Bone Diggers - Chapter Twenty Nine

Loading... Chapter Twenty Nine

"Amilia?" he called, but only silence greeted him. Something was wrong. A fear he didn't understand knotted in his stomach.

Daniel searched his home without any luck. Amilia must have left. But where to? He nearly tripped over himself in his haste to get dressed. After yesterday, he couldn't just write this off. Maybe she had gone to the guild to look into the letter. Wherever she went, he needed to know she was safe.

He went straight for the guild hall, but once there, he realized the place was nearly empty. It was early, long before people usually met. A few people were around, but Amilia wasn't one of them. Maybe he could just snag the letter from yesterday and reread it for clues. He could break into the room where the eldest members keep such things.

Just as Daniel was plotting to bust the lock, Lance neared. "Is everything alright?"

"I need another look at that letter. If you help, together we can make quick work of it," Daniel said.

Lance's worry strengthened as he watched Daniel's restless motions. "Why do you need it now? What's wrong?"

"Amilia. She left without saying where she was going, and I have a bad feeling about it. I need the letter to see if it would have made her go look for her uncle." Daniel knew he sounded frantic by the look Lance was giving him.

"I still have the letter. I kept it so I could look into it myself." Lance retrieved it from his pocket. Daniel reached for it, but Lance pulled it back. "If I give you this, I'm going with you. I didn't hide it from the guild to be cute, I did it to protect Amilia. And you. You get reckless when you are scared."

"I'm focused." His friend didn't look convinced, but tipped the letter forward all the same. Daniel nabbed it out of Lance's hand. "And I wouldn't be scared if people started telling me things." He kept his eyes on Lance for a second longer before unfolding the letter. The first time he had only skimmed it, too drawn down to crest at the bottom. Now, he took his time with the scripted words. It slammed Dimitri for not watching his charge better. Even accused him of interfering with their plans. It didn't name Amilia, but together they ruined the knight's missions several times. The dinner, rescuing Lance, fleeing town, then fleeing yet again.

"The gallows." When Daniel read over the words his chest seized. It had been a vague, meaningless, threat without context. Now that Amilia was missing it held a suffocating weight.

If something were to happen, something to me.

"Merde," Lance swore. They'd been fools. "Let's go."

It started to rain as they hit the streets again. The light drizzle was as persistent as Daniel's dread. They climbed up rooftops so they could run over streets that would soon fill. Looming over the gallows as a reminder of who controlled life and death within the city's walls was the knights' headquarters.

They stormed the complex. Two men trying to change the tide, stealing lives at the edge of their blades and staining their path red. They tore through the halls. Guards readied their swords for the onslaught. Daniel sunk his dagger in the gap in the guard's armor. Such a small target between chest and spaulder that allowed him to slash down further.

As Daniel slammed the first man down, another guard tripped over his fallen comrade. A helmet might have saved him from Lance's quick sword.

They made it up two floors before every guard in the building became dedicated to stopping them. It was impossible to go about this with any haste. "Go," Lance ordered during a lull between waves. "I'll catch up."

Daniel bounced on the balls of his feet, torn between protecting Lance and sprinting to make up time. He followed Lance's order and ran up the side of a wall to avoid the slash of a knight who was in his way.

There had only been one direction that guards were flowing from, one door that he was placing all his hopes on. Daniel lifted his knee to his chest and busted the door open with a kick.

"Stop!" It was Amilia's voice that stayed his hand. Daniel froze. She stood as stunned as he was. The men surrounding her twitched forward, like attack dogs waiting on Don Ambrogio's command.

The only one physically restrained was Celio. His hands were bound with cloth and he shot a glare towards the thief that planned to save them. Daniel looked to Amilia and her somber expression.

"Why don't you do that now, Miss Le'Russo?" Ambrogio said, clearly part of a conversation that Daniel had missed. "Your antics as lovers have cost me my last man."

Amilia just stared as Daniel dripped both rainwater and blood. His chest pounded in a fashion that made him worry he'd been injured. "I don't understand," he said, far the speech he would have rather had in the moment.

Her eyes fell to the floor, unable to return his gaze. "I told you not to come."

"Like hell you did!" Daniel's volume made her words sound like a whisper. His head felt hazy. Nothing made sense anymore. Daniel stepped closer, not even looking to see if the guards took it as a hostile act. "Don't give me that," he said, with a bewildered look on his face. "You should have known better."

Lance slid into the building, expecting it clear from the type of guards he was fleeing from. "You got to be kidding me," he mumbled, and raised his hands, hoping they wouldn't just drop him on sight.

"You thieves are like cockroaches," Ambrogio spat. "How many orders does it take to kill you?"

Amilia glanced at Lance before turning to the Don. "We can settle this without them being further involved." Ambrogio tightened his lips into a thin line, but otherwise didn't acknowledge her.

"Let her go," Daniel said.

His demand was met with a laugh. It was the short, curt sound of an aristocrat and general. He looked ready to order an end to it all when Amilia's outburst stayed his hand once again.

"I am where I should be. You however, should leave." She glanced at Lance for a second. "He was right all along. That you refused to see it is on you." She blinked hard, stiffening, then turned her back on the both of them. A poor attempt at hiding her fear. She had felt so strong up until this point.

"Your traitor has asked you to leave," Ambrigio said in a tired tone. "If you don't take this opportunity, I'll consider her concessions void."

Sweat made it feel like Lance's sword was going to slip from his fingers. He wanted to shake the feeling away, and adjust his grip, but either could be seen as an act of aggression. "We really should go," he whispered, "We can try to find another way."

"No." Daniel shot a look over his shoulder to Lance before glancing around the whole room again in a dizzying swirl. "No, I refuse." If he could only offer something better than her, maybe they could trade instead. It was clear Ambrigio wanted Daniel and Lance dead, but they seemed to hold no value either way. The shield, however, and its location, had been demanded before. If he had it now... "I know where the stone aegis is. I'll lead you right to it."

Ambrigo pinched the bridge of his nose. He waved a hand, and a knight roughly pulled Celio to his feet. Another grabbed Amilia's arm and pulled her without resistance towards a distant door. "Lies will get you nowhere, boy. I have what I want, and someone to pay for my not having it sooner."

Daniel jumped forward and pulled a dagger from his belt, the movement useless as Lance pulled him back.

"Our business here is done," Lance announced. "We will go in peace."

For a moment, Lance was certain Daniel was going to kill everyone in the room to get to Amilia. But they were far outnumbered. It took several tugs, and encouragements in French, before Lance was able to get Daniel to back down.

Lance nearly pushed Daniel onto the safety the street offered. The only thing Daniel felt in his bones was hate. He glared at Lance as if he was to blame, wishing he had the right curse words.

"Just, stop it." Lance groaned. "You don't even care if she is a knight, do you?"

"No."

The anger in his voice suggested it was a lie, but Lance didn't call him out on it. "She made her choice, Daniel. There is nothing you can do about it."

It didn't appear that Daniel was listening anymore. He looked up at the building for another way in, or anything else that could to steal the upper hand back. Lance had all but given up. He watched with his arms folded over his chest.

"I will not let her be their sacrificial lamb," Daniel said without turning back. He reached up to an awning to see if it could hold his weight. When it didn't wiggle, he pulled himself up, groaning at the odd angle.

Lance sighed and started to climb as well. Each window they tested proved locked, or rather, not designed to be opened. The height of the room gave them a clear advantage to see everything over the gallows. "What is your plan?"

Daniel shot him a sideways look, but said nothing.

"You don't have a plan."

"I have a plan," Daniel corrected. "I just don't know how to execute said plan."

"So, you don't have a plan," Lance sighed.

They watched for a short time, looking for anything that could be used. Anything that could be exploited, stolen, or outright killed so they could meet their goals. While everyone said they hated death, a lynching somehow always drew a crowd. The street started to fill with NPCs and curious players.

An executioner readied the gallows with a single noose while a town herald spoke over a murmuring crowd. "By the wishes of the crown, we gather here to end a sinful soul. On counts of treason against the crown and church, and illegal acts of thievery against the Knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece we sentence Amilia Le'Russo to death by hanging."

"Why is this happening?" Daniel whispered to himself. He stared down at his hands, flexing his fingers in front of him as if confused whether he still had control or not. "I need to do something."

"But what?" Lance asked.

Ambrogio stepped out, followed by Amilia, and two guards that were making sure she stayed in line as they walked up the few steps towards the gathered officials.

"I don't know. Anything." He needed to be down there right this second if he had a chance to stop any of this. Climbing down was an option, but it would waste time. He took a few steps back, then ran towards the edge of the roof, and jumped.

The air whispered by.

Daniel landed in a crouch. The fall ripped the breath out of his lungs, and his vision blinked out between the seconds. The world seemed to crack more than any bone, held together by will and programming, as Daniel lifted his head. He shoved his way through the crowd towards the gallows.

He yelled her name, and Amilia twitched as if waking up to look down at him. Her once warm brown eyes had gone dark, with only a glimmer of life left while they stared at each other. A rope was placed around her neck like jewelry.

"You don't need to do this," he begged, prayed, at the foot of her.

"Any last words?" A hood covered the executioner's face in shadows. The sound alone enough to steal Amilia's attention away. She shook her head and closed her eyes instead of looking back at Daniel. With a pull of a lever, the wood under her disappeared.

He wanted to fall to his knees and scream. There was only one thing stopping him: The game didn't let him. It didn't register Owen's want as something Daniel would do here. Daniel let out a whimper of a sound. Lance didn't even realize he was still breathing until he finally caught up and saw the short, trembling gasp.

"Okay dear, take me with you," Daniel breathed like before.

***

Daniel voice echoed in her head, or rather Andreah's head. She pulled off her headset, setting it in front of her as she stared ahead in an attempt to distance herself from that world. She had to do that—they both did.

"How's the bone digging?"

Andreah blinked as she looked up, as lost as if another language had been spoken.

"I said, how's the bone digging going?" Abigail repeated slower this time, confused herself now. "You've been working on that case for a long time. Our boss is going to kill you if you lead him on with this story any lo—Are you okay? You don't look so well."

Abigail reached out to Andreah's forehead to check her temperature. Andreah swatted Abby's hand away. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I just need some air." As quick as that, she was out the door.

Andreah stretched her neck out as the cool air hit her like water in the face. "Okay, dear take me with you," she said to herself. Daniel's voice was clear in her head. She shouldn't know these things, but she did.

She had no right, but she was worried about Owen, and Daniel. Would Lance keep his promise? There was no way to find out now. She literally killed off her connection to them. Owen, however...she could reach out to him. It was the only thing she was sure of as she whipped out her phone.

But that faith slipped as she stared down. The last text Owen sent was a little <3 in reply to something stupid. The first time, the text had made her smile. Now it made her feel like a tool. Texting now would only make covering everything up harder anyway. As far as she was supposed to know, it was just a normal day for him. Muscles tightened with her conviction. What was done was done.