"You'd better look after 'er." Goldback muttered as he pulled away the sheets covering the suit of armour.
Sofie paced back and forth, examining the suit. It was a deep sea-green, easily blending into shadows and night-time. The whole suit was a clean set of interlocking plates, with the elbows, shoulders and knuckles shaped into spikes. On a stand next to the suit was a plate-helmet of the same colour, though it was far simpler than that of the figure behind Goldback, which was following Sofie's steps. It was a normal plate helmet, with a retractable visor. White streaks depicted a snarling daemon, but otherwise it was rather usual. It looked very heavy. Sofie glanced up at Ravenstock. He had been wearing similar armour to this, and it hadn't slowed him down.
But he had the training and the experience.
Sofie was meant to be trained – to be a 'lovely Lahmian', as Ravenstock had so excitedly claimed – but Ravenstock had been told about the comet; it was only a day or two away now. He decided it was no time, and that he would send her in by herself for some purpose he promised he would explain now. Sofie glanced up at him.
"Impressive, isn't it?" He mused. Goldback's face contorted into an ecstastic grin and bits of skin flaked off.
"Won't it weigh me down, sir?" She mused.
"Weigh you down?" Goldback was glaring at her now. "Weigh you down? I've been making armour for centuries, for you lot!" He began to yell, dropping his hammer in a fit of rage. It made the floor screech sharply. "It will not 'weigh you down', missy!"
"I meant no offense, Dwarf."
"Enough." Ravenstock called with arms-crossed. "It will be fine, dearest. I'm sorry that you have not had much opportunity to make yourself accustomed to your body. I did intend for such a thing, of course!" Sofie nodded. "You will just have to learn on the job; don't worry, you're better than them!"
"Indeed I am, sir." She raised her arms, made herself look big. Ravenstock's laugh disarmed her. Grumbling, she continued; "What, exactly, is my job?"
"You're going to loot!" Goldback roared with laughter, "The mighty Vampire Lady, reduced to a street urchin; a bandit!"
Sofie hissed, bearing her fangs. He winced and quietened down. It probably wasn't that she herself was a threat, of course, but if Goldback really had been serving for centuries… she didn't want to imagine what Ravenstock's response to failure could be. That's probably what this was, she thought. A test – the debauched Lords and Ladies had suggested as much. She shrugged and focussed on him again.
"The comet you say will fall upon that city? It is far more than that. I have been told that it is a source of a wondrous material. Wyrdstone, they call it."
"Wyrdstone…" Sofie's eyes sat wide.
"Indeed. Glorious, isn't it? You're going to retrieve for me as much as you can."
"Is that it?"
"Of course not, dear; that's the minimum. But as the hunter of the night, the apex predator you are…" He grinned, and his blood-laced canines glimmered in the dull light, "I trust you will do as you will with our enemies. Just remember, the city is your playground only for a time. You must come back within a fortnight… Or I will have to dispose of you. Can't risk any loose ends, dear Sigmarite!"
"Of course not." She spoke with a dutiful monotony that reminded her of her earlier days. Do as I will with our enemies? She smiled maliciously.
"Good idea, my sweet. The Sisterhood will be a fine target; all Imperial presence too, of course. And a final thing, though it's needless to remind you; don't die. Not without my consent." He laughed warmly, but the way his eyes tracked her betrayed the truth in his words.
"Then I will gather all that you seek, sire. I will bring death to the ones that betrayed me." She drew forth her mace and raised it high in the air, so the comet-shaped head caught the light and shone like a star in an empty sky. Then she tore it free of the grip with ease and beat into it with her fist, yelling and cursing. She dropped the mangled sheet of metal to the floor.
"Bah, good thinga' got you a worthy weapon, isn't it?" Goldback spoke up again. "If you do that to me sweet I'll blow off ya head, vampire or not!" He waddled off out of sight and came back in with a long wooden case. Laying it down, he swung open the lid and drew forth a jet-black broadsword. He let Sofie take hold of it, and she juggled it in her hands. She tested how it felt, how the weight shifted in her hands. She grunted in satisfaction and the dwarf smith returned it.
It hummed slightly, and she felt a dull pain in her temple. She ignored it. She then stripped herself down of all her armour, slipping herself into her new skin and letting the two men help to do it up. With a swing of her head the visor fell over her. Already, she felt hidden. She felt like a faceless murderer, and looked the part too, and it was empowering. The feelings of dread she could provoke made her lips salivate, and her own Sisterhood was a target? That made it ever better. She slid her blade into its sheath and approached the stairwell.
"Remember what I said, dear!" The Vampire called. Sofie turned with an impatient grunt and he leaned back away from her, mocking a look of terror, before chuckling loudly. "Don't get killed without my consent."
Sofie grunted, reached the door and stopped. She looked down at her armour. Even in the darkness of night, anyone who saw her could tell she was something to report. She headed for a cabinet in the corner of the room, donning a cape and flicking the hood over her helmet. She departed.
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Sofie lay crouched in the underbrush, grass stroking the edge of her knees. She could see the gate to the city, open and unguarded, but surveyed the area one last time before making her move. She had seen the meteor landing just a day ago; a great, sickly-green orb that pierced the sky and pulsed with otherworldly force. It definitely did look valuable, but it also looked harmful… chaotic. She sniffed the air. It smelt strongly of cooked duck. A minute ago it at stank of manure. She sighed; the very environment was mutating, already. Perhaps this wasn't going to be as easy as she had hoped.
Regardless, it did give her a quick, exposed entrance to the city with which to begin her mission. She tapped the top of her sheath, smiling at the solid feeling as she confirmed that her blade was still there. Then, she rose from the bushes, a hundred metres or so from the gate. She broke into a sprint, confident that nobody was around, and was within the city before ten seconds had passed.