for him, helping to yank him up to the peak. He sat on the apex, letting his legs hang down the slope. She may have wanted to watch the insanity below them, but Jace was more interested in the sunset. The ecumenopolis was simply breathtaking as the light dipped below the horizon. Everything was bathed in purple and red light – even the parts of the city not subject to the pillars of fire caused by the Rix Maadi.
"This is wild," she whispered to herself, unaware that he wasn't even facing the same direction. "I've seen the aftermath of these things, but I've never had a front-row seat to it."
"You're still so young and stupid," Jace mused, though he did make a point to look over at her with a smile.
"I'm not that much younger than you," she shot back, glancing at him for a half-second before returning her gaze to the display. "And if I were stupid, you would never have stayed with me," she said, a sly grin on her mouth.
"That's true," he acknowledged, nodding his head and suppressing a laugh. "This stuff really interests you?" he asked, unable to hide his shock. There were some things they didn't discuss; he didn't discuss Liliana and Kethry didn't discuss... anything personal of herself, actually. It was more surprising that this just occurred to him than anything else.
"Yeah," she said absently. "It's a long story," she said, waving her hand.
"A story you owe me sometime," he informed her; it was phrased like a casual comment, but Kethry didn't fool herself into thinking it was a request.
"Alright," she said suddenly, straightening. "We should probably go."
"Why?" he asked, turning back to her again. He couldn't help but be a little surprised at her sudden interest in leaving when she'd just been enthralled by the crowd.
"Because," she said, swinging her legs against the slope and preparing to move down to the flat platform of the construct below. "The Rix Maadi mage over there spotted us." And with that, she was gone, sliding quickly to the bottom and rolling to absorb the sudden impact. She popped up straight, gesturing to Jace. "We should move," she called up, thumbing to the way she intended to take.
"I think it's a little late for that," he said, his voice flat. He pointed. Kethry turned, and found herself staring directly into the dark brown eyes of a human Rix Maadi mage.
"Hello, Kethravyn," he said, his voice full of malice. He raised his hand and pushed the skeletal mask up, revealing his face. Black kohl lined his eyes and mouth, giving him the appearance of a dead mime. His black leather costume was thick, obviously worn from conflicts and showing its age with rips and folds in the fabric. There was also blood spattered across the front of it, and it was still dripping from the blade he held in his hand. His free hand wasn't free anymore, either – it was gripped tightly around her arm.
"Aethen," she breathed, her voice catching in her throat. Jace could feel the panic rolling off of her in waves, and he made to slide down after her, but the mage raised his sword, pointing at Jace with the tip of it. A drop of blood slid off of it, decorating Kethry's pale cheek.
"Another move, Beleren, and I'll slit her throat," he promised.
"Jace, stay where you are," she ordered, her voice a beat quicker and higher than normal. Fear. "He means it."
"I'm so glad that you still retain that common sense of yours," he purred into her ear, his long black hair tickling at her neck. His eyes caught the blood from his sword, and he stuck his tongue out and licked it off, causing Kethry to close her eyes and fight back a wave of nausea.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
"We have unfinished business downstairs," Aethen informed her, a cruel smile flickering across his black mouth. "And you," he said, pointing to Jace again, "are not invited."
"I could flay your mind before you could blink," Jace threatened, but he stayed where he was. Liliana's death was still to recent, and he couldn't risk losing another friend so quickly, however mad he was.
"You could, but not while I have this," he taunted, grinning at the Blue Adept. He flashed his hand up for the other Blue mages to see, and Kethry swallowed hard when she realized what he was trying to flaunt. It was a mox that nullified Blue magic, an incredibly rare artifact fashioned into a ring that had been supposedly lost during old guild conflicts. It had originally been held by the Dimir House, though since the fabled tenth guild technically hadn't existed for many, many years, she assumed it had been found and kept quiet up until the Rix Maadi had come across it. She didn't want to think about how many people he'd killed to get it.
Aethen turned to Kethry, his eyes narrowing. "There is someone who's been waiting for far too long to be reunited with his favourite little spy."
"Kethry?" Jace demanded, his voice full of shock. He stared down at her, struggling to keep his composure, but it was hard. He couldn't do anything at the moment that he wasn't positive would get his friend killed, and he was interested in keeping her alive long enough to find out what she'd been hiding. After that, he might kill her himself.
"So it seems our Kethry of many talents has been hiding her areas of expertise from her little friend," Aethen said, mocking a shocked voice. "I'd have thought the 'great and powerful' Jace Beleren could have sensed when he was being lied to," he added.
"Stop it, Aethen," she begged. He shrugged, then said a few words in the infernal tongue of Rakdos to transport them to the pits.
"I will find you, Kethry," Jace swore, clenching his fist as he looked into her eyes. He may not have been able to use his ability, but he knew her well enough (or so he thought) to read her, and she was putting on a brave face and a sharp attitude to keep attention on herself. She was scared, but more so, she was trying to – to protect him? It was as though she was trying to keep him away. Obviously she had something to hide, but there was no way Kethravyn could take on the Rakdos followers on her own when she was in the thick of their pit.
"Go to the Sunken Gardens in the Temple of Selesnya," she commanded Jace. "Ask for Iosa. Tell him my name, and tell him anything he asks," she begged. "Jace, I -" and her voice was cut short as she disappeared. The betrayal of Liliana flickered through his mind, and he felt his entire body begin to shake as he watched the Rix Maadi vanish into thin air with the woman who was the only person in his life that mattered at the moment who was still alive.
He needed to keep her that way. As soon as the mage had gone and the influence of the mox void, Jace dropped back down onto the peak, feeling sick. He had a thousand questions, none of which he could get answers for right then because the only person who could answer them had just been taken. Spy? Why had she told him to go to the Selesnya Conclave at the last minute? And what did the person who she had told him to ask for mean to her?
More importantly, what else had she been lying about?
