Eliona's War 2: Veiled Healer

Chapter 16

One last turn in the passageway revealed the exit, which was a narrow opening in the rocks that looked barely big enough to admit a person. A dark figure stood next to it, the warm daylight spilling across her face and shoulders.

Mouna looked back as Severance approached, giving him a tiny nod of acknowledgement before returning her attention to what lay beyond. He stopped next to her, leaning in slightly so he could peer out without revealing himself in the opening.

As if aware they were trying to be stealthy, Vast sat on Severance's foot—the one that was in shadow—and kept quiet. His long tail found its usual place wrapped around Severance's leg.

Severance ignored the creature's annoying habit, too distracted by what he was seeing. Below them was a secret clearing surrounded by walls of rock. A few stubborn shrubs grew out of cracks, brown and twisted. It was in this small clearing that a group of people fought off a pack of beasts.

They were players, fairly low-level judging by the basic skills they were using, and they were in far over their heads. Their weak attacks only irritated the beasts, which were feline in nature and vicious like a pack of dogs. The players would have been torn apart long ago if it weren't for the Moon Scribe who constantly shielded them.

Severance frowned, regarding her for a long moment. He'd partied with a Moon Scribe before and knew very well how their skills worked. Their shields decreased a portion of damage taken. Yet when he observed the players, he saw them only received small cuts and bruises.

That meant this particular Moon Scribe had an impressively high fortitude attribute. She was also probably layering on more than one shield at a time, which would have required careful timing between the cooldowns. He nodded to himself, admiring of her skill.

Still, he wondered why they were doing this. It seemed like a waste of time. All she was doing was keeping her team alive while they flailed uselessly about against an enemy they could not hope to defeat.

His gaze shifted to three others, who stood well away from the battle and watched the players with a kind of boredom. Two men and one woman, all with visible weapons around their persons, yet they did nothing but observe. When he noticed red cloth bands tied around their upper arms, Severance narrowed his eyes.

"The Chosen," he muttered. "Why are they here?"

Mouna turned her head sharply to look at him. Her hands made a few signs, then paused, as if remembering he didn't know what she was saying. Instead, she pointed at the group below, and arched a brow inquisitively.

He took a guess at what she was asking, and shrugged. "Those three on the side have the red bands, right? I've only ever seen the Chosen wear those. And the rest are Outsiders, like me. I'm not sure what they're trying to do here, though."

In response to that, Mouna unslung the bow from around her shoulder and withdrew three arrows from her quiver.

Severance blinked, then gawked, for she stuck two of the arrows between her teeth and notched the third. As she drew back the arrow, he looked from her to the group below. She seriously wasn't going to—

Twang! She released the arrow barely a moment after she had finished drawing back the bowstring. Severance could only watch as the female Chosen observing the players suddenly sprouted an arrow from the center of her forehead. She fell without making a single sound.

What the heck?! Severance stared at Mouna in disbelief. Why had she just up and shot—

Twang! The man who'd stood next to the female Chosen fell, this time with an arrow in his eye. The third spun around with a cry of alarm, hastily drawing his sword. "Who's there!"