Knights of the Silver Hand

Mere blocks away from the gathering and subsequent torture being committed by the devout of Annatar, Sagacious also met with his own contacts. An olive skinned human woman with large hazel eyes sat across a table laden with several breakfast choices from him, still adorned in his dusty white travelling robes. The woman was in her mid to late thirties, and she wore a serious expression as she took a sip from a steaming cup of tea, looking at him with stern eyes. Lavender and silver robes covered her, arcane sigils visible along the edges of them and her fingers were adorned with several gold rings. She watched Sagacious as he filled his plate with fruits, eggs and a generous helping of bacon.

"Try the guavas, they're just coming into season," she offered in a gentle voice, laden with the tones and inflections of a noble accent.

He nodded gratefully at her as he chewed a chunk of mango. "We can't grow any of these back home," The words escaped alongside no small amount of mango juice and saliva. The woman sighed exasperatedly and grabbed a napkin defensively. Sagacious grinned somewhat apologetically as he finished chewing and swallowed. "Thank you for your hospitality, 'twas not a great time out in the great sandy wastes, I can assure you."

Dabbing at her lips with the silk napkin and setting down the small, delicate porcelain mug, she fixed him with another stern look. "You're here a day sooner than expected, Sagacious. Why the rush?" She poured him a cup of tea before continuing, "And are you alright?"

"Two sugars, please Zee." Zaurielle, First Among Equals, Archangel, scowled at him as she dropped a single lump of sugar into his cup. Her eyes glimmered for a moment, appearing as bright silver and a radiant energy washed over him as she glared.

"Only one, two is too many. Now," she began, as her face resettled into its human facade, "What happened?"

"Well," Sagacious began, pushing his plate back and deftly grabbing a second lump of sugar and flipped it into his teacup with a practiced thumb flick. He grinned impudently as she heard the 'bloop' of the sugar slashing in. "First of all, I'm fine. I tracked the girl to Amonthus, and by the time I located where she and Mae were, Mae was already gone." His expression grew somber as he looked up from his tea. "I'm sorry, I knew you two were close."

The woman took the news in stride, bowing her head sadly for a moment. "Thank you, I'm sorry you never got to meet her, I think you would have liked her." She smiled sadly for a few seconds, reveling in the memories. She shook the fog of sadness from herself and motioned at him to continue.

"Poison was involved, or so the word on the street says. Her apprentice matched the description of a wayward soul who had messed with one of our people in Westgate, so I followed up, wondering if there was a connection." He took a long slurp, put the cup down and poured himself a glass of a bright orange juice. "For what it's worth, I don't think there is a connection there. Rather, if there is, the apprentice was in no way involved in Mae's demise. Girl seemed devastated when I was watching her."

Zaurielle nodded sadly. "Poor girl. Did Mae give her the item?"

Sagacious chewed a large piece of bacon and swallowed it down before replying. "That's the weird thing. I think she took it with her when she left, but I can't be sure. And if she does have it, I'm fairly sure that she has no idea what she's carrying around with her. But she will. The Black Masks are also on her trail." He took a big drink, smacking his lips together in pleasure as the glass emptied.

"Of course they are. Bastards." She refilled her own cup, and shook her head.

"Whoa, Zee. Language." He laughed a little before picking up his story again. "I tracked her north, towards Memnon. She had become a he at this point, I should point out. But as I've tracked them as a woman for a few weeks, I may mess up a pronoun or two. Fair warning. Anyways, I found the remnants of a caravan, wrecked and destroyed in the desert, being investigated by a couple of the Bastard's agents. Half-elf slip of a wizard, half decent too. Big fella, probably had ogre blood in him."

He cleaned his plate for a few moments, chewing happily. "I sat back and watched for a bit, let them do their investigations. The woman found the trail of Mae's power, alongside a small pocket of elemental resonance, probably the young man's own power residue. It was grass."

Zaurielle smiled a little at this. "Ha. Mae, you taught them well. Grass in a desert."

"Once it was apparent they knew no more than I did, having listened to the woman confirm that whatever had destroyed the caravan was necromantic in nature and long gone, I confronted them."

Zaurielle groaned. "Sagacious. Those were not your orders."

"Orders, schmorders." Sagacious winked at her. "I got away after the wizard freed her companion from my spell. For a big fella, he was pretty quick. Thanks to my wings, I was able to make a safe egress from the situation."

Zee shook her head disappointedly at him. "Wings that you can only manifest for a minute at a time. What happened then?"

He shrugged. "Wizard fired a bolt of magic at me, missed by a smidge. I still felt it, but not fully. I admit, she's powerful. A bit full of herself, but powerful."

She sighed sadly, like a parent with an unruly teen. "And then you came here?"

"Yes ma'am. As protocol dictated. And breakfast!" He helped himself to another slice of delicious salted bacon.

"And now? Where is Mae's artifact now?"

"In the wastes. Her resonance seemed to go dark, blown away as if in a sandstorm. My bet is she's still headed here, if she's able. And if she's coming here, we can bet that the other half of the Tapestry is too." He suddenly looked up at her seriously for a moment before asking, "You're immortal right, Zee? Is it true. Did Maegwyn really steal the part of the divine Tapestry that the Bastard King," Sagacious spat out the nearby window, "cut in twain during his banishment?"

"Really, Sagacious, that's disgusting," she admonished in an irritated tone, 'And yes, I am immortal, and yes, it would seem so. And the other half of that bit of cosmic fate will seek its other half, wreaking death and destruction without care." She shook her head sadly. "That poor child. I think you had best go get them, Sagacious. I will meet you both in New Vael."

"Me?" Sagacious sputtered, "You want a warlock or a devil worshipper dead, I'm your guy. I'm not a babysitter, Zee. What am I even supposed to do? Say 'Oh, hey. So, you don't know me, but your old mentor used to be a knight like me, and I think something cosmic is trying to find you. Oh, and an angry, vengeful God, not to mention his network of assassins. Cool? Cool.' Come on, Zee. Isn't there anyone else you can think of?"

She smiled mysteriously at him. "Yes, you Sagacious. Maybe you can bring that young lady you've been seeing with you, what was her name again? Isobel? Something tells me this one will react better to a woman, rather than your own charms."

Sagacious blushed immediately. She knew about Isobel. Of course she did. She knew everything. He opened his mouth to argue with her, saw the look in his Patron's eyes and gave up. "All right, all right, fine." He stood and began to brush sand from his travelling robe. "Pleasure as always, Zee. Thank you for breakfast, I guess I'll see you in a few weeks?"

She smiled brilliantly at him, and he couldn't help but laugh. "Contact me when you have them, I will bring you both to me." She also stood and embraced him warmly, whispering into his ear, "Be a good boy, make good choices. I love you."

He frowned and hugged her back, smiling ruefully. "I love you too, Zaurielle. See you soon, hopefully."