One hour later, she listened to the rumble of the bus leave the stadthalle. Cannibal Lighthouse had arrived the night before. The road crew had been up all night setting up the stage and special effects, and were just pulling out of the parking lot to get a well-deserved rest before kicking the concert off tonight. Cannibal Lighthouse’ show was due for 9 pm to 12 am. That gives me plenty of time before security gets paranoid to walk around the stadthalle.
The tour around the building turned up no visible exits that weren’t on the plans. Let’s see what a spell can get me. She moved across the street to the small park across Rosenstrasse. Making certain she had line of sight on the building, she crouched down near a large oak, then idly scratched a circle in the ground with a stick. It wasn’t a perfect circle, it didn’t need to be. All she needed was the circle, and the four ‘ordinal’ runes that defined her purpose.
To the direction of the building, she scratched the rune ‘to see’. To the left, ‘silence’, to the right, ‘to be hidden’, and opposite her target ‘the all’. She finished the runes, then slowly sang the runes quietly as she sat down against the oak, her feet pointed at the stadthalle. As she repeated the chant, she felt the world go fuzzy. She rose above herself and floated into the stadthalle. There was darkness in the walls, which brightened as she floated into a hallway.
She followed the hall, looking down through the rock, comparing her vision to what she remembered of the public plans. Slowly floating over through the auditorium, she saw the huge paper mache’ lighthouse, with half eaten bodies holding up the banner proclaiming ‘Cannibal Lighthouse’. The pyrotechnics showed up in her sight as a pulsing yellow energy, waiting to be fired. Security was posted top and back. She’d managed to get lucky as the teams were going through final checks of patrols and stations for the show. It was no surprise to see the dark brown shirts and black pants of Kruss. They were the biggest security provider in Nurnberg, so it was expected they’d be the ones to handle the concert.
Two at each back door to the stage, a two man team above the lights, three two man teams in the halls, and six in front of the stage. They’re all armed. Movement below her caught her attention. She floated down to get a better look. Her vision wien black as she drifted down through the rock, becoming bright once more as she found herself in a hastily dug tunnel. Two short stocky men were operating spells to push and solidify the earth moved. Both were dressed in leather robes, with small gems of all colors set all across the leather like rhinestones. The shorter of the two men had a thick thatch of black hair that was bound into a ponytail that almost dragged the floor. The larger man was bald, and slightly thinner than the first. Both sere still under one-point-five meters, and seemed about one meter wide.
The men formed a six foot tall tunnel, the earth being forced to the side and heating slightly to reinforce the walls of the tunnel. Earth magic was expensive, and required both endurance and strength to wield like this. Dwarven stoneworkers didn’t come cheap. She backed into the wall, leaving only her head in the tunnel. These mages could see her if they turned around.
After a few minutes of watching them grow the tunnel another twelve steps away from her, they stopped. They both looked up, and stayed that way for a long moment, then their faces turned to look at each other. They started to turn, and Blade ducked back into the wall. Darkness surrounded her. She started a slow count to thirty, but at five, light started to strike her incorporeal eyes. They’d seen her! She floated to her left towards the end of the tunnel. She heard a muffled curse as the diggers tried to follow her movement. She increased her speed slightly, feeling the strain on her heart. A quick pop of her head showed she was right at the ront of the tunnel. Forgoing any slow movement to conserve energy, she shot upward as fast as she could, drifting up through the rock and into a small dressing room.
She estimated the size at maybe one and a half meters wide, and three long. The room was taken up by a small army cot in a corner, a foldable dressing table with a full kit of makeup. Two guitar cases sat in the corner, with the letters ‘D.E.’ on them. Darkos Edge’s dressing room? Are they after the bell? She floated up out of the stadthalle and rushed back to her body. Her chant faded as she settled back in. There was a moment of weakness due to the extra energy used to return so quickly, but she rose off the ground and strode deeper into the small park and away from the stadthalle. Looks like we have competition.