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“Have youseenthe prices of fortisia lately?”
“She just collapsed on the floor in front of me. I didn’t know what to say.”
I climb the side of the building, leaping between bulges and grooves in the factory’s metal walls before reaching an overlooking platform, part of the right arch that details the building’s facade.
Below me, the noises of conversation have reached their peak as the metal doors creak open and a large outpouring of workers exit the building. A sudden whistling, produced by the pipe’s emission of steam on my left, startles me, and I nearly lose my footing. Whirling about, my eyes fall upon Brielle’s familiar brown curls, and I give chase.
I drop from the metal overlook, pushing my legs against one of the competing pillars on the sides of the factory, then touching the other pillar with my hands. I push off and flip myself upside down, propelling myself about twenty feet downward before catching a large lug nut on the way down.
I brush myself off, looking around to see if I was noticed before realizing that I hold the power. But for my own gratification, it seems like nobody was aware of my acrobatics.
“What in the Thirteen Hungry Maws are you doing here?”
A deep, baritone voice behind me rattles me, and I spin around to see Kaisax. He might be taller than me, but I’ve inherited the fighting genes.
“Obviously, I’m staking out a target,” I mumble. “Stop blowing my cover.”
“Taura shit you are,” Kaisax says.
If the crowd wasn’t aware of me earlier, they certainly are now. Traffic through the district has stopped to stare at us. To many of them, this is the only source of entertainment they’ll ever enjoy. We’re scripted theater – the gods themselves picking a fight in the middle of the street.
I look ahead of me, but it’s hard to see the front of the building from here.
I’ve lost her.
I ball my fists up in frustration but try my best to mask my rage.
“The lower gates are open to all, brother,” I say, attempting to peer around him as he crowds me with his immense form. He’s started growing a beard, but the stubble fails to conceal his stubborn double chin.
If I can end this dialogue quickly, perhaps I can still catch up to Brielle.
Her life is my theater.
“It seems like you take great joy in opening ‘the lower gates’ then,” Kaisax spits.
I raise my neck to look into his cold, gray eyes. I maintain a look of indifference and stoicism.
“What do you mean, dear brother?”
“You can save the act for your clients and targets,” Kaisax says. “I saw you in Lowtown. And I don’t believe you were on a job.”
I puff my chest up and flex my muscles. I might be no match for his brute force, but I will not be intimidated. Nor will I be told where I can and cannot venture.
“Even if I wasn’t on a job,” I say, feigning a cheerful demeanor. “Area scouting takes many forms. You can never be too prepared for the jobs you might be tasked with. You never know where you might be asked to strike.”
Kaisax shakes his head.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m not buying it. Do you really expect me to believe that you’re scouting Lowtown?”
“What’s so strange about that?” I ask.
He chuckles malevolently and heartily.
“I’ll tell you what,” he says. “I’ve heard Jearineau is having trouble with one of his taura. Why don’t I get you to assassinate one of them, too, while you’re at it?”
“Are you equating the humans in Lowtown to cattle?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he says. “I am.”
