Story Update
Here is your update. I hope you continue to enjoy it and had a happy Halloween.

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“What do you think you were doing?” Tessi hissed, accentuating her point by slamming Isen up against the wall of the alley. In the main street, the other two Wilders rushed past the entrance. The angry mob followed close behind without paying any attention to the side streets. Tessi looked away from Isen to make sure they weren’t noticed.

Isen reached up to grab Tessi’s wrist while she was distracted. He gave her arm a sharp twist and pulled down. With a jerk, she pulled her hand free and snapped her attention back to him. Before she had a chance to say anything, Isen spoke up.

“I tried to grab him, but this was a mistake. This area belongs to the city dwellers.”

“We could have killed him and been home by now.” She narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists tightly.

“Killed him?” Isen asked bluntly. He raised his chin a subtle amount but maintained his focus on her eyes. His left hand slowly slid behind his back towards the dagger tucked there. The look in his companion’s eyes was almost feral.

Tessi took a deep breath and a single step back. The alley was narrow enough that her back was almost touching the wall with that single movement. She twisted her head to look at the main street again. Isen felt that it was more to hide her expression than to check for stragglers; the mob was well beyond them now.

“We wouldn’t be able to capture him here; the city would be on us in a heartbeat. Killing him was the only option.”

Isen stepped forward and grabbed her bicep. He squeezed hard enough to make her wince. He opened his mouth to talk, but before any words got out, Tessi brought her other fist around. Isen bent backwards to avoid the blow and lost his grip on Tessi’s arm in the process. He stepped back to get his balance under himself and gain some distance. Tessi continued her attack, snapping her leg up in an arc so that the kick landed against the side of Isen’s face. He reeled from the impact, and Tessi jumped forward, landing on his back. She reached up to his shoulder and dug her fingers into his mostly-healed wound. He screamed in pain and dropped to his knees.

“Do not EVER presume to touch me.” She let go and stood up, taking a step away. She took a few deep breaths and calmed herself.

“I am sorry about that,” she said. “I have bad memories of being grabbed. By men.”

“I see.” Isen remained in a crouched position, looking only at his fellow Wilder out of the corner of his eyes. Her posture was relaxed and she stood with her shoulders back. While the rage had disappeared from her eyes, the malice had not. He looked at the ground in front of him. The worst thing to do with a cat is to maintain her gaze.

“Are you with me, Isen of the hawk?”

“The boy will be brought back to my people if I am?”

“Of course.”

“Then let’s find him quickly so we can leave this area. The buildings make it difficult to breathe and feel the air.”

Tessi nodded and held out a hand. Isen took it and stood up with her assistance. They both looked out at the road in front of them. It was mostly empty. Tessi took a step forward, but Isen put his hand gently on her shoulder. He made sure to only lightly touch it. She turned around slowly with a single eyebrow raised.

“Yes?”

“We tried it your way. Now, we will try it mine.”

“What did you have in mind?”

Isen pointed up. Tessi followed the finger towards the sky. Isen had already started to climb up the wall. His fingers and toes easily found the large cracks in the wall. Within a minute, he had already climbed up three stories and was reaching the top of the building. He grabbed the rim and pulled himself up and over. He turned around to see how Tessi was faring. Her progress was a little slower than his, but she still climbed with little difficulty. When she was close enough, Isen reached out and offered his hand. Tessi didn’t take it, climbing up over the edge unassisted.

From their current vantage point, the city stretched off to a large castle in the east that was near the river. They could see the walls of the city in the other three directions. To the west they could barely make out the trees that they called home.

“It’s a great view, but I fail to see how this will help us find the boy.”

“Do you think the boy will run?”

“Of course. You saw his face when he saw you. He’ll run as far as his legs can carry him.”

Isen ran towards the edge of the building and leaped. He landed on the roof of the next building and immediately tucked into a roll until he came around to his feet. He stood up and turned behind him.

“If the boy will run, he won’t go to the trees. If he is that afraid of us, he will stay away.”

“So he’ll stay in the city. We MUST find him.” Tessi jumped over to join her companion.

“He was traveling north when we found him. I think that he will try to continue on that path.”

“The boats.” Tessi said it more as a statement rather than a question.

She took the lead and jumped over to the next building. Once she was there, she walked over to the far edge and looked down. The gap to the next building was much longer. Isen came up to join her and also stopped to look at the distance. The street below had very little traffic. It might be better to climb down and continue on the ground.

“Why do you want to find him so badly?” Isen asked.

“He poses a threat. I am sure that you can see that.”

“But your pursuit borders on obsession.”

“If we don’t find him, it will all be for nothing.”

“What will be for nothing?”

Tessi reached out and drew the dagger that was tucked into Isen’s belt behind his back. He tried to turn around, but she was too quick. She slashed with the dagger, cutting into his back. She shoved him in between the shoulder blades with her left hand. Isen fell forward, circling his arms in a vain attempt to gain balance. He reached out to grab at the wall, fingers scraping against the rough rock until they were bloody and raw. He managed to stop himself, but slammed into the wall with a jerk. He looked up in time to see his own dagger flying towards him.

Isen let go, choosing the fall over the blade.
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