Steamforged Sorcery - Chapter 11 (Patreon)

Angel and Vanessa both nodded. He grabbed the board on his back and tossed it to the ground. Vanessa reached down and pressed something on her boots, which let up with a faint blue glow. Cowl watched them for a few moments, then reached up to their back. Two paper thin translucent wings curled out from the man’s back, fluttering to life with a dull hum.

“Follow me,” Cowl said, shooting off into the desert.

Vanessa broke into a jog and leapt forward, the light under her feet growing brighter as she skated across the sand with increasing speed.

“Great. She’s a walking spotlight,” Angel grumbled, leaning forward and launching forward on his board. He easily caught up with the other two and reduced his speed slightly to stay in pace with them.

“Interesting board,” Cowl called over the hum of his wings and the wind rushing by them. “Old World magic?”

“Yep,” Angel replied. “Got it a few years ago. I can’t go back to using anything else.”

“Why?” Vanessa asked. “It’s much bulkier than skates, and they’re not even that expensive anymore. They only cost a Vei.”

Cowl suppressed a laugh and Angel nearly fell off his board.

“Only a Vei? Only?” Angel exclaimed. “That’s a few months’ salary! Besides, my board will run your sad little skates into the ground. Old World magic dwarfs most of what we’ve got now.”

“You’d have more money if you didn’t spend all your time tinkering with artifacts,” Vanessa said.

“You sound like my landlord,” Angel said. “Your mom talked to you about me, then?”

“Of course she did. I wasn’t going to travel with some… stranger.”

Cowl glanced at her and let out a small chuckle. “What am I?”

“You don’t count. You’re a Hunter,” Vanessa said, not sounding certain of her own words.

They traveled for the next few minutes in silence. Angel continued glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone had followed them, but Bronze City was fading quickly into the distance without any signs of pursuit.

“I don’t suppose your fancy shoes turn off?” Angel asked. “The bright glowing light is kind of a beacon for anyone trying to follow us. Why do they even do that?”

“They don’t,” Vanessa said crossly. “And they glow because they’re the latest model. It helps you see where you’re going at night.”

“That’s stupid,” Angel said. “We’re going to have to remove that part. I’m not going to travel with walking Vyrg bait.”

Vanessa’s face paled at the name of the monster. “They’re not here… are they? I thought Vyrgs stayed in the center of the desert.”

“They’re everywhere,” Angel replied. “They just don’t bother with lone humans often. There’s no reason to entice them by dressing up like a fairy, though.”

“You act as if you’ve seen a Vyrg.”

“I have,” Angel said flatly. “Watched it crush an entire caravan. They had some great artifacts.”

Vanessa gaped in horror. “You robbed them?”

“They were dead. It’s not like they needed the artifacts anymore,” Angel replied.

Before Vanessa could reply, Cowl raised a hand. They slowed to a stop as the strange Hunter’s wings retracted back into his back and he touched down on the sand. He turned as Angel stepped off his board and Vanessa’s twinkly shoes turned off.

“What’s wrong?” Angel asked.

“We’re far enough away from the city to speak without worrying about getting caught. And the Seeker is right – your skates need to go. You’re giving away our position to the entire desert.”

“Fine,” Vanessa said, a worried frown crossing her face. “But how do we get rid of the lights? I don’t think there’s an off switch.”

“We can break the lights,” Cowl said.

“Break them? But… I don’t have any others!” Vanessa’s face fell, but the blank gaze of Cowl’s mask was too much to argue with. With a sad sigh, she started to take her boots off.

“I can turn them off without destroying the skates,” Angel said. “It won’t take me long. Do you think we can spare the time?”

“Five minutes,” Cowl said, cocking his head. “You know enough about skates to modify them? You don’t even have your own pair.”

“I suppose we’ll find out,” Angel replied, taking the boots from Vanessa and turning them over. The bottom of each shoe had a thin strip of metal along with several tiny valves and a cannister. Miniscule lines ran out from the cannister, crisscrossing throughout the sole.

Angel’s mechanical arm let out a hiss of steam as needlelike points emerged from his fingertips. His eyepiece dropped down and magnified the lines. He traced them from the cannister, muttering to himself as his fingers fluttered over the shoes.

After a few moments, Angel nodded to himself. He reached into the bag at his side, digging around for a few moments before pulling out a thin metal tool with a pointed tip. He channeled magic in his left hand and a small spark of blue light flared at the tip and Angel pressed it against one of the lines. He repeated the process on the other shoe, then handed them back to Vanessa.

“I can fix that when we arrive,” Angel said. “I just interrupted the connection of the magic by breaking a small line. It won’t take more than a minute or two.”

“You figured out how skates worked enough to modify them within a few minutes?” Cowl asked doubtfully.

“Who would’ve thought,” Angel said dryly. “Spending all your time dismantling artifacts gives a slight advantage when examining other magical items.”

Cowl grunted. “I might have a few things for you to look at. Broke some tools on my last job.”

“I’ll give them a glance for the right amount of coin,” Angel said, a grin tugging at his lips. He got the feeling that Cowl was scowling at him.

The Hunter just shook his head and gestured for Vanessa to put her shoes back on. “Time’s ticking. There’s another reason that I had us stop for a moment.”

“What is it?” Vanessa asked, nervously looking into the desert from where they’d come.

“Somebody knew you’d try to escape the city today. That means it’s not unreasonable to assume that they know where we’re heading.”