Jigano had not known the Spire would fall, but he had seen Edy when the girl had joined Roana that afternoon, all fire and rage and violence seething over, and so he had slipped away from the mob to collect Isuma from the Rathskeller and take her back to the guildhall instead. If Edy would not be maintaining her post then he wanted his little one to be somewhere safe, where his guildmates would recognize and care for her if the worst should happen...
And then lightning and thunder had split the night, striking from a stormless sky, and he had grabbed his rapier and the Sparkbird feather lantern before dashing out the door in grim haste and staccato terror for what would await him back at the Spire.
Rory!
The naturals who had been moved to protect the Spire - from faith, loyalty, fear, or belligerence - were unconscious to a soul, but more telling were those who stood like sentinels in the dark, clear beneath the moonlight to his fox-slit eyes. Outlanders, mostly, including Edrei and the insufferable woman from the library, but a familiar messy braid had him whispering a prayer of thanks to Ludo as he closed the distance between them, quiet steps ghosting to a halt as he drew in ragged breaths against his run. The Spire stood open behind him, but for the moment the lorekeeper had eyes only for the tired, gaunt features of his friend and the tension that crackled between him and the two women. "Rory ?" he said softly, worried eyes flickering to Edrei with a raised brow of confusion and then back again. "What happened?"
And then lightning and thunder had split the night, striking from a stormless sky, and he had grabbed his rapier and the Sparkbird feather lantern before dashing out the door in grim haste and staccato terror for what would await him back at the Spire.
Rory!
The naturals who had been moved to protect the Spire - from faith, loyalty, fear, or belligerence - were unconscious to a soul, but more telling were those who stood like sentinels in the dark, clear beneath the moonlight to his fox-slit eyes. Outlanders, mostly, including Edrei and the insufferable woman from the library, but a familiar messy braid had him whispering a prayer of thanks to Ludo as he closed the distance between them, quiet steps ghosting to a halt as he drew in ragged breaths against his run. The Spire stood open behind him, but for the moment the lorekeeper had eyes only for the tired, gaunt features of his friend and the tension that crackled between him and the two women. "
