Within minutes of gaining the last fragments of information and ‘disposing’ of the captive half elf, they were gone. The galloping horses tore through the streets of the city of Pas’en, “How… how do you know where you’re going, mistress! I thought you weren’t from here?!” Freyjin asked in a louder voice than intended.
Nua did not answer right away, her eyes shone with an eerie golden light that at once brought terror to the elven slave, but like the wayward traveler drawn by the will-o-wisp, or the lustful sailor by the siren’s call, or the desperate and abandoned to the promise of salvation of the gods, she could not help but follow.
“I don’t… exactly.” Nua admitted, “I first thought to bring the trash, but I’m going to have to rely on you when we get close, Freyjin. Am I making a mistake in doing so?”
“No, Mistress! I was very thorough, and was severely warned by the free administrators that my iron collar was growing too tight…” Freyjin touched her throat subconsciously and kept her other thoughts at bay, the feel of her mistress’s foot over her, the palm at her lips, and the hand that helped her up. The story she told, it seemed unreal. ‘I don’t believe it. I can’t believe it. How does anyone enslave… that?’ She asked as her horse slipped a little behind, the dagger slapped at Nua’s thigh like it was tapping out the rhythm of a dance, and the tension in her owner’s fingers on the reins was impossible to miss.
Kaiji, far from being as conflicted as Freyjin, felt her heart swelling within her heaving bosom, following her lady seemed beyond right, like there was no higher calling. Driven beyond all reason, some hidden obsession within her mistress seemed to push her on, the streets were far from clear, but the thundering hooves might have been a declaration from the gods that no obstacle would block their path.
The stench told them how close they were well before the shoddy clothing and filth did, pieces of feces still littered the street, cleaned up by public slaves who pushed the night soil into bins that were in turn hauled to wagons. They wove through the various collectors of waste, until Freyjin spurred her horse forward. “Mistress!” She announced and raised her arm, pointing to a series of wider roads. “One of these should have the carriage!”
It was all Kaiji needed to hear, she spurred her horse even faster, leaving Vargas to lag a bit behind, she felt the savage longing to release a terrible spell on anyone in her path, anyone between her and the one she wanted.
Her teeth clenched, and her skin felt sensitive, more alive than any time since the first time Priceless had kissed her flesh, had touched her intimately and whispered her devoted affection. The demonic blood of her heritage asserted itself in a boundless wrath, and targets, ‘Targets are close.’
Her eyes scanned the roads, and she brought her horse up short, pulling the reins so fiercely that it reared. “The carriage… where…?” Kaiji hopped down and drew her horse over to the wall and bound it to a nearby post. The wide and broken up cobblestone road was just as it should have been, but there was nothing. She moved to the next road, and again, there was nothing. She whirled around in dismay, gripping her horns and squeezing her eyes so tight they hurt.
“She’s so close… I can feel it… I know it…” Kaiji squeaked the words out and opened her eyes, not far away was a squad of regimental cavalry soldiers. Freyjin jabbed her finger toward them.
“Sirs! Have you seen a red carriage around here?!” She asked them urgently, and several of the five gave clear nods.
“Yuh, it went that way a while ago though.” The soldier answered dumbly.
“Shit.” Freyjin swore, “Did you see which way it came from, masters?”
The soldiers traded dumb looks and shook their heads, “Nope, just finished checkin back that’away an there’s nothin.” The soldier said in the same dull tone that suggested his horse might have kicked him in the head once or twice.
“Now what?” Nua asked bluntly, and Freyjin jumped off of her horse. “These are wide enough for a carriage, but I doubt they’re good drivers, and in the dark, at night…?” Freyjin rushed over to the nearest street and placed her hand on the wall at shoulder level, then raised it a little higher, the height of a door.
She began to run her hand along the pale colored building, her eyes sweeping every inch. She went to the other side when the road began to narrow, and shook her head after making her way back. “Mistress, with your permission?” She asked, inclining her head toward the next street.
Nua waved her left hand ahead, drawing a shudder from the servant, but not slowing her otherwise. Freyjin disappeared around the corner, the faint echo of her steps a welcome distraction from the smell of shit, even if it wasn’t much of one.
“Mistress! Sergeant! Kaiji!” She shouted from around the corner. Vargas cocked his head with interest as they came closer.
‘Is she a scout or something?’ He wondered idly when they rounded the corner and dismounted their horses. Freyjin was pointing to a red paint mark on the wall at the same height as a carriage door.
She sank to her knees and looked up at her mistress. “They parked here, I stake my head on it. That means the ‘old’ warehouse is close, very close.”
“I believe you.” Nua replied without pause, and began to walk down the otherwise empty road, the stench drove them to pinch their noses one and all, and it kept them from any interest in speech, lest the cause of the stench get into their mouths.
They were not long in finding a warehouse that had clearly seen better days, up to and including a damaged door.
“Freyjin, take the soldiers to the other side.” Nua gave the order quietly, close as they were, it posed no problem even if she had not been speaking to another elf, but the cold breath of the dead wafting from Nua’s lips into her ears still froze her heart, like she was listening to a lich.
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It was an order Freyjin was happy to obey, retrieving a handful of cavalry on foot and placing them at key positions beyond the building as a precaution, quietly she prayed to the stars. ‘Let one escape her, so that I can shine just a little bit more… and have my Veema back…’
It was a blasphemous prayer and she knew it. Part of her wanted to weep, her heart pulsed with the wrongness of it. ‘Always pray for the success of the one to whom you kneel.’ A basic teaching of the Starwatchers. She swallowed the lump in her throat and begged their forgiveness. ‘Forgive me… I just want her back, I just… I just want her back. I have to impress the Duchessa or I may get nothing… have I done enough? Is she pleased enough now…?’
She heard the sound of a door being kicked in, and the soldiers quietly drew their blades as she readied her own. She slid a foot back over the water slicked stone, she made ready, and waited.
Within the building, finding the way was disturbingly easy, Nua barely concealed the chortle, and then the faint sound of a slap and a cry of pain struck her ears.
Her knife came out, and in front of her came the cast off glow of the spell Kaiji was readying for use.
Sergeant Vargas brought out his sword from its sheath, and when they found the hidden path, the way down, their slow creeping became quick.
Kaiji almost stopped short when her mistress nearly vanished from her view, it was only through luck and her close proximity that she recognized the use of an assassin martial art, and the fact that her lady was moving much, much faster.
She wasted no time, her feet fell fast and far from as light as those of her lady, and Vargas least light of all, the stealth quickly became a charge, and the melee began.
The faint sound of dripping water, Vargas could hear it, but not see it. Worse, he could smell it, he willed himself not to look up and promised that if he could get the time, he’d take a bath after leaving the beaten down old warehouse. The water slicked the walls and dripped faintly from above, carrying the stink of the shit every drop had passed by. Worse, the almost total lack of light made it feel like he was being sealed in a tomb while still alive. ‘A foul smelling tomb.’ He reflected just before the sound of his mistress’s swift move forward triggered the rest of them.
Footfalls became heavy and he let loose a battle cry by instinct alone, his shield came up and began to charge, his legs pumped more vigorously than the wheel of a cart speeding down hill. A rotted, blackened door was kicked in off its hinges. It spiralled out of sight, into the beyond. “Check the next room!” Nua shouted from ahead of them.
The scrambling told them the truth of which room they should have gone to.
“Priceless!” Kaiji shrieked like a banshee as she rushed to the room, a faint cry reached her dark, sensitive ears, and the sound of weapons coming up from within. [God Ram] Vargas uttered, and with a powerful step forward, his shield smashed the door and it splintered like a castle gate having shattered into toothpicks. ‘Where’d I get that art from? Where’d I learn it?!’ He wondered in futility, and the thought vanished under the blow of a two handed ax that struck his shield.
“Die!” A gravely high pitched goblin voice shouted and it swung again and again. The blows far faster than they had any right to be.
Kaiji’s red eyes boiled like lava at what she glimpsed beyond. Priceless was secured to a chair, her face badly swollen, her wrist and hand even worse. Teeth were scattered about the floor, her eyes were shut and streaks of blood stained her face as well as her clothing.
Kaiji raised her hand, the spell was ready, all it would take was a word, Vargas however, was in the way, ironically keeping the brutal double handed ax off of her. The two were trading heavy blows, Vargas’s big round shield kept back the strikes of the ax with joyful clangs. The curved shape easily skittered it aside, but the goblin’s quick steps and small body made a difficult target. He used the ax like a shield as well, protecting his body and countering.
For a brief few seconds that seemed to last for hours, it was a stalemate. [Swift Strike] Vargas uttered the martial art that seemed so tantalizingly familiar, and his arm moved seemingly on its own, like flowing water. He felt as if he’d done it ten thousand times before. A pattern of blows followed from his driven, relentless body that was both too fast and too precise to be avoided, forcing the strange heavy goblin backwards into the room beyond.
That was when he caught sight of the orc, it raised a mace up and stepped toward Vargas’s side. He had just enough time to spy the attack, but was locked parrying blows from the increasingly desperate bleeding goblin axeman.
He felt the pressure on his back from Kaiji’s entry into the room, “Lightning!” She shouted the spell and her mouth stayed open in a broad cruel smile as her magic was unleashed. Light crackled for an instant from her fingers, the flash filled the dim room. The deadly arc of electricity shot out, hit deep green skin and the mace fell to the floor. The orc who held it followed his weapon, crumpling where he lay.
The light show and the sudden death of his ally threw the goblin off, and in that moment of hesitation, Vargas’s sword severed the fingers that were wrapped around the handle of the brutal weapon. It fell to the floor with a cacophonic clank of metal against stone, while he howled with sudden pain and clutched with the stumpy remains of one set of fingers, at the nonexistent remains of the others.
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‘At least as a goblin, I never risk falling very far.’ Grekin thought with the black humor of the damned as he fell to his knees, staring past his ruined hand and beyond the warrior who had bested him, to the new entry, the green clad elven woman. ‘Noble.’ Grekin thought with a crushing understanding, ‘We’ve lost.’ He thought, and then did not get to ask for mercy.
She walked up to his howling, kneeling form, and brought the back of her knife down on his head. The last thing he heard was the lyrical voice uttering a harsh demand, ‘Shut them up with death or unconsciousness, but shut them up.’
“Get her free!” Nua ordered, pointing to Priceless while looking at Kaiji.
“Vargas, check the rest of this place, there’s supposed to be one more at least.” Nua gave the order, and he moved to obey it on the instant, stepping from the room.
She crouched down in front of the chair, and Vargas glanced behind him, something told him that the warehouse was empty but for this room, and so he felt at ease to give a backward glance. ‘She beat us into the mud… threw us into danger for her own reasons… and even now an iron collar rests cold around my neck… but when I look at that…’
The Duchessa was crouched down in front of the bound girl’s limp body, her right hand sweeping stray brown hairs aside, “I’m here. I’m here, Priceless. Your Mistress has come for you, and Kaiji has come for you… nobody can hurt you now…”
The bonds that held her in place were reduced to nothing, and the barely conscious mouse of a woman slipped forward, falling into the arms of the one to whom she was bound to kneel.
Vargas shook the thought off and went to carry out his orders.
Nua stood up with Priceless hanging limply over her shoulder, and the demon-elf went behind her owner and cupped Priceless’s face, caressing it, stroking it, kissing it lightly. “You’re alright, do you hear me… I’m so proud of you, you’re alright and you’re going home and everything will be fine I promise, I promise, I promise…” Kaiji said as she smothered the face of her lover with the most gentle affection she could.
Priceless couldn’t speak, and had no strength to respond, but her heart leaped into her throat when she fell into her mistress’s arms. She could only moan, everything hurt still, ‘Is this a dream, is this a last dream before I’m dying… did she really… really come back for me? Did my mistress kill for me, fight for me…?’
She hoped it was real and hoped it wasn’t both at once, the limp bodies of two of her captors lay beneath her on the floor, ‘I’m not that lucky, this has to be a dream.’ She reasoned while still savoring the feel of beloved lips and treasured fingers caressing her bruises and breaks.
‘If it isn’t a dream… how do I confess? How do I tell her what I did…’ Priceless could only moan still, and then the blackness overtook her again, just as she saw the ground move under her, taking her out of her private hell.