Master of None

Shadow and the kids approach a small clearing and walked to the largest tree at the other end of it. The tree's trunk began to glow as they got closer.

'Tallia, I think its a magic gate.' Shadow nervously shifts his weight away from the small boy holding the rope looped around his neck. 'How will you follow once we enter?'

'Don't worry,' she softly coos, 'I'm next to you now. Invisibility spells may only last a small moment, but they are quite useful in these situations.'

The second they passed through the portal Tallia hid behind a stack of boxes near them. They had entered in a large storage building of a sort. The kids look at each other and start laughing.

"She really thought we were going to honor a deal like that!" Clay looks around the building. "Let's find somewhere to put this horse until the boss comes back."

"I kind of feel bad," John whispers gripping tightly to Shadows lead.

"What is there to feel bad about?" Farci snatches the rope out of his hand. "We don't work for her we work for Master."

"She seemed nice," Rayn shrugs, "but we can't just turn our backs on Master."

Clay walks to the other end of the building and opens a door to a smaller room. "We can put it in here for now. Master will have a plan for it when he gets back."

Shadow walks calmly behind Farci to the small dark room and enters without a fight. 'I should bite their heads off,' he snarls to Tallia.

'No, we need to find out who this "Master" is. Don't do anything to harm the children when they're only following someone else's orders,' she says sternly.

"So much for a Hyppicampus," Rayn remarks. "I thought they were fiercely loyal to their owners. He's acting like a normal horse."

"She probably was just trying to scare us," Clay scoffs. "She was so gullible. Also, what kind of crazy person just walks into the Priests of Sun territory? Does she want to die?"

"Who knows what she was thinking." Farci sits on a stool making it creak from the sudden weight. "Then she invited us to go with her like it was just as common as afternoon tea."

The large doors at the front of the building slam open and a short man walks in. His sharp grey eyes scanning the room in front of him with a scowl on his large bearded face. The children all jump up and stand at attention in front of the door Shadow waits behind. The tension in the room could make you feel like one little sound would set off an explosion.

"Where is it?" He demands. "I sent you out to get a horse now you've come back and I do not see one in front of me!"

Clay turns around and grabs the doorknob to open the room they had placed Shadow in, but before she had a chance to turn the knob a whip cracks and she falls to the ground wincing in pain.

"I DID NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO MOVE YOU LITTLE RUNT!" He pulls the whip up to hit her again.

"Sir, sir, the horse is," John stutters, "it's in that room, sir."

"Well, why didn't you say so," he pushes Clay out of the way her shirt starting to soak with blood from the first hit. Opening the door he sees Shadows fangs as they snap towards him. "What is THAT?" He yells slamming the door back shut. "THAT IS NOT A HORSE!"

"It may be a Hyppicampus, sir," Rayn bows his head at the small man. "I've read about them before but did not believe they existed."

"If that's a Hyppicampus, boy, then explain to me how you were able to get it from its master without permission?"

Rayn gulps, "Well, sir, the woman did wake up and-" the whip cracks across his cheek cutting off his sentence. Tallia flinches and covers her own face in reaction to the sound.

"YOU SPOKE TO ITS OWNER!" He turns to Farci, "Boy, tell me this is not true."

"She had trapped us and threatened us," Farci states with his head lowered to look at the floor. "We did not tell her about you. We only said we were merely thieves looking for a payout."

The small man sighs heavily and presses his fingers to his temple. "I took you in when nobody wanted you and you pay me back by bringing me a Hyppicampus that I can't sell. Surely she warned you of what it was yet you still brought it here regardless."

"Like Rayn had said we did not believe her when she said this." He shifts his weight to his other foot. "We took it after she had fallen back asleep. It came with us so easily that we figured she had lied about what it was to try and scare us."

"Did you make sure you weren't followed?" The man grasps Farci's shoulder firmly. "You're my star pupil so please tell me you checked that she didn't follow you."

"We checked multiple times and covered our tracks like you taught us, sir. I am positive she did not follow."

"Good. Well, you will have your dinner in here and figure out how to get rid of that thing by morning," the man sighs and walks out of the building slamming the door behind him.

"Well, looks like my offer doesn't seem so far fetched now. Does it?" Tallia inquires walking out from her hiding spot.

"Shut up, stupid. Now that you're here we're all dead," Clay scowls as John uses a strip of cloth to clean the cut on her back from the whip.

"Not necessarily." Tallia waves John away and uses a healing spell on Clay's back. Her new cut and old scars all disappear. "I told you I was on a mission, but you seemed to not believe me about my Hyppicampus so perhaps you also didn't believe me about my mission." She walks over and lets Shadow out from the small room. He bows his head at the children each in turn and nuzzles John. "He says he now knows and respects the reasons and ways you have been treating him. He also apologizes to you, John, for scaring you at any time."

"Who are you?" Rayn looks at her amazed as she heals the cut on his cheek.

"I am Tallia Burnham. I am a mästare," she does a slight bow. "I have been sent a message from the Priests of Sun to come meet with them at their temple to gain aid in the war against Dracome and his mother."

"I want to go with you," John says ducking behind her as Farci grabs for his shirt to keep him away.

"No, we can't just leave," Farci says. "Master depends on us to bring him things to profit from. He needs us."

"He needs YOU, you mean," Clay scoffs. "He would never hurt his STAR PUPIL. Why do you think we get the whip half the time and not you? He hates us."

"He doesn't hate you. He cares about all of us. He's just trying to help us learn how to be the best."

"Then why haven't you gotten any lessons? You straight admitted to speaking to her but Rayn only said she had woken up and got a slash."

Farci looks between them all bewildered. "Rayn, do you really think Master plays favorites?"

"Of course, I do. You're his favorite we all know that," Rayn mumbles and sits beside Tallia. "We're all dead but you if he finds her here. He would never blame anything on you. Even though you assured him we weren't followed he'd still find a way to blame the rest of us."

"Then it's settled," Farci states. "We'll go with you on your quest to visit the Priests of Sun."

They walk towards the shimmering of the magic gate and disappear back into the forest on their way to face the unforgiving desert that lies between them and the Priests.