PANACEA-Book One-By Hell or High Water

34. Angry--very, very angry

As it happened, the cash reward actually was quite the steal.

When we arrived back at the palace, we were left at the bottom of the steps with a few guards. Orlean and Jackie followed Adan into the palace, and that was the last I saw of them. We waited for only a few minutes, before someone walked out of the palace. They didn't resemble the empress by any means, but they still had a similar air of importance. It didn't really matter, anyways. They walked down the steps, tossed my large backpack to me with a frown, and threw Mel's empty one at her feet. Once we had thrown our belongings over our shoulders, they ordered the soldiers to move out with us.

The sky was taking its slightly orange hue as the sun was finishing its time on this side of the Ether. By the time we were boarding out of the boat, it was nighttime. Luckily the guards had decided to take us out the nearest exit, which was only a city down. Otherwise, it may have taken all night to get back to RedGate and out.

We weren't left to walk out into the desert, though. No, they escorted us down the sand dunes that this particular part of the empire had been built on. It wasn't until we were at the base of the mass of hard land protruding from the dirt that they nodded and turned to leave us.

I stood there, unsure what to do. Come to think of it, this was a terrible spot to be at night. The desert was ridden with scorpions, and some parts had enough resources to sustain coyotes and large lizards.

I looked to Mel for ideas, and saw she was running towards the guards that were leaving. This was slightly problematic.

Before I could react, she lunged, whip unfurling. In a few seconds, filled with minimal struggle from the four unsuspecting guards, there were spears and swords stuck in the sand. As Mel finished tying the knot of her whip, the two remaining guards she had missed turned around.

One thrust her spear forward, stabbing right to Mel's open abdomen. I was surprised to see it chip off her skin, like it had hit wood. Her skin was punctured, but otherwise she was fine. My eyes strained in the dim, almost night light, but it looked like she was bleeding a glowing purple.

The woman reared again to stab, and I reacted quicker than I could think. The metal that adorned their armor heated to a glowing orange. The plating hanging from their hips swung towards her companion, like they were wearing a magnet. They both had their feet swept out from under them, and they slammed into one another.

The molten metal stuck like glue, and at my command, cooled. The two soldiers struggled, but were now quite literally joined at the hip. It was best not to think about the kinds of burns they would be getting.

I looked over to Mel, who had commenced rolling the bundle of soldiers. I sighed and followed her, carefully carrying the two soldiers by their clothing. She stopped behind a bunch of boulders, and lay the soldiers down. I set the others beside them. Ignoring the cussing we were receiving, we began a conversation.

"You know they were going to just leave us, right? You didn't have to do that."

"Sure I did," she replied. "We need the armor."

This raised a question. "Because?"

"My belongings are back in the kingdom."

"....and?"

"And we need to sneak into the barracks and get them back."

I could admire her tenacity, but there were a few things wrong with this. "I'm not going to be able to fit into any of that. And besides, a few pieces of plating aren't going to completely disguise us. Your face would still be showing."

Mel pulled the scarf that tied her hair, and let it fall down her shoulders. I wished I hadn't lost mine in the flooding of the kingdom. Carefully, she tied it behind her head, just at her hairline, so it just covered her face. Her features were slightly less identifiable.