Unfortunately, I feel strongly enough about this situation that even if that is the case, it doesn’t change my decision to go.
“That will have to do,” I reply. The time is tighter than I would like, but we’ll get it done. We’ve worked under tighter time constraints, although in those situations we have had a lot more information than we do now.
Flinotive nods once, and before I can ask any more questions or try to get my bearings, I feel the familiar sensation of a portal.
“Son of a bitch, he could have given us a little bit of a warning,” Coen grumbles quietly as we all study our surroundings.
“So this is Luesidious,” Raiden says, his eyes lit with curiosity as he studies everything around us. “We can all breathe, and we shouldn’t be able to. Which is curious.”
“Huh, good point,” Coen replies, taking a deep breath just to prove that he can. “Do you think Flinotive knew that we would be able to breathe here?”
I share a look with Raiden, and he replies, “I fucking hope so, or he’s going to find himself in a whole lot of pain. Neith will have his head if she finds out that he didn’t know if we could or not.”
“Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt for the moment. We don’t have long, and I have no idea how I’m supposed to find him. Presumably, he could be anywhere in this realm,” I say, the urgency to find him before the time runs out pushing at me even more now that we’re actually here.
“Shit, you’re right,” Coen says as he looks around us, his eyes sharp on our surroundings. “So what’s the plan?”
I’m about to answer when Raiden interrupts me.
“Shh, do you hear that?” He asks quietly, drawing his sword.
“Voices,” I mutter.
Coen grins, “Let’s go check it out.”
I can’t help but return his smile. It’s nice to know that some things have stayed the same. He’s still up for a dangerous and potentially deadly adventure.
We all move slowly and silently through the forest, and finally, the voices become clearer as we spot two supernaturals through the trees up ahead. We slow down, sticking to the trees and the shadows so that we remain concealed.
“Did you see the way they fought together?” One asks the other.
“Commander had no idea that there were two of them, or he would have sent more of The Hunt to capture them,” the other one replies as they noisily make their way through the trees, completely oblivious that they are being stalked by us.
I recognize them, in the sense that they look to be the same sort of creatures that attacked us before The Hunt arrived, and I got pulled away. I’m reasonably certain that they’re talking about that, but I’m not one hundred percent sure. If they are though, that means that the imp definitely knew more than he let on, and I understand why Neith doesn’t like the little fuckers.
I don’t know what harm it would have done to tell us that yes, he did know who I was talking about, and he’ll send us somewhere in the realm that will mean that we can find him.
I’m going to have to remember in the future that the imps need to be handled with caution, because although they do help, they don’t give all of the information that they have. Information that would make a big difference to the situation.
I should already know better. They are, after all, a part of the Trickster Fae.
The two supernatural soldiers carry on speaking.
“And now we’re out here searching for the one that disappeared through a portal. They can’t honestly think that we would be able to do anything if we did find him, do they? He had swords of pure magic!”
I grin. Well, that confirmed it for me. They are definitely talking about me.
“I don’t understand why the one that we captured won’t just give up the other ones' location.”
“He’s been tortured enough. He should have.”
I hold back the growl in my throat and only just manage to stop myself from launching one of my swords at them.
Raiden shakes his head in disbelief at their stupidity and then mouths to us, “Are we following them?”
“They have no idea that we’re here, hopefully they’ll lead us to where he is,” Coen replies, and I simply nod in agreement.
With that decided, we carry on following the two supernaturals, and I learn far more about their love lives, or lack thereof, than I ever wished to know. They are by far some of the worst scouts I have ever come across.
