Reincarnated! A Tale of the Sorceress Amaya

“I think we should start our investigation over there.” I pointed at a food stall.

“You just want to eat some grilled fish.”, Lucy teased.

“Food is important for morale!”, I said as I walked towards the vendor. I ordered some grilled trout with a potato salad. It was served on a paper tray with a small wooden fork. Lucy did not want anything and just watched me eat.

“Amaya! Lucy!” I heard someone call our names. It was Hilda approaching us.

“Hilda, nice to meet you.” Lucy said.

“Hello.” I kept my greeting short since I was still eating.

“What are you ladies doing at the docks?” Hilda asked.

“Just looking around. Actually, you said you are a caravan guard, right? Did you hear about any problems around Iron Rock recently?”, Lucy inquired.

“Problems? I heard some gangs are getting bolder. Apparently a warehouse got broken into recently. Why?”

“We were hired to look into some trouble.”, Lucy admitted. “Do you know which warehouse? Or who got robbed?”

“Hm. It was a wine merchant. Warehouse 3, if my memory serves me right. All the warehouses are numbered.”

I finished my meal by now. “Thank you Hilda, that might be helpful.”

We said our goodbyes and left to investigate the warehouse. There was no guarantee that this was connected to our case. But it could be part of the Empire’s plan to cause trouble. The warehouse was easy to find. A bored looking city guard was standing in front of it. We approached him.

“Hello. I am Amaya and this is Lucy. We are currently working for the duke and would like to investigate the warehouse.” We really should have asked for some form of identification. We did not have any proof of our claim. The guard took one look at us and waved us through.

“Sure, go ahead.”

I suppose the guard was informed about us. And I have not seen another night elf since my arrival. Still, the security seemed a bit lacking. The warehouse was built out of stone with a giant metal gate at the front. There was also a smaller door next to it. The gate was locked from the inside, by a metal bar, while the small entrance used a lock with a key. All the windows had metal bars.

The building was mostly empty but there were some crates in the back. Thanks to my Eyes of the Fey I could see magic. There was a glow coming from within those crates. We cautiously approached them for a better look. Thanks to our strength it was easy to pry one open. The inside was filled with runes and components for a ritual. Upon closer inspection I realised the spells were already active. There was simply delay built into the magic.

The break-in could have been a cover to sneak in those crates. Everybody would focus on the missing goods and nobody would look too closely at the things left behind. Especially if the manifest said they held nothing worth robbing.

“Lucy, those rituals will summon demons. As far as I can tell, they are supposed to activate tomorrow.”

“Demons? Why would someone want to summon demons in a warehouse? Without anyone controlling them they would just run around and rampage.”

“Exactly, they would cause quite a bit of chaos. The population might get scared. Surely the inquisition, that just so happens to be in the city right now, would offer to help.”

Lucy frowned. “Possible, but we don’t have any proof. Although demon summonings are very rare, this could still be a coincidence.”

“True.”, I admitted. “But we do know that the Empire wants some chaos. Imagine if the duke would have died. Afterwards demons emerge in the city. The inquisition arrives just in time to help. The people would look to them for safety. Whoever opposes them might be branded as a demon worshipper.”, I theorised.

“It would make sense. If it isn’t the Empire, it would mean there is a second large plot happening in the city. But how do we find out? Even if we track down who those crates belong to, they might have been switched in the break-in. How do we find those responsible? Also, what do we do with those crates? Can you stop the ritual?”

“Yes. Dispel magic should take care of that. You can do it too, if you have the spell.”

“Oh. Yes, please let me try!”, Lucy answered eagerly. I watched her as she focused. The spell competed and the rituals stopped glowing. Of course someone could still reactivate them. We could destroy the runes but they were evidence.

“Lucy, I was hoping you could transform into a fox and use your nose. That was my original plan for tracking the culprits.”

“Sure.” Lucy transformed and began sniffing around. Meanwhile I walked back to the entrance to inform the guard.

“Hello again, we found something that needs your attention. There were some rituals prepared inside.”, I told the guard.

“Uh… rituals you say? Are they dangerous?”

“Don’t worry, we deactivated them. We can show them to you and afterwards you should call for reinforcements. They were supposed to summon demons.”

“Demons?” The guard paled.

Nevertheless, he followed me when I showed him the crates. Lucy had already transformed back. After one look he hastily left to get some help. We assured him we would guard the scene until then.

“Did you find a trail?”, I asked Lucy once the guard left.

“I think I found something. Should I go after it?”, she asked.

“I think it’s best if we both wait until more guards arrive. We will follow the trail afterwards.”, I suggested. Even though we were both powerful, splitting up seemed like a bad idea. So we just waited together.