The Hollow

Bombs

Nom was jolted awake by a thunderous noise, and a moment later dust from the rafters floated down on him. The others sat up, and Nom rushed to join Ahden in peering out a window, up and down the main street. They heard a pair of footsteps ringing out on the cobblestones, running toward them. Moments later a clamoring started from the same direction. Nom was sure the footsteps were almost upon them, but he saw nothing, then they went past and receded. The clamoring grew and Nom spotted half a dozen warriors sprinting towards them, weapons drawn, one man shouting orders at the others:

"Jenkins, Hart: on him! Felk, Travis: circle ahead, caltrops! I'll prepare another bomb. Jinns: with me, clarity!"

Nom pulled Ahden and Dev down out of sight. "Seerhunters!" he whispered, and gestured to Omega to stay back.

Two men split off down the alley right before the pub, and Nom heard them clomp past the beer garden in back. Two continued forward, yelling at the top of their lungs, and two stopped right in front of the pub. One of the two knelt with her head bowed, sword propped upright on the ground, and appeared to suddenly be in meditation. Lines of blood dripped down the blade, and oddly some yellow paint was smeared on the hilt. The other, the commander of the group, opened a satchel and hastily began preparing some device.

As the runners bolted, the streets became very quiet, with only the commander's rustling and clinking signifying any activity. The two seerhunters in view were heavily armed and armored. Nom picked out more yellow markings on their cloaks, sewed-on designs depicting two intersecting squares like the outline of a sun, filled with a solid yellow circle. The commander also had a yellow ribbon on his arm.

Ahden crawled over to Omega and whispered, "Are your wards still in place?"

"Yes, they won't be able to see or hear us."

Ahden prepped his gear and unsheathed his greatsword. Nom quickly folded his bedding into his go-bag and Dev packed up everything else. Omega removed her goggles and even drew her knife.

"They come here from time to time," Keenow suddenly said aloud. Nom frantically motioned for him to be silent, but Keenow shrugged. "She said they can't hear us. It doesn't matter anyway; they always catch the seers. The Shaman aren't much help."

"What do you mean?" whispered Nom.

"That's why they're here, I presume. The hunters use Luxenta as a trap, and the Shaman are here to protect the seers. It's the only time the Shaman lift a finger to help anyone, but they aren't very good at it. How do you think they come by so many of those goggles?"

Omega listened with concern, and unconsciously fingered her own goggles. By now Nom and Dev had packed up and were armed.

Ahden said, "Let's find the Shaman, and get them to let us out. Oa, keep your eyes peeled for an alternate solution."

Nom looked back out the window and saw the kneeling women, Jinns, staring back at him. He was about to shout a warning, but Jinns looked through him more than at him. He waved a hand, and she did not react. The others noticed too, and all froze in place, staring out the window.

"Sir," said Jinns.

"Jinns?" The commander had packed up his materials and now stood with a smoking tinder in one hand, a metal ball in the other.

"Something," Jinns continued. "This window looks different than a moment ago."

The commander tugged on Jinns' shoulder to stand her up, then he lit the short fuse on his bomb and threw it through the window.

"RUN!" screamed Nom, and they all sprinted out the back off the pub, through the beer garden and into the alley. The bomb went off with a deafening roar, collapsing the stone walls of the pub outward. Nom fell onto the ground, and could see a round wall of dust surrounding their group. Omega stood in a pocket of clean air with her hands spread, a furious look on her face. She walked quickly down the alley toward the main street, pushing the dust in front of her. It closed in her wake, and the rest scrambled to stay in her cleared zone.