21. A Small Problem

“I thought we agreed not to try and kill anyone. What happened to that?” Rowan grumbled, bumping along on Ruby's back.

“I didn’t try to kill anyone. It was a disabling attack,” Kaidu defended himself.

“Cutting her wrist open was a disabling attack?”

“If I wanted to kill her, I would have gone for the throat.”

Rowan pressed his lips together and raised his eyebrows. After a moment, he shook his head. “Are you okay? Do you need help?”

“You’re the one who needs help. And shoes,” Kaidu returned.

Topaz glanced over. “Beryl, can you shut them up? Please?”

“Silence is a high-level spell. I haven’t unlocked it yet,” Beryl replied.

Topaz clicked her tongue, disappointed.

“I can shut them up,” Mica offered, flicking out Kaidu’s razor.

“We’re trying to be more civilized than the support freaks, not less,” Topaz snarled.

Mica backed away, putting his hands up. The razor vanished back into his pockets.

They walked on in silence. Leaves crunched underfoot. A strange call rang through the woods. Topaz whirled, a sword appearing in her hand, but nothing came out of the forest. Warily, she sheathed her sword at her hip. It vanished.

“I’m not too sure about this. Isn’t it technically second degree murder? Or third degree, or something?” Ruby asked.

Topaz glanced up at the sky. “The Enforcers haven’t stopped us. I’ll take that as an okay.”

Beryl hugged herself. “Let’s just get this over with and leave. I hate this.”

“We can’t just let them go, Beryl. What if they come back?”

“I know. I know, I just… I don’t like this. Hurry up and get it over with already.”

“It’s almost over. In fact… we’re here.” Topaz pointed ahead, at a gap where sunlight poured through the trees.

Ruby plopped Rowan and Kaidu down. Rowan struggled upright, stomach muscles engaging to make up for his bound arms. Halfway up, he flopped sideways and nearly fell. Ruby caught his arm and pulled him onto his feet.

Beside him, Kadu sat up without any visible strain, leaned forward onto his knees, and stepped to his feet with practiced ease.

Rowan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Make it look easy, Mr. Cool.

They sat at the edge of a cliff. Below, a mound climbed toward the cliff, grainy and dry. Ants the size of large dogs climbed over it, cresting the edge and vanishing into the depths. Some carried cut leaves into the depths, while others in fiery red hurried around, shoveling sand into the correct place. The biggest ants, almost horse-sized, stood over the workers protectively or wandered the perimeter of the mound.

Rowan stared down. Fuck.

“Beryl, would you?” Topaz asked.

The Mage stepped forward. The shortest of the group, her pale hair fell in long sheets on either side of her face and hung like a curtain over dark clothing, which hid a slightly-pudgy body. She raised her hand. “Mark.”

A bronze seal whirled in the air before Rowan and Kaidu. Ancient writing circled arcane shapes before them. Dots of light smeared into lines, which connected into a nine-pointed star. The seal spun upright, then rushed at the two of them.

Rowan braced for impact, but nothing happened. He looked at his hands, then his chest, peeking under his shirt. There, just faintly, were the lines of the seal, branded into his sternum.

“Listen. We need you two to go down there and scout it out, alright? Beryl’s seal will track your journey. If you make it out on the other side, it will record your path and send it back to us.”

“Cool. I’ll make sure to die in a really dangerous place, just for you, so you’ll get fucked when you follow us,” Rowan promised.

“Ah, it’ll let me know if you die, too. And how. And where. It’s a very useful scouting spell,” Beryl replied.

“Not that support classes would know that,” Mica added flippantly.

“I knew that,” Kaidu replied.

Rowan rolled his eyes. Of course you did.

“Untie their arms and give them their gear. I don’t want to lug their useless shit around any longer than we have to,” Topaz complained. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and stretched, uncomfortable. “This way, they stumbled into an area they couldn’t handle, and it’s their own problem if they live or die.”

“Pushing us off a cliff counts as ‘stumbling’ into an area?” Rowan mocked.

“To be fair, you slit my wrists,” Topaz responded. She drew a sword and pointed it at them. Behind her, Beryl brandished her bare hands. Mysterious seals floated just past her fingertips, buzzing with energy. Mica whipped out the razor and pointed it at them.

“Wrist,” Kaidu corrected. “I’d like my razor back.”

Rowan kicked him. He hissed, "Now isn't the time."

“No funny business,” Ruby warned, untying the knots. The rope fell free.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Rowan bolted for the forest. Fuck this! I’ll die if I fall down there!

Barely two steps in, Mica appeared in front of him. He kept pace effortlessly, then lashed out. A blur swung at his face. He put his hands up barely in time to catch his bag. Stumbling back from the weight of it, a foot smashed into his gut, and he lost his balance. He staggered backward one step, two.

He stepped onto empty air. His balance tipped out, out, into the void. Rowan tipped backward, flailing, one arm clutching his bag. He dug his toes in, but uselessly. His other foot slipped off the edge.

Mica waved. “Bye-bye.”

The Thief’s broad smile vanished under the lower edge of his vision. Blue sky replaced him. Rowan plunged.

--

“So?” Topaz said, advancing toward Kaidu.

Before she took another step, he grinned and hopped backward, over the cliff.

The party stood atop the cliff, alone. Wind blew. No screams rang out, only a pitched silence. Distantly, a pair of muffled thumps echoed up to the cliff’s edge.

“Freaks,” Topaz muttered, and turned away. Mica and Ruby followed her.

Beryl hesitated at the edge one more moment. She glanced up at the sky and pressed her hands together, eyes squeezed shut.

“Please don’t kill us, Enforcers!”

Opening her eyes, she gave the sky one last concerned look, then hurried after the rest of her party.