“Let’s go. She doesn’t like to wait,” the bowman barked before he got in front and led us down the main tunnel. As soon as someone lit a torch, I could see that what lay ahead was a series of tunnels.
As we walked down the main tunnel, people from our group shook off their hoods and diverted off into the other tunnels. Most of them looked like humans, various shades of hair from white all the way to black and inbetween. I even saw the occasional pointed tipped ears, which meant that a few of them were full blooded fae which was interesting.
The ones with our stuff took them down the first tunnel we came across, but as others broke off, I heard them talking about a dining hall, bedrooms and a range for weapon training, all underground. Very smart. Especially against raiders and bandits.
I could see a large amount of light at the end of the large tunnel, hearing people arguing. It was just the four of us and the bowman in the tunnel. They did not tie us up, and he didn’t seem bothered by us. I guess they weren’t worried about having visitors down here, which means that the only obvious entrance and exit was the one we came in which was magically guarded. That limited our choices, despite that, still not impossible.
“Why are we not just tearing them apart with our teeth and slurping their blood for the alcohol?” a syrupy sweet high-pitched girl’s voice said. If that was any indicator of who we were dealing with, this was going to get very interesting.
“Because, Kisha, I am trying to make inroads with the cruel ones. If the three of us all band together, we can take on the cannibals and split up the land. It's the only way I see them agreeing.” This voice seemed strong and smooth, but there was an edge to it I didn’t like. Like her thoughts could change at a moment’s notice.
A male voice was next, sounding angry yet soft, “We’re partnered with the Mountain Man and his tribe. I think between the two of us, we have enough people. Let’s not saddle ourselves with the disgusting and depraved.”
Before we could glean anything more about the politics of the badlands, which I was finding interesting, the bowman took off his hood, showing us his human ears and jet black wavy hair that was cut right above his chin, barked out. “Incoming.”
That seemed to hush everyone up as we entered a large, bright room. At first glance, this looked like a normal war room. A large table in the center made of warped wood, makeshift chairs around it put together by mixed pieces of wood and metal. The fascinating thing was that the light was coming from the outside. I looked up and saw that this room had a sunroof at the top. You could see bits of sand shifted around on top, but not enough to block out the sun.
“Ooooohhhh fresh meat!” I looked at the person who said that with glee in her voice. She jumped up onto the table and sauntered over to us. Her bright blonde hair shifted as she walked, her outfit looked like a piecemeal of clothing. Her boots went up to her mid thighs, loose fabric covered the rest of her legs and around her bottom area. She had a leather harness around her body, but only had a tube of cloth covering her breasts. If she wasn’t carrying a bunch of weapons on her, I would’ve thought we walked it to a very different type of meeting.
I will admit that I am completely drenched in sweat in my black clothing, but I liked the protection it gave me from the sun and other things. I can deal with sweat but sun burns and potential irritants, no. She probably feels incredibly cool in her outfit, especially in this kind of climate, so I really couldn’t judge.
The one thing that I couldn’t stop staring at was her illuminated violet eyes. They tracked every movement and had this crazy edge to them. This must be Hemlock.
Kisha’s voice was much higher and when I looked around the room, I found a tiny small blonde woman with pigtails, licking her lips as she looked over us like a starved hyena. This woman had full on crazy eyes that I didn’t want to look at for too long. It was also by her eyes that I could tell she was a woman, despite how tiny her body was. They held a knowingness that only adults have. Next to her was a big burly dark skinned man. He was so big that he would put Ajax’s muscles to shame, but I would never tell Ajax that. Ajax still looked like a man, where this man looked like a giant. He had a softness to his face and his eyes were kind as he looked at us. I instantly liked him.
Next to him was a girl that had muddy brown hair and eyes, lips pursed in a sour expression, looking us up and down and finding us nothing to be worried about. Her eyes shifted to the woman in front of us, longing flashed in her eyes before she sat back and crossed her arms. The last person in the room was another male. His eyes were pulled at the sides and his dark hair was cut short. His face was calm, but his eyes flashed with annoyance. I wonder if this was the man with the soft, yet angry voice.
The bowman behind us grabbed my shoulder, the guys around me all tensed up as he pushed me forward. “This one is the leader. Don’t let her fool you.”
The blonde woman crouched on the table in front of me, eyes wide and seeking as she said, “Fool me?” She questioned the bowman over my shoulder, then she switched her gaze back to me. “Were you going to try to fool me?”
“That wasn’t the plan.” I put on my cold and deadly assassin mask, not give any inflection in my voice, no twitch in my body or face, nothing that could possibly give away who I am or what I was seeking.
“Ooooohhhh so there was a plan.” She sat down on the table, feet dangling over the side as she swung them. “I love plans. I love making them, I love ruining them, I love coming up with different ones on the fly. Plans, plans, plans.”
She looked off in the distance for a second as she petered off, but then glanced back at me. “What were your plans, greeny?”
I tilted my head as I looked her up and down. She smiled widely at that, as I decided to give her the truth. If what they were talking about before was true, then there were only two likely leaders that might help us on our quest; the mountain man we just heard of and the woman I was in front of now. The cruel ones and cannibals didn't seem like good choices just by their names.
“The plan was to meet a leader and ask them for directions to a special place.”
She giggled uncontrollably. “Seeeeee plans make the world go round. You decided to meet a leader and here you are, pumpkin. You’re in the presence of one.”
Then she hopped down and moved her lips near my ear. The bowman stepped closer but she waved him off, and he frowned but backed off. “And what were you going to do if we were going to rob or kill you?”
I didn’t even hesitate before I called out, “Kill you all first.”
She tipped her head up and laughed like I just told her the best joke of her life. She swung her arm around my neck, but I didn’t like to be touched and a piece of me wanted to prove my message. I grabbed her arm, turned it behind her back, and slammed her onto the table. The room bursted into chaos as everyone at the table stood up, the bowman had his arrow trained on me, while my men turned around and circled him.
She laughed again, but this time it had a razor edge to it. She kicked out at my shin and I let go of her, backing up a step to show her I wasn't going to take it any further. “I don’t like to be touched.”
She got up, waving the bowman off again and nodded to me, turning to me with a broken smile, “Neither do I.”
Her eyes assessed me, knowing that I could hold my own as well as back off to ensure I didn’t get hit unnecessarily. That was a skill that many didn’t value until it was too late, but I could see in her eyes she was not one of those people.
“What is a trained assassin doing in Invitis?” She started to circle me. “Why would you need a leader’s help?” Then she was back in front of me, looking at the guys, “and most importantly, are all three of these guys yours?”
I lifted an eyebrow at her in question and she slowly moved towards Zayden and instead of staying straight, like I intended, my body shifted to block her from him. She did the same with Rykon and Ajax and again my body didn’t listen to my mind and shifted to block her from each of them.
