She stared at me for a second, no doubt in reaction to my possessive term of endearment. The tension I didn’t even realize had crawled up my back faded away seconds later when she gave me a smile that hinted she didn’t actually mind and maybe even liked it.
I smiled back and then tucked into my food.
Chapter 10
Eleni
The next two days proved the most restless of my life. My mind kept replaying a million different scenarios as to what might await us on the moonless night. What if we ended up discovering something far bigger than anything we could have imagined? What if we were overwhelmed? Granted, with a demigod by my side, my chances were exponentially better, but I still felt uneasy about the whole thing.
Sadly, after informing the Curia of the upcoming raid, they told me that I had too little evidence to justify them sending reinforcement. Although I had expected that outcome, it didn’t alleviate my concerns.
On the more positive side, Sienna and Vivian were mending. Ewan confirmed that they didn’t detect any other incident or infiltration at the Sanctum. As I had reviewed their increased protections, I felt confident that his report was accurate. However, they would also not provide us with additional backup as our trail was indeed extremely flimsy.
Chances were that nothing would come of this, in which case we would hit a dead end with no other trails to follow.
As we prepared to head out, I peered at Lyall and shook my head again upon seeing his pleased expression.
“How can you be so relaxed and confident as we’re possibly heading into a trap?” I asked, still bewildered that he loved the idea that we wouldn’t be ‘stuck’ with additional Inquisitors or Templars.
“The question is more why are you so worried?” he retorted teasingly.
“There’s only two of us against possibly dozens of powerful arcanists!” I exclaimed in a self-evident tone.
“Yes, that’s a possibility,” he replied with a shrug. “But you seem to forget that I am one of the most powerful mystifiers you will ever meet. Using my powers does not drain or tire me. I can generate multiple realities simultaneously with barely any effort. So I’m not worried about an army of arcanists.”
I pursed my lips while giving him an assessing look. “But what if they put mage shackles on you?”
He waved a dismissive hand. “They don’t work on me.”
My brow shot up. “Nothing works on you?” I challenged, surprised.
He almost said no then hesitated. “There are a couple of things that might block my abilities, but they’re magic circles that are insanely hard to set up. More importantly, you would need to get me inside that circle to begin with. The only other two artifacts that could dampen or maybe even block my mystifying powers would be the Manacles of Oblivion or the Collar of Silence, both of which are extremely hard to come by.”
“What if they do put them on you?” I insisted, still dubious.
He gave me an amused look laced with a hint of arrogance. “They will never get close enough to me to do so.”
I harrumphed then nodded in concession. “Hopefully, you are correct. But wearing hooded robes and masks will allow us to mingle with little risk of being detected.”
Lyall recoiled and gave me a confused look. “Why a mask?”
“Based on your vision, the Oni was clearly wearing a traditional ritual robe,” I said pensively. “There was also a shadow at the edge of the eyes typical of seeing the world while wearing a mask. And if you pay attention, you could see his reflection in the water of the swamp. That outfit totally makes sense if they are attending some sort of ceremony. And judging by Elliot’s words, they were going to hold his final ritual. It sounded like a major undertaking that would involve many cultists.”
Lyall’s eyes first went out of focus before widening as he emerged from whatever vision he’d been peering at. I didn’t doubt he had recalled the Oni’s memories to compare them against my words. I couldn’t help puffing out my chest when he stared at me with admiration.
“You are correct. It appears they truly were wearing black masks and black robes. Nice observation skills,” he said.
I lifted my chin with a hint of arrogance as I preened under his compliment. “It is part of our training to gather these types of clues from any evidence at our disposal.”
“But why do they wear masks if they’re part of the same cult?” Lyall asked.
“For anonymity,” I said without hesitation. “Every successful cult has very powerful people among their members. And I’m not speaking of arcane powers, but political, social, or economic influence. They’re the type of people who couldn’t risk being seen for fear of being exposed during a raid, by a traitor within the cult, or being subjected to blackmail.”
“I see,” Lyall said with a frown, his wheels spinning. “That explains some of the visions from your early memories.”
I nodded. “During large gatherings and rituals, Mother, the Elders and those who were to be sacrificed showed their faces. Everyone else wore masks and robes. We witnessed similar behavior in the majority of other cults we either raided or interacted with.”
“Perfect! That will allow us to enter, scope the place out, and then decide how to act. But now we need to hurry and go get something that will match,” he said with a hint of tension.
