Chapter 10

“Wash, we’ve been following the brat for long enough, let’s just grab her and be done with it!” Rel snapped.

“Shut up you idiot! If you keep yapping so loudly, all of Fiell will know we’re following her!” Wash’s harsh tone quieted Rel. “We gotta be sure she’s completely alone. You know how these little vermin can be. Who knows what guild or information broker she may work for.”

“Forget that, let’s just grab her! Then we’ll give her to Edrian and be done with it! It’s long past time for a drink anyway,” Rel hissed testily.

“Are you really such an idiot? What do you think would happen if she’s works for a broker and they connect her disappearance to us? They don’t only deal in facts. I saw a man run afoul of them, and later he was nearly beaten to death after a rumor about his proclivities for the molesting the young sons of nobles made the rounds,” Wash paused for effect. Rel didn’t care about much, but maybe this would give the man a modicum of caution. “People don’t care about truth, they care about what sounds nice and what they can be outraged over. Who knows what they might try to pin on you?”

*****

Cillia had long finished crying and had aimlessly wondered the streets for near two hours, calming herself and walking off the rest of her anger at Kestrel. It didn’t take her long in her meandering through the streets to realize she was being followed.

The people tailing her —while not invisible like she and Kestrel— were skilled and it scared her.

The city guard uniforms they wore unsettled her even more.

If they were guards, that meant they worked for Aris Ravenscroft. Even one as young as her had heard tales of the man and his cold heart. He’d sacrificed his own brother’s life without a second thought. His harshness was known to even someone as young as her.

Cillia didn’t know if the stories of him being behind the disappearances of fellow street-rats were true or not, but she never wanted to find out, so she kept walking, pretending to wander aimlessly, but always leading her tails back towards the waterfront.

Back towards Kestrel.

Just hours ago she had hated Kestrel, but now she wanted nothing more than to run into his arms and feel safe as they wrapped around her.

She was so scared.

They had been following her for a long time now. She was young, but she knew what happened on the streets. Whatever they wanted, it was nothing good.

Cillia did her best to hold back the tears of terror that were starting to well up at the corner of her eyes. She needed to find Kestrel. She needed to feel safe.

She NEEDED him. Kestrel would protect her. He would defend her.

“I don’t wanna be taken! God don’t let them take me! I don’t wanna go!” Panic took Cillia when she noticed how much distance they had gained on her since she’d last checked.

She broke into a sprint.

“Kestrel!!! KESTREL!!! Where are you?! I’m sorry for what I said Kes! Please help me! They’re gonna take me! I don’t wanna go Kes!” she shrieked, her voice piercing through the streets like a dagger.

“Emperor’s balls! The brat’s onto us!” Rel cursed as he dashed after the child. “Help me catch her!”

“Rel! Cut across to the next alley, we can cut her off!” Wash shouted back at his partner who followed his command.

His longer gait carried him forward with incredible speed and in second appeared in front of the tiny redhead.

“NO!!! KESTREL HELP!!!” the young girl screamed as Rel raised his metalvine menacingly.

“Rel, don’t hit her!” Wash yelled as he caught up and cut off all avenues of retreat.

“I’m not gonna hurt you,” Rel tried to calm the girl.

It didn’t work. She kept screaming for that Kestrel person.

“No! I didn’t do anything!” she screamed as Wash approached her from behind.

“I’m not gonna hurt you. I just need you to come with me. We only want you to answer some questions for us.”

“No! Leave me alone! Kestrel!!! KESTREL!!!” the little one screamed. “Kes help me!”

“Wash, either you shut the child up or I will!” Rel growled, his face was red with fury. “The minister never said whether he needed her dead or alive! If she keeps up this noise the latter is sounding more and more like a good option.”

*****

Cillia’s screams pierced Kestrel’s ears and he sprinted towards her voice. He had never heard that terror in her voice before. It chilled him to his bones. “CILLIA!!! Cillia where are you?! I’m coming!”

He prayed that she heard him.

Kestrel ran as fast as his feet would carry him towards the sound of Cillia’s voice. She couldn’t have been more than a few blocks away. The world blurred around Kestrel. There was nothing else except little Cillia.

“KESTREL!!! PLEASE!!!” the terror in her voice was palpable. It sent shockwaves through his soul.

“Please let her be safe until I get there! PLEASE!” Kestrel thought in anguish as he ran.

“KES!!! HEL…” he heard as he turned the corner just in time to see a city guard raise his metalvine and club her on the side of the head.

The snap of the weapon against her tiny head was deafening.

*****

Everything moved in slow motion. Kestrel saw blood erupt from the side of Cillia’s head as her legs gave out and she crumpled like a rag doll.

“NO!!!” His voice tore from his throat. “NOOOOO!!!”

Fury erupted in Kestrel’s chest like a volcano. He barreled down the street towards the two guards. He was going to kill them for what they’d done to Cillia.

As Kestrel reached the first guard he slid on his knees, dodging a metalvine blow aimed at his carotid artery that was meant killed him.

Kestrel immediately regained his footing, sprang to his feet and caught the unsuspecting guard in a clinch, his hands wrapping around the back of the guard’s neck. He pulled the man’s head down at the same time he shot an upwards elbow into the corrupt guard’s eye-socket with every bit of ferocity he could muster. Kestrel felt the man’s bones shatter. A sickening squelch told him that the guard would never see out of that eye again.

Good.

Kestrel followed a flurry of punches and a leg kick that buckled the knee of the guard. He was so caught up in the attack that he nearly failed to notice the second guard behind him. It was only the whistling of displaced air that gave him a split second to turn his body into the blow that definitely broke a few ribs.

Kestrel wouldn’t let that stop him.

Kestrel abandoned the first guard, who was screaming on the ground and he turned toward the new attacker and caught the second blow at the base of the metalvine and shot his hand forward in order to strike the guard’s throat. The second guard was much more skilled than the first and he leaned back then intercepted the blow with his free hand. He yanked and propelled Kestrel towards the ground.

Kestrel used the momentum and turned it to a roll but earned a blow across the back of his calf before he regained his footing.

His lower leg bloomed in pain. A large welt erupted on his leg.

Still smarting from the blow to his legs Kestrel knew his only chance was to get inside the guard of the man. He was going to kill him no matter what. He’d readily die to make the man pay for murdering Cillia.

Kestrel blasted his hand towards the guards throat a second time, but Wash was able to divert the strike with a hit to his forearm with his metalvine a split second before Kestrel’s hand reached his throat.

Wash tried to back away to get a better range, but Kestrel man kept close, keeping him from regaining his reach advantage.

Wash quickly raised his metalvine to strike but Kestrel intercepted with a palm strike to the guard’s chin, causing his vision to blur as he stumbled backwards a half step.

If not for General Ravenscroft’s training Wash would have fallen then, but he quickly regained his footing and was able to fend off the furious flurry of blows coming from his attacker.

Wash connected with a devastating blow to Kestrel’s forearm. A loud thunk and a cry of pain let him know he had injured the redhead’s protector, but still the young man surged forward, a whirlwind of deadly rage.

Cillia’s lifeless body fueled Kestrel. He wouldn’t stop until someone died. Injuries be damned.

Kestrel rushed forward again, pressuring the guard backwards with constant attacks. Soon he caught an opening and in flash was in opponent’s guard.

Kestrel trapped the city guard in a clinch and rained a series of knees into the man’s unprotected stomach.

The guard cried in pain but easily reversed the situation by slamming the butt of his metalvine into the fleshy mass just above his attacker’s knee, dropping Kestrel to one leg. He followed with a low kick to the man’s temple.

Kestrel was able to loosen himself with just enough time to flow with the blow and minimize the damage. He let the momentum of the blow propel himself into a sideways roll away from the danger.

Mid-roll his eyes caught site of the crowd that had gathered at the end of the alley, watching their scuffle.

That was the last thing Kestrel saw before his head exploded in tempest of pain and he fell to the ground like a stone.

*****

Wash had been about to pounce on the lad but Rel had stepped in and slammed his metalvine into the back of the young man’s head with vicious strength. The young man had crumpled.

With blood and viscous fluid leaking from his swelling eye socket, Rel swung down mercilessly on the urchin over and over, punishing Kestrel for maiming him.

He was about to kill the kid.

“Rel! REL! Gather yourself!” Wash yelled at the furious man.

The crowds that had gathered at either end of the alleyway were shouting profanities at them. They were seconds away from attacking to duo themselves.

“Murderers! You deserve to be killed like you killed those two!” the crowd was turning into a mob.

They needed to leave.

“Curse you Rel!” Wash shouted as he shoved the injured guard off of the prone body on the ground. “We were supposed to keep this quiet! There will already be hell to pay, let’s get out of here!”

Rel raged for a second but soon Wash’s voice reached him and he calmed enough to listen to his companion’s command.

“Take the girl’s body and let’s get out of here before we end up like these two!”