Durofengor slipped out of the shadows.

He pulled a small ring out of a pouch, sliding it onto one of his fingers and concentrating to tune his appearance to match the attire of one of the guards.

He looked himself up and down, double-checking his appearance, then moving away from the building he was sheltered behind, putting on his best of-course-I-belong-here demeanor.

He glanced back to make sure the sorcerers weren’t right behind him. He thought for sure the one called Truthseeker would have known his intent, but it seems the sorcerer’s gifts were not as strong as he had feared.

He turned towards the harbor, wanting to see the Naga at work when they weren’t surrounded by the sorcerers’ people.

Walking with no sign of hurry, he took in everything he saw, analyzing it for information.

There were a few others walking about, most with a sense of purpose, but a few seemed to be simply enjoying the day.

He noted the empty buildings and other spaces. Tabris had been built for a much larger population. He wondered if perhaps the sorcerers had lied and they had taken control of an older town. A closer look at the buildings revealed that wasn’t the case. The buildings were too new. The weathering did not show the signs of wear most buildings show. Some of the buildings showed almost no wear at all, as though they had only recently been erected.

He heard a shrill shriek and moved towards it, sliding into the shadows once he made sure no one was watching him.

He peered out from the shadows of a tree, watching as a few human children chased one another through some sort of obstacle course. The smallest one, a girl, was shrieking and laughing as the two older children chased her.

There was no fear here, which meant the elders kept it incredibly well hidden … or that the sorcerers had told the truth and Tabris was as open as they said.

Perhaps it was only this way for the humans. More investigation was required. He would find the Naga.

He looked around to find another shadow to move to but paused as he noticed the children were looking up. Had the sorcerers found him already? Could they detect him?

He watched as the little girl held her hand out. Rain. He chuckled to himself about his nervousness. Thirty years he had served to a much more powerful sorcerer, but these younger sorcerers were making him twitch.

The girl flinched suddenly, shaking her hand violently while one of the others cried out and rubbed at his face.

Puzzled, Durofengor slid to the edge of the tree’s shadow and stuck out his arm. He was rewarded only a second later by the sting of a fat droplet of rain on his arm, then the additional sting of burning.

He stared at his arm for a another few seconds and a second droplet struck him, followed once again by a sharp sting.

Acid!

Suddenly the slow drizzle turned into a deluge and the air filled with the sound of heavy rain falling to earth. He pulled his arm in, shaking the burning liquid from it and looking up into the sky. Had that heavy cloud been there earlier? He could barely make it out through the rain.

He peered out again at the children. They were running now, heading for a nearby building. His sensitive hearing could make out a hiss of the acid eating at the leaves of the tree. His shelter might soon not be one.

The girl tripped and fell, nearly causing one of the older children to fall as well, but the boy only stumbled and kept running. The girl was crying and holding her leg in obvious pain. She curled into a ball, trying to cover her head.

The boys had made it halfway to the nearest building, neither looking back to check on their fallen friend.

Durofengor looked back to young girl. He could see her hair already turning colors and what looked like a burn on her arm.

A heavy drop landed on his shoulder and he turned to watch it slide down his chest. It burned.

He looked out again at the girl. She was terrified and in obvious agony. Where were the men of Tabris?

He suddenly realized he was standing there watching her die. He swore to himself, suddenly shifting into and out of her shadow. Heavy acid rain burned his skin as he leaned over her.

He reached down to scoop the girl up into his arms, flinching as he watched some of her skin peel away. She would not live long without a healer’s touch.

The sorcerers had said that one of their number now ran a place of teaching. He had not passed anything that looked like a school yet, so he turned and stepped to the farthest shadow he could see.

This short piece of fiction is set on the world of Steve Jackson Games’ Banestorm book.