The Dvoryanin of King’s Valley are well known for their horse races. These semi-frequent events draw in racers and crowds from all over Charon to compete for glory or partake in side bets. As with anything involving money and lofty egos, there is always a good chance someone will attempt to cheat. Or someones. Particularly a charcoal skinned fellblood and an ivory skinned changeling.

It has been a while since Zarius and Caedes have gone out to do a mission together, just the two of them. It was…weird after all the drama of the Night of the Red Rogue. Something had changed between the two and Zarius wasn't sure how to feel about it. It was like a wall had been raised and the distance between them was uncomfortable to endure. The fellblood wasn't sure how to address the issue…if it even was an issue. Caedes may not feel the same way for all he knows, and that in itself makes Zarius uneasy.

Zarius hoped that this trip to Thunderhoof Village would help distract from that feeling or fix whatever was wrong.

The request came into the Rookery asking for some assistance in sabotaging a race, particularly ensuring that one popular race horse would be unable to complete any races anytime soon. Simple enough in theory. With their combined skills, it should be easy to pull off without raising any alarm.

Ideally they would have been able to sneak into the stables and just set the horse loose without actually having to get involved in the race with all the spectators keeping a keen eye on the animal, but a quick scout of the area revealed a surprising number of guards. Their timing was bad. With a race scheduled for the next day, the owner had put their goons on high alert for anyone trying to tamper with their prized mount. Just their luck.

The race did provide an opportunity though. If they couldn’t get to the horse in Thunderhoof, then the next best option was to interfere while the race was ongoing. A map of the looping track provided by the contact showed a few places where no spectators would be able to see anything odd like the horse leaving the path or being set loose. The only problem was the rider.

After a bit of strategizing, the pair came up with a simple plan. They could take out the rider in secret before the race, stash their unconscious body somewhere, then have Caedes impersonate them. Once Caedes rode the horse to one of these blind spots he would be able to run off with the horse mid race. Zarius would remain near the staging area where the race would start and end to prevent anyone from finding the missing rider prematurely. Then the changeling could simply let the horse loose and return in a different form. They would be long gone before anyone could figure out their deception and have to go hunt the horse down across the nearly endless sea of grass.

The morning of the race arrives and there’s a good sized crowd gathered near the staging area for the riders and the mounts. It’s an eclectic mix of creatures including several horses, a few mules, what looks like a giant bird with long legs and an equally long neck and most surprisingly of all, a winged drake with electric blue stripes across its silver scales.

The chatter about who to bet on in the race was already in full swing, with many favoring the prize winning stallion and the drake. In fact, the drake seemed to be the safest bet and getting the most attention. It really did not seem fair to have a drake racing against creatures bound to the earth, and that sentiment was whispered throughout the crowd. The betting odds were of no concern to the pair though, they weren't here to gamble. 

Zarius keeps to the back of the crowd just in the shadow of a building with his assassin accomplice. He watches the staging grounds closely and keeps an eye out for the riders. Seemed that most of the riders had different colored bandanas to help identify themselves from a distance. Their contact had said that the stallion’s rider would be wearing a red bandana.

Finally, they spot their target. The rider is a short human with scruffy brown hair. They look like they might be in their late twenties and have a pretty significant scar across their face.

“There,” Zarius nods in the rider’s direction. “They should be doing last call soon, we need to make the switch quickly.”

The rider speaks with some of the crowd who ask questions about how the horse is feeling, to which they reply confidently before heading back to one of the tents in the staging area specifically for the riders to get ready in.

“It is now or never, I will stay out here in case you need a distraction.” The fellblood tugs his hood over his head before going invisible.^[1]

---

[1] Invisibility

As Zarius nods towards their target, the ivory-skinned man beside him lifts his head; in the shadows of the building they’re standing in, he’s hard to see— as though blending into the darkness itself. He listens attentively to the charcoal fellblood beside him, but his attention is elsewhere: particularly, on a black haired woman hovering about their target. Over the course of the morning raucous, she’s been quite attentive to them, speaking casually and helping them waive away the crowd; he notes her ledger, tucked beneath her right arm; and can make the assumption that she works with the target.

At the very least, the target obviously knows her, regardless of their relationship: and that’s all he needs aside from a few behavioral queues.

His attention shifts briefly, landing passively on the fellblood nearby; it’s been a while since he and Zarius set out on a mission together. Not since… well, before the Red Rogue incident. Although most things seemed to have straightened out with time, some things had changed; and Caedes would be remiss to admit he’s not partially responsible.

It took the Night of the Red Rogue to realize he’s become too attached in its aftermath; that his primary concern wasn’t losing Lyari, a massive connection to the Crimson Hand; it was losing Zarius’ opinion and trust.

He hasn’t quite come to terms with that; and he’s not entirely convinced he left that night without scars on their business relationship on its own. A wall’s been raised since then, and although he’s lapsed back into his usual behaviour, he’s also been notably careful not to overstep his boundaries again.

Zarius said that he didn’t owe him anything, but… this mission gives him a chance to prove he’s still a trustworthy ally.

A lingering unease settles in his chest as he turns his gaze back to the mission at hand.

He watches the woman he’s been watching angrily speak to a few of the staff on hand near the stage before she heads off into the crowd with a bit of a huff… towards, but past them, waving down a different staff member in the same moment that their target turns to head towards the tents flanked by a few escorts.

“M’hm.” Caedes chuckles; he pulls back his hood, pale gaze blinking hazel towards the crowds. In the sanctuary of the shadows, where the crowd is nonethewiser to her very presence, the change happens swiftly.^{(1 & 2)} She offers Zarius a side glance, flashing him a smug lopsided smile, “Be back before you know it.” She assures him, her voice pitching feminine ⁽³⁾— albeit, not the exact tones or appearance of the same woman— but close enough for a glance to be convincing for most.

“If you want to do me a huge favor,” She brushes her black hair back, letting it fall over her shoulders as the fellblood vanishes from even her sight. “Keep an eye out for that woman they were with, and make sure she doesn’t come back to the tent until I’ve given you an okay.” With that, she steps out into the weak light, but keeps to the sidelines of the crowd.

A natural unease washes over her, a faint tingle against her skin which she ignores, as the morning light won’t actually do much until it’s higher in the sky. More intense… but thankfully, this whole thing takes place before the sun will reach the point where she really needs to worry about it. She highly doubts she’ll look convincing playing the part with a hood over her head in the middle of a race…

She pushes through the outskirts of the crowd to get to the racer’s tents, smiling apologetically as she tucks her own ledger beneath an arm and waives her way past a gaggle of chattering fans. Fleeting gazes aren’t quite enough to push past her illusion, and she’s not stopped until she makes it past the crowd, behind the stage towards the racer’s tents; where she feels the rush of footsteps followed by a tap on her lower back.

“Miss Yue!” A tiny voice interrupts; and she blinks, glancing over her shoulder with a cocked brow.

“Yes?”

She finds herself looking down on a halfling; the young woman, her brown hair tied in braids, giggles sheepishly. “Here’s the… um,, the things you asked for; sorry it took us so long to get them to you.” The halfling holds up a small package, wrapped carefully in a little brown box. Caedes glances around without moving her head, before turning to the halfling; her hands move to her hips, brows furrowing irritably.

“It took you long enough.”

“I know! I’m sorry, we had trouble with security.” The halfling lowers her voice, but her comment about security is certainly interesting. She tucks it into the back of her mind, but breathes an exasperated sigh; most of her body language and tone come from those few hours of watching that woman interact with those around her— as it’s the most she can do, but… luckily, it’s working so far.

“Try not to cut it so close next time,” she responds, taking the package from the halfling. "If I give you a next time." The woman tenses, but nods nervously; watching her turn and stride towards the rider’s tent with a nervous twitch in her twiddling fingers. Caedes weighs the item in one arm, smiling lopsidedly at the security posted outside of the rider’s tent, as they step aside to let her in.

She makes it inside with one last, dismissive wave over her shoulder to the security— which gives one invisible arachnid the leverage she needs to latch onto the side of the tent to act as a second lookout. ⁽⁴⁾

---

^{(1) Alter Self}

^{(2) Beads of They}

^{(3) Sound Throwing}

^{(4) Charlotte, Prismatic Spider (Invisibility)}

Zarius watches the woman walk past. As always, Caedes had an eye for details. The changeling had an easy way past the guards and to the rider. All he needed was time to make the switch which would fall on Zarius’ shoulders.

“I can do that. Avoid talking to too many other people if you can and prioritize getting to the horse as soon as you can.”

He was admittedly a little worried about Caedes’ sensitivity to light. Unfortunately, races weren’t very entertaining for spectators to watch if it’s dark out, so they had to work with the unfavorable conditions. Lucky for them, it was a little overcast so as long as Caedes could break line of sight as much as possible, they should be able to pull off the deception without any problems.

While Caedes heads off in his newly donned disguise, Zarius tails after the woman back past the buildings around the staging area. Oddly enough, the woman ducks into a back alley after checking on her shoulder for anyone tagging along.

That was some pretty suspicious behavior. Of course she sees nothing and continues until coming to a little area with a well at its center. She’s not alone. Zarius creeps along the wall and peers around a corner, spotting at least one other individual currently rinsing off their face over a bucket of water.

“There you are. The race is going to start soon and you’re not even with your mount,” the woman criticizes with a huff.

The person they speak to is a particularly young and small framed dark elf with lilac purple skin and black and white streaked hair. She’s dressed in some light protective leathers and layers of clothing that look more Zeinavian than what is common in King’s Valley. She has a blue bandana around her neck, marking her as one of the race’s riders.

“It isn’t starting soon enough if you got time to bug me,” the elf responds as she uses a rag to dry her face.

“Hmph, you better not screw this up.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever." The rider waves dismissively before pouring out the remaining water from the bucket back into the well. "This isn’t my first time doing this, lady. You focus on your job, I’ll focus on mine.”

“Don’t order me around, you pest," the woman hisses. "I’m already being more generous than a parasite like you deserves.”

“Lotta talk from someone standing pretty on the sidelines. Afraid to get your boots a little dirty out on the course?” The rider fires back with a sneer. 

The woman narrows her eyes and looks down her nose at the dark elf. “Keep up this attitude and you can consider our deal off.”

Rolling her eyes, the dark elf reluctantly relents. “Sorry,” she mutters under her breath.

“Better. Now get out there.” The woman shoos the elf off before heading up a staircase on the outside of a building up to a rooftop garden where the ritziest audience members seemed to be gathered and waited on by staff.

The dark elf pulls her hair back into a messy bun as she passes by the invisible tiefling and heads back to the staging area.

Zarius isn’t quite sure what to make of the conversation he overheard, but it doesn’t seem like the other woman is going to be making her way back to the staging area anytime soon which works in Caedes’ favor for making the switch.

He follows the rider back to the staging area and tails her just long enough to confirm she wasn't headed Caedes' way. The rider passes by the tent just after Caedes slips inside, making their timing about as perfect as it could have possibly been. Zarius watches the elf as they go about checking the saddle on their drake.

Nothing seems particularly off, so he steps back away from the crowd. He focuses for a moment and reaches out to connect with Caedes to mentally relay a message.^[1]

That woman just had a conversation with the drake rider before heading up to an observation area. They have some sort of side deal but I did not get many details. Keep an eye out for them during the race in case they pull anything.

---

[1] Red Rogue’s Hood

“Yue?”

There’s a quizzical voice that rises in the tent upon her entry; Caedes blinks, turning her eyes to their target, who’s in the middle of pulling on their riding boots. “I thought you were heading to the—“ the rider cuts off as they turn towards her, eyes widening when Caedes tosses the package at them nonchalantly.

They drop one of their boots in the dirt, reaching out to snap up the package before it hits the ground.

If anyone’s going to blow her cover, it’ll be the rider; whoever Yue is, they have a connection. It could be business, it could be personal, it could be romantic: it could be none of them. But either way, the inconsistencies in her disguise will start to show through if she’s not careful around them.

The rider turns the box over in their hands, brows furrowing; and they start to peel apart the paper right when Zarius’ voice echoes in the back of her head. She narrows her hazel eyes. A side deal? She repeats through the same mental relay⁽¹⁾; she stands with her hands on her hips as she watches the rider pull out a vial full of cyan liquid. She watches them tilt it uncertainly in their hands and take a nervous breath at the mere sight of it. Hm… I was handed a package on the way in that was, apparently, hard to get through security.

Caedes’ boots are soundless against the grass of King’s Valley as she heads towards their target, who is nonethewiser that they’re interacting with a doppelgänger. “I’m still not so sure about this,” The rider remarks as Caedes circles around the crate they’ve been sitting on.

Looks like something alchemical in the bottle; I guess our client’s not the only one who’s not above cheating to win a race.

“If anyone has any suspicions about this, I’m going to get disqualified.” The rider continues before they turn to look at her— but they look at where she used to be. They perk up, quizzical for a moment, and start to turn on the crate to find where she’s gone.

One second…

There is one thing that could be said about his family’s particular set of skills: it’s that few really ever see it coming when its done properly. Beneath the shade of the rider’s tent, the shadows spring to life⁽²⁾; before the target can shriek or make a sound, they suddenly feel drained— tired— their eyelids flutter as they fall diagonally off the side of the crate.⁽³⁾

Their fall is muffled by the grass; shadows twine around their wrists and ankles, locking them together, and muffling the riders ability to speak when a thick band twists around their mouth. Caedes steps around the crate, having dropped his disguise by the time the rider’s blurry vision resets. He unwraps the bandana from around the rider’s neck as their vision dips, a palm which brushes against their shoulder enough of a touch to allow the changeling to perfectly mimic their appearance.

When the rider blinks their eyes open again, they’re looking back at a reflection of themselves⁽⁴⁾; Caedes offers the rider a lopsided smile as they tighten the bandana around their neck. “Sorry,” the changeling apologizes, their voice pitched rather close to the rider's after having heard enough of their dialect and phrases⁽⁵⁾. “At least you don’t have to worry about getting disqualified after all, hm?”

Right as the rider begins to panic with realization, Caedes flips out their dagger, slamming the jeweled blunt of it into the back of the rider’s head to knock them out. Once they’re under, the changeling takes a breath; they reach down, plucking up the dropped vial with a look of consideration.

Target’s down. Out cold. They inform Zarius over their mental link; the changeling offers a glance at the clothing chest that the rider had been sitting on previously— what he’d mistaken as a crate. After changing, Caedes dips down, picking up the bound rider, and using a foot to kick open the clothing chest, where they proceed to drop the rider inside, and shut it.

They’ll be fine.

The changeling ruffles their short brunette hair to better match the rider, adjusting their bandanna around their neck as they step outside. They nod to the guard as they pass, leaving the tent to hunt down their targeted mount; they offer a glance towards the drake rider's tent while they exit. I'm as in position as I can be; rider's in a clothing chest. No one should be in and out of these tents till the race is over... But I do think they were ready to string up their horse in competition with the drake that's been entered.

---

^{(1) Red Rogue's Hood}

^{(2) Web}

^{(3) Desperation}

^{(4) Appearance Mimicry}

^{(5) Sound Throwing}

Zarius considers the situation with this new information. Doping the horse up to perform better meant that they were intending it to win, otherwise why would they take the risk of being disqualified.

But then what was this side business with the drake rider? The rider of the prized stallion and the drake rider were wearing different colored bandanas, meaning they should be on competing sides, yet both were working with the black haired woman. What exactly was going on here?

There was always the chance they were misunderstanding what substance was meant for. It was potentially poison meant for one of the other riders or their mount. In which case...wouldn't the drake be the most logical target? But that didn't align with the conversation the fellblood overheard with the bookkeeper. 

This was far more complicated than they originally anticipated, but none of this new information really changed their plans as far as he could discern. They still had a job to do regardless of how many layers of cheating was occurring in this race. Zarius’ one concern was if the cheating would stop at just hopping up a horse on some herbs, or if Caedes would have to be mindful of being outright attacked out on the course.

The track itself was simple, just a loop through the nearby grassy hills and back to the staging area. There were few obstacles and natural hazards, at least officially. He starts to wonder about the blind spots. Would others leverage those areas to set traps or possibly sabotage one another without the spectators seeing?

He starts to consider the other participants and watches to see if they missed any other potential threats. But too little too late as many of the riders are already prepped and ready to step up to the starting line.

Shit.

Maybe they were too focused on their target and should have been keeping a better eye on the whole picture. One thing that doesn’t escape his notice is the actions of the drake rider.

As Caedes heads towards the horse, the dark elf notices and turns his way. “Hey,” she calls out, stepping away from the drake’s side and closing the distance between them.

Shit.

Zarius circles around to watch the interaction closely and intervene with a distraction if necessary. They didn’t know how well the two riders knew one another, and if this elf somehow saw through Caedes’ impersonation, then they would have a hard time getting away given the guards and many spectators all watching.

The elf steps up to Caedes and extends a hand towards them. “Good luck out there. Try to not fall off. Would be pretty embarrassing for you.”

Caedes blinks, hazel eyes turning to catch a figure in their peripheral vision within the same moment they’re about to reach their target. They keep a neutral smile, turning their head to face the dark elf— the drake rider which they’d seen earlier. “Hey,” they greet, keeping their voice steady, but pitched high, tone quizzical at the inflection. They turn, hands resting confidently on each hip as the dark elf starts to close the distance between them.

They can’t see Zarius from their position; they don’t look for him either, but they bid every muscle in their body to relax in the face of the interaction. It’s been a while since their last espionage mission; impersonating someone that they haven’t crafted themself. Someone with a history, relationships, and personality that Caedes can only gauge from a surface level to replicate; and they need to find a way to fix that.

It’s really a critical weakness when it comes to impersonations; the accuracy of acting can make or break the persona.

They blink, chuckling over the dark elf’s comment, “It would be, wouldn’t it?” They admit; a quick glance at the dark elf’s hand reveals nothing in particular of concern to them. Nothing hidden in their palm, at least from what they can tell. They reach out, clasping the dark elf’s hand in some friendly gesture of presumed rivalry. “Although, it would be much more embarrassing if you fell off your drake.” They smile, a chuckle escaping their lips; a gesture that could be taken as playful or sardonic, depending on their already established relationship. “Good luck to you, too— it’s a long drop from drake-back.”

With one last smile, they finish the exchange with a wave from over their shoulder as they turn to approach their stallion. That drake rider came over to say good luck. If they've got something planned, it'll likely be during the race. He remarks; a simple update for Zarius.

Caedes breathes a sigh, looking up at the massive beast with a lopsided smile. “Hey there,” they greet, patting the stallion’s thick neck; the creature is a brilliant ebony hue, with a stark white stripe on its forehead and a single white hoof. The look in its eye is enough to tell them that, even if no one else has put together the pieces, the horse feels something’s off; the stallion chuffs through its nose. “Ahhh... don’t be like that.” They remark, untying its bridle while the stallion stomps a hoof, tracing the point through the grass.

Caedes looks at it with a sense of wariness, wondering if the horse knew its owner was ready to drug it. They gather the reins in their hands, turning their eyes towards the other riders beginning to lead their steeds to the starting line; with a breath, they move after them, guiding the stallion to—

—or not.

The reins catch, tension increasing between Caedes’ hand, and the stallion’s bridle; and they find themselves staring down the stallion with a slight and unbemused scowl. “…You’re gonna be like that, huh?” They murmur, watching the black stallion’s ears tilt slightly; to be honest, they’re not sure if the stallion is naturally stubborn, or if this actually has anything to do with the stallion knowing that they’re not the right version of their usual rider.

Gods damned animals and their sixth sense; if this horse doesn’t cooperate with them, they’re really going to have a hard time; but, that’s fine.

They came prepared for this possibility.

They sigh, exasperated, and rummage in one of their pockets; after a moment, they offer a sugarcube within the horses’ line of sight between two fingers. “C’mon,” they coo, watching the ebony horse’s ears perk forwards; they hear the crunch of its hooves against the grass as it moves after them. “There we go; good boy.”

Two cube shaped bribes later, Caedes gets the stallion to the starting line; hand extended flat, they ignore the weird, scruffy dampness of the horse’s lips taking the third sugarcube from the palm of their hand. They glance out at the rest of the riders. The stallion munches contently on the starting line, content for now while Caedes hooks their boot into the stirrups, and pulls themself up onto the stallion’s back.

... God, they sure hope this thing is going to be willing to run without a bribe.

The dark elf cocks her head a bit and gives a half-smile.

Uh oh. Did she notice something off with what Caedes said or the way he said it. Zarius moves in a bit closer, his steps silent as he carefully avoids leaving any imprints in the grass that would give away his presence. If he had to, he would drop some sootlings in order to distract her from calling out Caedes'. 

She pulls her hand back.

Then gives Caedes a rough pat on the side of the arm.

“Look at you, pretending to have grown a spine," she says with a bit of snark in her tone. "Your boss needs to stop inflating your ego. Either way, I’ll give you a run for your money.”

With that, she turns on her heels and walks back over to her drake. The large draconic beast snorts and runs its tongue across its sharp teeth, eyes landing on Caedes and staring him down. The dark elf reaches up to grasp the saddle on its back and pulls herself up onto its back. It rolls onto its feet and stands up, nearly doubling in height from while it was lying down and easily towering over all the other mounts entered in the race.

How having a drake entered at all against horses and birds is at all fair is beyond Zarius. But considering these races are often anything goes it wouldn't be shocking if the other riders had magic items, weapons, and outside assistance.

The drake stretches like a cat as the dark elf pulls her bandana over her nose and a pair of goggles over her eyes before tucking her hair back into her hood. The drake then plods over to the starting line, giving a throaty growl to any of the other mounts lining up around it while Caedes argues with the obstinate stallion.

Zarius watches the changeling struggle with the beast. Hm. He might have to give it a little encouragement at the start of the race if it's going to be a pain. He carefully follows behind Caedes and the horse up until the starting line. All Caedes has to do is get the horse in behind the hills that loom on the horizon passed the open field stretching before them. A straight shot. All he has to do is go forward and hold on. Simple. 

Simple until he glances at the other riders and notices the saddlebags on many of their mounts which look oddly full for what is supposed to just be a short mad sprint. Then he notices the crossbows, the rolled up nets, and the bolos tucked under their saddles. Ah. Yup. 

All Caedes has to do is go forward, hold on, and dodge a number of projectiles and traps being thrown out by the other competitors. At least their playing dirty didn't involve someone possibly getting thrown into the ground or trampled. 

The competitors all line up, many of the mounts are raring to go, knowing well what comes next. But then the drake lies down with a loud thud. One of the horses near it, spooks and side steps, the rider having to spin it back around to line it back up. The other riders glances over at the drake rider annoyed, seeing that she is leaning back with her feet propped up on the back of the drake's neck. 

"Don't mind us boys, you'll need the head start."

The other riders scowl and instantly the drake rider becomes the heel out of all of the competitors. Perhaps this works in their favor. If all the other riders focus on taking out the drake, then they might not bother with the stallion. 

Someone official looking steps to the side of the lineup and a horn to their lips. The riders all gather their reins, prepare to take off as soon as the horn blares. All except the drake and their rider that is. 

The blare of the horn trumpets out and the other racers immediately take off and glance over their shoulders to see what the drake does. 

Nothing. 

The drake just lies there and yawns while the rider picks dirt out from under her nails. And the crowd is less than enthused by this blatant act of unsportsmanlike behavior. Zarius glances around as a chorus of boos and angry shouts start barraging the drake rider for not taking this race seriously and risking their money to mock the other riders. The drake riders ignores all of it, making no immediate moves to participate.

It takes a great amount of willpower for Caedes not to bark into a laugh; they almost like this drake rider. Her attitude is infuriating in the funniest kind of way; especially for an individual whose sense of humor derives from similar taunts and jeers. They hold their tongue, simply offering the drake rider a bemused glance from the corner of an eye; it’s tempting to let themself fall into habit, after all, they’re not here to play or make friends… or win, for that matter.

Then again… if someone were to find out that they weren’t the rider, what are they going to do? Stop the race after it’s started? Caedes chuckles, “If your drake flies even half as fast as your mouth, we may as well throw in the towel before the race even starts.” They jest aloud for the woman to hear, back arched in the way they lean over just enough to rest their arms against the horse’s neck, crossed.

The stallion’s ear flicks while its jaw shifts with its crunching, but for the most part, it tolerates their bullshit.

Stubborn as he may be, maybe it’s got a sense of humor at the very least.

It’s while Caedes is playfully haranguing the drake rider that they notice, however… they’re not the only ones looking to fix a race. In fact, a lot of the other riders are significantly less subtle about their intentions… at least, to the trained eye.

The changeling’s brows furrow, shoulders lifting slightly; their hazel eyes fix just past the drake rider to a white mare on their other side. They sit up a little more straight in their seat, lips pursed when they realize the mare’s rider is armed with more than just their reins; the glint of an arrow shimmers in one of the saddlebags.

The acknowledgement of the first piece of contraband leads Caedes’ eyes to another, and yet another stuffed beneath the saddles; they take a breath, tightening their grip on the reins and simply offering the drake rider a snide grin as they turn back towards the official that strides in front of the competitors.

So much for an easy mission.

If the drake rider keeps playing the heel, there’s a good chance the other competitors will target her and her drake out of simple spite, but he can’t put all of his money down on that chance; the stallion’s just as much of a threat, albeit a more humble one, although…

He has to wonder…

When the drake rider is present, why sabotage any of the other landlocked contestants? Why aren’t they sabotaging the drake, the creature who most definitely has the most bets in this race cast on it, if only due to its natural advantage? His mind pulls back to Zarius’ warning from earlier: something about the drake rider having a side deal, but… for what, exactly? This stallion can’t pose that much of a threat—

—before he can finish his line of thought, the horn sounds.

Dust kicks up around the starting line as horses and riders fly forwards— all except the drake and its rider.

… and one very stubborn stallion.

A click similar to a ‘tsk’ escapes the changeling’s lips, and they roll their eyes as the ebony stallion stands stock still at the starting line, ears pinned back in a flat line. “… So, is this that run for my money you were telling me about?” Caedes chuckles as though frustrated snarls, boos, and heckles don’t ring loud above their voice from the crowd— they’re actually not sure if the crowd’s realized the stallion is missing amongst the starters given the size of the drake next to them. “For the sake of the show you’re putting on, I sure hope you live up to the hype—”

Before he can finish, something suddenly jolts the stallion into motion; its ears turn forwards, eyes growing wide and rolling white.

Unprepared, Caedes barely saves themself from taking an inelegant tumble as the stallion rears back on its hind legs; a gasp catches in their throat and they grasp the horse’s sides tightly as its forelegs slam into the dirt to spring forwards—

— and then horse disappears with its rider in a blur. ⁽¹⁾

The feeling is… strange.

Strange, abstract, nothingness; but it reminds them very similarly to the feeling of sinking into the shadows. The black stallion reappears, hooves hitting the ground at a full sprint just behind the last horse in the line of sprinters. The mare tosses her head back in frustration and shock at the sudden appearance, nearly tossing its own rider off as the black stallion shrieks past the spooking mare.

Caedes works to gather the reins around his knuckles; but can’t hold back a shocked laugh at the absolute absurdity of the whole damn thing while he's gathering his wits about him.

Now he understands why the horse might still be a competitor in this race.

---

^{(1) Displacer Stallion: Blink}

The drake rider smirks at Caedes, though her eyes do narrow a bit. Perhaps he was pushing it a bit too much. Luckily there were enough distractions all around them to divert her attention from the interloping changeling. 

As the horse balks and stands still at the starting line after the horn has blared, she hisses under her breath. "Stop goofing around. Get going."

Zarius takes advantage of the stubbornness of the drake rider and the stallion. He creeps up to the drake's side and empties the contents of a vial into one of the saddle bags while he's cloaked by invisibility and his footfalls are silent. The drake's tail twitches, but otherwise is none the wiser to his actions.


He carefully circles around to assist Caedes with getting the horse going when it suddenly blinks out of existence. For a moment, the fellblood's heart skips a beat and he glances around for where Caedes could have possibly gone. The booing changes to cheers and his attention is directed back out to the group charging forward across the grassland. He can just make out the black stallion amongst the crowd.

He doesn't have time to process what happened when he hears shifting from the drake and rider. The large silver drake gets up and stretches like a giant cat before unfurling its wings. He has to duck to the side to avoid getting batted with its wingtips.

The rider wraps her hands around the leather handle of the drake's harness and she settles more securely into the saddle. The drake flexes its talons, digging grooves into the soft soil beneath its feet. 

"Shhh, not yet," the rider coos as her eyes are focused in on the group charging ahead of them. 

Meanwhile, the charging group does not waste any time to break into absolute chaos. Two riders have already drawn short bows and are taking pot shots at one another while the rider of the large ostrich-like creature pulls out a net and looks for an easy target. 

As Caedes blitzes past them, the other riders do a double take and spur on their mounts to pursue. 

"Damn! Get back here, you sneak!" One of them calls.

Over the sound of the thundering hooves, there's an ear-piercing roar back from the starting line. Glancing back, the silver drake takes two bounds forward before taking in the air and quickly gaining on the group. Its rider tucks herself down close to its back to reduce the drag and keep from falling off the creature's back as it flies. 

"Shit! Here it comes!"

The squabbling riders all turn their attention to the incoming drake as they race forward. Many of the drawn weapons get trained on the rapidly approaching beast.

Does anyone here have any sense of fair play?

Granted, they are cheating this horse and its rider out of winning its race regardless of how fast it can blitz between riders or blink between realities; but hey, he didn’t pack nets and crossbows! This is, at the very least, harmless rigging and not a potential mutilation waiting to occur.

The changeling gathers the reins in his hands, offering the white mare’s rider a playful salute as the stallion gallops past. They earn a frustrated scowl from the rider that probably won’t bite them in the ass later, maybe; but to the stallion’s credit, it doesn’t linger at the back of the pack long enough for any kind of backlash to occur.

They’re not going to win this race, but no one said they couldn’t have a little fun with it, right? After all, this mission is… well… Caedes offers a less-bemused side glance at one of the yelling riders as the stallion screams past them, its legs so much of a blur that it seems to possess more than the usual four.

His lopsided grin falters as he pulls back the reins on the stallion; it veers off to the left, cutting off the other rider; he can hear a disgruntled shout, but doesn’t acknowledge it past a cautious glance over his shoulder. This is exactly the same kind of mindset that led him into most of his actions during the night of the Red Rogue, isn’t it? Maybe he should take this a little more seriously; he’s not in the business of fucking things up for Zarius, and things between them are already…

The changeling’s eyes narrow at the sound of the drake’s roar; despite the distance, the creature’s voice pierces the air as though it were right behind them. He pulls the reins sharply to the left to avoid the massive, charging creature as it finally joins the race.

The stallion snorts, eyes white as it tosses its head back in defiance, but ultimately pulls left as directed. “There you go, not that hard to listen sometimes, is it?” Caedes mutters, white-knuckling the reins while he looks to his right— which neglects his front, where he’s rapidly approaching the rider with an ostrich-like mount.

The man’s gaze flickers between the drake and the stallion; and ultimately, he picks an easier target. Caedes’ attention snaps ahead of him as the net unravels, crossing his vision in shadowed weavings seconds after he hears the tension of the binds unwinding; he pulls back on the stallion, causing it to jolt awkwardly between a gallop and a scrambling halt.

He frees a hand from his reins.

The morning sun filtered through the overcast sky above causes the lightest shadows; which is not quite enough to work with. The shadows just beneath the riders' uniforms, however; particularly, the tattoo that sits hidden on his skin, is something else. The shadows unbind and lash like a viper towards the net⁽¹⁾; it clutches the weaves in a sticky web before it can fully engulf he or the stallion, snapping it sharply enough to the right that the net redirects itself.

... Albeit admittedly, and unintentionally, in the path of the drake rider.

Woops.

---

^{(1) Spidersilk (Tattoo)}

Upon her approach, the drake rider keeps low against the back of her mount making her very hard to target. One of the racers armed with a short bow takes a shot at the drake and it jerks to the side to dodge the attack. Before they know it, the drake has completely caught up and had the potential to outpace them all, but instead it slows to match pace with the pack and keeps low enough to be well within range of their attacks. 

The racer with the shortbow draws another arrow and nocks it just before the wing of the drake sweeps downward and knocks into them. They fumble their weapon and nearly get knocked out of their saddle, causing them to cling desperately to the side and mane of their horse. 

Many of the riders glance back with a lot less confidence than before. This was less a race and more like a chase as the large scaly predator bears down on all of them. 

As Caedes becomes the target of attack, the drake rider glances his way and nudges the drake to match the black stallion's pace and fall in just behind it. 

Unfortunately, or fortunately for Caedes, drakes are a lot smarter than the average mount. The storm drake spots the incoming next and rears its head back, the scales lining the underside of its neck glow an electric blue color as it parts its jaws, sparks of electricity arching between its ivory teeth before a burst of lightning strikes the net and fries it instantly.

The flash of blue light is accompanied with a sharp crack of thunder which causes the white mare to spook and buck her rider clean off while the other racer's mounts go into a panicked sprint from the sudden loud noise. 

Undeterred from the net incident, the drake rider taps her heels on the drake's shoulders and the creature lifts up and glides just overtop of Caedes' head, moving to flank him on the left. She looks over at Caedes and flips him off before leaning forward, encouraging the drake to pursue the bird creature and its rider.

Meanwhile, Zarius watches the race back from the starting line. It's hard to see exactly what is going on as the riders and their mounts grow smaller and smaller in the distance. Many of the other observers watch through spyglasses as they cheer from the rooftops. The crack of thunder ripples through the air and the fellblood starts to worry about Caedes. He climbs up to a nearby rooftop to try and get a better view of what exactly was going down out there.^[1]

Back with the racers, the drake glides ahead of Caedes and the stallion, closing the gap with the bird rider. The rider keeps glancing over their shoulder anxiously as the drake gets closer and closer. They start to desperately rummage through a bag attached to their saddle just as the drake rises back up and looms overtop of their head. Extending its front talons, the drake snatches the rider off the back of their mount. The rider exclaims with an alarmed yelp and their feet catch in the stirrups, pulling the bird off balance slightly and making it struggle to keep from tripping.

As the drake pulls the rider further from the mount, their feet eventually come loose and the bird darts off to the side, fleeing from the race without its rider. The drake swoops back low to the ground and releases the rider, letting them tumble across the grass until they come to a stop in the tall grass far behind the rest of the pack.

Glancing back, the bird rider is okay, but they'll probably be sore on the long walk back to the starting line. 

The drake rider does check over her shoulder, casting a look at Caedes before looking ahead for the next rider to forcibly dismount. 

---

[1] Spider Silk Boots

The illumination of electricity which shines from the corner of Caedes’ peripheral vision, and the crack of thunder which booms throughout the plains of King’s Valley, make the changeling tense. They shoot a glance over their shoulder; first, catching the white mare in mid-buck as she spooks and throws off her rider; and then, the gleaming shimmer of the drake’s scales.

Caedes prepares themself for… something.

Something that definitely was not just the bird that the drake rider flips them, before her drake rushes past and leaves them completely unscathed in preference of chasing down the avian rider that had originally thrown the net. Caedes furrows their brows slightly; they gather up the reins as the black stallion pulls its head back, nostrils flaring while the drake’s wings kick up the wind upon its passing.

---

Back at the stands, Zarius is joined by an unseen companion; Charlotte’s invisible form flickers prismatically in the rays of light cast by an overcast sun as she scales up to one of the rooftops after the fellblood. Her spindly legs creep over the edge, and as her prismatic cloak gives way its followed by her tiny voice, “_Zarius?” she questions; usually, it’s not normal for Caedes to leave Charlotte behind— but given the situation, it was likely for the spider’s own safety.

She patters over to join him.

---

Nothingness.

The race swings back into motion at once; all of the noise— the galloping of hooves and the beating of wings alike— comes back at once. Caedes gasps, the feeling of blinking alongside the stallion overwhelming them with that same odd feeling, “Fuck's sake, could you give me a warning when you do that?” They hiss to the stallion, who had blinked further inward just as the drake swept in front of it to gain access to the bird and its rider. ⁽¹⁾

They look up, brows furrowing while the drake rips the rider off the back of their mount, and swoops upwards— only to drop them, harmlessly at least, towards the back of the pack.

The bird, understandably, hauls ass into the King’s Valley plains after that whole ordeal. As the drake swoops back into the race, for a moment, Caedes locks eyes with the drake rider; and then she dismisses them, turning with body language that seems to be searching for something— or someone else— to harass. As far as Caedes can tell, the drake rider is taking out the competition: some of it, anyways.

What doesn’t make sense is why she’s aiming for every other rider in this race if the stallion is really the only one of them which could possibly match the draconic beast in odds…

She certainly had the chance to do so.

More than once.

Caedes exhales, pulling the stallion inwards while they gaze out; their blindspot should be coming up, about mid-way through the loop, where the track crests over a hill and leads off into the lower plains.

They can see it in the distance, curving upwards towards the overcast sky; whatever the drake rider is doing isn't necessarily their problem. Sure, it's curious— Caedes almost wants to stick it out and see exactly what they're up to— but this isn't about winning, and it certainly never was. Not for them, anyways.

Maybe for the rider locked away in their own clothing trunk.

Zarius? The race is two riders down out here, but this drake feels like its playing bodyguard more than its trying to take down actual competition. I’m sticking to the original plan; worst comes to worst, it’s just saving the best for last and the horse’ll be long gone by then. ⁽²⁾

---

^{(1) Blink — Displacer Stallion}

^{(2) Red Rogue Hood}

The drake rider locks on to her next victim and leans over to the side to direct the drake over to another horse rider. The poor sap sees her gaining and whips around with a crossbow, firing the bolt right into the chest of the looming drake. All that happens though is there is a plink noise as the bolt just bounces off the hardened scales. The horse rider's face goes white as the drake rider leers at them from behind the drake's neck. 

She reaches down to her hip and unlatches a whip from her belt and lets it unravel in the wind. The whip glints in the sunlight, the braided cord reinforced with flexible metal and ending in a knife-like tip. She snaps it forward as the horse rider tries to reload their crossbow. The blade cracks down on the crossbow and knocks it out of their hands before coiling back into the drake rider's hand. 

The storm drake then hooks a claw around the saddle and twists it to the side of the horse, forcing the rider to cling to the side of the horse's body as it runs. Their body weight unbalances the horse and forces it to slow down and fall behind the pack. 

The drake rider huffs and glances back around, seemingly keeping a bit of an eye on Caedes before refocusing on the task at hand. Whatever that may be. 

---

Zarius definitely cannot see the race well at this point as the racers disappear behind the grassy hills in the distance. He glances around at hearing his name, then he spots the cat-sized magical black widow spider that is Charlotte. 

"Over here," he whispers then he goes over and picks Charlotte up, helping her find her way onto his back where she is usually most comfortable while clinging to Caedes' back. The fellblood's back would have to suffice for the time being.

Caedes' report is both a relief and concerning. He had worried that the changeling had been turned into a crisp by the drake's lightning, but it seems he's been spared for the time being. What was going on with that drake rider? He had to find out, preferably sooner rather than later.

You are out there on your own, it will take me a while to catch up and help if you run into any trouble.

He pauses. Caedes is a professional killer. He should be able to handle a few mounted thugs...then again, Caedes excels in stealth and there were no shadows to take advantage of out there on the bald prairie and one of those mounted thugs was on a freaking drake that shoots lightning. It was less than ideal of a situation for the sun sensitive assassin and Zarius would have to steal a horse to have any chance of catching up in a timely manner. He takes a breath. 

Please be careful. I am going to see if I figure out what exactly is going on here. I have Charlotte with me.

With their messages exchanged, the fellblood makes sure to keep his hood up as he circles around the buildings and heads for where he last saw the woman who had been talking with the dark elf drake rider earlier. If anyone knew what was up, it was likely her. Now it was just a matter of getting the information out of her without raising any suspicions from the other spectators. 

He finds the woman on a private roof overlooking the staging area. It is a more luxurious set up than some of the other roofs with ample shade structures, butlers, and armed guards all at the service of some lavishly dressed gamblers. Something that Zarius notices right away is that the guards are not your average thugs. They look more like raiders than hired goons.

"Stay hidden," Zarius whispers to Charlotte as his invisibility obscures himself and he scales the side of the building silently.^[1,2,3]

Creeping up to the edge of the roof, Zarius keeps out of line of sight just in case and scoots along the side of the building until he can peek over and see the woman. He focuses on her and whispers something as a stream of smoke leaves his lips and floats towards her.^[4] Her eyes flash blue and she gets to her feet before heading for the stairs.

One of the gamblers notices and calls out to her. "Oi, where are you going? The racers aren't back yet."

She turns to him. "I will return shortly, please excuse me, my lords."

Zarius' ear twitches at that, were some of these people part of the Horse Lords Tribes? That would make sense, but that could mean very bad news for them depending on which tribes they were representing. Last they needed was to pick a fight with the Red Riders. Then it hits him. Shit. That was probably exactly what they were supposed to be doing. That displacer stallion belonged to one of these lords and one of these lords had to have beef with Zarius' secret contact. It had to be the Red Riders. Fuck. They really needed to know what was going on with this drake rider now otherwise it could complicate their whole mission.

As the woman descends the stairs, passes the guards, and walks into the back alley, Zarius carefully follows after her to confront her out of sight of the guards.

---

[1] Invisibility
[2] Silent Step
[3] Spider Silk Boots
[4] Profane Command

Charlotte looks up at Zarius with eight red eyes, reaching up with two of her legs when the fellblood bends down to pick her up. With some assistance, the arachnid climbs over Zarius’ shoulder and settles down between his shoulder blades; there’s a small shuffling and the feeling of a light weight shifting as she makes herself comfortable.

“_{Thank you,}” she whispers, her voice small; she doesn’t necessarily want to burden Zarius, but he is the only other safe place that she can think of while Caedes is gone…

She sits patiently for a time, wondering why Zarius is always so warm, and letting the silence from the fellblood and the humdrum of the crowds fill the air until he starts to move. She doesn’t necessarily understand where they’re going, but she has grown accustomed to silent reads from being with the changeling for so long; so, as he begins to descend from his perch, Charlotte tucks her legs closer to her body and allows a blanket of light to shimmer over her form. ⁽¹⁾

“_Okay...” She agrees, her voice small and barely audible over the chattering of the crowds; and she remains present, listening in on what’s happening in the stands, without interjection or distraction... despite the fact that she doesn't really understand what's happening.

---

A chuckle escapes the changeling; one unbidden, when Zarius bids him to be careful; he’d reply, but the mental connection has tread its path...

The sound of a crossbow releasing brings them back into the situation at hand—

—one which is quickly eliminated.

Impressive; another rider down.

The changeling’s eyes narrow as they watch the display of violence at hand; the whip which the drake rider pulls out is a unique kind of weapon as far as they can tell, one they’re not particularly familiar with, but one which she seems to have a deal of experience with… and given the drake’s flawless scales, and the mere displeasure the rider shows from a single harmless arrow, they doubt it’s any kind of cruel riding whip.

So, she came armed: clearly she’s not trying to kill anyone (yet), but that, of course, begs the question as to why. It could simply be as self-defense, or retaliation for riders stupid enough to attempt to harm her drake, but is it actually that simple?

They can’t… get a clear read on her, or her intentions, like this.

Caedes tightens the reins around their knuckles, meeting the drake rider’s gaze for a moment when they look back at them, before they ultimately turn away. They press their knees into the sides of the stallion as they purse their lips and look away from the other riders for a brief moment; at this point, they’ve led the steed closer and closer to the inside of the pack.

They have no doubt that Zarius will get ahold of some information; he’s damn good at his job; but unfortunately, Caedes has an exit they can’t miss— and strange as the drake rider’s behavior is, if she’s doing this to win?

She won’t have to worry about them in the slightest.

In fact, if she’s in it to win, they’re really doing her a favour here; the problem comes if she’s got something else up her sleeves, but with the blind spot closing in, they don’t have time to worry about it. Caedes presses their heels into the sides of the stallion as the pack approaches the grassy knolls; the stallion kicks up dirt and grass as it pushes up the subtle slope; one just tall enough to hide the fact that, as the pack turns to follow the loop around the track, the stallion is going an entirely different direction.

A sharp yelp of surprise comes from a man thundering towards him on a creature reminiscent of an ox; just before they collide, the stallion vanishes ⁽²⁾; but the rider has already pulled back sharply on the bovine’s reins. The grass kicks and slides from beneath the cloven hooves of the furry beast, and a loud bellow fills the air as the rider and ox both go down in the sudden attempt to avoid a collision.

The rider, fallen, tumbles down the hill a few ways— but at the back of the pack, doesn’t risk being trampled. He sits up, dazed, while the ox lifts its head from having slid down the knoll on its side.

The stallion, meanwhile, blinks back into existence a short distance away, thundering off the track— clearly straying in a way it most certainly isn’t meant to.

---

^{(1) Invisibility (Prismatic Spider)}

^{(2) Blink (Displacer Stallion)}

In the back alley, Zarius steps over to the woman, still invisible. He wouldn't have much time to get answers before the effect wore off or the guards got suspicious. 

"Tell me what the drake rider is supposed to accomplish in this race."

The woman, with her eyes still flickering with that blue light, replies. "She is to protect the Lord's horse from harm and ensure it wins the race after making it seem like a neck and neck event."

The fellblood frowns. Damn. Things were getting complicated. 

"What happens if the horse does not win?"

"The Lord will be angry, and there will be consequences."

He rolls his eyes. Of course, that was no surprise. He waves a hand and the woman makes her way back to the stairs, returning to where he had taken control of her in the first place. He couldn't erase her memory of what happened, but that would hardly matter. 

Zarius pulls on the hood, but its magic has not returned yet. Damn! He needed to hurry and intercept Caedes before he attempted to return to the staging area. The woman would likely have guards search for anyone suspicious once she came to her senses. Hopefully Caedes could avoid getting into a fight with the drake rider, or at least survive long enough for him to catch up. 

Circling around, he finds a horse tied up to a post just outside the staging area. He quietly approaches the animal and pats it on the neck. It startled a bit, but quiets down as he unties its bridle and climbs into the saddle. 

"We are going to go after Caedes, Charlotte. Hang on tight."

He wheels the horse around and takes off down the street. Someone shouts as all they see is a horse running off by itself with no rider, but the fellblood ignores their cries, only focused on catching up to Caedes before something bad happens. 

---

Meanwhile, the Drake rider glances over her shoulder at the alarmed noise of the ox and sees that the displacer horse is missing. She looks forward, expecting to see it break ahead of the pack…but seconds pass and it is nowhere to be seen. She sits up and looks around, not immediately seeing it anywhere near the racers.

"The fuck? Indra! Up!" She shouts at the drake and it climbs up into the sky to give its rider a better vantage point. The remaining riders are confused but do not hesitate to take advantage of the situation and surge ahead across the hills.

The rider looks around and then spots the black stallion far off course. She taps her heels on the drake's sides and directs it to pursue after the runaway racer.

Caedes has a decent head start on the drake, but it quickly starts gaining on them. There's not much cover to take advantage of to break line of sight from an aerial assailant, but just as the drake is about to close in something seems to go wrong.

The sootlings Zarius snuck into the saddlebags of the drake finally go to work, crawling out of the pouch and scuttling over and onto the rider.

"What the?!"

She brushes them off and slaps at them as they distract her from their actual target. The little beings scurry across the harness to the buckles and start unthreading the leather. It isn't long before the saddle comes loose from the front chest strap and slides backwards from the air catching under it. The rider tumbles backwards along the drake's back and she just barely catches onto one of the remaining straps before she could tumble off to the ground rushing past below. The drake balks and slows down until it lands abruptly on the ground.

"Shit!"

The drake rider gets her feet back on solid ground before the drake shakes off the sootlings. The rider spots Caedes and the stallion disappearing over the next hill. "Dammit. The hell is he going?" She unsheathes one of her fighting knives and slices off the rest of the loose andnow tangled harness before jumping back on bareback.

"Let's go!"

The drake bounds forward and takes off after Caedes again. Luckily for Caedes there is a shaded outcropping of massive boulders and a few sparse trees ahead. With any luck, he could reach it before the drake crests the hill.