Vanished
Warning: Contains talk of physical abuse
at the time. He’d just managed to escape the basement before it happened, and was too weak to do much beyond slowly nurse a loaf of bread. They’d had to carry him out when the guild fled – had it been Onora who carried him? Claws?
What little he did remember were the unnatural shrieks of those awful rats, the sounds of swords and pistols, heavy footsteps, the pealing laughter of Baya who had to be dragged away when they ran. He could hear The Mute’s words as they fled.
“You’re just another Court by a different name.”
They lost Zed in the fight.
Now they were here, using Claws’ workshop as a temporary headquarters -a large hollowed tree stump filled to the brim with odd tools and bits of metal. Apparently he’d been an engineer before the guild, and happened to still have the space. Baya always complained about it though -she hated the smell and the clutter. She wanted to fight to get back the headquarters, but no one would let her.
So they stayed here, trying to go about business as usual, but having to deal with constant attacks from The Mute on every raid they did. She killed Ebril, and made it very clear she was going to kill more of them. Then Baya and Darach went missing. It couldn’t have been The Mute but…
The rest of the guild rushed the trio at the doorway, bombarding them with questions.
“Is she-?”
“Dunno. S’all we found.”
“Did The Mute get ‘er?!”
“S’all we found.”
“And Darach? Didja find Darach?”
Tora’s stomach made an ugly twist at the name. It was one thing for Baya to vanish – she came and went as she pleased, but for her and Darach to disappear? For a week? It was suspicious to say the least, but to Tora it was much worse than that. He knew things the rest of the guild didn’t, horrible things Baya entrusted to him and no one else. The Mute wasn’t strong enough to harm Baya, there was no way, but Darach? He knew how dangerous Darach was, how possessive and cruel he could be. Baya told him everything. If they’d both disappeared, she was in danger. She might not even… Tora gripped the daggers in his hands till sap trickled from his fingers. He was too busy trying to breathe to notice the pain.
“THAT’S! ALL! WE! FOUND!!” Claws slammed his fist on the door to emphasize each word, the studded gauntlet he wore protesting with each strike. “WHAT DO YOU WANT?! WE LOOKED FOR THREE DAYS! THEY’RE GONE!”
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