Page 13 of Daemon Master

Heartrender cocked its head, and he held his breath, willing his bluff to work. When aether flared around the daemon, he suppressed a grin. An illusory duplicate of Blondie appeared in front of the original. Blondie staggered a step back, his own aura bursting to life. When he realized what had happened, he glared at Adrian as if daring him to laugh.

The second watcher grunted and crossed his arms. “Nice parlor trick. But I suppose you made your point. No stray, pacified or not, would ever be that compliant if it wasn’t bonded.”

Adrian nodded, edging his way around the watchers. “Yes, well, I’ve got to go. Give Watcher Seymour my regards. Spirits smile upon you both.”

With that, he turned and practically bolted down the street. He half-expected the watchers to call out after him, but neither did. Still, their stares burned into his back until he’d turned the next corner. He sagged against a nearby wall, his previous exhaustion flooding back.

“That was close,” he muttered to Heartrender, who yipped in agreement. “Good thing Seymour wasn’t with them, or I doubt they’d have been anywhere near so agreeable.”

Once he had his pattering heart under control, he resumed his march out of the city. He’d traveled less than a block, however, before he heard Blondie bellow, “Catcher Adrian! By order of the Watcher Division, I command you to halt!”

Looks like the Arbiter finally noticed my absence.

Cursing, Adrian dashed down the nearest side street. Feet pounded the pavement behind him, growing closer.

Spirits take their enhanced bodies!

He burst from the mouth of an alley and skidded to a halt, scanning the street for someplace to hide. A nearby shop caught his eye. Fresh flowers bloomed in bunches along a tall rack on the building’s side. The owner must have used a daemon to enlarge the blossoms judging by the cloud of aether still pouring off them.

It wasn’t much—his own aethersense almost certainly could’ve picked out his aura from the surrounding haze. But against a pair of arrogant watchers in a hurry? It might be enough.

The sounds of pursuit intensified as Adrian dropped to his knees beside Heartrender. “Please, if you can understand me, I need your help to hide us from those watchers.”

Heartrender stared at him, and he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. The watchers would drag them back to the Serene Hall and present them to Shadowlash’s faceless master. And then…well, he didn’t want to think about what would happen next.

Aether suddenly erupted around him. His eyes shot open in time to see Heartrender enveloped by an aura of crackling power. The aether gradually solidified into an illusory new form.

A copy of the flower shelves,he realized. Heartrender had created a precise duplicate next to the original. He shifted his body, vaguely disoriented by the sight of solid matter phasingthrough his flesh. Scrunching back against the shop’s wall, he made himself as small as possible. The last thing he wanted was an errant knee or elbow ruining the effect.

The watchers’ footsteps echoed in the quiet twilight. Adrian couldn’t see them past the illusion obscuring his vision, but they had to be close.

“Spirits below,” one of them—Adrian thought it was Blondie—cursed. “Where did they go?”

“I don’t know. A runt like him couldn’t have gotten far though. Come on!”

More footfalls faded away. Once they’d vanished completely, Heartrender released its technique, the image wavering before winking out. Adrian’s tensed muscles eased, though he remained on his guard. They were safe for now, but more shouts resounded in the distance.

He bolted the final few blocks to the border of town, relieved to see that the watchers hadn’t had time to set up a blockade yet. No amount of illusions would suffice once the Arbiter mobilized the entire spirit-cursed Watcher Division against them.

It wasn’t until they’d crested a rolling hill in the meadows beyond Hillvale that he allowed himself to relax. Maybe he wouldn’t end tonight bound in chains or buried in a ditch after all.

“Hello, Adrian.”

Adrian screamed, almost losing his balance and rolling down the hillside. The voice came from right behind him, but when he whirled around, no one was there. Heartrender gave him a stern look as if to ask what all the fuss was about.

“We need to talk, Adrian.”

He realized he recognized the voice. “Arbiter Janice,” he said hoarsely.

The Arbiter’s reply came a moment later, carried on the breeze. “Adrian, please listen to me. I don’t know what you thinkis happening, but I assure you that no one wants to see you hurt.”

He choked back an incredulous laugh. “The tentacled shadow daemon begs to differ.”

Silence.

He willed his feet onward. No sense remaining in one place while they talked. For all he knew, the Arbiter was trying to use her daemon’s sending technique to lure him into a trap.

“Mistakes have been made,” the Arbiter admitted. “But all we want is to talk to you about Crastley. Please, come back so we can sort this out in person.”