Young Writers Society

Chapter 17 Part 1 - Hello Here is My Resume, As You Can See, I Majored In Legitimate

His senses were reeling.

Blood, blood, so much blood. And all to silence some thieves from what, fearfully babbling about some mage they ran into?

Robin crept out of the forest on all fours, his head low as he poked his head out of the trees. Nobody was there. Nobody had seen the palace guard slice the throats of the three innocent witnesses, as questionable as they might've seemed. Robin's nose curled as he drew closer, looking down at the pools of blood soaking through their garments, staining the dusty wagon road.

He'd been following the palace wagon the moment he saw the kingdom's crest embezzled on the side doors. Normal Moonlight Kingdom guards didn't have reason to be out this far with a palace wagon. They would be armored, sure, but he could smell how foreign the travelers within were. They were from the heart of the kingdom. Everyone from the kingdom's heart had that same smell... the smell of snow and cold stone, the smell of coals and wood burning in a fire to keep their homes warm.

But now all he smelt was death already creeping upon the corpses in the midday sun. When he trailed the wagon in suspicion he had not expected to happen upon this. Kingdom guards were never this reckless, never this hasty. He hadn't expected the small confrontation to end so suddenly. He hadn't expected to witness a murder at the hands of a high ranking kingdom guard - not against humans. Humans who weren't mages.

Robin's fur bristled as he thought of the look on the man's face when he'd drawn his sword. That was not a face he wanted to see again.

With a small sigh, he sat on his haunches a few steps away from the bodies, debating on how he should go about respectfully bringing their bodies out of the road. The three folks didn't look like they had much besides themselves, and he didn't know how he'd find their families if they had any. His heart sunk and he bowed his head and curled his tail about his front paws.

"May the earth reclaim your bodies in the dust," he said softly. "And may you rest peacefully in death. 'Cause that guy was messed up."

With one last sigh, Robin shifted from his wolven form to his human form in one, instantaneous second. Where a large brown wolf once sat, stood a short black man in a dapper suit with silver cufflinks. He started to roll up his sleeves. There wasn't going to be an easy way to get the bodies out of the road, and burying them would take time.

But he had to hurry.

As much as the sudden act of violence had shaken him, the conversation that happened just before left him with many worries and questions. If the poor travelers were right about running into a mage whose magic was indeed, creative in nature, it was very possible they'd run into a dragon. Svida, specifically, if it was fire.

But what on earth would Svida be doing awake? Svida hadn't been seen since the wake of the calamity. And in all the stories he'd heard, she'd never walked around freely in her human form. What on earth would Svida be doing out here, near Ruddlan, with two horses, after almost 100 years of silence? Why hadn't she told anyone?

Robin's head was starting to hurt. He lifted the youngest victim in his arms, hands under her legs with his other under her back. Despite being small and thin, she felt heavy. Lifeless.

Regardless of whether or not Svida was running around or if the travelers were just mistaken about a mage's magic, he had to find that woman before that crazed soldier did. He looked down at the face of the woman in his arms as he carried her out into the forest, and he held his breath.

He wished he had more to go on. This was going to be difficult.

-- -- -- -- --

Clandestine's breath hitched in her throat as she looked up at the gigantic house from the outer gate.

James hadn't been joking when he'd said the mayor lived in a mansion. Obviously, compared to the sheer massiveness that was the griffin games arena, the house was a huge downgrade, but still. For a home, it was huge. It was about three stories high, and she couldn't even begin to estimate how many rooms must've been inside. Ten? Twenty? At least ten, right? The only time she'd ever been in a building that could compare in size was the guild from a hundred years ago, and that was considerably more musty.

The face of the building was composed of arches and tall, rounded windows. Pillars stood around the front doors at the top of a small trail of steps that let up to it. Leading up to those steps was a nice, cobblestone path that spread out in a loop where wagons could stop in front and then come back around and out.

The building was painted white and little red shutters framed every other window. The front lawn was pristinely gardened, with rows of flowers organized by color, and hedged in by more flower bushes. It felt like the very air around the mansion was different. Clearer. Cleaner. Richer, than the rest of the town.

That would explain why the mansion sat at the edge of the town, at the top of a hill, surrounded by the most fortified part of the city walls.

Clandestine fiddled with her papers in her pocket. They would be her only ticket into a place like this if they even heard her out on her offer. She was beginning to feel that maybe she wasn't cut out for something of this scale when a guard at the front gate looked her up and down and waved to her. The guard was wearing the same kind of uniform she'd been seeing glimpses of around town. Tan leather armor on their chest, shoulders, and arms, and a red collared shirt that went about half-way up their neck, unless they had a short neck. Then it was more like a turtle neck. Clandestine looked to the guard with a nod, and she rode Billy up to the gate before hopping down.

"What is your business here?" the woman asked, giving Clandestine what she was pretty sure was a critical glance. It wasn't Clandestine's fault that she'd gotten lost in a forest running after her partner and running away from a bounty hunter and she hadn't had many chances to clean up. Not mostly, anyway. Clandestine squared her shoulders and stood a little taller than the below-average height guard.

"I'm here with a business inquiry," she said, before fluttering her eyes, questioning her choice of words. Before the woman could interject she tried to make up for her lack of clarity. "I'd like to offer the mayor my services regarding a griffin problem. I'm a freelancing monster hunter," she said, noting how the guard's critical expression turned to mild interest as her eyebrows raised. Clandestine felt a sting of pride, and she smiled as she pulled out her papers.

Fraudulent as they were, no one had ever suspected them of being so. A small part of her worried that the guard would by chance, be a master of all official documentation, but as her eyes scrolled down the paper, she only seemed to nod, noting Clandestine's 'official status.'

But then the guard took a step back.

"Did Barlowe summon you here?"

Clandestine felt a bead of sweat form on her brow. She held her smile, a little strained. "Uh... no. But I have reason to believe I could be of use. I'm sure you already know, being a guard of hers and all, but there's a griffin that's on the loose, yeah?"

If the guard knew what she was talking about, she didn't show it.

"Well that griffin also snatched up a kid, and I have reason to believe the griffin might cause more trouble if it isn't caught soon. And with myself being a professional monster hunter, I think my concern for the safety of this town is reasonable, don't you think?" Clandestine looked through the bars of the metal gates. "Only thing is, being a freelancing monster hunter doesn't always come with steady pay. So if I could get something in exchange for my services..." she trailed off, waggling a brow towards the guard. The guard let out a sigh and followed Clandestine's gaze into the gate.

"I could send a page to let her know you're in town," the guard said. "We could arrange a meeting with her in a few days."

Clandestine cleared her throat, trying not to sound as appalled as she was as her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open.

"A few days?" she whined. "The griffin will be long gone by then, or out there causing more trouble! I have to speak with her as soon as possible! Unless you want me running around town telling everyone there's a griffin flying arou-"

That was when the guard shot Clandestine a sharp glare. "Fine," she said sharply. "Keep your mouth shut."

She snapped her fingers and shouted. "Hogarth, get over here!"

A man jogged over in the same tan armor and a red collared shirt. His long black hair was pulled up into a neat bun at the nape of his neck, and he towered over her from behind the gate. Clandestine listened as they whispered hushed orders and information, hearing small blurbs of what she'd said being retold to the Hogarth guy. She backed up a few steps when both the woman and Hogarth glanced up at her, and she couldn't help but wonder if this plan was going to work, or if she was already in trouble. Nervously, she tucked a foot behind her ankle and looked at the ground.

Suddenly, the hushed chatter came to a stop and she heard the sound of the gate's lock unlatching and the metal doors squeaking slightly as they were pulled open. Hogarth and the woman guard were both pushing them open.

"We'll have you wait in the lobby," Hogarth informed her. "I'll have a servant take your horse for the time being."

Clandestine blinked, a little amazed. She was about to ask them if they were sure, but instead, pulled up a bright smile. "Thank you so much for your kindness," she said, leading Billy forward.

Hogarth returned her smile with a polite, professional one of his own, but the woman guard only kept a straight face and didn't look at her. Clandestine couldn't help but feel like she made a bad impression.

She shrugged a little to herself as she walked up the cobblestone path. At least she'd made it this far.