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.Little blood seemed to have flowed from the precise wounds, possibly a sign of magic or that the cutting had been done with little struggle."We did not keep the other bodies, cremating the remains until such time as we can safely inform the families.""Their wounds were the same?" Jinn asked, examining the girl's left hand where the ring finger had been neatly removed."Yes," the rorden answered."On all save Dessa Marson, my brother's wife.Her.throat had been cut, a single wound.""She got in the way," Jinn muttered, replacing the small chapbook of sketches in his coat."That was my suspicion," Allek said."Which suggests the victims were specific targets."Jinn stepped back from the body and nodded to Allek, who waved Yarrow back to reseal the quiet chamber.The rorden's face seemed older, expressionless as they walked back to the end of the corridor."Have you had a priest or wizard examine any of the bodies?" Jinn asked."Perhaps one could attempt to speak with the spirit.""We made one attempt with a priest," Allek answered, "and he has yet to recover.Some kind of.backlash is the best I can describe it.It threw the man across the room, left him burned and senseless.For their safety we've kept those few among the Watchful Order that know of the murders away from the bodies themselves.As I said before, magic is serving us very little as of yet."With the suspicion of wizardry in Waterdeep of late, Jinn could understand why Allek was hesitant to involve spellhurlers, but he couldn't abide not exploiting whatever resources might prove useful.As they ascended to the more common hallways of the Westwall, Jinn stopped Allek before they were in earshot of the other officers."We will need a wizard," Jinn said, knowing that Allek, despite his distrust, had to agree with the next most logical avenue of finding answers.The rorden merely nodded, crossing his arms, clearly troubled by the prospect of involving anyone else in the mystery."I have some contacts," Jinn added."I'll be discreet.""Do what you need to," Allek said."I'll meet you back in the alley at gateclose tomorrow.""Get some sleep," Jinn said before taking his leave of the rorden, though Allek did not answer.Jinn did not envy the man the long night he faced, trying to rest, keep his composure, and see to his duty as a Watchman amid the loss of his only family.Outside the wall, Jinn raised his collar against the cold and set out toward the House of Wonder, one last thing to do before succumbing to his own exhaustion.The Watchful Order, while capable wizards, could not be trusted with the discretion he required, and though Mara was quite skilled with spells and rituals, her resources and contacts within Sea Ward were limited.Jinn suspected one person in particular could prove invaluable, both due to the nature of the crimes and in knowledge of the ward in general.He sighed, however, dreading the task and having his own reasons for avoiding certain magic-users.THREENIGHTAL 19, THE YEAR OF DEEP WATER DRIFTING(1480 DR)Steam swirled above the greenish sludge in the labyrinth of Waterdeep's sewers.Rats huddled along the bordering catwalks, gathering for warmth, fighting and cannibalizing the weak when hunger demanded a sacrifice.Moonlight glimmered ghostlike down through a hidden entrance in Torch Lane above, twinkling in Essirel's eyes as he drew his dirty cloak tighter against the cold.His breath came slow and even, almost mechanical, his heartbeat much the same.Thought and even the memory of emotion was rare and fleeting, serving more to confuse him than to offer hope, though he struggled to hang on to those moments.He could not help but fail, so lost was the soul that had driven his ambitions and desires.Only the moon and the rats kept him company as he waited, filled with dread—the only real feeling he had been allowed to keep—for the beating of its wings, the call of his master's voice.Others shifted closer, their once-fine robes almost unidentifiable, covered in the filth of miles of sewers.Dull eyes led them to share in Essirel's moonlight, to watch for the shadow across the moon, to listen for the thunder of the angel Sathariel.They crawled closer on hands and knees, pressing close at Essirel's shoulder, the stink they brought swallowed by the pervading scents of the sewer.He swayed as they crowded around him, blank faces upturned to the glow.A terrible will was gathering them, bringing them to clean streets and wealthy homes with the promise of redemption.Essirel gasped at the thought but was left slack jawed a breath later, drool stringing slowly down his chin.There had been a moment, seemingly eons ago, when he'd seen the bright spark of himself, watched it glow, tethered to him by ephemeral strands of being before it had been ripped away [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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