Calling on Nikau and the others to follow him, Verdan hurried towards the Clan Thrain portion of the Kranjir quarter. The runner he’d been sent led the way eagerly, but Verdan could feel his unease at that second plume of smoke in the sky.

  He didn’t like any of this. Not the target, not the time and certainly not the method. A fire starting after the attackers were gone seemed suspicious. The whole thing reeked of sabotage, and if that were the case, the question would be who this was targeted at.

  The straightforward answer was the Kranjir, and in some ways, Verdan hoped that was the truth. If so, the whole thing could be dealt with quickly. Other, more concerning possibilities came to mind, but Verdan put them aside for the time being.

  First, they would deal with the situation in front of them, then there was time to look at the underlying cause.

  The storehouse was partially burnt but still standing. The rear of its roof had caved in and smoke billowed out of the hole, but the Kranjir had acted quickly enough to keep it mostly contained. Thankfully, most buildings in the city were predominantly made of stone, and the side of the storehouse that had caught fire didn’t face the adjacent buildings.

  “Thanr sia.” Verdan called out once they drew close, extinguishing what remained with his Aether.

  The nearby workers let out a ragged cheer before hurrying in to see what else could be saved and moved to another building.

  “Wizard Blacke,” a familiar voice came from off to one side, followed by the rasp of metal as an armoured man walked over to them. “I’m glad you got here so quickly. We managed to contain the fire, but the attackers are long gone.”

  It was only when he took off his helmet and Verdan saw the scar across his neck that he recognised him as the one who had spoken to him when he went to see Bastian after meeting with the council.

  “Thank you for securing the area, and my condolences for your companion,” Verdan said, his gaze flicking over to a shrouded form that had been moved away from the fire.

  “Thank you. I’d not known her long as she was a recent recruit, but the loss of any of Gwyll’s followers is painful when so few of us remain. This was meant to be an easy patrol.” The other man fell silent for a moment before taking a deep breath and turning back to Verdan. “Apologies, I realised I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Makk. With Bastian out of the city, talk to me for whatever you need.”

  “I wish that we were meeting again under more pleasant circumstances, but for now, I’ll have to ask you to stay with me. Have you sent word to the rest of your people?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Then please do so. I’ll leave the organisation in your hands, but I’d like to have a double-strength patrol here, and a firm watch over your base of operations. There was signs of a fire elsewhere in the city, so this might be part of something larger.”

  “I saw the smoke as well,” Makk said, his expression firming. “I’ll send word with one of the Kranjir runners, but half of our strength went with Bastian this morning. If I organise the patrols and leave some guards, we won’t have much else left.”

  Verdan resisted the urge to curse. “Understood. I’ll reach out to some allies in the city and see what else I can arrange.”

  Verdan hoped he was being overly cautious, that the fires were unrelated and this wasn’t the first step in some larger plan. He hoped that was the case, but he couldn’t afford to put his trust in that being true.

  Stepping away as Makk began to call over some Kranjir he knew, Verdan sent out three messaging spells in quick succession. The first to Sylvie, explaining the situation and asking for help from any nearby Airta to track the attackers. The second to Ada likewise explaining the situation and asking for any aid she could offer.

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  The Steel Custodians had lost a lot of their local strength with the changes the council had made, and Verdan knew they wouldn’t be able to offer much aid, but anything would be appreciated.

  The third went to Commander Silver, informing him of the situation with the fire and the escaped attackers. In the past, Verdan would have known he could rely on Silver to help, but in the current climate, he doubted much would come of that message.

  By the time he sent the third, he received a vague sense of assent from Ada, which he hoped meant she would be coming to help. As always, Verdan took a moment to regret the lack of magical communication with his allies.

  A vague response from one and silence from the other two was as good as he would get, and to call that frustrating was an understatement.

  Sighing, Verdan lifted his eyepatch and gently rubbed the scar tissue beneath. It had begun to itch more than usual over the last few days. Natalia thought it was the eyepatch rubbing, but Verdan didn’t have the time to try and find a new one.

  “The messages have been sent,” Makk said as he strode back over to Verdan with Nikau at his side. “What now?”

  “Well, unless either of you can think of a tracker other than the Airta, we wait.”

  -**-

  One of the local Airta arrived almost two hours later not long after a twenty-man detachment of Sect Retainers and a pair of Steel Custodians. The former did her best to scent for any sort of trail the attackers had left, while the latter spread out into groups to secure other key locations.

  “Disciple Ada tasked us to be at your disposal for the next few days,” the Disciple in command of the small group said on arrival. “She also asked me to tell you that we are the main strength of the Sect in the city. We have only a handful more people to protect our headquarters within the city.”

  Verdan took the message as a message of both support and warning. He hadn’t been sure what to expect when reaching out to her, but this was heartening.

  “The trail is cold,” the Airta woman who had been sent to them said without preamble as she rejoined the group. “Too many conflicting smells, and use of mint to muddy the trail.”

  “Mint?”

  “Yes.” She seemed to realise that he wanted more and shrugged slightly. “It is a strong smell, sometimes used as an oil to interfere with tracking. These people were prepared for the use of Frakti, or of one of my kind.”

  “I see.” Verdan took a deep breath before letting it out slowly and nodding. “Thank you for your help.”

  “The Sefvan is leading our people to find a location suitable for a new home. A permanent one. She sent me back and asked me to stay nearby. Where should I sleep?” The Airta woman stared at Verdan patiently, waiting for an answer.

  “Do you know where my estate is?” Verdan asked, drawing a slight nod from her. “Good, head there and ask for Adrienne. Tell her to find you a room.”

  The woman nodded sharply before turning and striding away, leaving Verdan to wait for any other news that might help them figure out what was happening.

  -**-

  A city guard patrol stopped by not long after, and Verdan was relieved to see familiar faces among them. Some he didn’t know, but some had fought alongside him in the past and greeted him with open smiles.

  One familiar face in particular stood out among the rest, his signature overcoat hanging heavily over his uniform.

  “Sergeant Falk, good to see you.” Verdan called out as he walked over to greet the guards.

  “Wizard Blacke, a pleasure,” Falk said, holding out a hand as he met Verdan halfway. “We’ve just come from the fire at the granary, do you mind walking me through what happened here?”

  “Better that Makk do it, he was present when it happened,” Verdan said, calling the other man over. “What happened at the granary?”

  “It caught fire, and we suspect arson. More than that, I can’t say yet.” Falk started to turn away before pausing and reaching into his overcoat to retrieve a small piece of metal. “Oh, just before I examine the scene. Does this mean anything to you?”

  Verdan took the metal fragment and turned it over in his hand. “The design isn’t familiar, but with something this size, I imagine it would be hard to say where it came from. This, however, is clearly the edge of a Sigil, and again here. Where did you find this?”

  “Within the burnt building,” Falk said, rubbing his jaw in thought. “Could it be something that should have been there? Some sort of aid to keep the grain safe?”

  Verdan shook his head. “No, as far as I know, only two groups can use Sigils. Myself and my apprentices being one, the Brotherhood of Indagnium being the other. I certainly didn’t make this, and I doubt they would make something so useful.”

  Anger and worry warred for dominance within him as Verdan stared down at the piece of metal. “In fact, this looks similar to a fragment I found after an attack on my home not too long ago.”

  “Yes, I heard about that, I’m glad that none of your people were lost,” Falk said, holding a hand out for the fragment. “As for this, I find that quite interesting. Was there any sign of such fragments here?”

  “Not that we’ve seen,” Verdan said slowly. “But then, we haven’t exactly looked.”

  The two men shared a long look before Falk tucked away the fragment and gestured to the burnt building. “Well then, shall we get started?”