The Grey Tower

The body on the Wards had the effect Murdock had expected - lots of violence and flames but then the smoke cleared off and they were left with a charred, smelly body and little else. The Brown checked inside and noted that now the Wards were triggered, they were now no longer there, which is a convenient plot twist.

"It's safe now," he declared. "Let's go." He limped in first this time so he could scour the place for anything more with Saidin, but the downstairs was quite empty. He held a shield at the ready, just in case, but he couldn't feel anything. Stubbornly he made for the stairs and with almost comical slowness he began to hobble up them with his stick.

At the top of the stairs it transpired that the whole upper floor was one large room. At the far end there was a Gateway, leading to a dark cellar looking place. Huh. Along one side of the room, there were four cells made from rather ornately trimmed wood, but they were currently empty. However, they did look lived in, with blankets and chamberpots and even a few books. Four cells. Was it too much of a coincidence?

"I wonder if they were here," Murdock said to Miahala. His heart thumped in his chest as he went to inspect the cells, which were unlocked and slightly ajar. It was hard to say but this had to be the first proper lead he had had in what felt like an Age. He wasn't going to squander it now. But why was the Gateway open still? Was it tied off, or-

Razor sharp blades of Air whizzed through the Gate and Murdock barely managed to cut them off. "Saidin!" he warned Miahala as he stumbled back from the force. If this was their Asha'man friend, then he wasn't one to be messed with, but they couldn't lose this trail - if the Gate closed then he'd lose his family again and that just wasn't going to happen.

Miahala had had her opportunity to cause mayhem against their assailants, and now it was Murdock's turn. "Mia, link with me. Please." He could see the weaves where Mia couldn't, but he wouldn't be strong enough on his own currently. For the sake of this post I'm guessing Mia agrees out of curiosity if nothing else - Murdock was determined and focussed, ready to do whatever he had to with a one-track mind maybe other Browns shared.

He threw thick, unrefined but strong weaves of Air and Fire through the Gate as a warning and a distraction as he grit his teeth and hurried for the Gate. He and Mia made it through just in time for it to close off, but the man was more focussed on the stocky Darkfriend in the cellar, a dark shadow between barrels of wine with a sword of dripping fire. Now, Murdock had never been very good with a sword and didn't even bother to carry one any longer. He threw his shield on the Darkfriend and crudely intercepted the first sword slash with his cane. Oh! His cane was made from Heartstone, thanks to Elia. That moment of surprise was all Murdock needed to press the advantage, and he moved in and grabbed the man's wrist.

That was all he needed in order to Rend the man. Compared to his shield or his other weaves Mia might have seen, these were organic, intricate and more detailed than anything the man had done, all the elements doing their own thing as Murdock settled a weave into the man. Healing, but in reverse. The Darkfriend screamed as his bones grew brittle, snapping even under the weight of him standing upright. He crumbled to the floor as Murdock channelled, making sure that by the end he couldn't hold a pencil without breaking his finger bones.

Was this a forbidden weave? Was it something he could technically do as a Brown who had "sworn the oaths" and "walked in the Light"? Erm... it was a bit of a grey area and not one Murdock tended to consider. However, with Mia right there (if currently linked with him) this was an ethical conundrum he had to consider. Mostly because Mia's attitude towards Darkfriends leaned heavily towards "set them on fire".

For the sake of the post, Mia did in fact agree...although she found linking with Murdock to be rather distasteful on the whole.

By the end of it, and what had happened to the Black Asha'man, Mia was left picking apart what she had just seen while Bella tried to figure out how to go around this quandary without setting Murdock on fire or looking like an idiot. She finally settles on Mia noticing but deciding not to do anything about it right now.

She will not be forgetting, however, and will try to find out more.

Mia looked at Murdock with one brow arched in an otherwise-impassive expression. "The man is dead," she said flatly. "And we're in a cellar again. Her eyes began to rove the darkened space. "Do you see or hear your daughters?"

What was it with them and cellars...?

Murdock released Miahala from the little circle he had made, though this meant she could channel against him should she feel like it. It was what a normal, non-Black channeller would do, so it made sense to not have her sensing his emotions. "At least this time we're here through choice." He looked around, couldn't hear anything, and he set off towards the stairs. "And there's a way out that doesn't involve crawling, so we're doing much better already."

The cellar door was closed, but not locked. Murdock threw it open and waited, but there was nothing to suggest they were being ambushed. With a look at Mia for encouragement he pressed on, entering a house much like the one they had just been in with the sneaky Ward.

This wasn't how he imagined seeing his daughters again, but he wasn't going to complain about it either. In the sitting room area near the door, perched close together on the single sofa, were his four children, all four daughters with chains around their wrists and looking dishevelled, but otherwise no worse for wear. (The missing fingers? None were missing. He'd been so sure...)

"Papa!"

"You made it!"

"What took you so long? They were feeding us cold porridge!"

All four of his children were tall women, with dark hair and sharp dark eyes like their father, though they were less Saldaean in appearance and Phoebe in fact had a bit of a button nose like her mother. At least their spirits hadn't been broken...

"My babies!" Murdock cried, hobbling over and trying to hug them all at once. "I'm so sorry, I've been looking non stop since I found out you were missing... but I'm here now and you'll be safe at the Grey Tower. Let's get you out of here." He began to work at the chains, seizing Saidin and using Earth to make them brittle enough to snap. "This is Miahala Sedai, and I wouldn't have made it here without her."

For the first time since he'd arrived at the Grey Tower, Murdock felt a weight lifted from his shoulders. His daughters would never replace Giselle of course, but now he had them all back in his life he felt like he might be better positioned to try and move on.

Of course, he was going to continue to wreak havoc on the people responsible for this, but that could wait until tomorrow.