The Outlaws

Resno walked back to the Inn when they heard the commotion. ALex didn't think about changeing until they were already in the hotel.

Caden stepped closer to Hake, ignoring the stares around him. "Tell me something, or I'll strangle you," he said softly, cursing himself for leaving his knife. "Is the Emperor man enough to face us himself, or is he just going to sit back and watch his army die?"

"The army's not going to die," Hake said smugly.

Caden wanted to hit him, but last time he had wanted to hurt womeone, he had killed them. He took a deep breatha and said simply, "You must be a horrible spy to not know what we have planned."

Hake glared at him. "THe Emperor lost the use of one leg in battle," he said simply. "He's not going to strain himself over a troublesome bunch of thieves."

"Ten thousand men is a lot for a scraggly bunch of thieves," Caden said casually, and Hake's eyes widened. "We know more about the soldiers than you think."

Hake slowly smiled. "I see," he said simply. "However, You don't know how much the soldiers know about you, and that's a drawback for you."

"A slight one," Caden said simply, and he stood back.

Kasko threw the guy to the ground will sheathing his knife. Putting his foot to Hake's back as he got up. "Now you'll tell us everything of your Emperor's army. Everything they know about us.

Alex shape shifted to her humen form and landed on the floor. She slowly walked towards the man and squatted down next to him.

"You better tell them what they want unless you want to have the most painful death you can imagene." She hissed in his ear.

"Our armies know every single entrance to your city," Hake said reluctantly.

"And who's the one who gave them this information?" Kasko demanded.

"I don't know," Kasko pressed the knife harder to the Hake's throat. "His name is Charcol. That's all I know, seriously."

Alex looked into his eyes, he seemed to be telling the truth.

"I think what he says is true." She said standing up. She backed away from the man and looked around.

"Well, I think Caden did us a favor getting rid of that Charcol," Liskano said coming down the stairs.

"I did nothing good, killing charcol," Caden answered.

"Sometimes killing people when it is neccesary, is good."

Caden glared at Liskano. "I don't think so you could just capture them and hold them."

"Sometimes you can't even do that. You did us a good, if you like it or not."

River

I hadn't been upstairs long when shouts broke out below me. Sighing, I grabbed my daggers and headed down.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"We be catching us a spy," Liskano replied.
"Ah," I strode towards the man on the ground for my say.
"Has the poison started taking affect?" He looked up in genuine surprise and I smiled thinly. "Oh good. Then perhaps you'll be suspected. Look who went out to work just before the crisis hit."

Alex looked out the window, and Reseno followed.

"We should get back to the pack." He said in a low voice.

"Not yet, I want to see what happens." She replied.

I'm back

Caden unsheathed his knife and started to thumb it thoughtfully, then swore as it cut his finger. It wasn't his old, dull knife; he'd have to be more careful.

"What are we going to do with him?" he asked, eyeing Hake warily.

Molton looked carefully at the spy. "We'll lock him up, of course," he said with a shrug. "We can't let him go, and he might let slip a few more useful bits of information."

Hake bared his teeth. "I'm not saying anything."

the old man shrugged. "Suit yourself." he went behind the counter and tossed a coil of rope to a couple of Outlaws. "There's a hidden storage room in hte cellar. tie him up in there, and we'll see what to do."

Alex frowned this man looked like someone that when given a little persuading would be easy to get information out of. She didn't say anything though. Reseno started to the door and she walked out with him.

"You think you could get somethin out of 'em right?" He asked smiling. She nodded and changed back to a hawk resting on his shoulder, she liked the position and would some times fall asleep.

Caden couldn't help a sigh of releif as the werewolf walked out of the inn. He really didn't like werewolves. They gave him the chills.

He watched as the Outlaws tied Hake's hands behind his back, then bodily pushed him to the cellar. The Outlaws knew where the room was hidden, and they'd take care of their prisoner.

But Hake looked back at him, and Caden saw a smirk of grim satisfaction on his face. The thief shuddered. Hake had a way of bluffing triumph, but you could never really tell whether it was a bluff or reall satisfaction.

River

"Don't let him bother you," I smiled pleasantly and then yawned.
"You should go to bed, you sound tired," Molton commented.
"I am. It's been a long time since I got a good night's sleep," I replied drowsily. Caden nodded in agreement and we both headed for the stairs.
"See you in the morning," I called out as I entered my room. I think he responded but, at that moment, I was too tired to more than acknowledge that words left his mouth."

I awoke to a pale glimmer of light filtering through a gap in the curtains and the murmuring of voices downstairs. Feeling very refreshed, I dressed hurriedly and grabbed a few daggers. Then, preparing for the worst, I headed down the steps, ready to confront Hake. Many other outlaws were already down there, listening to everything he said which, at the moment, was very little.

"This is the last time I'm asking sweetly," Caden said as River came down the stairs. "When and how is the Empire attacking today?"

Hake was in a chair, surrounded by a small group of leery-eyed Outlaws, his hands and ankles tied firmly together.

"I've told you, I don't know," He said through gritted teeth. "I'm not a soldier anymore; I don't have to fight, so the Empreror decided I didn't need to know."

"It's a sensible story," said Molton, but anyone could tell that he didn't beleive it.

"It's the truth," The spy snarled.

"No it's not," Caden said firmly. "It's a lie. I know the Emperor favors you too much to neglect this interesting piece of information."

Hake smiled slowly. "Memory's good, as usual."

"I have a long memory for grudges. And you will never get rid of me when this is over."

"If," Hake corrected. "If this is over before our liftime, if you survive, if all of your plans fail..."he grinned. "If the Emperor is already informed of your plans..."

Caden pulled out his knife and held it in front of Hake's nose. "I suggest you tell us what we want to know, and quickly."

"It's easy for an armed man to suggest," Hake said.

"Yes, it is," Caden replied, refusing to take the bait. "And it's even easier if the man is tied up and can't defend himself. However, it's hard for the man to keep his tongue between his teeth when he remembers how very mrotal he is."

Hake didn't seem concerned at all. "You were never able to take the life of a fellow human."

"I've done it before," Caden said, though the memory made him feel sick.

"And you could never do it again."

"I don't think you are willing to test that." Caden smiled cooly down at Hake, whose confidence was begining to erode, then sat back, thumbing his knife. "Tell us everything, from how many times you've been spying on us to the time they attack," he said, "And you'll find lying unpleasant." He really didn't think he could kill a second person, but he always was good at bluffing.