The Foolhardies - Chapter 171 Flight of the Intruder

I wasn’t sure what made me do it. Perhaps an overabundance of caution was all it was. Or maybe it was my spider-sense tingling and telling me something was up. After all, there were a lot of fresh faces in that crowd whom I’d never seen before.

“Oh great fool, let me see the unseen that I might know the unknowable,” I whispered.

Luca reacted instantly to my chant, but kept his place behind me while whispering in my ear, “What’s up?”

“I don’t know yet… a feeling,” I whispered back. “Shut up and let me focus…”

As  I gazed out at the crowd with Fool’s Insight giving me, well, insight, I saw things I could never unsee again, like Dain Hammerhand mining for buggers out of his extra-large nose while he hid behind Great General Grimthorn whose place was on the other side of the hall from Darah’s spot.

I also saw some things that made my cheeks turn extra hot. Like Ashley, whose shieldmaiden outfit minus the armor bits revealed a little too much skin than I was used to. Her brown hair was done in a plaited style that fell of her left shoulders, revealing a long, fair neck that was nice to look at. Man, I hadn’t realized how pretty she was before and I probably lingered on her longer than I should have.

Eventually, I looked away from Ashley and found myself gazing toward the far right, on the corner closest to the hall’s entrance. That’s where I saw him.

A painted face hid his racial features well enough that he could hide in a crowd of elves easily. But my sight wouldn’t be fooled by even Leonardo Da Vinci himself, and so I knew that I wasn’t staring at a regular elf, but a drow who’d hidden well with makeup.

He was unfamiliar to me, and I knew all the drow who lived within Trickster territory. I was the one who brought them here after all, and even if he was hard to deal with, Thom would have introduced me to any newcomers to his tribe.

So, you could imagine the alarm bells ringing in my ears as I could only think of one other reason why an unknown drow would be among the court tonight.

I stepped forward and tapped Darah on the arm.

“Boss, I think we’ve got an uninvited guest,” I whispered.

Darah glanced over her shoulder to stare at me. “Confirm and detain… and do it quietly.”

I nodded before stepping back. Then I turned gestured for Al and Luca to follow me.

The three of us quickly made our way out of our spots and skirted the back walls as swiftly as we could without arousing attention. As the hall a long one, it took us longer than I would have liked to reach the entrance.

Thoughts of the drow noticing me staring and escaping crossed my mind while I quickened my step.

“Al, take his left side while Luca goes for his right,” I whispered. “I’ll take the front. We’ll push him toward the back wall and box him in.”

“Well, where is he?” Al asked.

I shook my head. “He’s not here…”

Worriedly, we pushed forward and apologized to the people we brushed past in our haste. When we’d reached his spot on the back wall, we found no sight of the drow almost like he vanished into thin air.

In a panic, I turned toward the hall’s front doors, and just barely managed to see the tail of a midnight blue cloak as its wearer exited the hall.

“Come on,” I hissed.

The three of us bolted for the door, pushing past the people a little more roughly than before. I’ll have to apologize to Aura and Darah later. Right now, catching that drow was more important.

We reached the doors and crossed through it into the antechamber beyond. On the other end of the wooden floor was a wide entryway that led to the courtyard and I knew from memory that there would be three paths one could take from the courtyard to get outside the palace.

“There,” Al called.

We all saw the shadow moving at the end of the antechamber escaping to the outside.

“After it!” Luca said, running forward first.

Luca made it out first but we caught up with him just outside the Palanquin palace’s entryway. He was looking left and right, however, it was clear from the cluelessness plastered on his face that he didn’t see where the shadow went.

“Three paths,” I huffed. “Luca, you’re the fastest… run down to the main gate and cut him off… Al—”

“—I’ll take the side route that leads to the Garden of Mana,” he said, just before leaving. “Dean, you take—”

“—The stairs to the battlements… I know,” I cut him off. “Good luck.”

The three of us burst into action at the same time, each of us heading for our respective assignments.

I made my way up the stairs I’d taken not long ago when Chris Pint dragged me up to the battlements, and only then did I think to use Eagle Eye to speed up my search.

As I continued up the steps, I whispered the chant that activated this awesome skill in Fool’s Insight’s repertoire, “Oh, great fool, turn all truths into one of color that all their secrets I might uncover.”

The night sky and palace walls were splattered in different shades of gray, allowing my sight to bring color only to things that might catch my attention like the set of glowing footsteps trailing upward to the battlements.

No, they weren’t actual footsteps like you’d see in a videogame, but more like tell-tale signs of recent disturbances in the wood. Still, they were clear enough for me to see in glowing blue markings.

I picked up the pace and took the steps two at a time while doubt filled my head, warning me that the trail I followed didn’t guarantee I was following the drow who’d escaped the patriarch’s hall.

“Shut up, brain,” I huffed.

I reached the landing for the first wall and glancing up, I saw two more landings above. However, the trail branched out in two. One set led upward. The other led through this landing which I remembered circled around the palace and ended at stairs leading down to the back courtyard and the Garden of Mana where Al was headed.

A snap decision made me choose the upward path. I chose instead to believe that if I was wrong, Al would manage somehow.

Up the steps I went and past the second landing where no trail was visible. However, the higher I got, the more I noticed that the footsteps I followed were no longer alone, but were accompanied by a variety of different foot sizes that didn’t seem to me like they belonged to a drow.

Doubt continued to cross my mind, and I glanced behind me without stopping and wondered if I shouldn’t return the way I’d come.

At this point, I’d made it up to the landing, which was unfortunate as I felt the crash before I saw it almost like I hit a very sturdy wall.

Luckily, I managed not to fall backward and topple down the really high steps but instead hit the battlement floor with a thud.

“What the hell—”

Then I saw what I hit.

It was a fairy in a steel-plated armor underneath a white tabard. Printed on this tabard was a symbol I recognized because I’d seen it even on Mudgard — Lady Justice raising the hand that held the scales of balance.

The fairy I bumped into was one I’d never seen before. It was a towering figure with skin like wood-bark and hair that was half made of leaves. Beady black eyes glowered at me from a pointy face that seemed to have been carved out of a tree.

“Whatchu looking at, boy?” the tree fairy growled.

“You… and your, um, treeness… sir,” I admitted out of half-shock.

The tree man was surrounded by a bunch of other fairies that were all a different species; an elf, an undine, a hobgoblin, a dwarf, a satyr, and even a mean-looking sprite. The one thing that told me they were all in the same group was how they were all wearing the same gear and the same tabard.

“Stop that, Sandalwood,” ordered a soft voice that was hidden behind the group.

Sandalwood the tree man stepped aside and so did the rest of his fellows, revealing a young woman waiting behind them.

She walked through the space they made for her while her long, braided silver hair was blown back by the passing night breeze. Her brow furrowed as soon as she stopped in front of me. Then she held out a milky smooth hand in my direction.

I gazed up at the expressive face with its big doe eyes and dark bushy eyebrows formed in concern. Yet her small mouth was set in a reassuring smile like a big sister looking down at her kid brother. And as I took her hand and felt her warmth, all thought of the shadow I was chasing vanished from my mind.