Ghost Ascension – Episode 4

“Apparently I told Blacksmith to do something,” you tell Lucan, “but I don’t remember what it is.”

Lucan nods. “So if you talk to him…”

“Then I can figure out what this is all about,” you say. “Let’s go.”

“As you wish,” says Lucan, opening the door for you.

The Ghosts own the Black Cuirass Inn, using it as a base, but the soldiers of the Imperial Guard frequent the common room (hence its name). Nobles loyal to the Emperor tend to stay here while in town. Along with merchants who appreciate the security provided by off-duty Imperial Guards.

So as you cross the common room, you are absolutely astonished to hear your father’s voice.

That, and your father has been dead for seventeen years. Murdered by the magi.

After a moment, you realize you are only hearing the voice in your head.

“A disappointment,” he says, his voice heavy with regret. “I wanted you to be happy, child. I wanted you to be safe and happy and surrounded by a half-dozen children. Instead you’ve become a killer, cold and hard and merciless. Why not kill Lucan now and have done with it? You’ll lead him to his death, sooner or later. Everyone who ever loves you dies.”

“But,” you say, starting to argue with the voice, but you realize it is only a hallucination. No doubt a result of the sorcerous damage to your memory.

Perhaps you are going mad already. You concentrate, and the voice vanishes.

“What’s wrong?” says Lucan.

It takes a moment to find your voice. “Nothing. We should go.”

You can tell that Lucan knows you are lying, but he nods and follows you into the street.

Or, at least, you take two steps into the street, and come to a sudden stop.

Lucan starts to ask a question, and you grab his wrist and point.

Two men, dressed as common merchants, walk down the street. They look little different from the thousands of others thronging Malarae. But you recognize their stance, the way they carry themselves, the way the daggers hand from their belts. Men from the Kindred collegium – the last brotherhood of assassins left in the Empire.

The favored assassins of the magi.

For a moment you’re sure that they’ve come here for you, or for Lucan, but they walk past the Black Cuirass Inn without a glance. A third man trails after them, on the other side of the street, and you are certain that he is a Kindred assassin as well. And then two more emerge from a shop further down the street, joining the first two, while the final man trails some distance behind.

“Five of those scoundrels in one place?” murmurs Lucan, and you feel his hand move to his sword hilt. “That means trouble for someone.”

But not, apparently, for you, or for Lucan. So if the five Kindred are not here for you – then what are they doing?

As you watch, a woman in a red coat comes around a corner, and the Kindred assassins turn towards her.

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