The Stakeout
Sleep really helped ease my troubled mind. I was certain I was going to be guilt ridden, but as I woke it was clear that the mark wasn’t my fault. Unless there’s memories I’ve forgotten about (which I seriously don’t doubt all things considered), I have no reason to believe that I’m the cause of the mark being in Athvala. I’m just a victim like Cloudbreaker, Bal Vyr, Grendel, Lash, and Trickfoot.
Perhaps the Goliath is correct and this is a new mark... but only time will tell. Now I must get on with my day.
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Bal Vyr and Abu met up with me and Cloudbreaker shortly after we finished breakfast. We were beginning discuss our plans for the day when some guards walked into the Inn. We eyed them and once they met our gaze, they approached us. They explained that another murder had happened and that it was in the dock district this time. We agreed to examine it.
The home of the new murder was slightly bigger. Instead of one room, there was two. When we walked in, the main room was void of anything unusual or bloody. However, as we opened the door to the second room, we were greeted by a familiar scene and smell.
Blood covered everything in the bedroom, everything except the 4 bodies; two adults and two children. It angered me to see two more children dead, but I pushed past the anger to keep my head clear. Eventually Lash would be stopped, all we had to do was figure out how to find her.
Bal Vyr did make an interesting comment though. He said the amount of blood in the room was equivalent to two adults. The Drow continued on to say that even yesterday’s crime scene lacked the boy’s blood and he had to wonder where three children’s worth of gore had gone. Abu suggested that the demon could be collecting the children’s blood. Bal Vyr nodded, agreeing that that was a possibility.
“Shall we canvas the neighborhood again?” I asked.
“No, lets stick to observing the surrounding houses,” Bal Vyr suggested, “Let’s see if we can locate any evidence of Lash’s presence before dealing with other fearful people.” With that, Bal Vyr asked Cloudbreaker to hoist him up onto the home of the murdered family. Before he even made it onto the roof, the Drow was stunned by what he saw.
“What do you see?” Abu asked.
“Blood and what appears to be a slash, as though Lash drug her scythe across the roof.”
“Well that’s definitely more evidence for us,” I said.
Cloudbreaker placed Bal Vyr back down. “Well I suggest we go prepare for tonight. Abu, care to help me identify the items we found in the crypt yesterday?” the Drow asked.
“Lead the way,” Abu drawled.
“You guys can come too if you want,” Bal Vyr mentioned to me and Cloudbreaker. I shrugged my shoulders figuring it might be best to help out.
“Actually, Araja and I are going to go climb the bluffs,” Cloudbreaker announced.
“Oh yeah,” I had forgotten so quickly that last night the Goliath and I had talked about going rock climbing when we had some down time.
I watched as Bal Vyr lifted an eyebrow. “Sure, you guys have fun. Just don’t wear yourselves out.”
“We have 10 hours before we’ll meet up at the graveyard. We’ll be plenty rested before our stakeout tonight,” I said. Bal Vyr shrugged his shoulders but said nothing more. We all then departed to our various destination.
The docks at the base of the bluffs were quiet. It would seem no one had used them in years. I looked up at the cliff side as a breeze swept through. It was steep, but I wasn’t too daunted. If I fell, I had my wings. Cloudbreaker however... well I assumed he was perfectly capable of such a task. Why else would he enjoy climbing if he wasn’t?
“Well, I’m ready when you are,” Cloudbreaker said as he slung a coil of ropes over his shoulder and secured a bag of pitons on his belt. With a nod of my head, we began scaling the bluff. Cloudbreaker was much quicker than myself. Soon he was halfway up while I continued taking my time. It was more challenging than I had expected. The well wall I climbed up the first time I was kidnapped had more crevices to grab onto. Still, I kept moving not wanting to be left behind.
When I was roughly a 100 feet up the cliff side, I lost my footing and began to fall. Instinctively I flapped my wings. Surprisingly I was able to fly a little. The strength in my wings is back! Not a whole lot, but enough to fly up a few feet. I then decided to conserve my energy and glided back to the docks.
Once on the docks, I looked up at the small speck that was Cloudbreaker. He clearly didn’t notice my absence. I went and sat down on the edge of the pier taking in the view of the trees and the town around the lake. I another breeze blew by that sent a chill through me. I looked back up at Cloudbreaker who was nearly impossible to see at the top of the bluff.
My mind began to race as worry flooded in. My breath became shallow and my hands clammy as I realized my solitary state. It was so bizarre. I could see him. It wasn’t like I was alone, yet as I looked around the empty docks, panic seeped in. I tried flying up to him but couldn’t get very high without my muscles burning with fatigue.
I paced on the dock as I watched Cloudbreaker finally descend. It was relieving to see him come back. I still find it odd that I was overcome with such anxiety. I can only hope whatever I’m experiencing doesn’t get any worse.
With a loud thud, the Goliath landed on the dock with a huge smile on his face. I was equally happy to see him and with gratitude that overwhelmed me, hugged Cloudbreaker. Once I realized the close proximity I was in with the Goliath, I quickly released and stepped back, feeling embarrassed.
“Um- wow! You were amazing!” I quickly said trying to brush aside the hug, “I-I, I’m clearly not as good as I remember being. Especially in comparison to you.”
“Huh, yeah,” Cloudbreaker began, puffing his chest out with pride, “you’re not a bad climber yourself, but us Goliaths, we’re the best.”
“I can believe that.”
“Oh, how I miss climbing with my brother,” the Goliath said, his smiling faltering for a moment, “Lets go get us some lunch.”
Cloudbreaker lead the way, I quickly following. For the first time I felt my age as Cloudbreaker enthused over the rock climbing. Though he was a man, there was something youthful that I hadn't felt in ages. He was stirring up lots of emotions I hadn't felt in a long time. For the first time since my banishment, I felt alive.
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After we finished lunch, Cloudbreaker suggested that we give another go at looking for Trickfoot. I was hesitant about doing that only because of what became of our search the first time we tried. I didn’t want another debacle with the guards. However Cloudbreaker convinced me otherwise saying we’d keep to asking around for concrete details that would direct us to his where abouts.
As we walked about the dock district, Something caught my eyes. Many men had tattoos on their arms, back, or chest. Immediately I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do! I wanted to get some tattoos!
Something I had failed to mention was after Cloudbreaker and I encountered Bakabba, I was making light of fates, especially after her ‘fate’ reading for us. I certainly don’t believe in it, but as I said that to the Goliath, he seemed hurt. He pointed to the markings of his body mentioning that he and his people are born with them, believing their Gods placed the markings to spell out their fate. I felt embarrassed for having offended him. Though I may not believe in it myself, I respect Cloudbreaker’s, and any one’s for that matter, right to believe what he wants.
Then when he gave me the new name, Blackwing, I got an idea in my head. I may not believe in fate, but there are those who’ve been in my life that have helped shape me to be who I am today. Because of that, I wanted to place those names upon my body and immortalize them. To never forget and to have them always.
Once Cloudbreaker gave up on trying to find any new leads, I then stopped a few men to inquire about their tattoos. There was one highly recommended, a guy named Steve, but the guys made it clear that his form of payment was very much unlady like. So I was directed to a woman on the docks. Her name was Ryn. Her gold eyes were vibrant against her dark skin. She had her dark red hair braided back in many tight braids and knotted up in a large bun. A fellow Mangoelar...
I explained to Ryn the idea I had for the tattoos. 10 feathers starting at my collar bone and descending down my left arm. Each feather would hold a name: Blackwing, Cloudbreaker, Isaac, Gemmel, Bor, Cortanna, Rekka, Achmath, Malaney, and Meryth. I figured if more people came into my life I didn’t want to forget, I’d continue to add new feathers.
While Ryn went about scarring my arm with ink, I noticed the few tattoos upon her dark skin. She had a floral design along her left arm, some tribal like marking on her right shoulder, and around her left eye a tattoo that resembled the mark Malfeiya had. My blood ran cold as I noted it, yet how odd that she had a tattoo placed there so similarly to my hated foe.
“What’s the meaning behind the tattoo around your eye there?” I asked.
“Hmm?” Ryn hummed, “Oh. There’s tale of a woman who saved her world from a horrid curse. It was said all who bore the curse could not be Exalted-”
“Yes, yes. That Malfeiya woman right?” I interrupted not wanting to hear about her.
“Mmhmm.”
“So why place a similar design of that horrid curse upon your own skin?”
Ryn smiled as she continued onto the third feather with Isaac’s name, “Because even though the people looked upon that mark with hate, due it’s evil nature, I found myself seeing it as a sign of her power. And so I wanted to emulate that.”
I kept my thoughts to myself. How I wanted to inform her of the evil Malfeiya truly was. How she was the cause for corrupting my God.
Ryn made quick work of the tattoos. After she finished the feather on my hand with my sister’s name, I observed the workman ship and was mighty pleased. The Mangoelar then healed me, removing the mild pain my arm and shoulder was feeling. I then placed my arm back in it’s sleeves and paid Ryn for her service.
Cloudbreaker, who kept himself busy by being his friendly self with the fellow fishermen, got up. I showed him my arm where Cortanna, Achmath, Malaney, and Meryth could be seen. I then said I’d show him the rest later, but immediately regretted it for his name was one of those I had place upon my body... what if he thought that was weird? I forced myself not to dwell on that thought and reminded him we ought to eat before going to the graveyard that night.
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