Spoiler! :
"The merchant caravan headed to Ombrose was wiped out," the guard said, toying with his sword's hilt.
"That so?" The other spat. "I told Lucianus not to go, but he wouldn't hear reason, said he absolutely needed to get... whatever he was carrying, I don't know what, to Ombrose. Now he's dead."
The first guard sat onto the floor heavily, rubbing his brow. "Do we know who did it?"
The second shrugged. "Nobody came back alive to tell, could have been elves, could have been goblins, could have been aberrations, maybe even a dragon. Who can say?"
"Come on now," the one sitting said, "can't have been a dragon, there aren't any dragons in the Trenches. Elves, maybe, but highly unlikely. Elves don't steal cargo, they just butcher us. Bit far from the Deep Woods, too. Goblins is possible, aberrations too." He rose to his haunches, but sat down again, wincing.
"Titus, Quentin!" it was a third voice, deep and rolling: another guard, trudging up the stone stairs. Steel clanged against stone, echoes bounced against booms.
"What is it, Marcus, what is it?" Quentin asked, standing. "It sounds like the guard tower is being invaded. Slow down."
Marcus halted at the landing, breathing heavily and scratching his beard. "We caught another criminal… he had that strange brand on him."
Titus stood also. "They keep popping up this week," he remarked.
The bearded guard nodded, darkly. His brows furrowed, and what little of his face was visible under the mass of dark hair was obscured. "Too advanced to be anything human, it's like the ink is burned into their skin."
For a moment, the room was silent. It was a silence with mass -- the harsh crackling of the torches only moved it around, but did nothing to dispel it. The shadows pooled deep, seemingly absorbing the light.
Quentin sat down again. "They creep me out... is it safe, to put them all in one prison?"
"They've been nice and quiet up until now," Titus said. "I'm going down there to check it out. Can't stand it, cooped up here."
"Careful," Marcus said, "this one punched Primo out like he wasn't even there. Came without protest after, but still. They aren't regular humans, I'm telling you."
Titus walked down the stairs briskly. "I'll take a beating over this, this lack of anything. Maybe it'll remind me I'm alive. Can't stand it... can't stand it all."
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