Kaelen opened her eyes. The light of day saturates her senses, and a second after she found herself gasping for air, the feeling of just waking up from a nightmare lingered, she looked up her blurred vision sharpened, Dornak face was close inspecting her while waving at her, Elise was patting Lirael’s back as if he were suffocating, and soon the sound came back with Dornak’s voice booming “Fingers, how many fingers?”
“What? What is going on?” Kaelen replied. She had finally gotten back to her senses, her memory was more fussy than her senses, but something was clear to her. They did something to her.
“Do you still know how to count?” Dornak said, holding his fingers in front of Kaelen doubtful and more worried by the second. Lirael was coughing water in the background.
“Yes, I know how to count. Just tell me, what did you all do?” Kaelen confusion rose, mixed with worry but, certain that she disliked what they did to her.
“Oh, Lirael was just reading your mind…” Dornak said casually while he put his fingers in front of Kaelen again. His eyes were full of expectations.
“What? What’s wrong with you? All I did was try to be friendly.” Kaelen said, while she subdued her anger, but it was still present.
“We wanted to see if you are trustworthy” Dornak didn’t understand the issue, with his statement. “Can we?” Added Dornak, turning his face to ask Lirael who had finally finished coughing.
“What? No, that’s not what happened, you oaf?” Lirael pinched his nose bridge, and took a deep breath, the hood falling down, when finally he stood straight again, his hair flowing down like ocean waves, his skin fair with an almost gray tone, and his expression. Lirael’s intimidating gaze was revealed, his eyelids revealed his lifelong disheartened eyes, “I can’t read minds… we can trust her.”
“Just answer the question,” Reeled Kaelen into the conversation, unsure if she even really wanted to get an answer, or just get away.
“I… read your emotions…” Lirael answered, struggling to finish his words, his voice was filled with genuine regret, a thing he didn’t show before, but it only made Kaelen more anxious.
“The good thing is you can join the group?” Cheerfully interjected Elise, her smile appeared genuine, but her lack of hesitation told Kaelen she hid something.
“And why would I join you?” Kaelen was defensive and not willing to falter. Especially being clear that Lirael could somehow mess with her head.
“Sorry, you are right, we came a bit rude.” Elise didn’t sound apologetic. She sounded confident, and in control, as if she was making a sales speech that she had perfected. “But The Dawnblades will guarantee success, mistrust might run among people outside the group, but we take care of each other, hunting or otherwise.”
“You guys are insane… I won’t work with you” Kaelen reinforced before she began to walk away, the look of others around letting whatever happened just slid by as if it were normal, it left a sour taste in her mouth.
Dornak tried to reach with his booming voice “Come on, Lirael doesn’t approve of everyone, besides you look tough even if it’s not as tough as me”
Kaelen was exhausted by the group. If anything, she wanted a respite. She might lose the job, but she would rather not partner with people she found dubious, nor the onlookers, even if some did look rather experienced. Kaelen had a hard time even if they said they can trust her, she doesn’t think she can.
Kaelen departed, leaving the group silent with a sour mouth, no one liked the results, not the execution, the day was moving, Lirael’s sour expression didn’t allow the group to move from the topic. The doors would open soon.
“She’ll be back, I can tell.”Dornak added confidently, not tolerating the silence, even if it had already been a couple of minutes since Kaelen’s departure.
“She won’t… we definitely trigger her trust issues” Lirael remarked, he looked disgusted, before he pulled the hood on again, hiding his face.
“Come on, you got to get more comfortable with your talents. You should be ashamed of your acting. I think you might have gone a bit over the top, especially with the knife.” Elise let out a sigh, she hunched her back and stretched her mouth open, she looked unamused.
Dornak saw Lirael cross his arms, and got closer to him, setting his arm around his shoulder, “Who said it was a failure? When has a plan failed?” Dornak tried to cheer him up.
“When has it gone right? I mean, she is not going to join and not like it matters. I think we are fine on our own.” Elise chuckled, covering her mouth, her hunched back shook with each laugh.
“That’s not the point. In both cases, it was wrong…” Lirael tried to tug away for Dornak, but he was none the wiser. He gave up and let Dornak be himself.
“What do you mean wrong? It was the plan” Dornak insisted, before he looked to the side. To another figure asking, “isn’t it?”
“Of course, things went exactly as intended. Don’t worry, Lirael. This was the first step. I’ll take care of the second step later” Answered Roland Vestar, the leader of the group, standing between Lirael and Dornak’s height, black smooth hair. He wore dark clothes with intrinsic arcane sigils, and silvery patterns and were detailed. His
“I just don’t like to manipulate others, but sir, why do we need her?” Lirael spoke in a clear voice, he uncrossed his arms, setting them on his sides.
“The boss just wants her for himself. She is inexperienced. We don’t need her…” Elise teased Roland, her wide smirk fixed and stiff even if her body was relaxed.
“She will be useful, besides for today’s hunt we might need someone used to the forest” Replied Roland, apparently unaffected by Elise’s teasing, his eyes just showed composure.
“Oh right, Roland, you never told me. Who are the sylvarian?” Dornak finally let go of Lirael, to address Roland in a more proper manner.
“What? Not who, you dumbass. Shouldn’t we be asking what we are hunting?” Elise corrected Dornak, her smile faded, and her face quickly showed the lack of sleep, but it was calm and relaxed.
Dornak twitched angrily and turned to Elise – He clenched his teeth and only let out a loud angry huff.
“You probably heard it from stories, a race of mysterious warriors that could command the power of nature. Most local legends include a warrior from such a place, like the legend of the great wyrm Zorn – besides, seeing one of them is unusual” Roland explained.
“But she looked unprepared, new, unguarded. Oh, are we going to ask her where her home is so we can get an actual legendary warrior?” Dornak asked. The idea itself pumped up Dornak.
“No, if a sylvarian leaves their forest, something big must be brewing. She will be involved, or worse, and just having her around will be good for our reputation,” Roland clarified.
“If she is so important, why did we just invite her, instead of the bad theatrics?” Lirael interrupted himself, the timbre of his voice shifted to one more sturdy, “Sorry I trust you Roland, you are right, there is more to the plan.”
“You don’t need to apologize. It’s normal to doubt, and I don’t like using your magic, but you have a good talent – You don’t make people do things they wouldn’t do, but that’s okay, I have other plans without them in mind” Roland assured him calmly.
Elise approached Lirael, her lips parted from one another, a single sound came out of her mouth before the voices surrounding them became louder, the guild doors had opened. The guild doors had opened, and everyone began to walk inside. Lirael walked past her with a sour expression on his face, the three of them following Roland inside the guild hall.
The steps echoed over the polished wooden floor, the guild hall was modestly sized, and welcomed all those who entered with an open space and a lack of reception. At the end of the hall, the door leads to a closed office, most ego hunters gathered on the board to its side, where jobs, and other local news were announced.
On the left wing stood a bar, it was too early and the lack of stuff was not an issue. The guild hall was not bustling with people seeking fun, but hunters looking how to make their coin purses heavier.
The group ignored the quest board and went straight to one of the few tables in the center. They sat near a cold circular fireplace. The fireplace had 4 carved stones near its center, the carvings depicted on the stones were unrecognizable.
Dornak stared at the fire pit in silence, squinting his eyes, and losing his sight as if the fireplace contained living fame. He had no idea what the carvings meant, he was not close to figure the stones.
“Boss, forgetting about what happened with that girl – you have been acting unusual, what is so special about this hunt?” Elise asked. She gave subtle looks towards Lirael who sheepishly observed, and then Dornak who seemed now to be in a world of his making.
“It’s not that I have been unusual – this is a big opportunity. This will make the dawn blades known outside this town” Roland explained, his eyesight lowered towards Elise just to reply, but his face was outside.
“Sounds like you are avoiding giving us details. Why is that?” Elise challenged him, but the moment his eyesight didn’t lower to look at her, she rose a brow looking at Lirael. But he just shook his head. She kicked him under the table and told Lirael dryly. “Come on, back me up.”
“Auch… I mean, we will know soon enough – it’s not bad to sit back and relax a bit. It’s obvious that Roland doesn’t know the details yet,” Lirael complained, tapping Elise with his feet. But he could now feel Roland’s gaze on him. He looked back, but Roland’s eyesight was still distant towards the entrance.
“Well, why is the Boss so sure that…” Elise attempted to argue, Rolland’s eyesight finally turned to the group, but both were interrupted by Dornak’s excitement.
“How could I not see it? The rocks are fake. The answer is inside the rocks” Dornak interrupted as he yelled. He reached out to grab two of the carved stones, one in each hand, and tried to smash them together. The solid sound of the impact of the stones. A spark barely formed from the impact.
Roland pinched his nose’s bridge. Lirael, who was the closest to the sound, was now covering his ears. Elise rolled her eyes back. The rest of the adventurers in the guild hall went back to their own business once they saw the situation.
“Hmm, they are more sturdy than I thought…” Dornak set the stone right in front of him, and reached to his bag, where he grabbed one of his steel hammers. Dornak winded back, but before he could swing, Lirael held his arm.
“Please spare my damn ears, Dornak. It is not hard to, at the very least, give a warning” Lirael grunted in frustration. Lirael slowly became self-aware, the few people in the guild house glanced at the commotion, with different reactions; concussion, amusement, and annoyance.
“Oh sorry… fair Lirael” Dornak replied with a genuine apologetic expression, – Lirael let go of Dornak arm, sliding back into place — But Dornak lifted the Hammer again and said joyfully as he swung down his hammer, ”Cover your ears, I am going to smash this rock.”
The snap of a whip that echoed in the hall, Dornak’s wrist was wrapped. On the other side, Roland held him in place.
“Dornak stop… We are about to get a big job, and you are not going to mess it up”. He struggled against Dornak, resisting. Roland’s face was serious, demanding.
Dornak huffed again and kept pulling the whip. Dornak grabbed his second hammer, while his held hand began to turn to steel. His expression still tense, his neck swollen, ready to ram at Roland.
“Lirael what are you waiting for?” Elise turned to look at him. Lirael froze. She kicked him under the table to snap him out, but the painful kick did nothing.
“Lirael” uttered Roland, his voice full of authority. Without even looking at him.
Lirael looked scared, his eyes up to his sclera going deep dark, but Roland’s voice echoed, his eyes glowed a golden light, while he looked at Roland. His lips lightly trembled, and the golden of his eyes couldn’t hide the darkening on his face.
Dornak animalistic huffs and tension had settled, — but sooner than none, his aggression subdued, and he looked at Lirael. Then, back at Roland, he put the hammer back into place. And smiled as the whip was pulled away.
“Good, if you want to fight, we can do it later, just not now” Roland stated, and stowed the antique looking whip back into place.
“Friends… shouldn’t fight” Uttered Lirael. His voice echoed innocence, unbefitting of his age.
“Friends do fight. How else do you become stronger? — Come on, it is nothing serious. Don’t be like that,” Dornak sat back, ignoring the fact that nothing had happened.
“Boss, dumbass, Lirael doesn’t look fine” Stated Elise, walking around the table, her hand reaching out to hold his, but then she ends up holding her shoulder.
“Well, thank Dornak for that, Guess calming two people was too much.” Roland said — he noticed Elise’s concern and smiled, adding, “just a bit of rest, and he will be fine.”
“Guess asking to wait early is a bit much. Maybe it’s a good thing that most of you have the energy to spare” Said a man in his late 40s wearing a complex arrangement of simple robes, approached the group confidently. His face was covered in small scars, most of them hidden by a fully bearded face.
“Dawn Blades, this is scout master Lorian Ash bound” Roland introduced the man, and gaped for air only to be interrupted.
“Such titles, I am just a person doing my job, I can see your group has issues” Lorian stared at Lirael whose emerald eyes were vacant.
“You have nothing to worry about, I have them under control – this is not our typical situation,” Roland clarified, his face adorned with a polite smile.
“You said before you have been working for a couple of years, right?” Lorian carefully assessed Elise, and Dornak.
“Yes, and I am sure you know our worth.” Roland implied defiantly.
“I would like to know who controls you, you are not the only star in the sky” Lorian retorts — he sighed and continued to speak ”anyway not my problem, but just take this spend of advice, learn really how each of you work.”
Roland exhales, his look following the same defiance, before he returns to his polite smile to reply, “I will accept your most kind advice, now we should discuss the matter at hand.”
“Well, you all probably noticed, that there have been fewer caravans the past couple of weeks, the reason is simple, an unknown creature is near the road, I even spotted their marks recently…” Lorian explained.
“So we got a creature to kill then,” interrupts Dornak, invigorated by the idea.
“A few of the dead include mercenaries, powerful shapers…” Lorian attempted to continue ignoring the interaction.
“A strong creature to kill!” Dornak interrupts again, even more excited than before.
“I swear to the old flame if you interrupt again, I AM going to make sure you don’t have children… though at this point I might end up doing it for fun.” Elise snapped and shot at Dornak scornfully, her hands pulling sharp hooks like claws as she threatened.
“No, the task is not to fight it. Your task is to pinpoint its location, until capable enough fighters arrive.” Lorian says with a serious expression, awaiting a reply.
“Sir, I assure you, we are capable enough. We are not just some…” Roland’s polite smile, crooked and soured.
“Some scouts? You might be able to beat it, but there is more to life than risking it. Besides, you have a good power for scouting, a good scout might not save a life as much, as they avoid unnecessary deaths than any.” Lorian says politely, the kind of old uncle would talk about their profession.
“Right sir, we will depart as soon as we have provisions ready” Roland nods, stretching his hand to agree with the scout master.
Aldermore was a small city, even though well traveled, few buildings were more than two stories tall. But it was Kaelen’s second day in a city, and she quickly tried to forget about the so-called ego-hunters she met. She thought no good could come out of them, and forgetting about them was easier. She was particularly interested in the workings of stone construction and metals around the city.
Something that particularly culminated once, she saw a woman in her mid-40’s carrying a pair of large buckets, and approaching a strange lever on a pipe that stuck from the ground. Kaelen simply stared, while the woman began to pump water from it.
“Wait, you are no druid. How are you making water” Kaelen’s thought escaped her mouth out loud, fascinated by the device.
“Way to announce you are not from here, sweetheart. I’m not making water. This thing here is called a pump.” The woman turned her face but kept pumping until the bucket was almost full to the brim, “You should be more careful or someone might eat you alive.”
“Pump… I find that difficult, I have seen no dangerous animals here” Kaelen approached the device. In her mind, she was breaking apart the device.
Kaelen looked at a mark, and pulled a silver pendant. Finding the marks similar, she put the pendant back under her clothes, holding a smile of content.
“Oh, there are. They like to wear human skin, but what they have inside cannot be called anything but beasts.” The woman readied making some space for Kaelen
“I hope. I have not found any prey in here. I am Kaelen Greenforge by the way” Kaelen looked at her expectantly, but her stomach tumbling broke away from her attention. She looked at the forest.
“Well, maybe you should come to my restaurant, which I am about to open. A warm and good meal for only a few pebbles” Says the woman, not introducing herself.
“So I can use pebbles for food?” Kaelen asks, surprised.
“Unless you order something too fancy” The woman crouches and picks the buckets, lifting them up to her shoulders. ”You do know what a pebble is?”
“You mean the money? — I don’t have a lot, I was asked to go to the hunters to get more. Things didn’t go well there” Kaelen voiced with resentment, and pulled a silver looking medal from a leather pouch.
“Good, follow me” The woman barely looked at the medal, almost as if she looked with pity. Though, Kaelen could tell she was bothered by the weight of the heavy buckets.
The palace was not far, but it was larger than Kaelen expected. One of the few stone buildings that had more than one floor. The windows were large, but before Kaelen could see inside, the smell of the kitchen hit her nose.
“Someone is cooking?” Kaelen asked, unable to hold back from asking a question that was not obvious in her head.
“Well, that’s my nephew. Helps me around. Not my favorite, but he is family and good in the kitchen,” she replied, not stopping to entertain further questions.
Kaelen followed in. There were a few patrons already inside. They looked distinctly dressed from each other. Most of them looked like simple travelers. Kaelen would call the attention of some, but the promise of food had her completely distracted, especially at that moment where its smell was more present. So she continued to follow.
“Wait here, sweetheart. You can’t just enter the kitchen. Go wait at a table. I’ll bring you something.” The woman pointed at a table with her face before Kaelen walked in with her.
The moment Kaelen leaned on the table, she noticed that it was wobbly. She made the table tab a few times, distracting herself while waiting.
It didn’t take long for the woman to come out of the backroom. Once set in front of Kaelen, she would see a light film of gold from the oil, flecks of herbs floating along chunks of white meat, and mixed vegetables. A flat wooden stick emerged from the bottom of the plate.
Kaelen removed the wooden stick and began to drink directly from the bowl, taking a taste of it, biting and chewing, the first chunk that landed in her mouth. The owner sat in front, unable to avoid looking at her, like she just adopted a wild animal.
“Not a fan of spoons?” she questioned the owner, pointing out at the stick.
Kaelen slowly noticed the shape and picked it up. She looked at it, for a few seconds before she replied, “Oh so that’s what it was for”.
Kaelen began to use it to eat it. The hold was awkward the first few times, but she didn’t need much practice to use it like any other person.
“Sweetheart, what is your deal? Why did you leave the Silverlight Forest?” Said the owner, bringing in the conversation.
“I had to… the forest is big, the heads of the tribe are not big” Said Kaelen with stern unapologetic resentment.
“So out to see the bigger world then? Well, people have ass for heads everywhere” The owner added starkly.
“Well, I want to find my father…” She clutched the emblem over her clothes.
“Let me guess you are one of the bastard children of Sir Forge?” She made a short chuckle, “I saw the pendant”.
“What do you mean? My father has many children?” Kaelen’s expression darkened. Her eating stopped to a halt, the leaves on her hair visibly dried, turned to autumn.
“Oh sweetheart… it was a joke” The lady replied with genuine concern.
“More like a prank with bad taste. My father promised he would only love my mother” Kaelen looked to the side’s eyes distant.
“You do know how babies are made, right? How innocent are you?” The woman asked, but she didn’t wait for an answer. “People proclaim all the time, to be bastards of heroes and nobles. Your father is particularly popular like that.”
“Why would anyone pretend to be that? They have parents of their own?” Kaelen asked, level-headed, more intrigued by the new direction of the conversation.
“Well, few heroes are that rich, and people that adventure young seed many rumors for that can lead to such, and some people would do anything for an inch of attention.” The woman explained.
“My father, is that known? Does that mean you know his location?” She asked, leaning forward onto the table.
“I don’t know where he is, maybe you can pay someone in the guild to find out, but that would cost more than a couple of Royals” She replies, followed by a long breath.
“Royals are the coins made of sun stone, right?” Kaelen said, still leaning forward.
“Gold yes, in any case you shouldn’t go around saying you are his daughter around like nothing – Most will believe you are lying, and the rest, will try to take advantage” Warned the lady with a careful tone.
Kaelen didn’t fully process the warning, but she proceeded to finish her broth. Soon, a large sound from the back of the place shook across the room.
“Finish your food, and don’t worry, it is on the house today. What did that boy do now? ” Said the woman, as she stood up and hurried to where the noise came from.
Kaelen nodded and had just realized, she never heard the name of the woman, but she didn’t get to finish her plate. The smell of tobacco stung her nose just before the edge of her eyes saw that someone had approached.
The figure’s dry and sturdy hand rested on Kaelen’s shoulder, while a male, hoarse voice croaked “Hey lady I heard your conversation, I can help you find Forge, but I won’t do it for free.”
Kaelen looked up. The man’s clothes were misshapen, his teeth were crooked, and more than a pair of them had been replaced by metal. But his clothes looked expensive, with a large dagger on his waist, and a steel pipe with wood on his back, baring the same engraving of the pump burned on its wood. She took a few moments to recognize it.
The man looked at his table. His companions are 2 younger guys who just failed to contain their laughs. The man looked back in the direction of Kaelen a bit more sorrow tone “Hey you heard me, I can help you find your father.” While his eyesight shift from her eyes to below her neck.
Kaelen lifted her hand and pushed his away, curiosity keeping her mood cheerful, “That is a fire arm, right?”
“This one here is a rifle, there are not many in this town.” The man’s yes turned back into Kaelen’s eyes. He approached her, and his voice darkened, “but you don’t have to worry about it, now how many Royals you got?”
“I have no Royals, so you have to wait until I earn some coin.” Kaelen replied while her shoulder visibly stiffened.
“There are many ways to pay, besides coins.” Said the man, once he saw Kaelen lean back, he added, He jested his hands toward her chest, “I can tell you have something that is worth more than enough.”
“It’s nothing I am willing to give.” Kaelen replied, her voice became tense. She stepped back to make her distance, and pushed her chair with her leg and leaned forward while she bolstered her shoulders, she was taller than he was by half a foot.
“Calm down, you don’t have to be so tense, not looking for a fight here, just trying to be helpful.” The man stopped approaching, there was no fear in his eyes, instead they examined Kaelen.
“Helpful? If you want to be helpful, just tell me where my father is, exchanging is not helping, I can get the royals if you give me time” Kaelen stood in place.
“Exchanges are helping each other, good luck finding someone that will help you for free” The man stated, his finger pointing directly at Her when he insisted “The pendant.”
Kaelen shook her head, and covered her her chest with a hand, and replied with a straight face, “No.”
One of the people that shared a table with the man stood up and began to leave. The other, a much younger guy, with simple hand down clothes in about, looking hardly older than 20, approached, setting his hand on and protested. “Come on Latch, we finish eating. Your scam seems to have failed already.”
“Don’t ruin it, I almost had it, Weasel” Latch busted out, turning and slamming weasel into the table, the wobbly table flipped, and both of them ended on the floor.
“Latch, Stop” Weasel pleaded while Latch mounted him in a fit.
“You stop it.” Kaelen quickly stepped out, her palm on Latch chest, and pushed him off with some resistance, She tried to help Weasel up.
Weasel leaned on her and the two almost fell again, but Kaelen managed to keep him up. The fight didn’t continue, Kaelen turned back to look at Latch, only to see him now waiting at the door.
“Well, sad we couldn’t do business, sorry I took it out on you, Weasel, let’s leave. I’ll buy you something nice.” Said Latch, rushing his words.
“It’s fine Latch, you know how it is” Lash stepped away from Kaelen – He clasped his hands together and said to Kaelen, leaving in a similar hurried voice, “Sorry for disturbing you, but thank you so much.”
Kaelen noticed a small but bright silver-like shine coming from between weasels hands, Her hand went back to her chest. Her face shifted from surprise to anger.
The chase began, and the ones Kaelen was chasing were already outside, She quickly left the building running like it was a matter of life and death. Her hand now held a long piece of wood, its shape resembled a flintlock.
The moment Kaelen stepped outside, she was caught by a weighted net. Her shoulder quickly met the dirt, sliding against the dirt, dust flew behind her. Kaelen complained, “You won’t get away.”
Seeing her fall, both Weasel and Latch slowed down in mocking celebration, Weasel waved his hand holding the silver like medal he stole in celebration.
Grunted as she struggled on the ground, his arm stretched still holding the stick, she pointed at Weasel, and drew a breath, the flintlock stick, then a loud cracked echoed.
The weasel fell back, hand first, hit by a large seed shot faster than the eye could see. His hand was bleeding, and he screamed in pain, cursing “Latch, you didn’t tell me it was a real gun, damn it.”
“I would have told you if it were worth something, she is obviously a mystic, wait it’s just silver?” Latch picked up the Medal from the ground. Before he pulled Weasel up.
Kaelen looked in the direction the net came from, the third man was quick to run in a different direction, Kaelen tussled with the rope, before she reached a pole on her waist, made of twisted vines.
Latch dew his gun without aiming, the gun pointing at the sky, running away, with Weasel stumbling behind him, instructing as they took a corner, “Keep moving and keep pressure on that hand”
Kaelen twisted the rod in the direction of the vines and quickly obsidian blades sprung out of it, the spring like action cutting some of the rope as the blades popped out.
She took a mere moment from being on the floor to be in fully running motion, leaving her flintlock like stick behind.
The obsidian blades of the rod went back into place, The two men had the advantage, but Kaelen was faster, She soon turned to around the corner.
Latch was there waiting at the end of the alley, his gun out pointing at Kaelen, Kaelen heard the sound of the rifle cocking. Her body, with quick flexibility, ducked under her belly button before Latch pulled the trigger. The bullet passed barely above her head.
“You missed, Latch. Shoot again. Shoot that witch” Weasel exasperated behind Latch.
“Shut it. At least I am not standing still like a coward” Latch complained but quickly loaded the gun with another bullet.
Kaelen pushed the floor with her hand, quickly getting back to running towards the rifle. That moment, the gun was pointed back at her.
She pushed off a wall, and moved sharply. The next shot passing between her arms as if she perfectly knew where the bullet was going to pass.
She held the rod and quickly untwisted one of its vines, giving it a T shape. She was halfway, when the third shot came, this time aimed at her leg. But She jumped over it before the projectile came to be.
“How do you keep missing? She is closer now!” Weasel complained, his body now shaking, seeing Kaelen approach without an inch of fear.
“I told you to shut it. Stop moving around” Yelled Latch loading a 4th round.
Kaelen drew a bolt from a leather pouch on her right leg. She kept the now T-shaped rod pointing at the side, and set the bolt along her arm. Her eyes still focused on the gun, still more than a few steps away.
Latch pointed at her chest. There was still some distance. He pulled the trigger, but again moments before Kaelen moved. This time it was barely enough. The bullet gazed her clothes.
Kaelen drew back a string like vine. She kept running and as she did, the rod resembled a crossbow. The vines now appeared to move on their own, increasing the tension.
Latch finished cocking the gun, but before Latch could point again, Kaelen took her shot, The bolt flew straight at Latch’s arm, and he fell to the ground screaming in agony, pushing Weasel on his way down.
Weasel stumbled for a few moments on the floor, his hands now shook. He went for the rifle, and held it while his arms trembled. Once he looked up, he only had enough time to see Kaelen with her arm drawn back.
Kaelen slammed the rod against Weasel’s head, His consciousness fading the moment the echo of the impact faded.
Latch slowly pushed away with his feet, crawling back, his arm stretched out holding the pendant as he pleaded “Here have your stupid pendant… is not worth much anyway, just don’t kill me.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t Kill you.” Kaelen frowned, drawing her breath slowly, held her arm out and grabbed his pendant in his hand. That moment, Latch relaxes, closing his eyes, taking a breath in relief. Just then, she struck him on the side of his head.
Kaelen started to breathe heavily, taking a moment. She took Latch’s coin pouch and the one where he kept the bullets. She studied the bullet for a moment, staring at it.
Kaelen picked up the gun, and slowly studied it. Playing with the mechanism of the gun, she thought, “How did they make it so it can load so fast? Is it the arm or the projectile?” Kaelen turned her head to the two men. “You two don’t deserve this fire arm.”