I frowned my eyes as I watched the servant walk by busily with trays of food in hand.
This man... I've seen him around the estate a few times before. I never caught his name, but he was a relatively new hire—about a year and a half ago, if my memory serves me. Awkward, a bit stiff around the edges when spoken to, but not unpleasant. He'd helped me with a few chores once, which was why I'd formed a generally good impression of him.
But for some reason, there's this sense that's bugging me about him specifically. It was kind of like a sixth sense that's pinging a threat? A déjà vu of sorts? He's objectively a good person though, why was I feeling this sense of suspicion of this guy?
I mulled it over as I continued feeding Toph, pretending everything was normal with a smile. In the end, I made the call. Better safe than sorry.
Glancing over at the guards that were stationed around their picnic area, I made eye contact with Baon, the head guard. As our eyes met, the Earth Bender had the audacity to glare at me while spitting onto the ground in my direction, clearly dissatisfied with my involvement with the Beifongs, but I simply ignored his actions, as this mattered more than his blatant dislike of me.
With the suspicious servant still within earshot distance, I motioned with my hands discreetly as to not arouse any suspicion. Moving my hands in predetermined hand signals trained since I arrived in the estate, I sent a quick message.
"Possible. Threat. Here."
It took a split second for the message to click.
Baon's expression hardened as his gaze swept across the entire picnic grounds. He looked back and signed, "Who? Where?"
"Servant. Possible. Threat." Faking standing up to take more food from the table, I stood and reached toward the table as though to grab more food, angling my body to indicate the man's position.
"—!" Only to realize he'd disappear and blend into the flow of servants emerging from the resort, indistinguishable from the rest. Baon seemed to get the idea of what happened, as he started to make a move to the resort.
"Need. Escort. Who?"
Signaling that he needed a face, I gave a brief nod. Rising from the table, I excused myself under the pretense of fetching fresh plates and utensils for the next course of the Beifongs' meal before making my way into the resort.
I could feel Baon's eyes trained on me, gliding behind me effortlessly within a few feet's distance as I trailed behind the servant from a distance away, never losing sight of him the entire time.
The servant eventually disappeared into the resort's main kitchen.
On its own, that wouldn't have been suspicious. The problem was simple: he wasn't part of the meal preparation team. He'd been assigned outside in the picnic area as one of the service team's members. There was no reason for him to be anywhere near the kitchen.
Baon and I quietly slipped to either side of the doorway. I leaned toward the narrow window on the door, looking inside to see what the servant was doing.
My eyes caught the servant crouched beside the food prepared for the next course, a black pouch clutched in one gloved hand. With a swift motion, he used his free hand to dig into the black pouch before taking out a pinch of white powder.
Alarm bells blared in my head, the suspicious feeling intensifying in my gut as I watched him drizzle the white powder into their soup. What is that powder? Was he poisoning the food?!
Baon's attention snapped to me at once. His hands moved urgently.
"Warn. Beifong. Retr—"
A sudden chill raced down my spine, instinct screaming at me to move. I threw myself backward just as a long spear of stone tore through the air, crashing into the spot where I'd been standing.
Skidding on all fours, I looked in the direction where the spear came from.
Four men wearing guard uniforms with flying boar stitching stared back emotionless, sitting in Earth Bending stances while dozens of sharp rocks floated menacingly in front of them.
Before I could even blink, their stances shifted in unison as they drove their fists forward; shrapnel screamed through the air toward us.
A wall of stone surged up before my eyes just as stone exploded against stone on the other side.
"Run!" Baon shouted.
He drove his fist forward, sending the wall hurtling toward the attackers. But they met it head-on. Working in perfect unison, they split the mass apart, breaking it into segments and redirecting the fragments harmlessly away.
I was already running to the Beifongs as the wall crumbled.
Looking back, I briefly saw Baon Earth Bend against two of the assassins—At least, I thought they were assassins—when a wall of rock abruptly rose just as I turned left into the main hallway.
With no time to slow down, I doubled down as I sped up, channeling Chi around my raised arm.
A shock of pain exploded as my arm crashed into the wall, but thankfully it was thin enough for a clean breakthrough. Stumbling slightly, I quickly recovered as I increased the speed of Chi circulation within my body, strengthening my body to levels beyond that of an ordinary eight-year-old when a second wall manifested from the ground, a tad bit slower than the first.
This one was thicker, nearly five inches of solid stone. Too dense to smash through. But I adapted on the fly, leaping and planting a foot against the edge before vaulting cleanly over the seven-inch barrier.
I hit the ground hard, but with momentum carrying me forward, I broke back into a full sprint.
"What the—" one of the pursuing Earth Benders muttered behind me in disbelief.
With the wall temporarily separating me from the two assassins, they were forced to drop it before continuing the chase. The brief pause gave me a chance to catch my breath, though my mind raced.
Assassins. And judging by their uniforms, they'd infiltrated the Beifong guards—Baon himself hadn't noticed. All of them are Earth Benders, too. The non-bending guards would get massacred if they fought against them.
Shit. If the servants were compromised, then Lord Beifong and his family weren't safe, not with so many of these hidden operatives roaming freely. Who's to say what they might have done while I was gone?!
The growing panic inside of me bloomed as I raced through the main hall, having the need to shove aside curious servants who heard the commotion and obstacles in my path to reach the Beifongs in time.
Finally, I burst through the entrance to the resort's park. Hand against the doorframe, I scanned the grounds and caught sight of the Beifongs on the hill—Toph had insisted that their picnic be held there.
… Nothing had happened. The Beifongs were enjoying their lunch, blissfully unaware of the chaos unfolding around them.
Relief flickered in my chest, and I let out a quiet sigh, about to turn back to deal with the assassins still in pursuit.
That's when a servant lunged toward the unsuspecting Toph, a concealed knife gleaming in his hand.
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NEXT UPDATE: Take a Deep Breath, Deep Breath, The Butler Who Can Bend Fire (6 February, Friday)
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