Kage slipped around the gate and quickly walked to the edge of the nearest building to avoid the open space of the main road.
It was a small town, with perhaps a couple dozen buildings from what they had seen from the hill.
There were people around as Kage wandered, searching for a store of some kind, and they all glanced but rarely stared. She guessed that they got some travelers passing through here, but from her understanding of this area's geography it was a little out of the way.
She walked one row of houses down from the main road, checking between rows for a shop, which she guessed would be on the main road. She was right, thought it was near the opposite entrance from where she'd entered.
The little bell above the door rung as she entered. The motherly-looking lady behind the counter looked over, so Kage gave a friendly little smile. She seemed satisfied with that, and went back to whatever she was doing.
Kage picked out a couple things she'd recognized from the food they'd already eaten on the way. Some rye-ish bread, water, and some dried meat, at least, that's what she thought all of those things were.
"Nothing fancy for you, eh?" The shopkeeper remarked as Kage took out the money Artlem had given her to pay.
"Guess I like to go with what I know," Kage smiled.
"Fair, fair," she agreed. "Cheaper too, I suppose."
"Money can be a little hard to come by."
"Ha!" She laughed, "tell me about it." Her brow furrowed.
"You aren't traveling alone, are you?"
"I'm with a couple friends."
"Of course, of course. Dangerous world out there."
"It sure is."
Kage exited the shop and swung back into the street behind the shop. There was a small worrying feeling in the back of her mind. Was it just the interaction with the shopkeeper that had set her off? Was she overthinking it?
The question about her traveling was simple, and made sense to ask. Curious shopkeeper keeping up on comings and goings, and it was unusual for a girl to travel alone. But another part of her brain, the paranoid one, made her think of Artlem and Shole. They were technically wanted by the reigning power. Did the shopkeeper know something? Were people here on the lookout for travelers?
She shook her head.
This wasn't a rational train of thought. She swung the bag over her shoulder and started off the way she came, but that thought - that thought wouldn't leave her brain.
That one little worry had buried its way into her brain, and it filled up with scenarios of every worst possibility. What if something had happened to them? They were supposed leave separately and meet up again with the other three. So if she left without them, it might be to late to do anything.
She stopped walking. There was no way she could leave now without making sure.
"Stupid, it's stupid!" She muttered to herself as she turned and walked back, this time looking for some form of place where they would keep horses.
She spotted it, a wooden stable-like building small for what it was, but still larger than the houses, right at the south end of town. Still from the safety of the shadows between houses, she carefully surveyed the other side of the street.
It was quiet, maybe quieter than it should have been.
A nervous feeling stirred in her stomach. There was no sign of Artlem and Shole, but perhaps they had already left? Had she missed them? If they had left through the south gate she wouldn't have seen them-
She shook her head. Dwelling on it wouldn't help. She had to go over and check, that was all there was to it.
She was about to step out when she spotted it, and her breath stopped in her chest.
The light hitting the pommel of a sword just right, making it glint in the sunlight.
Across the way, a man in black clothes just like those of the one they'd seen in the Kavalix's village stepped out the road next to the stable, surveyed the main road, and stepped back in.
Not giving herself time to change her mind, Kage stole a glance around the street, and seeing no one else suspicious, made a dash for the other side. Reaching the other end, she checked her knife was loose in the sheath, and kept forward towards the stable, keeping her ears and eyes open for the man she'd just seen.
She peeked around the corner, and pulled her head right back. A two-story house was attached the back of that building, and standing guard by the door was a Rhoringdall soldier, spear in hand.
This was not good. This was so not good.
Maybe they had just missed Artlem and Shole? That sounded too good to be true. At worst, they were already dead, and her stomach tied in knots at the thought.
"I have to find out for sure," she thought, setting the bag if supplies down in the alley.
She had seen a third story window on the side of the building as she crossed the street, so she curved around the building from front. Now standing just below the window and right around the corner of the guard, she scarcely wanted to breathe so as not to alert him.
The question now was how to get up, because there was a fair amount of space between this building and the one next to it. Perhaps she should have thought of this beforehand, but then she knew she would have just circled between possibilities.
She pulled out the pen from her bag and wrote a calligriphic on each of her hands, slipped off her shoes and socks and wrote the same character on her feet.
Was this a stupid idea? Possibly, but if a comic character could do it...
"I guess we'll see," she thought.
The intent in her mind, she placed her hands on the wall to test it out.
They stuck, and with a smooth rolling motion she was able to release it. Perfect.
She scaled the wall, hands and feet sticking against the wall. Now hopefully it would stop when she severed the connection...
She reached the window, two simple wooden gables. After listening for a second to make sure there was no one on the other side, she swung it open, slipping through the window and landing silently on the floor.
ns216.73.216.11da2
and then Add to home screen.