Star wiped the sweat from her brow as she sat in the shade of a roof staring at the crowds below her frowning. "There is a lot of rich people walking around... I don't see any children, beggars or people who are potential targets." She cursed and lightly punched the roof. She looked around.
"It must be nearly a full mark... The brothers will be here soon. I might as well grab the brothers before they do something stupid." She frowned and shook her head as she saw the brothers starting to walk into the marketplace acting drunk. She cursed and jumped down and ran up to them cursing. "Brothers lets go... Something is not right here. Let's go before we cause trouble."
"Crashing the party it seems priestess... Well, what is the problem?" She looked around and leaned forward lowering her voice. "Do you see anything strange here?" She waited for them to look around. "Where are the usual beggars, or street urchins running around... There is none of that here."
"Could it be the guard removed them during this time only?" Star shrugged her shoulders. "If that was the case, there still would be one or two who make it through, and try to collect a big purse since there is no competition... Look at the guards, they aren't even paying attention or looking for them... Its like they don't exist in this part of town, and they know it."
"What do you suggest we do?" Star frowned and started to walk out of the market square. "Lets go to other parts of town, and see if we can find something..." She clenched her jaw. "I hope the ass has better luck than we do."
"If I was a street urchin... where would I be?" She rolled her eyes and rubbed her temples. She turned and looked at the brothers following her. "How is that going to help, since we haven't been in this city before?"
"Well... It helps, because we can go where the coin is... How about banks, or trading houses? There are usually lots of beggars and homeless around them..." Star nodded. "That is a good idea Drummen... Lets check the banks and trade houses. If no luck there we head back to the tavern and wait for the others to get back."
"Sounds good to me, I could use a drink... I feel thirsty."
"Me too brother... Lets hurry and get this done, so we can have a drink... Maybe find some more comfortable company." Star sighed and ignored the both of them as they walked through the city. They stopped in front of a bank and looked around at the empty street. Star turned to a guard walking on patrol. "Sorry to disturb you, but these streets seem really clean... You have done an excellent job removing the beggars and thieves... How did you do it?"
"Hahaha... To be honest, we did nothing. The Supreme sent an attendant, and after that all of them disappeared..." Star looked at the guard in confusion. "That must of been a big effort. It seems they have been locked up or something?"
"Not at all... That's the thing, the Capital prison's are usually full of them, especially when we have giant festivals like the coming ritual... However they are empty. Its like all of them packed up and moved out of the Capital... The whole city is clear of those law breakers." Star nodded and smiled. "Thank you sir... I will let you go back to your patrol."
She walked up to the brothers leaning on a wall watching people pass by and cursed. "What's the problem? Did the guard say where they were?"
Star shook her head at them. "The guard said, they're all gone. An attendant from the Supreme came, and the next day... gone."
"In the prisons or shipped off somewhere?" Star shook her head at Drummen. "No, that's the thing. Even the guard doesn't know what happened. Just one day they were everywhere, and the next day, they were all gone. He also said the prisons are empty..."
"Hey brother... Do you think last time we were in the city, was when it happened?"
Star looked at them in surprise. "You both have been in this city before?" She saw them nod their heads. "Why didn't you say so before?"
"That's because I wouldn't call it staying in the Capital... We were chased out by drones." Star looked at the ground in confusion.
"Drones?"
"Yes... They are people who have become slaves to a queen or master... Think of them like a swarm of bees. They use smell to find things, and once they have that scent they don't give up on them until they are caught and brought to their queen or master." Star cursed. "I have ran into those drones before, we didn't know they were called that... We just called them sniffers... They always talked about their master, but when we asked who their master was, they died somehow."
"Yes, that is a drone. The master or queen is able to see and control their movements and thoughts... With a single thought from them, the drone will fall to the ground dead..." Star stood in silence frowning. "So the Capital was full of drones before? Anything else you noticed as you were running away?"
"There was another thing, it isn't here anymore. There was a smell like an animal had created that let others know it was their territory and to stay away... If that makes sense?" Star rubbed her hands and played with her hair. "You mean animal territory marks Cliffhopper?"
"Yes, animal territory marking. They were strong and scared me that I didn't even want to be in the city. It came from something very strong and very old..."
"Ahh yes. I remember... We came off the boat, and as soon as he stepped onto the ground he started to be afraid... Than the drones came... But as you can see, no drones, and no crazy animal territory marks or smells around." Star frowned and shook her head. "It seems this plan was a bust... We might as well head back to the tavern and hope the firewarrior and Harnio, did better than we did."
"Yes... Lets go..." She could hear the brothers cursing and talking about each woman that walked past them. She shuddered and looked at them with a menacing glare. "I don't mind you do those things, but don't do them when I'm present... If you do, I will be pissed off, and when I am pissed off people end up being castrated, by my bow here." She touched the tip of her bow on her back, scowled at them both as they took a step away from her and turned around, walking away from them. "Yes priestess, I won't do that while you are near."
"Ass kisser..."
"I am... and I am proud of being one, especially to her, the priestess."
She saw Drummen wave his arms around him and sighed. "At least they are trainable... I guess." She looked up and saw the tavern ahead. "We are almost here, but the time to meet is still a while away... I am going to rest for a while. Wake me up when they get back."
"Don't worry. We won't trouble you while you are resting... Hey look isn't that the Firewarrior and Harnio walking to the entrance?" Star looked up and nodded. "That's them alright... Who is that with them... Did they find someone?"
She smiled and increased her pace. "Harnio! It seems you are back, and that you have someone with you..." She looked at the third person and felt her heart freeze. She touched her bow and took a step back. "Who are they?"
"That is Mouse, and he is our shadow guard... Hello Cliffhopper and monk." She looked at the brothers as they stopped and also stared at the person standing near Harnio. "Be careful of them Harnio... They seem like trouble." She frowned. "Harno, why are you so close to them?"
She saw his smile. "He is an interesting person, very interesting. I think you will like each other when you get to know him... Just a small thing. His voice box was removed during some experiment or something."
"It wasn't an experiment Harno... I already told you that, and so has Mouse." She looked at the firewarrior. "Are you sure?" She saw his nod, and lowered her hand. She looked at the green eyed Mouse and smiled. "Hello, I am the outrider of the group. You can call me Star. These two are the brothers. Drummen and Cliffhopper... Come inside the tavern and join us, we have a private room and resting area so we can talk more openly."
She saw Mouse nod his head and followed them into the tavern. She walked close to the firewarrior. "He is dangerous are you sure?"
"Very sure. He feels very dangerous, but there is no sense of killing intent from him... Also his enemy is our enemy... Which means he is our ally... Also because of what Harnio noticed he immediately joined us without any questions or anything."
"Harnio?" She saw the firewarrior nod. "Yes... Harnio... As you can see he has taken a great interest in Mouse. I have never seen him like that around anybody."
She walked into the room as the firewarrior opened the door and sat at the table looking at the group around her. "Well, this is the team, and we will be applying for the ritual in the coming days... If we do well and work together, we will become the new guard for the Supreme."
"Lets meet the new member of our team." She stood up and walked up to Mouse, looking him over. "You don't have any weapons or armor on you... How can you be an assassin?" She watched as he formed hand signals, staring at her silently.
"He says, that he has weapons, it is just you don't see them." Star frowned. "I can understand his handsignals... They are old battle formation signal tactics." Star nodded. "Show us what you can do Mouse."
She watched as he vanished from her view and cursed as the table was sliced into two. "Hey give that back you thief!" She turned and saw Mouse sitting on the chair holding one of Drummen's coin purses, and sipping on a mug of tea. She let out a deep breath. "Impressive..."
"He also has scars like us priestess..."
She looked at Harnio. "Where?"
"On his hands... Firewarrior has over his heart, you have on your eyes and the monk has them on his feet... Also his legs are amazing..." She watched as Harnio sat next to Mouse and watched as Mouse poured a mug of tea for Harnio to drink... "Hmm. Mouse I like this tea... Very fruity." She saw Mouse smile and nodded.
"What about my purse? Can you give that back to me please? I was going to use it today..." She watched as Mouse threw the purse to Drummen and nodded. He made handsignals to him. "He says... Sorry, but it was easy to get, and Star asked me to prove myself and my abilities... Don't worry. I am strong. A one man army as I have been told. I have killed many beasts of taint in the swamplands, and I was tracking someone who also fought them in the swamplands."
"You were tracking me through that mess?" She looked at the firewarrior in surprise and than back to Mouse. She saw Mouse shaking his head, and making more signals. She heard the firewarrior's voice and sighed. "He said. Not me, but the trees were... I was just following where the trees pointed. I also ended up in the ruins where you went in, but instead of going deeper, I returned."
"How many did you kill in the swamplands?" Mouse smiled and took a sip from the mug before signing. "He said... I took them all out... No more of them in the swamplands."
"Ptwwwwwhh... He is really shadow guard potential... Glad he is on our side, and not against us." Star nodded in agreement.
"Than there is no reason why you shouldn't be in this group... Today we rest, and tomorrow we go to register... Soon the rituals will begin... Everyone must be prepared for anything."