Tears of Dusk

In the shadows of the bedroom, Isyd remained as still as a statue. His eyes were closed and his senses were extended to their extremes, to cover the entirety of the mansion, in the hope of perceiving the humming of the Ingraced Blysht. It was a futile endeavour and Isyd knew it. With all the people around as well as the [Arcanes] and the sheer area to cover, detecting something as small as the Ingraced crystal would be equivalent to hearing a needle drop in the middle of a forest.

Still, it was the only thing he could be doing while waiting for Naeht to come back. He had sent her away to search for the Baron. Hopefully, the man didn’t stray too far beyond Naeht’s range of movement. Isyd had planned on engaging with the Baron only after retrieving everything that had been stolen, but he now changed his mind. The Baron Vladymr Harkon Kazkan was at the centre of this situation and dealing with him was the quickest way.

Naeht appeared through the wall. “I found him! In fact, he’s coming here! He is with the Baroness!”

Isyd’s mind refocused on the hallway and indeed, he felt the thrumming of two unknown pulses approaching. He moved across the room and hid behind the heavy curtains. The couple was engrossed in their conversation because they didn’t seem to notice the decayed study door; they entered the Baron’s bedchamber by its usual door. The Baron wasn’t particularly taller than his wife, but he outclassed her widely in terms of girth. His gait inside the room was unsteady and he had unbuttoned his kontusz. He was bald and clean-shaven except for the perfectly trimmed white moustache – a stark contrast to his skin almost as red as the wine he’d been drinking.

“… coming here tomorrow!” the Baroness was saying behind her husband. “Have you done what I asked you, Vlad?”

“ Yes, yes, yes…” the Baron said with an inebriated drawl. “Good God, Woman! Must you pester me so? I— hic! —I will not be t-told what to do! It is I the Baron, not— hic! — not you! My cousin is—”

His sentence died out as Isyd jumped out of his hiding spot. Taking a page from Lwieserce’s book, Isyd threw at the Baroness a bedlinen that he infused with Metal Essence and [SHAPED] accordingly. Like a snake coming alive, it wrapped around the woman’s legs and torso, before pinning her down. For good measure, the bedlinen made one last twist around her mouth to muffle her scream. The Baron stared at his wife, eyes blank and unable to make sense of what had just happened. Isyd walked up to him and kick him squarely in the chest. It send him flying across the room and crash on the bed that collapsed under the impact.

This woke him up from his drunken stupor. The Baron howled in pain and surprise.

“What… wh… wh…?”

His pathetic form barely managed to extract himself from the broken bedframe. Isyd walked up to him as the man was trying to stand back up and struck him on the jaw. At the last moment, Isyd remembered to withhold his strength. Despite what the man had done, he couldn’t yet afford to kill him and certainly not accidentally.

Isyd reached down and seized the man by his collar and pulled him up and on his knees. The teary round face that looked back at him was bloodied and covered in what looked like spit and vomit.

“M-Mercy… please… m…mercy…” the Baron plaided in a weak and stunned voice.

Isyd didn’t pay him any mind; with his senses, he went over his person, listening for the Ingraced Blysht.

It wasn’t there.

“Where is it?” he shouted at the Baron. “Where did you put it?”

“P-Please… please… I-I have m-money… I can g-give you money…”

Isyd shook him harder. “The Blysht! Where did you hide it?”

“I don’t know…” the man wailed between hiccups. “I-I don’t… know… Please… Have mercy…”

Doubt budded in Isyd’s mind. Had he been wrong? Had Tekla lied to him? It couldn’t be since they had indeed found the [Outgracing Hex] here. It was proof that the Baron was involved. And yet, the pitiful man in front of him sincerely didn’t seem to know anything.

Isyd turned toward the Baroness who was still struggling on the ground, her eyes wide. There again, he extended his senses to perceive the crystal on her person, without success. This however forced him to refocus his attention and notice someone approaching in the hallway, probably attracted by the commotion.

Isyd just had time to hurl the Baron across the room when Izaak Kazkan barged in.

“Mom!” he exclaimed. One glance around was more than enough for him to understand the situation; his wand was already pulled out and he aimed it at Isyd.

Isyd summoned a [Wind Wall] at the same time as the air in front of him exploded into flames. Izaak Kazkan did not waste time and launched offensive [Spells] one after the other, searching for a fault in Isyd’s shield. Not to be undone, Isyd infused a Metal Essence in his [Wind Wall] and tied it to the already present Wind Essence to reinforce the [Spell]. He then transformed his Static Hex into a Fluid Hex and [RESHAPED] on the fly. Against the constant onslaught of [Fire Spells], Isyd [AMPLIFIED] the [Wind Wall] and added one sink point that he then [SPLIT] in two before introducing another [Core Hex] composed of the Heavenly Commands [STAY] and [MOVE]. Now, every time that a [Spell] crashed against the [Wind Wall], it shifted around and used the sink points to neutralize the attack, then used the dissipated Grace to reinforce itself.

Even after all of that, his shield still struggled under the onslaught; Izaak Kazkan was unleashing all his arsenal of [Fire Spells] trying to bring it down. In those close quarters, he didn’t have the opportunity to circumvent it and was forced to break it through. The bedroom had turned into an inferno; the air was hot and heavy and the linens and wooden furniture either caught fire or were covered in ash and soot. Isyd saw two eagles made out of fire slammed into his [Wind Wall], followed by a series of deafening detonations and then a constant jet of flames. Still, Isyd’s [Spell] held strong.

Mind racing, Isyd turned his attention to Izaak Kazkan. There, he felt it.

The Ingraced Blysht was held on the young man.

In other circumstances, it would have been impossible for him to pick it up amidst the cacophony of clashing [Spells] all around him. But the Ingraced Blysht had been made by Isyd back in the salt mine in Blotnia. There had spent days crafting the [Ingracing Hex] which made him attuned to it more than anyone else.

From a defensive posture, Isyd went to the offensive. He pushed on his [Wind Wall] and stepped forward. Across the room, Izaak’s eyes went wide in surprise and horror as he felt his [Spells] being inextricably pushed back. He gritted his teeth and tried to come up with stronger [Spells] but his strength was failing him; his new [Spells] lacked in Concentration and Balance and Visualization. Slowly, Isyd walked closer and closer and when he was at arm’s length, he suddenly pulled down his [Wind Wall].

Taken by surprise, Izaak tried to cast a [Spell], but the sparks didn’t even have time to fire from his wand that Isyd punched him hard in the guts. The young man doubled over and Isyd seized his wand and snapped it in two. He then seized Izaak by his collar, threw him over his shoulder and slammed him against the floor. All the air fled Izaak’s lungs in a howl of pain.

Now that he was neutralized, Isyd simply went over his coat until he touched a sawn inner pocket. There, he found what he’d been looking for.

Isyd stood up, holding the Ingraced Blysht in his hand. For good measure, he put his boot on Izaak’s head and pressed to keep him down. He then slowly turned toward the Baron. The man had not gotten back up from where he’d been thrown. Isyd met his eyes and saw true terror in the Baron’s.

Primal fear at his masked man – this Demon! – that had come for him.

“Vladymr Harkon Kazkan, those are the consequences of your actions,” Isyd said. “I have come to recover what was stolen and give you a warning. The Blysht is not yours to solely own. Cease any attempts to privatize it. The Blysht belongs to all and I will make sure to keep it that way. My name is Antaka, remember it, Baron! Today, I let you live but it is by mercy alone. Fail to heed my word and I shall come back for you.”

Isyd then turned toward the entrance door. The noise and carnage had attracted a crowd, mostly servants but also guests. They stood there transfixed and terrified by the spectacle unfolding in front of their eyes. Isyd mostly focused on the three people that stood at the front. He didn’t recognize their faces per se, but their stature as well as their presence was familiar to him.

Isyd had wondered when the thieves would show back up.

“What the hell are you waiting for!” Izaak shrieked out of his lungs. “ATTACK HIM! KILL HIM!”

This seemed to shake them out of their stupor.

“Fuck! Call Snake!” one of them shouted to his friend at the same time as he fumbled to pull out his wand.

Isyd smiled, though nobody could see it under his mask. His plan was working better than he expected. He would have gladly ended everything here and now, but fighting three full-fledged Artysta in such close quarters was the not best situation, especially with so many bystanders. He needed more room.

Before anyone could react, Isyd rushed toward the large windowpanes that opened on a balcony. Without missing a beat, he leapt past the railing at softly landed two floors below. The Baron’s manor was situated at the outskirts of Vilriver and thus in front of Isyd stretched a vast extent of woods. Above him, he overheard shouts and calls. He looked up to see the trio of Artysta looking down on him, clearly hesitating on what to do.

Isyd brandished the Ingraced Blysht to them and made it flash, then dashed toward the weald. Soon enough, he heard the sounds of three people landing and running after him.

Isyd exchanged a knowing look with Naeht who had appeared next to him.

It was time to hunt.