The Rogue Guardian

Chapter 40: The War Begins

I'm sorry if the story starts to feel rushed now but I'm hoping to speed things up a bit. I don't want this to take as long as The Royal Thief did and I feel like i'm also constantly fighting to have the motivation to update at all so I want to cram more into fewer words if that makes sense. I haven't been in a good writing place for ages :/

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The Under-City War, as I'd noticed some people calling it, began with the thieves. Evvie had predicted it would, but it still was a shock when Wes burst into my room at the inn half-soaked with blood.

"It's started," he spat out breathlessly before slamming the door behind him and sinking to the floor. His eyes were wide and we were all on our feet before he had hit the ground.

"Are you okay?" Lucien demanded.

Kay grabbed Wes's shoulder, where the blood was thickest. "Is this all yours?"

Wes winced. "Some. I got cut, but I think it's shallow. Listen, who's here?" He looked around at us all and, scrutinizing him, I wasn't sure the fear in his voice was entirely from the fight that must have happened.

"Me, Kay, Evvie, you, Lucien," I rattled off. While we'd been sitting around and wondering when the war would start it had gone on without us, apparently. "We were waiting for you and Liz and Therese."

"Well, we're done waiting," Wes said, his words true in more than one way.

"What happened?"

"Me and Liz were on our way over, walking with a couple of other people," he said, looking at the floor. "Taking a shortcut through the maze. Then suddenly some thieves ambushed us-- they were waiting on the roofs. They jumped down all at once and attacked. There must have been at least ten of them, and just five or six of us."

"But you got away," Lucien said, as if he had to remind himself.

"Yes," Wes said, still not meeting any of our eyes.

It took a moment for me to realize why.

"Where's Liz?" Evvie asked softly, the quiet of her voice masking something deeper.

Wes shivered. "She... she wasn't fighting well. I don't know what happened. Fighters she usually could have gotten rid of in minutes got away from her. It was like she didn't really want to hurt them."

"Where's Liz?" Evvie repeated ferociously.

He closed his eyes like he couldn't see her face. "Captured."

Evvie bolted out of her seat.

Kay's quick grab for her showed how well he knew her, but I was quicker, shoving myself between her and the door before she could reach it.

"Get out of the way!"

I braced myself against the door, holding the knob firmly closed. "Where are you going?"

"To the place they were ambushed, to hunt them down!"

"With what?" Kay demanded, taking her arm as I eyes the fists she'd made.

"I don't care with what, I'll find them!"

"No," Lucien said, "They'll find you, and you'll be captured too."

"Good," she spat. "They'll take me right to Liz."

"Good, you'll be captured?" I demanded. "This isn't the right way to rescue her. Sit down and think, Evvie."

"So I'm supposed to leave the love of my life in the hands of our enemies? You sit and think, I'm going to rescue her!"

"No, you're going to get yourself killed," Kay said. "I know this is horrible and you want to go out and do something but first, take one minute and think through this logically."