A Line of Work Ch. 02

Raisel's elongated ears twitched, she could hear the manager from before returning. "I want to look around, there are certainly some interesting things here."

"Hey, find out what the guy bartering the Eyes of Garrow wants for the Eyes for me. And we will both meet up around here in exactly thirty minutes before the auction starts in case we find nothing we want from this auction. I don't feel like sitting around for nothing through this auction."

Raisel nodded quietly and walked off. She walked around, investigating to the various exhibits and objects up for trade. She watched as many people inspected each object, examining its worth and looking for imperfections. As this auction was unique in the fact that it dealt in only bartering, she wondered how the process would go, and how this place even made any money? She remembered once, when she was at the young age of five, she accompanied her parents to a normal auction. While Raisel didn't remember much from that memory, she did remember that it was hectic and loud.

Eventually the girl made her way to a unique attraction, a cage holding an odd animal she had never seen before. Raisel made sure to peruse the many books that showed pictures of animals and described each one when she was at home. She liked learning about the various types of fauna in the world. She searched her memory as to what kind of animal this one was, until it was answered for her.

"It's a Halyon. They're known for knocking down an entire tree and feasting on it until there is nothing left." Raisel turned around in order to see who the voice belonged to. It originated from a human boy who could not be older than fourteen. He wore a regal suit, which stood out more than the clothes of anyone else his age. A young, docile face, the boy must belong to a noble family of some sorts. "The were almost hunted to extinction by the Elves of the Forests. They're a good source of food, though the Wood Elves didn't hunt them just for that. This one was found by my family a ways out from the forests of the Wood Elves, wounded by an arrow. My family saved it and nursed it to health. We have no use for a Halyon in any case, and thus my family put it up for barter for something else."

Raisel found herself intrigued, "What would anyone want in exchange for this? I can only imagine one would trade one animal for another."

"Yea, you're right. My family wants a certain species of a horse, they wish to breed that species with another in order to form a perfect breed of horse. Should my family prove successful, they will surely become worth far more than we are now. My name is Nolan, Nolan Hamaul. May I know yours?" While the boy named Nolan was at least four years younger than Raisel, he was quite courteous and polite.

"My name is Raisel Kaidas Tessiol. Though I am not here with my family nor am I here on family business." Raisel curtsied while Nolan politely nodded his head. He didn't seem surprised that the daughter of the esteemed Tessiol family was in his presence.

Though that was only what was shown on the outside. In actuality, Nolan was very much surprised at the fact that one of the famous Tessiol's was here. The esteemed family of Elves which lived apart from the High Elves and a part of the human land of Dasinex. Only in the recent decades did humans enter the family, it was quite the piece of gossip with the woman named Lilenae married into the Tessiol family. It would be for the best if Nolan make his first meeting with Raisel a good one. First impressions are always important, even if one was only sixteen years old. Despite his youthful face, Nolan was frequently mistaken to be younger than he actually was, almost being mistaken for a preteen on several occasions, much to his annoyance.

Sadly, Nolan's conversation with Raisel was not fated to last much longer. In fact, it was fated to take a deadly turn. Two men grabbed both Raisel and Nolan and pulled them off to an undisclosed area, safe from viewing eyes. Their mouths were immediately covered, preventing any loud screaming.

"You scream, you die. You resist, you die. You do anything other than cooperating with us, you die. Got that?" A gruff voice spoke behind Raisel's head. Nolan immediately nodded his head in agreement, not wanting to risk death. Raisel glowered her eyes, she shot a menacing glare towards the man, however, she still nodded in agreement. There was no way that she could escape the situation. She could call out for Arvad and he would surely come to save her, but there was no doubt that the man would make good on his threat. "I didn't want to take both of you, though I guess having two important hostages will do fine. To think that the daughter of the Tessiols would be here today. Thanks to you, I changed my plans, fitting you in the mix. You should feel honored."

Raisel gathered saliva in her mouth, and spat it at the man. The human received the glob on his face dead on, he wiped it off and chuckled, then he gave Raisel the back of his hand. Raisel felt the pain of the blow immediately, her cheek started getting redder than usual. She raised her hand to comfort her cheek. "You do not honestly expect that you will be allowed to live after taking me hostage."

"Uh, Raisel, it's probably better to... Not make them angry?"

"Heh, don't worry. Her bark is worse than her bite, and I only get angry at biting. Now both of you will be my hostages, along with the other ones we've collected."

"What would scum like you even need with a hostage?" Raisel wanted to know any extra information just in case.

"Why should I tell the hostages my plan? Really, though I wouldn't mind divulging any extra information if a certain Tessiol Elf 'convinced' me for the information." He leered towards Raisel.

Raisel scoffed and tilted back, avoiding the man. The man was human, obviously, he wore fancy clothes like all who entered the auction house that night, as did the rest of his group. Though it wasn't only humans. There was the Orc that Raisel had spotted earlier, with the same warhammer on his shoulder. The Orc was the only one without some sort of suit on. He wore a strange leather vestment, though Raisel could only assume his clothes were considered fancy among the Orcish tribes.

"Hmmm, the rest of my chaps should be finished." The man stroked his chin, though it failed to make him look at all thoughtful. "Right then, let's get started here men."

Arvad is not going to be happy, considering the way he eliminated the slavers from before with no remorse, these men will be no different should Arvad find a way to stop them from killing the hostages. Raisel and Nolan were led off towards the auction house. Audible screams could be heard as armed men flooded the area. It seemed that the terrorists had occupied the main chambers of the auction and sealed them off. Forcing what people were in there in a trap. Whomever was outside of the sealed chamber immediately fled the scene screaming their heads off. Where was Arvad?

The man was apparently the leader of the group, as he led his posse onto the main stage in order to address his captive audience. "'Ello my good citizens of Alduin and those who aren't, my name is Alons. As you can obviously see, I am now taking control of this auction. Really, I only want one... No two things, but I won't mind taking the rest of the goods here." Alons then snapped his fingers towards two humans holding a man between their arms. "Now this man here holds the objects of my interest. And I'm sure you can guess what those are, the Eyes of Garrow. BUT! To think that something else of interest caught my ears. I never thought that there would be the Eyes of Derhal here as well! Two sets of Eyes! Can you believe it? NOW... I duly expect those eyes here and now. I have already taken the Eyes of Garrow from my good man here and I wish to know who owns the Eyes of Derhal. If they do not show themselves, I will kill these two right here, the Son of Hamaul and the Daughter of Tessiol. If that doesn't matter to you, I will continue to kill some of the audience." Alons juggled the magnificent Eyes of Garrow in his hand before handing them off to a man with a ornamental sack.

Another human pulled out a curved dagger and held it to Nolan's throat. Just where was Arvad? Could he even do something against such a large force? On the stage, Raisel counted at least six, five humans and the orc. Among the audience, there was several men armed, which Raisel assumed to be apart of this terrorist group, however, could there be some of the enemy hidden among the audience. Surely not even Arvad, no matter how skilled he was, could take care of this? There has to be limits to any man's strength. Yet this was the reason why Arvad continually sought out powerful weapons in order influence his skills. He collected strong weapons that could be used in a multitude situations. And thankfully, with a little bit of magic, his knives and pistol would do a dandy job.

"No takers? Well, then I'll have to end little Nolan's life. Shame that I've got to kill such a young boy."

"There's no need for that, I have the Eyes of Derhal." Yes! There he is. Raisel was overjoyed that Arvad didn't decide to forsake Nolan.

"Then hand them over, slowly." Alons gestured for the orc to take the Eyes of Derhal from Arvad. Arvad held out a sack back pulled it back, saying, "Eh, I don't want to give you the Eyes. I don't feel like it."

"You've got no choice here, damn it! Give me the Eyes, or poor Nolan here will croak."

"Oh, go ahead then."

"Huh?"

What the hell is Arvad saying? Wondered Raisel, you're going to let Nolan die?"

"Did I hear correctly, you don't mind if Nolan here dies?"

"Yea, I honestly could care less if you kill Nolan, and everyone else in here except for me and one other. After all, I'm not paid to protect everyone but a certain someone."

Damn mercenaries... "... Then would you mind telling me who is this person you're supposed to be guarding? So I can kill him or her?" Alons seethed through clenched teeth. Like Arvad would tell you, Raisel thought. "You know what? I don't even need to do that, we can just take the Eyes from you. Rozag!"

The orc reached forward for the sack in Arvad's arms. "Here you go." Wait what? Make up your damn mind if your going to give him the Eyes! Was Arvad giving up that easily? Once the orc named Rozag took the bag, Arvad tooko a large step back and flicked his fingers. "Did I say the Eyes of Derhal were in that bag? Boom!" Arvad's onomatopoeia triggered some sort of internal explosion in the bag he handed off. The bag exploded in the orc's arms, brutally demolishing them.

The explosion was loud enough to resonate throughout the room and cause the hostages to cringe and cry out in terror. No one was hurt, except for the orc. Rozag was instantly pushed back, violently, by the shockwave. The force from the wave, and the injuries the orc received from the shrapnel, ended Rozag's life without remorse. Arvad was not one to hesitate to kill.

By the time the confusion ffrom the explosion had cleared up, every single member of the terrorists in the audience slumped down as if the their candle of life was simply snuffed out. Raisel took a closer look at the dead bodies and saw each of their throats slit. Were there allies among the wrangled captives? No... On an even closer look, Raisel strained her Elven eyes to find out the cause of their deaths. Among each of the seven terrorists throats, was one of Arvad's strange knives. Did he somehow manipulate the knives to kill?

Alons and his the rest of the four remaining humans looked around, in an attempt to find the perpetrator that killed their friends among the crowd. "Hell... Kill the boy! I'll teach them not to mess with us. Kill ALL OF THEM!" Alons was noticeably pissed.

Another human approached Raisel, brandishing a Kampilan long sword. Before he could even attempt to end Raisel's life, Arvad pointed his pistol at the enemies head and shot him at point black range. The man was slain by a perfectly polished, sharpened pebble. It punctured the man's helmet cleanly and passing through the skull. Arvad then whipped the pistol towards the human holding Nolan at knifepoint, and killed him with a bolt of ice. Only three humans left, including Alons.

Arvad picked up the Kampilan and narrowly deflected a thrown francisca axe. The one who threw the axe then chopped down with another francisca, Arvad parried the blow with the sword by the axe's haft. Then with an eighth knife he he still had by his belt, Arvad grabbed the knife with his free hand and stabbed it up through the man's jaw. In a fit of rage, Alons and the last terrorist attacked Arvad together.

Neither of the two final terrorists were thinking straight, their plot to steal both pairs of Eyes in the auction barter house had completely failed because they underestimated Arvad. They didn't even set up a back up plan, it was as if they thought up an amateurish plan to get rich quick. Were they even real criminals? Raisel almost lost all respect she had for professional criminals if this was the best there was.

Arvad parried both blows from Alons and his compatriot with the Kampilan and his knife. Arvad riposted and thrust his Kampilan into the terrorist A's heart, twisting it at the end for maximum damage. Only Alons was left.

"Now, you realized I won't let you live. Not after you threatened my ward, Raisel. Once I'm paid for a job, I see it through, and I don't take chances." Arvad's ruthless words seemed to horrify some of the audience. You would think that those who lived in such a diversified city would be used to violence of any kind, yet such uncaring words devoid of any remorse still disturbed them. Arvad's proud, frivolous, and generally offbeat nature seemed to hold a dash malice. Yet he was truthful to his words, he was Raisel's bodyguard to the end.

Alons seemed to hold some measure of skill, as his duel with Arvad lasted longer than the grunts. Though in the end, a petty criminal like Alons was no match for Arvad Eversoul. Alons slashed low, however, in an amazing acrobatic feat, Arvad jumped up and drop kicked Alons. Once Alons was to the ground, Arvad strode over and stabbed the Kampilan into Alons' chest twice.

"Oh, Raisel, by the way, it's a shame, but there's no sword I like here. I guess I'll be finding one at the High Elves' mountains."

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Note: Tell me if anyone wants anything explained, I'll talk about it in the next chapter.