The two figures moved through the forest without much delay. Kandor, who was decently experienced at finding his path through this kind of terrain, lead the way, while Lia followed closely behind. The undergrowth was dry and crunched under Kandor's heavy footsteps, as it hadn't rained in at least ten days. Samson had explained to him that such little rain was already rather rare for the western regions of Atura, and that they had to expect a lot of rain to come soon. Thankfully, there was no implication that it would come tonight.
"What's that complication you mentioned?", Kandor asked, pushing away a long branch widely covered in little twigs flourishing with dark olive leaves. He waited for Lia to slip past him and the branch, before letting it snap back into its natural position. The rustling of the water-craving leaves accompanied her voice for a few seconds.
"Nobody knows I'm out here. They won't be happy to find out", she said, now facing him after stopping.
"Not surprised", he replied without much emotion in his voice. He walked past her to lead the way again.
"Most of the city guards are also not very fond of you mercenaries. I don't think they'd like to see you bring me there." Her tone was slightly provocative, but also hopeful, as if she were trying to convince him to find another way into the city.
"Are they stupid? We are here to save their arses", Kandor said dryly. He immediately regretted speaking in such a vulgar manner in front of the mayor's daughter, but then also reminded himself that she was weird enough for him not to care if she'd judge him for such trivialities. While her incredible beauty and the enticing sheen of her eyes had their effect on him, the few conversations they had had been enough for him to figure out that there was something about her that bothered him. He wasn't sure if it was her manner of speech, the tone of her voice -though it did not sound as arrogant as he would expect of a noble- or her constant curious gaze at everyone and everything around her. It seemed as if life was a game to her, and her appearance at the mercenary camp tonight certainly proved that theory. She had already taken the ramification in form of a violent kick to her waist, but Kandor's thought constantly wandered back to the scream he had heard earlier. If that was really her friend, he had paid a much higher price for this nightly adventure.
"They likely aren't the brightest", Lia smiled widely as she giggled.
Kandor just sighed at her undying positive energy.
"Well, you see, the public opinion of you coin warriors is simply not the best one. It's nothing against your band specifically", she elaborated, still smiling at his back.
"I get that, but it's war times, they rely on us", he retaliated. He didn't mean to start an argument, but was interested what a noble's daughter had to say about the topic. He also wanted to know her true opinions after he earlier remarks. She was a noble after all, a rare person to speak to. Not that it mattered to him, he told himself.
"Won't that deepen their frustration", she replied. She caught up to him, now strolling right next to him. The forest had grown wider in this area. The trees were standing farther apart, and the bushwork was sparsely spread along the natural paths of the wood. The moon also shone brighter through the tree crowns, illuminating the fauna that presented itself before them.
"Aren't you guys only around during war times anyway?", she added, remarking on his previous statement.
Kandor raised a brow at that question. Did she not see the logical flaw in what she was asking?
"There isn't always a battle to fight. We camp by towns and villages then, and take up other jobs."
"Oh, that makes sense", she seemed flustered, realizing her mistake, "what kind of jobs?"
"Scaring away bandits, hunting dangerous animals, patrolling cities, that kind of stuff", he said, though his mind had already began focusing on something else. He had noticed animal tracks earlier, but they didn't concern him at first. Now there appeared a lot more of them on the trail before them. It was too dark for him to be certain about what kind of animal left them, but it couldn't be a terribly large species, so he wasn't all that worried. Yet, his eyes and ears stayed as vigilant as possible.
"That's interesting", she remarked, "I had never fought about it like that. I don't think there often are mercenaries in Voestrun."
Kandor simply nodded, not knowing what to add to that conversation.
"I like talking to you", her eyes gleaned at him as they continued their journey through the forest, "I'd like to talk to you some more before going back."
Lia'a feet came to a halt, and a bunch of dead leaves crunched under her soles.
Turning around, he shifted his head to the side, looking at her questioningly. Was she just trying to stop him from bringing her back to the gate?
"I don't think it's a good idea to stay in the forest at night for too long", he simply responded, avoiding to ask for her intentions.
"We can go talk somewhere else then", she smiled back at him, as he hadn't technically denied her request.
An exhausted frown escaped his mouth. Just then did he realize how tired he already was. This amount of nightly activity certainly didn't help his exhaustion. A thought sprung into his mind.
"Aren't you scared? Being alone with an unknown mercenary in a dark forest in the middle of the night?" His expression darkened, and he took a threatening step towards her.
He wasn't too surprised when Lia laughed brightly at his attempt to intimidate her.
"I know you now though. You're a friend. Even your boss seems like a really nice person."
The wide smile on her clear, moonlit face lifted his mood for a moment, her blonde hair emitting its unique silver sheen, like she was the beautiful personification of the shining moon itself. Only was she not quite as curvaceous as the moon, he grinned to himself.
"Oh, look at that, and I thought you had forgotten how to smile", she now also grinned at him cheekily. He must have not hidden his delight at his own joke all so well. Wait, does she think I'm smiling at what she said? Kandor blushed, definitely not improving his current situation.
Lia laughed heartily, and the pure tone immediately washed his previous doubts about her personality away.
To dispel the awkwardness, which she seemed to enjoy quite a bit, he turned back around, and began heading in the direction of the gate again.
"Hey, wait for me", she said while still laughing.
Grooonk.
The sound that broke her delightful laughter immediately put Kandor on high alert. Boar, he had heard that sound before and was quite certain.
Grooooonk.
There it was again. This time louder, and Kandor immediately located the direction it was coming from. He quickly jumped back towards Lia and pushed her behind him, making sure they could not possibly reach her first.
Then followed a series of much quieter, and higher pitched noises. You gotta be kidding me. Boar piglets? Was it the right time of the year for that? Kandor honestly had no idea. While the piglets themself might not be all that dangerous, they massively raised the threat the grown specimens would present. These boars could get huge, he had seen one before that was almost as tall as Rendol, and probably just as disgusting to look at. Their fur was usually hard and slightly spiky, though thankfully not all too long. It still helped deflect the slashing effect of a blade quite efficiently, and even should one pierce through, the thick layers of skin and fat underneath rendered most attempts to kill them with swords worthless. He had once seen Barsk kill a boar using a large spear which he hurled at an extremely high speed. It had killed the boar in one strike, but the spear, which would have easily passed through three to four humans at that speed and force, barely pierced through half the boar before ending up stuck in its flesh. Kandor doubted that he would be able to recreate such an effect with his two-handed sword.
Groonk.
The boar was definitely closing, and Kandor heard and saw the first signs of it rustling through a nearby bush. It wasn't a tall bush though, so he had some hope.
Lia clutched the back of his shirt as they slowly backed up together. He felt her rapid breathing on his neck. Was she scared now? Finally.
Then, a little head popped out of a bush, no five meters from the two. It was a piglet, not even half a meter tall yet. Its brown black fur signaled its male gender, if Kandor wasn't mistaken. The first signs of two growing tusks shone like two white spots on its jaw. Even though it wasn't fully grown, it was definitely large enough to strike fear into the hearts of cowards. In contrary, Lia loosened the grip on his shirt, as if she was relieved.
Kandor raised his arm behind his head and released the sword-handle from its lock, slowly circling the long blade around his back.
He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, Lia's fingernails biting into them in shock. Then he saw the brute of a shadow that appeared behind the bush.