The Epic Tale of Cregan

Chapter 11: Pull The Trigger

Cree fights to keep his eyes shut, but he can feel something is pulling him to wake up. Nothing is physically forcing him, but some tethers in his mind make the sensation impossible to ignore. He just wants to stay in bed. He couldn't have gotten more than a few hours of sleep at this point, so what is making him wake up?

Then he remembers his deal.

Sara.

He opens his eyes and sits up. The room is dark, and so is the sky outside from what he can see through the window. Regan and Reela are still asleep, same with Romeow. Strange, considering how the cat doesn't actually need sleep. Maybe it's not on account of Regan's emotions after all and the cat really is just lazy as hell.

The tugging in his mind lingers, leaving his senses scattered. He can feel how his body is forced to move, and his first instinct is to resist to be in control of himself, but remembering that resisting means Sara will take Reela forces him to set his instinct aside and obey. He listens to the pulling and follows it out of the room, being careful as to not wake Regan and Reela. And apparently the cat is another one he needs to worry about following him whenever he needs to go off alone.

He exits the inn and makes his way through the town at night, heading behind a cluster of shops lining the market and venturing into a desolate alleyway that is left dark in the absence of streetlights. In the shadows, he spots a figure leaned against the wall of a shop. As he approaches, she halts the elegant spinning of her dagger and holds it proudly, seemingly amazed that he actually showed up.

"You must really care for that urchin, don't you?" Sara snides.

Cree crosses his arms and glares down the alley at her. "I already told you that I'm not just going to hand over an innocent child. Now what do you want?" he snaps. Despite her hold on his mind, at least he's still able to maintain a grasp over his defiance.

Sara chuckles as she steps away from the wall, walking towards him. He heeds the dagger still carelessly held in her hand and wonders if she intends to use it. "I like this arrangement we have here... Makes my job so much more efficient. My own personal attack dog, ready to obey my every command."

"Attack dog? What, am I just free hired muscle?" Cree asks.

Sara shrugs. "You could call it that. But I'd say you are so much more. The way I see it, you can't truly rely on a hired mercenary to get a job done so much as you could with a trained soldier. And from what I can tell, you've got plenty of years backed by training. A weapon designed to follow orders. Isn't that right, my love?" she says.

Cree's body tenses. How could she know that? It could have been a guess based on the way he carries himself, but with Sara, it's never that simple. "I'm not a soldier nor a weapon. I don't know what you're talking about." He stares at her hard.

Sara raises a brow and tilts her head innocently. "No? Perhaps I should remind you. Of that military base. How you blindly followed whatever order you were given. Even when you had to direct your... 'Gun', was it? Onto the man you considered your father... Seems like an obedient weapon to me," she hisses.

Cree stands in fear, his eyes trying to search hers for answers but come up with nothing. "...How...?" He didn't mean to sound so weak, but his voice broke out in a whisper.

She smirks and taps the side of her head. "Mind Magic is truly the strongest of the schools, despite what those 'Elemental' wielders may tell you. Possessing the ability to invade someone's head and read their thoughts like an open book is a gift unlike any other. One I count myself very lucky to have, indeed. And years spent focusing and honing my gift has only made it stronger," she says.

Cree tries to understand what she's getting at. Is she just bragging? Is there a point to this lesson on magic and whatever shit she's going on about? It is interesting to know that there are different types or 'schools' of magic, but it really doesn't matter to him. He came here expecting a task, not a lecture.