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If you didn't catch the announcement (because I don't like to 'notify my followers', I feel like it's the equivalent of spam mail) I will be updating WEEKLY - or less!
Keep me to this!
Spam my DMs!
Burn incriminating messages on my front lawn while wearing a bunny mask! - just don't get the lilac bush
Fear is the greatest motivator~
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The blasting gale of a storm was a blessing in disguise. A hood to protect your head held less suspicion with the thick chunks of hail toppling from the sky, and guards were quicker to pass through travellers to retreat back to their shelters. Water, mixed with the black of night, washed away familiarity.
"Puff, I don't want anyone seeing you," Vera whispered, the entire group stopped at the mouth of the forest looking out upon a sleeping town. It was black, spare the fleeting lights dotting its crown of crossbow ridden walls.
Vera helped Káel off of Puff, adjusting the cloak she'd pulled over him to cover the bloodied scratches peppering his arms. She waited for Puff to shrink down, rifling through her bag to pull out a a stretch of black cloth.
"Puff, you're going in this." She twisted it around, making a sling bag within a matter of seconds to hand off to Káel. "Don't move until we're past the gates."
They jogged through the clearing, the biting bullets of hail relentlessly hammering them until they could squeeze into the narrow ridge of protection overlooking a sealed gate. Vera chatted with the guard that greeted her, flashing her ID card and slipping the man a few shiny coins for the nightly trouble.
As soon as the gate cracked wide enough for a single person, she ushered everyone through. With a finger to her lips she kept a strident pace, leading the group through the scarce lit streets with one destination in mind.
There was something about a complete lack of people that made walking through towns and cities peaceful. The silence of nightfall was beautiful, the articulate details of the pre-Runas architecture easy to appreciate down to the sliv sized patterns carved into the doorways. Without the hot sun and blurring noise of chattering students, Vera could see why people put up with living here.
She picked up her pace as they hit the decrepit alleyway, hoping over the snaking webs of vines to stop a footslength from Soren's plain door. Without the sign you'd miss it as a shop. A detail that always spelled trouble.
And seeing as that's what they were currently in thanks to Káel, it was temporarily perfect.
"You think he's awake at this hour?" Truvius whispered, wincing as Vera's knuckles struck the door.
"He will be," Vera retorted, knocking on the door harder until something slammed its burly mass into one of the curtain drawn windows. Her heart nearly ripped from her chest until she stared at the creature, two glowing white eyes dotting the massive snout of a Garaean Warhound as it gave a few half-done barks.
When her heart stilled, she recognised the creature. Soren's guardian, Dulan.
The hound continued its alarm, a light eventually flickering on as Soren peeked through the curtains, immediately pulling back to crack open the door. With a silent stare he looked up at the nightcloaked sky, slowly dipping his gaze to the group of teenagers with a raised eyebrow.
Vera opened her mouth before Káel said something stupid. "We need your help."
"And my store has hours." Soren gave the air a sniff, his nose scrunching as he flicked his gaze to Káel. He left the door to pull into the alley with the teens, the creamy tee and trousers he had on barely defending his bare skin from the icy droplets that had turned to a drizzle. He snatched Káel's arm, his frown growing as the teen winced at the scrape he'd squeezed. "Did someone attack you guys?"
YOU ARE READING
COBALT: The Red Phantom (Book One)
Fantasy[Featured: EDITOR'S CHOICE] Káel didn't think his life could get worse after being abducted by an alien posing as a Russian exchange student. Until that 'one day' turned into three months, and he was forced to get cozy on a post-war planet fresh out...
