Eye of the Storm

Page Five

The next night Quila made her way to the abandoned house to meet with Gopan. She slid in through the window. "You're late. I was getting worried." She shook her head. "I'm fine. Let's just go." She made a move to leave, but Gopan reached out and grabbed her arm, she could see a worried look in his eyes. "Listen. I know yesterday was hard for you. You're not alone in this, remember?" She smiled a bit and nodded. "Okay. Let's go." They crawled through the tunnel, and made it safely to the other side. Gopan led the way through the quiet middle ring streets until they reached the house they had chosen. As usual, they slipped in without making a sound and began piling items into the bag. Suddenly, there was the sound of an ostrich-horse outside, and they both froze. Gopan rushed to the window and she saw him tense as he turned back to her. "It's the home owners. They're back!" He whispered. "What!?"

"You go ahead with the loot, Quila. If we both go, they'll see one of us. I'll follow you later."

"Are you out of your mind? Come on!"

"We don't have time for arguing! Get out of here!" He pushed her to the window and rushed off to find a place to hide. Quila hesitated a moment, but when the voices of the owners drew nearer to the door, she slipped out of the window and ran off.

She was about to made it to the tunnel, and crawled through. She couldn't leave the bag in the tunnel. If Gopan got there, he wouldn't be able to push it through and he'd be trapped. She didn't like it, but she'd have to take it home with her and hide it somewhere. She felt a pit in her stomach as she crept through the streets of the lower ring. What if Gopan was captured? They'd come after her next. He was strong and loyal, but the Dai Le could get through in time. She was about to make it home when a shadow jumped in front of her. In the dim light, she could tell it was a man. From behind his back, he pulled out two broadswords and prepared a stance. She could tell he was wearing all black, and a hood over his head, and a chilling blue and white mask. She set the sack of gold coins and jewelry down on the dirt, and took some water from her canteen and prepared a stance.

There was a moment of tension in the air, and suddenly, the man jumped forward and she lashed out at him with the water. He was a very skilled fighter, making a move for her, or the bag any chance he got. But Quila wasn't giving him that chance. He may be skilled with swords, but she was skilled with her bending too. She tried to block each of his blows, but one of his swords slashed her right arm and she hissed in pain. He jumped up and leaped at her, but she pulled water from the ground and grabbed him by the foot, yanking him back down to the dirt. He got right back up and came for her again, he tripped her feet and pushed her down to the ground. He put the swords to her neck and her mind frantically thought of ways to escape. Then, he thrust the swords down and they lay crissed-crossed in the dirt. blocking her there. He picked up the bag of loot and pulled it over his shoulder before returning for his swords. He pulled them back out of the ground and began to walk away. She rubbed her neck and snarled at him. "No one gets away with stealing from the Black Bandits!" She wrapped two arms of water around his arms, and another around his waist and pulled him back to the ground, his broadswords and the bag falling out of his grasp. Quila froze the water to trap him there and took the bag. She also picked up the swords and twirled them in her hands. They had almost perfect balance and felt natural in her hands. She heard him growl in frustration as she stole his swords.

When she got back home she hid the bag and swords up against the outside wall, under some crates. She slipped in through her bedroom window and finally noticed the pain in her arm now that she wasn't distracted. She took off her bandana and inspected the wound, hissing when she touched it gently. She wrapped her arm in bandages and got into bed.

The next morning she woke up before her mother and rushed to Gopan's house, praying that her friend made it out okay. She knocked on the door and Gopan's father, Bipin, answered. He had Gopan's skin tone and dark hair, but had grayer eyes. "Ahh, Quila. What brings you here so early?"