Humanity at Stake (Completed)

Chapter 15 -

"I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp" -"The Sound of Silence" by Disturbed

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"What type of shoes do ninjas wear? Sneakers!" Pax finished off another one of his awful jokes, chuckling to himself. A collective, unamused sigh went through the group. They trotted along their patrol path, staying in formation. "What? That wasn't funny?" Pax whined.

"None of your jokes are funny, Pax," Tony put bluntly from ahead of him. He pouted at her back.

"Fine! I have one that is really funny, are you all prepared?" Pax asked them all. Nova giggled at his persistence to get them to laugh at one of his jokes.

"We are all shaking in our boots in anticipation," Leon answered him sarcastically. Pax ignored him.

"What do you call a rabbit that's always happy? Hop-timistic!" Pax managed to get a snort out of Nova, and he cheered loudly in response. "I have more where that came from!" Pax said excitedly. Leon groaned beside Nova.

"You spurred the beast. You should only be spurring my little beast, babe!" Leon complained. Nova rolled her eyes, sending her group member a look of disapproval. In the background, Pax was saying another one of his ridiculous jokes.

"Leon, I told you already. You're lines aren't go-" Nova was cut off by a sharp neighing noise. She snapped her head up to see Zethus' horse rear up and bolt off. Everyone pulled the horses to a halt, taking a moment to question what happened before they all took off in the direction of the run away horse.

A sense of dread filled the air as they rounded a corner, to find nothing in sight. Christopher gestured for everyone to slow down to a trot.

"Keep an eye on alleys and side roads. Zethus would have tried to get his horse under control as quickly as possible. They should be around here somewhere." Christopher instructed gruffly.

"Hey guys..." Pax started after they had silently scanned the roads for a while for Zethus and his horse.

"Now is not the time for one of your stupid jokes, Pax!" Tony said harshly, twisting around on her horse to look at him angrily. Pax shook his head, pointing down an alleyway. Nova spurred her horse to trot up next to his, leaning her head closer to her horses to look down the passageway.

"It's Zethus' horse!" she cried. This caused everyone to pull against their reins, stopping their horses.

"Just his horse?" Christopher asked in confusion. Nova nodded her head. "Everyone dismount. It'll be hard to get all of us into the narrow road with our horses," Christopher demanded. Everyone swung their leg across their horse, using the rung to dismount. Nova grabbed the strap that laid across her quarter horse's cheek, gently tugging him towards the others. Christopher gestured for his team to follow him as he led them towards a collapsed streetlight. They used the pole as a means to tie their horses up, so they stayed put.

They then started down the alley way. The atmosphere was multitudes thicker. Everything was oddly quiet as they made their way up to Zethus' horse. As she saw the squadron approach, she kicked up in defense, neighing with hostility. Christopher waited for her to bring her front hooves back down before grabbing her reins. He ran a hand down her neck, sweeping her main out of the way to find fresh scratches on her tawny hide.

"Everyone draw your weapons... I have a bad feeling." Christopher murmured quietly, his tone holding a dangerous edge. Nova instantly drew one of her swords as the rest of her squadron prepared themselves. He released the now calm horse.

The five of them continued to slink down the darkening alleyway. The towering stone walls seem to close in, blocking the rest of the world from the travelling group. Glancing up, Nova noticed the sky was taking on a pinkish hue. His horse had to get startled and take off right before our patrol ended. Where could he had gone off to? Nova looked down in time to see Christopher pull everyone to a halt. In front of them, sat a fork in the path. He glanced down each one, before nodding towards the right one.

"Let's not be dumbasses. We all go down the same route. There will be no splitting up. Things never go well when people do." They all silently agreed with his command, nodding their heads. Starting down the branch, Nova brought up the rear.

As she was about to head down the side with the rest of her squadron, she heard a noise down the left side. She glanced back at her members as they picked their way silently ahead. I won't bother them for something that's probably small. She thought to herself as she went down the opposite branch. Things grew quiet, and she became extremely self-conscious of her footfalls. As she tried to lighten them, she dodged around various debris like opened crates and broken barrels.

She glanced up from watching her feet, noticing a figure standing at the dead end. His hands were crossed comfortably behind his back. A tug pulled at her chest, and Nova recognized him as her master. A disapproving frown adorned his face as he raised a condescending eyebrow.

"Now, Nova," he started, his voice thick with disappointment. She stiffened as he brought his hands out from behind him, revealing uncovered talons that dripped with blood. "You needed to gain their trust, little lamb, not let them gain your's."