“I am studying the surface,” Alain said.
That was an ambiguous statement at best, but she remembered Alain telling her that Mages needed to know the details of the “illusion” of the world so they could effectively change that illusion in the ways they wanted. “All right. Sorry. I’m nervous,” she half-explained, half-apologized.
“The other Mechanics are far more nervous than you are,” Alain said, keeping his voice low. “They have far less experience with risking their lives.”
Mage Asha walked a little faster to catch up with Mari, Mechanic Dav staying right by her side. “I sense a Mage in that direction,” she told Mari and Alain, indicating a low hill crowned by the trees, shrubs, and ornamental structures of a small park that loomed off to their left. “I feel that she is aware of us, but only watches for now.”
It was a very odd feeling to be walking down the empty streets knowing that so many hidden eyes were observing your progress. Mari had to suppress an urge to shout at those concealed watchers. But she was growing more worried as time went on. Edinton was the southernmost large city in the Confederation, and thus the closest to what had once been the Kingdom of Tiae. The closest to the place where the Storm had already begun unraveling the fabric of civilization. Mari had spent a few months in Edinton, but almost all of that time inside the Mechanic Guild Hall or at work sites. She had gained little sense of the stability of the commons here. Would the attack on the Guild Hall trigger some larger disturbance that would threaten everyone?
Consumed by those concerns, Mari was startled when they finally reached the large plaza that separated the Guild Hall from the surrounding common buildings. The group, still concealed from the Hall by those buildings, stopped to rest while Mari studied the familiar lines of the Guild Hall with new eyes.
From the outside, the first floors of the Guild Hall presented the walls and slit windows of a fortress. Mari knew those walls were thick and strong.
“Has anyone ever broken into a Guild Hall before?” Mechanic Dav asked.
“Yes,” Mari said. “At Marandur.”
“Oh, yeah, of course. What was that like? The Guild Hall, I mean.”
Mari paused at the memory. “Haunted. Everything collapsed on top of everything else. Rusted tools and equipment, spilled chemicals. Old, broken bones. Dead. It was pretty awful, Dav.”
“I wonder if my ancestor died at the Guild Hall?” Dav said, crouching to look across the plaza. “Or somewhere else in Marandur during the battle?”
“Somewhere else,” Mari said.
Dav turned a surprised look on her. “How do you know?”
“I saw his grave, Dav. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to tell you much, but someday I will. I will tell you, right now, that he was a hero, and an ancestor you can be very proud of.”
“Thanks,” Dav said with a smile. “Do you think he would approve of what we’re doing?”
“I know he would.” Mari looked at Alain. “Any warning?”
Alain shook his head. “My foresight provides no warning. Which does not mean there is no danger, given how unreliable foresight is.”
Mari pointed at the windows of the Guild Hall. “The guards posted inside the front entrance can’t see us from this angle, but the security watches that rove through the building are supposed to look out the windows as they pass and make sure no one is on the plaza during the night,” she explained to Alain and the other Mages.
“Five minutes,” Alli said, checking her watch. “Right, everybody? The roving watches should pass by this side and give us a small period of time when it’s unlikely anyone will see us coming.”
“If they’re following the routines,” Master Mechanic Lukas cautioned. Sweat was still running down his face from the long, fast walk. “But this is Edinton. They might have increased their alert status. Or they might have let the roving watches get sloppy.”
“Maybe,” Mari agreed. “We’ve all walked those watches when we were Apprentices. At this moment, every one of those on duty will be thinking about how tired they are and how much they wish they were back in bed, how they’ve got more than an hour left before being relieved, what they’ll have for breakfast—”
“Everything but their watch responsibilities,” Lukas agreed dryly. “It’s still a substantial risk to go out there. Even a single Mechanic spotted on that plaza would be grounds for a roving watch to sound the alarm.”
“Then we’ll have to hope that doesn’t happen.” Mari looked at Alli. “How much longer?”
“One minute. Let’s get ready to head out, everyone.”
At Alli’s signal, they began walking again. Mari had considered running, to minimize the time they were out on the plaza, but running Mechanics would certainly signal trouble to anyone who saw them. Whereas walking Mechanics might look like an unusual but not threatening group arriving to check in at Guild Hall at an odd hour.
Hopefully. Mari put one hand on her pistol as she walked, trying to breathe steadily, watching the windows of the Guild Hall as they approached it, wondering whether someone would look out at any moment and see them, whether weapons inside were already being pointed toward her and the others.
She had never realized just how wide this blasted plaza was.
Chapter Nine
“I swear that Guild Hall is receding from us as we try to get closer,” Alli muttered, fingering the rifle she held in both hands.
“It’s not much farther,” Mari encouraged everyone.
The group finally reached the outside wall of the Guild Hall, everyone pushing up against it to minimize the chance of being seen from any windows overhead. “I can’t hear any alarms sounding inside,” Calu commented.
Several of the Mechanics studied the wall they were at, looking up and around to orient themselves, using their hands to trace lines on the blank surface. “The alarm line should run along here, right?”
“A little higher.”
“There ought to be a junction about… there.”
“Where’s the internal floor level?”
“There’s a dividing wall inside. Is that… no… here. Right?”
Eventually, one of the Mechanics looked at Mari. “This is where we need a door, Master Mechanic.”
“Trace it for Mage Alain,” Mari said.
The Mechanic ran his forefinger along the wall, outlining a squat rectangle.
“Any problem?” Mari asked Alain.
“It should not be,” Alain said. “But once I use this spell, and the other Mages with us begin using spells as well, the Mages in Edinton will know we are here and may be able to identify some of us.”
Alain took on the intense concentration familiar to Mari, while most of the Mechanics looked on skeptically.
The opening appeared. “Do not take too long,” Alain said, keeping his eyes on the spot.
Mari and her friends hustled the rest of the Mechanics inside, everyone ducking to get through the low opening, while Mage Dav ensured that the Mages entered. The walls here at the base were so thick that the opening was much more of a tunnel than a door. Alain came last, relaxing once he was inside and slumping back against the once-more solid wall. “Are you all right?” Mari murmured.
“Tired,” Alain said. “Is it what you call ironic that the area around us has a good supply of power to use?”
“Power for Mages around the Mechanics Guild Hall? Yes, that is ironic.” Mari looked around. With the illusion of a hole in the illusion of the wall gone, the group was crowding a hallway so dark it took a few moments for their eyes to adjust. “Are we where we’re supposed to be?”
“We need light,” someone complained.
Mari brought out her portable light, as did Bev and a few other Mechanics. As they switched on, Mage Hiro moved close to Mechanic Ken and gazed closely at the light. “How is this done? You are changing the illusion of dark to that of light, but there is no power being used.”