The Shadow Key Part 4

Glass is hard but the truth is harder to face.

John Pentoe hoped for a second as he flew through the window that the glass would be soft. Maybe, the AllFather would come down from the Heavens, making the glass feel more like a feather bed than something solid, but his hope died when he hit the hardness of the window. His body broke it throwing him out into the mud but knocking him out before hitting the ground.

                A blessing in its own right.

                While his gang, the Devil Goblins, tried their best to kill the Hood, who came blasting into their hideout. Melanie didn’t ask any questions. She didn’t want to know anything other than hurting the squirrels who Wesley was working for.

                Fairyblood snapped the staffs and armors that tried to stand against the throwing ax in two. Melanie tore through the dozen or so gang members in the hideout, shocked but trying to fight back. They couldn’t stand against the highly-trained warrior. All those years of training with the best of the Hoods were paying off. The Five had traveled the Realm to become the best warriors they could be. They trained with the best Musketeers from Wellstone. The greatest Rangers from Thornwood. The deadliest assassins in Traveler’s Haven and everywhere else between those kingdoms. No one else in the city of Whispering Oaks was anywhere close to the skill level of the Hoods, and these streets squirrels were quickly finding out the rumors were all true.

                In some of her training, going against a force that outnumbered you was the main point of the Hoods. Most Hoods only traveled in pairs hunting down the Spellcrafters of the Realm, but when Melanie was sent out to become a part of the Five, she had been told to fight a whole Traven.

                She had lost the first time, almost got killed, but had been saved by the other Five.

                The second time, she did better but still needed help from the others.

                She needed no one to help her the third time, but going against so many alone could still be dangerous. She had to be overly aware of everyone in the room and, most of all, where she was going.    

                She broke noses, faces, limps, but putting them all down quickly and only leaving one standing. A tall black squirrel with three red marks on his face was standing against the wall holding a short sword snarling at her. His paw started to shake when she turned her gaze on him.

                Melanie hoped he was the leader of the gang.

                “What did we do?” The squirrel asked.

                “I’m sure you did a lot,” Melanie said, standing in front of him letting her hood hide her face and the cloak drape over her body. “But I’m here because of Wesley.”

                “Wesley, Wesley Nailbark?” He asked.

                “I was told he is trying to steal you a spellbook,” Melanie said.

                “By the AllFather no,” he said. “If we ever see him again, we are going to kill him.”

                Melanie growled, dashing forward in a blink of the eye, putting the ax to his throat throwing him against the wall. “Don’t pull my chain.”

                 He dropped his sword holding up his paw. “I am not, I am not. He stabbed us in the back, and we have wanted his head for a year now.”

                Melanie narrowed her eyes and asked,” What did he do?”

                “If I tell you,” the squirrel said, “I get to live.”

                “Yes,” Melanie said, “and tell me the truth.” Did Scott lie to me? Or did he not know? “Or I will be back.”

                Melanie left the house with most of the gang bleeding and moaning from the attack while she rolled over what the leader had told her. A Spellcrafter hired them to get them out of the city, but Wesley killed the Spellcrafter before they could get them out. Why? No one knew, but it had caused the Devil Goblins more trouble than it was worth.

                Now, they wanted Wesley’s blood.

                But knew nothing about the job he was pulling at the moment.

                Melanie glanced up at the sun, wondering if she should go to the library, hoping she beat him there or see if Scott was lying to her.

                If she went to the library, she could wait for Wesley in the shadows, but she wouldn’t know why he drugged her, and she wanted to know why more than anything else. She glanced back at the squirrels of the gang, wondering where someone had led her astray.

                And who was this Spellcrafter Wesley killed?

                She sighed, shaking her head and walking away from the wreck of the fight. She had an idea of where to go, and it was time to get Wesley, simply that. He had all the answers, and she hadn’t wanted to go after him because, in the end, she would have to face her old friend and kill him if it came down to it. Something she didn’t want to have to do. Something she wasn’t sure she could do when she faced him. She should have gone after him right away, and it would be the right move, but she didn’t want to face him. He had hurt her in a way no one else could. So, she ran to look for why her old friend had put a knife in her back. She ran from having to face him.

                Melanie would no longer run. 

Author's Note

I have been working on these story little tales for Whispering Oaks for some time but have kept them in the background. As I’m sure many of you have noticed, I haven’t been posting a lot; lately, there is a reason for it, but sadly, I can’t get into that right now.
However, I am going to start posting more stuff for Whispering Oaks. I wake up most mornings thinking about this world, missing it if I’m honest, and I can’t keep walking away from it. Mostly due to the fact, it keeps pulling me back to it.
I have to work on another world which I also love, but I’ve been letting Whispering Oaks sit on the back burner for a while now. I think I got overwhelmed with the dream of the world. Now is the time to get back into it, and I hope you enjoy what is to come.
As always, please remember when you are about to critique any of my work on here that most of this is world-building notes for me. These stories or letters you are reading are my warm-up writing to the novel I’m currently slaving away on. I say this in the hopes you will go easy with my poor grammar and spelling errors. I try my best to catch what I can when editing, but I’m not that good at it, as you will see. By all means, please help me with story flow, plot holes, characters, and so on. And if you like a character or a world or a tale, let me know. I would love to build more of what you guys like. Also, feel free to interact with me on any matter when it comes to this world. I want a relationship with my readers, and my door is always open.

With a tip of the hat
Chase