Survival 101 - (Silver Tauntings)

Survival 101 - Silver Tauntings
Game 2
Blog Entry 14


"She'll get it! I swear she will!", the man cried, "you!", he pointed at the large red wolf with its teeth set against one of the mages' throat, "get away from him, now!"

The man heard a click from where he had forgotten to look, and now found Ryan pointing the barel of a gun at his head. He gulped but did not back down, keeping the silver blade by Alice.

"You get away from her now", Ryan hissed.

You touch one hair from her head, and you die, Damien thought, but remained in position.

"Let's make a deal then, you let us go unharmed, and I release her."

Ryan remained quiet, staring coldly into the assailant's eyes.

"Ryan...", Alice muttered, "do what he says, for fuck's sake, do what he says!"

The leader's glance went from the man, to the unnusually frightened woman who was trembling like a leaf and sobbing silently but in sheer panic, hugging at her arms so tightly her red nails dug into her skin, then passed her at Damien who still held onto the mage by the throat, "you release her first."

"No deal, nothing tells me you won't rip us to shreds as soon as I do."

Ryan looked down on the woman again, her eyes were closed, warm tears running down her red cheeks. At least she looked more lively then in the car when they had rode up to Boulder, but now it was a different type of crisis, "and nothing tells me you won't shoot us down the moment I lower my weapon and Bonecrusher releases his hostage."

"RYAN!", Alice cried now with panic and anger, "JUST DO WHAT HE FUCKIN' SAYS! PLEASE!"

He might have told her to shut up, had times been different. Whatever was wrong with her was only making him that more nervous. He liked his lips nervously, glaring back at the man some more.

"Then take me instead", the man said at last, "let him go and take me hostage."

Time seemed to keep still for a while, where even Alice's sudden pleading were shut off. After a few seconds that seemed like hours, Ryan motionned for Damien to let go of his prey. The large wolf did as he was asked, stepping away reluctantly, then returning to his massive, human form, his fists ready to strike whenever more trouble would spurr.

Ryan, on the other hand, did not lower his weapon just yet, "Your end of the bargain."

The man nodded, looking back at his comrades, "Go! You'll hear from me soon enough."

Though they hesitated, they ran into a retreat faster then they ever had. Only when he was sure they were out of range did he lower the silver weapon, which was snatched away from his hand as soon as it would not be harmful to Alice and threw it far and out of range. Alice let out what seemed like a soft whimper which turned into heavy sobs as soon as the metal was away from her skin, first crawling away, then getting up, punching a nearby tree in her rage, then collapsing with her back at it. Her sobs came louder, her fingers gripping at her black hair, her eyes wide and leaking tears.

Ryan slowly lowered the gun, the barrel soon pointing down at the ground, "What's your name?"

"Amaru", he said softly, contrary to the bitter response Ryan had expected, "What are you doing around these parts? Don't you know it's dangerous?"

Damien sniffed with impatience, "apparently it is!"

Amaru nodded his head, "We were simply trying to scare you away... Had we known..."

"We're looking for the Awakened Sight hideout", Damien cut him off, "and I have a feeling you know something about it."

Amaru jammed, bitting at his lip and looking at the distressed woman for a moment before his attention went back on Damien's mass. Though he seemed reluctant to speak at first, Ryan quickly explained their situation, that of wanting to find a missing comrade which seemed linked to the mage's in the region. Amaru came to realise the trespassers had meant nothing bad or hurtful, and agreed to lead them on, as they would never be able to find the desired location without him. It was a relief that he wanted to cooperate, and hopefully, no more blood would be spilled.

Under the men's eyes, Amaru carefully approached the distressed woman, lowering himself and offering his hand. Damien watched him carefully, ready to put a stop to this charade as soon as it might look to turn bad. Alice recoiled like a child, crying for him to get away, crawling out of reach and hoping to even lose sight of him.

"Please... let me help you...", he said gently, his hand still extended toward her invitingly, "I'm sorry about what I did, I really am. I would have never hurt you. Just.. let me help and redeem myself."

Alice's large, frightened eyes stayed on him a while, then she seemed to plead Ryan for an answer. Mascara had ran down her cheeks in black lines with the tears and her lips quivered uneasilly. She looked like nothing but a child caught in a closing box. Ryan nodded at her, approving of her next action when she reached out a trembling hand and Amaru took it. At once she felt an overwhelming warth around and within her something seemed to soothe her panic and fear. Although it worked, for a long while after, Alice would remain quiet and keep her distance from everyone. Even as Damien attempted to speak to her in order to understand his reaction, she refused to speak of it.

Amaru held his end of the deal and led Luna's Avatars to the destination they seeked, to the Awakened Sight's hideout. With a spell, he cast away the protective barrier that held and concealed the establishment, opening to what could have looked like a military compound. Considering Amaru was being held hostage by the pack, it took little convincing to let them inside to meet up with the leader for some well deserved details.

Soon, they were led into a room in waiting. When a man entered, with grey hair and a clean black suit, he was immediatly recognized as one of the men who had been struck in the earlier fight, and his deadly glare held nothing but hatred for the group. There was a long moment of silence when he sat down... one that seemed too long for comfort, but one that, fortunatly, would not last....

To be ccontinued...