A/N -- Third in three days. I'm gonna have to stop this writing madness soon and give myself time to actually do my homework.
For the next several days, the search went on. After the second day, they hadn't set foot at all on the main road. Azabela's trail had almost immediately started veering off course in the direction of the estate and out into the wild. That bode well. It had immediately become apparent that Azabela hadn't just been sacked and taken off right away. She appeared to have led them on a chase for her --whether or not that had been her intention was still unclear.
Ever since the journey to find the huntress and Dane had begun, days were too short. Nights came faster than a galloping horse, and they'd have to regretfully stop their tracking and make camp. Which, of course, made Hench terribly uneasy. It didn't matter though. Traversing the woods at night was useless. The scouts couldn't see well enough to find anything.
Everyone sat around the campfire that night, quiet and thinking. The flames flickered orange, casting a glow over all of the staring faces.
Iris was the first to look through the fire at her comrades. First, at her mentor. Hench sat there with her eyes downcast. The little hair she had on the top of her head fell down over her forehead and danced on the length of her nose. She looked so empty. Her thick mouth was drawn down in sadness and her black lashes courted droplets that glistened brightly in the firelight. Iris just stared at her for a long time.
She'd finally gotten a chance to really think about all that Hench had said to her. Iris couldn't get it off her mind. Hench thought she was a terrible mother, yet Iris couldn't fathom it. How anyone could have the strength do what she had done was so beyond the rogue. Hench had given birth at thirteen to a child born of rape, and then she had the courage to keep and raise the baby that served as proof as every wrong that had ever been done to her. On top of that, Hench had learned to love the result of the monstrous act.
Iris didn't care if loving the child at first had taken work, Hench had had the bravery to try. Not many other women in the world would have or even could have done that.
Then, Iris took in her appearance, locking on to the big muscles and shorn hair. For the first time, everything was more than it appeared. Hench had spent years becoming strong not just for combat and missions... but for security, in a misguided attempt to protect her heart. She had done everything to take away her femininity --her traditional prettiness, and Iris wondered now if it was because she was afraid of it. Iris smiled a small smile. She hadn't been able to take away everything. There was still something about Rhalla that was enigmatically beautiful.
For a moment, Iris couldn't help but wonder who Hench would be right now had she not been kidnapped.
More silence fell over the camp, and Iris hung her head back down. It was then that Iris thought nothing would ever break the somberness that fell like a cloud over all of them. And then... something did. It started off as a low rumble in the distance and grew to a loud reverberation overhead. Iris was the first to look up at the sky just in time for a cold drop to splash her on the cheek.
"Huh?" she jumped at the sudden wetness.
More drops started falling within the minute, and all the soldiers and guardians were roused to their feet. They hadn't even begun to set up their tents yet, which all of them would regret when the little drips quickly turned into a steady drizzle and went on to a pour that drenched all of them and put out the campfire they'd lit.
When the fire went out, the moonlight was the only light in the camp. And that source blinked in and out under dark, moving clouds, leaving them in a night black as pitch for long increments of time. The thick sound of breathing was the only thing that could be sensed in the shadowy lapses.
"Oh goody," came Hench's completely deadpan complaint from the darkness.
Iris didn't know why, but the absolute sardonic quality of her mentor's voice made her want to laugh. Kayde seemed to agree with her, because Iris heard him chuckle somewhere to her left at Hench's disdain.
Another voice cut through the darkness. But this time, it wasn't one of the guardians. Instead, it was one of the scouts from the Eldian force. "No, no. This isn't good. The rain will erase the tracks!"
Iris didn't get to see Hench's reaction to that development --she couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. That being said, Iris didn't know if she truly wanted to see Hench's response, her heart couldn't take another beating. So, she tried changing the subject before her mentor could have another come apart. "We need to get out the tents," she called out to everyone. "If we don't, we're all going to soak."
It was quiet again. And just like last time, Hench was the one to break it. "We're already soaked."
Iris groaned. "Just... come on. It's only going to get worse the longer we stand here." The rogue squinted as she moved about the camp, trying to find where they'd put the bags by feeling about the ground. In the meantime, all else present just listened to her struggle.
"It can't get worse," Hench argued from somewhere in the night. "I've been less wet in a bath."
Iris just held her tongue at her trainer's tartness and was thankful that it at least wasn't despair. She continued the search for the tents while all the others just stood helplessly in the rain. Another set of feet shuffled over to her vicinity and whoever it was began helping her look. Two sets of hands grazed the ground side by side trying to find where they put all the supplies... and that included the lanterns.
Iris was patting around when she found something. It was cold and wet and the same diameter as the pitch-tent bags. Iris just hoped the rest of the tents were right beside the first one. Her hand barely snaked upward in her effort to find its hand-hold when someone hissed in surprise from beside her and the object in question moved out from under her grip.
"Not it," Kayde's voice came from right beside her. "That's my leg."
"Shit," Iris said and went the other direction. "Sorry. Gods, I wish I could just see. We need the lanterns."
Everyone broke from their stupor after Kayde had followed Iris's suit, and they all began looking about the area. It didn't take long to find the tents after the rest of them started helping... but pitching them was an entirely different story. The rest of the supplies were packed too tight to find the only other source of light they'd brought, so they'd had to wait for the small moments where the moon would peek out from behind the fog to do as much as possible.
It surely didn't help once the actual storm was passing over them. The rain grew even thicker on their backs and the thunder was deafening.
After more fumbling about, something miraculous happened. A light came on. It was a small ember, about the size of a candlewick... but it cast a very dim glow around the pitifully drawn shelters. Zayn was the one holding the lantern in his hand, taking care to cover the top of it with his hand so that the rain or wind wouldn't blow away his work.
Everyone was drenched. Iris looked down at herself to see that her curls had flattened themselves damply down her back and her black robe now hugged and clung to her every curve. Her arms were covered in gooseflesh, and one good look at her tattletale robes broadcasted just how damn cold she truly was. There was once a time she would have recoiled from the indecency, but right now? She was too busy to care.
Zayn slowly walked around, helping set up the campsite. They threw the bedrolls inside the tents quickly to prevent them from getting too wet and all of the rations went in quick too. It went from chaos to a form of assembly line rather quickly, and Iris was happy at how fast it was getting done. She hated being pelted on by cold rain.
The line stopped. Zayn quit moving and quit speaking abruptly.
One of the scouts started talking, but the general shushed everyone and held their small little lantern out past the grounds.
"Is something wrong, my general?"
"I don't know," he said, narrowing his eyes and walking a few steps out of the way. "I could have sworn I just... saw something. Out there. The moon peeked through and I..." He pointed into a copse of trees not too far away. "I thought I saw someone. I could have sworn I saw a man looking at us right there. Be on your guard."
Everyone drew their weapons and went completely silent. Then, there were noises. Subtle noises, to be true... but the sound of movement could be heard not too terribly far away in the forest. It was hard to tell through the sound of the rain whether or not the sound was being made by humans or animals.
Iris stood, hands on the hilts of her daggers, ready to fight at a moment's notice. Zayn drew his sword with his dominant hand and motioned for everyone to stay in place as he moved toward the sighting. Slowly the light source moved off, leaving the rest of them at the mercy of the unreliable moonlight. Right now? It was covered completely in clouds. In the complete dark, Iris started to feel discomfiture. A few minutes passed. Something niggled at her, and she was suddenly feeling incredibly vulnerable.
She felt a steady hot stream of breath graze her cheek --like someone was right in front of her. But she hadn't heard anyone move --and she didn't remember someone standing there before.
"Kayde," she whispered, her heart leaping in her chest as she kept her eye on Zayn, who walked a few more paces away. "How long do you suppose the rain is going to last?" She tried to make light conversation to find out if any of their entourage was the one in front of her without arousing suspicion. Gods, she didn't want to get stabbed, but she couldn't risk killing an ally out here either."
"I don't know, dear girl," he whispered from somewhere behind her.
"What about you guys?" she asked the archers. "You're all scouts, each one of you. Do any of you know how long this storm's gonna last?"
A resounding chorus of nos and afraid nots came from where she'd remembered them huddling together before Zayn had carried off the lantern.
"Be quiet, girl," Hench scolded, farther away from the archers.
Someone was in front of her --someone unwelcome was in front of her. How had they gotten there? She grit her teeth, wondering whether or not she should just lunge forward and start stabbing the intruder. That seemed reckless, though. There was so much room for error in the dark. It was unlikely but what if it was Azabela or Dane? Iris would never be able to forgive herself if she'd hurt, much less killed, one of them.
Iris watched as Zayn started to move back toward the campsite.
She grit her teeth and got ready to pounce as soon as the lantern light came over them. The moon peeked from behind the clouds to reveal a small, hooded man standing right where she'd felt breath, a sharp dirk in his right hand. Iris didn't wait... she tackled him immediately. But it was all wrong. The way he had the knife pointed made it impossible for her to attain the upper hand. Gods, she wished she'd been able to see that before she'd made her move.
He was alarmed at the sudden moment and stabbed forward, causing her to spin out of the way and hit the ground rolling. Very bad move --but it was all she could do to prevent getting a new hole in her body. He pinned her with his legs to the ground, putting her into an extreme disadvantage, and everyone in the camp was stirred into motion. Iris fought underneath him, slamming her knee into his back and sending his torso forward.
All that did was send spittle and a gust of nasty breath onto her face.
She'd miscalculated how much he'd stagger at that. It wasn't enough to do anything. The dirk's sweet edge held her at her throat now.
Zayn ran up at the sound of struggle, and the flame of his lantern light whisked out pitifully in the breeze. Thankfully, the moon still lingered overhead. For now. Everyone was now abruptly aware of Iris's new dilemma.
The nameless figure now got a good look around, and he seemed to find that there were a lot more people here than he'd originally accounted for. He had the advantage even still. "No one get closer or I cut her throat," he spat. "No one touch me. No one better fucking move one muscle."
"Get off of her." That came from Kayde, and the words were as angry as they were panicked.
"No," the man growled. "Where is she? Tell me where she is and I'll leave the rest of your merry fucking bunch behind."
"Where is who?" Kayde wasn't letting anyone else speak.
"Don't play stupid with me, I know she's around here somewhere. What the hell else would you be doing out in the middle of nowhere?" His words were a furious growl. "I only want her, so tell me where the fuck she is."
"Who do you want?" Kayde asked, his voice slightly shaking. "We don't know what you're talking about." It wasn't a lie.
"I want the murderous hellcat that killed my brother!" he shouted, with a sort of desperate, inane rage. "One last chance or I'll take her instead!"
"The wha--" Hench started, but she was interrupted by something else. From somewhere beyond the camp, an arrow whizzed in and burrowed itself right into his left eye socket. The sheer force of the projectile knocked him off Iris and back onto his ass. The rogue wasted no opportunity and scrambled from the ground at the relief of the weight.
Another few seconds, and his immediate death was confirmed. Everyone stared hard at the protruding arrow before looking at the scouts, who looked just as dumbfounded as the rest of them. Everything had just happened so fast. Just as all of them realized that none of the Eldian archers had been the one to shoot, they all turned to face the source of the arrow.
The moon went black again right then, forcing them still once more.
Lightning lit up the sky in a flash of eerie blue.
A hundred paces from where they all stood, the electricity momentarily illuminated a small, dark silhouette watching all of them.
Black again.
Crack! --came the answering thunder.
A/N -- Hope you all enjoyed. This was such a tough chapter to write. Also, feedback is my lifeblood! I'd love to hear from you guys below!