Chapter
19 (A pair of horses)
Ikiffar glared at the librarian as
he ran away from her. What did he mean get some horses? With what money? She spat
into the dirt and gritted her teeth.
The crowd around her screamed rich.
Maybe they wouldn’t notice their wallets being lifted? None seemed to care
about how much money the flashed around and wasted. Were they all fools?
She tapped her foot. I shouldn’t have to resort to stealing.
A frown creased her brow. If only the —
Something tapped her shoulder.
She started before spinning to stare
into the golden eyes of that bastard’s girlfriend. A growl climbed up Ikiffar’s
throat. “You.”
“You may have fooled my sister and
Kkaj, but I know better.” The woman poked Ikiffar in the chest. “You may have a
name that says you’re from RulFer, but your accent says you’re clearly from JemKej.”
Ikiffar blinked. “Huh?”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to
pull, but I won’t let you hurt Kkaj.”
Ikiffar stepped forward, only inches
away from the woman’s face. “And you’re going to stop me?” I really thought dropping the ‘K’ in my name would be enough to fool
these city-born, spoiled idiots. “Pampered and such as you are?”
The woman gritted her teeth and
reached into her Drunkzard vest. A pair of guards stepped around the corner and
glared at Ikiffar.
Adrenaline burned through Ikiffar’s
muscles, and her hand shot forward, grabbing the woman’s wrist. “That’s not a
good idea. Here at least.” Ikiffar nodded towards the guards. When the woman
turned her head to look, Ikifar reached into her vest. Where does she keep her wallet? Her hand pressed into the woman’s
large, squishy breasts. How was it fair that a woman with such perfect hair had
nice breasts, too? And she was rich.
The woman moaned. Her knees
trembled, and her head shot around. She slapped Ikiffar’s free hand and took a
deep breath. “What do you think you’re doing? Groping me in public like that?”
Heat burned inside Ikiffar’s cheeks,
and she found herself staring at the ground. “I-I-I —” Was only trying to rob you. No. “I didn’t think they were real.”
The woman smirked. She actually
smirked. How rude. Then, she leaned forward and squeezed her beautiful,
undeserved breasts together. “Jealous?”
Ikiffar turned away from the woman.
Was she jealous? “Not in the least bit!”
“Liar.”
“Am not.”
The woman’s hands reached under
Ikiffar’s arms and wrapped around her breasts.
Ikiffar squeaked out a moan as a
wetness grew from her crotch. Her knees became weak and her breathing heavy. This
did not feel good. It just didn’t. It felt … amazing. No!
“Stop.”
Her voice cracked.
The woman chuckled. “You know, your
breasts are nice. Much better than my sisters.” She let go. “Stay away from
Kkaj. For his sake and —” She tapped something metal. Probably a flask. “— for
yours.”
Ikiffar crossed her arms across her
chest, and she shivered. I’ll make you
pay for doing that to me in public.
Her memories reeled, the rush of
magic ripping through the streets of Orakab creating a clear image in her mind.
Shouts. Screams. The splatter and crunch of death. The horrid sounds rattled
her bones and turned her blood into ice.
She gasped banishing the memories
just before her family shoved her into the
river. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she sniffled. Everyone … . Her heart fell into her
stomach, and she doubled over, vomiting onto the street.
“Are you alright?” The woman patted
Ikiffar on the back.
Ikiffar would not accept this woman’s
kindness. Anyone associated with that bastard responsible for murdering
everyone she loved deserved to be executed. They were not human. She refused to believe otherwise.
“Iiffar?” the woman asked, her voice
as soft as her breasts. As soft as her touch.
“No!” Still crying, Ikiffar burst
into a run. She weaved through the crowd to get as far away from the woman —
No! — the bastard’s girlfriend as possible. Ikiffar’s chest heaved by the time
she slid to a halt next to a large, two-story wooden building.
On the other side of the wall,
several horses whinnied as if they knew she were there. As if to mock her.
Ikiffar slammed her fist against the
wall.
The resonating crack whipped down
the street.
Is
this building only made of wood? Ikiffar strolled around the building and
glanced into the entrance.
A fat man leaned back in a chair.
Despite how early it was, his rumbling snores echoed through the open stable.
Was there no one else here?
She edged backwards, careful not yo
make a sound. If I return the horses
later … . She crept back to the rear of the building, looked in both
directions then pulled out her flask of whiskey. Like most Pentas, she had on
element stronger than the others.
A quick swig later, Rage slammed
against the barrier she had erected in her mind. Seething hatred filled her
muscles. Kkaj and everyone associated with the Empty Bottle Cult needed to die.
Lucidity’s power was the key, though without knowing who the other founding
members were … .
Ikiffar released the metal energy
and molded it into a large sword. She folded the blade in on itself until it
was thinner than paper. She placed the flat of the blade against the wall, and
the nails sizzled.
Oozing metal rolled down the wood
and melded with the blade. Unfortunately, removing the nails didn’t appear to
be the only thing holding the wooden wall in place.
A sigh deflated her chest, and she
hoped none of the horses were standing close to the wall. No turning back now if I want to make those murders pay. She
stabbed the Magnus blade halfway through the wall and created a large enough
hole to pull two horses out of. She tilted the blade downwards to cup the
wooden section and set it on the ground outside the stables.
Luckily, the horses didn’t seem to
be spooked. Too bad none wore a saddle.
She snuck over to the wall and used
her blade to free a pair of saddles and saddle bags. Once she had selected two
horses and saddled them, she scanned the stable. Where does Fatty keep the mouth control things?
Saddles hung on the left wall.
Smaller horses in individual pins on the right. Hay covered the floor along
with the stink of poop. Fatty slept at the front of the stables, and right
beside him sat what she needed.
Pardon
my language, but moonshine. Ikiffar edged forward.
Fatty stirred amidst a deep snore,
but he didn’t awake.
She reached over Fatty and grabbed a
pair of horse control things. She leaned back and took a step away.
One of the straps slipped from her
grasp and slapped him in the face.
She froze.
Fatty stopped snoring.
Her breath caught in her throat.
He shook his head and snorted.
Panic raced through her veins, and
her muscles tensed. If she had only released the Magnus blade, she could have
had a firm grip on the horse controls. She stared at Fatty’s exposed throat. It
would be so easy. No. Killing those bandits in the alley was already too much
blood on her face. She needed to save her ruthlessness for that bastard and his
accomplices. The blade shook in her grasp.
Fatty snorted then turned to the
side and resumed snoring.
She sighed and dismissed her blade.
A moment later, her muscles relaxed, and she wobbled back to the horses,
putting the control ropes in place.
One of the horses nuzzled against
her side.
Ikiffar patted it on the nose before
climbing into the saddle. She leaned forward and whispered, “I’ll return the
two of you after I make that bastard suffer.”
The horse whinnied as if to say, “That
sounds good, but this job will destroy you.”
“I know.” She urged the horse out of
the stable, pulling the other along. Four blocks away, the tension fled from
her shoulders. She rubbed at her house’s neck. “We made —”
Galloping echoed from behind. Six
guards road directly for her.
“Moon—” She snapped her mouth shut,
killing the curse before it escaped. Then, she snapped the control ropes,
spurring her horse into a run.
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