Defender Scarlet Shadow in the Deathly Mission: Part Two

      The coordinates led to a place around the middle of the Lost Desert, so the figure's story matched up so far. Now Sopherie just needed to go there and see if there was actually a tomb at those coordinates. Sopherie got some sleep in the afternoon and waited until it was after dark, then she dressed into her Defender uniform, sans the red cape and her conveniently collapsable breast and shoulder plates, she stuffed both into a black duffel bag along with provisions she was bringing along as she'd be stealthier without them. Her quiver and bow were clipped to it. Zoey was also inside the duffel bag as the Faellie had insisted on going and Sopherie knew that Zoey was much like herself. Very stubborn and once she decided to follow through with anything, she'll do it no matter who or what will stand in her way. Besides, tombs were tricky places and Sopherie wasn't the tallest of Neopets so a flying companion could prove useful. She hoisted the duffel bag onto her shoulder and made her way to her study. She carefully and quietly lifted up the sash. She took a few step backwards, keeping the two guards in front of the window in her sights. She drew two arrows, infused with a paralysing magic so they'll paralyse anyone they hit. Please forgive me. Sopherie thought as she nocked the shot the two arrows, one after the other at the two guards. They both dropped to the ground paralysed by the arrows and Sopherie quickly slipped out of the window and ran for it, her dark form melting into the night as other guards who only just caught a glimpse of her called the alert.

      Sopherie eventually ended up at the road to the Lost Desert. It hadn't been easy to dodge and sneak past guards. But she had always excelled in stealth so she managed just fine and Zoey was as quiet as a Miamouse. Sopherie opened the duffel bag now and scooped Zoey out of the it. The Faellie yipped happily, glad to be out of the duffel bag. Sopherie put Zoey down for a moment and swung her cape around her shoulders. Then she picked up Zoey and put her on her shoulder. Then she began to move forward.

      "Well, we just have to follow this path down south and according to those coordinates, just keep going straight down south from the path to get to that tomb." Sopherie said. Zoey yipped in affirmation, holding on tightly. Sopherie stroked Zoey's head. "I'm glad you decided to come with me, Zoey. You'll always be my most precious friend." Sopherie said as she continued on.

      Meanwhile, the Defenders had arrived at Sopherie's home. They were looking for clues for where she could have been headed as the guards had lost her and the ticket seller for the ferry at the port hadn't seen her, meaning she couldn't have gone across the sea. They had of course brought Aspen, he being the one who knew her best. Aspen went into her study, the window that Sopherie had exited out of was still open.

      "Oh Scarlet, you silly girl. Please tell me you left a clue to where you were going somewhere." Aspen muttered to himself. Then he noticed a scrap of paper under a coffee mug. He picked up the mug and grabbed the piece of paper that was under it and inspected it. The paper had a pair of coordinates and the name Lost Desert. "The Lost Desert. But what reason would Scarlet have gone to the Lost Desert for?" He said to himself out loud. Well, I'm not going to find out here. I better show this to the others." He thought to himself and headed out of the study to find the other Defenders to show them his find.

      The sun was beginning to rise when Sopherie finally made it to an uncovered entrance of a tomb.

      "This must be the place, Zoey. This compass I have has been telling me that we have been going south. The needle that points north has barely moved." Sopherie said. Zoey yawned, looking rather tired. "Oh, I'm sorry Zoe. This has been a pretty long journey for you, huh? Well, you can rest in my duffel bag when I've cleared a space for you in there." Sopherie said to the tired Faellie. Sopherie put the duffel bag down and crouched to reorganise its contents. She grabbed her breast and shoulder plates as she knew that she would need them then she pushed the provisions and other items she brought with her, three canteens of water, a few days worth of food rations, a first aid kit and a flashlight to one side, took off her cape (she didn't want it getting snagged on anything inside the tomb) and lined the space she had made with it, then she laid Zoey on it. Then she closed the duffel bag and carefully hefted it back over her shoulder. She put on her shoulder and breast plates, pleased to feel their familiar weight. Then she descended down into the tomb to look for the person who so desperately needed her help.

      It was dark down in the tomb, but Sopherie's flashlight lit up the tomb quite nicely. The entrance chambers walls were covered in hieroglyphs, but not the normal type of hieroglyphs one would see in most Lost Desert structures. What a weird place... Sopherie thought to herself. There was only one passage leading off the entrance chamber so she carefully followed it, looking for evidence of possible traps as she went. She knew that these places were often fraught with traps to catch intruders. Halfway down the passage, Sopherie spotted some suspicious looking holes in the walls. She spotted a piece of stone lying at her feet so she picked it up and threw it down the passage. It landed on a slightly raised part of the floor and arrows came shooting out of the walls. There were pressure plates along the passage. Sopherie shuddered to think of what would of happened if she hadn't thrown the stone. She quickly made her way past the holes in the walls, avoiding raised parts of the floor like the plague. She had avoided falling prey to the first of many traps.

      Sopherie had lost track of how long she had been down in the tomb. Sometimes she felt like she was going in circles, but she knew she couldn't be as she marked her way by scratching the walls with an arrow so she could tell if she had gone a certain way. She had encountered a myriad of traps, like a pit of spikes which she used her red dance ribbon whip to get across, walls that began to close in on her until she got Zoey to wake up and press a switch on the ceiling and spiky plates on the walls that threatened to mash her if she didn't get past them quick enough. She was pondering on which way to head in another chamber when she heard a voice singing coming from a passage to the left. Sopherie approached the passage and listened closely.

      "Fate suddenly brought us closer than we ever really could see. Fate suddenly turned you to wander, wander together with me." The voice sang. Sopherie thought for a while, then decided to follow the voice as it was as good a lead as anything that the voice belonged to who she was looking for. The passage entered out into a chamber with a very high ceiling with a hole covered with a clear substance that left the afternoon sun in. There was a spring of water on one side of the room and a brown Aisha wearing a white cloak trimmed with gold, with a brown bag over one shoulder, wearing a gold desert Aisha necklace and gold earring sleepers in both pairs of ears was facing the water and was the one singing.

      "Laughing out together and being proud together. Without a doubt together we'll be, you and me." The brown Aisha finished the song with a sigh. Then she turned her head in Sopherie's direction and jumped upon noticing she was there. Her ears were standing straight up and she looked frightened.

      "Um... Are you the one who asked me to help you?" Sopherie asked her. The brown Aisha relaxed almost instantly.

      "Oh, I recognise your voice from when I contacted you yesterday! You really did come. Thank you." She said gratefully.

      "Heh, thank me when I get you out of here. I am Defender Scarlet Shadow." Sopherie said.

      "Oh, my name is Demé. My job is to recover artefacts from places like this, for archaeologists mostly. Usually it's only a one Neopet job which has always worked out for me, but it clearly backfired this time as I can't walk with a broken ankle." Demé said with a rueful smile. Sopherie smiled back and picked Deme up.

      "I'll just have to carry you out. Along with everything else." Sopherie said confidently.

      "Are you sure?" Demé asked her, concerned. "I know I'm not the lightest Neopet around. Especially with my bag."

      "Hey, I'm a Defender. I'm a lot stronger than I look." Sopherie reassured her.

      "Watch out!" Demé suddenly shouted and the two were enveloped in a purple forcefield. A very familiar-looking dart bounced off it.

      "Oh, of course the person you were looking for had to have magic. My job can never be easy. But that's what makes it fun." An emotionless voice came from the direction of the dart. Sopherie turned and saw a Blue Lutari in a dark coloured cloak with the hood up. The hood completely obscured their face.

      "And who the heck are you?!" Sopherie growled at them.

      "Oh, that won't matter soon enough to you or to your companion. Because you'll both be dead. Just as I was commissioned to do to one of you at least." The Lutari replied, their voice was quite obviously female.

      "You're an assassin, aren't you? How dare you ruin my life!" Sopherie yelled at her. It was because of this Lutari that she had been suspended from active duty and kept inside her house like a prisoner. The assassin shrugged.

      "I ruin everyone's lives by ending them. Deal with it." She said unfeelingly.

      "Scarlet Shadow, stop bantering with them and run! I can't keep this forcefield up forever!" Demé chastised. Sopherie nodded and ran into the passage opposite to the assassin.

      "Yes, run," The assassin said with a chuckle. "Run, so I can enjoy the thrill of the hunt."

      To be continued…