"Split!" Mand shouted when they reached the end of the wharf.
The boy veered left, taking Claire with him on his back. Mand wished them the best of luck and made a sharp turn right. Hida followed close behind.
It took every bit of self-discipline that Mand had to keep herself from looking back at their pursuers. She knew if she lost focus on running for even if only a moment, it would slow her down and make her capture more likely.
The ship had berthed on the far end of the docks, away from the bulk of foot traffic that a busy port would normally see. Now, as she and Hida continued to run, they had to dodge the sailors and longshoremen who littered the dockyard as they carried cargo to and from the many ships at port.
"Stop them!" A voice shouted from not far behind. Their pursuers were closing in on them. Mand had to do something.
"Split!" she shouted again. She had hoped that she and Hida would have been able to get a little further away before they went in separate directions, but Mand believed that by splitting now, perhaps their pursuers would only continue to follow her. She knew that it was likely the two sailors that she had thrown in the drink were probably focused on her - bent on a little revenge.
Hida veered off down an alleyway that ran deeper into the port town. Mand was by herself now.
"Stop! Stop her!" The shouting continued from behind. She could hear the heavy boots of the sailors starting to close in. Luckily, aside from a few of the dockworkers to pause and stare for a moment, it appeared that nobody on the docks wanted to intervene.
The shouting and the bootsteps grew closer and closer. Mand imagined that at any moment now, the rough grip of one of the sailors clamping down on arm would come. The lack of reaction from the bystanders had been a blessing so far, but she knew that if she was grabbed, even if she shouted and kicked, her cries for help would probably be ignored.
Her way out would have to be through her metalmancy. She was already starting to feel exhausted from running, so whatever she did would have to not only throw off her pursuers, but also not be strenuous enough to put her in a vulnerable state. Whatever it was she was going to do, it would have to be done very soon.
As she ducked passed a group of dockworkers, she saw it. On her right was a warehouse that was surrounded by a tall, rusty chain-link fence. She pumped her legs and headed straight for it.
"We've got you now!" came a voice from behind. She could smell the rancid breath of one of them.
Just as she reached the barrier, she imagined a section of the fence becoming as liquid. She closed her eyes and threw herself face first into the area that she focused on. Rivulets of mercury like metal streamed past her as she stepped through the liquidized section.
The moment she felt herself touch down on the other side, she commanded the metal to return to a solid form.
"MY HAND!"
She opened her eyes and turned. Horrified, she saw a dismembered hand laying by her foot. Behind the fence, a man stared at a bloody stump of a wrist. Another shook the fence.
"You bitch! You took my hand! You bitch!" the man cried.
Mand stood in shock. The man must have tried to grab her when she stepped through the fence, his hand getting sliced off when the metallic links returned to a solid form. She just wanted to escape, she hadn't planned on maiming anyone.
"I'm sorry," she said backing away. The other man had started climbing the fence. Mand knew that despite any remorse she felt, she knew she had to keep running. She turned and ran as fast as she could through the warehouse yard.
"I'll get you! You hear me I'll get you!"
***
Cat and Ugha had taken a table at a local inn to gather information about their prey. Between some bribes and buying drinks for some of the patrons, they had gotten word that one of the frequent visitors of the establishment had a child with the gift. They had an address and were just about to leave, when an out of breath sailor burst in and told them to stay put until the ship's Captain talked to them.
The Captain arrived shortly thereafter and filled the brother and sister in about the escape from the ship.
"YOU. LOST. ALL. OFF. THEM?" Cat yelled, drawing stares from the other patrons at the inn. She didn't care. This was an unmitigated fucking disaster!
The Captain stood unfazed by the woman's outburst. In his years of commanding unruly men and women on the sea, he had seen every emotional state possible. Dealing with the somewhat volatile nature of this pair over the past few months had been a comparative cakewalk.
"They popped the lock on the cabin that we had them in," he said calmly. "I thought you said that those crystals of yours would prevent them from doing that?"
Cat flushed. She didn't have an answer for that. Until now the crystals had worked beautifully, dampening the powers of the captured metalmancers until they could properly be brought under heel.
When he didn't received a reply, the captain continued, "My men are searching the town. It's an island so there are limited places for them to hide. We'll find them."
"You better," Cat spat. "They were lost under YOUR watch. If we end this trip short FOUR metalmancers, YOU'LL have to answer for it, not me. YOU."
"My sister and I will continue our original mission," Ugha said. "I'll talk to the town watch and pay the proper bribes needed to bring them in on this as well. We need to leave here with five metalmancers, no matter what."
The Captain nodded. "Once we recapture them, we'll have to post guards outside of their cells. Now that we know that the crystals aren't perfect, we'll take the steps necessary to prevent any further escape attempts."
Cat stood suddenly and started heading towards the door to the inn. "Come on brother, let's do what we came here to do. Afterwards," she glared at the Captain. "We can help this useless lot clean up their mess."
Ugha stood, nodding to the other man. "Captain," he said politely before following his sister out the door.
The Captain shook his head and started back to his ship, vowing that this was definitely the last trip he and his crew would work for this lot.