BLOOD GIFT

CHAPTER 06: TROUBLE IN HILSTON MARKET

The massive grey city of Hilston Market finally appeared, and the quartet stopped dead in their tracks, staring. It was vast, constructed of light, uniform stone, and everything was clean. The dominant motif was the Hundred Hands Sigil the symbol of the Tarrith House carved into every lamppost, archway, and official doorway. The symbol of law and absolute control.

“Look at that! the buildings are so tall!” Mercy gasped, her eyes wide as saucers as she stared at the three-story buildings.

Jon adjusted his worn tunic, suddenly feeling painfully rustic. “Well, this is different. It smells like baked bread and money. Mostly money.”

Holst, instead of being impressed, wrinkled his nose and spat on the immaculate cobblestones. “I hate it. Too many rules in the air. These Tarrith folk are so worried about order, they probably fine you for smiling too loud.” , mercy frowned and nudged Holst for his pessimism.

Isabel laughed, her quiet amusement a welcome sound. “It’s impressive, Holst. Just keep your Earthsmith rumbling contained, and maybe they wont arrest you for being such a party pooper .”

They found acceptable rooms at ‘The Gilded Scale’ and set out for their main purpose: provisioning.

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The market was a sensory explosion. Towers of candied fruit gleamed under magical light-gems, tailors sold outfits with impossibly straight seams, and the air was thick with scents they couldn't name.

Mercy immediately went to a cart selling vibrant, glowing candies. “Jon, look! They have crystallized sunlight! We have to buy five bags. We haven’t had sugar like this since…”

“…Since never, Mercy, we grew up eating dirt and berries,” Jon finished, shaking his head but already pulling out a few copper pieces. He purchased an expensive, detailed canvas map and a few sweets they happily devoured his eyes lit up as he saw the routes laid out clearly for the first time. “God I love this place." he clutched the map to his chest. No more guessing which trail is a smuggler's shortcut and which is a sheer cliff face, ”

Holst, meanwhile, was having a grumpy but necessary time at the Blacksmith. He selected heavy-duty bolts for his Stone’s Kiss crossbow, arguing with the vendor over the quality of the alloy.

“I need something that will anchor a giant to the ground, not something that’ll bounce off a tin can, you understand?” Holst insisted, tapping the blacksmith's chest. “You city smiths only make pretty things. Where’s the substance?” John tried his best to pull him away but there was nothing getting between Holst and his unbridled passion for metal work.

Isabel purchased dark, functional clothing, but her biggest difficulty was resisting the jewelry. She spent a full ten minutes staring at a pair of small, obsidian earrings before Holst pulled her away.

“you want one? " Jon asked her from behind, she recoiled with embarrassment, she wasn't aware he was staring, he only laughed "c'mon let's get you something we still have extra money from the fiasco at graith what would you like" she smiled sheepishly and pointed at an unremarkable looking trinket, a bracelet with a small blue gemstone, it's body had a red and white design drawn in parallels, Jon pulled out his small wallet and paid for it while she remained speechless, no one had ever gotten her anything, she was about to thank him when -- "Let’s get the rations and the water barrels, and then we’re gone. This place is making me twitchy.” Holst said, only then did they notice mercy who had been staring at them, or more like glaring, shed seen the whole thing, Jon laughed "boy you sure are grumpy today Holst" before he ruffled mercy's hair and went along. Isabel took a while to gather herself before following behind.

They finally consolidated their purchases. They were crossing the main square, laughing about Holst's earlier argument, when the world violently changed.

It began with a raw, high-pitched scream of agony and panic from a narrow alley leading to the shipping docks.

Then came the light: a blinding, chaotic flash of acidic purple and sickly green energy that refused to dissipate, swirling, building in power.

FSSSSHHH-BOOM!

The explosion was a visceral shockwave that scattered debris everywhere and filled the air with a noxious plume of smoke that smelled sickeningly of burnt chemicals and scorched meat.

Jon hauled Mercy to her feet. “Stay low! That’s an uncontrolled Gift overload!”

A man his body smoking and mangled stumbled out of the alley mouth. Violent purple veins pulsed across his neck and arms, before the power failed. He collapsed, dead, amidst the debris.

The market was thrown ajar, fruit stalls were turned over as people ran , the chaos itself was more deafening than the explosion and the local Hilston Market Watch were terrified and useless, managing only to impose a chaotic, localized curfew.

“This is our cue to leave,” Holst said, the fun gone from his voice. “If the Tarrith commanders show up, we’ll be trapped here until they decide the mess is small enough to ignore.”

They shuffled through the now rowdy market and made it finally to the gilded cage there all night, they listened to the panic.

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The next morning, the silence came, followed by the heavy, synchronized THUMP-THUMP-THUMP of armored boots.

The Tarrith Enforcers arrived in shining silver armor. the leading commander a stout man named Captain vellis stood in the square, his voice booming across the city, amplified by a perfectly shape-Shifting the proportions of his throat.

“By Order of the Hundred Hands, the City of Hilston Market is under the Absolute Law of Containment!” Vellis declared. “No citizen may enter or exit. All movement outside residences is prohibited under penalty of High Law. Tarrith Authority is in control". The soldiers with him immediately began to mobilize, posing at key points in the city and establishing a temporary base in the town square, they moved like a well oiled machine.

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"This is some BS" Jon grumbled.

"I agree, as if we weren't side tracked enough this 'investigation of theirs could take weeks" Isabel slumped into her bed.

Holst could only grind his teeth he really really hated big cities.

"Damnit I have to go to him and try to get a pass"

"you really think that'll work"? mercy said

"it's worth a shot, Holst come with me" they both stormed out of the room with high confidence but which each step it dimmed a little.

they went to the city square desperate for an exit permit and there in the enforcers camp they met vellis, sitting alone in a tent, a full map of the city displayed for his view, two guards stationed Infront of his space but they were gracious enough to let our duo pass

“Captain Vellis, I am Jon, of The Shattered Fang and this is Holst We are neutral travelers with an urgent mission.”

Vellis sneered, his eyes traveling over Jon’s scruffy appearance. “You presume to interrupt Tarrith Authority, scavenger? Your ‘urgent business’ is irrelevant to order.”

“But sir, we saw the man. this is a serious threat. and would take even the enforcers weeks to solve, we can't just sit by-"

Vellis laughed, a short, contemptuous sound. “You, a scavenger, lecturing a Tarrith Captain on the stability of form? Go back to your hidey-hole, boy. If you break the Law of Conformity, you face High Law penalties.”

"but-" Holst wanted to speak.

"listen kids, I've said my piece you can choose to leave here now or be escorted by my guards to a cell where you can spend the night "

they returned to the inn, furious. “They won’t listen! They’d rather risk another blast than admit a problem exists outside their Law! We are trapped.”

Holst sighed "there might be another way"

"huh?'

" we could conduct the investigation ourselves solve this darn thing and get out quick "

"absolutely not!"

"you might just be unto something "

*facepalm* "why does no one listen to me? guys look I'm all for kicking butts but that... whatever it was seemed dangerous, unnatural there's too much risk here facing something we don't know, besides if we're caught meddling...."

"we won't be caught bels" mercy spoke up "we've done this before, right guys?" . Jon and Holst nodded, Isabel sighed she knew she'd been outvoted .

"fine! but how are we going to go about this"?

“We have to force Vellis’s hand,” Holst decided. “We find the source, we give him the intelligence, and then we run.”

"we split and talk to the inhabitants of the city, it's big but if we target certain hotspots we're sure to find someone who knew the guy"

Jon nodded "I'll go with mercy, Holst take Isabel even if we can't find anything you guys are sure to dig up something around the blast site"

Isabel slightly nodded relieved she won't be alone with Jon and be forced to talk about the whole bracelet thing.

************************************************

Jon and Mercy found a dock worker, Torvin, who knew the victim. they approached him when he was done offloading some goods and gave him some beer to get him 'in the mood', mercy asked the questions, using her innocent girl advantage to the max

"That was Liran," Torvin whispered. "He was obsessed with a group called the 'Nexus Program.' they've been picking off folks in the smaller areas promising him accelerated power" he took another big gulp " the catch is most of these folks never make it back and the ones that do generally start acting off" mercy and Jon were surprised but thanked torvin and got him another beer. meanwhile Holst and Isabel were having trouble snooping around the blast site that was full of enforcers luckily, Isabel's nose picked up the scent of the body and they tracked the scent to a small house, it was a single bedroom , unkept and in a small abbatoir area the air here was distinctive despite all the meat around, the room screamed bachelor from the lack of furniture to the cadence, Isabel cringed in disgust this was Liran’s room, here they found crude leaflets with the headline "UNLOCK YOUR DUAL POTENTIAL – THE NEXUS INITIATIVE."

they immediately took these back to the gilded cage, making sure to not leave traces of their presence.

once they had gathered their findings jon sensed the residual, chaotic energy on the leaflet he was drawn to . “The Nexus Program,” Jon mumbled his gift was vast in proportions that often made the group weary, from just the remnants of blood on the leaflet he came to a chilling conclusion “They’re forcing the fusion of Gifts, manufacturing unstable weapons. Liran was a failed, self-detonating experiment.”

"how's that even possible" mercy gasped.

"this is certainly bigger than we thought are you guys ready to back down now?" Isabel said but she knew she was boiling stones , their expressions shifted from fear of the unknown to bravery real quick, these people, her family, they were crazed.

"we have to do something.. they're preying on the weak, promising power only to take and take" Holst said

" I agree it's bigger than us, bigger than this place and maybe even bigger than the tarrith house, if we don't help who will? surely not bad haircut vellis " Jon said inciting a small chuckle from mercy.

"well I guess its setllec then. Let's go save this ungrateful city" Isabel smiled, mercy cheered, "this is going to be sooo fun"

now they had to pit the two against each other: the destructive Nexus Program versus the arrogant Tarrith House.