Crimson and Gold

Having the new lead thanks to Mormo, Saria didn’t waste any time.

The same night they visited ‘Charybdis’, Saria escorted Lysandra back to the Royal Palace and then, with haste, rushed towards the coordinates they received.

The place that Mormo guided them to was the crossroads three hours north of Aervelis.

At first glance, the area didn’t look special in any way. Just a normal intersection of two main roads, with a rundown shack among dried bushes and a cliff on the other side.

Having not many more options, Saria headed for the ruins.

The building looked mostly abandoned, with a thick layer of orange sand clinging to its dilapidated walls. There was a part of the roof missing, and all the windows were covered with boards.

The only thing that got Saria’s attention was the door that seemed to be in a much better shape than the rest of the building. It even had metal reinforcements and a heavy lock.

Carefully, Saria circled the place, trying to take a peek inside through the cracks in the wooden boards, with little to no avail.

Initially, she planned to break inside, but upon closer inspection, she realized that the place was littered with traps and defensive glyphs.

Another thing that she noticed was tracks coming in and going out of the back of the shack. Some were visibly older than the others, but there was one more set that seemed not to be older than two days.

Deciding to gamble on the possibility that the place is frequently visited, Saria left the shack and climbed the cliff on the other side.

There was but one thing left for her to try in this situation.

Wait.

When the second day of her stakeout was coming to an end, Saria was slowly losing hope of ever getting anywhere with her investigation.

Not only that, but during that time, she had little to no sleep or meals.

Even though, from what she managed to recall, this was something she was used to as a member of Sekaris, her body was slowly reaching its limits nonetheless.

While her blood magic was giving her a significant advantage over most humans, that still wasn’t enough to make her completely immune to fatigue and hunger.

Just as she was considering giving up for now, she saw an old wagon arrive at the shack.

The driver got off and went inside.

No longer than five minutes later, he came out carrying two heavy canvas bags that he placed on the back of the wagon.

Making sure that the shack was closed, he hopped on the seat and guided the horse out of the property.

Not wanting to lose the only lead she had, Saria forced herself to ignore the exhaustion and follow after the man.

Less than an hour later, guided by the wagon, Saria arrived at a place that seemed to be an old fort. A forgotten relic of an old war that most couldn’t remember anymore.

The place was far from being abandoned.

With all four watchtowers manned with two people each and a heavily guarded entrance, it seemed like she was in the right place.

Carefully sneaking from cover to cover, Saria managed to get close enough to cover the whole grounds with her abilities.

She focused her mind, regulated her breathing, and closed her eyes, allowing for her senses to take over.

Heartbeat after heartbeat, she was detecting more and more people roaming around the fort.

For a while, nobody matched the Drusus’ description, Lysandra gave her.

Until deep within the fort, she finally found him.

At this moment, Saria felt torn.

On one hand, she was clearly exhausted, her body reaching its limits. If a fight broke out, she would underperform, which in turn could risk both of their lives.

On the other hand, Drusus’ vital signs were worrying, to say the least. The man was in noticeably bad shape. He wasn’t young anymore, so extended strain like this was much more dangerous than for someone young and in their prime like her.

Going back to Aervelis to rest and, perhaps, get some backup would be safer for Saria, but could end up being too late for Drusus.

She clenched her jaw, feeling like every choice was wrong.

Then she remembered the worried look on Lysandra’s face every time she spoke about Drusus.

There was no doubt that if he were to die, it would ruin her.

That thought was enough for Saria to make up her mind.

There was no time for playing safe, and if she couldn’t handle the fight on this scale, then she just had to avoid it altogether.

Clearing the turbulence in her heart, Saria moved towards the fort.

Getting in wasn’t easy, but after a short search, she was able to locate the spot on the fortifications that provided the best path for climbing.

Unfortunately, it was also a section with the highest number of guards, but thanks to her abilities, all she had to do was stay hidden below the ledge until the path was clear.

During her climb, she was already monitoring the way the guards were moving to find a pattern or an opening.

Surely enough, just as she was reaching the top, there was a very brief moment when the guards were all looking away.

She quickly vaulted over the ledge and, in a few decisive steps, reached the other side of the wall.

From there, with no time to waste, she slid down the ladder placed against the wall and hid behind the supply boxes nearby.

Just in time for two guards to pass by without noticing her.

She waited for them to leave, then, with haste, moved to the next spot.

It took her nearly twenty minutes to get to the section where Drusus was being held.

Fortunately, judging by much weaker security, they weren’t expecting anyone to come for the man. Or at least make it this far.

Without rushing, Saria got past the last guards and finally made it to Drusus’ cell.

“Who—”

“Lysandra sent me. There is no time for explaining. You have to come with me right now, or we’ll miss our chance to leave without fighting our way through,” Saria cut in and, without waiting for his reaction, broke through the chains binding him.

Drusus looked at her suspiciously, hesitating whether or not he should listen.

“I know you have no reason to trust me, but explaining how Lysandra and I met is a long story, and by the time I finish, we’ll be both dead,” Saria pleaded.

“Alright. Lead the way.”

Sneaking out of the prison was easy, but the real problem appeared after that.

With Drusus, it was impossible to take the same path as the one Saria used to get in, so they needed a new, more direct route.

The fort’s courtyard was swarming with guards while the fortifications were closely monitored by archers patrolling between the watchtowers.

Fortunately, Drusus had a solution.

“There is one more exit out of the fort, but it won’t be easy to get there.”

“Go on.”

“A while ago, I overheard a few guards talking about a passage in the kitchen, hidden in the cellar. They use it to sneak out from the fort to make some extra money on the side.”

“Sounds promising. Do you know how to get there?”

“I do. But it will be risky. We will have to go past the soldiers’ quarters.”

“Don’t worry about that. Just lead the way and do as I say.”

Drusus nodded and guided her deeper into the fort’s main building.

As they approached closer to the sleeping quarters, they started encountering more and more people in the hallways.

To Drusus’ surprise, Saria always knew beforehand when someone was coming, allowing them to hide just in time.

He observed her closely, how every now and then she’d stop for a moment, close her eyes, and stand there without moving, only to perfectly predict when and where someone would be in their way.

“How are you doing that?” he asked eventually.

“It’s a long story.”

“Seems like everything is a long story with you,” he scoffed, “do you have any short ones?”

Saria took another turn around the corner and gestured at him to hide in the nearby recess.

When two guards passed them without noticing, she walked out and continued through the corridor.

“There was one time when I killed a guy with a fork for stealing my bread.”

“What?”

“You asked if I have any short stories to tell. That was a short story.”

Drusus raised his eyebrows in surprise, but didn’t say anything. Part of him wondered if it was a veiled threat that she gave him, or was it a genuine answer to his question.

Either way, there weren’t many options for him, so all he could do was to continue giving her directions and following her instructions to avoid detection.

Fortunately, shortly after, they managed to get to the kitchen and locate the passage in the cellar without issues.

Once free, Saria guided him away from the fort and told him to wait for her. Not long after, she came back with a horse.

She helped him on, and they were finally able to head back to the city.