“Just sore.” Esme replied without elaboration, glancing down at the dead bird. Right. Honest about her limits or no, she didn’t want a front row seat for what came after plucking. She climbed the rest of the way into the wagon with a long hiss of breath. The alchemical supplies packed inside represented the other half of every coin she’d been able to save. Powdered rare metals and dual chamber flasks had been hard to come by.
Maybe with so much moonlight, she could get some work done.
“Thought I saw Genthus by the fire– Oh, there he is.” The giant came bearing gifts, apparently. The smell of stewed vegetables and beef reminded her belly of just how long it had been since breakfast. She was quick to set her supplies aside and wolf down a few bites.
It was impossible to miss how the attitude in camp changed. Strange riders on the road, the caravan master’s men contracting around their wagons. Caro and Genthus going to greet the strangers. Esme gave Ceren a worried glance and turned hastily back to her makeshift lab. There wasn’t time for much at all — she filled a tin with flashpowder and shoved the lid on with a peper fuse caught in the lip. Handful of matches in her pockets. Then Esme scrambled out of the wagon and after her friends.
They weren’t far, eerily cast in blues and violets from the central campfire’s flames. Copper chloride, if not magic. Surprising. Why would multiple chemists be out on the road in a party this small?
There weren’t very many reasons to set up a signal like that. Less when the mercenaries you’d hired were all within easy shouting distance.
“I’ll go.” It made sense. If they were about to be under attack, they shouldn’t waste a fighter on simple message delivery. Esme scooped Ceren’s shortsword back up and jogged toward the Dogs’ camp. Above the pounding of blood in her ears was the sound of hooves on gravel. Coming up the road behind them.
She nearly collided with Luca’s back, slipping as her bad leg threatened to give out beneath her. He grabbed her by the wrist, wrenching her up bodily and around in front of him. A flicker of surprise crossed his face as he saw her, perhaps he hadn’t meant it to hurt.
“Dog man? Hey, hey. Let me go?”He did, abruptly. Esme caught herself with a hand on his arm. “My boss, Byrne, he thinks whoever that is will be comin’ to kill us.”She pointed Luca in the right direction. A projectile whizzed through the air above their heads.
“Throw this at them, as hard as you can.”Esme thrust the makeshift pyrotechnic bomb into the mercenary’s hands, fuse lit. There wouldn’t be any better time to use it, once everybody was mixed up with everybody else. “Now.”
For a brief moment there was daylight on the road and a deafening pop. A few seconds only, illuminating a double wide column of riders four or five deep. Their horses, and that of the Kirkwallers, promptly lost their shit. Shrill animal screams and running in every direction, one unfortunate man falling beneath their hooves.
Maybe with so much moonlight, she could get some work done.
“Thought I saw Genthus by the fire– Oh, there he is.” The giant came bearing gifts, apparently. The smell of stewed vegetables and beef reminded her belly of just how long it had been since breakfast. She was quick to set her supplies aside and wolf down a few bites.
It was impossible to miss how the attitude in camp changed. Strange riders on the road, the caravan master’s men contracting around their wagons. Caro and Genthus going to greet the strangers. Esme gave Ceren a worried glance and turned hastily back to her makeshift lab. There wasn’t time for much at all — she filled a tin with flashpowder and shoved the lid on with a peper fuse caught in the lip. Handful of matches in her pockets. Then Esme scrambled out of the wagon and after her friends.
They weren’t far, eerily cast in blues and violets from the central campfire’s flames. Copper chloride, if not magic. Surprising. Why would multiple chemists be out on the road in a party this small?
There weren’t very many reasons to set up a signal like that. Less when the mercenaries you’d hired were all within easy shouting distance.
“I’ll go.” It made sense. If they were about to be under attack, they shouldn’t waste a fighter on simple message delivery. Esme scooped Ceren’s shortsword back up and jogged toward the Dogs’ camp. Above the pounding of blood in her ears was the sound of hooves on gravel. Coming up the road behind them.
She nearly collided with Luca’s back, slipping as her bad leg threatened to give out beneath her. He grabbed her by the wrist, wrenching her up bodily and around in front of him. A flicker of surprise crossed his face as he saw her, perhaps he hadn’t meant it to hurt.
“Dog man? Hey, hey. Let me go?”He did, abruptly. Esme caught herself with a hand on his arm. “My boss, Byrne, he thinks whoever that is will be comin’ to kill us.”She pointed Luca in the right direction. A projectile whizzed through the air above their heads.
“Throw this at them, as hard as you can.”Esme thrust the makeshift pyrotechnic bomb into the mercenary’s hands, fuse lit. There wouldn’t be any better time to use it, once everybody was mixed up with everybody else. “Now.”
For a brief moment there was daylight on the road and a deafening pop. A few seconds only, illuminating a double wide column of riders four or five deep. Their horses, and that of the Kirkwallers, promptly lost their shit. Shrill animal screams and running in every direction, one unfortunate man falling beneath their hooves.
04-18-2024, 03:23 PM
