Kallian always did her best thinking on rooftops. It was a kind of escape that she'd learned early on in life. People just didn't look up on roofs, and so if you wanted to stay undisturbed, that's where you went. Even if prying fathers or nosy cousins did want your attention, half the time they were too chicken to make the climb anyway and so would leave her alone for fear of breaking their necks. The roof of the Highever estate was like this for her too. If things got too hectic, she could always climb the building and escape, above the noise and the scrutiny of her fellow elves and human hosts. Behind the stone walls of the estate and two stories in the air, it was calm and peaceful, and she could feel alone.
Her gaze wandered the night skyline of Denerim, settling on a dark low patch next to the river that she knew to be the Alienage. Reports had just come in as the sun was setting that the guards outside the gates had left and never returned. Reportedly, the night watch that usually took over just never showed up. Without Howe there to keep the Alienage under lock and key, Loghain had recalled all the available soldiers for his war effort on the Bannorn, needing more men for the pyre in his mad dash to try and stomp out the resistance of the Banns before the Landsmeet, which was quickly approaching.
News that the Alienage was open initially caused a wave of joy. She could finally find out if Shianni and her father were all right. The others in the estate could go home to their families; it was all going to be okay. But then a revelation hit her upside the head like a brick, and she counted herself a fool for not realizing it sooner. The Alienage was where the Tevinters had set up shop. It was the only place in Denerim where she didn't have eyes or access; a perfect place for the scum slavers to hide from the hand of the Knifers. Now she needed to be cautious, to control her people and keep them from plunging head first into the trap that they'd already survived once. She wasn't going to see them all clapped in irons a second time.
The sound of someone climbing the side of the building roused Kallian from her thoughts and she looked up just in time to see Theron heft himself over the edge with a ripple of muscle and stand on the clay tiled roof with his bare feet. She wasn't surprised. Ever since that afternoon when she'd come to tell Aedan that there was no sight of Solona the Dale had been her shadow. He had claimed that he wanted to know more about the plight of the city elves, but she had a feeling that what he really wanted was to ask questions. Kallian never gave him an opportunity. There was too much to do to placate the Warden with idle answers to awkward questions that undoubtedly had to do with her actions in the Denerim dungeon. She had no inclination to be sharing that part of her life with him and avoided every clever detour that their conversations took that would inevitably lead in that direction.
Theron took her distant frown as an invitation to sit and planted himself just within arm's reach next to Kallian on the roof, his gaze drawn to the same dark patch that Kallian was busy staring at. "Are you ready to go back?"
She had expected something different from Theron, but apparently her skillful evasion of his questions had finally gotten through to him. Kallian was briefly glad that he wasn't as dense as he sometimes made himself out to be. "I think so." She replied, settling down with her knees propped up and her arms wrapped around them. "I hope so."
"Going home isn't easy." Theron said quietly, folding one of his legs underneath him and leaned back, staring up at the stars. "Not once you've left and the road has changed you. I wouldn't know myself. My clan is long gone, fled north, perhaps across the sea or over the mountains. Away from the Blight, and me. But I wonder sometimes; what would I say to them if I saw them again? Would they welcome me back, or would I be a stranger?"
Kallian looked over her shoulder at him, surprised. She'd never heard the Warden talk much about himself, though she'd seen him on the receiving end of much chatting many a time from his companions. She always saw him as the solution to the problem, not someone who had any of his own. Then again, after his confession the other night about having to kill his childhood friend, she knew that to be as far from the truth as it could get. "I think it would be hard for anyone t'forget you. Yer sorta too brassy."
Theron's smile was weak and fleeting, but it appeared briefly all the same. "Maybe they would be eager to forget me, then."
She snorted at that, settling her chin on her forearm. "What're you on about, Theron? I can't figure you out."
"I have been told many times that I am… too rough when talking to others." He replied hesitantly, picking at a run in his shirt. "But you don't seem to mind."
"When you live on the streets as long as I have, you get used to it." Kallian replied with a quick flick of a smile. "You're a bit frayed around the edges, but you ain't all that bad compared to some of the scum that I've talked to."
He wasn't sure if he should be offended or flattered, and instead settled for neither. "You should tell me about them." He said mildly, earning a curious glance from Kallian. "Your people, the city elves. You asked me once what the Dalish are like, and I answered."
"Ah, a favor for a favor, huh?" She asked, lifting her head off her arms and tilting her head slightly in his direction. "Well, if you're gonna be dogging my every step like you have been, then you'll see 'em up close an' personal tomorrow. The gates are open, an' the Purge is lifted. I'm gonna get my people in there, and we'll ferret out those slavers and put them to bed permanently."
Theron arched his eyebrow in return. "No words of wisdom?"
"Nope." Kallian replied with a roguish grin. "It's best if you just see it yerself an' make yer own decision. But I'll tell you this much just as a special favor; keep your righteous Dalishness to yourself. Look, an' listen. You'll get farther with a closed mouth than an open one."
"I'll… take it under advisement." Theron replied hesitantly, studying the profile of Kallian's face in the darkness. "But what should I expect tomorrow? I'm not particularly a fan of walking into traps, and that's exactly what this seems like its panning out to be."
"Well, a few things, maybe." Kallian replied nonchalantly, her eyes drawn back to the horizon. "Could be that there's a welcome home party waiting for me on the other side. Maybe there'll be a picket line of elves demanding my head on a platter. It's a toss up, really."
"I… are you joking?" Theron seemed legitimately confused, enough that Kallian almost felt sorry for the poor blighter. "I don't understand. What have you done?"
"I didn't die." Kallian replied with the barest hint of bitterness. "That's enough for some, it seems." She stood, making a show of stretching with a wide yawn that was entirely for Theron's benefit. "Big day tomorrow. Best go get your beauty sleep, Slugger. If my hunch is right, then we're gonna have a fight on our hands soon enough."
Theron tilted his head at the new nickname, having become used to Kallian's penchant for dishing them out whenever it suited her taste. He'd had a handful of monikers already today, though she hadn't settled on one as of yet. "Tomorrow it is." He agreed and started for the edge of the roof, realizing that the tight-lipped thief wasn't going to be divulging any more tonight.
•º•.•º•
The next morning had the Wardens knocking at the Highever doors again, Kallian just finishing up giving orders to a small group of Knifers when Rebecca escorted the human and elf duo into the foyer. A small task force had been elected to go ahead into the Alienage to do some light scouting and to placate the other elves that were staying behind. Many of them wanted to go home right away, but she had convinced them that it was a bad idea on account of the Slavers still being at large. All of them were to return to the estate by dusk, and to fail to show up was to be counted dead or captured. With the warning fresh in their minds, the small group of elves left the estate to head for the Alienage.
Naturally, Aedan had signed himself up to join Kallian's group, and she let him on the task force with only token resistance. She had spent near a half hour lecturing him on the sensitive nature of his being a human, and that sending him into the Alienage fully armed would probably start a riot. He agreed to the terms that he was to keep his weapons sheathed unless outright attacked and make eye contact with absolutely no one if it could at all be helped. The young noble was obviously eager to be under way, and Kallian couldn't blame him.
Her real issue was with Alistair. She liked the Warden well enough for a human that she barely knew, and she and Theron quickly came to verbal sparring over the merits of having him tag along. The Warden argued that having extra muscle wouldn't be a determent to their cause if she really thought that they were going to be facing another slaver cell, and that Alistair's skill as a Templar would be handy if they ran into blood mages. Surprisingly, Aedan joined in on the cause, arguing in favor for the Wardens to come along, though his argument had a slightly more political bent attached to it.
Eventually, Kallian caved in but told Alistair that in no uncertain terms was he to make eye contact with anyone, along with half a dozen other rules that Aedan had already gotten an earfull from. With everything settled, they made their way out to the Alienage. The closer they got to the gates though, the more that Kallian's bravado was beginning to fade, and by the time that she stepped through the gates she was quietly indulging in a nervous breakdown.
She wasn't sure what she would be more nervous about. A joyous reception, or a rioting crowd. Stories had come from the Denerim elves about her once she had started asking, though most were nervous to tell her everything they'd heard. Rumor had it that she had sold out Shianni and made a break for Redcliffe after she'd been captured. Others were angry about the Purge itself, muttering angrily that if she'd just have kept quiet that none of them would have suffered. Still others were glad that she had washed the castle walls with blood, showing that damned brat Vaughn that not all elves would so easily be pushed over. It truly was going to be a surprise when she walked through those gates, one way or the other.
Theron quietly walked at her side, the two elves leading the humans behind them, Keran ranging forward and to the sides of their little group, nosing his way through the unfamiliar territory. "From what you told me last night, I had expected… more."
"Me too." Kallian replied warily, scanning the streets. She spotted a group of elves that were standing around and were now giving her the evil eye.
Theron looked at the group as well, noticing that the group of elves hastily looked the other direction when they saw the Dale staring back and quietly made themselves scarce. "Perhaps you worried too much."
"I seriously doubt that." She replied with a laugh that was more nervous than she'd intended it to be, scanning the streets for signs of disturbance. Normally, the Alienage was packed to the gills with elves, but it was unsettlingly empty. How many of her people had been taken by the slavers, or killed in the Purge? She didn't even want to know the number, and just hoped that nobody was keeping score. They rounded a corner to find an irritated mob gathered outside one of the central buildings, and Kallian couldn't help but to be relieved to find a good deal of elves standing around here.
"I've got children at home! I can't wait out here another day!" A woman yelled over the commotion.
"So go home!" Kallian's eyes snapped to the source of the voice, suddenly unable to breathe now that she was being swamped with an overwhelming sense of relief. It was Shianni, causing trouble as usual. She had never been so happy to see her cousin yelling at the masses before. "The best thing you can do for your children is not trust these charlatans!"
A man in feathery robes standing on the porch of the building held up his hands in a placating way. "Everyone remain calm. We will help as many as we can today, so long as we can do this in an orderly fashion."
"Oh, you're helping us, are you shem?" Shianni yelled back, indignant. "Like Valendrian and my uncle Cyrion, you helped them, didn't you? Helped them never to be seen again!"
Clearly exasperated, the man on the porch sighed. "We've explained this to you before, girl. More whining will not persuade us to let you into the quarantine to carry plague back out to the Alienage."
Another male elf Kallian knew as Elim turned to Shianni, obviously having had enough with her shenanigans. "Quit trying to get us all killed, Shianni! Some of us have still got things to live for."
"If this spell of theirs works, why are half the people they quarantine perfectly healthy?" She shot back bitterly, her checks flushing an angry red.
Kallian found her voice, her feet carrying her a few steps forward. "Shianni?"
Her cousin whirled, a look of shocked disbelief on her face when she saw Kallian standing there. Her hands went to her mouth as if to keep it from falling open. "Maker's breath, Kallian?"
Kallian nodded once, then ran into Shianni and nearly barreled her over in a fierce hug that her cousin returned gladly. After a moment they stood apart from each other and Kallian tried very hard not to get too teary eyed. "I was afraid I'd come home just for you to be gone."
"Andraste's frilly skirts, I thought you were dead for sure! After they let me go and you never came out everyone thought… Valendrian even held a funeral for you." Shianni did tear up and hastily wiped at her eyes. "Cousin, you have no idea… the things that happened after your wedding… I'm babbling, aren't I?"
"You have a complicated past, da'len." Theron mumbled, looking over the two women.
"Wedding? I didn't know you were married." Aedan added, sounding slightly scandalized, then remembered that he wasn't supposed to make eye contact with anyone and directed his eyes elsewhere. Keran, who had returned from knocking over a rubbish bin, groaned in agreement.
"I'm not actually married." Kallian replied, feeling heat creep up her cheeks. "I was betrothed to a man I didn't even know. It… didn't end well."
The three men tagging along with her all exchanged looks, raised eyebrows all around at the obvious untold story that was behind those words. The mabari stared at her, making whiney grumbling noises and had pinned the elf down with innocently large brown eyes that begged to be confessed to. Shianni, realizing that Kallian was in need of a rescue pulled her cousin toward her. "Whatever the case, I'm glad to see you again." There was real warmth in her words, though sadness tinged her gaze. "It's good that you're home. But not everyone is going to be happy to see you. Some people blame you and Soris. Can you believe that? They're blaming you like it's your fault that the new Arl put a Purge on us."
"I was afraid of that." Kallian replied glumly, though was glad for the timely save. "Don't worry, Howe got what was coming to him, and so did Vaughn. They're both dead."
"Good." Shianni replied. "After that human was appointed, the first thing he did was march his troops in here. Said something about us all being a danger to Denerim, and that we had to be put down."
"It's a fact that Howe sent the soldiers because of the castle massacre." Elim growled, butting into their conversation as if he were invited into it.
His continued self-righteousness got Shianni's dander up quickly. "Is it a fact? Really? So we should take everything the shems say at face value? We're all lazy, vulgar thieves then? That's what they say, isn't it?" Both Kallian and Shianni were satisfied to see Elim turn red and hastily excuse himself from the conversation again.
"What about Valendrian?" Kallian asked, her heart already sinking. She'd heard Shianni say that their Hahren had been taken by these humans masquerading as healers. "Didn't he do something? Try and talk the Arl down?"
Shianni looked down at the ground. "He… well, that was something I wanted to talk to you about, actually. He was taken! These Tevinters took him into that house days ago, and no one's seen him since! They said he had the plague, but he didn't, cousin, he was healthy as a war hound. And now they've got him and won't let anyone see him."
Elim, apparently not having had enough of the two cousins' spiteful glares decided that he needed to throw in his own two cents. "They're educated men, Shianni, they'd know if he had the plague. And it's not as if Valendrian would make a show of illness even if he were on his deathbed."
"Hush up Elim!" Kallian hissed, turning all of her venom on the man. "If these Tevinters are here to help you, then I'm the bloody reincarnation of Holy Andraste." Panic was fueling her anger at the man, but she wasn't about to hold back on him. "What about my father? How long ago did they take him?"
Shianni turned sad, and Kallian panicked more. "After I came back and you didn't, he sort of… gave up the ghost. They took him weeks ago. I told him not to go to the hospice! Not one elf they've taken in there has come out again. Who knows what's become of them?"
"I know exactly what's become of them." Kallian mumbled darkly, her heart in her throat. Her father wasn't one of the rescues that she had saved since the Alienage had closed down. She tried to stay positive, telling herself that maybe he was being held over longer for whatever reason, but it was a tentative little hope at best. "Is there even really a plague?"
"Well, yes. There was. But the elves that the Tevinters are healing aren't the ones that have it." Shianni replied, glancing to the man standing on the porch of the hospice house. "They said it came from the Blight. People fleeing from the darkspawn brought it with them to Denerim. After the refugees arrived, people here got sick. And these Tevinter vultures began circling, taking people out of the Alienage a few at a time."
"And then put them straight in cages and marched them to the boats." Kallian finished, cursing under her breath. "I've saved a lot of people, Shianni. They're outside the Alienage, waiting for the okay so that they can come back home."
"Maker's breath, so I was right…" Shianni sighed, pressing her thumb to the center of her forehead like she had a headache. "Sometimes I hate it when I'm right."
"Me too. But stay here and keep low. They'll take anyone that can drag themselves to the boats." Kallian sized up the mage briefly, then turned to Theron, Aedan and Alistair. "I'm going to go in there."
"Not alone, you're not." Aedan replied immediately, Keran barking twice as if to say No Way. "If they take you again, we might really never get you back."
"Well they're not going to let you in." She muttered back in hushed tones. "They might let Theron in, but he's a bit on the prickly side to pretend to be a city elf."
"I will take that as a compliment." The Dale replied dryly, looking to the hospice as well. "If they're taking elves in and getting them out with no one noticing, then there must be a second way in. The three of us," he gestured to Aedan and Alistair, "will find the door and come in to back you up. Just try and not get killed before we do it."
"Cousin, this is crazy. You can't go in there." Shianni whispered, touching Kallian's arm lightly. "Elves that go in are never seen again."
Kallian smiled and pulled her cousin into a hug. "These three might not look like much, but I trust 'em to get me outta any trouble. They're good fellows." Shianni looked unconvinced, but let Kallian slip out of her grasp anyway. "We'll get to the bottom of this, don't worry."
"Wherever they're hiding the elves, they might be hiding Ammy." Kallian said to Aedan, who nodded in quiet agreement. "We'll get to the bottom of this and put these blighters out of business permanently."
"The entrance to the hospice is around back in the alley." Shianni added quietly, her concern obvious. "Maker watch you Kallian, I hope you come out alright."
Kallian smiled and hugged Shianni for one last time. "I'll be back before you know it."
"Be careful, Kallian." Aedan said as he passed her, Theron leading them around the crowd of elves. "The Knifers will never forgive me if you died on my watch."
"You just keep tabs on yourself there Basher." Kallian replied with a grin. "Ammy won't forgive me if you die on my watch." The group split and Kallian moved through the crowd of elves, making her way to the front. She had to push her way through the crowd to get near the hospice at all.
One of the men standing near the door noticed her movement. "There's no need to push! We will work our spell for each person in-" The robed man got one good look at Kallian and stopped mid-warning, an expression of horror passing over his face. "Hessarian's mercy, how long have you been ill, woman? You should have come here days ago!"
It took a great deal of effort for Kallian to not grin. These bloody fools were faker than a desperate merchant on sale day. "Oh Maker, no! I can't be sick! I have children!" She pitched her tone for hysteria, and the others standing around her backed off a step, some looking confused at the claim for having children. Anybody that knew her knew she couldn't woo a man to save her life, let alone have a child with one.
"The rest of you must stay back." The crowd parted easily for the man, and he escorted Kallian to the door of the hospice, apparently unafraid of her imagined blighted condition. "Only the sick are permitted inside!" He called over his shoulder to the crowd just in case anyone got any bright ideas.
"Oh please, blessed Andraste!" Kallian wailed, allowing herself to be escorted inside by one of the door guards. The inside of the hospice was incredibly bare for a place where the sickly were supposed to be camped out hoping to get better before they were killed by their disease. Kallian hadn't expected it to be quite so deserted, but it only confirmed her suspicions beyond any shadow of a doubt. This is where they were pulling the elves from.
Another guard from the back of the room came forward, looking Kallian over. "What's this?"
"We've got another one." The soldier escorting Kallian replied, pushing her forward into the second soldier, who grabbed her wrists roughly.
"She's a bit small, but she'll fetch a few sovereigns I figure." The second soldier said with a grin and started to drag her toward the back room. Kallian went along amiably enough, then twisted her wrists and kicked the man in the side of the knee. He cried in agony, letting go and falling over on the ground holding his injured knee. A handful of guards came out of the room in front of her and she quickly drew her knives from their concealed location in her boots.
Just then the back door burst open with the howl of a mabari on the warpath and chaos ensued. Theron quickly made his way to Kallian's side, deflecting the soldier that had escorted her in the building and leaving Kallian to guard his back. Aedan and Alistair carved their way through the handful of guards that had appeared from the back room, Keran knocking or dragging them off their feet, and the fight ended quickly.
"This way." Kallian breathed, not bothering to sheathe her daggers and jogged into the back room and was confronted with the sight of pens of elves, half a dozen to a cage and all of them looking frightened but otherwise not in the least bit sick.
"Help us! Please, we're not sick!" One of the elves came forward; his right eye was a startling shade of purple from a punch to the face. "Let us out of here!"
"Don't worry, I've got them." Kallian said over her shoulder and quickly took out her lock picking tools. "Go see if you can find anythin' that'll say where we can find the rest of these slavers."
Behind her Theron and Alistair flared out, searching the dead guards for papers. Aedan lingered a moment longer, then went out as well. Kallian made quick work of the lock, the door to the gate swinging open on rusty hinges. "You lot go ahead and get out of here, and stay low. There's more where this bunch came from." Most of the elves fled immediately, but the one with the blackened eye stayed behind.
"Thank you!" He breathed, smiling despite the blackened eye. "It's good to have you back, Kalli. I knew what they were saying about you wasn't true."
Her returning glare wasn't particularly directed at the elf, but he ended up on the receiving end anyway. "Yeah, they've been sayin' a lot about me, I hear. Go on, get. And warn the others. These Tevinters are gettin' what's coming to them."
He nodded and fled the room, leaving Kallian to open the other doors. She was thanked several more times, but mostly the caged elves were too frightened to do more than run away as fast as they could. Once all of the cages were open she went back out into the main room to find the other three waiting for her.
"I found this." Aedan said, holding up a piece of paper. "'Bring eight males and six females for the next shipment'."
"They must be takin' precautious to make sure that they don't lose everythin' when we raid them." Kallian muttered to herself, taking the piece of paper and turning it over in her fingers.
"Let's go and reveal these frauds." Theron started for the door, blades in hand. "This can not continue. Shartan did not march for the freedom of our peoples only to have them thrown back in chains."
Kallian blinked in surprise, not at all expecting the Dale to know the story of Shartan when even the elves of the city were not allowed to speak of such things. She followed Theron to the door and when it opened they were confronted with the sight of a crowd of shocked elves and angry guards.
Kallian boldly stepped forward, thrusting a hand in the air with her bloody dagger still in her palm. "These men are here to put you in chains!" She yelled over the startled babble that was quickly filling the square. "They are taking your families to Tevinter! We will not let them fool us any longer!" A great murmuring went up among the crowd; some panicking and fleeing the square outright while others began to eye the Tevinters with animosity.
The mage who was in charged yelled something in Arcanum, then the guards of the square attacked the group of four, bringing their blades to bear and immediately went about trying their best to skewer them. Behind the group the mage was summoning a spell, intent on blowing all of them up and silencing the rebellion before it could start. Alistair was quick to react, a smite rolling over the mage and throwing him to the ground with its intensity.
Aedan covered Kallian, his shield taking the blow of two slavers trying to cut off her head and the lithe elf returned the favor by jamming her daggers into the nearest man's side, the thin blades shearing through the chinks in his armor and left him bleeding and unable to breathe properly. Outside of the ring of the fight, the elves that had been rallied by Kallian's words were throwing whatever they could get their hands on at the slavers, yelling and jeering from their safe place outside the fight. Several rocks to the head was enough to distract one of the Tevinter soldiers, and he was decapitated for his lapse in attention by Alistair.
A burst of fire fell on them, washing over the square as a second mage joined the fray and very nearly roasted Aedan and Alistair alive in their armor, the slaver guards faring no better. Kallian felt raw from the heat on one side of her face where the blast had hit her hard and quickly found the mage readying another fireball. She flipped her dagger and held it by the tip, cocking her arm back and threw the weapon, the blade lodging itself in the hollow of the mage's neck just above his collarbone. He fell over backwards, gagging on his own blood and squirmed in the dirt before dying. The first mage was on his feet again, trying and failing to cast a spell with the effects of the Smite still lingering over him and instead resorted to blood magic, tearing a long gouge on the inside of his arm with a small dagger.
The flux of power in the square was immediately felt by all, and the elves who had been throwing rocks fled at the sight of the blood mage wielding his full power, the Veil shimmering into view for even those without any magic and began to tear, the wrapped head of a shade sticking through the rent in reality. Alistair hastily threw another smite at the mage, but it did not lessen the power of his raw blood magic, and the mage only laughed at the attempt.
Theron took matters into his own hands rushing forward around two Tevinter guards who tried their best to hack him to little bits and set upon the mage, bringing his blade across the man's chest. Another pulse of magic sent Theron staggering backwards and the shade came out to play, seeping from the hole in the Veil and chuckled with a sound like rocks grating together.
"I hate mages!" He hissed to himself and quickly twisted out of the way when the shade came after him, claws outstretched and ready to rend flesh if it could get purchase on the nimble elf. Theron proved a match for the beast, avoiding the creature's attacks and slicing open anything his swords could bite into, wisps of dark magic seeping from the wounds like blood under water.
With one dagger left Kallian put it through the visor slot of the last man left attacking Aedan and they quickly went to Alistair's aid who was doing his best to not get killed under the pressure of three men taking turns beating him back against a wall. While they struggled against the opposition, Keran darted from where he had been tearing out a man's throat and went straight for the mage, taking the man by surprise and knocking him to the ground. The shade turned its attention from trying to eviscerate Theron and put it's one-eyed gaze on the hound instead, gliding over to the war dog and began trying to rip apart the mabari instead.
Now left to his own devices, Theron sprinted for the downed mage and laid his throat open before another shade could be summoned or worse pulled through the Veil. Once the mage was dead the shade went into a rage, clawing with wild flails at Keran who was just doing his best to keep out of the way. Out of seemingly nowhere a dagger flew across the space and embedded into the shade's neck, making the thing scream and claw at the intruding piece of metal. Alistair appeared shortly after, defending against the shade's wild death flails with his shield and stuck his sword through the main body of the beast, ending its short magical life.
The square had gone quite, all of the elves either fled or dead after the attack and all of the Tevinter traders laying in pools of their own blood on the ground.
"It's never a complete day without a little massacre here an' there." Kallian quipped with a small grin, picking her dagger up from the pile of ashes that the shade had left behind before going to pull the second one out of the mage's throat she had killed earlier.
"I doubt that we would be so lucky to end this here." Theron replied, wiping off his blades on the dead mage whose throat he had slit before sheathing them. "We found these slavers' holding ground, but we have yet to find their base of operations."
Keran perked up, abandoning licking his coat clean of blood and barked several times, running toward the alleyway behind the hospice and paused at the corner, tail wagging and continued barking. "I think he's got that part handled." Aedan said with the barest hint of a grin. "If Solona is here, he should be able to pick up her scent."
"Then lets go rescue a damsel." Kallian sheathed her blades and followed after the mabari.
Ugugugugu, right, so, another late Monday update. I think I'll be switching to updates on Fridays, since I don't have class at the asscrack of dawn on Fridays like I do the rest of the week. So, update this Friday? Dunno.
So, this chapter and the next one are kind of me just indulging in my fangirlness over Kallian. Oh, and also some Kalli/Theo action, because I can, and because ya'll want it. I hope you get as much of a kick out of it as I do. Thanks for reading, and I'll see ya'll again maybe this Friday, but definitely next Friday.
