Steamforged Sorcery - Chapter 30 (Patreon)

“Well then, what now?” Angel asked. “Do we just sit here and wait for the map?”

“Do whatever you were doing,” Cowl replied with a shrug. “We can’t move for a while, so you might as well enjoy your rest.”

“Angel said I couldn’t practice any more with the tools,” Vanessa said, twisting her nose. “I don’t know what else we can do.”

“Well,” Angel said, taking out a canister and drawing a spell in the air. He pressed it into the metal and sealed it before adding it to the holster on his shoulder. “I’ve still got some work to do. You might as well watch.”

Vanessa nodded and scooted forward as Angel deliberately repeated the process with the next canister, going much slower than he normally did so that she’d have a chance at picking something up.

“Where’d you learn Tinkering?” Cowl asked. “It’s normally quite expensive, and you don’t strike me as a noble.”

“My Master. I traveled with a very talented Seeker for many years when I was younger. He taught me everything I know about Seeking and Tinkering.”

“And Hunting,” Cowl observed. “Some of those flips and dodges I’ve seen you aren’t meant for dodging traps.”

“You can’t be a Seeker without knowing how to tussle with a few monsters. Just because I don’t seek them out doesn’t mean I can’t fight them,” Angel said. “My Master might not have been a Hunter, but he could have held his own with most of you.”

“A Seeker, Hunter, and Tinkerer?” Cowl asked. Angel suspect that, if he could have seen behind Cowl’s mask, the Hunter would have been raising an eyebrow.

“He sounds incredibly talented,” Vanessa said. “Where is he?”

“Dead,” Angel replied curtly. “And buried about a thousand yards under the Barren in a catacomb.”

“Oh,” Vanessa said, her face falling. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Angel replied. “He had it coming.”

Vanessa blinked, confused.

“Just because someone was talented doesn’t mean they were a good person,” Angel said. He took his pendant out, unwrapping the oilcloth, and silently started to work on it.

Hours passed in silence. Vanessa watched Angel study the pendant for a while, then pulled out her set of Tinkerer tools and started to pick the rust off the uncleaned tools with a small blade.

Night had already started to fall when the room’s flap parted and the man from before pushed it aside, stepping in with a small metal tube clasped in his hand. He handed it to Cowl, who popped the cap off the tube and tipped a roll of parchment into his hand.

“Real paper?” Cowl asked, his robotic voice crackling.

“You paid for a real map. That’s what you got,” the man said. “Don’t break it.”

“Wow,” Angel said, putting his pendant away and shifting to get a better look at the map. “I can’t remember the last time I saw nice paper. There isn’t much of that around the Barren anymore.”

“The cartographer has a merchant friend that brings it in from the Great Green,” the bearded man said with a small hint of pride. “I am pleased that you appreciate my work, but I am afraid that our business is done. I must ask that you leave the waiting room.”

“We’ll be happy to oblige,” Cowl said, rising to his feet and returning the map to its tube. Angel and Vanessa followed suit.

“Thanks,” Angel said, inclining his head as he passed the man on the way out. The room’s entrance was thin, and he had to turn sideways to fit through it without hitting the bearded man.

They brushed briefly as they passed, but neither man acknowledged each other again. Angel and Vanessa hurried after Cowl as the Hunter’s fast pace took them out of the large tent and towards the edge of the city.

“Are we going to travel at night?” Vanessa asked.

“We can use it to put some distance between ourselves and Vita,” Cowl said. “If they haven’t gotten fully paid by your Magistrate, they will have been soon. We don’t have the time to waste.”

“Agreed,” Angel said, taking the board off his back as they reached the grate. The guard on the wall above them pulled a lever as they approached, raising the grate blocking their path. Vanessa waved goodbye to him as they stepped into the desert.

Cowl’s wings popped out from his back and fluttered to life. Vanessa shot off after him with Angel close in pursuit. The cold wind, normally pleasant during the day, nipped at Angel’s extremities. His eyes dried quickly and he squinted, trying to shield them from the cold.

“I think I prefer traveling during the day!” Vanessa called over the howl of the wind. She hugged herself tightly, which was slightly impressive given the speed they were moving at.

“It’s not fun, but we need to put a good bit of distance between ourselves and Silver Sands,” Angel said.

“Because of the bandits?”

“That’s one of the reasons,” Angel said, pulling out a small leather pouch. “I also might have lifted this off the bearded guy Cowl hired.”

Cowl glanced back at him. “Anything good? I was thinking about doing that myself. The man was strutting around like he owned the city.”

“Haven’t had a chance to check yet,” Angel replied. “I’ll let you know once we stop for the night. It’s hefty though.”

Cowl grunted. The three lapsed into silence as they shot deeper into the night. No bandits bothered them on their way out of the city – either because they were all sleeping or because word had gotten out about what happened to the last group to cross their path.