Bloodhound

Shalia was quick to respond, but did so calmly. She fought a small grin from forming. “Services we will gladly accept should this hunt prove successful. I trust seeing your ranks in action is worth all the words we’ve spoken.”

The scale of having the Brotherhood at her disposal settled in quickly. A tingling sensation spread through her body at the thought. Returning to Fang with such an addition to the Banner…she just prayed to no one in particular that they were made of unwavering steel and shadow. Koshnem would be so proud. And she could command control the way she always yearned for. The woman’s thoughts quickly swam with ambition.
If Ozainae society would not have them, she and her people would. After all, hadn’t they already taken in something unwanted once, something discarded and cast aside when the scouts dragged her body into the village? Wasn’t that result magnificent?

Taking in his words with her moment of consideration, she did not miss the undertones in them. Some of what he said sounded like what Tamazzalt had stated before--proceeding with or without the Seer’s approval, the fervent ways they spoke of targeting the Helians in the city, speaking of the Brotherhood’s potential service to the Odonine, the absence of time and its sands slipping through their fingers. It was like she had part of this conversation not long before.

“All but the Penitent, yes?” Phrased as a question, it was delivered as a statement. The room was silent after that. They could not be foolish enough to encroach on that territory. Surely even they had some bounds as she knew they still followed some tenets of the Wandering. That would clearly mark the Brotherhood as threats to the leader and thus ruin everything for them. Shalia had to shoo away some doubt. If they operated this long and were capable of commencing a hunt so grand, she had to assume they did so with an air of wisdom and not just bloodlust.

Or maybe she was wrong.
But she did not wish to hear of Islana being killed as part of this. It made no sense to see her as an Inquisition threat when she was the very thing they wished extinct. Her reason for being in this city was not to be mercilessly slaughtered due to the actions of the few. Then again, ‘the few’ represented thousands more that would seek out Arcadia’s splendor and crush it like a bug. At first, she only wanted the two attackers dead, but what was the point of stopping there? A wise though prideful man once told her she would have to make choices for the future of her people. And the Brotherhood’s aid in what was to come would indeed help both her and the clans.

She scolded herself half in the stern tone of the War Chieftain and half her own.

You’re waging a war for fuck’s sake! If you trip up on a handful of them now, you will fail when the day comes to ride upon the Stone City. Islana was one in a million--the tiniest sliver of something promising from a world that would see you both tortured and burned, the clansmen reduced to slaves, their history washed away in place of force and Pillars who care little for anyone but themselves. She is on her own in this place. You are not. Not anymore.

Shalia looked into the eerie eyes across from her and some unpleasant sensation settled in. She hadn’t seen anything like it before; the blind she had encountered once or twice, but Amalu was beyond strange. Staring into pools of liquid pearls but with an endless emptiness behind them. Empty, yet knowing. Sensing. The wind filled his nostrils when he tilted his head to catch a scent like a bloodhound. Shuffling through the dark and the dagger streaming across the night sky with precision. Winding and weaving through the alleys without difficulty. Even without eyes, he could still see.

She could not detach herself from his gaze or the memory of his movements. She had no idea who this man was or what he was capable of. She wanted to inquire terribly, so badly that it ached in her ribs and stung her throat, but he made it evident that the Brotherhood would wait no longer in fear of the coming leadership putting a stop to their actions. Unrelated questions like that were futile except for irritating him. If she saw more of what he could do during the hunt, perhaps she could put two and two together on her own.

Shalia surrendered her burning curiosity. Truthfully, her knowledge was limited as to what she was walking into this night or who this man and the dark robes really were. Who she was really making ties with. There was so much more to this--she could feel it rattling to get out.
She would have asked where they began with the hunt, but the conversation was suddenly interrupted.

Something was stirring outside.

The sound of howling wind and the sight of movement in one of the windows caught the woman off guard. Her head snapped around to look. Without panes or shutters, there was a clear view out into the city, and with it the sight of sand churning in the sky above the Temple. It felt alive.

Shalia got to her feet immediately and rushed over to lean out the window and take in the sight. Cold night air rushed onto her face and blew her hair as she watched with wide eyes.
Amalu noticed this and stood only a few inches away from her now with his eyes pointed toward the swelling monster outside.

"What is that?" She asked with mild fear but her expression was in total awe at the marvel.

Amalu's body tensed.

"The Seer has risen again."