The Hunter and The Prey

JP with Winteroak and Cindy

While Islana is busy with her chores and taking in the scenery of a world that is almost too alien to her a shadowy figure follows in her footsteps and that of her guard.

Malacost grins from behind the heavy reddish dyed cotton scarf with the appearance of both a veil and a turban. He had too admit that the many layers that covered his head and loosely covered his neck, was excellent at keeping him cool in this infernal heat but also allowing him to walk among these savages, undetected.

When he caught a glimpse of her redhair he knew he had made a good call back at the village.

How easy would it have been to capture the broken down assassin and return him to Ostiarium for one of the largest bounties of his career. But seeing the man naked, tied to a post, wallowing in his own filth had made up his mind. There was no sport in hunting weak prey.

No, the real price was here. With the ground woman. The Witch. He just had to find a way to capture he again. He had spent almost all his trip here following her and the group she had joined imagining how he would drag her bruised body to the Purger. How he would enjoy seeing her being flayed alive... The screams...

Malacost fought down a wave of arousal and kept following at a safe distance pretending to look at the many stalls selling spices and fresh produce.

Even with needing to go through the guard, the haggling was relatively successful for the scarfs. Islana just hoped the rest went as well.

Despite having a guard with her, the young woman attempted to be ever vigilant, after all, she didn't feel completely safe anywhere open, like this. This place was so different and busy it was easy to get caught up in it all . It was also difficult to notice anyone who didn't stick out as readily as the redhead did. Her green eyes never caught sight of Malacost.

Moving on, from the veils, the wine was spotted. Pricing was done, but it would be picked up near the end of the shopping.

She spotted a selling of associated nuts and spices. The nuts were rather inexpensive, the real money was made in the spices. She priced and got to sample a few of the more exotic ones but, unfortunately, they were quite pricy and Islana hadn't been sent to buy anything so extravagant.

The man selling the spices though was fascinated by the foreigner with the red hair and must of taken a liking to her. She bought some salt, which he sold to her at a discount and then handed her a few small bags of spices.

Islana was confused at first by the gesture. Until the seller said something and the guard said, "Take. He give."

It wasn't a lot of spices, just three small bags but enough for Islana to certainly give the seller a smile and a "thank you."

Nuts, spices, scarfs. The next booth had water skins and Islana took a little time to make sure it was a good one before buying it

As Islana continued her visit to the main bazaar and it's twisting little pathways through dozens of stalls and hawkers, the smell of food wafted through the air the deeper she venture into the market.

Slowly but surely the type of produce on offer changed from fresh to cooked. Her mouth started to water at the strange and exotic sights and smells around her.

Here she saw a man selling flatbread that looked as thin as a sheet of paper, drizzled with honey and fresh ewe's cheese. A old woman was selling small terracotta bowls pilled with a yellowish strange type of grain, mix with green and red vegetables. She saw a child bitting into a small pastry filled with spiced meat while holding her father's hand.

The Odonine guard tapped her on the shoulder.

"We stop. Eat now." He ordered.

By the time the pair reached the cooked food stands it was venturing more into afternoon than morning. Islana had procurred more provisions by this point but didn't realize how hungry she was getting until the smells and sites of the foods overtook her senses.

When the guard gave the order to eat now, the young woman certainly wasn't going to argue about it. She gave the man a nod. He pointed out the stand with the meat pastry. So, they went there first. Then went and got some rice and veggies on the side. They found some water to drink.

The guard pointed out a spot to the side where a few people were sitting and said, "Sit."

They sat down, some of the people stopped to look at them with curiosity, or at least look at Islana but went back to eating.

Islana was caught up in looking around until the guard tapped her arm and said, "You eat."

Apparently, he had already started and likely didn't want to wait on her to but once again, the redhead wasn't arguing.

So, they ate as Islana took in more of the surroundings with occasional words spoken to and from the guard.