Teyo was currently under attack.
Fortunately, he was cornered. This might be a problem for most people, but for a shieldmage—even a mediocre acolyte like Teyo Verada—it made things a bit easier. With his back to the ninety-degree intersection of two walls of brick and mortar, he had been able to activate both his eastern and western vertices, creating two large rectangles of solid light. Since his eastern vertex had always been stronger, he created a small circle of light beneath his right ear to give him balance. Plus, he could lean back, using the two walls to brace the two shields, which he enhanced with his heart, spirit and mind vertices, thus increasing their strength. There was no way the three attacking Gruul warriors would be able to get to him.
So he felt safe enough. For now.
But I’m stuck. This is not helping me find Rat.
Before entering Gruul territory, Teyo had traveled first to the Selesnya Conclave, only getting lost twice along the way. Consulting briefly with Emmara Tandris and Rat’s godfather Boruvo, he’d been told not to worry, for Rat often disappeared for weeks at a time. But Teyo had worried, and thus his journey had continued.
He had informed the trio now attacking him—two humans and a goblin, wearing fur tunics and a considerable quantity of decorative bones—that he sought the daughter of two of its finest warriors, Ari and Gan Shokta. But the three weren’t impressed by Teyo’s name-dropping. It seemed they were from a different clan than the Shoktas, and since the war that had united the Gruul Clans was now over, they weren’t in the mood to suffer another clan’s friend.
Teyo’s one hope struck him as wishful thinking. There had been a young viashino nearby, who had not joined in on the assault. When he’d heard who Teyo was looking for, he had turned to head down a tunnel—rather lazily, Teyo thought. As the boy maintained his shields against the regular pounding of three Gruul hammers, he was crossing his vertices that the viashino might be bringing help.
He’d never be certain if the viashino was indeed his savior. But sure enough, Ari Shokta and her clan leader, the cyclops Borborygmos, both arrived on the scene, armed and ready for battle. But there was no fight. Borborygmos roared something unintelligible (to Teyo, at least), and Teyo’s three assailants made a few feeble threats before taking off at a run.
Ari Shokta approached, and Teyo instantly dropped his shields. She grabbed him up into a fierce bear hug that put his ribs at greater risk than they had been during the attack. “Teyo, my boy,” she said. “It’s good to see you.” Despite the pain to his nearly caved-in sides, this warm greeting was a welcome change. The first couple of times Teyo had encountered Ari, she had been decidedly suspicious of her daughter’s new friend. But Teyo had somehow managed to be instrumental in saving the entire Shokta family—not to mention Borborygmos and the other nine guild leaders—from the God-Eternal Kefnet, and that act had impressed Ari enough to change her opinion. She liked that Teyo could see her daughter and seemed to feel he was worthy of Araithia’s company. Looking around, Ari said, “Where is our Araithia?”
Teyo’s shoulders sank. “I was hoping you knew. She left us during the night, and I haven’t been able to find her.”
“I haven’t seen her since the end of the battle,” Ari said, then turned to shoot a questioning look at the cyclops, who shrugged and muttered something Teyo couldn’t make out but was clearly meant to impart, Don’t ask me.
Ari turned back to Teyo and looked at him sympathetically. “Don’t worry, Teyo. This is not unusual. Sometimes Rat doesn’t come around for weeks at a time.”
“That’s exactly what Boruvo said.”
Hearing the centaur’s name, Borborygmos growled low and Ari scowled darkly, reminding Teyo he shouldn’t be mentioning Rat’s godfather—the Gruul defector—in these domains.
“Sorry, sorry,” Teyo said. “But I am worried. I’ve been worried about her ever since we learned Hekara can no longer see her.”
“That…was a blow, indeed. But trust me, my daughter is extremely resilient. It’s a blow she will recover from. Still…”
“Yes?”
“I’m glad you seek her, Teyo Verada. It is good.”
Teyo nodded, not feeling worthy of her confidence. He knew where he needed to seek Rat next…and he dreaded it.