Prologue - A Scout in the Night

The port city stood still and quiet in the night, the sound of waves lapping at vessels moored in the harbor drifting through the air. Most were asleep in their beds while those who were largely wanted to be counted amongst the former. Every business, tavern, and inn were closed for the night.

Some, though, could not wait for morning.
No one noticed the figure scurrying across the rooftops on the eastern side of the city nor did they hear them drop down into the alley beside the postal aviary. The hooded figure made a quick series of hand gestures as silence fell of the alley like a heavy blanket.
Feeling secure, the figure walked over to the aviary’s side entrance and produced a dagger from their cloak. They stuck the blade in between the door and the jam before noiselessly prying the former open in one quick motion. The figure slipped inside, not bothering to pick up the fresh splinters from the floor.
Evidence was not their top priority at the moment. What was required the use of a carrier bird.
The figure quickly rifled through the nearest desk, pulling out a sheet of paper as well as quill and ink. After scribbling down their message, they made their way into the aviary and grabbed one of the harnesses from the bin inside. They stuffed the rolled-up parchment into the harness’s back compartment.
Setting the harness down, the figure lowered their hood to reveal long, white hair tied back into a ponytail. Reaching behind her head, she pulled a coin-sized piece of crystal from its hiding place in her hair tie. She deftly inserted the shimmering stone into the slot of the front of the harness before pulling her hood back up.
Harness prepared and in hand, she opened one of the cages and gently pulled one of the birds out. Perhaps it was the late hour or maybe the birds the post employed were simply better trained than she would have thought, but the bird allowed itself to be fitted with the harness with minimal fuss.
The scout did a quick double check of the harness’s buckles in the light from the window.
Light?
The scout peered out the window and saw torch-carrying guards hustling down the street outside. She counted more guards than a simple patrol warranted. With a wave of her hand, the scout dismissed the silencing charm she had cast.
Immediately, she was assaulted by a chorus of squawking from birds in the aviary, none of whom seemed to welcome the late-night intrusion. Tuning them out, the scout heard what she feared she would.
The alarm had been raised.
Time was short. More than she had realized.
Clutching the carrier bird, the scout hustled out of the aviary and up the stairs to the postal tower. Once she reached the top, she unlatched the window shudders and opened them to nocturnal air. She thrusted the carrier bird out and watched as the latter’s training instantly took over, making it spread its wings and fly off over the city walls and away into the night.
Her message sent, the scout now had to get herself out of the city. Moving to the opposite side of the tower, she threw open the shudders and made her way onto the rooftop below.
Her options for escape were limited with the alarms raised. The guards would have the port and city gates locked down well before she could reach either if they were not so already. Her best bet was to find a place to hunker down and wait things out. It was a good idea on paper, but the list of places that would be safe enough for her was short.
Especially so if the alarm had been raised by who she thought.
She needed to hurry. If she could get to-
Her thoughts were interrupted by the whistle of an arrow that narrowly missed her head. Down below, more whistles rang out, these in the form of a pair of guards signaling that they had spotted her.
Cursing under her breath, she quickly changed tact as she moved along the rooftops. Stealth no longer being viable, she refocused her mana and distributed it through her body. She felt her skin harden and calcify as scales took form beneath her cloak. It wasn’t a perfect defense, but it would be enough to ward off any archer that was lucky enough to connect a shot to her.
Not a moment too soon, as it turned out, as one such archer’s arrow deflected off her left bicep. The figure did not even slow down, barely aware of the impact. She charged from rooftop to rooftop, trying to lose sight of the guards following her from below.
It was a feat proving to be easier said than done.
While she could easily outpace the armored guards below, she couldn’t outrun the ring of their whistles signaling their comrades. As soon as she lost one set, she would into another that would immediately give away her position.
An invisibility spell would have been a solution, but a short-lived one. Casting the charm also would have meant lowering her scales first and doing so would have been courting death if the aiming she had seen thus far was any indication.
Pity this city was controlled by traitors. They knew how to train their guards.
She outmaneuvered her fifth set of guards when a screech from above made her duck her head in reflex. Looking up, she saw a fat-tipped arrow sail through the air, a loud whistling emanating from it as it flew. Ducking behind a chimney for a moment’s cover, she peered around and saw the brazier of the district’s guard tower ablaze. She could see the archer on top of the parapet readying another signaling arrow.
The scout nearly cursed, but an idea struck her before the words could pass her lips. Perhaps she could use all these guards alerting each other to her advantage.
Taking a breath, she stopped circulating the flow of mana in her body. She immediately felt the slight itch that followed as her scales shifted back to smooth skin. Not wasting a second, she clasped her hands and reshaped her mana around her body. In the span of a second, the scout disappeared.
Ignoring the guards amassing below her, she sprinted across the rooftops towards the tower. The charm around her did is job and kept her hidden long enough to let the guards and archers lose track of her. She knew couldn’t keep it up. Maintaining the illusion demanded too much of both mana as well as her attention.
The scout was forced to let the cover drop as she neared the tower. By then, she was close enough to risk a few seconds of vulnerability.
With a leap, she flew from the final ledge and hooked her fingers onto the sill of one of the tower’s windows. Hoisting herself inside, she spared a second as her exhaustion caught up with her. Catching her breath, she pulled the dagger from her cloak and hustled up the steps. She paused at the last flight, taking the chance to survey what she could see as well as raise her scales once more.
She saw the archer standing where she had last seen him, scanning the city below for any sign of her. All she needed to do was incapacitate him and steal his bow. From there, she could fire off a signal arrow her own and beat a retreat while the guards below were running in the opposite direction.
Steeling herself, she sprinted up the last steps and onto the parapet. The archer barely had time to react before the handle of her dagger slammed into the back of his head. Wasting no time, the scout pulled the bow out of the man’s grip and reached for his quiver.
Click.
She spun around, her body moving faster in that instant than her mind. Quick as flash, her arm rose to meet the crossbow bolt in flight.
But the bolt did not deflect away like the arrows had. Its crimson tip pierced her scales as if they were normal flesh. Before the scout could register this, the point where scale met bolt erupted in flash of red light. The scout was thrown against the stone of the parapet and crumbled to the floor.
She weakly opened her eyes as the world pitched and swam around her. Her body felt like it was on fire from the inside. She tried to summon her mana to counter the effect, but that only worsened it. She wanted to scream from the pain, it was so unbearable, but even her voice was paralyzed. Were her lungs even still working?
She realized her hearing still did as the fall of heavy boots sounded not far from her. Blinking away pain-filled tears, she saw a figure walk up to where she lay.
It wasn’t a guard. The clothes he wore were a good sight too clean and formal for the rank and file. In fact, the closer he came to her, the more out of place he seemed at the top of the guard tower. That notion didn’t seem to keep him from holding a crossbow. Not that the weapon was loaded. It had done its job.
They both realized that.
“You should have stayed away,” he said as he crouched beside her. “You would have been better off. For a while at least.”
The scout looked up at him. Her eyes, the only part of her not frozen or wracked in agony, bore into him.
“Not a complete waste, though,” the man continued, unphased by her glare. “You made for an excellent field test.”
She tried to swing her dagger at him. She could still feel it in her hand! Throw it. Scream at him. Something. Anything!
But her body refused, too consumed with pain to listen to her beyond a few twitching muscles. For all her struggling, all it elicited from the man over was a sigh. He hoisted his crossbow back and brought the butt of its stock down on the scout’s head.
The crack of the wood against her skull was the last thing she heard before the world went black.
And that moment would be the last she would see of the world she knew.

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Author's Notes

A first draft of the prologue for what I hope will be my next book.
Sorry if this chapter is a bit light on clear references/links to my other articles. I like using prologues like this to more establish tones and seed things for later, so I didn't want to use too many explicit names or terms.
That said, you can likely figure out certain things if you've read some of my other articles.
Besides that, I really liked writing the scout using her Night magic. I tend to play rogues and thieves a lot, so it's fun toying with the balance for stealth-related spells. I also prefer magic being used strategically over some cheap instant-win. Invisibility would have been an easy way for her to get away from the guards... if she could hold the spell for long enough. The fact she can't hide and have her scales up at the same time was also a fun trade off to explore.
As always, feedback is welcome.

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