The bribes to the city guard had paid off, and Malaika was now waiting in a shaded overlook for the coming caravan.  The contents weren't exactly known, other than a large amount of coin.  But the heavy guard indicated something either of value or interest.  And Malaika didn't particularly care which one it was.  She was certain they could make use of anything.  It was a risk, but the narrow canyon was the only route to the southern part of the continent.  It was also ideal for an ambush.  Which was why Malaika decided to not set up her people at the narrowest point.  That would be all too obvious. 

So they were set up a quarter of a mile south of the narrowest part of the pass.  There was a small creek, and travelers passing through would often stop to water the animals after the nerve wracking travel through the canyon.  It was called the canyon of echoes by locals for a good reason, as the smallest dropping pebble could echo enough times to sound like an approaching army.  So they waited in silence to hear the smallest noise, and they were rewarded after an hour.  They were halfway between the exit of the canyon and the water, Malaika and three men armed with assorted weapons, and three others with bows crouched behind the scrub bushes.

It was only after the last man passed their position did Malaika make herself known.  "Good afternoon, and drop your arms, now!  Nah, I wouldn't try that," she said, as the bowmen stepped out and made themselves known as well with the stretching of bowstrings.  Malaika's sword rested on her shoulder, but she was ready to use it in a heart beat.  Her easy smile was unnerving to one of the men close to her, and he backed up a couple steps.  They all looked around, trying to figure out who was going to make the first move.

Icarus had joined this caravan only for the sole purpose of ensuring his cargo was able to arrive without any interference. Among the three wagons, only one had guards and that belonged to a merchant that had paid for the escort. Icarus rested in the second wagon, enjoying the light bump here and there on his bedroll over the wooden interior. Throughout the journey, he had not removed his mask in the presence of the others, preferring the anonymity the porcelain mask provided over his entire face. 

As the wagons ground to a halt rather quickly, he lifted his head, drawing one of the new weapons he crafted from inside the covered wagon. Walking to the coachman’s seat, he emerged from the interior and stepped up high, resting one hand on the roof as he glanced around. He quickly ascertained the cause of the disturbance and noticed the archers arrayed around the convoy. Normal tactics would have determined they should have targeted the convoy as it passed through the narrowest portion of the canyon. The change was likely in an attempt to catch them with their guard down. Icarus clicked his tongue. 

”It’s so much easier to force a rockslide into a narrow chasm to halt a convoy than to target them in the open. If these folks had some courage, they’d send the horses at full gallop ahead since highwaymen without masks are prone to killing their prey,” he said, taking in the sight and making contact with the apparent leader. Activating his mana, he calmly channeled his heightened senses and simply waited, preparing to avoid and kill whoever chose to attack him. ”So long as there isn’t any killing and you leave my wagon be, I don’t give a damn what else you do,” he declared, taking the initiative. 

In a crisis, the most important function for survival was determining the course of events. His declaration was a challenge, and one he could follow through on with relative ease. Bandits knew of a masked Voidwalker from the recent war and had yet to harass him. If they were foolish, he would return them to the moments he stalked the battlefields and earned that moniker.

Tilting her head to the side a little as the man emerged from the wagon, she studied him.  "But that is to be expected. Tactics change.  And sometimes a surprise is in order," she said, offering a challenge to the masked man.  "And we've no intention of killing.  You must be new around here.  We show our faces because we've nothing to fear.  Him however," she said, pointing at the merchant's wagon, "knows exactly why we're here".  Malaika's face hardened for a moment.  He didn't seem to care about the company he kept, and she wasn't wholly sure which side he'd be on in a fight. 

The merchant, a fat, graying man, finally poked his head out of the curtains of his wagon.  She knew his face, and so did the people with her.  There were a few low hisses, but the man did not withdraw for once.  "Little girl, I know who you are.  I know you and your friends do not like my business.  But I operate perfectly within the confines of the law" he said, a smug grin on his face.  The guards around the wagons shuffled a little, Malaika knew that they likely needed the coin more than actually cared for the merchant.  That made her decision much easier.  "Just because it's within the law doesn't mean it's right.  Friend, I have the feeling you don't know who that is.  His name is Idan Kepha, and he deals in human misery.  Pays his people as little as possible, and doesn't share his wealth with those who helped him get it.  So the poor stay poor, and he just get richer," she said, turning her attention to the masked man.  She hoped in that calling him 'friend' he would understand she had no quarrel with him at all. 

The blade dropped from her shoulder, its tip a few inches from the ground.  The merchant's guards were starting to look at each other, that was good.  Maybe this could be accomplished without bloodshed.  "So tell me, friend.  What do you intend to do, now that you know more of the picture?  Whatever's in that wagon, we're giving it to the people who earned it.  Out here, beyond the bounds of the city, the law doesn't matter so much.  We won't hurt Kepha, got my word on that," Malaika added.  She didn't intend to hurt the merchant, just a bit of humiliation to teach him a lesson.

As the woman described her gripe with the merchant that hadn’t even charged him to join the caravan under the assumption he would assist, his mind began to go through various scenarios. Although plausible, he knew the cargo wasn’t slaves, though the man could have easily been a slaver in his other activities. What was his cargo? Some relics or weaponry? He would be patient enough to at least see what it was and intervene only after careful thought.

”Ugh… you have to make my life a little harder, don’t you? If I idly watch as you take his goods, I’d be stuck without a place in the caravan and my own goods would probably be jeopardized as a result. Such trouble…” he trailed off as he teleported directly in front of the leader, his weapon once more in its sheathe. 

”Let’s inspect the cargo, and if it happens to be something morally problematic, we’ll go from there. I can understand that you’re rightly angry at him, but my cargo cannot be jeopardized over your vendetta. It’s a secondary effect you didn’t really care for, but I’m equipped to handle if necessary,” he said, prepared to vanish and engage the robbers as necessary.

”Wh-what?! How can you take their side like this?! I let you come along for free to safeguard my wagon as well as your own! I-I’ll…” ”Kill me in my sleep to take my cargo to try and salvage your losses? Mind your tongue or I’ll insert it into your own asshole if you really want to talk that shit,” Icarus interrupted. ”Proceed, but remember that I’m not necessarily going to support your effort if that cargo doesn’t hold something questionable,” he warned.

A grin crossed her face when the masked man started to grumble.  That was a sign he just might be sympathetic to her ideals, and Malaika planned to take every advantage of that situation.  She let him finish speaking, watching in silence and allowing a slight smirk to say what she didn't.  She nodded at the scenario he outlined to the merchant, she wouldn't put it past the man at all to backstab people.  It was clear that the masked man didn't trust the merchant very much, and that worked well into her own plans.  She nodded at his suggestion, and Malaika gestured to her people to stay back.  "They'll keep watch.  We're not the only interested party here, I can assure you of that.  We're just the best informed," she said with a grin. 

She approached the merchant's wagon first, since she knew that he wasn't likely to let some of his goods go far from his sight.  And it didn't take too long to find the first signs of something that wasn't quite right.  The merchant's face went nearly purple when she tossed a package onto the ground and Malaika drove her heel it.  The white powder scattered to the winds with a bit of encouragement from her.  "Opium powder.  S'illegal here, and in a lot of other places.  So no reason for that to be in his wagon.  Let along in a secret compartment," she said, her grin turning slightly malicious.  It was likely the opium was going to be used for trading, but Malaika had seen what the drug did to people, and she would never stoop to even considering doing anything but destroying it.

Moving onto the second wagon, Malaika stopped.  There was something alive in there.  The breeze tugged through it on her command, bringing the smell of piss past her nose.  She took a deep breath, then pulled the toggle off the door and stepped in.  Once her eyes adjusted to the low light, her heart dropped to her stomach.  The merchant had finally started to violate the laws, and he started with those most turned a blind eye to.  The hawks she freed first, and they rushed past her, and into the desert sky, crying their joy to the winds.  Next, she let loose the snakes, stepped back as they slithered quickly for the entrance.  Venomous snakes went for a lot of money in some places, usually as an oddity.  But at the last cage, she paused.  It was a very young desert fox, its large ears tight against its skull as she carefully extended her hand towards it.  She could tell from raising orphans it was too young to be on its own.  Gods only knew where it had been bound to.

A few seconds passed, and she was rewarded with the fox sniffing her fingers, then relaxing into them.  She scooped the creature out of the cage, then left the wagon, the fox cuddled against her chest.  "And what my contact said.  Animals being taken to markets.  They're wild, and not your property.  Seen this before, it's not much more a step before you're moving people," she said with a growl.  It was something else she had seen, and the merchant's guilty expression told her that she was right.  Malaika glanced to the man in the mask, waiting to see what he would do.