On the roofs above, Heppa cautiously navigates towards the Parting Glass, her light vial out to illuminate her way. She is intent on reaching the inn before any fires do. Along the way, though, she spots a cluster of people also surveying the city from this level. Tucking away her source of light, Heppa ducks behind a chimney and listens to the words that the wind carries in her direction.
“Look at that shoddy work,” a man in black leathers growls. “How can they not hit a target the size of a building?” With his hood up and a scarf across the bottom of his face, Heppa can make out no further details of his appearance in this low light. From the body language and response of his companions, though, she can tell he is someone important.
“But we took out the Engineer so fast,” one of the underlings says, trying to highlight the positives of the operation so far. “I’m sure they’ll line it up in the next hit, Lowrie. It’s a new weapon; it takes time to learn. And this way, enough of the city is hit that no one’s going to figure out what we were going for.”
Lowrie turns to the speaker and snaps, “When the Parting Glass is burnt down to cinders, I want Alric to know exactly who did this.” He jabs his finger toward the building in question, which is not too far from here. “I am sick of his meddling in underworld affairs. He’s not untouchable. We’ll show him!”
“But wasn’t Efa a problem, boss?” one of the others asks tentatively.
Lowrie backhands the man. The underling takes the blow without protest, despite having a cudgel at the ready in his hand. “I don’t care if she was trying to horn in on my turf. Once a Rat, always a Rat. She was my problem to deal with.”
Oh no, the Rats have figured out that Alric was involved in what happened to Efa, Heppa realizes. And this Lowrie fellow seems to have more authority than Sleidr or Efa did. This might even be the leader of the gang. If he just slipped off the roof, this whole problem might go away, flits through Heppa’s head. She hears her name whispered nearby and turns to see a figure cautiously approaching her hiding spot. She recognizes her cousin when he pushes back his hood. Heppa quickly fills him in on what she has overheard.
“You’re saying that fellow is the head Rat?” Tric whispers. Mate lands above on the chimney.
Heppa shrugs. “He’s a head Rat, at least. I don’t understand the politics of it all, but they’re going for Alric!”
“Ah, so I guess it’s good I did not talk to the fellow I was following,” Tric muses, considering this new information. And maybe I shouldn’t have told that story about a dashing assassin helping to take down shadow mages… The building the Rats are on does not look like it is in the best condition. But collapsing it under them, while it sounds like a fun idea, is probably not wise. In this part of town, any building that is standing likely has squatters in it at the least. “Hmm… how far a shot is that, do you think?”
“We’d have to get closer for your bow,” Heppa says, eying the distance. The half-moon is partially obscured by clouds moving in, making the figures across the way harder to pick out. “And then I bet that thatch could help us,” she adds, pulling out the thorny wand that their grandmother gave her. “Time for some brambles?”
“There’s only four of them with him. We can take them,” Tric agrees. They move lower on their roof, hiding behind its ridge, and slip toward the other building. After stepping across to the other roof, they creep upslope toward the Rats. As soon as Tric is able to see Lowrie over the peak, he lets fly an arrow. The gang leader turns to berate one of his underlings at just the wrong moment, and the shot whizzes past him, unnoticed. “That was perfectly lined up!” Tric complains under his breath.
Heppa’s attack is more effective. The thatch on this roof is quite fresh, and it responds well to the fae energy she channels into it. The longstraw around Lowrie begins to writhe, peeling itself up from its bundles and wrapping around his legs. The edges of the animated stalks slice at his hands as he bats them away. “Grandmother’s wand is so amazing!” Heppa says with a broad smile.
“I think he knows we’re here,” Tric observes.