Taken

Iris

“I found something!” Iris screamed, voice muffled by the crate her body was nearly fully into, only her legs sticking out of the side and splayed wide for balance.

They had decided to stick to some crates closer to the dividing wall between the Reaches and the Crests. Being closer to the wall, there were more watchguards about, on the lookout for criminals and others that could bother even the outer portions of the middle district even though they were separated by a wall that Iris would struggle to throw a rock over, but the duo was willing to take that risk.

They didn’t exactly qualify as criminals, but the guard didn’t exactly have to justify their actions. If they said you did something wrong, who was going to come to their rescue?

Everyone for themselves, after all.

The waste was more often collected here so as to keep the rotting smell from possibly seeping over the wall into the Crests, so Tarros and Iris weren’t having much luck on finding even partially full litter crates. But what the crates didn’t have in quantity, they made up for in quality.

Even sorting through the last dregs of rubbish at the bottom–this particular crate located just behind another brothel, Iris had been moving aside a ripped tunic of some sort when her hand felt the resistance of something hard within the bundled cloth.

Curious, she had gently untangled the tunic, a glinting object falling from the folds to clank against the stony ground.

Tarros came over as she discarded the tunic, focus only on the shiny object that stood out harshly on the gray floor. She picked it up, finding it to be a pristinely polished silver brooch. The symbol of which was molded to resemble a leocrep mid-pounce, claws outstretched, wisps of smoke seeming to trail off their length. She didn’t know which noble house it belonged to, as she had never been among the higher districts, but it couldn’t have been from a major noble house, since they never bothered visiting the Reaches.

Must’ve been a minor noble house among the Crests, then. Probably visiting the brothel for some late night fun at a discounted price. The rates in the Reaches were probably leagues better than what they charged in the adjacent district. She didn’t even want to imagine what the rates would be like in the Heights.

Either way, it was a huge haul, and Tarros’s excitement was palpable, smile wide enough to where Iris was worried it might split his face in two.

“What do you think we could get for this?” Tarros asked, his voice trembling with the flood of emotions going through him. Iris was hardly containing her own thoughts as it was. She was thinking of all the food they could get just by pawning this brooch off. The silver shine of the item itself should fetch them enough coin to eat like royalty for weeks within the Reaches.

“I’m not sure.” She ran a finger across the brooch, and she had half the mind to think she was dreaming. She glanced up at the waning light of Rynor’s light. “But I do think we should sell this before all the shops are closed. I don’t know about you, but I could use a good meal right about—”

“You fucking rats!” The voice was quiet yet harsh, almost gravelly with how much ire was held within those few words.

For the second time that day, Iris and Tarros spun around, taking in the small yet imposing silhouette of Amara at the mouth of the alleyway. It wasn’t like they were trapped or anything, they had routes to their left or right, but with Gunther not being there, they worried he was trying to sneak up on them. Iris kept some part of her attention on Amara as she started scanning her other lines of sights, trying to peer into other pathways for some hint of Gunther’s large frame. It had to be impossible to hide something of that girth.

Amara continued, voice still steeped in vitriol, “I damn well knew you gave us that spot for a reason. Gunther might be an idiot, but I’m not!”

Tarros stepped forward feeling the need to put himself between the two girls, his slightly larger frame acting as a dam for Amara’s anger.

“Listen Amara, we were having some shitty luck in that crate, and we left it for you so we didn’t have to deal with that frustration anymore.” Tarros’s hands were spread, palms out in a hopeful placating gesture.

“RATSHIT!” At this point, her voice was almost at a level Iris was scared she was going to attract the ire of the watchguard. “You two scheming fucks just wanted to make us rummage through waste that had already been picked clean! And what is that?!”

She finally caught a glimpse of the shiny object peeking out of Iris’ closed fist. Tarros responded before Iris could, “It’s just a tiny little thing we found in this crate, like I’m telling you, we didn’t find anything in the other spot.”

Iris could tell this was going nowhere. Tarros was getting frustrated trying to explain their actions, and Iris was getting annoyed just listening to Amara’s shrill voice as she freaked out, possibly alerting the entire watchguard to their presence. She didn’t even get the chance to interject, as the second she opened her mouth, Amara cut in once again.

“And you!” she spat, as her pointer finger targeted itself at Iris, “You were the one who suggested we take over! You’re always planning some shit, aren’t you bitch?!”

“I—”

“NO! I’m fucking over it! I’m tired of you looking at me like I’m a fucking speck of dirt! You’re no more important than the rats infesting the Reaches, just like the rest of us!”

With every sentence, her anger seemed to soar to new heights, along with her voice. At this point, Iris was sure if Amara didn’t calm down, the vessels in her eyes were going to cause her permanent blindness once they all burst.

Tarros didn’t make things better, as the whole time, he was inching closer and closer, giving her a look of mixed pity and impatience, which only stoked her fury further. With a final scream of anger, Amara lunged.

At first, Iris thought she was going to attack Tarros. But as he reached out to grab the approaching threat, Amara flung out her foot, grabbing traction on the stone and throwing herself to the side. This caused Tarros to stumble, not expecting the sudden change in direction.

Amara ducked under Tarros’s flailing arms which were reaching for something to stabilize his balance. Now free of the immediate hiccup, Amara lunged for Iris, hate gleaming in her eyes.

The entire time, Iris was ready to defend against her opponent with the help of Tarros—but the minute she saw Amara only had her sights set on her, she knew Tarros wasn’t going to be much help. Turning tail, she bolted through the alleyway to the right, not confident in her ability to stop Amara’s assault by her lonesome.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Chest heaving, Iris did her best to snag her outstretched fingers on crates and other debris littering the alley, throwing them behind her in order to trip up her pursuer. Unfortunately, this also meant Tarros, in his clumsy nature, was also prone to tripping and stumbling over these obstacles.

With Amara somehow still gaining on her, Iris felt her panic rising. How could she be so fast and nimble? It was like she spent years chasing down prey among the cluttered alleys!

Risking a hasty look back at Amara, Iris could see an almost detached focus in the other girl’s eyes.

Damn!

Tarros had told her one time that Amara was rumored to have some talent in body strengthening. With just enough sensitivity in feeling Auris, anyone could pull the energy to heighten their reflexes and enhance their strength, only limited by how much of the essence they could manipulate.

Iris turned back to focus on the pitter patter of her feet against the cobblestone, her only goal to outrun and outmaneuver the enhanced Amara only a breadth behind her.

Right there!

She turned a corner, seeing the light of one of the main streets illuminating the mouth of the alley she was fleeing. All she had to do was push this last distance to reach her goal.

Ten steps.

Iris could hear Amara panting in even breaths, her own feet pounding in a constant rhythm, notifying her of her impending doom should she be caught.

Five steps.

By this point, she could practically feel Amara’s breath on her neck, almost smell her sweat, imagine Amara’s arms pumping as she pulled the Auris to push her body past the limits.

One step.

She was at the entrance! Her last step would guarantee an open space where she could try to use her brain to outsmart Amara. But before she could fully push her body into that open area, it was as though a living barrier had placed itself into the opening.

Running full tilt, even her momentum wasn’t enough to break through the mass that was the local watchguard. Her face impacted the unyielding body of the guard, letting out an unbidding cry of both pain and surprise. In her abrupt stop, Amara also ran into her, her control over the Auris empowering her not sufficient enough to stop her momentum.

They both went down in a heap, and the watchguard looked down in his own version of surprise, not expecting something to run into him from the alley’s entrance, much less two somethings. His eyes flowed from surprise to annoyance, and he reached down, large meaty hand grasping Iris’ wrist and hand as he hauled her up.

She dangled within the guard's unmoving grip, kicking her legs as she attempted to free herself.

It was like trying to wrench gravity from the planet.

The tightness of his hold forced her own hand to squeeze tighter around the brooch, cutting skin in the process and making her flail even more from the pain, tears welling up as she cried out.

By now, Amara was getting her own bearings after the tumble, slowly standing up while she clutched her head in pain. Rounding on Iris’ predicament, she finally had the chance to take in the large object that had caused their fall. Predictably, her eyes widened when she saw the purple and black checkered tabard of the watchguard.

Even more predictably, the moment her eyes landed on Iris in her regal form of being manhandled, Amara’s face contorted from glee into calculating within the span of a slow blink. The guard, a large man twice Iris’ height, with bags under his eyes and evening stubble showing for all to see, gave Amara a look.

“Explain, now.”

For her part, even frozen on the spot as she was, Amara barely hesitated before launching into a flurry of words, a slight stutter because of her nervousness.

“T-The bi—girl’s a thief!”

“She’s lyin—OOMPH!”

The guard’s other hand seemed like it teleported. One minute it was relaxed at his side, the next, it was buried deep in Iris’ gut up to the wrist, driving all the air from her lungs, a bit of the morning bread coming up immediately afterwards. Her eyes bulged, the pain from the blow felt like the impact from a blacksmith’s hammer on metal. Except her stomach wasn’t metal, and her spine did not appreciate being treated like an anvil.

She barely registered the clattering of debris from the alley as Tarros finally arrived at the scene, gasping for breath. He took in everything, from Iris suspended in front of the guard wriggling from pain as she clutched her gut, to the obvious vomit on the road. He stilled.

The guard was busy growling to Iris, their noses almost touching as he brought her close, “I’ve had a rough fucking day, you little vermin. Stop squirming, stop yapping, and maybe you’ll live through the night.”

Seeing all this, Tarros broke out of his stupor, and he lost it.

Silently, he launched himself at the guard, because who would scream before they attacked?

Not giving any hint of effort at all, the guard rolled his eyes as his arm came around for another swing, the back of the guard’s hand meeting Tarros’s cheek. Tarros looked like he was launched from a ballista, head still attached to shoulders somehow, but after his body struck the wall of the alley he just came from, Iris could see he wasn’t getting back up.

“How many of you are there?!” growled the watchguard.

He turned his gaze from Tarros’s unconscious form back to Amara, who was looking at Tarros with shock. He snapped his fingers a few times, getting Amara to turn back to the matter at hand.

“Now, should I be expecting more of you to run up out of nowhere?”

“I d-don’t think so.” Amara was definitely still shaken up by the sight of seeing Tarros ragdoll through the air, even if she didn’t like him.

“Thank the Gods. So what did this one steal?” he asked as he pointed to Iris, who at this point couldn’t take her eyes off Tarros, pain completely forgotten.

“I’m not sure, exactly. But it was shiny! I didn’t get a good look.”

By this point, the guard felt the warm blood from Iris hand trickling down his forearm, and he grunted as he adjusted his grip to just her arm, using the other to open her bloodied hand.

He picked up the brooch, fresh lifeblood coating a portion of it, turning it every which way as he examined it, unknowingly mumbling his thoughts out loud.

“Hmmm… It’s not from any House I know. But it’s too nice to be of any House outside Primlon. I’m not going to say it's from the Heights unless I’m certain it is. Well my day was rough to start, but I can’t wait to turn this bad boy in. Maybe I’ll get a promotion.”

He cut his musings short as he turned to Amara, giving her a smile as he fished out a couple coppers, tossing them her way where they hit the stone. Amara’s eyes remained unfocused while she imagined the horror coming Iris’ way. It was a dream come true.

“What’s going to happen to her?” asked Amara, dreamy eyes focusing on the guard.

“Not my problem. That’s up to the watch captain.”

“Shouldn’t she be killed? She stole from someone from a higher district.”

“Not my decision to make. And I don’t know what puts you in any position to question what I do.” The last part he said with venom, eyes narrowing at Amara.

“Just a curious and caring citizen.” She added a little flourishing curtsey, which looked ridiculous in her outfit that was more fit for a beggar than royalty. Iris would have laughed if not for her fear of the guard towering over her, wrist still in his grasp. The lingering agony from the punch didn’t help either.

He grunted, turning as he started dragging Iris along towards the jail in the center of the Reaches. Seeing her friend sprawled against the wall in a heap, knowing she couldn’t free herself and successfully escape, Iris resigned herself to her fate, not even bothering to offer any resistance as she dejectedly allowed her body to be pulled along.