The beginning

"Was this wagon here last time?" Nee asked. "I'm pretty sure it wasn't. Looters would have taken it anyway."

"Not just that, but look over there," Isolde said while pointing at a dead horse decorated with a lace headdress and gold reins. "They definitely wouldn't have left that... the bloods still bright red. It was just killed. Nee, stay alert."

"Shit, that's an imperial horse!" Nee exclaimed and ran to it. "Bitten right through the throat. Misers. No luck, horsey. You probably suffered a while before you bled out." She wiped her hands on her pants and walked around the carcass. "Where are the guards and the imperials?"

"Dead, I'd guess." Isolde looked into the distance where the grass started growing dangerously tall. "That way. I can see metal in the grass."

"I'm still looking," Aelius groaned. "Kallias is doing a good job of hiding him, but we will find him."

"You're wasting time," Hayes complained. He stepped outside and dropped the century old magazine on top if the newspaper box. "I'm going to look in the camp. Kalevi! Let's go!"

Athen stopped a few feet away, his blade aimed at Tira's throat. "You wench," he growled. "What are you doing here? Looking for death?"

At Hayes demand, Kalevi dropped next to him and waited with an expressionless face.

"Scout ahead," he ordered while walking in the direction of the camp. "Alert me of anyone you see."

As ordered, Kalevi scaled the building and scouted from the rooftops. She stopped outside the camp, observing a young man and woman before approaching them slowly. "State your names," she commanded.

Cala turned slowly to face the woman. "Who... are you?" she asked, confused.

Tira's giggle was devoid of amusement. "I could ask you the same thing," she replied quietly. "Don't you have some weak humans to play with somewhere?"

Soren stepped forward in front of Cala, half shielding her. "We are members of the Lost," he replied calmly.

Two of the lost outside the camp. Kalevi reported to Hayes. Her eyes met the female lost. "I'm Kalevi, a protector. State your names."

Soren frowned slightly, but replied, "I am Soren. This is my apprentice Cala. What brings you out here, Kalevi?"

. Looking at Soren, Cala asked, "What does she mean she's a protector?"

"Are you allied with the Dark Lord?" Kalevi asked.

"We do not," Soren told Kalevi. "What, or who, is it you protect?" He asked in return, glancing at Cala.

"Me," Hayes answered for Kalevi from the end of a broken road. "We don't have time for this idle chit-chat, Kale. Take me to the camp."

"Yes, sir," Kalevi answered without hesitation and turned quickly in the direction of the camp. She crossed the dry ground with light steps that concealed the sounds of her feet.

Soren watched the two go before looking towards the city. "We should go back now, Cala," he said, eyeing the movements in the nearby shadows. "I would rather not have our next encounter with strangers lead to bloodshed."

"Yes... I think you're right, sir," Cala agreed. "I think that I would like to rest as well."

The smell of blood was stronger under the cart where Rafeal was hiding. The corpse of the second guard was nearby and a pool of blood had started seeping under the cart. The Misers were gone now, chasing his parents when they fled.
He could see the two woman and hear them speaking. He clutched the wooden box in his arms tightly against his chest and started preparing to run. When they walked closer to the dead horse and noticed the guard, Rafeal threw himself out from under the cart and started running blindly in the direction of the city.

"Hey!" Nee exclaimed in surprise. "There was a kid in there?!"
She quickly followed, leaving the empty scavenging bag on the ground. "Kid, that's a bad idea! The city's full of Misers!"

"Leave me alone!" Rafeal ordered. He tripped while trying to look behind him and slid down the side of a dirt hill. The box rolled free of his arms and landed in the dirt near the "Welcome to Dover" sign just outside the city.