☽ -Adarlan, Ararac Mountain Pass, Two Years Ago - ☾
No matter how hard she tried to stop her hands from shaking, their shivering persisted. The cold nipped at the already frigid tips but that wasn't why her hands presently shook.
Brielle couldn't stop the adrenaline jackhammering through her heart, a spear thrown clear through its interior.
She leant forwards to touch base on her knees, supporting her weight on them, the air outside the healers tent was thick with tension. It was constricting in a way that made her skin ache to have stretched over her bones.
And no matter how much she tried Brielle couldn't get the image out of her mind. It burned the backsides of her eyelids with each blink, as though some god had engraved the picture in the skin.
This task was supposed to be simple,
Her contacts in Adarlan had sent word of a young group of Fae travelling through the great mountain pass in search of safe refuge.
That idea alone was of little shock in a place like Adarlan. She knew it was imperative someone did something.
Convincing Maeve she has business across in the mainland of Erilea wasn't the difficult part, it would be showing evidence of her work once she got back.
But yet again that was the least of her worries right now as she listened to the screams emitting from within the thin walls of the tent behind her.
Merle's voice had grown hoarse from the pained noise she struggled to hold back,
Her screams struck Brielle upside the head, the human spy was never to get hurt, but the better nature of her Pride always seemed to get the better of them.
The little Fae girl Merle had stood to defend against the soldiers, sat just meters away from Brielle, curled amongst a pile of wool blankets with the others they had managed to find. The group of Orphaned Fae children had been delighted when they tracked them through the mountains.
Merle screamed once more, Brielle cupped her ears but her heightened sense of hearing countered her every act to salvage her own sanity.
With each time she blinked so could still see Merle's second of panic as the soldier threw a flaming object at her, the glass had exploded in a burst of heat and the fire had licked Merle so fiercely she had almost given up entirely, but yet she hadn't let the man get close to the children behind her.
Brielle had been too far away, and could only watch as Merle, human in ever sense, fought to stay standing.
She screamed from inside the tent, her pain cracking the usual softness of her voice. The cry was like a explosion in Brielle's head. She couldn't stand it, the claws in her mind would slowly drive her to mauling the flesh off her own skull.
Clenching her fists against her thighs until she feel the pain blooming in her palms, Brielle pushed off from her place, body growing numb. Every muscle in her legs burn as they force her on,
The Fae children perked up when she stalked past, their tiny expressions glancing warily amongst themselves.
The dirt and grim still cling to their little faces, which wasn't the worse idea, for if Merle hadn't been there to place her life on the line for theirs, they could use the muck on their skin to hide away and remain unsee by quick glances.
Brielle couldn't bring herself to look at then when she finally passed them, despite the hopeful looks they shot her way.
Merle screamed once more, higher in pitch then the last time, more pain filled her cry this time. She felt her spine snap to straighten at the sound.
She had to leave.
The encampment they made was small enough for the group to stay hidden from any passing patrols, so it didn't take her long to meet the camps edge.
The breeze running through Ararac's pass chilled her in an instant, she pulled the rim of her thin cloak towards her body, hugging it in tighter. Perhaps to summon the feeling of a persons embrace. It didn't little to sooth the unsettling in her stomach.
As she venture on Merle's cry grew quiet, but she wasn't going to take any chances, without even turning her back to the path she walked Brielle threw out a shield of power, a dome around their camp.
That way any passing Adarlian Patrols wouldn't catch the noise drifting on the wind and draw them near the camp.
The surroundings wasn't distraction enough, when the soldier had thrown the flames at Merle, shock had gripped Brielle, so her limbs wouldn't respond to the command screaming in alarm in her head. Merle was suffering now because she was too far away and didn't move to defend her spy in the moments she needed her.
The words punched a hole inside her, helpless to aiding inside the healing tent when she yet again froze at the sight of Merle's raw face, the skin bubbling and pulled back at her cheek, until the bone almost became visible amongst the weeping flesh.
Brielle didn't have the change to stop as she hurled forward and vomited beside the rocks on the path, she was quick to keep moving, scouting out the surrounding area was as good of a distraction as any,
She only got two hundred meters down the rocky face before she began to throw up once more, the muscles in her stomach spasmed when she had nothing left to paint across the rocks,
Then there was the sound of footfall and stones rolling across the dirt,
Brielle released a dagger from under her breast, holding it in her fist she spun towards the approaching person,
"You're a lively little thing aren't you?"
The crone tilted her head, like a predator assessing the habits of their next meal. She brought a withering hand up, the signature pointed Ironteeth nails extending from their tips.
Wiping at her chin with the back of her hand, Brielle straightened, ever ancient ingrained instinct in her was yearning to flee, but rolling both shoulders back, Brielle leveled the Witch with her stare.
It was then she could see the wagon just yards away from them, A swish of a feline's tail, drew her attention to a dusted white cat stretching out on the steps of the wagon, It's beady blue opal eyes blinking at her. She frowned, The structure was parked along the wider path used by the soldiers to move prison wagons through the mountains terrain, The cat sat upright studying her, it was the Iron teeth's movement that drew her back to the conversation.
The tan wrinkled expression of the witch was cold and cruel in ever sense, this could only be one.
"Why is Baba Yellowlegs travelling through the Ararac Pass?" Brielle hesitated to look back at the wagon quickly, trying to brush off her shock when there no longer sat that feline. It had been there just a sec-
Baba stare settled on the dagger in her hand, striding up to her on legs that looked to frail to support her own weight, she used one of those needle point nails to lower the edge of her dagger, the air lodged in her throat. Perhaps she should be grateful she had nothing left to vomit up.
"Selling more fortunes with the use of the future of course" Baba's smile was wicked in an other worldly sense, like she lived and breathed to remind those she met of the stories whispered about her from the earlier Witch wars.
"I could tell you yours..." she watched once more with that unsettling glint, "For a price" she smiled, the expression a crooked unnatural appearance on her face, those teeth displaying full frontal.
Just as Brielle was to decline the offer, every time spent with this Ironteeth matron was unsettling the Fae magic in her blood, the guilt of her shadows clouded ever judgment she had sought to obtain through experience.
"Not mine" she tried to hide what little quiver might be heard through her voice, "My spy, Merle, Will she live?"
She steeled her nerves and stare when Baba took a second to asses her, a muscle in her jaw twitched, in what could have been agitation.
"She is human, she will die eventually."
Brielle didn't want to comprehend how the Witch somehow knew about Merle's heritage, Baba's response was frustrating in ever sense, "Do the burns cause her death?"
There was that irritated air once more, Baba crooned with that eery smile, "No."
The relief shattered the steeling of her expression, Brielle couldn't care that she was with one of the most deadliest females in Erilea, Merle could survive this, will live another day.
So indulged in her relief, Brielle hardly noticed Baba standing, taking in her reaction, With her abilities as an Oracle, Brielle doubted she really required answers, it began to chill with the setting sun, They would need to move in the cover of darkness to avoid patrols so she reached into a pocket for some gold.
Baba halted her with a raised hand, Brielle flinched at her quick relaxes,
"Not that" she gestured to the gold coins in Brielle's palm,
"I want something else from you, "
Brielle's stomach dropped, she knew better then to bargain with an Ironteeth Witch, she could only dream of what the repayment would amount to.
Baba's crude eyes pinned her in place, "I want you to tell me how you killed that Lord in Vallen."
The Witches words didn't settle any of the unease in her, it did the opposite as she mentioned the ruined city that hadn't been seen by many eyes for the better part of sixty years.
Baba's had begun to play with her nails, the action of running them along each other, as a way to sharpen them, Brielle gulped down her initial answer,
"I made him feel what I felt"
Baba stiffened, but waiting in silence for more,
"I wanted him to know what it felt like, but I made it hurt, where he had touched, I made those muscles tear apart from each other, made his cells rip open his skin as though done so with a knife. I made it as though his own screams were splitting his head open, until it did just that"
A memory flickered to life, She could remember the feeling of an overwhelming power consuming her, like a conduction it flowed and swelled within her own magic, "The power was strange, I had never... "
Baba squinted her eyes, the pupils going glossy, there was a scent of magic in the air and when the Witch looked back to her, Brielle felt her hearts seize.
"The power that day, Something shifted between the worlds"
Worlds?
Baba caught her surprise and flushed it out without a thought, "You've angered some very powerful beings"
The Witch didn't speak further, instead she turned to wander back to her wagons, those nails hanging at her draped hand by her side,
"What.."
Baba froze, the crown of stars wrapped around her head didn't move as she turned to look to her over the protruding bone of her frail shoulder,
"There are... others who watch you." She paused for a long second, pondering into the infinite pool of possibilities for the future, "Do not make the mistake of missing their call"
Who's call? Why in hell would they be watching her. Did Maeve have spies that were telling her about Brielle's true intentions while acting under her crown.
Baba shifted as though to continue back to her wagon, instead she freezes, turning back around so she could clearly catch Brielle's gaze,
"Remember, Even a whisper isn't safe in the darkness, " Baba's expression pinched, a stark contrast to that which should be on the face of an ancient Ironteeth Witch would looked beyond aiding Fae females in understanding her fate.
The Ironteeth was already wandering away, the wooden door to the wagon slamming shut, bringing an end to their confusing exchange. With her head spinning even more then it seemed possible, Brielle turned to begin back towards the camp.
With each step she spun around the words, mulling them one after the other. What others? What was so important in her life that someone would watch her, were they even in this world. How many was there?
The thought and possibilities were head splitting, so intoned with the Witches words, Brielle hadn't realised when she stepped back into the camp, where she was almost instantly met by the round face fae girl Merle had defended,
"She's awake miss" The girls honey glinting hair was ratted with small twigs and debris from the groups weeks of travel, Brielle gentle removed a piece by her cheek, she flinched away from the touch at first, until one of Brielle's fingers brushed the bone in her cheek
The touch began to sooth and not hurt, Brielle didn't have the mind space in that moment to think of all the horrors these children would have seen. Groups they had rescued before, had seen their whole families slaughter, those with magic were killed on sight, the others would be taken as prisoners or slaves. It was a miracle this group had even made it to the mountain pass.
The girl didn't allow for another second as she took Brielle's hand, leading in the direction of the healers tent, her other hand pointed at the flaps that lay open to reveal the beds within,
Before they set another foot towards the tent, Brielle could already see Merles form laying still, but her chest continued to rise and fall rhythmically. Squeezing and tugging the youngling to a stop before the tent, Brielle crouched down to be eye level.
The girl awaited, eyes soft despite the horrors she had no doubt seen,
"I need you to give us a minute"
Her tiny expression dropped, she looked between the female kneeling to her now and the tent, Where Merle had rolled around to watch the exchange in the entrance to the healers bay. The hurt look on the little ones face could've ripped at Brielle's heart strings, a pang hit her in the chest.
When an idea popped up, Brielle reached to unlatch one of the small slightly blunter blades from her lower back, primarily used when she didn't want to make a clean cut when she wanted someone to suffer the pain of the blade. Rolling it into her palm she held it out to the little one,
"I need you to protect the others,"
She glanced up to her now, expression growing in happiness from simply being needed, Brielle nodded to the group of tiny bodies bundles up, Isaiah watched over them with a small fae boy asleep in his lap. Despite the relaxed frame of his body, Isaiah was on peak alert to ensure their safety.
Brielle shot him a quick smile, which he responded to with one of his own, turning back to the little girl, Brielle wrapped the girls small fingers around the hilt of the dagger.
"If someone comes after you guys and we can't help. I need you all to hide"
"I can climb trees" she exclaimed excitedly, expression beaming with pride
"Then you climb as fast as you can and stay quiet" her expression only grew at Brielle encouragement.
She looked down thoughtfully before looking at her companions across the camp. Nodding, she tightened her grip on the dagger before fastening it onto the belt, that was beyond too big around her waist.
Brielle rose to stand as the girl slipped off to join the group around the male spy. She curled up near where he sat, sitting upright with a unrivalled determined steeling her features, her little tired eyes drooping slightly with sleep, yet she continued to fight and scan the area around the camp, helping Isaiah watch out for any oncoming danger.
Brielle could help but recognise that expression, she had seen many wear it over centuries, an unyielding desire to protect those weaker then you, to be there for those you needed you. She had seen it in her spies, on parents fighting to protect their children. On soldiers fighting for their nations, on people seeking revenge on those who hurt them. Yeah she knew it well.
Turning into the tent, her body froze, hesitating before she stepped inside. Merle inches from her on the cot.
It hurt to lift her gaze to rest upon her spy,
The right side of Merle's face was covered in a once pristine white bandages which were now stained red.
She didn't move from the bed when Brielle approached. Footfall light.
Brielle froze inches from the cot, a deathly kind of stillness icing her body in position.
The sight of the bloodied cloth covering Merle's face and right arm shot a pang through her chest, spearing into her heart once more.
If she had gotten to Merle in time perhaps she wouldn't have been so badly burned,
The spy shifted, a pained moan mewling from her, Brielle crouched down to her level. Merle opened the one eye not touched by the flame. The skin lightly swollen, trapping her other eye shut.
Even from her other side Brielle could see the pain and panic in Merle's eye, franticly she looked around and her chest began to rise and fall rapidly.
Despite her emotions swelling in her own throat, Brielle gently took hold hold of Merle's right hand, careful to avoid moving the limb too much.
Merle finally looked at her, and it settled Brielle a little that some of the panic seemed to vanish from her spy.
There was a second of silence, Brielle gave Merle's hand a gentle squeeze.
Merle let go of a single sob, that was promptly followed by two others. Brielle grasped her hand with both of her own now,
"I'm so sorry" she whispered pushing herself closer to the bed, tethered her focus onto Merles hand in her grip. Feeling the thumping pulse in the girls hand. Trying to remind herself that despite everything that had happened, Merle was still alive.
As long as they were alive, they could dream, hope and strive for a better tomorrow.
They were alive today to continue fighting tomorrow.
Not just for themselves and their own lives. But for others as well, for kids like the little girl Merle had almost burned alive to defend.
For today had been a reminder that even though they faced peril today, they were stronger for it, Once healed Merle would continue to defend with the knowledge she had saved many.
Brielle could continue on, knowing they were making a difference to everyone's tomorrow,
And as they both cried together in that tent they would never forget their sorrows and pain, for it could only make them stronger.
~
☽ -Present time - ☾
Brielle couldn't help but stare onwards in an almost crippling amount of shock, It seemed she wasn't the only one as the small group who listened on as Manon detailed the conflict with her grandmother, revealing she had been stripped of her Blackbeak heiress title, her blood running both Ironteeth and Crochan.
"I know I saved your sorry ass for a reason" Aelin's response had the Witch Queen smiling, a devilish expression, its presence seemed to ease the group around them despite its blood chilling affect.
Brielle down casted her gaze to her hand when she felt another wrap around it, Fenrys kept his own attention on the others, acknowledging her by rubbing his thumb across her knuckles,
"What I don't get is why wait so log to do any of this? If Erawan wants you lot dead" he jerked his chin to Dorian and Aelin, the King shifted on his feet, "Why let you mature, grow powerful?"
There was a beat of silence before Aelin began to mumble her response, "Because I escaped Erawan, He thought I was dead. And Dorian. . . his father shielded him. As best he could"
It wasn't difficult to note the way Manons attention snagged on the mortal king, or the fact he avoided her pinning gaze, no doubt to evade questions.
"Maeve knew you were alive. Odds are so did Erawan" Brielle couldn't cue the edge to her mates voice, her body swayed closer to his still.
"Maybe she told Erawan," Aedion muttered, questioning in his tone,
Fenrys head snapped towards her nephew, "She never had any contact with Erawan, or Adarlan"
There was a second where Aedion's stare hardened, Brielle caught as his eyes darted to her before he flicked them back to her mate, watched the space between them, then spoke.
"As far as you know," There was a lack of confidence in his words, perhaps taking in the female he never knew was family, he avoided her, glaring instead at her mate"Unless she's a talker in the bedroom."
The hand in hers tightened suddenly as the young generals words, a ripple of something primal nipped at the back of her throat, skewering her nephew with her eyes, She went to take a step closer when Fenrys' hand in her held her in place.
He had more composure then her at least. She eased back into place beside him, closer then before. She could just feel the brush of his chest against her shoulder.
"Maeve does not share power. She saw Adarlan as an inconvenience. Still does."
Still filled with the arrogance of his previous statement, Aedion continued "Everyone can be bought by a price"
"Nameless if the price for Maeve's allegiance" he was still calmer then her, despite Brielle knew they would be speaking of this later, "It can't be purchased"
Aelin froze across from them, Brielle could hear the sudden halt and change in her heartbeat, her magic sensing the way Aelin's whole body grew nervous, her expression hiding what was going on within.
From the corner of her vision, Brielle caught Fenrys when he looked at her, no doubt recognising the feeling of her magic, Brielle probed Aelin lightly with it, The young Queen met her stare,
"What is it?" Aedion demanded catching the look his cousin and Aunt passed between each other,
"Nameless is my price" Aelin whispered quietly. Almost too quietly for anyone else to hear. Brielle kept a veil of her magic wrapped around Aelin when she turned to Manon, the Witch looked on hiding her interest with a mask of indifference.
"Can you see the future? See it as an Oracle can?" this seemed to peak the Witches interest further, she lifted a brow.
"Some Bluebloods claim to."
The pressure in Aelin's blood spiked, and Brielle did what she could to settle the rising unease in the young Queen.
"Can other clans?" Aelin didn't seem to be breathing as she waited on Manon's response.
"They say that from the Ancients, past and present and future bleed together"
Brielle's own body reacted when she felt Aelin's reflexes kick in, saw Aelin's panic as she spun and streaked towards their small cabins in the underdeck of the ship, she gripped on with her magic until she felt Aelin throw up, she retracted her magic quickly, didn't want to feel that, or invade Aelin's privacy like that.
Brielle moved to go aid her when Fenrys gripped both her shoulders, pushing her forward just as Rowan flew overhead, barely missing the top of them by an inch. He shifted almost mid-air, and when his feet planted on the decking he was already ducking into the small doorway after Aelin.
Brielle rightened herself as Fenrys rose with her, "What was that about?" he asked no one in particular,
Manon looked about ready to respond when Dorian cut through, "An Ancient," he mulled his next words over. Brielle's own muscles stiffened a second before he repeated the name. "Baba Yellowlegs"
At the mention of the Ironteeth, Brielle couldn't help but be reminded of the times which she had bumped into the Ancient legend. Her spine chilled at the reminder of the event the day she met the Witch.
Manon seemed equally in her thoughts as she her fingers brushed along the rings of scars around her throat, the faint white marks, reminding Brielle of another Witch which bore similar scars.
"This winter, she was at your castle, working as a fortune-teller" she watched Dorian, thoughts seeming to dawn in his mind also.
"And what— She said something to that degree?" Aedion folded his arms across his chest,
Manon leveled the general with a stare, Brielle pulled away from Fenrys lightly, he shot her a worried glance, she gave his hand a light squeeze of reassurance before she slipped away, Dorian caught her movement but said nothing as she made for the door Rowan and Aelin dissapeared into, only hearing Manon's words as she slipped below deck.
"Yellowlegs was a fortune-teller — a powerful Oracle.." Brielle didn't get to hear the rest as she blocked the words out, Since the day she met Baba, Brielle hadn't been able to piece together quite what the Witch had meant. What others? And why did they watch her?
She had to push the thoughts back once again as she quickened through the cabins, finding Rowan and Aelin's shared room, the door flung open, no doubt by Rowan in his panic even after Aelin had shut it in an attempt to stop him from following. Brielle wandered closer.
"I've seen you wet yourself. I can handle vomiting. Which I have also seen you do before."
His words reminded Brielle of the countless conversations she'd had with Fenrys about similar situations, she crept closer.
"Just— give me a minute"
Rowan looked about a few seconds from breaking the door off its supports when he finally spotted Brielle, some of the panic ebbed from him. An almost helpless plea in his eyes,
Brielle wandered closer still, until she stood beside her brothers friend,
"Bri..." He whispers softly, wringing his hands together, In all the time she had know Whitethorn, this was new. "Can you..?" he gesture to the door, and his body relaxed slightly when he sensed her magic. She heeded his unspoken request without question
Brielle pushed it through the door until it was once again wrapped around Aelin. Several hormones and chemical signals were bursting around Aelin and Brielle didn't need her magic to know she had already thrown her guts up several times already, the other females body was weak, her muscles spasming in a flurry of confusion.
Brielle could sense Rowan watching every slight movement on her face, trying to read it for any reaction which could indicate what might be wrong with his Aelin. Brielle couldn't give him anything, but she knew what exactly might be plaguing Rowan's thought.
Brielle flowed her magic down towards Aelin's womb. She had done this for Vera when her Spy was suspecting. It wasn't like the other things she used her magic for, but she had to sense something from both parents. In Aelin however, Brielle searched for anything that could remotely remind her of Rowan. Other then his scent which was an underlining thing in Aelin's skin, now that they were mated, Brielle found nothing that would indicate Aelin being with Rowan's child.
Brielle however didn't get the chance to speak to Rowan as the door was pulled open slightly, he watched Aelin, her skin was discoloured and sweat beaded above her brow. Brielle watched as a flurry of expression shot across Rowan's features
"I want to talk to Lysandra."
Rowan's eyes darted all over the place that Brielle suspected they may bug out off their sockets at any given moment. The male looked about two second from protesting, Looking at Brielle.
"I'll stay with her." she responded softly, Rowan's expression almost crumpled
That seemed to ease him enough to leave, he said nothing else stumbling out the room, once Brielle heard his footsteps reach the top of the stairs she turned back to Aelin.
It took someone in pain to know, Brielle held both arms out, and the young Queen instantly fell forward into her embrace. Aelin squeezed her arms around Brielle's waist and she held on just as tight, When Aelin's legs buckled slightly, Brielle eased them both onto the floor, pulling Aelin into her, the other female sobbed.
Brielle didn't need to ask, she had never managed to figure out what Baba had meant, but perhaps Aelin had figured her truth out. She wasn't quite sure how long they both sat on the floor together, Brielle holding her as she sobbed, but when Lysandra fell into the room and spotted them on the floor, she was quick to join them shutting the bedroom door behind her.
"Rowan?" Brielle asked quickly, gripping Aelin's body still as her crying turned softer,
Lysandra wandered closer but gestured back to the door, "He is out flying, clearing his head I think" she seemed careful to not speak to much of her friends mate.
Aelin sat up, rubbing the already red flushed skin beneath her eyes, she edge up to sit straight when Lysandra eased down next to them.
Aelin cast a smile to Brielle, reaching for both female's hands, Aelin gave them both a quick squeeze.
Her voice sounded like glass when she began whispering, so low that Brielle feared her voice was going to crack if she spoke any louder,
"I need you both to help me"
Brielle felt her stomach drop, whatever Aelin was planning wasn't good and by the look of sympathy the queen shot her way, Brielle knew she was going to being playing a vital role in whatever it was.
Righting herself, she gave Aelin an encouraging smile, squeezing her hands,
"What do you need?"
☽⋆❈⋆☾
The shadowed body leant into the pillaring chimney on the rooftop, hood pulled to conceal her face. She watched while the barge circled into the dock, the tall; almost seven foot demi- fae male stepping out, extending a hand to the women who climbed out after him.
The pair began to walk up into the street, mirroring each other as the moved towards the inn that sat in the heart of the small river side village, unaware of the spy that tracked them through the mist.
Merle hugged the ends of her cloak in closer to her body, waiting for any movement from the adjacent roof, watching the entrance to the inn.
The male with an air of darkness emmauating of him wandered out, the women no where in sight. Merle rose, gripping to the pipes as she went, tracking his visits to the stalls littering the street, when he had pilled it all into his arms and began to venture back into the dockside.
Merle had already turned back, wandering closer still, she ducked out the lamplight to stay hidden. The tiles were slick with the mist hanging overhead, but the street gloomed into a silence that edge into her ingrained senses.
Gripping tight to the railing of the next building over, Merle swung both feet up to launch herself across the gap hanging open between the walls. She would perch herself in one place and either wait for the male to return to the inn or for the women to emerge from within. Whichever happened first
Either choice was a wating game, one she had grown well attuned to over the years, the cold air brushed against the metal mask covering half her face, the metal freezing the scarred skin beneath.
She had grown to not let it bother her, but the scars ran much deeper then just those on the surface of her flesh.
The sound of struggling jostled Merle from her thoughts, putting her weight through her knees and leaning forwards over the side of the roof, she caught the movement of multiple bodies emerging from the arched entrance way to the inn, the heavy wooden door where thrown open by a middle-aged man. Four winged figured; broad stances and grotesque expressions dragged the women out the door.
The sight of them made every flighting instinct inside Merle spark to be listened too, but she didn't move, instead training her eyes on the women who thrashed and bucked in their hold, despite the fearful glint she portrayed on her features, Merle could see the face of plotting as they dragged her kicking into the opening of a wider street.
Merle crept around to keep them in her sight, when they rounded to the side alley, she caught sight of a box, its door swung ajar. It was tall enough to fit a man inside,
The leading man wandering up to it, muttering words Merle didn't care to listen into, he halted at the entrance to the coffin like box, waiting as those beast dragged this fighting women forward, she was sobbing now, trying to loosen their grip on her.
When they shoved her into the box there was a split second when none of them anticipated her flash of movement, she threw herself sideways. The side of her face cracking off the boxes edge, she barrels herself off its side, launching for the dagger at the man's side.
He didn't have a second to register what had happened as the girl reeled back, dagger now in hand, she turned it on herself and with a second of silence, her expression cleared and she drove the dagger towards her own chest. Aiming to drive it upwards to the space between her ribs.
Like it had somehow manifested from nothing but shadow a hatchet flew from the rooftop Merle had previously been on, the demi-fae male was there, already moving. The hatchets slammed into the women's hand just as the point of the blade pierced the top layer of her leather jacket. She went down with a cry and the dagger spiralled out her hand,
It was like a flash of a flame as the male leapt from the roof, slashing and pinning one of the beast down, he vanished towards another rooftop and was unleashing himself upon the next winged creatures as the women scrambled up and ran for a narrow alleyway.
The mid-aged man by the box began to yelled out to the winged beats, urging them to get the girl into the box, she dodged their advances, squeezing herself into that tight alleyway,
Merle began to edge closer to the edge, easing herself down the side of the wall, she hid against it to continue watching as the women emerged from the alleyway once more, long gone was the fearful childlike appearance and income the expression of a person who had lost too much, In her hand she clutched the axe which had injured her wrist.
Driving it upwards she slashed it clean through the wing of the closest creature which had attemtped to throw her into the box, she screamed out to cut it down, the blood leaking from her battered nose caking her skin in red.
The beast spun on her even as it fell to its knees, she swung once more, cutting off its scream before it could even run out of breath.
Merle began to stalk closer, being mindful that the demi-fae male may spot her as she approached, she kept low, once again hugging the cloak closer, hiding herself within it's dark coverage.
The final winged creature skittered across to the man, who now was trying to hide himself away by the box, his skin drained of all colour at the sight of the two who now snapped their attention to him, the creature picked him up and as they took flight the girl launched the hatchet at them, her aim missing by an inch.
Merle watched on as this small women wandered forwards, collecting the axe off from where it clattered the cobblestone. Her attention quickly snagged on the injured winged thing as it crawled to seek its impossible freedom.
The women wandered closer, she halts it by standing onto its injured wing, putting her weight onto it, the creature roared out in pain, she leaned closer and waited for its silence.
"I want Erawan to know that the next time he sends you after me like a pack of dogs, I'll return the favour. I want Erawan to know that the next time see him I will carve Manon' name on his gods-damned heart" Tears had streaked her face "But it seems like tonight isn't really your night"
She smiled and raised the hatchet "Because it takes only one to deliver a message. And your companions are already on their way" she let the axe fall and it cracked through flesh and bone, blood spilling out onto the ground below.
The tall male wandered closer to the small women when she began to rise, he eased the axe from her hands, curling his fingers around her wrist. She hissed but her attention snagged onto Merle as she took careful steps forwards.
"You're not such a difficult person to track Commander Salvaterre."
Lorcan whirled around to look at her, The small women moved to peak around him, but he pulled back his top lip in a snarl and edged further in front of her. Merle could've laughed.
Slowly she pulled the rim of her hood down to reveal her face. She watched the women's eyes darted around, inspecting the metal mask covering half her face, her expression curious as to why she was wearing such a thing.
"Who are you?" the young faced women asked, her hand dwarfed by the size of Lorcan's arm when she placed it there.
There was a infintie amount of responces Merle could answer with, settling on just one was like picking one chocolate out of a stack of her favourites.
Bowing slightly at the waist, "I'm Merle, I'm the Pride's division commander for Eyllwe."
Lorcan grufted out a sigh, "Why are you here"
"I've been sent by my commander." she said simply, as if it wasn't a known fact.
"Who might that be?" there wasn't much point in him hiding his discontent, the women continued to watch on in interest,
Merle swung back on her heels, smiling, "Well in the south she's know by the name Kanavari. But I suppose you'll know her as Commander Brielle. The Lioness."
There was an almost human edge to his surprise, all the years of activity have now dawned on him, the commander of the biggest spy operation had been practically living with him for almost a millennia. And he had absolutely no clue.