Shifters

Shifters 2: Teaser

A slight draft spread throughout a lonely corridor blanketing the tunnel-like passageway in a cocoon of frosty air. Stifling a sneeze as the chill snuck into the gaps of his armour, a man no taller than the very door he was entrusted to guard, shivered momentarily until the feeling passed. Switching his gaze to his companion, a scowl promptly scattered across the man's face as his taller counterpart remained unperturbed by the atmospheric changes.

"Must be nice," he muttered to himself as his bodily warmth fought off the cold.

Unlike the shorter guard, the near behemoth of a man stood awkwardly clutching a spear as large as he was tall.

"Are you not going to reply?" the shorter of the two continued, "don't tell me your previous scolding from the higher ups has turned you into a mute."

"You talk too much Galden," the larger man replied, still maintaining his aloof expression.

"Ah, well I'll be," Galden replied with a grin, "the great Raskin speaks!"

"Knock it off," Raskin shot back, stifling a smile, "let's not get into trouble like last time."

"That was nothing," Galden responded, recalling the incident in question.

Due to a similar conversation-filled night, both him and Raskin had unfortunately missed a couple petty thieves that had managed to slip past their post due to their hearty bantering.

"You call this nothing?" Raskin questioned, dropping his earlier calm façade, "Being reassigned to dungeon duty isn't what I'd call nothing," he continued heatedly, "hell, we're lucky nothing of great importance was stolen otherwise we'd have had to kiss our end of year promotions goodbye!"

"Yeah yeah," Galden said, waving a dismissive hand at his companion's words, "It's not like we'd have made the exams anyway."

"Perhaps you wouldn't have-" Raskin began, voice trailing off as he realized the harsh reality of his words.

"I'm sorry I screwed up your chances," Galden replied, bowing his head apologetically.

"Just forget it," Raskin continued, not wanting to sour the mood any further.

After a few minutes of silence persisted between the two, Galden's eyes widened as it roved the near empty corridor.

"Hey," he began, jabbing his companion in the ribs lightly.

"What is it?" Raskin replied, feigning his annoyance.

"How long has she been there?" Galden asked, pointing to the right of the dim passageway.

"What are you on about?" Raskin asked, staring in the appropriate direction.

At first, he'd failed to see what the shorter man was motioning at, however, as his eyes acclimated to the mesmerizing darkness lingering beyond, he soon picked out the form of a young woman seated beside a solid, iron door. Dressed in attire that was certainly not fit for a dungeon, the unknown woman sat in a crossed-legged fashion, exuding no audible sound. With brown boots laced almost up to her knees, the girl sported a plain, white blouse accompanied by a floral-patterned skirt. Despite the unfavorable visibility, she seamlessly brushed a strand of her short blonde hair behind an ear before noiselessly thumbing through what appeared to be a leather-bound novel.

"How long has it been since we changed shifts?" Raskin questioned, averting his gaze as her sudden presence placed him on high alert.

"Couldn't have been more than thirty minutes or so," Galden replied after a brief moment of thought.

"Why didn't the other guards notify us?" Raskin questioned, chancing another glance at the woman.

"Maybe they didn't notice her," Galden theorized, "or perhaps they hoped we'd get ourselves into more trouble. Whatever the case, she's definitely not ordinary."