Chapter 47: - A Stranger Leaves...[2]
No one moved.
Not a sound was made, nor was a movement heard over the beating of drums and the strings of the musicians instruments.
The four men stood hunched over the huddled form of Lukali, giving Lia and Rian the occasional glance, questioning their acknowledgement.
"Young Master?"
One of the four spoke, his voice scratch and dull, like the others.
"What are you doing here, so far from home?"
Lukali's voice came to him in a petrifying fear, the sound a mix of his stuttering and his paralyzed heart.
"I…I-I could as-ask you…you the s-same."
One of the men twisted his head sideways instantly, the moment Lukali's words left his mouth.
'What the?'
Lia was more than curious, given that these four men were beyond creepy, but also seemed to treat Lukali - their 'young master' - like they were questioning if he was even given permission to speak.
Catching a glance at Rian, who seemed equally confused, Lia turned her attention back to the four men, only to be startled, finding one of them staring at her.
Out of all four men, each one was wearing the same black crow mask. The only way to tell a difference in the four of them was the color of their glowing eyes.
Red, yellow, purple, and white.
It was the white pair that stared deeply into Lia's eyes, pathing a path deep into her soul and secrets.
Lia couldn't help but shiver at his stare, wondering - questioning just how much he knew.
But just as quickly as that fear came, it vanished, a warm feeling coming over her body, and her mind relaxed instantly.
At once she knew that it was Cain and his doing, some form of fear resistance that he must have lended her.
'Or is this just his abnormal resistance to fear?'
Lia didn't have time to ask as a voice betrayed the eerie silence that had settled at their table.
"Who? Are? You?"
The voice of a meek but echoing voice came from the white eyed figure, his head twisting left and right, questioning.
At once, all three other heads snapped in her direction making Lia flinch from the strange sounding 'Snap!' of their necks.
"Young master, are these people your escorts?"
The red eyed figure said 'escorts' like the idea disgusted him, his own eyes however, never left Lia's, who stared back fearlessly.
Though, if it wasn't for Cain, Lia could already tell that she would have been cowering beneath the table right about now.
The four had a sense of fear, and horror attached to their very essence.
It reminded Lia of a nightmare walking.
"N-No…these are…"
Lukali was either too scared of the four to speak, or he was afraid what would happen if he finished his sentence.
Nonetheless, he kept quiet, looking from Lia to Rian, and back again.
From the corner of her eye, Lia could tell Rian was trying his best to speak, to find courage in his chest and fuel his voice. But Lia couldn't blame him when she saw how much he was failing to keep control, his own legs bobbing up and down to keep away the shivers.
Taking charge, Lia pulled her focus back to the red eyed figure, and despite her surprise, she spoke.
"We're his friends."
The four froze. Not a sound, form of movement, or even the breath that left their lungs could be felt, heard or sensed.
They just stood there looking at her.
'Good gods, if these people don't stop, I'm going to break their knees.'
Lia couldn't help but threaten them in her mind, giving her some false sense of courage and security.
But in reality, the fact that she didn't dare to say these words out loud, betrayed the true sense of fear she felt.
Finally, the red eyed figure spoke.
"Friends?"
His eyes narrowed as his head slowly turned to face Lukali, who felt as though he was boring daggers into the table itself.
Lia didn't think he could look any further down, less he felt like digging his chin into his collar bone.
"Young master, since when did you have friends?"
Lukali didn't answer, his fear getting a hold of his voice.
So, Lia spoke for him, finding some mesley sound within her voice, and breath within her lungs.
"Why is that your concern? Last I checked, I didn't think it was your job to question his social life."
Instantly after her words left her mouth, Lia could feel it was a mistake, as all four heads snapped towards her direction.
Slamming his hand into the table, the red eyed figure got closer to Lia, the other three backing away.
"What?"
One word left his mouth, yet it was filled with anger and hatred, bearing the same ferocity that his glowing eyes showed.
But Lia was not moved - in fact, she felt an even calmer sense of courage come over her, seeing the figure bend and break against his own emotions.
"I asked you if you had any right to question him about his friends-"
Before she could finish speaking, the figure spoke with emotions seething out with every word he spoke.
"How dare you! We are the Guild masters most trusted recon, sent to find his missing son. And yet you have the audacity to question us-"
"Who?"
The red eyed figure froze, his next words hanging on the edge of his tongue. Similarly the three behind him froze, their faces - if Lia could see them - were contorting.
"What?!"
Again, Lia repeated herself.
"Who? Is that so hard to answer?"
The red eyed figure said nothing, clearly too shocked by the question to even speak, let alone form a conversation, or any words of resentment against her.
It was then that the waitress came back, sliding through the wall the other three figures had made around the table.
"Excuse me sir's…whew."
She exhaled a breath of exhaustion, taking great difficulty in moving the frozen bodies.
Turning her attention to Lia and her table, the waitress spoke.
"Here you are ma'am. I'm sorry, I forgot your drinks at the bar-"
Before the waitress could even set the three glasses of ale down on the table, the red eyed figure slapped them away, knocking the waitress back, as she fell on her bum with a thud.
"Ow! Hey what's the big idea-"
"Shut up."
The waitress froze when her eyes met red, her own voice silenced having succumbed to the fear.
"Get back to serving the pest, wench!"
The waitress couldn't say anything as she stared on at the red eyed figure, even as he turned his back to her, his full focus now on Lia.
"You seething little bit-"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
As the red eyed figure was speaking, he had been reaching to his side to draw out a long dagger hanging from his belt. The blade would have certainly proved a well thought out negotiation tool, but Lia knew that it wouldn't work.
So before the man had a chance to draw his blade on her, Lia stopped him, raising a hand to interrupt him, pointing back in the direction of the bar and lined booths filled with men and women.
Catching her gesture, the red eyed figure turned his back to her, glancing around the tavern for any signs of what she was pointing at.
And what he found made his body stand on edge.
All around the tavern - the booths, bar, landing, dance floor, counter, and even the few outside the building, standing by the open door, all had stopped what they were doing.
However, strange as that might be, what made the figure feel a sense of fear, was the fact that every single person within the place had their eyes locked onto the four dark cloaked figures.
Waitresses, bards, bartenders, and dinners all had their eyes locked on the four, their bodies frozen in place. Few had their hands on their weapons, but it was enough for the four to take a guess where this encounter would lead, if they chose to continue.
One of the diners helped the waitress who had fallen stand back up, while another - a big and burly man with red hair and a thick beard, wrapped his right arm around the red figure's shoulders.
His voice was loud within the silence of the tavern, but in reality it was silent, barely a whisper, yet it was heard by all present.
"Gentlemen, gentlemen. Come now, let these people enjoy their ale and food. There's no need to get rough here…"
His voice dropped to a whisper lined with blood lust and threats.
"...unless you'd like to pick a fight. I can name quite a few that would happily oblige you."
He said, glancing back at the people behind him, even more slowly drawing out their weapons or keeping their hands on the sheaths.
"Now, you can either enjoy your own meal, or if you're done, I'm certain there are people outside waiting for a spot. Why don't you four go on and hit the hay. Let the day go by in a nice sleep. How about that?"
His words were anything but a question, nor were they a suggestion. They were an order. A threat. A guarantee of death if refused.
And Lia knew that.
And so did the man, who's hand fell from the hilt of his blade, his shoulders sulking, appearing to have given up.
But his eyes were lined with hatred - a seething rage just daring to burst like a damn that had been built poorly to hold on.
However, the burly man dropped his arm and let the four exit the tavern, quietly and cautiously.
But not before the red eyed figure spoke, his voice quiet enough that only Lia could hear.
"You'll pay for this!"
And just like that, they were gone, the lively mood having returned to the tavern once again, as if nothing had happened. Music began playing, men and women began dancing and laughing, clapping their hands in joy to the sound of the music.
All thoughts of death and killing had left them like a spell, losing its effect.
And with their disappearance, Lia's body felt like it had ditched a 1,000 pound weight off her shoulders, and the mood returned to their table. Lukali's eyes filled with shock and amazement as they stole subtle glances at her, while Rian didn't bother hiding the respect filling within his eyes.
The waitress apologized, and said she would bring more drinks, though Lia didn't pay much attention. Her focus was still on the burly man who smiled at her.
And as soon as the waitress bowed and left their table, the burly man came to their table, his voice joyous and filled with laughter.
He reminded Lia of a kind and huggable uncle.
At least the ones she read about in stories. Her one uncle was too calculating and fearful to show any form of emotion to anyone, except the slight hints of love and respect.
If he barely paid you a glance, but stood up for you, he loved you, finding it his heart to protect you.
However, if you were of the latter- an enemy of his, he would twist and turn the word around you to form daggers and swords directed at your heart.
Cold, calculating. Not the type of uncle this man reminded her of.
"Close one there wasn't it? Thought for sure those boys would have gone a little overboard."
Lia wasn't one to turn down friendly banter, so she nodded her head, thanking the man for his help.
"Ah, don't mention it. Here we're all friends. One of the only places we people can get a good meal and laugh."
He shook his head when his mind passed over the four figures he had just chased off.
"To dirty this place with blood and threats is not something we welcome here. So for one, I'd like to warn you not to aggravate anyone - whether you did so with them or not. But also know that you're safe here if they come back."
"Yes, we understand."
"My name is Randolph, some call me Rand though. Just in case you need someone to deal with them again, just call."
Smiling, Lia thanked the man, keeping his name in her memories.
'He'll be a good shield in case we need to deal with those four again.'
From the depth of her mind, Cain's voice came, chasing away the warm feeling she had that got her through the stare down.
As Randolph made his way back to his own table, his friends cheering for him, Lia turned her focus back to Cain.
'Will those four attack again?'
'Who knows. We can only wait and see. But for the time being, it may be best to stay here for a while.'
'Why?'
'If Lukali's father is searching for him, my guess is that those four will not be the only stationeries. More than likely there are quite a few people in his guild that are doing reconnaissance.'
'So? Why would we sit here waiting for them?'
'Those four probably have no way of contacting the others, and given their pride they won't. If they know Lukali is here, they'll want to bring him in themselves, and not share the credit with anyone else.'
Putting the pieces together, Lia secretly reprimanded herself for not having seen it before. The genius in being stationary.
'So it's better to stay in a place we know for a fact houses only one recon. Or in this case four.'
'Correct. This way we minimize the possibility of dealing with more, so long as we stay in a place we know we can keep an eye on them.'
'And how would we do that? It's not like we can just follow them around town.'
'For an outpost, this place is quite large. But even then, it's still an outpost. We'll run into them eventually, and if not, they will find us.'
'Alright. So we should plan on finding a place to stay first if that's the case.'
'Best to sleep inside the outpost walls, in case they try to pull anything dirty. Find a cheap inn, within a good distance from any social place, but close enough to a guard barracks to keep notice.'
'Alright, I'll relay the info.'
Turning her focus back to Rian and Lukali, Lia repeated what Cain said, offering them some form of security, knowing that Cain had already thought of everything.
"That's a relief. Knowing this town has a policy of some sort in place, I guess we can rest easy tonight."
Rian turned to Lukali, who still looked a little shaken up from the incident, and softly spoke.
"I assume that treatment is all around?"
Lukali only nodded his head.
"Then can I also assume that they will do their best to get the job done? Seeing as that job is taking you back."
"They will. Those four are Ken, Sphen, Ben, and Ren. All of them are brothers - quadruplets. They're skill in recon and assassination is on point. They won't leave until they get what they want."
It was Lia who spoke next, asking for confirmation one more time before she tallied up the info she needed.
"And that would be you, correct?"
Lukali nodded his head, his eyes once again panning to the table below him.
From his chest, Lia could hear the meek sounds of his voice uttering an apology.
"I'm sorry guys. This is all my fault. I was just so scared of telling my dad that I would be Hunting, I didn't want to get rejected. And now here we are, dealing with this-"
"Stop."
Lia raised a hand, holding off Lukali and his tears, that threatened to fall down his cheeks from where they were forming along his eye line.
"Don't apologize for something like that. Those guys were douches, and they don't deserve your resentment nor your self inflicted pity. They came here to deal with you, but they weren't expecting us."
Lukali frowned, confused by her words.
"If they want to get to you, they go through us. I'm not about to hand over a friend to people who tried to draw their knives on me. So don't go handing yourself over just yet."
His next words were so silent that Lia second guessed herself on whether she heard them or not.
"But I'm not worth that…"
But she heard it. And what came next was something that even surprised her.
Her face grew stern and cold, her own mind blank with feeling and thoughts. Emotions refusing to sit still within her, froze and held their ground.
"Lukali."
The sternness in her voice must have surprised him, as he raised his head to meet her eyes.
"You are a friend. No matter your worth, no matter your success, nor your failures. You. Are. A. Friend. And you will die that way, as I will die calling you a friend. Don't pull yourself down any lower. Especially when we're sitting here pulling you up with us."
The advice resonated within him, as he stared deeply into her eyes.
And what he saw somewhat shocked him.
He had little memory of the attack on the queen, or from when he was stung up with spider silk, being tortured. In fact, Lukali was almost grateful that he didn't remember any of that.
But one thing he did see - the one thing he knew he saw more than anything.
Two crimson colored eyes, shaded in a black and red hue, that bore down on his soul.
And what frightened him more than remembering this, was something even worse.
Lia had those same colored eyes…
And then they were gone.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone