Prisoner Thirty-One

Alec: around

I was swimming in guilt. Actually, no, I was practically drowning in it. Maybe I would have been able to ignore it if it weren't for Feather becoming friends with Ashmore. Everyone else would have just tortured the information out of him and been on their way but of course she had to save the guy.

I wasn't condoning torture or even favouring Jagu here, Kyra could rot in hell for all I cared but by learning the truth, I was left being the true bad guy here. And there Fe was, hugging the martyr, the man willing to die to save his people. And here I was, being the piece of crap, I knew I was.

This pity party was all because of what I had done the day before. Windsor had told me that I would have to meet him earlier then normal. Once I had gotten to the exit gate, I'd seen that there were only four people waiting there, compared to the usual fifteen we went out with.

Once we had gotten past the usual greetings, Windsor had started to explain what was going on. "So Kyra wants to send us out to Malum to get the package tonight and I felt that you guys would be the best ones to get this thing done well." I'd nodded along, confused but not concerned enough to ask any questions.

We headed through the gates more armed then I had ever seen. Each guy had a knife and a personal weapon, mine being the gun I had recently started keeping on me at all times. I only had a certain number of bullets, but I was hoping that even empty it would act as a deterrent.

Windsor came behind me and slapped me on the back. "I'm guessing you're not totally sure whats going on." Over the past couple of weeks, we had really started to get on well and had gained the ability to have easy conversations over a long period of time.

"Nah man, parcels, Malum, I'm so on whatever that means."

He laughed but slowed, slightly creating a larger gap between us and the people in front. "Okay so Malum is this clan of total savages that like to treat human beings like their personal chew toys. Usually they keep to themselves, but we have been hearing chatter that they want to try their luck with us." His voice had gained a serious note, something it had never done before.

He continued talking painting a picture of cannibalism, murdering children in cold blood and men the size of giants with pointed teeth. He explained how they had attacked Jagu before, causing a huge population decline.

Maybe I should have thought more into what he was saying but at that point I had no reason to believe he wasn't being truthful. Plus knowing that Fe's job was going to be to deal with these people made the whole thing feel more real.

"Wait so the parcel is one of their soldiers that we are going to take hostage so that Fe can get information out of them." His voice re-gained it's joking quality.

"So, he's a quick learner too."

We had re-grouped by this point and the others had started to walk more cautiously, indicating that we were close to Malum.

The walls were about as tall as two of the guards stood on top of each other. Each guard was stood alone facing out into the woods, a weapon located in one arm. Equal gaps were located between each person so that they could run to each other quickly and certainly hear each other if there was a problem.

"Whats the plan?" One of the men asked Windsor as we withdrew further into the trees. By that point we had done a lap of the compound and stopped by the guard Windsor clearly wanted. "Well we have the sedative; we just need to find a way to get it on him without him alerting the others."

I assessed the situation; from where he stood the people either side of him would be able to see if we approached so even if we could silence him, approaching would create a huge risk. "I could do it." My whisper caused everyone's concerned looks to turn to me.