It dawned on Raneaux as they both left, that she the
Hawk-Eye were covered in blood. Umbra however could disappear into the shadows
of the night, while she would most likely
draw far too much attention, and possibly lead to her imprisonment. Not only
that, but she didn't know how the Oraea would react to her wearing the robes,
regardless of the stains. She decided to take a longer route around the edge of
the village and to head down the path by the pond. She hoped that the monks
would at least stay to the centre of the village, to which she soon was proved
wrong.
Three monks were drinking by the edge of the pond, laughing
and throwing scraps of metal and rocks into the water. The moon rippled on its
surface and for a short time, seemed to enthral the them. Raneaux had considered taking off the robes
but time was slipping through her finger tips. She had to react fast. She asked
Umbra for help, only to find the shadow of the sparse canopy he had disappeared
into, was now empty. She tried to
contact him mentally and found that he was already by the main road, a good hundred
feet from where she was now. There was nothing for it but to run. She was light
on her feet and the dark material of the robes helped her in part to blend into
the night and with panting breath, she made it to the edge of the main road and
across to her shack.
She told Umbra that the ranch was closer to the centre of
the village but there was a back entrance next to where the creatures were
allowed out into their pen. As they
arrived, more the Oraea were getting drunk outside. There was no way to sneak past this group and
the torches they had erected all over town, dissipated all hope of Umbra hiding
in the dark. Raneaux thought back to the many days she had been caving all over
the Steadfast in search of lost treasures for House Narkonis. She remembered
something that had saved her life from ravenous Elchins. Raneaux had covered a
glowglobe in blood and the rolling sphere gave her just long enough time for
her to escape while the creatures followed their new prey. The same principal,
she believed, could apply here. The monks were inebriated and if they were
react like the ones by the lake, they could be easily distracted in their
drunken state. She sneaked round to the corner of the storehouse that was on the road to Auspar and rolled a
brightly lit glowglobe down the road towards them. At the same time she yelled
at Umbra in her mind to silently pick the lock while they were hopefully
distracted.
One of the monks had seen the light fly past but it was
enough for him to try and convince the others of a ghostly apparition. A few considered
the proposal before it was decided that the man in question had probably drunk
a bit too much and was taken back to the
Oraea to sleep it off. Raneaux's heart was finally able to rest for a brief
moment. Umbra told her that he had been able to infiltrate the building and was
ready for her to arrive. She, however, was exhausted from the earlier fight. Her
head was pounding and her receding heart beat revealed the aches and pains she
had shrugged off earlier. She knew that at least if she was inside, she could
have time to rest and recuperate before the drop.
Back at the blood soaked shack, Danton and Xera were
cleaning up what they could of the slaughtering of Moma's guards. They had
piled the bodies up behind the bed and
had torn rags from the bed sheet to mop up what they had caused. The carnage
was overwhelming Danton and the thought that he was instrumental in it felt as
if a poison was coursing through is veins. He scrunched his eyes and rubbed his
hands over his face considering his next move. His thoughts were disrupted by
Moma's drug induced babbling about a sanctum and a river before slipping out of
consciousness again. He thought it was best if she was restrained, even if she
was a clone. Before he could get to her, her body started to convulse. It was a
very familiar reaction to Danton but the fact that she was starting to mutate
after swallowing the pill rather than it a consequence of withdrawal ,made him
hesitate to intervene. This was not natural, well as natural as the reaction
could be. Her erratic body movements
contorted her and threw her off of the bed. She fell onto the bloody floor and
soon she was tarnished by the same grisly brush
as Danton. He was now on edge, her reaction was unprecedented and he didn't
know how far it would go before its grip was released. A sudden knock on the door made him jump and he
nearly slipped as he rained his footing.
Danton started to panic, nothing he had planned for had gone
right. Dehart's men had shown up far too early and he couldn't persuade them to
leave before Danton had one of them killed. Moma had shown up soon after and
again by Danton's hand he swiftly had four more deaths his conscience. He
grabbed Moma as best he could and with Xera's help dumped her onto the desk. He
wiped his hands on his robe and tried to neaten his hair. The knocks were more
forceful now, accompanied by a deep voice. There was worry and panic in the
tones of the man's voice. He asked if everything was okay and if someone needed
medical attention due to the blood that was seeping under the door. With no
immediate response they shouted again and again, repeating if whoever was
inside needed help. The moment they
offered to get assistance from the other monks, Danton scrambled to the door.
He opened it a crack, before slipping out and shutting it behind him.
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