Quiet Sleep

Hamora Brisbane smiled gently, white teeth glittering against her dark complexion, her bloody sword held loosely in her hand. A lone guard stood by the door trying to remain unnoticed. Carefully she picked her way over the dead bodies towards him. She stood near him and traced her slender fingers gently along his smooth cheek.
"Live or die, the choice is yours." She whispered, her voice sounded velvety, and sweet. The guard glanced warily at her sword. He was only a boy; he looked to be around 16. She hoped she wouldn't have to kill him.
"You have your whole life ahead of you child…I would hate to have to steal it from you. You do want life…" she paused, "don't you?"
He looked into her eyes and started slightly. Whereas most Baroks with dark skin had deep brown almost black eyes, she had soft grey fading into ice blue…he thought for a moment that he remembered them from somewhere…
"Life?" she questioned pleasantly. He nodded shakily. Hamora smiled again, and stepped closer to him. A faint smell of burnt roses stung his nose. Hamora placed her hand on his eyes and murmured softly, "When you wake up, you will be at home with your family…" her voice faded. She eased him onto the ground and whispered a few words in Bokain. His body became transparent and his image flickered once, and evaporated.
Hamora entered he next room cautiously, she didn’t want to make the same mistake twice. The room looked the same as the previous one; the ceilings arched up into colored glass windows. She swore softly under her breath. This guy was rich!
Something moved in the corner and she whirled to face it…a silver cat was approaching her slowly. She bit back a scream and fled to the door on the other side of the room. She could see why this room was deserted. She looked back once to see if the cat was following her, but it had vanished.
Soon she came to the place she had been looking for; a long hall stretched before her; marble pillars toward high above her head. She padded down the hall, silent as a cat. The door at the end of the hall was ebony and inlaid with gold. Intricate patterns danced across the surface. Next to it a redwood door stood slightly ajar. Light spilled out onto the deep blue carpeting that blanketed a small portion outside the door. Hamora could hear gentle breathing inside. She closed the door with a soft click and waited; nothing changed. She then turned her attention to the ebony door…
There was a knocker on the outside and she mused to herself about knocking first. She shook her curls laughing soundlessly and placed her hands against the wall beside the door. She circled them around once and stopped. She breathed on the wall and it became transparent, and she could see into the room. There was a desk in the corner and a tall chair stood idle behind it. Papers lay scattered carelessly over the top of the desk as if someone had just left it. She scanned the room for any sign of life but finding none looked back at the desk. And there, on the desk, in the midst of all the papers was the silver cat. It was grooming itself and it looked harmless enough. But suddenly it looked at her and she got the feeling like a million spiders were crawling on her skin. She stepped back a bit and wiped the wall clean, but not before she saw the cat growing and changing.
Before Hamora could do anything, the door swung open. Odyn stood in front of the desk, his silver coat hanging open down to the floor. He wore his pants loosely like the Shamans from the desert, and his sword was sheathed at his side in a Creon scabbard. Hamora stood, waiting for his move. Her black hair hung limp down her back, and her clothes were torn a bit from the previous fight; silk made on the shores of Barok and dyed in the bright blues of their tribe, were ragged and dirty. Odyn could see that she may have once been beautiful before she was attacked and covered in blood and grime, but he only smiled a little.
“Welcome to my home, Hamora Brisbane.” He spread his arms wide indicating the entire Keep. A single black opal circled his finger, glinting red in the firelight.
One hand traced the fine engravings on the sword handle while his gold eyes narrowed slightly as he scrutinized Hamora. She stood still, ready for a fight…but none came. Odyn seemed friendly, unlike the last time she had seen him ruthlessly killing women and children in the village of Athron. The gold of his eyes seemed to glow and Hamora felt light headed.
“Have you come to kill me this time?” he asked quietly. The lightheadedness had faded and she looked away from his eyes. He moved toward her, his garments swishing softly. She said nothing.
“Yes,” he answered to himself. There seemed to be an underlying tone of regret in his voice. Hamora didn’t move. “And how do you plan on going about it?” he continued. She put her hand to her sword and he laughed. He had stopped pacing now and turned to face her. With a sweeping motion, Hamora brought her sword up and under only to clash painfully against his. Sparks flew from the steel daggers as they locked in combat.
~*~
The wall to their left exploded with a loud boom that echoed through the valley and rattled the rocks loose from the hills. Odyn wrenched his sword away and fled through the open door and down the long hall. Hamora was about to run after him when another boom was heard and the sound of crunching rock reached Hamora’s ears. She ran over to the desk and leapt behind as the hole in the wall gaped wider and debris sprayed the room. She could hear shouting and a hook suddenly sailed through the hole. Hamora scurried out of the way as it caught onto the desk dragging it forward. The papers spilled off the top and out of the drawers, littering the floor. The desk stopped at the wall and the rope went taut. Within the minute a head popped up from below. Hamora relaxed as Lamrin climbed through. She smiled and stood, sheathing her sword. Lamrin glanced at her and then around the room taking in the open door and the long hallway.
“Lets go.” Hamora said sliding easily down the rope. Lamrin opened his mouth to say something, and then followed.
Below, Hamora found Tomiz and Gama waiting with a pissed looking Shikka. Hamora stepped cautiously around her and handed Gama the scroll from Odyn’s desk. He took it without comment and stuffed it into his bag.
Hamora turned and jogged slowly up the hill. At the top she raised her hand and whistled. A huge grey eagle swooped down from the sky and landed near her. She jumped up onto his back and they soared up.
Lamrin landed on the ground near Shikka and watched as the two disappeared toward home. The three others looked at their leader, but he said nothing, he only turned his head slightly and sighed.