An Escalating Situation

JP with Cindy and White_Caribou

If her day already hadn't gone to shit, it was about to get worse.

Shalia entered the room which was strangely unguarded and with the door wide open. The sight that met her was a wounded Aghul laying in the corner, Kaithak present, and Islana with her arm free from the sling standing in about as much awe as the older witch was with the two guards looking panicked and grumpy in the room as well.

"What the fuck happened?" She blurted with a furrowed brow, rushing over to kneel beside the injured man. The air around her was still icy and lifted goosebumps on everyone's arms.

Islana was dumbfounded for the brief moment before Shalia arrived. Once she realized that the guard wasn't actually dead, it was a little bit of a relief but he was still injured. And, of course, seeing Kaithak, who seemed to be resting, again was another relief.

"Is he going to be alright?" Wasn't the answer but Islana felt bad the man had gotten injured.

"I was kidnapped, the people that kidnapped me. Injured him and hurt Kaithak."

Her voice coming out uncharacteristically fast, Islana stopped and took a breath.

"Maybe I should start from the beginning. We had been shopping and a man touched my hair..."

That started the story of the guard injuring the man, the purse being stolen, the injured man trying to drag Islana off, Islana escaping with the help of Kaithak. Then to running into the guard, the guard being injured, the bag over her head, Kaithak being called then hurt, Islana being brought to Amastan of the Sand Horde and healed by the old man, then questioned.

"Then she asked me what I would do if I was set free. I said return to you and they put the bag back over my head and returned me to the place I was taken. I managed to find my way back to here."

Islana went over to check on Kaithak but was paying attention to Shalia, assuming a response was coming.

Shalia briefly looked over the man who was completely out of it at the moment, but alive. His wound was concerning especially if he had to ride home in the heat, but there was little she could do for him here. Her medical experience was limited and her resources few. Surely the Ihlara had a healer he could be brought to after the bonecaster visit concluded to look him over. She did not answer Islana's question about his survival, but when he gained consciousness, she'd have some questions, too. He'd make it if the wound was cared for properly.

"They can heal you but leave him like this. What horseshit." She stood as a small flurry-like cloud stirred around her and her fists clenched so hard her long nails drew blood. A message, perhaps? Just another sacrifice in their pursuit of whatever it was they were after in abducting Islana?

"I'm gone for an hour…" Shaking her head, Shalia muttered. "Fuck the Sand Horde."

Even in Islana's alarmed state, the meaning of the words was clear. Her eyes shifted to the guards who she would question, but not now. There was too much happening all of the sudden and Shalia felt as if she could explode in a rage.

"Guard the door with your life. We are not safe here. Let only the bonecaster in when they arrive," she commanded them sternly in Odon and they nodded with their upset expressions before exiting and closing the door firmly.

She looked back to the redhead with her lips pressed together and nostrils flared. Snowflakes swirled around her wildly in a cold breeze as she thought the younger woman's words over.

"Let me get this straight. They spill Aghul blood in Ihlara territory and then steal from us, kidnapping and interrogating you while my back was turned. What did this Amastan bitch ask you about?"

Shalia didn't answer about the guard which made Islana feel even worse about the situation. How bad off could the man be that the older woman wasn't saying.

Witnessing the Winter Witch furious, was an experience. Not just the temperature drop or the snowflakes but the energy coming off of the woman. Islana's fears from her past came not in an obvious form but subconsciously as the young woman waited for the blame to hit her hard and fast.

Yet, once again, Shalia proved Islana's fears incorrect. Mad - yes though, clearly, it was directed at the people who had done this and not the younger witch.

"She asked what I could tell her about you. I just said that you were gifted with winter and the Advisor to the War Chieftain. The next few questions were about me. If I was gifted, how I came to be with you, how I ended up in Fang, what God I worshiped. The majority of questions were about Ostiarium, the numbers in the city, infrastructural points, tensions in the city, and the recent history."

Carefully, delicately as if the falcon might break Islana checked out Kaithak. His wing had been clipped but would heal given enough time and tending to. Her heart felt like it could break, she should have never called the bird over not knowing the danger.