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Chapter Eight: Only a Mother could love

The Claw Keep was a vast maze of tunnels and encampments, linked together by sheer and steep staircases, bore into the mountain faces and wooden walkways that were fastened to the sheerest cliffs and passages. All adorned in hanging tapestries of Ivara, Goddess of the Hunter as well as tribe and clan banners, horns, skulls and other totems of Ver'Ulf'Nii decor standards. It was in quite stark contrast to the other Keeps, then again, each country had their own style I suppose so there was that.

We were lead to the main structure, built into the chipped tip of the lowest mountain, we had to walk across a series of rope bridges that looked, sturdy enough, but still uneasy to cross. I fell in beside Emet, Kaiber however was marching through the cold wind some paces ahead of us, seeming both determined and also hesitant at the same time somehow.

“You sure this is a good idea Emet"? I asked, out of boredom mostly, but in all seriousness this so called plan had a lot of blank spaces in it. I was an Assassin, it was my job to be prepared and plan ahead for every little possibility.

“The boy needs this, it's his Mother, a reunion will do well to strengthen his spirits" Emet replied flatly, I rolled my eyes; the idiot. Kaiber was nothing to me anymore, I'd saved him simply to keep my word to Roderic.

“I don't care about that, I meant is this Plan a good idea you twit" I scoffed back at him, my voice now showing disdain and bitterness. Emet simply scowled at me in disgust, I didn't give a damn what he thought of me, the only reason I was here was because of safety, so long as I was with Emet, the debt collectors wouldn't dare come after me.

“Heartless wench…" he spat and marched off with Digger in pursuit of Kaiber, point of the fact was I was desperate, the people I owed money to weren't kind or understanding; corrupt city officials were never understanding folk.

I clutched at my still wounded arm, it was healing well, the wound was almost gone entirely, just the ache and stiffness remained. It'd leave a nice scar, something to remind me of that stupid lizard, great. I gave out a sigh as I went into thought there on the bridge, looking out toward Mirodels Highlands, seeing the small grouping of lights that were villages and settlements, dotting the mountainous landscape. Maybe I could pick up some small contracts on the way, work up some coin, enough to keep Larsson of my ass. I should never have taken a loan from that asshole, it wasn't even that big a loan, all I was doing was scoping the place out, blending in and all, I'd intended to use the contract profits to pay the loan back, but the damn thing fell through and I was left with nothing. Then of course Larsson found out who I really was and what I do and assumed I was loaded, now I had to pay him off, two hundred gold Sou, or he'd go to the King and rat me out, damn bastard was blackmailing me for coin. If he'd just been some loan shark type setup, then i'd be able to deal with him easily, but Larsson was a damn city official, the financial overseer for all of Volthume.

I gave out another sigh, turning from the view and starting off to find Emet and Kaiber, I tracked the three of them back to the main structure. A large compound of big structures embedded into the ground, towers of ice and stone acted as sentry posts, whilst the warm inviting glow of the huge fire pits within the buildings offered solace from the cold. I found Emet in one of the larger Halls but I hung back from him, Kaiber was sheltered behind him, looking like a nervous wreck and as I approached I heard the voice a young girl.

“Mama, Mama! The Knight is back"! I heard, I cocked a brow as well, seeing a young human girl dart up to Emet, she looked thin, but well looked after. Maybe Kaiber was adopted? It was the only way it made sense, or maybe she was adopted? It didn't make sense though, Emet had said Kaiber was born in Volthume, but Advent were banned from Volthume's borders, Emet was lying, I had the irritating suspicion that this was all a set up, that he was a spy or an agent of the Enemies, working for the Shades or Alt or Broom or whoever. A moment later the young girl was joined an older woman with the same dull auburn hair, she had fair complexion and skin, she had to be around fortyish in age, but she looked younger; though she was still worn to some extent. Her eyes were heavy and sad, half dead almost as if she truly had lost a son to some tragedy; but they lit up slightly at the sight of Emet.

“Oh Emet, you returned, did you find him? My boy? Is he alive…"? She asked, her voice was soft but it quivered with hope, with desperate hope. I watched as Kaiber meekly stepped out from behind Emet looking like a frightened child; the woman just looked between the two of them, confused.

“...Mama...It's me…" he said, his voice nearly cracking with anxiety and fear, I took the opportunity to slide up beside Emet who still held onto the younger girl with one arm. The look in the woman's eyes was that of disbelief, I could see she was trying to figure out what was going on just like me and I guess Kaiber could see it to.

“...You made me an otter out of old patchwork, when I was four, I called him Olivander, after that captain from the story book you read to me each night…" he said, his ears folding down, his voice on the edge, he looked as if he was going to start crying. But the Woman, his Mother, her eyes just seemed to light up, to reignited like a dormant furnace.

“Oh Kaiber...my boy, Is it really you"? She said, opening her arms and breaking down into tears as Kaiber rushed into her arms; sobbing tears of joy. I was still wondering just how in the Lord's name this worked. Was he adopted or not? I gave Emet a sideways glance, he knew, of course he knew, he'd lied about Kaiber being born in Volthume, he had to have.

“He was rescued from the Slave markets in Aldoran by a Naga, a Royal dignantry from Mayoran. Turned your boy here into a soldier and a Vermian to unfortunately…" Emet stated. I cocked a brow, I'd heard rumours of the Advent Sovereignty having some sort of potion or elixir, but that was just that, rumours, right? Guess not, it made sense though, it explained and answered a lot of questions I had in my head and put to rest a few paranoid thoughts I had as well.

“Unfortunate? My boy is alive and well, there's no fortune better, I don't care if he's covered in scales, Oh my boy is alive"! The woman cheered and cried with joy, holding Kaiber tight to her figure. So Kaiber had been Human before, I pictured some scrappy young man with short auburn hair and a grimy face, maybe tanned skin. The thought of being turned into one of those lizards though? It disgusted me more than anything, why would anyone choose that, there's no way he'd done so of his own free will. Emet said he'd been sold to a Slaver market and then saved by a Naga? Bought more like it, forcibly turned into one of their savage little lizard drones; it made my skin crawl.

I turned and left after that, family reunions weren't my thing, to touchy feely and in all honesty I wasn't very good with my emotions. My Father had been distant to say the least and my Mother died in the gutter bottle in hand; drank herself into the ground. I didn't wander to far from Emet though, Holy folk didn't like Assassins, but the Wolves, the Ver'Ulf'Nii, to them we were the greatest of insults and cowards. I was already catching foul looks from some of the patrols milling about the Keep; maybe not outright foul, but suspicious at best. One in particular however stared at me in such a way that made me feel uncomfortable, one of the bigger Wolves, the only one who seemed to be wearing armour of any sort at all. Big, light grey fur, sharp blue eyes, stood atop one of the cliffside ramparts not to far away; he stared me down like I was something to conquer. Those icy blue eyes of his held a hint of lust to which quickly had my lips turned into a snarl of disgust, I wanted out of this place.

I longed for the warm shores of Thray, Quarthwessen even the Salt Islands would be better than this place. It wasn't the cold weather, nore the company or my debt situation, it was just to noisy, to crowded, I wanted someplace quiet, secluded, it helped me think and plan; helped me relax. And I had plenty of stresses to rack my brain over, I let out a sigh and finally left the main Hall were Emet and all the others were now celebrating. I moved over to a quiet corner of the Keep and stared off out over the mountains trying to quiet my mind.

I stood there for some time, the cold not really phasing me all to much, nore sleep, I just stood there, in the shadow of a sentry tower, leaning up against it and thinking; almost lost in thought. The flurry of leathery wings however brought me back from thought, though I didn't turn or move to acknowledge him at all; I'd had the suspicion he'd been following me.

“Lost in thought are we"? Hazel asked, I rubbed at my eyes, shifting to stand proper and straight for a moment, my hands running through my short fiery red hair. Lost in thought was an understatement, I was consumed by it I wasn't used to this sort of big heavy shit, I was a small time gal, light Assassin work and all.

“Urrrrgh, why the fuck am I even here… I don't care about these people" I groaned aloud, closing my eyes and letting out a sharp breath of frustration. I should never have taken the contract in Volthume, I'd screwed myself into a damn corner.

“Mm, yes, Miss Scarlet only ever cares about herself. Maybe if you had a heart things would be easier for you" He replied, sharp and coldly, he wasn't wrong, my life motto was basically 'look out for myself and no one else' but it still stung a little. Maybe being so close to the bombings in Siricuse had rattled me, before such words would barely make me feel anything, I didn't care what people said or thought of me.

But now, now I didn't know anymore and I hated that most of all.