Chapter 3- Ver

Chapter 3- from Ver Rimpina's view

Walking past the crowd gathered around the burning tavern, The Haunting Pixies, was an elf many would not expect to go unnoticed. Wearing a baggy dark blue tunic and light brown pants, a lanky elf with messy, short red hair walked past.

His name was Ver Rimpina, and he had two things on his mind, both of which could end in his death. One was the threat he had received earlier, and the other was what he was about to do.

He knew going after the half-elf wasn’t the best idea he could make at the moment, but it was the only good one he had.

Watching the half-elf and a human duck behind a corner, he picked up his pace to follow them. Checking to make sure no one was watching, he ducked around the corner to see the half-elf shake his head slightly before going around another corner.

“Markus!” he called out, picking up his pace.

Turning the corner, Ver saw six guards blocking Markus’ and the human’s path with their weapons drawn. The human girl was standing rigidly while Markus was very relaxed with a hand on the girl’s shoulder, attempting to talk to the guards.

“This isn’t the girl you are looking for,” Markus was saying. “She’s just someone who looks like her.”

One of the guards snorted. “Then who is she?”

“Congratulations,” Ver said, stepping towards the guards by walking around the other two. “You have passed your test. You were tested to see if you could handle a possible threat. This girl who appears as a most wanted and this man posing as Markus, a well known criminal, are not actually them. They were disguising themselves.” Turning around, Ver nodded at the two. After a second of hesitation, the girl changed her and Markus’ appearance. She turned into a middle-aged woman with black hair and blue eyes. Markus appeared to shrink a couple of inches while his blonde hair shortened and lost the grey streak.

“Of course, General Rimpina,” said the guard who had asked for names. “We are happy to have passed.”

“Good,” Ver replied. “Now, go back to the others. Do not tell them I was here. Keep your close encounter with the Dragon Lord’s wrath to yourselves.”

Once the guards had turned and marched away, Ver spoke with his back still to the two, “Drop the illusion. Get back into your part of town, Markus.”

“What was that about, tiger?” Markus asked. “You lied to your own troops.”

Ver shook his head. “They aren’t my troops. I’ve been expelled with a threat of death hanging over my head now. Luckily, I see the news hasn’t spread as rapidly as I thought it would.” He turned around and noticed they were back to normal. “Care to explain her?”

The girl opened her mouth to speak, but Markus cut her off. “What do you mean you’ve been expelled? You were his personal guard and an advisor at times. What did you do?”

“I was seen with you, and when I refused to say why, I was expelled. I know who she is, Markus. You need to get her out of here.”

“Why do you care so much about me if you know who I am?” she asked. “Even if you were ‘expelled’, you could still get your job back.”

“It’s not as easy as that. You also wouldn’t want to serve someone who had killed your family over fear of rebellion.” Switching to a different language, he asked a question, “Do you understand me?”

She was taken aback. Answering in the same language, she asked a question: “How do you know this language?”

Looking at Markus’ bewildered expression, Ver answered, “Because I am part of the group.” Returning to Basic Speech, he said, “You don’t understand, Markus. We need to get out of this town first.”

Mara gaped at Ver while Markus responded, “Then we have to move quickly. There’s a good chance they won’t keep their mouths shut and another guard already knows about you.” Markus turned towards Mara. “And you are coming with us.”

She backed up a step. “No I’m not.”

“Yes you are,” they responded at the same time.

“You aren’t safe here,” Markus added. “I know my why in and out of cities and tiger knows how the guard works.”

She crossed her arms. “But that doesn’t mean I have to go with you.”

“Listen,” Markus said, sighing. “You can either leave by yourself and get caught, or you can leave with us who greatly increase your chance of getting out of here.”

“Fine. I’ll go with you. But who is he?” She pointed a finger at Ver.

“Ver,” he responded. “You will find out more about me soon enough.” He turned to Markus. “Let’s get somewhere safer.”

Author's Note

Any grammar mistakes? Spelling mistakes?

Reviews

[Onlyme]

A continuation to your story. Interesting, intrigue and drama. Tightly held together and never a dull moment full of detail and interesting characters on top.

[Octi]

Thanks, Dawn.