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.Quessahn cursed and slipped away from the light of the fire.The Watch had protocols and procedures for rank promotions, procedures that should have weeded out dangerous men such as Lucian Dregg, but if Lord Neverember had paved Dregg's path through the ranks.Allek's investigation had been in secret.Dregg could maintain total control for several days before the Watch commanders could reassess the situation.Plenty of time for much damage to be done, she thought.I've got to find Jinn, and quick.She studied the burning tavern, her eyes settling upon the edge of the angled roof and following it around, past the crowd, to a darkened alley.A woman stood at the edge of the alley, eyeing the Watch and the crowd but suspiciously ignoring the burning tavern.Quessahn skirted behind the gathering, trying to appear casual as she studied the dark-haired woman and the unlit alley.Common spells slid comfortably to the forefront of her thoughts, arranging themselves like familiar constellations in her mind.Others, darker spells that slithered comfortably in the recesses of her memory, she held in reserve, just in case.The dark-haired woman casually stepped into the alley, disappearing in the shadows.Taking a deep breath, Quessahn followed.Jinn pulled his hand away from the stolen blade, a breath of clarity leaving him a bit dazed as he stared up into the black eyes of Sathariel.He sensed some hitherto unknown enchantment in the weapon, something trying to force his hand when he had his own pool of hatred to draw from when dealing with the angel.Study of the sword could wait.He couldn't reach Sathariel, not fast enough at any rate, and refused to amuse his enemy by attempting to do so."You're lost in this, deva," Sathariel said, scanning his black eyes across the city."Out of your depth, a relic of wars long over and meaningless.""I found you," Jinn replied."And the wars never ended.""Mulhorand's gods are lost.They left you here, stuck in that mortal body," the angel said."And here you are, scrambling for purpose, fighting for fleeting glories in mortal causes that serve only to feed your arrogance.Variel was right about you."Jinn's fists clenched at the sound of her name from the beast that had taken her away from him.For a breath he considered the height of the nearest wall, the street lantern hook above, the window ledge above that, but fought the impulse down.He was certain he would battle the angel on even terms soon enough and would not be goaded into making himself vulnerable."She said you would never quit, never stop long enough to see the lives you might have spent together.She knew that my destruction would mean nothing," Sathariel said, rising and spreading wide his black wings."You cannot stop what is to come, Jinnaoth.You should have left this city when Variel asked you to."Cold wind gusted through the alley as Sathariel ascended into the night, one shadow among many in the rolling clouds, leaving Jinn to stare for what seemed forever, hand once again on the blade stolen from the Vigilant Order.He recalled the scent of Variel's hair resting on his shoulder, the look in her silver eyes as she'd pleaded for him to abandon Waterdeep, a city not yet named when they had been already quite old.He wondered, as he always did, if he would have answered her differently if he had the chance to do it all over again."One of yours?"Mara's voice pulled him away from reverie, and he turned to the body of the young woman in the alley.Mara knelt over the girl, sniffing the air and tracing the twisting angle of a lifeless arm."No," he answered as the hag whispered harshly over the corpse, eyes burning red as she cupped her hands close to the girl's lips."She was possessed by something.""Useless!" Mara growled, recoiling from the body and shaking the red dust of a crushed gem from her hands."The soul is like ash, burned away to nothing." "Jinn!" Quessahn arrived, circling round the scowling Mara, hands almost glowing with arcane threat."The Watch is looking for you; Dregg is in charge.""That didn't take long," he muttered, placing a calming hand on her shoulder and nodding to Mara."We'll need to be quick, then.Distraction?""How far?" Mara asked, old strategies already in motion."Slow down! Who is this?" Quessahn asked, shoving his hand away and eyeing the body between them."What in the Abyss is happening here?""Pharra's Alley," Jinn replied, ignoring the eladrin's confusion."And take Quessahn with you.""If you insist," Mara said, staring her up and down disapprovingly."Jinn, what's going on?" Quessahn pressed, narrowing her eyes."No time," he said."Just follow Mara's lead.We'll meet up later."He didn't wait for her response, turning the east corner.He half hoped she might just leave her findings about the sigils with Maranyuss and abandon him for her studies at the House of Wonder, but he knew her stubbornness would keep her around a while longer
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