Hey everyone. As promised, the interlude that I had meant as an interquel starts here. So, without further ado.

0-0-0-0-0

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Shadowchasers

Shackled City

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Blue Bloods

Interlude

Souled Out!

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Part One

0-0-0-0-0-0

It was 11:45. The clocktower in Cauldron was never wrong.

The weather in Cauldron today was, to be honest, ideal. It was partially cloudy, warm but not too hot, and there was a cool breeze that made Cauldron's late autumn seem like early spring to the "mainlanders." It was just the type of day they'd love to spend at the beach or a boardwalk.

Of course, Cauldron had neither, but the Plaza held the same purpose. The Lakeside Plaza was the unofficial name for about five blocks surrounding the Lakeside Pavilion, which was an old building where more "formal" entertainment like concerts, plays, lectures, and demonstrations were held, and occasionally decrees made by the Lord Governor.

Other times, the Plaza was the best place in Cauldron for social gatherings in the middle of the day, a combination of a flea market and entertainment area by day, occasionally with the "amenities" of a "red light" district at night. For now, though, it was a place to socialize in a warm and friendly environment, and in the case of Maddie and Red Feather, the two Shadowchasers who had met here - planning to meet with Sonya and hopefully everyone else - grab lunch.

"Thank you." Maddie took the tray that held fried clams (for her), dango skewers (for Red), roasted corn on the cob (Sonya) and fruit crepes (for all three of them). She just hoped Sonya got here before it got cold; if she had gotten the message, she'd be waiting for them at the seating area nearby.

"So, Red," started Maddie, "I say to Mable, I say… SONYA?"

"Hey!" Sonya was indeed waiting for them, and this time her outfit was stranger than any Maddie had seen. That is, if you could even call what she was wearing an "outfit." Her bikini top was made of some sort of black velvet, the two cups connected with a bronze clasp. The bottom part had a bronze plate on a belt, over a loincloth that reached down to her ankles, with sandals that had golden cord wrapping around her calves. She also had a wig - they assumed - of waist-length black hair. But what really struck Maddie as unusual this time, she was green. Whether it was conventional body paint or some odd magic, it was impossible to say.

This time the urge was too much to resist. As she put the tray down on the table, she asked, "Uhm, Sonya… Why are you dressed like one of those prostitutes on Star Trek?"

"Prostitute? Orion slave girl! And I need this for later, because -"

"Sonya, there is a bird on your head."

That may have been the absolute last thing either of them expected to hear from Red Feather, but it seemed slightly off. The tiny creature perched on Sonya's head was, in fact, a tiny red snake with wings. It held in its mouth a… scroll tube.

"SHOO!" she shouted, and the odd creature did indeed fly away, but not before dropping the tube, which Sonya struggled to catch, fumbling before she managed to hold onto it.

"IMPORTANT, OPEN IMMEDIATELY."

Those words were written on the leather tube in red ink. "Huh, not suspicious at all, right?"

"Maybe it's from the IRS," replied Maddie.

Of course, Sonya's snarky comment meant the opposite, but it would take far more to intimidate her, or for that matter, any of them. She carefully undid the stopper - doing so caused a small item to fall out, about the size of a walnut.

It looked like a ruby - likely not real, but clearly not a glass imitation either. The strange red gem seemed to glow faintly with its own light and was warm to the touch. She carefully placed it on the table in front of her and tipped the tube to shake the contents out, as it was never a promising idea to stick your finger into such an item. The rolled-up parchment inside fell upon the table.

Unrolled, it proved larger than the typical sheet of paper, about twice as long as stationary you would find in a notebook, and oddly blank except for a two-line verse that was written at the top. Sonya read:

"You speak these words, my spell is sown,

For the secrets I speak are for your ears alone."

Only a fraction of a second after she said "alone," all three of them felt it, a sharp stab in the chest, as if a long spire had been thrust through their very hearts. Sonya and Maddie both shrieked, and while Red avoided doing so, the sudden magical assault had been just as sudden and taken her just as much by surprise.

"What… How…," said Maddie.

Oddly, the pain had been only brief, and they were unharmed. Whatever unseen assailant had attacked them was gone, and it was over…

…they should be so lucky…

"Hello, ladies." The voice addressing them was low and raspy, almost like a scratchy vinyl record.

"Who are you?" demanded Red Feather. She stood up and looked around hoping to catch sight of whoever it was, but this only elected a chuckle from whoever it was.

"Sorry, ladies, but I'm not even close to the Plaza right now - I wouldn't want to be there considering what is about to happen. The spell on that scroll you just recited will not only keep our conversation private for the next four hours, but it will also let us speak to each other from any distance, so long as that scroll is present. I could be on the moon for all you know."

As Sonya went to pick up the scroll, which oddly, was now completely blank, the voice continued, "Oh, I wouldn't throw it away if I were you, you'll need it later. You see, mainlanders…

"...I just want to play a little game…"

"Who the devil are you?" shouted Red.

They noticed everyone was looking at them strangely. "Uh, it's a condition!" said Maddie, loudly, "she skipped her medication, you know!'

"Clever save, Ms. Fulton," said the voice, "but I'm afraid my formal introduction will have to wait. Your biggest concern is that red 'gemstone' I also gave you."

Sonya picked up the odd gem. She could swear it was glowing even brighter right now.

"Yes, that gemstone is, in fact, nothing of the sort. I assume you know what a fireball is. Certainly, a common arcane spell of notorious destructive power. That is what that crystal is. A fireball that was frozen in time an instant before detonating by a magical ward. However, that ward decays over time, and once it is gone, boom, the spell goes off as it was intended."

"A bomb…," said Maddie.

"Exactly, Ms. Fulton, and the bomb will go off at 11:55, on the dot. If I were you, I'd get rid of it as soon as possible. After all, even 400 years after it was built, Cauldron's clock tower has never been wrong. I'll be in contact with you in five minutes, assuming you're still there."

All three of the Shadowchasers turned and looked up towards the clock tower - as if to goad them, its minute hand clicked to 11:53. Assuming this man was right, they had only two minutes. But they only needed two seconds for them to realize the gravity of their situation. This was the lunch rush for the Plaza, literally hundreds of civilians were in this promenade. Many were children…

"Give it to me!" Red Feather didn't wait for Sonya to do so, grabbing the crystal, and then rushing towards the pier.

"Red, stop!" Maddie assumed Red was going to throw it in the water, an action that would reduce the intensity of the blast, but not eliminate it.

That was not Red's plan, however, she had a different idea. A small four-story hotel stood near the dock, clearly a place that catered to guests who had come here to fish or simply enjoyed a balcony with a beachfront view. Next to it was a vendor stand that sold fish bait.

Red Feather ran at full speed, leapt onto a table, then made a second leap that propelled herself onto the roof of the bait stand. "HEY!" shouted the merchant, but she ignored him, pivoting to her left and making a third leap, grabbing hold of a windowsill on the second floor of the motel. She turned briefly towards the clocktower, and after a few seconds, the clock ticked to 11:54.

"One-a-thousand," she said to herself as she pulled herself up, leaping to a third-floor window. "Two-a-thousand, three-a-thousand…" Scampering to the fourth floor and then the roof, she counted off the seconds.

Once on the roof, she ran to the edge facing the lake, opening her satchel with her free hand. ("Fourteen-a-thousand.") She knelt, put the crystal - now glowing brighter than ever - down, and then withdrew something from the satchel she was never without - twine.

("Nineteen-a-thousand.") She drew an arrow from her quiver, then tied the crystal to the part of the shaft near the tip, then drew her Bowie knife and cut off the twine.

("Twenty-three-a-thousand.") She stood up, fit the arrow into the bow, and then aimed it towards the sun itself. Still counting, she paused…

("Forty-five-a-thousand, forty-six-a-thousand, forty-seven-a-thousand…")

Finally, when her counting indicated five seconds before the clock would hit 11:55, she fired… The arrow soared over the lake…

As the clock changed again, an incredible tearing sound followed by a rush of air knocked her on her behind. In the street below, everyone started screaming, then fleeing, upsetting many tables in the process, including Sonya's.

"Impressive, is it not?" said the voice.

Sonya was about to pick up the scroll, but Maddie grabbed it first. "I don't know who you are pal, but I'll say this, I am not amused. And you owe me 32 Sovereigns, by the way."

"You were going to eat that garbage, Ms. Fulton? You really are brave, and that is one reason I chose you three for this little game of mine."

Red Feather had climbed down from the roof, still out of breath and winded. That had been a close call and she wanted, more than anyone else, to know just what was going on.

"Listen Jigsaw," started Sonya, "we do not have time for this, who are you?"

"Huh? Jigsaw? Hmm… I kind of like that, it sounds… dangerous. Let's stick with that then. And I'm afraid you three have no choice in the matter. The fireball held in the Spell Sealing Crystal you just shot over the lake was a mere fraction of the destructive power of which I am capable. The others are about ten times as strong."

"Others?"

"That's right, there are six more placed throughout Cauldron at this moment, all set to go off at four o'clock. I assure you, should even one be allowed to do so, the death toll will be staggering.

"You mainlanders think you can help this city? Now is your chance to prove it. All you need to do is show yourselves smart enough to find them with what I am giving you, which I believe that scroll will provide."

Maddie naturally looked at the scroll, which now had different writing, a verse of two lines.

"Human ingenuity bends metal to their will,

And continues to forge still."

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"

"I never kid. This is the path to the first Crystal, and once you find it, the scroll will reveal a path to the second. Remember, you have four hours."

The trio looked towards the clock, a device that now seemed far more malevolent and ominous, as it was now literally indicating the time to Cauldron's destruction - which seemed almost certain. None of them had the slightest idea what to do, or where to start.

And even as that crossed their mind…

"HEY! What is going on!"

"Uh oh, busted…" muttered Sonya.

A group of the town guard had appeared, several of them trying to calm and disperse the frightened citizenry. The one in charge was an intimidating soldier wearing the uniform of an official of the town guard, standing head and shoulders above even Red Feather with a long, black beard. Still, he'd be far more intimidating had they not spoken to him before.

"Sergeant Zhent?" exclaimed Maddie.

Hearing her call him by name did help him recognize the trio, but while that made him less angry, it also made him more annoyed.

"Lieutenant Zhent now, Ms. Fulton," he growled, his tone suggesting he didn't exactly like his new title, "and you mainlanders five minutes to explain this."

"Uh, actually Ser- uh, Lieutenant, this is going to sound crazy but…uhm… We must evacuate Cauldron."

That certainly got his attention, and while it did sound crazy, he at least listened. Unfortunately, as insane as their explanation sounded, he had seen the explosion, and could think of nothing else that made sense.

Unfortunately, the even worse gravity of the now worsened situation quickly set in. it would be impossible to evacuate the whole city in four hours. "A day, maybe, but even sounding an alarm would be risky, given the panic it would cause…"

"You're saying Cauldron has no emergency response plan?" asked Maddie.

For the first time, Zhent looked a little uncomfortable. "We do, but it's mostly designed to be used against frontal assaults by exceptionally large enemies. You see, the last time Bellogos attacked the city, we -"

"Uhm, excuse me?" All eyes turned towards Sonya, who was even more annoyed than Zhent had been. "As much as I don't like being the voice of reason in a crisis, we have a lunatic playing a sick game using the lives of innocent civilians as an ante, and we have four hours," she stopped, looked up at the clock, "check that, three hours and 58 minutes to find those Crystals, and by we, I mean the three of us, since that spell means we're the only ones who can speak to him. Arguing like this is not going to get us anywhere. Which means, as much as we don't like it, we're going to have to play his 'game'." She stopped to breathe, and added, "May the gods have mercy on our souls."

Zhent took a minute to hold his forehead, the migraine he'd had since the umber hulk attack having become worse.

"Very well, I have 50 men under my command, at the very least they can provide backup support."

"I assume they all live in Cauldron?" asked Maddie. "This is going to take more than simple smarts." She held the scroll up so he could read it. "This is round one."

"Hmm."

"It sounds like a blacksmith shop," added Maddie, "do you know any place like that around here?"

Zhent was about to say something, but then the sentry to his left spoke up to answer. "That doesn't narrow it down, There are lots of blacksmith shops in Cauldron. There's Opaleye's place on Ash Avenue, Stoutshield's place on Lava Avenue, Axedelver's shop on -"

"Wait." Red Feather quickly noticed that all the names he was listing off were those of dwarven clans, not unusual for blacksmiths in a Shadow-dominated city. But…

"The clue says human ingenuity, are any of these shops not owned by dwarves?"

"Uhm, only old Jacob's place. Actually, that one is the closest, only about three blocks upward on Magma Avenue and -"

"Don't tell them where it is, Reese," ordered Zhent, "show them where it is, and do it quickly!"

"Yes sir!" said the soldier. "This way…"

"Wait." Maddie suddenly had a brainstorm; she removed her Duel Disk from her left wrist, then took the deck from it. "Take this," she said, and handed it to Zhent. "This has a communication device in it, when that small light starts flashing, hold that switch down and talk into it. This will be a lot easier if we can stay connected."

"Understood," he said with a nod, "I'll see if I can find anything on my end. Good luck."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

…and they're going to NEED it.

The interlude and the race against time continues in a few days, be there!