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SOUL STEALER [BOOK 1 COMPLETE]
Chapter 22 - River City (Pt. 3)

Chapter 22 - River City (Pt. 3)

"Do any of these assholes look like one of Vlad's goons?" Kita asks as she and Raya walk through the first floor of the city, trying to figure out where Vlad's group has been hiding.

Many of the townspeople in River City are obviously wealthy. They all wear robes instead of regular clothing and most of their robes are navy blue with golden buttons or zippers sprinkled flashily amongst the outfit. Kita and Raya stick out like a sore thumb with the clothes they're wearing, attracting a few distasteful glares from the rich citizens that pass them by.

"No," Raya answers, "Unless his raiders dress in robes, I don't see anyone else dressed like us,"

"Shit," Kita scoffs. "How do we figure out where they are?"

"You said they rob homes in Canyon City?" Raya asks.

"Yeah, wealthy ones," Kita responds.

"We'll need to intrude on one of their robberies,"

"Really? They'd be doing that even when there's a war building?" Kita asks.

"War is the best time to commit a crime," Raya says, "People care less about their property when their lives are at risk,"

"Easier said than done," Kita says.

"How did you find them in Canyon City?"

"By accident. I just wanted to take some coin and a few souls. But, I intruded on one of their raids,"

"Of course," Raya chuckles, "That seems to be the extent of your luck,"

"Yeah Yeah, just point me in the direction of the wealthiest homes and I'll use my 'luck' to find them," Kita chuckles.

"I presume the third floor of the city is where the wealthiest reside," Raya says pointing towards the slope that leads to the second floor.

Kita and Raya make their way to the absurdly wide, glass ramp in the distance. Positioned at the edge of the city, it overlooks the expansive rivers flowing beneath the suspended city. Guards in white uniforms are peppered all over the place as they pass the homes, stores and hotels of the first floor. Those must be a pain to keep clean.

"Do they count?" Kita asks, nodding her head in the direction of a few guards ahead of her.

"What?" Raya asks.

"Do they count as bad people? I can take their souls, right,"

"Well, considering that they are law enforcement, they can't exactly be considered bad people," Raya raises an eyebrow, smirking at Kita's desperation. "But, it depends on who you ask,"

"So, that's a yes?"

Raya laughs, "How many did you get from those raiders we put to bed?"

"Put to bed," Kita chuckles, "God, what a strange way of saying you massacred a large group of people,"

Raya shakes her head in her laughter, unable to find the air she needs to respond.

"Is that what Royal families say when they conquer cities?" Kita laughs, "We lay over three thousand enemy soldiers to rest, sire," She announces with her formal voice.

"That is exactly what it used to sound like," Raya holds her belly and haunches over. Sipping on air between her cackling.

Kita smiles, enjoying the second-hand laughter from Raya. "Twenty-three," Kita replies.

"Ooo," Raya replies, straightening her back and easing her laughter. "That's usually a big one for you,"

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Kita passes an embarrassed glance, surprised that Raya knows the digits in which Kita experiences more… Pleasure.

"Uhh," Kita stutters, "It… was," She responds before planting her face into the palm of her hand.

"Don't be embarrassed," Raya teases. "You should see what happens at two hundred,"

"Oh no," Kita sighs, "What happens,"

"You'll see," Raya chuckles.

As they approach the glass ramp leading to the second floor, they notice a checkpoint at its base. Five armed guards are stood amongst two small gates, two of whom are checking the ID of entrants while the last three scouts are amongst those in the queue, presumably conducting searches on any suspicious individuals.

"Crap," Raya scoffs, noticing the same thing.

"Can we take them on?" Kita asks.

"Most likely. But I don't want us drawing attention to ourselves,"

"Hmm," Kita mumbles, "I can make us go invisible,"

"I'd prefer you hold onto those souls," Raya says, "We'll need them when we find Vlad,"

"Then what's the plan?"

"There is nearly nothing that coin cannot purchase," Raya winks. "We learn that in the royal family too,"

As they join the queue to the checkpoint, they both try their best not to be conspicuous. There are a few other tourists in the queue as well, reducing the obvious difference between them and the general public. Kita glances over at Raya, scanning her from head to toe, then mumbling under her breath.

"We're going to get searched," Kita says in a monotonous frustration.

"Why's that?" Raya asks.

"Have you seen yourself?" Kita raises an eyebrow. "You didn't even cover up your hair,"

"I'm not the only one with coloured hair," Kita scoffs, pointing at a man and woman with a green and pink haired combination,"

"They're getting searched," Kita says as a guard approaches the couple with the colourful hair.

"Where are you from?" They hear the guard asking loudly, attracting a lot of attention in the process.

The couple is flustered by his aggression as the man stutters his response, "We're tourists,"

"Where are you from?" The guard repeats, aggressively stepping closer to the man.

"We roam," The lady answers, momentarily locking eyes with the guard as he menacingly glares at her.

"IDs" The guard orders, towering over the nervous man.

"We don't…" The man swallows his words as he reaches into his back pocket to pull out a pouch of coin. "We were hoping to, uhm. Purchase a ticket,"

"No tickets here. ID's" The guard says sternly.

"Oh, well then we should go," The nervous man stammers, putting the pouch back into his pocket.

But the guard grabs his arm, and raises it up before squeezing it so tightly the man releases his grasp on the pouch. The guard takes the pouch from the panicked man's hand and lets go of his arm.

"No ID, no entry," The guard says, putting the pouch into his own pocket and turning to walk away from the couple.

"W-wait," The man calls out, trying his best to speak confidently, "I need that,"

Before the man can react, a cracking sound rips through the checkpoint. Everyone reacts with a startled gasp as the guard clobbers the man in the face with the butt of his rifle.

The man drops to the floor, whining as he clutches his bloody nose with his hand. The lady he was with drops to her knees to attend to the man as she looks back up and yells, "How must we pay for healing? That is our money!"

The guard stops in his tracks, sighing as he turns to face the woman crouching beside her partner.

Kita glances at Raya and notices the twitch in her eye as she glares with rage at what is most likely to ensue. If Kita didn't know any better, she'd assume the guard is going to take out a first aid kit and kneel beside the man whilst apologizing for his action.

But, she knows way better than that.

"What?" The guard says, now slowly walking towards the lady. "Scum like you isn't allowed on the second floor," He adds, strapping his weapon behind his back and grabbing the dense Baton at his waist.

Raya steps forward. Thinking about going to aid the couple but also contemplating the effects it will have on her plan. She just said they shouldn't draw any attention. Participating in that will definitely draw attention.

"That is all the coin we have!" The lady cries out, but the man raises his bloody hand to grab his partner's shirt to draw her attention. She looks down to see him shaking his head as he whispers something- Probably along the lines of 'Shut the hell up'.

"You cannot treat us this way!" The lady bellows, ignoring her husband's warning.

Before anything else is said, another crack whips through the area. The guard's Baton colliding with the woman's chin as she almost drops to the floor. Using her arms to catch herself.

"Say it again," The guard says, raising his Baton to smack the lady.

"Yes," Raya says, still staring at the guard.

"Huh?" Kita grunts.

"They count,"