From Ashes and Dust (Book One)

Chapter 14.1

The guards walked in a square formation ahead of them. Vatra maintained her hold on the knife to her own throat. She closely watched each of the guards for any movement to call for back-up or any other sign they'd changed their minds to bring them to their friends. So far, they walked quietly without more than a twitch.

Revna was uneasily calm. She kept in stride beside Vatra with ease despite being much shorter than her, and her soft gaze appeared to not focus on anything in particular. Her grip on the axe she carried was relaxed.

"You were so on edge about us running away not too long ago," Vatra said, her voice dropping. She was sure the guards could still hear her. Though, it wasn't like she was going to reveal any big secrets.

"I'm just glad to have a plan," Revna replied. She peered up at Vatra, an understanding flashing in her eyes about Vatra's words. "I don't like it when there's not a plan."

Vatra nodded. "Now I know who not to go to in a crisis," she said with a chuckle.

"You considered options that I didn't even think of. You're a lot better at these things than I am." Revna sighed.

"Not really," Vatra admitted. "Back on Pocarro, I didn't think some things through. I could have gotten everyone killed because I let my emotions take over. It's a flaw of mine that Spyro likes to point out all the time. Sometimes it can come in handy, though."

Revna's face softened as she appeared to consider what Vatra said. The two of them followed behind the guards in silence until they stopped in front of a portion of the wall that looked no different than the stretch of hallway they'd walked through.

"Your friends are being held in this section. We'll release them one by one," the female guard who had spoken earlier relayed. "Then, we'll bring you all to our holding room."

"Wait, that wasn't the deal," Vatra said. The tip of the godkiller pressed into her skin, and she could feel the blade nick her flesh.

The guards fidgeted uneasily.

"We can't just let you go," the guard replied. "This is the deal. We will allow you all to regroup with one another in one area."

"Then, what?" Revna pushed.

The guard glanced between them, her face shielded behind the translucent visor. "You've earned the attention of someone higher up than us. If we were left to follow protocol, you'd both have been disposed of a long time ago. So, for now, we'll allow you to join your friends."

Someone higher up? Vatra feigned a barrage of more questions and watched as one of the other guards held their hand up to the wall.

The panels whisked to the side. Stepping into view from a room much like Vatra had been contained in, a figure appeared.

A look of confusion crossed Vatra's face.

"Oh, you forgot I was with you?" Nat's voice was accusatory, her arms crossing tightly across her chest as a brow flicked upward.

Vatra snapped her mouth shut once she realized her jaw had slacked open. "No," she replied.

I actually just forgot who you were for a moment, Vatra thought to herself.

"So, is this your plan?" Nat stepped into the hall cautiously and gestured with her chin toward the knife at Vatra's throat. She looked uneasily over the guards before pressing herself beside Revna.

"It's a good plan," Vatra said.

"Better than what we had before," Revna added. "Which was no plan."

"C'mon," Vatra groaned. "We had a strong hold over them and now you're letting it slip away." She addressed the guards ahead, all of whom started forward in their march across the hall once Nat was with them.

One of the guards glanced back over their shoulders at Vatra's comment. But, they didn't say anything. It was easy to surmise what the guard wanted to say.

You're a bunch of idiots. Vatra couldn't argue with that presumption.

The guard turned back around just as they stopped at another part of the hallway. Repeating the movements beside the hidden panels, the doorway opened to reveal Enyalius looking as smug as ever.

"Ah, a party just for me?" Enyalius held his hands out in a wide, sweeping motion. He, without a doubt, regretted the gesture when one of the guards smacked his arms down at the wrists.

"No sudden movements," the guard said.

Enyalius grinned at the guard and took a large, single stride from the cell. He snaked his way between Vatra and Revna, eyeing the blade at Vatra's neck with a glimmer of mischief.

"Don't have all the fun, eh?" Enyalius whispered.

Vatra rolled her eyes, tightening her grip on the godkiller to keep from plunging it into the god's neck. "It really is a party now," she murmured.

They all turned their gazes with curiosity to see who would be in the next cell they stopped in front of. However, when the guard waved their hand over the panels, an instant silence passed over them. The cell was empty.

Could this have been the cell Revna came from? No, she would have looked nervous, Vatra thought with a quick glance over to Revna. An equal expression of surprise crossed Revna's face.

It was obvious Spyro or Hisato had made use of their hidden talent and slipped through the walls.

"What the hell?" The female guard spun around, her hand darting for a weapon at her belt.

Vatra didn't see the point in following through with her threat. She switched her grip on the godkiller with ease and lunged forward, plunging the weapon into the woman's neck. The guard sputtered blood against the inside of her helmet just as the others sprung into action.

A daring hand slipped the second godkiller from Vatra's lower back. She met eyes with Enyalius as he flipped the blade, jumping back to use it as a defense since he couldn't actually attack. He watched with a manic grin and wide eyes at the bloodbath unfolding.

Deadweight, Vatra almost grumbled her thoughts aloud.

Tossing her katana to Nat, Vatra hoped she could at least be useful with a weapon. Nat expertly caught the weapon and swung it in a tight arc, directly into the narrow gap of one of the guard's armor.

Vatra kicked herself free of the female guard's body and turned as Revna cut down a guard with a hard swing of her axe. Blinking, Vatra realized the remaining guard she'd been searching for was already sprawled out on the ground.

"Who killed that one?" Vatra asked with a limp gesture of her knife.

A reply of shrugs passed between the two other women. They all looked over to Enyalius with disbelief.

"Don't look at me," Enyalius said. He tapped the godkiller to the palm of his hand with a frown. "I couldn't pierce this into my own hand if I wanted to. The only thing I could hit is an animal or an alien beast. Don't think he was either of those things."" 

Vatra stomped over to the god and snatched her knife from him. "A shame," she spat. "But the guard didn't just drop dead."

 A sharp whistle echoed down the hall. All of them turned in the direction of the sound, and Vatra kicked herself for not taking a moment to actually look around when the guard was killed. Hisato and Spyro approached the group at a leisurely pace.