The Society of the Ethereal Medallion

The Curators

They shoved Ares to the ground beside us, where they were binding our hands and feet. They had Daisy chained with a muzzle around her mouth, "They got us just as you went in. Couldn't even work up a good shout."

"Who do you think they are?" William quietly whispered into my ear.

"Who do you think?"

"Do you think you could outsmart us, Ms. Greene?"

"The bloody Brotherhood."

A man stepped up, discarding his hat and handing it to a guard that stood in front of us. Bert smiled wryly, bending down to meet my eyes.

"Miss me?"

I spat in his face and smiled back, "You tell me." He scoffed, pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his face.

"You're lucky I'm not allowed to harm you."

"Aww, Bert. Afraid I'm going to kick your arse again, huh?"

"I'm not allowed to hurt you, but that doesn't mean he can't." He snapped his fingers, and one of the soldiers stepped up and backhanded me across the face.

William and Ares shouted and wriggled, but I looked at Bert with a bloodied lip and smiled. "My mother...could hit harder than this moron!"

Bert snapped his fingers again, and the man grabbed me by the shoulders, kneeing me in the stomach. I crumpled in a ball on the sand, clutching my stomach in pain. My mother couldn't match that, and Bert knew it. "Shall we continue? Open that pretty little mouth of yours again and watch what happens." I was prepared to say something else; men with Berettas surrounded us, at least ten, and those Berettas were all fixed on us. I decided it wasn't worth it.

The same soldier that kicked me pulled me up from the ground; dry sand clung to my wet dress and the moist skin on my arms. Even though it was hot under the Egyptian sun, I was shivering from my soaked state.

"We've come to collect your artifacts as well as you."

They were wearing uniforms that were generally worn by the Egyptian police. I'm sure they watched us the entire time; they knew where we were headed and followed us. I hope Anas was okay. These men didn't care about family, women, children, they were on a mission, and I'm sure they would kill anyone who stood in the way. Did I care? Yes. Did I watch that I would probably die in the process? No, as long as it wasn't in vain. I wasn't going to give these S.O.B's (In the words of William) the satisfaction.

"I am not your property," I spat. "You won't be collecting anything."

He ignored my statement, "Take her to my caravan, kill the others." Two soldiers grabbed me by the arms, hauling me up from my knees.

"Don't touch me, you stupid son of a-" I looked back and saw William get slapped by a soldier.

"Mi scusi," a man said from behind one of the soldiers surrounding us. He had a rifle fixed on them; another man also appeared from thin air with a gun trained on a soldier of his choosing. "I'd watch myself if I were you."

"And who exactly are you?" Bert asked with a carefree look on his face.

"You don't know one of your own when you see them? That hurts. The boss sent me, says he wants all of them." Where have I heard that accent before?

Curiosity moved my tongue, "Who?"

The man trying to take all of us wore a head garb covering his entire face except his eyes. Bert personally took me over to the man; eyes are windows to the soul; at that moment, I saw a kind spirit who's always been there. My eyes widened when I recognized Ciri and Anas beside him.