“Then anyone could be onboard,” Seren said. She set the homunculus aside and moved closer to the window for a better look. The little construct closed the book and carefully placed it back on the shelf, sitting down beside it as an improvised bookend.
“It has been docked all evening,” Omax said.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?” Tristam asked.
“It is night,” the construct said. “The city is dangerous at night. I feared you might do something rash.”
“We’d better go check this out,” Tristam said, rising from his seat and reaching for his jacket.
“My point exactly,” Omax said dryly. The warforged rose with a weary metal creak.
“What do you plan to do, Tristam?” Seren asked. “Sneak onto the ship?”
“No,” he said. “I plan to find Arthen. I’m willing to bet he’s meeting with whoever came in on that ship.”
“You have no idea where he is,” Seren said. “You haven’t been in the village since we found him.”
“But I can track him,” Tristam said. “The same way I tracked you, Seren. If he’s carrying that lens, I can find him.”
Omax folded his metal arms across his chest and looked down at Tristam. “You truly believe you could put a magical tracking device on Zed Arthen and he would not discover and dispose of it?”
“He’d better not have disposed of it,” Tristam said, smirking up at Omax before he pulled his jacket over his shoulders and left the cabin. “It’s the damned lens.”
“You enchanted the lens?” Omax asked, impressed. “You only had it for a moment.”
“And I know Dalan,” Tristam said. “I wanted to be able to find it again if I needed to, and knew I might not have another chance. Now let’s go find him.”
Omax looked at Seren. She imagined she saw a long-suffering look in his mechanical eyes. The construct certainly seemed more human the longer she was around him. “Please help me keep him alive,” he said quietly.
Seren nodded and hopped off the bed, kicking her oversized shoes onto her feet. Something about what Tristam said bothered her, though she couldn’t quite figure out what it was just yet. The two followed Tristam into the hallway. He was already in the cargo bay, opening the lower bay doors and gathering a rope ladder.
“Shouldn’t we wait until morning?” Seren asked.
“What better time to meet secretly with someone in a place like this than when everyone else is hiding in their houses?” Tristam asked. “Besides, remember what Arthen said. One out of twenty days it might be dangerous-and I feel lucky. Besides, Omax can protect us.”
“I am flattered, Tristam,” Omax said, with perhaps a hint of sarcasm.
“Pardon me, Master Xain,” said a stern voice from above. “What is it that you are doing there?”
The trio looked up to see Captain Gerriman standing at the top of the deck ladder. He glared down at them, fists fixed imperiously upon his hips. Though he was half their height, Seren could not help but feel somewhat embarrassed and intimidated by the tiny captain’s outrage.
Tristam stuttered for a moment before answering. “We’re going into the village, Captain,” he said quietly, not meeting Pherris’s eyes.
Pherris looked over his shoulder, toward Dalan’s cabin, then glared back at them. “Without your captain’s permission?”
“We thought you might disapprove,” Tristam said.
“Oh, I might!” Pherris said. “And one might think that you should wish to seek my approval or lack thereof, considering that I am in fact the captain of this ship! Now. The reasons for your departure are irrelevant. I can easily guess what they are, and thus your excuses are of no interest to me. Could you answer one question for me, Master Xain?”
Tristam nodded.
“How did you plan to raise that ladder back up after the three of you had climbed down?” he asked. “Or did you plan to leave it dangling there so that any manner of demon or thief could climb onto my ship?”
“I thought maybe Omax would pull it back up and jump down unharmed?” Tristam asked.
Omax laughed.
“I’ve seen you take worse,” Tristam said, “and I can fix you.”
“And I can make a fine splint and tourniquet,” Pherris said acidly. “By your logic, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind Omax breaking your arm.”
Tristam looked at Omax. The warforged seemed to grin. Seren had to work very hard to restrain a laugh.
“And this is not even to consider that Master Dalan will be most displeased when he finds you’ve left without his knowledge,” Pherris said.
Tristam looked up at Pherris now, his nervous confusion suddenly gone. “Dalan made a mistake trusting Zed Arthen, Captain,” he said. “I have to fix it, or everything we’ve done will have been for nothing.”
Pherris looked at Tristam steadily for a long time, then nodded and stroked his moustache with one hand. “Very well,” he said, hopping down into the hold. “Climb on down. I’ll pull up the ladder.”
Tristam looked at Pherris, confused. “But …”
“Do not question the Captain’s orders,” Omax said, resting a heavy hand on his friend’s shoulder.
The gnome cackled and waved them toward the ladder. Tristam climbed down first. By the time Seren landed beside him, he had already drawn his sword and wand. The wand shimmered with white light, illuminating the road around them. She quickly pushed his arm down, covering the wand with his cloak.
“Put that away,” she whispered. “The light will just draw anything that’s sees us. The starlight is enough to get by.”
Tristam looked about to argue.
“Are you going to tell me how to sneak around, Tristam?” she asked.
Tristam shrugged and put the wand away.
“Can you sense the lens?” she asked him, looking up at the Lyrandar airship.
Tristam nodded. “It isn’t on that ship, at least.” He pointed toward the northern end of town with his sword. “It’s that way, somewhere. I can narrow it down if we get closer.”
A heavy thud sounded beside them, causing Tristam and Seren both to jump. Omax rose to his full height again, having jumped down without the ladder, and chuckled.
“I thought you said the fall would damage you,” Tristam said.
“I said it might,” Omax said. “It’s your fault for making me curious.”
“I thought it was against a monk’s vows to frighten people,” Tristam said, smoothing his coat over his chest with one hand.
“A soul cannot appreciate the stillness of the pond until it ripples,” Omax said. The warforged’s head swiveled from one side to the other with a low metallic click, his shining eyes scanning the darkness for any threat. He walked past them, finding his way unerringly in the shadows.
“Is he joking?” Seren asked with a half smile.
“It’s always hard to tell,” Tristam said, sheathing his sword and following.
Seren moved to Omax’s left while Tristam flanked the warforged on his right. She kept her hand on the hilt of her dagger. She was unsure if it would do much good against the creatures of the pit, but it would serve her well if the mortal inhabitants of the village decided to pose a problem. Other than the faint haze of starlight and the shimmering blue radiance of Omax’s eyes, the city was in complete darkness. The shrieking sounds of the pit were as loud as she had heard them, growing by the moment. The sound was difficult to describe: a mad, piercing wail underscored by babbling. Seren wanted to go back. When she exchanged looks with Tristam, it seemed he was having second thoughts as well, but Omax’s gaze was resolute and fearless. She saw no lights in any of the windows, only the occasional faint crack of radiance behind thick shutters. Though there were a few sconces for everbright lanterns on either side of the street, they did not shine. Seren paused by one and studied the empty bracket atop it. She looked at the others.
“Someone stole the light, I guess,” Tristam said, shrugging.
“Or it was removed intentionally,” Omax suggested. “I think no one wants to see what happens here at night.”
The same thought had occurred to Seren, but she had not wanted to speak it aloud. She gave the sconce a final anxious glance and moved on. Tristam stopped them several times, brow furrowing as he struggled to find the right way. They changed directions several times, until Omax finally sat down in the street and looked up at Tristam patiently.