Of Blood and Duty

Chapter Fourteen • The Deserter

-Lliam- 

They continued their session until Mae had managed to get in one hit on him which she considered to be victorious. They had come to a standstill where she had her wooden blade's tip pointing up against the bottom of his jaws. 

"I win." She said, giving him a smug and content look. Her eyes sparkling with pride and glee. 

Finally. He muttered while looking at her. Bewitched by how pleased she looked for winning over him after hours of sparring. He gripped he handle of his own sword which hung to his side, had relaxed this particular arm the moment he saw where she was aiming. 

He would not have been able to stop her, and in secret he was happy that their sparring session had come to an end now. At least he hoped it would have, he was exhausted. Mae was relentless and she pushed on through whatever she was enduring. Lliam's body needed rest, it wailed at him for forcing it to go on as long as his opponent kept coming at him. 

"You did." He admitted and gave the sword underneath his head a poke with his finger. "And without cheating... mostly." He teased her. She had not cheated, in fact she had kept it quite clean. 

"Mostly?" Mae huffed at him, taking a step back when he had openly admitted defeat. "I didn't through sand or anything in your eyes... and that was you only rule." She pointed at him, expecting an objection. 

"True." He chuckled and nodded his head repeatedly while looking down at his stance, not seeing anything particularly wrong with it. Mae was just so infernally fast that he had not seen her coming when she did. "You won. Fair and clean." He agreed and gave her half a smile. He was impressed and could not remember a single person who he had sparred with in the past who fought like she did. So swift, cunningly and skillfully. 

"Do not patronize me." She suddenly said, holding her sword towards him again. The brown eyes dark and unforgiving. A warning and a promise that if he did, she would prove to him once more that she had deserved the victory. 

"I am not?" He countered, his brows furrowing at her words. Confused about how she had interpreted him admitting defeat, and smiling at her, as him being condescending. The hard mask in Mae's face dropped somewhat when she seemed to notice that she was mistaken. When she went to open her mouth a voice boomed across the grounds. 

"Gather here!" The voice shouted. They looked towards where the voice came from simultaneously. In the direction of the hatch leading to the burrows.

Evor. Lliam looked to Mae for an answer of what has going on, but to his surprise she looked equally as confused as he felt. The shout echoed over the grounds again and they both realized that whatever it was about, it was not something that could wait. 

"Let's go." Mae said set off. 

"To where?" He asked, staying right behind her.

"The square." 

In the square of the Guild's territory stood a group of agitated and fidgeting people. About five to six people looking in different directions, moving restlessly in the spot where they stood while waiting for those who had been summoned. Next to them he saw Evor, standing with his arms crossed across his chest. 

As they came closer to the group he noticed other people pouring out of the hatchet, small buildings around and even coming out from the surrounding woods around them. He blinked in awe of how so many people could just appear out of nothing and so quietly. They made nearly no sound regardless of their numbers. 

"All of these people cannot reside down there." He mumbled to himself when trying to see how all of them lived down there, all of them going down the same hatch.