"So we got ourselves a prisoner,"
Karl muttered as he inspected the elf bound in rope before him. They had already been stripped of all their weapons and patted down for any dangerous items.
This was quite a big achievement. If they could bring her back to the city and have her interrogated, it would clear up a lot of doubts about the elvish activity and perhaps a hint at their overall goal.
The elf had a blank expression as if she was resigned to her fate, in fact, she had tried to commit tactical suicide multiple times. It gave Karl a hell of a fright to see her trying to impale herself with a stick. Yes, a stick. Though to be fair, elves were known for their affinity with nature magicks, so it was a legitimate way for her to kill herself.
Nonetheless, they managed to restrain her, sealing her ability to move as well as giving her a blindfold, because, why not? Karl wasn't too sure of her capabilities, but removing her vision definitely removed one factor to worry about, though being an elf, her presence sensing capabilities were probably better than her vision…
Probably.
"Adalyn, this is pretty big, I and a couple others will escort her to the city, whilst you and Hayley stay and hold camp here, okay?"
Getting a nod, that was the best confirmation Karl would get.
"Ay! Jeffrey, get ready, we'll be leaving in a minute!"
Of course, Jeffrey was one of the people who would be escorting the prisoner back. Despite how smooth the fight was, the fact was that a majority of Jeffrey's team suffered quite a bit of injuries. It wasn't wise for them to keep moving around, lest they want to aggravate their wounds. Jeffrey was in relatively good condition, and Hayley's team didn't seem competent enough for this mission, considering their contribution during the previous encounter. Or rather lack thereof.
Now that preparations were underway to leave, Karl only had one problem left. How to transport this prisoner. Letting them ride with one of them was a no go. That was just asking for her to somehow escape. But then, the standard procedure of having her walk beside them would take way too long to get back, it would be asking for her to get rescued.
"How about we drag her along the ground?"
"That's absurd!" Karl shouted, that was not how one should treat a prisoner.
"But do you have a better idea?"
"..." He couldn't refute that, dragging the elf was the fastest way with minimal risks. Plus, it probably wouldn't hurt an elf. I mean, the ground was part of nature, was it not? No, no, that was unethical. He couldn't just as well show up to the city gates dragging along a body. Prisoner or not. He still had a reputation to uphold.
"Wait!" Turning around, Karl saw the relatively intact town, in fact, barely anything was damaged. At most some houses had holes and scratches in them, but a bit of patchwork would fix up the town in no time.
Indeed, he had overlooked such a basic thing.
…
"Ay, I can still move," Bryoni groaned, he must've hated being in such a weak state.
"No you can't," Jeffrey's childlike response, mildly triggered him.
"Tch, whatever, just go mate,"
That's what he liked to hear! Finally, it seems like things were going well in life. It felt like just yesterday when everyone would instantly accuse him of random shite and refusing to listen to anything he says…
Yeah, that was quite sad. And it still happened today…
Nonetheless, things were looking up, to say the least.
Mounting his horse, Karl signalled that everyone was ready to set off, and they left. Though, it was peculiar, that one of the horses had a small cart attached to the back of it. If it didn't have that cart, they'd be a lot faster.
Hmm, it seemed the cart had someone tied up in it. The prisoner they just caught to be precise. It looked like they didn't listen to his idea… Nothing's changed after all.
Dragging it would've been much more efficient and time effective.
Wallowing in his sadness, the small group of scouts made their way back to the city. During the night, they also had to assign people to watch the prisoner as well. It was lucky that the elf basically offered no resistance.
In fact, the amount of apathy and indifference the elf showed frightened Karl a bit. But to his relief, after thoroughly 'investigating' the elf, he could confirm that it was not an illusion, much to the chagrin of the elf. After Karl finished his investigation, it was as if the elf regained all of its lost enthusiasm. Before she would barely react to anything, even when they said they would drag her to the city, but now, she was actively glaring at the scouts, and even making their jobs a pain.
If only Karl kept his hands to himself, then the mission could've been completed without the hassle.
But anyway, it was no matter! As the mixed team travelled along the dirt path, their destination finally came to view.
Tall stone walls broke over the horizon, as they travelled forth. In victory!
Yup, these scouts truly had it rough. Keeping an elf in their hands was extremely draining. Not to mention the unneeded sense of urgency that they felt with the elf in their hands, like they might be ambushed if they didn't hurry up.
As the group rode through the gates, a guard called out,
"Karl, the hell is the rest of the squad?" He looked concerned. "Don't tell me it's just you guys,"
"Nah, nah, don't worry, they're at the frontier village," Karl eased the guard's worries, "Its, just some extreme circumstances forced us to come back here earlier,"
"Oh, and what might that be? C'mon man, give it to me straight,"
"We got a prisoner,"
The guard seemed visibly confused, however, assuming that the person tied and bound in the cart was the prisoner, he couldn't really see any special need to apprehend and haul them back to the city.
But wait! There's more! Carefully inspecting the prisoner he saw some uncharacteristically inhuman traits. Well, trait. The only visible distinguishing trait was the iconic elven trait. Her long ears. It was all the evidence needed.
Being let through the city gates, Karl bid farewell to the squad as he left to report this to his superiors.