Next Up

17

On the third-floor landing, Kiari took a deep breath. The bedroom door loomed behind him; the grooves in the wood resembled a sneering face, mocking him for his thoughts.

Marlin noted the look of dark determination that crossed Kiari's face. He opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it. Kiari turned to a woman leaning against the wall. She was a bespectacled woman wearing a headdress of teal color and floral design, a dress of the same shade and of conservative length, reaching a bit past her knees.

"Take care of her," Ordered Kiari as he marched past her down the stairs, Marlin following behind him, wiping the dripping water from his eyes and leaving wet footprints on the carpet with every step.

She nodded, "Of course, sir," opening the bedroom door and gliding inside, shutting and locking it behind her.

"Marlin, finding the angel's ring and the water is more crucial than ever, understand? I see these guys walking around, not doing anything half the time; if they were, we could've found it by now!"

"Understood, I'll make sure to 'crack the whip,' they shall stay on track." They reached the main floor, walking through the library, pages of books scattered everywhere, people sitting flipping through books, scouring the pages for any helpful information.

"Maybe we needa do a lil' door kicking!" grinned Kurt-Adam, his deep gruff voice filling the quiet library hall.

"I concur with Kurt-Adam; if we are getting that desperate, we may have to kick things up a notch."

"Me and the rest of the gang can do all the fun stuff!" Kurt-Adam gave a disgusted look to the men in the room with them, "We ain't gonna find anything useful in some dusty old books anyways. Like, if the location of that stuff is so secret, they ain't gonna have it lying around here."

"For once, the numbskull makes a good point; I fear we're wasting our resources here. It may prove more useful for our group to scour this whole village, inch by inch if we have to."

A weary smile crossed Kiari's face, "You may be right, I'll have to think about it, and..." he yawned, "I'll need to— has anyone been in contact with Geier?"

Both Kurt-Adam and Marlin looked at each other.

"Haven't seen him, boss," Kurt-Adam said.

"Well, if you do, tell him to find me. Anyways, Marlin, you're in charge of what to do next, have our people go wherever you see fit."

"Okay."

"I'm gonna rest for a bit." He yawned again and walked off towards a side room of the library.

"On a scale of one to ten, I'd say that potential is a solid ten! That girl is a monster...but in a good way," Silas said, talking to two of the four Hounds, Neph and Amelia. They both sat in the meeting room in the oval building, sat in their chairs at the oval table.

"I mean, it's hard to deny, ya know, she is pretty talented. Kinda like that Reiza girl. Maybe this one won't squander it," Amelia scoffed. She was a pale, slim woman with shoulder-length black hair curled upwards at its ends. She wore all black—always matching her two Tibetan mastiffs, that were almost as tall as Silas, who eyed them wearily. He never feared large animals or dogs, but for some reason, these things, in particular, made him nervous.

"Every time I've seen her, she's always eager to learn and grow stronger. Hell, she actually shows up early even before I do. Then there's other kids that you'd need a forklift to get em' to come to class."

Neph got to his feet—his head almost touching the ceiling—pacing back and forth across the room before finally stopping and looking out at the window on the back wall that overlooked the colony.