Glyphpunk



  Glyphpunk

  Gareth Lewis

  Copyright 2013 Gareth Lewis

  The accompanying map can be found at www.garethlewis.eu/Glyphpunk/map.html

  Chapter 1

  The lines glided across the wall with a speed that would cause the most experienced glyphmason to quail, yet Thjorn showed little doubt in his movements, his eyes always ahead of his hand.

  Augni wasn't comfortable with the sight. 'You can probably afford a little time to...'

  'No need,' said Thjorn.

  'As long as you're sure it won't...'

  'It won't explode,' Thjorn said in exasperation. 'It's not that kind of...'

  '...won't not work because you rushed,' Augni finished.

  Thjorn glanced at him, their gazes slightly askance as his boots held him to the stone half way up the wall. Lean and alert, he was meticulously clean even in the rough clothes used for night-time excursions. He regarded Augni with the look of strained patience usually reserved for the rest of the world as he waited for it to catch up.

  'I am busy here,' said Thjorn, turning back to the large glyph. He stepped over it as the line threatened to escape his reach, giving little regard to the fifteen feet separating him from one of the few decent roads through Akar. He paused only to dip the brush in the bowl of paint.

  Being on the city’s main road left them visible – too visible for Augni’s liking. The time of night and dense mist mitigated their danger, but their need for a visible location meant they had little choice.

  Augni kept an alert watch both ways. The building was best situated for maximum impact, and a stone building didn't run the risk of being burnt by the glyph. Less risk, anyway. It also had a high wall – this close to the docks houses had been built on top of older buildings which now served as flood cellars.

  The guards patrolled in irregular patterns, and infrequently when they could get away with it. He'd spotted one a way inland earlier, far enough that the mist left them no more than indistinct forms highlighted by a lamp.

  Augni and Thjorn had no light with them, relying on the dim illumination of the street glyphlights, apparently enough for Thjorn.

  From what Augni could see Thjorn was nearly done. He didn't bother asking, since that would only delay things and get another barely-veiled rebuke. He'd rather they got clear before being spotted.

  Allowing himself to ponder such a hope inevitably brought a call from behind. He turned to see a couple of guards emerge from a side street barely a hundred feet inland.

  'Finished?' he asked.

  'Almost,' said Thjorn, casually ignoring the sound of running boots.

  'Now would be good.'

  'Now you want me to rush.'

  'Only if you don’t want to explain to them what you’re doing.'

  'What we’re doing,' said Thjorn.

  'I’ll be gone by that time.'

  Thjorn stood – perpendicular to the wall – and examined his work. 'Okay. Run.'

  They broke into a run, Augni along the street and Thjorn along the wall. Descending as he went, Thjorn discarded the bowl and brush to clatter and splash on the ground.

  The guards sounded a horn. An answering call came far too soon from off to the side, thankfully not that close. Still, their captain must be under pressure for so many to be out in this weather.

  They ducked down a side street, along their planned route. The guards' footsteps sounded behind them as Thjorn led the way up a wall.

  Augni felt the familiar queasiness as the glyphs on his boots jerked his body into thinking the wall was the ground, and he nearly stumbled. No matter how much he practiced he couldn't adapt to the change as easily as Thjorn. His mind still screamed that down was actually the increasing gap behind him, which he somehow managed not to glance back at.

  The guards' pursuit stumbled to a halt as he leapt over the edge onto the roof, a few steps behind Thjorn. The roof held their weight without problem, their route planned to avoid the flimsier surfaces. They didn't need weak thatch collapsing under them as they tried to avoid capture.

  As it was, he doubted the guards would follow them to the rooftops. So far all they'd done was deface a wall. Since the defacement was with a glyph, the incident would be mainly of interest to the Society of Glyphmasons, whose own guards would investigate. The lack of love between them and the regular guards meant the latter would put as little effort into capturing offenders as they could get away with.

  Nevertheless their route took them on a roundabout path away from their pursuers, in case they happened to be more than usually diligent. No signs of such diligence appeared, and they reached their perch on a rooftop a short way along the main street. Far enough that they shouldn't be visible to the guards congregating around the glyph, while near enough to make out proceedings through the haze.

  Catching his breath – and calming his stomach as body and mind reached agreement over which way was down – Augni studied the guards as they warily regarded the glyph. It was just out of their reach, not that they'd touch a glyph without knowing what it did.

  Augni turned to see Thjorn idly carving a glyph into the side of the chimney, next to the one he'd prepared earlier. Most glyphmasons approached the carving with care and precision. Thjorn simply sketched them. Augni wasn't aware of him once making a mistake in doing so, certainly none he'd admit to.

  He didn't ask what the glyph did, since such straightforward questions seldom got clear responses. The pattern didn't match the standard glyphs. It looked more like the ones Thjorn had been experimenting with of late.

  Augni didn’t even recognise the basic points he was using. He knew glyphs only worked if the lines ran through points corresponding to the geographical locations of power wells – fonts of magical energy situated around the lands. The nature of the constituent wells he was less clear on, but he knew they had to occur in precise relation to each other on the glyph to achieve the desired effect.

  This glyph he didn’t recognise even the basic structure of, but that could be his limited knowledge of glyphs. Or Thjorn could be playing with whoever found these during the inevitable investigation.

  'Are you going to...?' Augni began.

  'Trigger it?' said Thjorn.

  '...crouch down so they don't spot you.'

  'They'll send for their captain, and he'll send word to the Society,' said Thjorn. 'Their guards will come out, followed by a glyphist at some point. It'll be a while before he’ll admit he isn't sure what the glyph does, and for them to start taking the incident seriously. By which time we'll be long gone. Of course, when I trigger it things'll happen quicker. For now, there’s no rush. Let's let a crowd assemble.'

  Settling down to wait, Augni didn't doubt Thjorn’s assessment. This would appear to be a simple tagging incident, albeit slightly irregular in its elevation. Still, since the glyph didn't appear to be active, they'd hope this was a street gang drawing random symbols to scare people.

  A glyphist would recognise it wasn't fake, and suspect the gang had a glyphpunk – a glyphmason unaffiliated with either the Society or the Alliance and therefore not authorised to inscribe glyphs. That the artist must have stood on the wall would support this.

  'Did you pack any crackling?' asked Thjorn.

  'No,' said Augni. 'Why would I?'

  'You know I like it.'

  'But I don’t.'

  'You’re not a good partner in crime,' said Thjorn. 'I’m hungry. Why couldn’t you prepare for that like a proper partner should have?'

  'You’re not hungry, you’re bored.'

  'Hungry? Bored? What does it matter? I need something to pass the time.'

  'You’re carving a glyph.'

  'That’s only keeping my hands occupied. My mind and mouth are free.'

  'Oh, for a muzzle,'
said Augni. He only half paid attention. The conversation was mainly to keep Thjorn’s mind occupied while they waited. He could execute plans over months – years even – with meticulous precision, but tell him to sit quietly on a chair for five minutes and you’d come back to find an exotic glyph carved into it that massaged your back or something. Inactivity was one of the few things he couldn’t master.

  Fortunately almost a dozen guards had gathered by the time Thjorn appeared satisfied with his work. Augni still had no idea what the small glyph was supposed to do. Thjorn leaned casually forward and touched the other glyph. It sparked as his hand withdrew, and the edges of the surrounding stone began to crack. One split reached the glyph and it fizzled out.

  The guards backed away as a spot of the large glyph sparked to life. Only a small spot, where Thjorn had placed a smaller glyph to break the line of the larger one. It quickly burnt away, closing the gap in the larger glyph, which sprang to life. Sparks flew and guards scrambled clear.

  The locals started investigating the disturbance.

  The glyph continued to spark, and would for a while. The paint Thjorn had used for the large glyph was more durable, and for all its visibility the large glyph didn't require much power. Thjorn claimed it could last well into the day, barring deactivation. Even after that, the uncertainty of the glyph's purpose should cause confusion.

  'Anything else to do here?' asked Augni.

  'Admire my handiwork,' said Thjorn, with a hint of smugness.

  'Very nice. Very sparkly. Can we go?'

  Sighing, Thjorn led them away.