Chase took out a needle he used to pry things open and jerked her hand forward. Her whole body leaned toward Chase and he reached around her neck, poking it with his needle. She gasped and tried to free her hand from him, but he kept his needle in her neck for a moment. When he released her hand, her hood had come off her head and a drop of blood formed on her neck. She rubbed her neck and saw a small amount of blood.
“What did you do!” Chloe raised her voice, her face contorting in anger.
“Shhhh…” Chase shushed her, “that was a poison. You don’t want to make a scene here.” She was breathing heavily, her eyes fixed on Chase’s with hatred. “Don’t get me wrong. My offer is still valid. As long as you return my items intact, I will give you my antidote and you will be just fine. This one is not an incredibly fast-acting poison, but you do want to make up your mind because by next morning, you will be paralyzed from neck down,” Chase said matter-of-factly to show that she needed him more than he needed her. She didn’t say anything but just kept breathing angrily. “So, do you still have them?” Chase asked in the end. She nodded without a word. “Good.”
“But not with me.”
“Where are they then?”
“At my place.”
He was glad she was cooperating but that was bad news. He didn’t have much of an option, however.
“Let’s go there then.”
“Now?” Chloe said incredulously.
“Now,” Chase spoke firmly. “Actually, you stay right there,” Chase told her and started taking his clothes off. Thanks to the dim lights in the bunker, no one seemed to notice his presence. He took out the clothes he had gotten from the tower guard and put them on. They were made out of a bland, beige cloth that looked unattractive but felt soft to the touch. Working for the Osas came with good work clothes, it seemed.
“I work here and you’re a suspicious person I caught here. Is that clear?” Chase said to Chloe. She didn’t reply. “Is that clear?” He asked again, to which she reluctantly nodded.
The bunker now seemed well full. The two of them navigated their way through the crowd to the staircase.
“Walk before me,” Chase said to Chloe. Her lips twitched at the moment as though she wanted to object to that idea but she kept quiet and went before Chase. Chase wasn’t sure if the guards were going to let them out easily. This was a lockdown for a natural disaster after all. It would be odd if the guards weren’t trained to stop people from wanting to leave the bunker during the lockdown. Having the tower guard’s clothes on might help him but it could also give away a clue that he didn’t really work for the Osas. Chase wasn’t sure how many of them were guarding the bunker entrance but he really didn’t want to resort to getting his way by force. Hunting had built him strong, but a hand-to-hand combat was besides that. He had no time to waste.
When Chase and Chloe climbed up to the entrance, there were four guards sitting on the stairs, talking to one another. Seeing Chase, two of them got up.
“Open the door. I caught the culprit that rang the bells. I was sent here by the lord to catch him,” Chase said urgently.
“What are you talking about?”
“Yeah, who are you?”
“So, you don’t know. That alarm was nothing but a hoax by this scoundrel right here,” Chase said as he gave a gentle push on Chloe’s shoulders. “The lord ordered our investigating team to catch him. Who knew that it was a girl. Our team separated and each of us went to different areas to arrest the criminal and I got her here. He gave me the right to punish anyone that hinders this process. Open the door, immediately,” Chase said, using the most authoritative voice he could pull off.
The two other guards got up as well. They looked at one another, as though they weren’t sure what to make of the situation.
“We’ve never heard there was an investigating team here. Show us your identification as an investigator,” one of the guards spoke up.
Not everyone was a dummy to Chase’s dismay. It was the situation he had dreaded but he had no other way but to keep acting. He cleared his throat, his face hard and cold.
“You have no authority to see my identification nor am I willing to hassle with mere guards like you. The more this is delayed, the more enraged the lord gets, and I will see to it that he has all of your heads hung on the city gate for interfering with the arrest and questioning the high authority. You shall open the door right now,” Chase snarled without taking a single breath. His face was all red, which improved the fury he tried to display.
They seemed a bit confused and scared.
“H,Here. Give me the key. I will get it.” The guards hurriedly opened the door and made way for Chase and Chloe. The two got out of the bunker. The bunker gates closed behind them instantly. The Osa House was quiet and the sky was clear.
“You are crazy. You’re completely out of your mind,” Chloe said to Chase.
“Don’t tell me, because you don’t know what crazy is.” Chase looked down at her. She was glaring back at him. “We need to hurry so you don’t die without giving me my stuff back,” Chase said airily. She didn’t reply but her feet moved faster. This time, he didn’t put that much effort in hiding behind a bush between each run. There was no one around and having an untrained person with him was already a huge burden.
“Go on, push yourself up over my shoulders,” Chase said as he gave his shoulders for her to step on to hop over the outermost wall.
“No, it’s too high. I can’t. I’m feeling dizzy.” She wasn’t even trying to go over.
“Ok, we don’t have all night here. I will toss you over so it’s up to you to land. One, Two…”
“Wait!”
“…Three!” Despite her desperate call, Chase sprang to his feet and hurled her over the wall. Chase couldn’t see it but could tell from the sound that she landed perfectly on her feet. The sound of her landing was light.
“You’re a crazy jerk, you know that!” she screamed from the other side.
“Be quiet. I know you were just being difficult,” Chase said as he quickly put on his spikes. Climbing from the outside was a lot harder because the moat prevented him from having any runway and the steep slope made the actual height of the wall much higher. From the inside, he had plenty of room to run and the stable flat ground. All he needed were the spikes to give him traction. He ran several feet away from the wall and jumped on it to kick his way up the wall. It took him only about couple seconds to hop over it. Chloe was standing by the water, sulking. She probably knew what was coming next.
“Ladies first,” Chase pointed at the moat. Surprisingly, she didn’t hesitate. She got in the moat and Chase quickly followed her.
Chase had Chloe run in front of him to her place. She ran surprisingly fast once she got out on the empty street. Maybe she understood the urgency of the situation that it was for her own good to give him his belongings and get the antidote as quickly as possible, or she was just trying to lose him. Chase wasn’t sure why she’d want to lose him, because she needed him for the antidote now. Moving too quickly would only accelerate the spreading of the poison so she shouldn’t have run so fast, though that was none of his business.
Chloe couldn’t outrun Chase. Running was the most basic skill required of a good hunter and Chase was a natural runner. With many years of hunting, his reflexes and strength had improved tremendously. She might have learned to run fast from pickpocketing for her life, but she still could not rival with Chase.
After a while, she came to a stop. It was a small winery. Confirming that his guess was correct, made solely based on her scent he had caught, somehow gave him a strange sense of satisfaction. He would’ve been able to catch her by his first approach if he had more time, but again, time was always one of the most important factors for everything. A smile spread across his face. Chloe did not like this smile, however. Her pale blond hair reflected Zania’s golden rays, which contrasted with her blue eyes looking angry with her defeat. The ends of her mouth curled sarcastically
as she spoke, “So the hoax you mentioned was done by you in fact, huh?”
“Nope,” Chase said a little too quickly.
“Don’t lie. It must have been a hoax; otherwise there should have been a sign of a natural disaster that caused the bells to ring. I saw none. It was you, Dunnabel,” Chloe said accusingly.
“Nope, sorry, didn’t do it,” Chase responded with the best poker face he could muster. He could feel his palms break out in cold sweat as his brain rapidly worked to figure out how she’d found out his name. “What now? If I were you, I’d just quickly hand me over my stuff and get the antidote. You don’t want to risk your life for meaningless squabbles, Chloe,” Chase managed to say coolly. He wanted to let her know that if she knew his name, he also knew her name. Her lips curled up in an unnerving smile.
“You think you figured—”
“Go on and bring my stuff out. You really don’t want to waste any more time,” Chase interrupted her. She pulled the hood down over her face till Chase could only see her mouth. It made a thin line, which indicated both her resentment and her silence. Chase appreciated this combo greatly for the latter.
After a few minutes, she came out with his book and money pouch in her hand. All the streets and buildings were empty and everything was dead quiet. Seeing them in her hand was like seeing the finish line.
‘Finally,’ Chase sighed of relief. Fatigue came over him.
“Antidote,” Chloe said and held her hand out.
“I don’t have it,” Chase said, “I didn’t mean to scare you, but you’ve got to admit that you wouldn’t have led the way, had I been a gentleman and not lied to you.”
Her thin lips got thinner as a realization dawned on her. “So… you didn’t poison me from the beginning.”
“Right.”
She looked so dumbstruck that Chase started to feel bad for her, though she caused all this trouble for him. She dropped his book and money pouch, which he caught in midair without difficulty.
“You’re a jerk from the beginning to the end,” she muttered, rubbing her neck where Chase had poked her with a needle.
“Well, I will take that as a thank-you. I don’t know what your story behind stealing is, but I hope you will be able to quit it soon,” Chase said as he turned around to go on his way.
“I wouldn’t have believed you if I didn’t read that book,” Chloe said. Chase turned back toward her. He raised his eyebrows curiously. “That book had a section about poisons, so I figured you might have dealt with them,” she said.
“I do,” Chase responded, not wanting to talk much more, overwhelmed with fatigue. He moved his tired feet back.
“Why didn’t you report me?” she asked again from a distance.
Chase didn’t want to turn around this time. He looked up at the sky.
“I didn’t have time for all that. I wanted to catch you fast,” Chase replied. She didn’t say anything. Chase took a few steps and then stopped in mid-track.
“You reek of Maroa wine, you know that?” Chase said.
“What?”
This time Chase didn’t reply.
CHAPTER TEN
The Red Sage, Derek Reynhart, had announced the Red Half Council. All the military Council members gathered at the Council Hall in the palace for the meeting. They carried their weapons everywhere they went but at the palace, especially at the Council, carrying a weapon was strictly prohibited. Having a weapon in the presence of the king was high treason, which would cost the weapon-bearer’s life. The head of the Half Council was a Sage, not the king as in the regular Council, but the Half Council was no exception to the rule. Even though there wasn’t a king, the Council held power that represented Sarum and bearing arms in such a place could result in death.
The formal attire for the Red Half Council was armor, which came in variety of material and styles. What identified their status as the military councilmen were the red robes draped over their armor. As the Sarumese were known for their extravagant taste, the Sarumese-style armor often boasted bright color and decorations such as plumes, different alloys, sometimes jewels if the owner could afford them, and hard leather. If plumes were used, they were normally weaved in with hard leather of cowhide, sometimes gargoyle and Becksion (a large reptile with high quality leather). These were often put on the backsides of the arms or legs. Having jewels on their armor was a luxury only rich nobles could afford because the jewels also had to be durable. They wouldn’t want to have jewels that broke or scratched easily on their armor. Ruby, sapphire, and diamond were among the ones that were used relatively commonly.
Reynhart always wore fancy armor which had protected him from the arrows and blades of his enemies. It was studded with tiny rhophinias on the chest, the hardest and the rarest gemstones known to men.
Reynhart commenced the Red Half Council. Beside Reynhart sat General Kirk Elbric and Admiral Harvey Lozenhyme.
Kirk Elbric replaced the former general not too long ago, so he was relatively young for being a general and was full of energy, which often manifested into a rather aggressive approach to foreign affairs. He was an excellent strategist with a nearly hundred per cent clean record of fending off the attacks from Gatimore, a nation touching the western border of Sarum, and Decarta, another nation touching the southwestern border. Though Elbric took pride in his defense line, he lamented that Sarum had been passive about expanding its border.
General Elbric was bulky, but it didn’t make him look fat, though he didn’t appear lean either. It was the look of a man who was born with a big frame, who also had naturally high muscle content. He was conspicuously big, with a square nose, which tended to scare away those who first met him. They had the right reason in doing so, because Elbric’s temper made his appearance nothing at all.
General Elbric often advocated attacking other nations before they could attack Sarum again, but even he knew this wasn’t the right time for that. Before the heir was chosen and the troubles with Rogath eased, Sarum wasn’t stable or strong enough to go to war with others.
Admiral Harvey Lozenhyme was the oldest member of the Council. To the east of the Ippa continent was the vast Cromikan Ocean where the Sarumese archipelago was. The Cromikan Ocean held countless islands, most of which were plagued by pirates that had formed from countries along the coast. There were an increasing number of pirates from the mid-Cromikan islands that came to loot Sarumese archipelago but under the lead of Lozenhyme, the Sarumese Navy fended them off, keeping their number down.
Admiral Lozenhyme had a long thin face with a sharp, pointed nose and a long chin, which tended to make him look somber, also due to a fact that he had a mouth that stayed perpetually downward. He wore his usual silver armor that reflected blue light and together with the Red Sage Reynhart and General Elbric, he completed the triangle of authority in the Red Half Council.
“Rogath has been asking for us to send our soldiers in Mokuba peninsula to their border facing Gatimore,” General Elbric said with a solemn note, as it had been the topic of discussion for quite some time. Sarum had been giving excuses not to relocate its soldiers from Mokuba peninsula to Rogath but Rogath was pressing hard now.
“They are asking us two favors; one is to give them our land and the other is to give them our men to die defending Rogath. This is outrageous,” Admiral Lozenhyme interjected, fury masking his thin, somber face. “When Gatimore invaded us a century ago, Rogath sent aid for their own safety, because they were worried that Gatimore was going to annex us and become powerful enough to be a threat to them. Knowing all that, we couldn’t do anything but to sign a treaty that would allow Rogathian intervention in our government.” Admiral Lozenhyme’s voice sounded almost hollow. He’d been in the Council long enough to have dealt with all that Rogath was and could ever be, and though every time it was an outrage beyond his imagination, he tried his best to stay composed… at least in the Council.
Reynhart looked between his general and admiral with his measuring eyes, with a hint of amusemen
t in them, as if to see who was going to say what. The long white scar on his neck, stark against his tan leathery skin, was as taut as a tendon, which neither his red robe nor his extravagant armor could hide. It was his heartstring, the dedication and passion of his life, his youth, all given to Sarum, to his king, because he would have his heartstring cut if that could save Sarum. Yes, the scar was the reminder of his heartstring, still intact. He would do anything to protect his king and his dear Sarum.
“We shouldn’t underestimate this fox of Rogath. At first, we all thought it was just recklessness of a new ruler but she has been expanding her land in an unprecedented speed. Now her recklessness is something for us to admire,” Reynhart spoke, “it’s been her hardy luck, but it’s about time to set it straight that Sarum is an independent kingdom. What are your thoughts on how to do this with a minimum risk?”
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