Bound Evil

It was only when Emily stood to her full height that she realized what a mess she must look. Dried blood covered her neck, chest, and stomach, coupled with hours of wandering through a forest. Leaves had wedged themselves into her scarlet strands, and she was in sore need of some conditioner.

The white cloaks below her were all staring up with wary gazes, but when they saw her trembling with her hands in view, they relaxed somewhat. A couple of unsavory glances even flickered amongst the group.

Save for one man, who stood directly below her perch, watching her with a scrutinizing eye.

He looked to be in his late forties with an untamed beard. His white cloak covered his form but Emily could see the telltale signs of a weapon at his side.

“Well, it looks like we have a regular savage on our hands. Get down here.”

Emily swallowed and in her highest pitch she asked.

“Please, wait, how do I know you won’t hurt me.”

The man did not look impressed but the men around him relaxed another degree.

“Whether or not I choose to hurt you is entirely based on how fast you get down here. Don’t make me send one of my boys up there, or this won’t be pleasant for you.”

Emily grimaced, her mind working overtime.

“Actually, I’m sorry to ask, but could you? Send a man up? I managed to get up here but now I’m stuck.”

The scowl that appeared on the leader's face almost caused Emily to break character, but she had a feeling snickering right now would raise some warning bells.

“If you try anything girl I’ll break both your legs and leave out here for the wyrms… Ron, Fetu, bring her down and make it quick, we don’t have much time till dark.” The man ground out.

Two nearby men glanced slyly at one another and then took steps towards the base of the rock.

When they got to the top they were hesitant, obviously well-trained, but Emily made it easy on them, showing she was no threat.

When they were climbing down, she did so as clumsily as she could manage. They got a little too handsy for her liking, but she’d find them for payback later. Especially Ron, he seemed more interested in feeling her up, than helping her down.

However, when their feet did touch the ground Emily turned around to face the group of white cloaks. She’d kept her eyes roaming while her ‘helpers’ were occupied and noted both carried daggers on each hip, plus a couple extra strapped to their chests.

She counted the number of fighters from behind a worried mask.

Eight, including the leader, she could probably take four of them if she got a couple of good hits in but after that, she was bound to get caught.

Emily started to stammer out a ‘Thank you’, but the leader grunted to another man beside him.

“Vivan, check her active titles. I want to know what made those bodies like that, and in the name of the Five, someone check her for weapons.”

Ron was all too quick to begin rummaging around Emily's person in search of hidden weapons, though his hands paused briefly at the large amounts of blood soaked into her garments. Hopefully, all the gore hid the tiny knife wound in her clothes.

While he was rummaging, the man named Vivan stepped forward. Emily didn’t know what he was up to, but she didn’t expect him to take out a small piece of glass. It was shaped like a rectangle and was probably a little thicker than a normal credit card.

Placing it to his eye he stared at her through it, then a frown appeared on his face.

“She hasn’t even slotted any titles boss, I’d reckon her rank is below the first threshold.”

Now it was Emily's turn to frown. Of course, she’d heard a couple of those terms before, but they made no sense in the current context, was her brain struggling to fill the gaps in their languages?

The boss's face twitched and he looked over at Emily once more. As did the other men, their expressions marred with confusion and wariness.

“Check her bridge, Ron.”

Emily was suddenly left wondering what the hell was going on when Ron turned her around and brushed her hair aside along with her cloak, exposing the back of her neck to the frosty air. There were several intakes of breath and Ron’s eyes drooped in distaste.

“No wonder she’s out here alone, she a cripple. No settlement would want her.” he sneered.

Emily was still frozen when Ron released her, she reached back to feel the base of her neck and then slightly lower down.

Her fingers brushed over a diamond-shaped protrusion sitting flush with her skin. It was strange because, had they not pointed it out, Emily wouldn’t have known it existed, as the surrounding skin felt no different than normal.

The boss didn’t give her much time to adjust as he just continued.

“Enough you lot! Vivan! She’s human? No passive titles?”

The man shook his head.

“Human, and just Innocent but other than that… no passives in effect. The Oathsworn might be able to catch something I missed though.”

The Man nodded and turned away.

“Bind her. We’re heading back now. Our employers will be glad for one more, even if it’s the final hour.”

Emily watched as Fetu approached with a piece of cord. If she wanted to escape, her window was closing. From a cursory glance, none of the faces here resembled anyone from the memory. Deciding to see where this went, Emily drooped her shoulders further.

How could she turn down such a generous offer to escort her to her destination?

Emily whimpered as the rough fibers cut into her wrists. For some reason, Fetu used a smaller piece of string to bind her fingers together as well, though what purpose that severed only he knew.

Ron was charged with watching over Emily, but his earlier enthusiasm had all but melted away. Now he begrudgingly pushed her forward as the group began to leave the area.

Emily could see that most of their hesitation and caution from earlier had disappeared, and now were replaced by looks boarding on pity or disdain.

Not that Emily minded, they were more than welcome to lower their guards around her, it’d make stealing their lives far easier.

Ron had not found the clasp in her boot, and when he came across the raven eggs he’d just scoffed and left them where they were, pocketing her coins and locket.

Once they’d left the rocky clearing in a loose formation, the gargantuan trees once more choked the path. They never went looking for the road again, instead, Vivan would routinely check his surroundings with his piece of glass. Leading them through a winding track amongst the snow. At first, the men remained quiet, but the longer they walked, the more Emily picked up hushed conversations among them.

Ron and Fetu remained the closest sources of information so she listened in even though all they did was complain in hushed tones

“Darn it all, we better be making some good coin off this job, these sickos are starting to get on my nerves.”

“Quiet Ron, if the boss hears you’ll be in shit again. You can’t afford to drop from team four or you’re out on your ass.”

Fetu appeared to be the more cunning one between them, but their conversation had provided some perspective.

First, they were purposeful in capturing all travelers passing through this area, though why they killed her the first time was a mystery. And second, it seemed that they were some sort of mercenary company.

Working on a minimum of eight members at four teams, meant she was looking at no less than thirty-two potential enemies. More, if she included whatever group hired these men.

A brisk wind ruffled Emily’s clothing as the evening began to draw in. Clouds laden with snow were gathering on the horizon, yet the white cloaks didn’t seem too worried.

Emily trudged through the snow, suffering glances from Ron, filled with equal parts lust and disgust.

It was only when Emily noticed some sort of perimeter amongst the snow that she realized something was off.

Vivan had been leading them for a while now and when Emily suddenly felt an invasive gaze pass over her, then all at once she noticed a large building come into sight.

It had not been there seconds ago, and even now it was still partially hidden behind trees, but there was no way Emily would have missed the sudden appearance of a whole building. Looking back she saw the forest looked the same but there was a thin almost imperceptible film separating them from the rest of the trees

Eyes darting about, Emily couldn’t help going on guard. Illusions were one of the hardest power sets to fight if you didn’t know where their origin was.

In her early days, she’d suffered greatly at the hands of those who could fool her perceptions.

The only way a place like this could be hidden was under a wide-scale illusionist, or something similar.

It seemed that large-scale supernatural gifts weren't uncommon in this world, reassessing the danger Emily readied herself to bolt at a moment's notice.

In the meantime, a large dome-like structure came into view. It was more of an igloo than anything Emily was familiar with. Only, the four-story structure was made from wood instead of ice. It reminded her of a Viking hall with beams stretching off it to distribute the snow. The building had several smaller rooms patched onto it and even what looked like a stable of sorts.

In fact, the stables seemed to take up a good portion of the space, but by the looks of things, they didn’t have the usual horse like Emily was used to.

No, What Emily saw were several savage-looking wolves, bodies as large as stallions, with thick fur. Mostly greys and whites but there were brown and blacks too that growled in low tones as she passed.

Seeing more detail in the evening light was hard, but torches had already been lit around the place, sending faint shadows through the trees, but this halted at the barrier. Another sign that some ability was at work here, hiding them.

When their group neared there was a response from the people around the area, as several more white cloaks came into view. However, the boss man didn’t falter and brushed past their perimeter without a second glance, giving one of the bigger guys a nod.

When they got to the opening of the igloo though, he came to a stop.

A man stepped out from the entrance as though he’d been waiting for them. He didn’t wear one of the white coverings the others wore, instead, he donned a simple warm brown robe with patches of red on it. What drew Emily’s eye to him was the litany of fresh wounds covering his face, as though he’d tried to do facial surgery in the dark while drunk. It reached up from his sallow cheeks onto the crown of his shaved head. His mutilated face matched his horse voice.

“You’re late captain, and all you bring is one tribute? She’s scarcely worth the blood it will take to prepare her.”

The man's eyes flickered over to her just briefly, but he regarded her with the same indifference one would cattle. Emily knew the look well, she’d seen it countless times. Hell, she’d lived it at one point. Whatever this man did, helped him disassociate humans as living beings.

All of this went through Emily’s head as the boss's face became more stormy.

“We are not late, the night has yet to touch the horizon completely. And be happy we found even one. We’ve picked these woods clean for you for the last few months, of course, the locals would avoid them by now.”

The scarred man made a non-committal grunt and indicated for their boss to step to the side with a tilt of his head. The robed man even went so far as to lower his voice but their group was just close enough that Emily could make out his words if she concentrated.

“The ritual has been moved forward to tomorrow, first light. Team Two secured our target this morning. If things continue like this, even if an investigation team is called out, it’ll look like an accident.”