[Randall's POV]
Tip-toeing back from a nearby forest, I made sure that the bag in my arms didn't slip away at any cost. This had some pretty important goods.
Distant smoke added gray clouds to the heavenly orange canvas. Previously dyed in the freezing indigo and warm crimson, only a mirage remained from that scene. Even with the beige walls, it wasn't hard to see all the caved roofs in the town's outside layer.
Nonetheless, given the mostly aerial assault, many meters of the protecting walls remained unscratched. Other pieces of it, impacted by the flying debris and chaotic spells released in the heat of battle, befell the buildings.
Many more guards than usual did patrolling rounds. Weapons drawn, and bloodlust emanating from their cold steel sent small shivers down my back.
'... Before I go in, maybe I should review the contents one last time.'
Yeah, I should.
After putting the round, ball-shaped sack down, my hands moved to undo the tie binding it. It let loose a bit, letting the colour of the items brought along shed a bit of life in this otherwise bleak forest.
Various berries poked out to the outside, with many more buried underneath them. Every single one belonged to a species that we ate on our way here. Thus, I knew they were safe to eat.
'Alright… No more excuses. Time to return.'
They shouldn't have enough manpower to cover everything. Though, the existence of the winged fiends was going to make the return slightly complicated. Not too much, thanks to the nightly veil, but still a factor…
The closer my feet headed to the wall, the mightier and taller it appeared to be. Its light brown blocks held together what used to be "reliable defenses," according to the townsfolk.
Even if said perception was gone after the raid, this wall still proved to be quite the trouble. Most of it came from one thing, climbing it silently with the bag. Wings aren't an option, due to their size.
Throwing the bag over the wall was far too risky. That would make a sound, and someone's bound to pick up on it.
I left the sack on the ground and climbed up to the top, where I peeked at my surroundings. "Looks empty…" The guards looked far busier in the northern areas. As expected.
'I guess I have no choice but to climb.'
After jumping back, I bit the tied up end, hung the bag behind my back, and went upwards. 'It's… It's tough, but not as hard as I'd have expected.'
And soon, the top came into contact with myself. Success. Sliding down the surface proved to be much easier, fortunately.
"Hup…"
If a bit weighty.
"Ok… I made it into the town."
The next step was to head off to the hideout.
While sneaking through the outside layer, specks of ground rose in my wake, failing to graze my brown shirt. In other instances, flowers would crumble underneath my shoes.
Normally, going around it remained the better choice when doing stealth. But in this particular case, time took precedence. So I took a good glance, confirming no guards lurked near…
And dashed through!
"... Huff." Quickly using a nearby, window-less wall as cover, I took the freedom of taking a quick glimpse around me. This enabled me to confirm that my safety wasn't compromised.
Or not yet, at least.
I marched on, occasionally encountering distant figures of the town's guards. Particularly, two of them complained about being hungry when I passed by.
'No food for you, guys. Sorry.'
Can't afford to be caught. Hell, this alone was pretty risky.
Throughout the rest of the road, I had to witness the form of some chunks of property that suffered from the bandits' vandalization. Not my first close sighting of a ruined building, nor the last.
Somehow, a few of them almost resembled hiding spots in survival games.
Namely, the hiding spot near a store-like building. Pretty sure Darkclaw would have taken it to camp bypassers with a sniper, and shit-talked them after killing them.
'Definitely.'
Once a camper, probably always a camper.
'Though… His eyes were always a little too good when it came to hiding. I wonder if-'
My alarms went up as soon as I caught the laughter resonating nearby.
Almost instinctually, I hid underneath the fallen plank. Only after pulling a small piece of debris to somewhat cover my skin, did I dare to hope for that and the moonlight to protect me.
"Should we really be joke at this times?"
"Fuck if I know. But laughter's medicine is better than sadness' medicine, so might as well laugh a weenie lil bit."
Two figures I didn't dare to glance at, strolled closer and closer in my direction.
"Yeah, guess you're right."
***
There were a few minorities that this did, in fact, not apply to. About half of the town's guards, for example.
"Ok, that should be it. Some berries for us would be nice." The blue demon kept walking eastbound, following in the familiar, dirt tracks that he had traversed throughout his stay.
An enlightening sunrise washed over his lean frame. "It's rising…" Unable to hold it in, he let out a yawn.
"Time sure flies by. I didn't expect to end up abandoning the night for this."
Weary steps. Still walking towards his own end goal, in spite of the tiring chains trying to trip them up.
Fortunately, it was bound to be over soon.
Randall's destination awaited four houses away, just behind the last one. One that barely inched above its general outline, keeping it mostly out of direct sight.
Just as he strolled past the first corner, something called out to him. "Wait." Behind the corner, a sluggish voice weaved through the air.
Randall jumped back reflexively, prepared for a conflict. Mid-air, he caught a glimpse of the spectre that found him.
Still lying his back on the abandoned house's wall, a violet-haired demon held an azure spear by the middle part. The pointed end stayed inches off the ground. "No need to jump that much, mate. I'm not go to arrest you or anything."
With his left hand basically waving the aquamarine spear, he walked up to Randall. Wobbling slightly, but he still made it.
"... It's going to, not go to."
"Whatever." The demon scoffed, taking out some paper notes. "15 bucks for the captured raider."
Randall stared at the hand holding the notes. "15? I thought it would be worth more…"
"... I've been searching for you for basically the whole fucking night, and your first thought is to complain that my pockets ain't deep enough to spare more than this?"
"Uh-"
"Even when I'm struggling with my salary, yet I still manage to set apart something for a stranger I have only seen THRICE. And this is what I get?"
Randall stood silently for a moment. "Y-you misunderstood me, Rodion. With the sort of work I've seen from you, I'd have expected your salary to be good enough to be able to spare more. Seeing you being unappreciated is unexpected."
"Ohh." His words, albeit somewhat true, rang in Rodion's ears with the sweetened scent of a lie. "Hold on, my work? What are you on about??"
Yawning became the first reply given. "Sorry, I'm a bit sleepy… Either way, only you were good enough to find me in my initial infiltration, and to intercept the guy that bombed the Solprani's windmill." Before continuing, Randall's hand rubbed one of his eyes. "Plus, as far as I know, no other guards from the Farm were hired by the Shepherds…"
"Aight… wait, you saw the guy too?"
An electrical current ran down Randall's spine. "N-no, I just heard the town's rumours."
The spectre's brows sank a little further. "I see…"
"Anyway, Rodion, thanks for the notes, but I think you'll need them more than I do. Do me a favour, and keep them."
"Fuck no, take them."
A slight smile crept up on Randall's face. "I'll take them later on, so hold onto them for me. Will you?"
Some seconds of staring, silently. "... Sure. But I'll be pissed if you don't take it, so you better keep your word." The blue-wearing demon plunged his notes back into his pocket. "There's nothing else I gotta say. See ya."
He left the area with a seemingly strong pace. The wobbliness of his walking hinted at Rodion's tiredness, but Randall remained too tired to catch up on such small details.
Ten seconds later, Randall finally let out a stress-loaded sigh. "Those were some big mistakes… Good thing I managed to salvage the situation, somehow."
He ran into the two-room structure, reaching it after twenty seconds. Despite the initial distance, his hands reached out for the handle, letting him storm in.
Inside the tranquil place, a fellow fiend of his stretched her body.
Controlling the breathing that poured out roughly mere moments ago, he shut the door closed. Weaving past the overhead arc, he waved at the other person in the room. "Morning, Anne…"
She laid down on the floor, eyes peacefully shut. The buttoned-up coat worn over her shoulders kicked out any cold emanating from the floor, back onto it. No grass blades crept up from the floor's structure, so nothing meshed in with Anne's similarly coloured coat.
"Morning." She glanced at him, then adjusted her cloak again. "Get ready, we're going out to the forest."
… His thousand-yard stare spoke more than a thousand words. Bag in hand. Knowing well what awaited him.