Chapter 22: The Hounds II

Leo barely suppressed the scoff that rose in his throat. It wasn’t a question, not really, and all of them knew it.

The [Fragmentholder]’s eyes slowly scanned the three, their stat screens appearing again from [Judgement]’s ability. Ivan was level 20, still in Tier 0, but both Flora and Dalton were Tier 1 at level 26 and 23 respectively.

Even now, he could see Dalton adjusting his grip on his spear, shifting his weight and grin sharpening in anticipation at the possibility of a fight. Given the reach of his weapon, it would be fairly easy for him to cut off escape routes.

Flora, meanwhile, was close enough to lunge with her swords. With the Glass Lake stretching behind them, they’d effectively been backed into a corner.

Leo’s gaze moved over to Ivan, standing furthest back. His lack of visible weapons made the [Fragmentholder] suspect some form of magic, or perhaps another means of attacking at a distance.

If there were only two of them, then maybe they’d have a chance at fighting them off and running away. All three was another story, especially when the Hounds undoubtedly possessed combat skills that would further swing things in their favor.

Leo exhaled.

Right now, he doubted they suspected them of pursuing fragments. More likely they assumed they were a part of a rival mercenary group or perhaps that they were bandits of some sort.

Fighting was a bad idea, and running was impossible. For now, their best chance was going with them and hoping they could clear themselves of suspicion.

Leo slowly nodded, raising his hands in a show of goodwill. “Yeah, fine.” In the corner of his eye, he saw Spade do the same. Allan hesitated a little longer before he also nodded.

Flora clapped her hands together, smiling.

“Excellent. Clearside is quite close, so we’ll be there soon.” She gestured at the road. “Why don’t we set off now?” She stood waiting, and after a beat, Leo slowly moved forward and climbed up the hill onto the path proper.

Dalton eyed him suspiciously as he passed, and Leo looked away before the man could see his scowl. No needless antagonizing, he reminded himself.

That [Candor] skill, while not as bad as a straight lie detector, was uniquely unsettling in the way it picked apart and analyzed its targets. It still made his skin crawl just thinking about that score, how it so easily revealed everything he’d painstakingly tried to keep hidden to the past.

A tap on his shoulder made him turn, and Allan was frowning at him.

“You okay?” he mouthed. Leo shook his head.

“Later,” he muttered. [Candor] handn’t painted a particularly good image of Allan either. The [Healer] would also need to watch his back.

Flora was the last to step up the hill, and she nodded at them. The three Hounds casually took positions surrounding them, close enough to cut off escape routes but far away enough to maintain some plausible casualness. Leo didn’t know why they bothered with the charade.

For a long while, no one spoke. The sound of the wind and their footsteps along the dirt road were the only things filling the void of silence. To their right, the surface of the Glass Lake continued to gleam under the sun, and the wall of light remained a newly permanent fixture in the sky.

Dalton clicked his tongue and squinted, moving a hand to shield his eyes.

“Does that barrier have to be so goddamn bright?”

“I suspect it’s something we’ll have to grow used to,” Flora replied easily. “Sonia will likely have a better idea of what it is.”

Leo’s ears perked up at that. This Sonia must be another Hound, perhaps the leader they’d mentioned.

Initial silence broken, Flora and Dalton continued chatting idly as they continued down the path. It was probably a good sign that they didn’t find them enough of a threat to stop talking entirely. It would make it easier to convince them they were normal travelers.

The [Fragmentholder] glanced to the side. Out of the three Hounds, Ivan remained by far the most quiet. He walked at an even pace, eyes trained ahead each time Leo looked over, but he could swear he felt the man’s gaze watching his back when he wasn’t looking.

Leo’s eyes narrowed a little. [Foresight] had been his personal skill. At first he’d thought a Hound might have a fragment themselves and thus have access to the fragmentholder database. But if the [Foresight] skill was a prophetic one like its name implied, then he could very well be looking at the source of the Hounds’ ability to follow fragments.

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He would have to keep an eye on him. See just how much he knew.

Leo looked ahead again. As they approached, it soon became clear that Clearside, while still significantly smaller than Sindrey, was noticeably larger than the village they’d purchased supplies from.

From their current position, he could make out slanted roofs and wooden buildings, though he couldn’t see any stilts like he was used to seeing in waterside settlements in Adrya. Then again, given the Glass Lake’s lack of visible tides, he wouldn’t be surprised if flooding simply wasn’t an issue.

Leo frowned. Along the perimeter of the village and within the streets, he could make out distant figures clustered along the road and outside buildings. Others seemed to be trying to block them off, and tethered horses kicked at the ground while others thrashed more furiously, barely restrained by their riders.

Soon they could hear voices too. Angered shouts and hysterical yells. Cries and pleads. A man pointed violently at the wall of light in the sky, gesturing wildly, while a cloaked figure with a familiar silver pin shoved back at him, hand twitching closer to the weapon at his side.

From this angle, Leo could see a line of people grouped behind the buildings closer to the lake as well while more Hounds seemed to be trying to force them back into Clearside.

The flurry of voices grew, and Leo could see the Hounds surrounding them tensing as well.

Up ahead on the road, eyes snapped in their direction, and a middle aged, gruff looking man carrying an axe in hand stepped forward with an irritable look.

“Where the hell have you been?”

Flora met his gaze calmly. “We were on patrol,” she said. He snorted.

“If you were gonna report that fucking light wall, it’s too late now.” He waved at the chaos behind him. “It’s a goddamn mess.”

“I can see that.” Green eyes scanned the buildings. “Do you know where Sonia and Douglas are?”

The man snorted. “Sonia’s in the square. Douglas is off praying.”

To Leo’s left, Ivan’s eyes darkened. The [Fragmentholder] raised an eyebrow at that, but the man didn’t say anything, simply pursed his lips as the mercenary continued.

“—didn’t have to play this waiting game,” he was saying. “Don’t know what the hell Sonia was thinking. If we’d just—”

His voice cut off, and his head snapped in Leo, Allan, and Spade’s direction as though only just noticing their presence. His eyes narrowed.

“Who’re they?”

“They claim to be travelers. We found them by the lake shore. We’re currently escorting them to see Sonia.”

“Lovely,” the man muttered. He jerked his head at the village, presumably in the direction of the square he’d mentioned. “Better hurry it up.”

“That was our intention.” Flora nodded at the man. “We’ll be on our way. Try not to be too rough with the villagers. We do have a reputation to maintain.”

The man grumbled something at that, but it was ignored as the woman strode forward, the rest of the group following behind. Leo kept his eyes on the mercenary and the axe still gripped in his hand. The blade looked clean save for a few older stains—no fresh blood in sight.

“Oh, and Fergus?” Flora stopped, turning her head just enough to glance back.

“Do try to watch your words more in the future.”

Fergus’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t respond verbally. With a final sweep of the group, he instead turned and strode towards the group by the lake shore.

Leo frowned at his retreating back, mind churning. It sounded like the Hounds had been in Clearside for some time now and were “waiting” for something. The fragment, perhaps? But why would they need to wait for it? What was going on?

He didn’t have time to ruminate on it much longer, because the group continued forward into the village proper.

Leo’s head turned every which way, taking in as much as he could. A few eyes turned in their direction, but most of the villagers seemed too preoccupied to bother with a trio of strangers.

A child facing the wall of light wouldn’t stop crying. Several villagers were on their knees praying. There were so many people yelling at once that it was difficult to differentiate anything in the cacophony.

Flora moved steadfastly forward, and Dalton adjusted his spear threateningly, warding off anyone who might approach. For the most part, it looked like the three Hounds were a known entity, and other mercenaries stepped aside to allow them to pass.

Finally, the road beneath them widened, fanning out into an open space in the center of the village where the earth had been roughly packed down into a harder surface. Abandoned wooden food stalls surrounded the perimeter, and a central patch of purple irises provided a pop of brightness to the otherwise muddy colors.

An array of crates had been set down for seats beside stacks of bedrolls and bags. Piles of plates and utensils were left around a burnt out campfire. Horses stood tied to the edge of the square, a few boxes of grain laid out for them to feed on.

Between the clutter, mercenaries moved around the area, but there didn’t seem to be any villagers from what Leo could see. Every figure had on that silver badge, and all were either rushing somewhere or clustered around the center of the square, where it was too packed for the [Fragmentholder] to make out any details.

His shoulders tensed, acutely aware of how utterly surrounded they were.

A few Hounds glanced back and stepped aside when they saw them. Others were too preoccupied to notice.

“Out of the way!” Dalton yelled irritably. That did get more people’s attention, and more shifted, though several also shot glares in Dalton’s direction.

Bit by bit, the throng of people parted. With each new step forward, the more tense Leo grew.

Finally, after what felt like ages, they came to a stop at the front of the crowd.