Steel Ethereal

Ch. 22 Glaive Renegade

            

Jenna

            "Something troubling you, Jenna," Riley asks me as he nibbles on a granola bar. As far as I've seen, he's barely eaten anything else. I may just hold him down to force him to eat some rations, "your demeanor is a bit more stoic than usual."

His words grace a small smile across my face.

Liam stood close by, but his ears took none of our words in. He seemed to be lost in space. Charlie hung back keeping to herself.

"Should I be honest? Or should I lie to not upset you?" I ask curiously. My eyes train on Riley and his face as he nibbles on a spare piece of granola in his mouth. I wondered how he was doing without his usual fix of coffee.

"I do appreciate honesty, but lie if you must."

I mulled over my words, not wanting to mince them, but not wanting to be too direct and irking my boss. They stayed stagnant in my mouth since the day I was assigned this mission.

"Why are there two children being sent with us? I understand their potential but at such a crucial time? Why take two inexperienced whelps with us?"

My gaze didn't falter as I spoke. If I was in the wrong, I'd take the punishment.

"It just makes no sense," I continue, "We should be preparing for war. No matter the motive, an attack on our leader can only come from some other group large enough to challenge us. So why bring two people along who could bungle this up?"

Riley nods, he doesn't appear impatient or angry, "Your words have sense in them. You're wise to think this way, but you're still learning too."

We step over a cluster of boulders and I look over to make sure Charlie doesn't lose her balance again. But these boulders were eroded by time and easy to keep a foot hold on.

Riley continues, "My first thoughts were on war when this all happened as well. I began thinking up defense plans and how best to use Apex. Then I thought we should merely focus on timing."

"What do you mean?" I ask almost tripping myself.

"Instead of rushing in, guns charging or fortifying our defenses, we should keep watch and ready ourselves. Those two will see some horrors if it should come to war. You remember the Idris conflict."

I nod, remembering the months long conflict. It was where Luciana turned from a sweet, shy girl to the war machine she was now. I remain silent as we walk. My mind is a cloud of ideas and thoughts. I stumble a bit more and I realize I'm distracted.

Before long we were faced with a summit of crag and cave entrances. It is the base of the mountain range that served as protection for the mercenary group we sought.

Our arrival to Glaive's lair was abrupt, yet anticipated. A whole week we travelled. Thankfully Charlie was in enough shape to keep up, nor did she complain. But there were times I sensed impatience.

"So, we're going in there?" Charlie asks. The small crevices, nooks, and crannies are intimidating to her, I assume. One wouldn't know what hid in those dark places.

"Don't expect a warm welcome," Riley says walking along with Charlie and pats her shoulder. "Should anything happen, stick with Jenna."

We carry on through one of the caves. The winding tunnel is lit up by single light bulbs that are mounted and connected to one another by large rubber wires that dangle and stretch throughout the tunnel.

We're soon met with company. Three guards. A brutish man with long greasy hair and a missing eye led the three. Their rifles shone, indicating they were well taken care of.