Echoes of the Reach

[6.4] | Rude Awakenings

    A low growl slipped from Arlo's jaws, their teeth clenching together with the panther-rider's creeping approach. "Maulers? Here?" they muttered with a fist to their chest, primed to swipe the cloak from their shoulders. "Shit."

    As the man slid from the panther's back, the trees shivered with the nimble flights of other figures. A female gnome, a half-elf man, and a human woman lunged forth from the treeline to surround the cart, bows and blades aimed squarely at the group. Motley assortments of rough leather, frayed furs, and uncovered ragged clothing constituted their armour, chosen more out of practicality than to reflect affiliation to any particular faction.

    From within a bag that hung from the half-elf's shoulder, the gnome pulled out a glass orb about the size of her head. She stared into the ball, a reflection of her frustrated face warped through its scratched surface, and then shook it hard. Nothing happened.

    The man – the apparent leader of the armed individuals – raised an eyebrow at his gnome companion. "All good, Wicket?"

    "Totally! Everything's totally fine. I've just gotta...switch it off and on again, that's all. Yeah. Nothing to worry about." Briefly disguising her ire with a grin, Wicket cursed under her breath as she rattled the orb around hard enough to bounce her platinum blonde hair. With an audible rumble, a pale yellow light flickered at its core, buttercup-bright ripples emanating through the glass from her fingertips.

    Suddenly, the orb shrank down to the size of an apple, easily sitting in Wicket's grasp. She tossed the shrunken orb between her small hands, releasing a sigh of relief. "See? Not a problem," she said as she fired a sincere smile at the man, her light blue eyes alight with cheer. A shallow scar tracked down her left cheek, its raw flesh tone glowing against her warm olive skin. "Want me to give them a look over, Kaz?"

    "If you don't mind." Kaz chuckled to himself, then took his bow from his back and readied another arrow. Though he wore scars along his eye, jaw, and lower lip, they only added to the rugged handsomeness he already possessed. "Everybody, away from the cart. And keep your hands where we can see them, now."

    Talwyn stepped down from the front seat, her hands raised. Gem-like yellow eyes narrowed, the panther peeled from Kaz's side and stalked forwards, flaring its nostrils at her feet. A thin gold ring shone around its left ear, just below the jagged flesh left by an old bite wound. Swallowing her nerves, Talwyn stood her ground and met the beast's eye as she addressed its master. "What's happening? Who are you people?"

    "You folks aren't from around here, are you?" With one eye on his panther's curious inspection, Kaz pulled down the collar of his shirt. A pair of tattoos painted in thick, plaster-white strokes shone at the base of his neck. "We're the Badlands Maulers, and you've rocked up on our patch of the city."

    The paint burned into Talwyn's eyes, albeit not because of its harsh white colouring. Two snaking lines that met at their heads, paired with an arrow crossed over a single straight line – Kaz's tattoos were a perfect replica of the markings worn by the operators of the city's pulley lifts. Clearly, the ranks of the Badlands Maulers numbered more than the four individuals that sized her group up now.

    While Wicket ran her orb around each of the cart's occupants, Kaz motioned for his other allies to search the wagon. "We were hired to run a tight ship around this warehouse and skyport, with specific instructions to keep eyes out for trouble," he said, keeping his bow ever so slightly drawn. As his panther left Talwyn's side to check her companions, he met her gaze with a quick wink. "And you just so happen to have caught my eye."

    Despite the rain, the gloom, and the tense thumping of her heart, the small gesture successfully robbed the thoughts from the surface of Talwyn's mind. She parted her lips to respond, but no sound came forth.