Mission Success [job/solo]

Assignment Overview: After taking out Joe, Lexiara should pilfer his office and search for more information, including information about other auctions and even more traders. She needs to gather the information and make her escape without getting caught, killing any possible witnesses to prevent being tracked back to her own camp. Escape with Joe’s map, his ledger, his money, and any files he has on other slave traders.

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Blood ran across the ground from the two arrows lodged in Trader Joe, Lexi’s face not easing from its mask of hatred even as he took his final breath and the blood began to cool. She panted heavily, eventually letting her arms relax, her bow gripped loosely at her side. Her heart was racing, some part of her mind shocked at how easily she had taken his life. A year ago, she would have not been able to release the final shot, hating the idea of hurting people. Now, though, it was coming easier with every kill to steal the life away from another human.

The part of her that had embraced the differences in everyone had been whittled away with every loss she had suffered and now, her innocence and naivety were gone, replaced with a burning desire to hurt others before they could hurt her. Two years ago, she had suffered from the moral dilemma of whether to sell children into slavery, even if it would be an improvement to their current conditions. Now, she cursed that she had ever agreed to the deal with the Pharaoh of Heliohapt. If she were given the same choice now, she could only imagine that she would meet the generous offer with violence. It was better to struggle and suffer and die free than to be chained and shackled to someone who felt it was acceptable to buy a human like common livestock.

Lexi slowly came back to her senses, the blood lust fading from her vision and reality nudged its way back into her mind. She knew that she would not have much more time before risking being caught, so she charged into action. She made her way over to the chest at the foot of his bed, the trader had much more comfortable sleeping accommodations than she would have expected from someone constantly on the move. But, when one had access to an endless supply of slave labor, she supposed it was simple enough to enjoy the finer aspects of life. The chest had a lock, so she quickly searched Joe’s cooling body in an effort to find keys. Finally, she found a ring of keys in his pocket and it did not take long for her to find the correct one to open the chest.

The chest was full of papers, maps, and money. Lexi quickly flipped through everything she could find, skimming the documents before shoving them into a nearby sack. She would not have time to give each document the attention it would need while she was under a time crunch, so she simply stuffed anything that looked important into the bag. The bag filled quickly between all of the ledgers and accounts Joe kept, the maps taking up a large chunk of space. At the very bottom of the chest, Lexi found not only gold, but also a form of paper currency, something she vaguely recognized as what several traders on the Plains used when they had interactions with Kou natives. It was apparently easier to transport paper money than large amounts of gold. She shoved as much of it into the bag as possible, hoping she would be able to redeem the paper for actual gold at some point.

Once the sack was full, Lexi glanced around again, making sure she grabbed anything that looked even slightly important. Carefully, she shoved her bow, quiver, and the bag of items under the back flap of the tent, the hay stacked around the edge of Joe’s tent keeping the items out of view so she could retrieve them once she left the tent. There was no way she would be able to explain dragging all of those items out while there were guards and other people around, so it was the best option. With a sigh, she finally looked back to Joe, sneering at the corpse. She could not just let him sit in the middle of the floor, it would raise suspicion that much sooner, so she carefully dragged him into his fluffy bed. Once she had him in the bed, she yanked the arrows from his head and throat, tucking them under the edge of the tent with the other items. She would be able to repair or reuse them, if she was careful and there was no reason to waste perfectly good arrows.

With the arrows out of the way, Lexi tugged the sheets up over his body, making it look like he was sleeping after an exhausting romp. Her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out how to hide the blood in the middle of the floor before spotting a large rug. She tugged the material over the life force congealing on the ground, the rug thick enough that the blood did not seep through. Content that no alarms would be raised immediately, Lexi ruffled her hair, making it appear as though she had been involved in less than pure activities, the adrenaline from killing Joe putting ample color into her cheeks as she finally sauntered towards the entrance of the tent.

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When Lexi exited the tent, the guard arched a brow at her with a knowing smirk. He had been the only one to see her enter the tent, which presented a problem. When Joe’s corpse was discovered, he would be able to point the other guards towards her as the prime suspect. Lexi thought quickly of how to best deal with the situation. The guard was not responsible for the slave trade, but he could cause her major problems. She could not afford to have a witness. Her mind settled, she gave the guard an alluring smile, approaching him innocently.

“Joe mentioned that perhaps my excess energy could be spread around, since I wore him out so quickly. He mentioned that you did a particularly good job in guarding him and you might appreciate a bonus. What do you say?”

The guard glanced between her and the tent, enticed by her looks and the words she offered up to him. Lexi had to stop herself from snorting as he gave her an enthusiastic nod. Reaching out for his hand, Lexi tugged him away from the tent, silencing his objections by placing a finger against his lips.

“Joe assured me he would be fine, he just needs a few minutes to recover before he returns to the auction. Let’s go back to my tent, you can help me break in my newest purchase.”

The guard’s eyes lit up at the prospect of having not one but two women please him, his objections dying in his throat. He followed her like a puppy back to her assigned tent, nearly panting as he watched her curvy figure beckon him along. When she pulled back the flap to her own tent, she was relieved to see the young girl she had purchased slumbering on her bed roll. With a playful shove, she knocked the guard back onto the ground, moving to straddle him. The slave girl woke up, terror etching her features at seeing the guard in the tent, the fear deepening when she saw Lexi straddle the guard’s hips. What the girl was not expecting was for Lexi to deftly slide the dagger from a fold in her skirt and slash the guard’s throat in a single, merciful drag of the blade.

Lexi looked at the girl with a small smile, holding a finger to her mouth to keep the terrified girl from crying out. The girl immediately silenced herself, scared that if she did not listen, her mistress would slaughter her as well. When Lexi stood and moved away from the guard, the girl flinched from her. Lexi frowned but crouched in front of the girl, holding up a small ring of keys.

“Do not be scared, not of me. I just want to unlock you. Can I please see your hands?”

The girl was silent, biting her lip as she nervously held out her arms. She was too scared to disobey her mistress, still not comprehending that Lexi was trying to free her. When Lexi unlocked the shackles, the girl seemed to relax a tiny bit but she was still nervous. Lexi tried to reassure her, but she understood that the girl would have a great fear of her, especially after watching Lexi kill a guard without remorse.

“Can you promise me that you will not say anything to anyone about what I did?”

The girl nodded, rubbing at her wrists to ease the ache from the shackles.

“Good. You have two choices. You may try to make it on your own from here, I will give you money and point you to the nearest village and hope they don’t just recapture you. The other option is you wait for me at the edge of this settlement with my belongings, act like you are following orders like a good slave, and I can take you somewhere safe.”

The girl looked dazed, trying to process what Lexi was saying before looking down to the guard and then back to Lexi. Words seemed to escape the girl and she finally pointed to Lexi with a nervous but determined look.

“With me, then? Okay. Then I want you to carefully pack up everything in here and meet me at the edge of the settlement. I will leave the shackles on your feet until we are out of sight, so no one gets suspicious. I will meet you with the other slaves I bought. Now hurry, I will meet you soon, I swear.”

The girl’s face became more determined and she gave a firm nod, immediately moving to pack up Lexi’s belonging, of which there were not many. The girl seemed to completely ignore the dead guard in the middle of the room, walking around him like he did not exist. Lexi gave her a worried look but knew she had to hurry. She left the tent, making her way to the person gathering money from sales. Lexi paid the remaining balance for the others she had purchased, knowing that what she had stolen from Joe would more than make up for the amount she had spent purchasing the slaves. She made her way to the large cage containing the males she had purchased, her face frozen into a serious look.

The young men followed her wordlessly away from the cage, obedient, if nothing else. It seemed no one had noticed Joe’s absence yet, she did not know if that was pure luck or the meddling of Fate, but she did not have the time to ponder on it just now. She led the men away from the cages, discreetly snagging up her quiver and bow before handing off the large bag to one of the young men. The trip to the edge of the settlement was a quiet one, no one approaching Lexi and her small contingent of slaves. Several people were doing similar to her, gathering their purchases and making their way home. Many others would wait until morning to leave, but she did not look suspicious.

Lexi breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted the young girl standing with what few bags Lexi had brought along, waiting for her. Lexi waved to the young male slaves with her, indicating that they should all grab something so they could be on their way. Lexi did not slow her pace as she led the slaves she had purchased from the settlement, her steps taking them along a path that led into the woods and away from prying eyes. When she stopped to rest near a small stream, the young men immediately began setting up her tent, not willing to let her help. Lexi ground her teeth, not wanting them to be doing anything for her, but she had not yet explained to them that she was here to free them. Finally, the young men were done and stared at her, waiting instructions.

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It had taken quite a long time to explain everything to the slaves, but by the end, they all understood her goals and most had opted to stay with her. A few had chosen to go their own way, wanting to find their own families and she gave them each a smile of understanding and a handful of gold coins, wishing them the best. By morning, she and the remaining former slaves had packed up camp and began making their way back to Lexi’s village. She had only made a small dent in the local slave trade, but it was better than nothing, she supposed. With the information she had gathered from Joe’s tent, she would be able to seek out dozens of other traders. She was not done with hunting slave traders, not by a long shot.

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