Baleful Wings (Dragon's Dogma Fanfiction)

Chapter 40: Detection

 "Wakey, wakey."
Arya's eyes popped open, blinded by the gleaming sunlight that peeked in through the cracks of the makeshift fortress around her. As her vision cleared, a grey-haired man appeared from the top of her periphery, his face still slowly piecing itself together like a memory.
"The boss will be here any minute, dove." Said a rather pale man, his long nose pressing against Arya's chin as he pushed her dangling body to a gentle swing. 
Arms tied behind her back, and ankles bound together, Arya's head felt much heavier than usual as her body swayed back and forth from a wooden beam on the ceiling of the hideout.
The mysterious captor quickly looked past her, his expression loosening as a satisfied grin played on his face. 
"Ahh, Boss. Here she is, the filthy little tart."
The upside-down girl noticed the shadow of a cloaked man, resting his hand on the hilt of his blade, a telltale sign of a Hearthstone native.
"Greetings, Mosquito. This is the one who stole my necklace, you say?"
Arya furrowed her brow, oddly familiar with the ashy voice from which the Boss spoke.
"Aye, m'lord. I saw it 'round her hands while she was at camp in our territory." 
The shadow reached into its coat, revealing an object dangling from a chain with a small snowflake silhouette. 
"So you saw this, in her hand, at her camp?" After a moment of silence, the shadow turned and slowly walked away. "Let this mouse go, you've wasted your time."
"Well.. then, what about this trinket?"Mosquito presented his boss with Arya's brooch, dropping it into his boss's hand. In the blink of an eye, the cutpurse's neck was met with the cold sting of a blade.
"Watch your tongue, blackguard, that's the crest of Noble House Moreau you're gawking at." Holding the brooch close to his eyes while gently brandishing his rapier, the leader knitted his eyebrows at the shining accessory. "Cut her down."
At his Boss's word, Mosquito swung Arya over his shoulder and cut the binds at her ankles, before sitting her down in the direction opposite of the entrance.

 Arya turned around slowly, entirely in disbelief of the sight before her; long black hair, brunneous skin and shining misty blue eyes. Squinting at her with an inquisitive glare was her older brother, Karel Andres Moreau.
"Ahh.. So, my sister yet lives. I'd heard you were eaten by the Dragon."
"Brûle en l'enfer, you son of a bitch!" She snarled, struggling against the ropes until she fell onto her jaw. "That's all you have to say for yourself?!" Karel's eyes widened as he folded his arms, seeming genuinely curious as to the reasoning of Arya's outburst. "Our family was killed because of you..!" She spoke into the dirt, her head turned toward her weapon, which sat doggedly against the wall as if it were thrown there. 
"No, our parents were killed because father didn't have the skill to best the amount of aggressors that attacked them." Karel spoke absently while checking his nails for dirt.
"You pissed someone off, and they came for us. Don't you understand that..?"
"And who told you that, hm? It couldn't have been father, unless he had time to make that accusation as he lay dying." The older brother's tone was completely lacking of any semblance of empathy.
Arya curled up until she was on her knees, staring into Karel's eyes. "They said it themselves, Karel. 'There's never a happy ending for a bandit,' as they thrust a blade into father's chest." With a quick roll, she tumbled her arms under her legs, grabbing her blade and aiming at her elder sibling. In the blink of an eye, she was in striking range and dealt a spinning slash, met by her opponent's steel.

 "So, you actually took fencing seriously back then..?" said Karel, parrying Arya's attacks with a fair bit of ease. "But it'll take more than that to--" As they met swords, Arya dealt a stomping kick to the side of his knee, causing him to stumble to the ground.
"B-boss!"
"Stay back, Mosquito!" He said, scooting back with his weapon pointed at the young woman before him. "If you interfere with this fight, she will only kill you." After dusting himself off, the slender Hearthstone man sat his blade on the ground in front of him and raised both his hands. "I surrender. You've surely gotten the better--" 

Without letting him finish, Arya burst forward with her sword drawn back and aimed at his neck. In a swift movement, Karel changed levels of his posture, dropping almost to his knee before shooting forth, grabbing at the backs of her thighs and yanking her legs from under her. As she hit the ground shoulder-first, Karel stepped on her sword and knelt down.
"They weren't talking about me, dear sister. They were referring to father."
As he spoke, a couple of other brigands came in, seeming hesitant to talk after seeing that he was in the middle of a fight. "Boss, there's aught happening with that stone in the main chamber. It's... glowing!"
"Glowing..?" Kicking the cinqueda aside, Karel followed his men to the main chamber of hideout, where the other bandits surrounded a patterned boulder with awe in their eyes.  "I assume it to be some form of magick or another. Leave that oddity alone afore something irreversible happens."
"What did you mean by that!?" Inquired Arya, before slashing the binds on her wrist against the edge of her sword, and taking it into her hands.
"Oh, well, Magic can have all sorts of unsuspecting effects." replied Karel, ceasing his japes as he noticed her unentertained expression. "But yes, where was I?" Arya didn't bother answering, although her squint of annoyance was hard to hide.
"Oh, yes. The part about our father being a merciless killer."