Daye (complete)

The Mark

    AT the top of the staircase, a doorway opened into the main hall of the Guild. Several tables lay about the high-ceilinged room, many broken chairs, and a bar stocked full of cheap liquor.

A group of seven or so assassins clad in black were gathered around a larger table, sipping from tankards of reeking ale. Their weapons lay further away from them. Clearly they expected not to be attacked in their own safehouse, which was fortunate for the escapees.

"Come on, I'll distract them while you run for the door," Decide ordered.

"Where's the door?" demanded the weary Luca.

"Ah, I forgot. You don't know the layout of this place. It's to the right- the far right corner of the room. Do you see it? It's supposed to be hidden, so..." Decide pointed, and the werewolf spotted the door. It was cleverly hidden- it had been made that way so people sneaking out of the Guild would have trouble.

Decide snuck from the stairs into the hall, hiding swiftly behind the bar. From there she grabbed a glass decanter and hurled it at the assassin's table. It smashed on the wood, sending shards of glass everywhere, and the drunk assassins fell out of their chairs, surprised. They got up and looked for a culprit, but Luca and Decide, carrying Petrouli, were already gone.

Safely out of the door and hurrying down the street, the companions barely had enough time to breath as they ran for the park. Reaching it, they lay the unconscious boy onto the grass, and sat impatiently beside him. Decide tapped his cheek lightly, trying to wake him, but to no avail. Petrouli's eyes stayed closed.

"He took a pretty hard hit to the head for a young boy- especially one this frail," Decide worried. Luca checked his pulse. "It's steady- not too slow or fast. He'll wake up soon," he reassured her.

Decide left the werewolf boy to quickly retrieve her jacket from where she'd left it in the park, then returned to see the prophet sitting up, blinking in the fading light.

"Ah- Decide! What happened?" he asked groggily. "Last thing I remember, one of the assassins had grabbed me and you were still fighting them off. Did you manage to kill them all?"

"Not really," she laughed. "They knocked me out too, and I woke up in the dungeons, where they were torturing Luca. I escaped and was able to save you both, so, I'm glad."

The young boy smiled. "I can detect something different about you though, Decide- something magical. Did they do something to you?" he asked, concerned.

Decide shook her head, remembering the incident with the mark. "No... at least I don't think so. Are you feeling okay, Petrouli?"

The boy contemplated for a second, then replied, "My head aches, as does my back. But it's not an issue. Your friend is much worse off..."

Indeed he was. Again, Luca was looking sickly, ready to pass out.

"The healers of my caravan can look at him." Petrouli offered. "We just need to get there... then I can explain."

Decide sighed. "Alright. And, I'm really sorry that you got caught up in this, kid. It shouldn't have had anything to do with you. I hope you'll forgive me." she bowed her head in apology.

"I'm not dead, am I?" Petrouli giggled. "Don't worry about it, miss Decide. It was the most excitement I've had in ages. The elders won't ever let me do anything lest I hurt myself! I could never be angry at you, anyways. This incident is part of your path to becoming stronger."

Decide just raised an eyebrow. "Whatever you say. Now, we need to hurry to get Luca better! Can you direct us to the healers?"

Petrouli stood up and guided them slowly to his caravan. He seemed a bit wobbly on his feet, the two older companions noticed, but they said nothing. The young kid was brave, if nothing.