Sabel is an enigma. So far off from anything I’ve experienced, anything I’ve lived. If it’s not people we’re swerving around, it’s horse-free carriages. And if it’s not that, I’m amazed to look up and see the fewairships.
The closer we creep back into the city, the taller the buildings rise, and the denser the air grows. I use the edge of my cloak to cover my mouth while we march through the streets, keeping myself from inhaling too much of the smog.
“How long have we been walking?”
Devlen leans in, “maybe an hour, an hour and a half.”
“That’s it?!”
He shrugs, “it’s not that the city is large so much as it’s the crowds. Shoving and carving a path through them is what takes so much time.”
“I can see that.”
We stick to the narrower alleyways, Caz avoiding as much crowdwork as he can for the next few hours that followed and only dragging us through the more popular areas when necessary.
Devlen reaches over, offering me a piece of bread while we move. “I’ve been meaning to ask.” I turn my head towards Devlen and hum in response. “The ink on your skin…” I flinch at the mention of the serpents, my hand absentmindedly going to my sleeved arm where I know one of them lies completely and unnaturally still. “What’s the deal with those?”
The deal?!I wouldn’t even know where to begin with that question…
“Do they have any meaning or–”
“They have meaning,” I answer, cutting him off.
He turns, face filled with intrigue. “Really wha–”
“I didn’t say I’d share with you what it was.” I snap, throwing my hood back up as we are met with the end of our quiet street. A boisterous and claustrophobic mass lies at the mouth, and I jut out my elbow for him to take hold of.
With a wary look back at me, he takes my arm, and we step off the curb and back into the road.
This particular lane takes us longer than the others have so far. I can see the sun start dip below the tallest buildings, and while I haven’t the faintest clue where we are, it seems to be the busiest street at the busiest time of night.
“How.”UGH!“Do.”ARGH!“You people do this.”OOF!“Every day?!” I grunt, my chest fully pressed into Caz with Devlen squished up against my back.
“You don’t have to yell! I’m right here!” Caz snaps.
Devlen sets his chin on my shoulder to speak in my ear, both of his hands gripping either side of my biceps. “We don’t really leave our block that much. Let alone, end up in the Center.”The Center. Sounds important. “The Consulate is just a few blocks from here.” He finishes.
“Ah. So it’s a wealthy cesspool, is what I’m hearing.”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
I see.“Would you two stop talking, something’s going on up there.” Caz hisses, his arm swinging back to box me in.
A few feet in front of us, the cadence of voices rises into angry clamor. With the disturbance gaining interest in the crowd, our standstill swiftly morphs into a small-scale stampede. The shouting is joined by a few high-pitched screams, and Caz looks over my head to Devlen, concerned.
“What do you think that is?” I shout, but they ignore me and tighten their human cage, our bodies being rocked back and forth as patrons knock into us. More screams echo off the buildings, and I feel myself growing anxious to know what’s happening. “Both of you let go,” I say, trying to duck out of their grasp.
“You’ll get trampled!” Devlen shrieks, but I bend my knees and slide down, slipping out from between them. “Wait!” I hear him yell, but I don’t stop, ramming myself into the masses. Elbowing through the people around me helps quicken my pace, but just as I’m about to reach where the sound is coming from, I feel my neck pull back.
Fighting against the grip, I angle my chin to find a disappointed Caz holding onto my hood.Stupid fucking cloak. I gripe.
“You’re going to get yourself killed–” Caz starts to shout before his mouth drops open, cutting off his own words. The shouts are louder now, and I turn around slowly to see where his attention has drifted. Due to Caz’s hand on the hood of my cloak, I stumble back into him, my neck craning to see.
My hand whips out, pushing the patron in front of me out of the way until I’m able to see that commotion has been caused by two men. Well,oneman is holding the other up by his throat.
ACRACK!rings out, and the victim’s body goes limp. With a loud thunk, the assailant chucks it off to the side, where it lands at the knees of a wailing woman.
“Savage.” Caz hisses, his tone laced with disgust. The sound of his bones snapping stuns the street into a brief silence, save for a few gasps of horror. When I’m able to drag my stare away from the woman, crouched over the man’s body, I find myself locking eyes with the killer.
