AVALANCHES | K.BREKKER

eleven

The crows and Visser snapped their gaze toward the castles opening, looking over the plethora of bushes separating the training grounds and the cobble trail where their carriage sat idly.

Inej's ears had perked up first at the sound of shoes smacking against the dry earth. Her gaze caught Sebastians before they scrambled toward one of the bushes, their bodies pressed against the green mass of nature. Begrudgingly Kaz wobbled after his crows and Visser after being stranded, his cane smacking the floor distastefully, before stopping behind Inej's figure.

With narrowed eyes his gaze studied the castle ground where a lone figure walked through the grass, her head hung low and tunic showing a silver of her collarbones. His gaze flicked between the direction she was heading and toward her figure once more, a scowl took over his features as he couldn't catch her face. His posture was relaxed as he rolled his eyes at the hissing going on between Jesper and Sebastian, there was a smack to the head before he could hiss at them to stop.

"Why are we looking at a random woman walking?" Visser whispered, flicking his gaze up at Kaz from his crouched position. "Surely, we should be searching for Arevik right now?"

Jesper narrowed his gaze, inching closer to the bush as he studied the girl, and sure enough, with widened eyes he began smacking Sebastian's bicep. "Guys, it's Vik!"

"No, she was wearing the guard uniform-"

"Shh! Look." Sebastian pointed at the sudden figure of general Kirigan walking toward the girl's figure, his steps light with his hands clasped behind his back. The feeling of deja-vu came over Kaz, and he thought back to the two encounters where the man was conveniently there when his crow had collapsed. He scowl deepened and brought his face closer to listen to their conversation.

"What are they saying? I can't hear-"

"Would you shut up, I can't hear with you babbling!"

Kaz felt his irritation slowly peak as he watched the general talking to the girl, the babbling erupting from Jesper and Sebastian was edging him close to blowing up and he felt imbalanced without the addition of Arevik's presence to his usual left.

Of course, he couldn't snap at the bickering pair once Inej gasped at the sight of the general gripping onto the woman's jaw, Kaz's eyes widened. "What is he doing?" he hissed, inching closer to the bushes. He felt Inej's body fall rigid at the violent sight, and he bit back the urge to turn her head away. She seemed almost transfixed as the general continued to grip onto the woman's face, his head merely inches away from her face as he spat violence toward her.

"That's Vik guys, I'm telling you. It's her." Jesper nagged, his eyes snapping from the group the the general who finally let go of the woman's face.

Kaz continued to stare, eyes narrowed and almost painfully strained his ears at the two beginning to shout at each other. He almost marvelled at how she spat her words back at the general, her voice high as they screamed at one another.

After a few seconds, Kaz bit back the dread filling in his lungs as he watched Arevik - or he hoped was Arevik - turn away from the general, he watched as she made her way back down the path she had paused. Furious strides as she barely made it half way toward her destination, before the general brough both hands in front of his body, Kaz watched almost horrified as the man slashed at the air, catapulting a tidal wave of black shadow from his being.

Kaz's skin crawled as he watched the the black mist run after her, twirling and gliding in the air like trained acrobats; spinning before shooting upward and fanning out.

He heard his crows laboured breaths and their gasps as the shadow began to expand around the girl, slowly cloaking her from their view. The shadow was noisy and a low rumble emitted from the ground, as it implanted itself deep into the earth, undoubtedly caging the girl from escaping.