A Bored Lich

With the body of their assailant at the center of the formation, Doevm, Frey, and Elero scanned the fleeing, panicked crowd, confirming visually that there were no threats among them, however remaining on alert. If the incident with Owen had taught the group anything, it was that the goddess's followers could be anyone. In addition, in a city as large as the Polyglint Mines, there was bound to be more than one.

Doevm let a moment pass before subtly gesturing to a nearby rooftop. "Frey, monitor the area."

Frey nodded in confirmation. A flaming, white aura condensed around his eyes and life essence condensed around his legs. With a single bound he was perched at the high ground, the entire street under his watch. Since he could see souls directly, there was no need to search around; it rendered shadows and cover mute.

Doevm was about to turn around when Frey suddenly called over: "Doevm."

Doevm tensed. 'They're following with another attack already?' he thought before thinking better of it and asking, "What is it?"

"What should the signal be?" Frey asked as he displayed a mirror, much to the disappointment of both Elero and Doevm. "It's not like we can use a reflection of the sunlight or like a bird whistle. There's neither down here."

"Is this really the time to discuss this?" Elero hissed.

Frey shrugged, much to her growing annoyance.

Doevm's expression twitched. "Just make a splash."

Frey gave a thumbs up.

Doevm turned back to Elero only to find her trudging towards Kilot, who had reappeared twenty feet down the street from where the assassin now lay. Despite his miraculous teleportation, he still seemed to be unconscious. The wound on his head wasn't healed either. Doevm had been slightly impressed, but not surprised. After all, the Dwarf had fought alongside the hero - he wouldn't die so easily.

Elero didn't seem as understanding as she said to Doevm, half-muttering half-lecturing, "We should never have brought him along with us. He's not supposed to be fighting at his age."

Doevm frowned. 'This isn't like her at all,' he thought. 'First she was passively sitting by Kilot's side and asking for help from the crowd, and now she's mentally transfering the blame onto me.' If Frey hadn't scanned them both with his power to see their souls directly, Doevm would have suspected that Elero was replaced by another assassin.

Even then, who was to know if the goddess had an ability that could bypass Frey's vision? The goddess clearly attacked Kilot with one power. Who was to say that she didn't possess another. Once again, Doevm cursed at his lack of information.

'Or it might not be any of the above and I'm making a big deal of nothing,' he thought. Her complicated emotion was one he had yet to decipher amongst his human life, but he was at least competent enough to recognize it. That didn't mean, however, that he was any less frustrated by it.

Elero knelt down and re-examined Kilot's state, focusing on the glowing lump under his shirt - a necklace with a drawing of a robin, glowing with arcane power. The light slowly faded, and the necklace cracked. Elero was tempted to reach for it, but she hesitated and asked Doevm, "This thing saved him?"

"If it's what I think it is, yes," Doevm purposely gave a vague answer. 𝘧r𝑒𝘦𝒘𝘦𝙗ｎovel.𝐜o𝒎

"You don't know?" Elero tried to pressure him, but Doevm just stared back at her. As if she could sense his thoughts she asked, "What's that look for? Is the shiny new magic gonna make you drool or something?"

Doevm suppressed a smirk. "Nevermind."

Elero rolled her eyes and went to pick Kilot out of the floodwater but as she did, Kilot's expression shifted. He stirred in his slumber. Elero leaned back with baited breath as the old Dwarf's eyes slowly opened.

Kilot groaned. "Where am I?"

A subtle smile crept onto Elero's expression. "You're alive," she said, quickly wiping her face with her shirt.

Kilot grimaced as the cold floodwater touched his wounds: "Somehow. What happened?"

"Let's get you somewhere safe and we'll fill you in," Elero said, offering him a hand to stand up.

Kilot brushed her off and sat up. "I'll be fine. Just need a second. I have to get back to forging." Life essence gathered around his head, quickly restoring the wound which had rendered him unconscious as well as any other scrapes and bruises.

Elero, however, didn't let up, equally as stubborn. "I think you should rest for today."

Kilot frowned. "Who the hell do you think you are? My ex-wife? Telling me what to do…you're decades too young for that…you brat." Even sarcasm seemed too strenuous for him.

It was at this point, Doevm realized, that Elero had situated herself between Kilot and his destroyed forge. She stood over Kilot, blood that wasn't her own matting her jet-black hair to her knitted brows. "You've done enough. You almost got killed," she snapped. "What if they come back for you?"

Kilot opened his mouth to reply, then paused. Her words seemed to jolt his memory, which slowly spilled out of his mouth. His eyes darted left and right as he recalled: "That's right she…she actually tried to kill me. She just showed up and…what a bitch." he laughed, reached into his shirt, and pulled out his necklace. "Luckily I grabbed one of these puppies right before the explosion. Damn near saved my life. I see why you commissioned them."

The necklace then crumbled in between his hands, falling into the floodwater. He frowned. "Strange," he muttered. "I thought I had given it two charges."

Elero cleared her throat. "Shouldn't we be moving?"

Kilot waved her off. "In a moment."

"The necklace saved you twice actually," Doevm explained.

Kilot glanced at Elero's bloody torso and raised his brow slightly. "I'm sorry I missed the party."

Doevm didn't care, asking, "By your usual standards, the escape amulet should have teleported you out of the city as soon as it detected a threat. My group will get slaughtered if we rely on this weaker crap you were going to give us."