As Sweet as Honey

I R I S Iris echoes Sunjata’s mood, an amused giggle and a gentle nudge of the elbow coming his way. He was turning out to be far more pleasant than she’d come to expect from the men and women running Torchline. Iris looked at the dark-haired man with curious wonder. She’d expected the head of the beast to be a lot uglier. ”I wonder, do the rest of Caido’s leaders have your sunny disposition?” Meanwhile, as the vegetation got denser Iris’ mood got brighter. There was an added spring in her step as she wandered the invisible trail upwards. Her eyes were drawn to the colorful flowers that began to appear among the green while the sound of insects became a humming constant. ”I prefer the bow. There’s something meditative in the draw and release,” she said, voice turning dreamy. ”And a catharsis in pinning down your target. Also, a lot less danger to the face,” she added with a chuckle, fingers fluttering in the direction of her well-kept features. Upon Sunjata’s announcement Iris turned pensive. She quickly made her way to the edge of the cliff, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the way the bright rock reflected sunlight. She stepped onto a protruding tree-trunk and leaned over the chasm to get a better view. The breeze was rougher here. It ruffled her hair as she searched the cliffs. Soon, she started spotting the constructs that stuck to the rock in defiance of gravity. But she remained in her spot, watching, looking for the right one. Then, she looked up and saw it. No more than fifty meters away stood an overhang, draped in vines. Behind the green curtain stood a hive, almost two meters wide, sticking to the rock like a seashell in dark glittering gold. Iris pushed herself off the tree and turned, grinning, to Sunjata. ”Look,” she beckoned him closer and pointed in the direction of the hive. ”That’s what we’re hunting.” With that, she set off towards the cliff, leaving her helper to stare over the edge in stunned disbelief in what such a seemingly benign task was turning out to be.