Robbed

Omen and Rigel traveled for a day on foot before seeking out a place to rest for the night. While there were plenty of inns dotted along the road this close to Culveran, Omen was **** to spend much more than he already had. He'd blown most of his funds for the trip on Rigel's presence.

For his part, Rigel was fairly disgruntled. "You mean I'll be sleeping outside for two weeks?"

Omen shrugged. "Sorry. After hiring you, I don't have the coin for much else. I'll treat you to a hot meal on our way back, though."

Rigel scowled. "Fine. Can I at least get my payment up front?"

Omen nodded. "Yeah, that seems fair."

Omen counted out fifteen coins from his coinpurse without emptying it before carefully depositing them in Rigel's hand. "Here you go. Thanks again for taking the job."

Rigel pocketed the money, grunting. "Whatever. This clearing good enough?"

Omen looked around at the spot near the road. It was just behind some trees, and there was evidence that someone else had camped here recently. It seemed decent enough. "Sure. I have a tent. Do you wanna take turns sleeping while the other watches?"

Rugel nodded. "I'll take first watch."

Omen and Rigel spent a bit of time setting up a modest campsite, barely beating the sun. Omen immediately crawled into the tent and fell asleep.

Hours passed.

Omen awoke, but not to Rigel's face. He heard what sounded like voices. Curious, he crawled out of the tent and stood. His eyes widened as he took in what he saw.

Dozens of people swarmed the clearing, their steps quiet. They wore dark and plain clothes, as well as leather armor. They were armed to the teeth. One of them was talking casually to Rigel. "We attack at first light tomorrow. For now, we hide in the wilds south of the city."

Rigel answered. "I can open the gate, but I'll need to ditch my mark. Something that doesn't raise too much suspicion."

The man nodded. "We'll take him a few days further south. Botannical reports, you said? We'll make it look like he was robbed or something."

Omen's breath grew fast. His eyes darted around the clearing. All these people were planning to attack something. And get rid of him. And Rigel would be opening a gate. Clearly, this was an **** on the city. Omen tried to move into the shadows, but accidentally bumped into someone, who cursed at him. The sound drew the eye of the man talking to Rigel, who snapped orders to the person Omen had bumped into. "Grab him!"

It was seconds before Omen was **** into a kneeling position, restrained and with a hand over his mouth. He looked up in terror as Rigel and the man he'd been talking to drew close. There was a sour expression on the man's face. "This complicates things."

Rigel tilted his head. "How so? Just kill him and dump the body, like you said."

The man sighed and shook his head. "A mage saw us. Doesn't matter if he dies anymore. If we leave him anywhere nearby, they'll get something from his corpse. No, we need to make him *really* dissapear. A few days won't cut it. But i don't know how many I can spare for whatever we figure out. Imprisoning him brings the same problem..."

Rigel scratched his face contemplatively. "Hmm. Well, I heard there was orc trouble southward. Might be why he hired me."

The man in dark clothes grinned. "Perfect. We tie him up and leave him as close as we can. Three of mine should be able to get it done before daybreak today. You, you, and you. See to it. And keep chit-chat to a minimum, we don't know what he might hear."

Three figures in dark clothes bound and gagged Omen, carrying him off between themselves at unnatural speed.

Omen writhed and struggled, muffled protests escaping from behind the gag, but to no avail. He tried to get a good look at his captors, but the clothes they wore obscured their forms completely.

They really were moving quite fast. Omen eventually grew still, fearful of being dropped at this reckless speed. The ground blurred by on the dark road. They moved into the trees whenever they came near signs of light or other people. Just as the sky began to brighten, the three figures tossed Omen unceremoniously into the trees from the roadside and departed back the way they came.

Omen landed and grunted in pain. He rolled a bit amidst underbrush, still bound and gagged. He stared up at the trees, dizzy and aching. How had it all gone so wrong?

Omen flinched when he heard a twig snap nearby.