Chapter 44.2: The Courtyard

“I say we go.” Fjornsson all but growled the words, looking down his thick nose at the two humans and asura. “If any of those big-eared dwarves want to stop us, we just cut through them.”

Penny could barely look at him before burying her face in her hands. She’d always felt she understood norn more than most people did, but maybe she’d only ever really understood Hronsson. He had chosen to live in the Reach, after all.

“There are roughly fifty of them and four of us,” Jinkke said, incredulous eyes silently insulting the soldier’s intelligence. “It’s irrelevant, though, because we’re holding position until Minkus arrives.”

Jindel remained at the wall’s edge, seeming to ignore the exchange in favor of watching the courtyard. She stiffened uncomfortably, which drew Penny’s attention. “Speaking of your brother,” the vigilwoman murmured in Jinkke’s direction, “you might want to see this.” She nodded back to the scene, and Jinkke jumped past her. Penny looked as well, her jaw dropping.

“Smoke and sparks!” The asura croaked. “What in the Alchemy is he doing?”

What in the Alchemy indeed. Too busy gawking at Minkus, Penny didn’t bother to add a curse of her own. It just didn’t feel worth it.

Minkus and Wepp were right there in the courtyard, but something in the plan had gone even more wrong than the huge mess of Inquest mobbing the southern end of the courtyard—Penny didn’t know how that was possible, but there it was. Minkus wasn’t on his way to the group’s hiding place, and he certainly wasn’t avoiding Inquest entanglement. No, Minkus appeared to be joining an Inquest operative for a leisurely stroll straight into the throng. He’d even handed over Wepp, who now lay unconscious over the stranger’s shoulder.

“Oh, gods,” Penny groaned.

The words seemed to unstop Jinkke’s mouth, and questions rushed out. “Is he following that male? Is that Wepp on the other one’s shoulder? They don’t appear to be under duress; in fact it seems that male is helping, but where are they going? What is happening? Smoke and sparks, where is my brother going?!”

Penny shook away her own burgeoning anxiety. “The hell if I know, but someone’s got to get him out of whatever he’s into. Things are about to get a whole lot worse.” Jindel nodded agreement, and both the humans set their attention on Jinkke.

“Get him out of it?” the asura almost laughed. It was a strangled sound. “Which of us do you propose will be able to…”

She froze, recognizing both women glaring down at her. The two humans had reached the conclusion before her, and her face made it clear she didn’t appreciate that irony.

“Yes,” Jinkke assented, straightening her tunic and doing her best to rein in her rapid breathing. “As the sole remaining asura, I suppose I am the most logical choice. But I’m not sure I’m prepared—”

“Good then,” Penny broke in. “Better get going.” She shoved Jinkke out past the wall and into the open.

Jinkke looked wildly across the milling assortment of Inquest personnel and then back at the three behind the wall, disquiet all over her shadowy face, her hands visibly trembling. Just a few days prior, the sight probably would have entertained Penny, but— well, things had changed. She probably wouldn’t have pushed her at all, but there was no telling how long Jinkke might have stood there yammering if she hadn’t, and things weren’t getting any better on their own.

Crusader Jindel, still hidden behind the stonework wall, knelt down to Jinkke’s level and caught her attention, locking eyes long enough to give low, calm instructions. “All you have to do is get him out of the crowd.”

Jinkke blinked stupidly, raking hands through her hair.

“That’s it,” the soldier insisted. “That’s all.” Jindel nodded, getting Jinkke to synchronize with her movement. “Just find any excuse to bring him toward us or the doorway, and we’ll find a way to get to you. Alright? You got that?”

The asura nodded again, taking a deep breath that seemed to still her shaking hand. “Yes, I comprehend. I— I will concoct a fictitious story that requires Minkus’ involvement in order to—”

“Yeah, great.” Penny grabbed her arm and thrust her on. “Now get going.”

The asura turned and made her first few deliberate strides toward the crowd before she disappeared from Penny’s view. Jindel remained knelt down, peeking around the corner.

“That was good,” Penny said, clearing her throat. “What you did to get her moving, I mean. It was good of you to do that. She needed it.”

The crusader glanced up, recognizing the compliment for what it was. She nodded and returned to watching Jinkke’s progress. “It took a minute,” she said, just above a whisper, “but I can see the resemblance between them now: Minkus and his sister. They both have heart.”

Penny thought about that. She realized how little she understood what the phrase meant, to have heart. But somehow it didn’t change the fact that the soldier-girl was right; in their own ways, Minkus and Jinkke had it, whatever it was.

She shook the reflection away and leaned out just above Jindel. The norn slid in beside the two of them as well, still unable to see but close enough that Penny could feel the massive man’s pulse accelerating with every passing moment.

Different than the attire of everyone else out there, Jinkke’s pink and lavender outfit was easy to pick out as she made her way along the fringes of the crowd. From where she stood, Penny could see heads turn as she passed. Obviously the humans weren’t the only ones aware enough to recognize the difference, though most seemed to shrug it off or be drawn back into whatever activities kept the mob so disorganized.

One after another, heads turned, cocked to one side as Jinkke passed, and then returned to other matters. To her credit, Minkus’ sister held her focus, not even looking aside at the passing glances. Because of it, she didn’t notice when one set of eyes did not turn away from her. That female caught sight of Jinkke and broke away from the crowd.

“Oh shit.” Penny grasped at a pistol grip.

The norn pushed a hand closer to the edge. “What is it? What’s happening?”

“Stay put,” Jindel rasped, nearly falling out into the open, “both of you!”

“You’re seeing this, right? She’s got a tail.” Penny put her free hand to the leather chestpiece she was wearing, suddenly asking herself what kind of lousy attack it could actually deflect. 

Yult reached back for his sword hilt. “Who’s got a tail? The asura?”

 Jindel spun to glare at them both. “Damn it, you two. She’s got it. Hold yourselves.”

The norn grunted but obliged. Despite herself, Penny did the same, and both the humans returned to watching from behind the building’s edge. There were only so many ways this could play out.

***

Hardly able to think of his sister and friends at all, Minkus fumbled for a solution, any solution, as he followed the lead of the Inquest medic. Not only was he intent on helping Minkus, but he now supported half of Wepp’s weight, making it impossible for Minkus to flee without leaving his partner behind.

The other asura was leading them northward a short distance, toward another pair of medics who’d set up a sort of makeshift healing station in the wake of what the Inquest clearly believed to be a legitimate emergency for the complex. It was kind of course that they’d concern themselves with Minkus and Wepp, but it wasn’t particularly helpful to their subversive goals; he was no closer to gathering his friends, who were in entirely the opposite direction. It really made him miss the simplicity of telling the truth. An honest life was so much easier.

As Minkus frantically ran the situation over in his mind, another medic joined them, working to bring Wepp down off Minkus’ shoulder. His eyes went wide with fright, and he began to sputter an incoherent stream of objections, but the medics only eyed him with further concern as they lugged Wepp away toward a nearby mat. Nothing that came off Minkus’ lips, he realized, made any real sense. If anything, his fear was making him seem even more in need of their services.

Resting Wepp down and beginning to work, the first medic looked back up at Minkus, hands up as though calming him. “Stay there, and I will promptly return to assess you further.” He waited for Minkus to nod assent.

He couldn’t, though, only blinking as he took in the overwhelming situation. He’d just lost Wepp. How in Tyria was he going to—

Someone grabbed his wrist, and Minkus spun around, his eyes even wider than they had been, as though his eyelids were reaching for the very back of his head.

“I— I’m just waiting for my friend.” The words flew to his lips, much more coherently this time, and he turned to face the latest of his many challenges. “He—my friend— he’s just— Jinkke?” Recognition hit him the moment his eyes focused on her face. It was his sister!

Jinkke broke into a tentative smile, moving a step closer even as her eyes darted across the crowd around them. “Yes, Big Brother. You looked like you needed—”

A hand then slapped down on Jinkke’s shoulder, and each sibling’s eyes went even wider as they stared at each other.

“Who in the Alchemy are you?” A sharp voice demanded. “Who are you, and what, precisely, are you doing in Thaumacore?”

Jinkke winced, working to keep the trepidation on her face out of her voice. It was more than Minkus could do at the moment.

“I was simply on my… break,” Jinkke lied. “Yes, my break.” She turned cautiously to the stumpy, porcine female behind her, and Minkus was now the one to wince. Minkus knew himself well enough to know that he was bad at lying, but he’d had no idea just how bad his sister was at it too. It almost took his mind off their circumstance. How had she ever kept the cheating a secret?

“Your break?” the other female demanded, pulling Minkus’ attention back as she stuck her pigly nose up in the air at the very idea. “That is the least convincing lie anyone has ever deigned to tell me, and I’ve worked with a host of remarkable idiots. Reveal your identity this instant, or I will see to it Kikka never lets you approach an Inquest lab again!”

Minkus frowned, processing the statement. Did she think Jinkke was Inquest, dressed like that?

“And what in the Eternal Alchemy happened to your uniform?” the female nodded toward Minkus’ chest. He flushed, searching for a response.

Before he could, though, another voice joined the exchange from behind Minkus, just audible over the din of the mob. It was the medic. “Alright, my colleagues are attending to your associate. I can now— Excuse me, what’s happening here? Who is this?” He turned his attention to Jinkke and then the new female, who still held a tight hand on Jinkke’s shoulder. “And what do you need, Jezzi? Something with my patient, Jezzi?” There was little compassion in the male’s voice now. Whatever the relationship between them, these two seemed uneasy at best.

“I have no interest in your patient, Hikk.” She sneered, biting the words. “It’s this interloper I’m attending to. Do whatever you like with that one, but this female comes with me.”

Hikk shrugged boxy shoulders, slipping between Minkus and the pair of females to move him toward the triage site. “Excelsior. I don’t even know who she is, but I do know this guard here—what’s your name?—is in need of third-priority diagnosis.”

“I— but we—” Jinkke clamored for words but came up as empty as Minkus ever had under duress. Even as she fished for an argument, the two of them were being pulled apart.

“No!” Minkus belched, hands clenching even as he realized he was talking. He pressed back against the medic. “I— we— she’s my sister!”

They all turned to him with cynical, confused scowls, and Jinkke put a hand to her head. It was immediately clear to him how unhelpful of a comment that really was, but before anyone could respond, the whole mob’s attention shifted.

Far beyond Minkus cries rose from the crowd like popping embers. It was a fluttered cacophony of fear, alarm, and fury that seemed to roll down from the northwest edge of the shuffling crowd.

“What in the Alchemy is it now?” Jezzi barked, rising on tiptoes to see above the swarm. She maintained her hold on Jinkke.

Minkus and Jinkke craned to see it too, just as someone called out the first clear words Minkus had heard. “Attackers! To the north, attackers!”

Minkus needed only to look to see them. Ten or twenty humans, male and female, head and shoulders above the crowd, rushed toward the asura from the opposite side of the courtyard. They sped from the shadows between the complex’s buildings, waving an assortment of weapons and screaming as they spilled into the late-afternoon. Minkus exchanged a troubled look with his sister before looking once more to the crowd of asura between them and the attackers.

The Inquest krewe were simply escaping from what they thought was an emergency, so very few held any kind of weapons themselves. Only the dozen or so guards raised any sort of real weapons at the threat. The rest scattered, fleeing this way and that as they all seemed to realize that neither interior nor the exterior of their facility was now safe. The immediate sense of fear sent a shiver through Minkus.

“Big Brother!” Jinkke slapped a hand around his wrist once more, pulling him back from the oncoming humans and toward the doorway into the eastern wing, the same door he’d just exited. He still felt bad for the unarmed asura, at the same time he ran through his thoughts for any reason humans would be attacking the facility. They didn’t look like the Vigil, and the Seraph’s wouldn’t be out this far for no reason.

Jinkke yanked again, slipping past her now panicking assailant and taking Minkus with her. “This is our chance, Big Brother!”

“Where are the others?” he asked, slipping past Jezzi himself as his mind returned to the plan. “Shouldn’t they be—”

“They’ll join us,” Jinkke barked.

He began to nod, approaching a fuller stride, when another problem struck him. He snapped to a halt. “Wepp!” That actually did stop his sister, as she considered the problem too.

The tide of terrified and infuriated asura continued to crash around them. Particular voices gained volume, calling armed guards to specific points in the courtyard, and directing the unarmed to armory sites. Some of the frantic asura listened, while others simply ran for anything resembling shelter. The assault continued, though, the humans taking cover as they moved on their victims.

Jinkked tugged at Minkus and pointed, refocusing him a short distance north of their position, where medics carried Wepp and some other asura clear of the conflict. “Wepp is copacetic,” she said. “He didn’t want to take part in the conflict anyway. Besides, he is Inquest, and likely in a better state than we are, able to integrate and slip away. But us…”

She let the warning trail off, and Minkus nodded, stuffing the remnants of his worry aside as he fell into step with her again. He didn’t like it, but she was right, he supposed. “We would be in a lot of trouble,” he agreed. “And I— well, I’m still suited. I could go back for him later.”

Jinkke nodded passively, but a more important thought hit Minkus before she could say anything. “Ventyr and Yissa!” He piped. “They already are in a lot of trouble!”

Magic-fueled strength coursed into Minkus, and he surged past his sister. “Follow me, Jinkke. I know where they are! They’re fighting monsters— or, mad beasts, I guess. Something like that. Asura too.”

His sister, struggling to keep up, flashed him an uncertain glance. “Mad—? Oh, never mind.”

They wove between black-and-crimson-clad asura running in all directions, both from and toward the growing sounds of conflict farther and farther behind the siblings. Minkus held tight to Jinkke’s hand, trusting his own balance so innately that he pulled her on through the mob without a thought, dashing past armed guards and lunging between a pair of defense golems.

“Where are they meeting us, Jinkke? Where are Jindel and Yult and Penny?”

“South,” she said, pointing and then waving. “They’re right at the edge of the complex, where they intended to be. Right there!”

Minkus looked just in time to see Jindel come out around the crisp edge of dark stone that separated the building and plateaus from the grassy hills far beyond them. The woman’s caution vanished, and she, Penny, and Yult dashed into the open toward them.

If any of the scattering Inquest affiliates noticed them, no one gave any indication, and in moments, the party had reunited just outside the eastern entrance. Alarms, gunshots, explosions, and screams flooded the air, but despite the sudden chaos, all of them knew what came next. Jindel pressed an approving hand to Jinkke’s shoulder, and Penny gave Minkus a welcome smile as Yult shoved his sack of gear into his hands.

“Lead the way,” Jindel said.

Minkus nodded, quickly opening the sack and pulling out his chestplate to slide it down over his head. He did, after all, have an idea what they were all walking into, and they were going to need all the protection they could get.

One by one, the group stepped into the complex after him, and together they made their way to Ventyr and Yissa.