The Hunt

Chapter 19- To Enrage the Beast

"She won't come for us, you know," Zephyr had been saying, over and over again.

Currently, Rei, Alma, Orion, and himself were bound to each other by the wrists.

Two guards had gotten the drop on him and Alma in the forest, knocking them out with something. Probably a punch. The two of them weren't meant for fighting, after all. The aching at on the back of his head was enough to give him a decent guess.

Orion and Rei looked the worst out of the group of four.

Rei had blood dripping from a cut above his hairline and a nice bruise under his left eyes. A small line of blood found it's way from his cut. When he was brought out of the mansion second after Zephyr had been tied up, he seemed to be limping, so it was probably worse underneath.

Orion, on the other hand, took the award for the worst. Blood was seeping from a cut above his left eye, keeping it closed. It looked like he'd been cut on the right side of his ribs. He barely managed to walk when they brought him forward. And to see a man as stubborn as his assassin stumbling in another persons arms meant he was probably in a great deal of pain. Not that he'd ever admit it.

"Aright," Rei said, leaning back so he was prectically laying on the rest of their backs, "someone has to admit it. That stupid convict was right."

"She probably left us for dead," Orion chimed in.

"Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine."

Zephyr had suspected Rei would keep his composure. He was just that stupid. Orion, probably because he was used to being in tense situations. But Alma as well...looked eerily calm.

"I think she'll come for us," Alma said, out of the blue.

"Good luck with that one, kid," Rei snickered from behind Zephyr. "She's basically free now, you know? There's no reason for her to save our sorry butts now. So pray to whatever gods you believe in that they let you into hell because we're gonna be dead. Besides, all she had to do is wait for us to die for it to be deactivated. I wouldn't be surprised if she teamed up with this loser to get it off."

Zephyr supposed he should be more afraid at the sound of that. He was probably going to die within the next hour, but he felt like Alma looked. Calm.

"Do you all ever shut up?" Sei asked from a distance away. "I mean really. You know if this little girl doesn't show you're all dead, right? So...panic a little or something, for starters. And stop talking calmly. It's a little insulting."

"I suppose it's a little late for diplomacy," the prince stated, giving Sei his friendliest smile.

"Oh, we're much bey-"

"Sir!" A guard, one of Sei's, ran over. He gave a curt bow before saying, "It's the convict, Sir. She's made her way to the front gate."

Even though he couldn't see the others, the prince was sure he wore the same astonished look that they did. Maybe not Alma, though.

"Have the guards let her in."

"They're dead."

The smugglers eyes widened a bit. "What?"

"She killed them."

"There were five guards!"

"Yes, sir. She killed them all in a matter of two minutes."

A smile grew on the foreign man's face. He looked down at the four members of the ragtag team.

"Looks like she care about you lot more than you think. Maybe thank her before I kill her, yeah?" Sei turned back to the guard who wore a glistening veil of seat on his forehead. "Open the gate, though maybe stay away from her."