"Amaya! Don't!"
She ignored Adreon. Instead, Amaya rushed down the hill, leading with her left side, and weaved through the trees. Her arms were slightly out to balance herself. She looked at her destination as much as she looked the ground in front of her.
Her quick trot didn't take her directly to the unnatural clump of bushes. Instead, it took her around to the other side so she could make sure nothing hid within them. As she moved, she listened and smelled the woods around her.
As Amaya drew close to her objective, she slowed her pace and put her hands on the hilts of her sheathed daggers. They were tucked into the padding of her leather armor on each thigh and angled forward. The angle made them easier to draw and slash at anything in front of her.
She glanced behind her, seeing Adreon standing on the crest of the hill. He waved his hands and commanded her to come back to him with hand signals. She snorted, looked back to the bushes.
Close enough now, she could see no traps in the bushes. She did see the hidden circular hole in the ground that entered into the cave. The rim of it looked like it was once nearly covered with dirt and had been dug out within the past year. Whoever was inside, she thought, probably felt comfortable that no one would ever find them.
After glancing at the ground in front of her, she placed her steps onto the thinner patches of leaves. She listened to the forest around her, letting it's tempo of noises guide her pacing. When she moved close enough, she let go of her right dagger and pushed several blooming branches out of the way. She moved them slowly, careful not to ruffle any of them and cause sound.
She noticed two ropes tied to the bases of separate bushes. A ladder, she guessed, and crept forward to duck under the branches that she held back. Times like these made her thankful that she was small. She leaned forward while tugging the bow across her back tighter to her body so it wouldn't become snagged on a bush.
Amaya glanced down into the hole and checked for her shadow first. When she saw it cast against the side of the almost cylindrical entrance, she started scanning the rest of it.
The walls were made of the smoothestone that the ancients used in many of their creations. Plenty of cracks ran through the stone, however, and much of it had crumbled and broken away. Some tree roots grew through the missing parts into the throat of the cave. A handful of the roots turned and grew back into the dirt near where they came. The rest of them were cut. On the floor below, perhaps twenty arm-spans, she saw a floor made of some of rubble and lots of dirt. The ropes were bridged by wooden planks to make a ladder like she expected.
The thought of being unable to guard herself while descending into the cave wiggled in her mind, but her mission was clear: She had to stop the creation the Synergists prophesied. She pushed her fears aside, turned around and stepped onto one of the planks. Careful not to let the ladder swing around too much, she tried to limit her movement as much as possible. Still, several of the wooden slabs clanked into the side of the cave. Pausing to wince, she closed her eyes and chided herself with a silent sneer.
Amaya paused when she was at eye level with the ground. She looked through the bushes and saw Adreon staring at her. He no longer signaled her and seemed reluctant, but with a glare from Amaya, it provoked him into movement. She didn't wait for him, however, and continued moving down.
An exposed root, probably dead, poked her in the back. When she passed it, she carefully glanced down to check on how far she had left to go. Ten arm-spans.
"Hello?" a man's voice said from below.
And tingling sensation went up her back, over her shoulders and flushed over her face. Her hand started tingle and shiver and she struggled to keep them still and herself calm. She checked below her again. Not seeing anyone, she looked above hoping to see Adreon. He wasn't there and she felt only a hint of regret, but she forced the rising panic out of her mind to focus on her situation.
The cave's occupants placed bushes around the entrance. If they dont want to be found, Amaya assumed they would attack on sight. If that was true, she needed to get to the bottom of the cave as quick as she could so she could defend herself.
She looked between her arms and legs to the next step and lowered herself without care of noise. Her bow snagged on the root that had poked her, but she looked over he shoulder and unhooked it.
"Who's that?" The voice echoed again. It sounded timorous to Amaya's ears. "Mikhal, is that you?"
With only a few arm spans left, she wanted to let go, fall to the ground and roll to ease the impact of the landing. She wouldn't be able to gain any forward momentum to do it, though, and the bow on her back would stop or even hurt her even if she tried.
The echo of a blade being drawn crossed over her ears as she neared the bottom of the entrance. "I'm warning you! Tell me who you are!"
Knowing her foot was now visible to the man, she let go of the ladder and fell to the ground. She dropped into a crouch with her right hand on the ground to lessen the pain to her feet and legs. Her left hand gripped a hilt. With her head forward, she saw nothing but a cave in blocking her view.
"Don't move!" the man said from behind her.
She spun right on the ball of her left foot, raising and moving backward to give herself a few extra hand-spans of distance from her first kill. Her left dagger, pulled from it's sheathe with the point downward, hummed as she turned. She moved it upward and to her side, deflecting the strike of a short sword that came to her left.
The then noticed how the man loomed over her, built with muscle and anger.
With silent thankful prayer to Syngery for making her ambidextrous, she pinned the sword against the wall to her left as she drew her right dagger. She took a step forward into the reach of the man attacking her, and ran the blade across his unarmored stomach.
As he began to cry out, she changed the path of her right dagger. It ran through the man's triceps and biceps of his sword arm. With the dagger above the man and the tip pointed down, she plunged it between his neck and shoulder.
But he was already dead. An arrow had been shot into the top of his head and his eyes stared blankly toward the cave's ceiling as he fell backwards.
She didn't watch as the man fell. Instead, she gripped the pinned sword with her right hand, keeping a hold onto her dagger too. Amaya then looked upward, seeing Adreon through the cave entrance with a bow in hand and an angry face. She quietly snorted and stood straight. He said nothing and stowed the bow across his back before he started his decent.
When Adreon got to the bottom, she glared at him. "I didn't need your help."
He stared back at her, clearly angry with her. "You could have gotten yourself killed, Amaya."
"I'm alive."
"I don't care." He pointing at his chest with a thumb. "I outrank you with the Synergists, so when I tell you to do something, you do it. Understand?"
Amaya continued looking at him in the eye. He stood a full two hand spans over her head.
"Amaya!" he said, raising his voice, but quieting into a whisper.
"What?"
"Answer me!"
"Yes." She gripped her daggers as tight as she could as she struggled not to snap at him.
He stepped forward and put his face into her's. "Yes to what?"
"I understand that you're higher rank. I won't disobey your orders again."
He stayed nose to nose with her for a moment before turning away.
Adreon knelt next to the man, inspecting the kill before nodding with approval. He remained silent, however. When he stood, he glanced back at Amaya before looking further into the cave. He waved for her to follow and she did as commanded.
