Tower of the Watchful Eye

Chapter 15

Outside the pub we scanned around for any sign of the thugs. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one running around the corner to my right. I nudged Aaron and headed in the same direction. Creeping up to the corner, I peeked around it. Four thugs were advancing on the mysterious woman.

Smart girl, Cathy said. There won't be any witnesses back here should you need to attack the thugs.

Do you think it will come to that?

Haven't you learnt anything yet? Cathy asked.

I rounded the corner and slowly crept towards the thugs. They were too distracted to notice Aaron and I approaching.

"Tell Chester he's wasting his time with me," the woman said. "I didn't take it."

"You will not call Mongoose by THAT name," one of the thugs said.

"Like 'Mongoose' is any better sounding," the woman said sarcastically.

"Forget that," a different thug snapped. "We already found it and it's on its way back. The real reason we're here is the bounty Mongoose put that pretty little head of yours."

"Oh?" She said amused as Aaron and I stood behind the thugs. "And what's the going rate right now?"

"Two thousand," a thug said excited.

"That's it?" the woman asked, offended. "What's a girl got to do to get in the ten thousands around here?"

I saw Aaron slowly pull out a small dagger and ready himself.

"But..." the woman continued, making eye connect with Aaron. "Too bad you're not going to get a chance to spend it."

Aaron plunged the dagger in the side of the closest guard, bypassing his armour. The thug in front of me turned towards Aaron in shock and I waved my hand and send a Pulse of energy into him knocking him into the wall of the pub. He bounced off the wall hard and face planted into the ground unmoving.

The remaining two thugs turned towards us and a blade extended from the woman's gauntlet. She drove it into the back of one of them in a blink of an eye. When the last thug tried to pull out his weapon he had his throat slashed by the woman.

"You're better then you look, farm boy," she said as she retracted her blade into the gauntlet. She turned to look at me. "And a Mage as well? Can I pick them or what?"

"I think you owe us an explanation now," I said.

"Did you want the short or long version?" she said playfully.

"Let's just start with who you are and who were the guys we just killed?" Aaron said.

"OK," she chuckled. "I'm Natalie, Nat to my friends. Sometimes I'm Nate when undercover as a guy. These 'upstanding young men' belong to Chester the Mongoose's gang. Who are you now?"

She removed her headdress to show off a sharp face framed with hair as black as night. A scar ran from her right nostril in a diagonal line to her jaw.

"Uh..." Aaron stammered and I shook my head.

"I'm Andy, my slack jawed friend is Aaron," I answered.

"Did both your parents forget there are other letters in the alphabet?" Natalie asked.

"I never knew mine," I answered. "I can't say about him."

She nodded. "Didn't know mine either. You don't need them though. They just slow you down."

"I've always liked mine," Aaron added as an attempt to join the conversation.