Hokka stormed into Captain Lyvix's office, fuming. "Stop wasting my time. I should be on the King's security team." He tossed a small metallic toy soldier onto the desk between them, its features worn from use. "Not confiscating children's toys from helpless beggars."

"Now where did you get that...?"

Hokka looked up from the toy, startled, as a cloaked figure emerged from the shadows in the corner, her voice betraying recognition. He belatedly realized he had interrupted a meeting.

"Is this the only item in the prisoner's possession?" Captain Lyvix furrowed his brows. "She didn't have anything else on her?"

"She wouldn't need anything else," the cloaked stranger answered. She gingerly retrieved the metallic statuette, caressing its surface with an expert hand until a throwing dagger materialized from the toy-shaped hilt, the deep red blade faintly glowing and pulsing with an unmistakable hunger. "It's as I feared. They've sent a Shadow."

Hokka stuttered in surprise. "How... What.. How did you...?"

"She's in custody now?" The stranger ignored his questions. "Full Antimagic Protocols?"

∼∼

Voxx surveyed her current surroundings before clumsily collapsing to a seat in the corner of her cell, maintaining her cover as a sickly beggar. The buffoon of a guard, the large man an epitome of wasted training resources, looked up briefly from his perch to verify her presence before quickly settling back into his nap.

So far, so good.

She carefully placed her hands against the rough stone walls of the corner, selecting a section scarred by scratches where someone had clearly attempted to dig through. She channeled her Necromancy, light, delicate, just enough to phase her fingertips into the wall. The skill of plane phasing remained key to the Shadows' particular brand of assassination, and Voxx was one of the best. She pushed harder, sinking up to her first finger joints before she felt any resistance. Sliding her hands slowly across the wall she tested the strength of the barrier, before calmly extracting herself from within the stone.

Tyrellium. By the feel of it, a pretty solid weave had been stretched through the walls, blocking any magic from penetrating through. Any efforts to travel through the walls this way would require too much energy, as the conductive properties of the Tyrellium would ensure her spellwork was spread evenly across each wall, if not the entire cell block.

If she still had the blade she could have carefully phased it to cut through a portion of the weave, but it had been confiscated upon her arrest. Its loss was but a minor inconvenience, of course. If the King had indeed sent his pet Necromancer, the Traitor, to see to the security preparations she would soon discover the blade, despite its unassuming appearance as a children's toy. She would also recognize the blade itself as the one she herself had wielded during her tenure with the Shadows, and recognize the implicit message.

It was bad form to assassinate a member of the family, even a traitorous former member, without any advanced notice.

Voxx adjusted her positioning, the sudden sound of movement drawing her attention, but it was merely the guard posted outside settling into a more comfortable position. Fool. But not for much longer. She carefully scraped her fingers along the crumbling portion of wall, selecting a few healthy sized pebbles, before rising and making her way to the barred front portion of the cell, protected only by the guard's fearsome snores.

∼∼

"You fool," the cloaked stranger hissed, her hood now pulled back to reveal her face. Her green eyes bored into Hokka's very soul.

At least, given her skills in Necromancy, he hoped it was only her eyes.

They stood in front of the now-empty, still locked cell where he had left the assassin-beggar just moments ago. He kneeled next to the body of his former partner, the burly officer now slumped lifelessly against the bars, checking for a pulse.

"He's dead." The necromancer's voice was devoid of emotion, her eyes surveying the cell for any clues from its former occupant. "Heart attack. Or maybe suffocation."

Hokka lept to his feet, clenching his fists at her callousness, but held his ground after a stern frown from his Captain. Their companion ignored him, continuing her search. She motioned to a small pile of pebbles in the corner, a reminder of a previous occupant who had foolishly tried to dig through the thick stone and tyrellium walls lining three sides of the cell. "There. Major organs are delicate. Temperamental. A few pebbles, inserted in the right spot..." She scowled in Hokka's direction. "As easy as phasing through cell bars without the Antimagic Protocols engaged."

Hokka tensed. An assassin who could do that much, with that little, was now on the loose on the eve of the King's visit. And it was his fault.

The stranger turned to Captain Lyvix, barking orders. "Find all the Grief Walkers you can. Have them scour the city. Assign them in pairs, threes if you can. They'll need guards, with an Antimagic mage on each team."

Her shoulders slumped. "They're not trained for this... But they're the only ones who can find her now, and she knows it. Without protection, they're as good as dead anyway."

She straightened again, bracing for the task at hand. "If we don't find her soon, we're all dead."

∼∼

"But I can't be dead!"

Voxx pinched the bridge of her nose before sliding her fingers outwards to rub her temples. Why were the recently deceased so exhausting with their incessant questions and demands? She briefly debated threatening to strangle him into an even higher spiritual resonance, but experience had taught her to never antagonize the newly dead. Not if she wanted to sleep sometime this month.

Instead she took a deep breath, donning her most soothing smile as she exhaled and turned to her former guard. "My condolences." The guard gave a start, turning his attention away from his own corpse as if noticing her for the first time.

"You can see me? Do you... Did you see what happened?" "You had a stroke, died in your sleep." No need to mention she was the one who had phased the pebbles into his blood stream.

"Oh no... My family..." A tear meandered its way down the rough skin of his cheek. "My wife... The baby's been colicky, up all night... Who's going to help her now?" His brown eyes pleaded with Voxx for answers. "Who's going to make sure my little girl knows I love her?"

Voxx let out a sharp exhale. She hated when they told her their life's story. So much easier to avoid the guilt and the risk of sliding into Vitriol Magic when she could count each life as a sacrifice for the greater good. Now she'd have to do something nice for his family.

"I can help with that. I'll enchant this... " She tugged the identification badge off the guard's former uniform, running her hand across the name Hemingway before sliding it into her pocket. "...and then you can talk to each other whenever you want. But first, I'll need your help."

Hurried footsteps from down the hall.

"Quickly! Quietly!" She motioned for him to follow her, darting down the hall to the next row of cells. She slid into the one directly opposite her former cell, where the Tyrellium walls would block her from detection while still allowing her to hear the conversation.

Voxx smiled in satisfaction at the familiar voice. So you received my message, Traitor? You, too, will join your precious King in the spirit world.

Voxx listened as the Traitor detailed her plans to find her. "Find all the Grief Walkers you can. Have them scour the city. Assign them in pairs, threes if you can. They'll need guards, with an Antimagic mage on each team."

Voxx's grin grew wider. Oh my sweet Traitor. You really should know better. She waited until she heard all three pairs of boots rush off to their tasks before turning to the guard. "I need to change into something a little more presentable." She motioned to the beggar's garb. "Why don't you go home and I'll meet you there? I just need the address." She'd need an updated disguise, something to pass even the Traitor's notice. 

"Now? Yes!" His face lit up. "I sure am lucky I ran into you! I heard Grief Walkers usually have a waiting list."

"I cleared my schedule for today. Just for you."