Spit out the Bone (M)

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

For a moment, Philomel's magic took the Telgradian by surprise, but it soon became obvious what the spell was intended for. Willing the words to enter her mind, Shinsou spoke into the ether.

Let's take a look around. There may be patrols further in.

As Shinsou stood in the mouth of the unstable, filthy tunnel that Delath had carved for them, gently swiping fragments of soil from his coat, he looked out of the earthy maw and past the treeline to where Crennick's house stood a few hundred feet away. To most, nothing would seem out of the ordinary, but Shinsou knew much better than that. This place should have been crawling with sentries. All of that neoclassical architecture housed one of the major organs of the Brotherhood, and, like any vital part, it should have been afforded the utmost protection. Guards, dogs, personal bodyguards; all of them were conspicious by their absence. From what he could see in the limited moonlight, the building was dark and quiet. The stairs to the main door were there; again, sentryless and openly inviting intrusion, the absolute antithesis of the security that the Brotherhood held in such high regard.

"Crennick's residence was not chosen as his quarters out of a misguided sentimentality for architecture," Shinsou whispered to the faun, who now stood again by his side, "It's a bastion for the Brotherhood. So, where the hell is everyone?"

After a moment's pause, assessing and re-assesing the options or lack thereof, Shinsou finally quietly waved the troupe out of the tunnel and towards the lavish headquarters, being sure to cling to their surroundings as they went. The Telgradian still couldn't fathom why no patrols were out, and wondered for a moment if it was some sort of trap. It seemed to be the most unlikely of explanations but with the most dangerous of insinuations; that Crennick and his guards had known they were coming, somehow. However, the odds of that worse-than-evens at best, and Shinsou didn't want to contemplate that outcome, especially given as Philomel had no obligation to be there and was already endangering herself for him. As the group got within mere feet of the frail perimeter walls, Shinsou saw a shadow flicker within the grounds of the house and raised a hand, signalling a stop. His expression of concern, however, suddenly twisted into a frown.

It was a wolf, one that was big and beautiful with silver fur that shimmered in the luminescence of the moon. It passed through the grounds without interruption before disappearing through the treeline of the surrounding woods.

Wolves don't come into populated areas. Has the bastard scarpered?

With that, Shinsou began his cautious journey to the ground floor entrance. Once white, his shoes were now rusty brown with dust and the soles were worn. As the laces trailed on the ground, over-long as they were and frayed like some old goat-tether, each step felt like a step towards inevitable disappointment. The Telgradian tried anything to not think about what would happen if he opened the entrance to an empty house. Behind him were soft prints in the soil, and before long slight movements of grit and stone as he and Philomel ambled up to the back door.

As he looked up from underneath his chestnut hair, his golden eyes met Philomel's own gaze and returned starkly back to the door. His right hand gripped the brass handle as his left clung around Enpera's pommel.

1

2

3!!

The door swept open on its hinges, crashing into a plaster wall as Shinsou, Philomel and her entourage poured through the door like soliders besieging the breach of a castle. Immediately, though, they stopped, skidding to a halt on a dusty wooden floor. An ominous, skin-crawling shiver went up Shinsou's spine and, as he gauged his surroundings, it all sank in.

The residence was empty.

Lighter patches of colour stood in contrast to their faded counterparts, marking walls and flooring where paintings and furniture had once resided. Outlines of dust marked the feet of cabinets, and deep scratches on the laminate flooring were evidence enough of a careless and hurried escape by the previous residents.

"The fucker's long gone, and all we're left with is this..." Shinsou growled, gesturing to the majesty of the empty building around him, "Dammit!"

In that frozen second between the entrance into the building and the revelation of Crennick's departure, Philomel could see her friend's eyes flick from the room to her. His face was unreadable; a little anger, maybe, but suddenly a thoughtful expression swept over him.

"Perhaps, though, he left in such a hurry that he couldn't take everything. After all, there should be archive after archive of Brotherhood documentation here; perhaps even a clue as to where he's gone to. Let's look around a bit..." Shinsou suggested, pulling Stygian from it's sheath by his side. In an instant, its undying light filled the room, illuminating their path and chasing away the pitch-black curtain of shadows that had draped over the house.