An array had marked all four cardinals of the building, runes etched into the ground with the symbols of beasts, the head of a Ram in the North, a Dragon in the South, a Lion in the East and a Lycan in the West. A barrier was only as strongly as one catered to what it represented after all, just as a spell limited itself to the will of its user, magic was a game of one's tendency towards a purpose; or at least, that's how she saw it. Dominance, Pride, Strength and Brutality, quite the anecdotes of defense although they expressed well what its wielder desired above all else: absolute control.
A tired breath slipped past her lips, the air was crisp although she couldn't separate the fresh from the simply suffocating, what an era this was, they'd hailed the damn period to the moon and back like the papers hadn't labelled it in such a brilliant light for decades too long, but she had to give them one thing, there wasn't another city she knew of free from the infestation of factories permeating with dark clouds, machines powered by mind boggling engines or the whistling trudges of passing trains, sooner rather than later the world had acclimated themselves to change faster than her eyes could comprehend what was happening in front of her; they were moving so fast and they'd come so far. Bad weather, disease and the incessant noise of machinery, however, and she really had to wonder whether any of it was as much of a step forward as they so vehemently tried to convince themselves of.
Abandoned homes were wide and many, remnants of a kinder past that wasn't welcome in a world where above all else one's living conditions could change drastically from a slight discrepancy in usefulness. It wasn't as though it hadn't been like that before though the process had become terrifyingly more apparent as of late, the only affordability one found themselves being able to handle were the apartment complexes of such notoriety in the city, quite something if she had to say so herself. Minsk street was one such region of a dying neighbourhood of still standing homes, activity was far and few although that in and of itself made it perfect for any kinds of riff raff to lay nest, the usual backwater delinquents, criminals or…
A gaze like mercury shifted as an arm grazed past her shoulder, a flinch meeting her with a wary smile, "M-Miss Yelaine" they stammered, trying by all means to keep a steady tone. Usual inquiries into magical felonies were never so serious, at least, not in Nilberd. She'd grown used to the common cases of theft, a few strikes of arson on the topic of the cities sporadic political environment but she was an inquisitor, that was a part of the job, dark lords and terrifying zealots were a thing of the past; back when she'd been on the field, before...her gaze softened as the man lowered a shaken gaze whilst she placed a firm hand on their shoulder, "I'm not really here quite often, nervousness is a given"
Someone scoffed, staring at her with a raised brow, "Like anyone's going to act normal with their boss around"
"They mean nothing, Titles, schmitles, isn't that right Mr.Crowelle?" The man froze, staring at her in shock and then excitement, "You..you know me?"
She smiled, "I pay attention to all members of the inquisitory. May you continue your hard work, Crowelle; for the Saintess"
"For the Saintess!!" He shouted, slamming a fist against his chest with eyes glistening in admiration before moving to the crowds of others clad in dark coats swarming the abandoned home. When he'd left, she glanced back, a blank expression over grey eyes and a tailored suit, she smiled but the woman beside her only groaned; "You don't know him"
"I'm a very observant person, Lena"
"You're an old hermit"
She shrugged, "It means nothing of the time I can allocate to my subordinates"
"You read his mind…"
"Which shows my utmost sincerity to know who he is" Lena didn't argue, rolling her eyes instead and turning towards the tattered room, curtains and floorboards torn and rotted like the decrepit place it was, causing her expression a great deal of sourness; "Still…I've never seen a summoning like this, powerful yet so…"
"Crude?" She finished for her, walking the room where the moonlight illuminated the wood splinters and dust scattered across the ground and up a flight of stairs leading to the second floor, "There's not much need for all the theatrics behind a summoning ritual, no?"
Lena frowned, following close behind as her gaze traced her own, "There isn't?"
No, there really wasn't, "Depending on the nature of a summoning, it's a matter of coaxing, convincing the entity on the other side to take a step forward. Say, if someone knocks on your door, are you opening it to just about anyone or a bouquet of flowers, a present and sweet words?" Lena chuckled, briefly whilst they made their way to the second floor, creaking with every step, "So, what? There's no preparation required, nothing? If the entity in question is willing—"
"Which are the most dangerous of them all," It was human nature, perhaps the nature of all things to distrust what was far too easy to obtain, charity where its administrator sought nothing to gain, an offer where the person offering wanted nothing in return. Similarly, a summoning ritual where the summoned stepped through without question wasn't to be trusted, an eagerness to help or a desire to leave? The former was comforting whilst the latter boded unsettling circumstances and their target was of such malevolent familiarity.
The upper floor of the mottled home opened from a half-hinged door leaning against the aged railing, a gaping hole blown through its middle with wood fragments showering the latter half of the stairs leading inside, greeting them like scarlet rose petals tossed against a wedding aisle. It was cold too, not the kind born from nightly winds wafting in from an open window but the sinister; the kind that shook the soul with it. She'd felt this before, the eerie familiarity that churned her stomach and froze her blood cold; it was fear, a primal fear. Her silver gaze ran over the room as she took a step forward, one of two types of magic invoked strong emotions of revulsion from those unaccustomed to having used it. Dark acts of sorcery that invoked fear or bled through from the abominable creatures that allowed them to use it, occult magic if her memory still served her well.
"This was done by a single person?" She asked, more so to herself than anybody else. Summoning's were done in groups, if not to satisfy the probable wants of a needy client then assistance in shutting whatever gates were left unchecked in their wake, should things go horribly wrong of course. In the most likely cases, assisting summoners positioned themselves behind protective barriers close to the ritual and its summoner, a safety measure she didn't recognise anywhere near her.
"There could've been others, we haven't picked them up but…—"
"There's no reason to discount the possibility" she finished for her, crouching to the misshapen floor and running a pale hand over the aged oak. She'd always adored magic for its versatility, its simplicity beneath her hands culminated from a perverse talent for the arcana; a birthright that although unwanted, there was little reason to despise it. There was so much she could do with it after all, violate laws and orders, search the minds of others or even catch the faintest glimpse of the past. She frowned, An image flashing once through her thoughts, too incongruous to decipher and shrouded behind a thick fog of dark miasma as she sighed, "Whoever it was doesn't really matter now, something made it through anyways"
Lena frowned, glancing over the room again and those around them as though grasping for a twinge of understanding at how that conclusion came to being; "Something? That's not good news, boss, far from it. They'll have our asses in the tribunal you know?"
"They'll be looking to us for help with whatever's out there anyway," She quipped as her expression eventually grew sternful, lowering her voice just enough that it wouldn't be heard by anyone but its recipient, "Do not cause a panic but we cannot let whatever's out there roam free, it shouldn't have made it far. At the very least, search the rest of this region...covertly"
Lena's expression became readless, to anyone else at least. Confusion, nervousness mixed between anxiety. She could practically sense the all too obvious questions forming in her assistants head before she asked, 'Where would we even start?' was one of them. For that, her head turned where Lena followed. Across the room, letting through the faint glow of the moon was a shattered window. "They ran somewhat through there, I can't tell the rest"
Lena's mouth opened to say something but died on her lips as her tone eventually lowered too, frowning whilst taking a glance around the room; everyone else seemed far too occupied to be listening, "…Why does this have to be done in secret?" Yelaine chuckled, she could show an air of aloofness or use language teetering on the bounds of insubordination as much as she liked, she was still young; still the all too naive and trustworthy scholar she'd hoodwinked into working here. Her silver eyes met hers of a deep brown with a smile just as ambiguous as her intentions had always been, "I would dearly like to keep my job, Lena. There have been unsettling rumours that the inquisitors are all a bunch of lazing wizards and witches scarfing down government funds to do anything but their jobs and I would rather not like to give intelligence to their insults"
Lena turned and stared at her, her mouth opening and closing before turning to silence, then as her expression soon soured, all sense of secrecy was lost on her; "But that's exactly what you do?!"