Dragon (S)Layers Ch. 34

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Volume 4 Chapter 10.
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Volume 4: Dereliction of Duty

Chapter X: In The Dark

Felicia followed the shadows around the miller's building, not wanting to stick too far out for fear of catching the eye of Sorash's militia men clopping about on horseback through the village. It wasn't just because of the questions she'd be expected to answer, but there was always that looming possibility of unkind things that happened in the dark between people in power and those without it. . .

Her mother had made it clear that 'civilized' nations weren't any different than savage animals, they just found different ways to express it. Even so, there was no point in life where caution was not a virtue. Especially not considering what was at stake here.

She rounded the building to a small door labeled 'office' and carefully rehearsed what she'd say. "Hello, I was looking for a friend of mine- no, that's dumb." Of course it was. A village with this many people coming and going didn't just let people in. "I'm looking for Sarah Kettar, the woman at the bar said I could find her here." That sounded better. Maybe a little direct, but it cut to the chase. Felicia paced by the door, murmuring her lines a few more times until she was satisfied it didn't sound like a demand.

She gave a knock.

Fury and noise broke the stillness of the night. Loud barking from the other side of the door. Felicia scrambled away just as the dog reared up to face her, teeth bared. It barked louder.

"Over here!" A man shouted.

Her first instinct betrayed her; she ran towards it. Protection just in reach. The teenager rounded the corner right in front of a pair of armored militia men and a third wandering up from the center of the village with a torch in his hand. The four of them exchanged a glance. Felicia opened her mouth to explain that she wasn't trying to do anything illegal.

"Stop, you!"

Felicia bolted. Still riding the high of adrenaline and fear, the only thought was to escape. To flee. So that was exactly she did.

The teenager pumped her arms for greater speed, barely managing to out pace the men. As the haze of raw fear gave way to actual thought, she realized she was only making herself look more guilty. It was too late now, but maybe she could get to a more populated area before they brought her down. She pivoted sharply around a house aiming towards the center of the village. Then she'd explain what'd gone on and everything would be okay.

Just as she turned towards the center one of the soldiers whistled sharply twice. She cleared the second house. A soldier on a horse trotted out from behind the next one down the alley, brandishing a crossbow. He aimed it directly at her face.

"Hey!" Felicia shouted, throwing her hands up defensively. "I didn't do anythi-"

THOCK.

The sound of the bolt releasing was joined by a bloom of pain from her shoulder. It didn't bite in, but the glancing blow sung agony through her body all the same. She screamed as she turned, looking for somewhere to hide. They were going to kill her. They weren't going to ask any questions. She took off at a dead sprint, her fear made all the fresher when she saw him go for his blade and kick his horse off to give chase.

To make matters worse a specter followed the corner of her vision; brief glimpses crossed her awareness from the shadows only to meld back into them. The horseman was only a few feet behind. Felicia juked towards the outer ring of houses and doubled back to keep in the horse's turn radius and on the soldier's off handed side. "I didn't do anything!" She shouted to no one in particular.

The horse's startled neigh was the only reply she got. It also heralded the sign of horrors to come; in the split second Felicia was turning to look up at the creature something exploded from the shadows. A wraith born of pure darkness flowed effortlessly from a pocket of gloom, bending the light around its body as it launched towards the horseman. The horse tried to sidestep but it was far, far too late.

Just as the other soldiers got to them blood arced through the air from where the horseman's chest had been opened up. A long cut from hip to shoulder opened his armor and organs to the evening but the shadow didn't stop there- even as the man started to fall from his horse it leapt towards the nearest soldier. He was quick to bring his blade to bear but the wraith was so much faster than that; it tumbled to the side giving Felicia a brief glimpse at a humanoid figure before it pushed off with one arm, kicked him in the back of his neck and threw a dagger into the unprotected inner thigh of the farthest man.

Felicia stared in horrified awe as the scene continued to play out in slow motion. The figure was still behind the three soldiers, two of them were already falling towards the ground and the third hadn't had a chance to face the threat before it was upon him. His eyes went wide as he stared at Felicia, not realizing the danger he was in- But that wasn't it at all. It dawned on her when she saw blood spraying from the quickly growing hole in his throat. The tip of a blade punched through the tender flesh from behind and he jerked upward, grabbing for the wound as if it would do any good.

It was the meaty thump of the horseman's body slamming into the ground that brought her mind back from the ballet of violence to the realization of what had actually happened. The figure was recovering its dagger when Felicia managed to squeak out some kind of whimper.

"We need to go." Lostariel's voice cut through the distance. It was Lostariel. It. . . How?! Why?

A million questions ran through Felicia in the space of a breath but none of them would find her lips as she continued to stare.

"There will be more soldiers. They're looking for Sarah. You will not want to be here." The figure started to turn away. At Felicia's second whimper it looked back at her- the light warped around it but it quickly gave way to a familiar face when Lostariel took her mask off. "Are you hurt?"

Was she? Why was that important? With so many dead, how could she have had the right to be hurt? In instant Lostariel was upon her, shaking her. They locked eyes. The girl whimpered again, earning a slap. And another across her other cheek. She jerked away to avoid the third. "Why?!"

"Because you need to move-"

"Them! Why did you kill them?!"

"You would rather I let you die instead? After all my warnings you went looking for vipers and now having found them you know nothing of how to handle them. . ." The killer cupped Felicia's cheek. "Go. Home. Before its too late." With that she turned away and slipped on her mask.

Felicia eyed the dead for the first time actually seeing them as human beings. Would it have been any different if they'd caught her instead, would they have shown her any mercy? Did they even deserve her sympathy? Weren't they just doing their job? "W- Wait!" She scampered after the wraith-like killer. "Wait, please-"

"There will be more," Lostariel repeated.

"I know, but please, listen to me. You don't have to do this-"

"You've had your chance."

Felicia grabbed for what she thought was the woman's shoulders. "Give me another!" she whined. "Plea-" Before she could even finish she felt something grab her collar and whirl her around. She slammed into the wall painfully. Her pained scream was stopped by a hand around her mouth and a blade to her throat.

"Scream and this will be your resting place." The woman hissed in her ear. In the next instant she grabbed the quarrel in her shoulder and yanked it free. Felicia grit her teeth so hard she was sure they'd crack, tears flowed freely down her young features as she raked her fingers against the plaster trying to find something to grab and brace herself with. It was no use. With the cold press of steel to her neck she didn't dare move but everything inside her screamed to run away.

To hell with Sarah, the farm, Sorash and this assassin. Felicia ground her fingers into the plaster all the harder trying not to cry as the pain ebbed to a hot soreness. She opened her eyes to see Lostariel looking at her with her mask removed.

"She is not worth your blood and tears. G-"

Felicia hugged her, crying into her neck. "Please. Please, no more of this. Come on, we can go to the inn and- and we can find another way. Please." The girl bawled weakly. She didn't even feel the pressure of the blade any more but she knew this wasn't the way to solve the problem. Sarah wasn't worthy of this. "Please, Lost-"

"Shh." A strong arm came around her back, the pressure on her throat eased up. In the next instant it was against her chest. "I know you hurt. I can end it if you wish. . ."

"I want your pain to end. This isn't you, this isn't-" Two ear piercing whistles killed her voice. Booted feet pounded towards their location at a run. Mail clanked and clattered.

There was no hesitation as Lostariel drew away and lead the girl through a patch of shadow- she didn't look back, knowing that her life was secure one way or the other. Felicia on the other hand knew she'd have no hope of surviving without the older woman's guidance and so she followed obediently, doing her best to keep up despite the blistering pain in her shoulder. By the time they had cleared three house lengths away from the slaughter Lostariel had taken to walking upright instead of crouching. Another house length and she dared the brighter alley, leading them by a small house that looked abandoned.

She produced a set of picks and worked the lock open, ushering Felicia inside and to a seat at a rickety chair. There were various small bundles laid out alongside Lostariel's pack on the dining table; she'd been using this place to hide out instead of the inn.

"Take your blouse off." The woman said coolly as she filled a bowl with water. "Don't give me that look, I'm doing you a favor."

Felicia shied away when the woman approached, swallowing. "How could you-"

"I'll clean you up and you can go back to the inn, I-"

"Please- Don't-"

She slammed the pitcher down. "I could have let you die back there. I could even have killed you if I chose to. Your life is to do with as I so desire, so I suggest you take advantage of my lapse in judgment. It doesn't happen often. Or perhaps you'd like to be the plaything of soldiers."

That shut her up. Felicia undid her blouse and pulled it aside. Not satisfied, Lostariel ripped it off her completely and straddled her lap. When the teenager tried to squirm away Lostariel clenched her thighs tightly, holding her gaze and daring her pointedly to move. When it was clear she'd won, the killer reached over her patient's shoulder and picked out a bundle with some cloth and an assortment of supplies Felicia had never seen before.

Cleaning out the wound was fairly straight forward, but when Lostariel produced a jar of milky yellow substance Felicia bristled and tried to back away. Another clench of those powerful thighs stopped her dead in her tracks. For her part, Lostariel scooped up some of the fluid and packed it into the wound, ignoring Felicia's whining until it was packed full. Afterward she wrapped the girl's shoulder in a clean bandage and licked her fingers clean.

By the time she was done Felicia's heart had slowed down a bit but she never forgot that it was a powerful killer sitting on her lap, still she found herself sneaking glances at the woman's focused eyes and wondering what was going on behind them. When the treatment was done Lostariel set the jaw behind her patient and, only a few inches away whispered. "That is going to become very fluid in a few hours. Clean it out with water and redress it or you might lose the arm."

"W- What is it?" She whispered timidly.

Lostariel kissed her. Deep, passionate, aggressive. She forced herself on the teenager and brought with her a flood of familiar sensations and lurid desires that spun through her head faster than anything she'd ever experienced. As her heart struggled to keep up with the shift in tone Felicia dared open her mouth to the woman's demand and was instantly rewarded with the sweet, savory taste of honey and sugar alongside Lostariel's unnaturally spicy essence. Their kiss lasted longer than Felicia had thought possible given the circumstances and tentatively, oh so dangerously, she started to bring her hands up to Lostariel's hips.

She had to have been insane.

She was stupid.

She still loved the feeling. Felicia was just about to touch her.

"Honey." Lostariel broke the kiss and sprang up effortlessly, leaving the teen dazed in her chair. "Here." She tossed a shirt over Felicia's head and started packing her equipment away.

There was a split second where Felicia considered trying to seduce her savior. Just one. She could probably buy Sarah time to escape if she kept the woman interested, which she'd somehow managed to do at the inn. . . But any thoughts of that vanished the moment she closed her eyes and images of the massacre flashed through her like ice water through her veins.

Weakly, reluctantly, she got the new blouse on- she had to squeeze her chest uncomfortably to make it fit but with a bit of creativity and scraps from her other shirt she made it appear less vulgar at least. Lostariel was smirking at her when she turned to the woman.

"With my hips and your chest we almost make a complete woman," she said ruefully.

There was still time to attempt to seduce her. Felicia swallowed, weighing it out. "I happen to like your hips. . ."

"Many do."

The girl bit her lower lip, turning her head down slightly and adding in a coy voice. "Is there anything you like about me?"

She saw right through it. "Clever, but I have things to do. . ."

"P- Please, don't hurt her."

Lostariel frowned as she poured herself a glass of water. "You've nothing better? I've given you multiple chances to sway me and-"

"Maybe- Maybe tell me why she deserves to die. Maybe I can be convinced-"

"What makes you think I need to convince you? It's the right of the strong to do as they please." She downed her drink. "Like have you on your knees if I so desire it."

Felicia whimpered. "Okay, but if she knows I'm around she might come to me- I might be able to help you- I might even be willing to."

"You're embarrassing yourself. . ." Her violet eyes turned to Felicia again, roaming her figure with no thought to tact. Something in her eyes was different. Maybe it was curiosity, maybe it was appreciation. Or maybe it was humor. "If I show you how wrong you are about her, will you drop it?"

"M- Maybe?"

After another glass of water and a creeping silence, the killer pulled her mask on and said the words that would change Felicia's life forever. "Allow me to show you how the real world works, then. . . Come with me."

#

Lostariel was a panther in the darkness; the short woman prowled through the shadows in such a way that even light feared to touch her. It wasn't just the magic armor she wore, but her subtle movements were so smooth and understated that any living thing could sense her for the predator she really was.

In the fifteen minutes that had followed the massacre the village had exploded with activity: farmers had been recruited by the militia to check the alleys and lanes between their homes while they organized a more intensive search. But for the two young women the attempts to find them held no real threat- owing strictly to Lostariel's guidance and Felicia's willingness to be led.

Sure it was dangerous, but if there was a chance Felicia could convince the would-be assassin just how wrong she'd been about Sarah she'd be able to keep anyone from dying and maybe, just maybe, she could find a way to reconcile whatever damage had already been done. Maybe she was being too ambitious to hope she might be able to forge a friendship with a monster, but the only time she'd ever seen Lostariel spill blood was when a life was in danger- her own, no less- it was hard to hold it against her given what she could have done at any time she chose.

As they worked their way around to the edge of the village Lostariel picked up the pace and lead them to a copse of trees that dotted the stretch of communal farm lands. Taking a sharp right turn they weaved through rows of someone's crops until they came upon a tiny clearing in the field. Once there, Lostariel knelt and picked at some rope that dangled from the end of a pipe which was sticking up through the ground. No one in their right mind would've seen it but the woman didn't seem to have a problem: she pulled the rope until something metallic clicked.

"Wha-" was as far as she got before Lostariel had a finger to her lips.

In the next instant a patch of dirt and crops rose just slightly beside them. Lostariel lifted on a corner revealing a trap door which she then opened for Felicia. The plants and dirt held steadfast to the wood, but it was pretty obvious that the door was thick enough to be walked upon. The two women looked at each other. Felicia balked. Did Lostariel really expect her to crawl down in there?

As if in answer, the pale assassin pivoted and climbed down the ladder. Felicia reluctantly followed. The tunnel it emptied into was big and seemed to wind on out of sight, heading both north and south; towards the center of the village. There was clamoring from the southern tunnel, the sound of a man coughing and some other man shouting indistinctly. The women shared a glance and Lostariel pulled her mask down, pointing to either side of the tunnel. They crept up carefully around the bend until Lostariel motioned to stop.

Felicia found out why a moment later when a flicker of torchlight sparked across the tunnel wall. Another moment passed with the shuffling of tired feet, clanking chains and a wash of horrible body odor, blood and other bodily fluids. The teenager crouched down and peeked around the corner to see the source. She nearly wish she hadn't.

There were dozens of people shackled to one another being lead by their collars through a dusty side tunnel that intersected it. A heavily built man strolled by wearing dark leathers and carrying a club, occasionally pushing someone on when they failed to keep up. Felicia stared in horror before she slowly turned back to Lostariel.

She was gone.

The teenager looked back towards the way they'd come expecting to see Lostariel's back, but there was nothing there. She was well and truly alone. How the hell? She looked forward as her heart skipped a beat. How could anyone tolerate this, how could they live knowing this kind of thing went on? Further to the point, what was Felicia supposed to do? Had she been wrong about Sarah? This wrong?

Choosing in life was never easy- she wasn't a trained soldier; she couldn't fight these people and yet. . . She couldn't just do nothing could she? She needed to know if Sarah really was involved with them, she had to be sure and more than that, someone had to put a stop to it. She could tell the guards later-

A hand touched her shoulder.

Felicia jumped, whirled already starting off at a run the way she'd come. Lostariel grabbed her wrist and jerked her back before she stabbed a finger to her lips. Once the girl had calmed down, she pointed to the intersecting tunnel and lead them around the corner as carefully as possible. The dirty offshoot lead to an equally dirty chamber about the size of her house with three descending levels which held primitive cages carved into the walls and a bunch of digging tools at the bottom of the pit. Opposite the hall the two women stood in was a wooden shack with a door clinging to it amongst splinters and garbage.

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