Chapter 32 Two Swords

Lenna moved as fast as she dared as soon as Lisa was through the gate. She was glad to be wearing Chris’s boots. She had borrowed his boots because they had leather bottoms to help keep his steps silent while scouting. She had stuffed all of her armor inside of her bottomless bag and borrowed one of Jennie’s dresses. The dress was a simple, brown, one piece, with a pocket in the front and a sinch around the waist. If Lenna would have known that she would need to ditch her armor she would have brought her own clothes. She was honestly glad that the dress was too small for her. Two inches of her under armor’s sleeves were exposed and the dress stopped at her knees. The bottom was open enough that she had complete freedom of movement in it as long as she didn’t go for a high kick. It was made of wool so it was warm in the cool tunnels and best of all, it was silent to move in.

As Lenna moved through the open gate after Lisa she felt exposed. Her lack of armor and the fact that her sword was in the bottomless bag instead of on her hip made her uneasy. She knew that Isaac was behind her but she couldn’t see, sense, or hear him and that only added to her anxiety. Even so she kept her breathing steady, calm, and quiet. She watched as Lisa kept looking back over her shoulder like she was looking for something. Every time she did Lenna stopped. Lenna thought she had been caught a few times. Chris’s boots were quiet but not perfect. Uneven footing or small rock chips would occasionally make noise. Lenna hoped that the anxiousness that Lisa was showing was normal for the girl but she doubted it. Lisa definitely knew that something was up but it didn’t look like she knew what exactly. For now, it would have to be good enough. Lenna just hoped that her presence wouldn’t keep Lisa from meeting up with whoever she was meeting up with. The small woman’s heavy travel bag hadn’t gone unnoticed. Lenna wasn’t sure if it was full of gold or other supplies but in the end, did it really matter?

—

Isaac followed behind Lenna at a casual walk. He could feel her presence perfectly fine so he was easily able to keep enough distance between them that there wasn’t a risk of her bumping into him and dispelling her Shroud. He could feel the tension in the air as a wolf stalked a rabbit through the dark tunnels of the Innerworld. It was fun to be a spectator sometimes. He honestly wished that he had a better snack than jerky. He was starting to get tired of walking though so he hoped that Lisa would get to her destination soon. He shrugged to himself. “We’ll get there when we get there, I guess.” He said aloud even though no one else could hear him.

—

Lenna was mentally counting down to the end of the Shroud. She had around eleven or twelve minutes left before it ran out naturally. They had been walking for quite a while. Lenna was starting to really hope that Lisa would reach her destination soon when finally they reached a small cavern. The cavern was only fifteen feet high at its highest point and was oblong. It was only about twenty feet deep but it was around fifty feet wide. Inside was a small campsite with a lone individual sitting on a rock with a cloak wrapped around themselves and their hood up. A bedroll was laid out and there were camping supplies strewn about next to it. Lenna saw a magical cooking slate and some dishware as well as the bones of what Lenna assumed was a shadow-wolf.

“Brennen!” Lisa called and jogged over to him. The man turned to face her and Lenna got a clear look at his face. He was a drow just like they had feared.

“Lisa,” He replied and rose to his feet before freezing in place. “What’s wrong?” He noticed her pale complexion and obvious anxiety immediately.

“I, there’s something out there.” Lisa said and hurried to his side. She clutched his shirt affectionately and looked behind her but still saw nothing. He gently rested a hand on her shoulder and cupped her face with the other as she turned back to face him. He towered over her at a bit over five and a half feet tall. Lenna could tell at a glance that those arms of his were not used to swinging a sword. His build looked weak just from the way he moved. His cloak hid everything well though so she couldn’t be sure he wasn’t just hiding it.

“What do you mean?” He asked gently.

“Something’s watching us.” She whispered in reply. “I kept hearing movement behind me but I couldn’t see anything.”

Brennen frowned. “Do you think it could be something invisible?” He asked. “When did you first start to feel it?”

“As I was leaving town.” Lisa replied and kept glancing back behind her. “It’s here, I can feel it.” She whispered.

Brennen took a step back from her causing her grip on his shirt to slip. He reached into his robe and pulled out a wand. “Get behind me.” He told her and held the wand out.

“Wh-what are you going to do?” Lisa asked as she did as she was told. She hid behind him and peaked around him like a child hiding behind their parent.

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“Just wait and see.” He told her and trickled mana into the wand. The small crystal on the end shone with a cool light that bathed the area around them in soft light blue hews. He drew a circle and then an upside down triangle inside it in one fluid motion. The symbol shifted in the air abruptly as it seemed to latch its center onto the tip of the crystal as power built around it.

Lenna’s eyes went wide as she realized what it was. “Let my flames consume all before me.” Lenna spoke as quickly as she could. Her Shroud broke just as a torrent of ice cold mist blasted out in her direction. Her own flames met it at just over five feet away from her. She poured power into her spell as the stream of blasting frigid mist attempted to swallow her whole. Her flames surged as her open hand started to burn. Her feet were getting cold even through the boots as ice formed across the ground. Right when her hand was about to start blistering from the heat the icy torrent stopped. Lenna lowered her steaming hand and locked eyes with the other drow. “We can do this the easy way,” She began.

“Or the hard way.” Isaac finished as he appeared behind Lisa with his sword held against her neck. “Your choice.”

Lenna strode towards them as she pulled her sword out of her bottomless bag. “I for one, am fine with either.” She told them.

Lisa was too scared to move with the cold steel pressed firmly against her throat. She had no idea when Isaac had gotten there. She knew just from looking at Lenna that she was the one that she had felt following her. The fact that the man with a sword to her neck had gone completely unnoticed until the moment he decided to reveal himself drove a lance of fear the entire way to her core. She had prided herself in her ability as a scout. Nothing had ever successfully snuck up on her before. She had always had this uncanny ability to tell when she was being watched. No matter how good the ambush predator was, she always knew that they were there.

Brennen looked back to see a cloaked figure bleeding shadows with his sword pressed up against Lisa’s neck. “Who are you?” He asked. “Why are you here?” Lenna shook her head slowly as she continued her approach. “Stop right there!” He ordered her. “Any closer and I’ll take us all out.” He swore.

Lenna stopped. She was only ten feet away from him. One quick lunge and she could have her sword embedded in his throat. “We will be the ones asking questions.” Lenna replied.

“Who hired you? Why are you here?” Isaac questioned the other mage. He was glad that Lisa had been smart enough to not try and escape. He didn’t really have a way of handling her without the high chance of her death.

“N-No one hired me.” The drow caster replied. “I was exiled and I’m just trying to survive.” Lenna didn’t believe a word he said.

“What have you done with all the gold Lisa has been bringing you?” Isaac pressed.

“Wh-What gold?” Brennen replied. He was still trying to play dumb. He kept glancing back and forth between everyone else present.

“How do you know about that?” Lisa questioned. She finally had her mind working properly again. She was trying to find a way out of their current situation but was coming up short.

“Answer the question or the little one is going to start losing limbs.” Isaac threatened. His voice was casual. He said it like he was telling someone that he was going to get another drink or like he was going to go for a walk. Something buried deep inside his voice seemed to carry along the feeling that he was completely serious. That fact sent shivers down Lisa’s spine.

“Please,” Lisa begged. “just let us go.” She pleaded. “We haven’t done anything.”

Isaac grabbed her by the hair and turned her face to face him. Shadows were rolling off of him and billowing out of his sleeves and cloak. He had his hood up and even his eyes were hidden behind the rolling black fog. “Answer.” He told her. His voice deepened in an instant. It was almost as deep as he could go. It promised a dark amusement in the violence that he would enact upon her.

Lisa shivered violently in Isaac’s grasp. “Please.” She begged. Her eyes flicked to Brennen. “Brennen, please.”

Brennen glanced back and saw how completely at Isaac’s mercy she was. At that moment he made his decision. He turned back to face Lenna. He took a step towards her and vanished. “Damnit.” Isaac swore.

“Brennen!” Lisa cried out.

Lenna turned and her aura started to coat her entire form in dim orange flames. She spotted Brennen in an instant. Isaac’s eyes latched onto the movement of Brennen appearing at the other end of the small cavern. “Heed my command magic and space,” Brennen began as soon as he was done teleporting.

Isaac yanked Lisa’s head to the side to throw her off balance as he started to teleport in Brennen’s direction. Lenna switched her grip on her sword so she could throw it at him. “No.” Lisa cried as she fell. Her voice seemed to lack all hope as tears started to form in her eyes as she watched Brennen abandon her.

Isaac appeared behind him. Lenna threw her sword with mana and aura enhanced strength. “take me to this imagined-” He tried to finish as Isaac’s sword pierced his back and Lenna’s sword was mere inches away. “-place.” He finished as Lenna’s blade pierced his chest. He vanished along with it.

“Damn it!” Isaac swore.

“My sword.” Lenna said indignantly. They both felt the general direction that he had teleported in but without someone like Alexander there they had no idea how far he had gone. The tunnels were too convoluted and maze-like for them to find Lenna’s sword. It was as gone as the mage that had taken it was.

Lisa was collapsed on the ground sobbing. She had been left for dead by someone she cared about and if her eyes were to be believed then he was most likely dead as well. Everything had collapsed so fast. Her world had shattered in a matter of seconds. She didn’t know what to do. The only thing she could do was cry.

“I’ll get you a new one.” Isaac told Lenna and appeared in front of her. He pulled out her spare and handed it to her.

Lenna took it with a frown. “I liked that sword.” She said to no one in particular.

“I know.” Isaac agreed and placed his hand on her shoulder consolingly. “You win some, you lose some.”

Lenna nodded. “Do you think he’s dead?” She asked.

Isaac shrugged. “I doubt he could survive two swords through the chest. He didn’t feel that strong.”

“Yeah.” Lenna agreed and turned around to look at the crumpled girl in the corner. “I doubt she knows anything.”

Isaac nodded in agreement. “Remind me next time to hit first and ask questions later.” He told her. “If I would have knocked him out first this would have gone so much better.”

“Alright.” Lenna replied. “We should probably do something about her.”

Isaac frowned at the sobbing girl who was a few years older than him. He had a hard time not seeing her as a child, especially while she was sobbing into her arm on the floor, due to her small stature. He sighed. “Let’s pack everything up first. Give her some time to collect herself.”