The stench of undead in the street was palpable. A persistent breeze off the harbor carried the vile odor to where Hallum and I lurked in the shadows.
“I think they’re that way, Maldren.” He pointed to a narrow street that curved down toward the harbor.
Dogs barked in the distance and somewhere a man and woman argued, but otherwise the city lay silent and menacing. Vandals had decapitated the nearest street lantern, and the pale light from Lunas barely penetrated the chasmlike street, flanked on both sides by tall tenements.
There was one way to find the creatures. I drew a strand of magic from deep within me and shaped it into Perception, and then I pushed out the invisible field of magic in a cone ahead of us.
My mind twitched as I sensed my surroundings, much like a spider detects prey by the tugs on its web. Tiny sparks of energy rippled through my mind, some to the left, others to the right—simply the odd ghost sneaking through the buildings. A couple hundred feet down the street I sensed several larger distortions, like clods of dirt squatting in my mental web.
Tomb wights. At last, we’d found them.
I couldn’t stop myself grinning as I squinted into the night.
“You sense them too?” I whispered.
A crease deformed Hallum’s high brow. “Three, maybe more. We should return to the Guild and bring reinforcements.”
“You’re kidding. We can handle them.”
He had ten solars’ seniority on me, and at twenty-five, I was overdue making Master rank. He was being overcautious as always.
“Scared?” I said.
He snorted. “No, just wise. Those things will tear us apart, I’m telling you.”
He raked his unkempt beard with his long fingernails.
“It’s what we’re here for. Let’s go.” I started down the street, but he pulled me back and took the lead.
“I don’t like you, Maldren. You take unnecessary risks. We’ll do this my way. Stay behind me.”
Lak and all his demons! He always had to take charge. I had to get another partner. Meanwhile, I’d play nice.
I sighed. “Lead the way then.”
We crept along the street, keeping close to the buildings on one side as we watched our feet on the uneven cobbles. Most of the tenement windows were dark, but a diffuse orange glow seeped around the drapes in some of them. High above, an open window clattered against its frame in the wind.
“I’ve never heard of tomb wights venturing up to street level,” I said. “I want to know why.”
“Who cares? We get rid of them before they cause a panic, then get back to our beds.”
That was the problem with the Guild today. No sense of pride or curiosity. Just do the minimum amount of work. Hallum sounded like the damn Guildmaster. There was a mystery here and I intended to solve it.
Halfway through the bend in the street, we spotted two sinister shapes shuffling in the gloom ahead.
Hallum dived into a dark doorway, and I stepped after him. We peered out. The run-down tenements leaned precariously into the street as if seeking the comfort of their neighbors opposite, or if they too were straining to catch a glimpse of the hideous creatures.
Their resemblance to humans was vague. Shriveled skin and tattered muscle hung loosely from their heavy frames, revealing the line of every bone, many of which had been twisted and snapped. The bones had mended at awkward angles, fused together by gnarly knots of calcification. Bone spurs pierced their paper-thin flesh. Ragged hair covered their naked bodies except their baldpates, which they raised high into the air. Their constant sniffing and labored panting reminded me of dogs on a scent.
