Narrowly, I dodged around the cook and out the area the cages were in.. only to find that I was in the middle of a much larger strung together camp that had once been simple ruins. I couldn't stop here, though. So I kept running. I changed direction after entering the trees, continuing to run as fast as I could.
Barely, I managed to squeeze myself inside of a crevice when a searing pain ripped through my throat. I bit the inside of my mouth to keep from screaming. Still, in my tiny crevice, I passed out. The tightness of it keeping me from falling.
When I woke next, I was still squeezed into the crevice I'd escaped into. They'd clearly let up on the shock from the collar, and the collar clearly couldn't track me. Or they just couldn't reach me in here and were waiting on the outside.
I scooted out, slowly. Saw no one nearby. It was late, I was hungry, and my head throbbed. No matter, I started making my way back the way I'd come. It was dark now, every rogues playtime. Sure enough, I struck my first target with the stolen dagger.
He dropped, and an alarm went off. Fuck. This wasn't going my way at all. Fine. I took up the small sword from my victim and went forward meeting the next bandit. Well, slaver, really. I took a light cut from this ones sword, stabbing him through the eye, and dipping down and back to avoid the next ones attack.
Two more stabbings from me, and a couple of slashes from them, and I was found by my friends. They literally teleported in, as the ogre man snatched me up off my feet. Not that I was bothering to say anything to my friends at this moment, no, I had stabbed the dagger into the ogre man's shoulder, and started getting zapped again by the mad who'd come out.
"Boys, you know the drill." Bibs said, his voice calm and cool. "Kershka, Gregor, break the big one. Tilton. Shut that one up."
And so they did. Several arrows entered the mage in quick succession. Gregor and Kershka got ahold of the ogre, who dropped me a little too late. As soon as I was no longer being zapped, I took another dagger up, along with one of those purple runes stones that had opened the cage earlier.
I paused, looking towards Bibs and Tilton, "People are in cages."
The ogre man fell, and Bibs said, "Boys, clear the camp."
And they began to do so. Bibs approached me then, checking on me. "This is a terrible start to your adventuring career. It's gonna take forever for Tilton to let you out of the house."
"Haven't even joined yet." I told him. "And I'd have asked for help if I found something like this going on. Just got unlucky in the woods, looking at Ditania and Milort."
"Off picking herbs. Definitely a student of Tilton. And yet managed to get tangled up in something entirely unrelated. Certainly one of mine." He said.
"It wouldn't have done me any good to try and escape far, they kept shocking me with this. Knocked me out earlier." I said, flicking the collar.
"Well, we should probably find a way to have it off, then. Probably from the fool who came from the tent." Bibs suggested.
"Probably. The other's got them, too." I said.
"Well, we'll make sure everyone's taken care of." He said.
The cook tried to sneak away, I noticed. Tilton didn't allow for that, with a single arrow taking him out. Soon enough, the slavers were all done in, and the item to dispell the collars was found. And the would be slaves freed. They even found the type of magicks used for the trap thing that'd caught me, and presumably the others, to begin with.
A teenager and a woman approached me, they hugged me and thanked me for their rescue, saying it was brave and amazing that I escaped like that and returned with help so fast. The other nearly slaves also thanked me, and my friends.
I shook my head, "I just have the best people in my life that notice if I'm not where I should be, and will do something about it. I wasn't really expecting them so fast, though. I was just in danger here, too."
To drive the point home, I lifted my arms to show the slashes that had managed to hit me. They weren't bad, being trained by the agile Tilton helped a lot. But they were still there.
The woman and teen did thank my friends, but she also said, "You still came back. Most would not."
I held up my hands in defeat, "Very well, you're welcome."
I didn't really want to ask where we were, but I sure as he'll didn't recognize the kinds of trees, or the odd round lanterns that hung from the trees if this place. There were tents in the camp, even though it appears as though the tree branches interlaced above. Vines also hung from the branches.
It wasn't important. These people needed to be sent home. Which Bibs and Tilton would easily take care of. So there wasn't much for me to be concerned with, especially after the magic trap things were dispelled. My head throbbed still, I ignored it.
At this moment, Gregor approached me, while Kershka was being watchful, guarding. Tilton was finishing up checking tents, for information likely, and Bibs was doing the same, but checking the dead bodies.
I looked up at Gregor and said, "I don't think I like to be zapped. It's rather quite annoying."
"I've been zapped with a lightning bolt before and that was very unpleasant, so I feel I can understand that." Gregor replied.
I noticed a searching quality to his gaze. "They are all superficial. Doubt they'll even scar. I got free of the cage before they could really hurt me."
He looked a little relieved. "I'm glad that you are relatively unharmed."
"The ogre man was supposed to attempt to break me. But I shoulder checked him and stole his dagger before fleeing. There's a really narrow crevice nearby that I hid in before being zapped to unconsciousness. I figured it'd be safer to hide than try and run. But I hadn't expected there to be a magic alarm to alert them if one of their people died." I huffed a sigh. "But my plan could have worked relatively well. My first targets were gonna be anyone that may be a mage, then the orgre."
"It's a solid plan for coming up with it on the fly. Probably would have done the same." Gregor said.
"I should've cased it first, but I was afraid they'd start zapping me again. Wonder how many should be out in the trees lookin' for me." I said, looking towards the entrance.
"If there are more out there, we'll deal with them." Gregor said.
Much to my, and the victims, alarm there was a rather large something that landed on the branched canopy overhead with a decidedly Draconion shriek. Unable to see the creature, I looked froze as I saw bright flames surround the outside of the entrance.
"Oh. Fire, nice." I said quietly without emotion.
I felt a searing sensation over my collarbone where a cut had been, in that same instant the canopy seemed to cave some as wings beat and the thinner branches broke. The dragon, I assumed, was gone then. Not that I was paying it mind. I ripped my shirt some, looking at the burning sensation, an intricate mark was quickly shaping there, and the cuts on my body had healed up.
Gregor was as alarmed as I was, "Bibs, there's a mark forming on her." He'd called.
Bibs came over immediately, and watched as it finished. It roughly looked like a poorly shaped bird, with bruising around it. The pain faded as it settled.
"Well, isn't that interesting." Bibs commented. "No idea why, but that dragon decided to mark you."
"Well, that's rude." I said.
"You know what I mean, it was just rather sudden for a dragon to come out." Bibs said.
"I think it set the trees outside ablaze. It certainly smells that way. And I was meaning it was rude to do so without a conversation. Specially since that rather hurt." I said.
"Yes, it was rather rude of it to just drop in and give you powers without a conversation. It's very out of place." Bibs said.
"Do you feel any different? Can you tell what it did?" Gregor asked.
"Not really at the moment, but I can try and figure it out later." I said, adjusting my shirt to cover my collarbone. "Wonder where the hand axe went."
"We can look around for it, but it may also be where ever you were taken from." Gregor said.
"Mm. That's ok. I could just keep the dagger." I commented. "I was about two hours from town when it occurred. It was like a blanket of shadow surrounded and smothered me, and I woke in a cage."
"That sounds pleasantly unpleasant." Gregor said.
I shrugged and gave Gregor a hug, which he returned. Bibs and Tilton finished up their search, they uncovered the information of who was in charge of their operation and where it was based, which was an island so far North that it was nearer to an entirely different continent than our home was even majorally aware of.
In speaking of that, Bibs was the one to point out my suspicion was correct, we weren't on the continent we lived on. We were on the continent the slaver island was based on. In a jungle of all places. Their magic traps had made it super easy to abduct all kinds of people from all places even.
"It is concerning that their operations are so far spread. They must have a very strong magic wielder behind this." Bibs said.
That was certainly the consensus. "What steps should be taken, then, to resolve this?" I asked.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I didn't pack for an adventure today." Gregor said.
"Agreed, we would need to prepare." Bibs replied.
"Hold on now, you two. We have responsibilities now, we cant just run off to save the world again." Tilton protested.
"True enough. What do you think, Ashtar?" Gregor asked.
"I'm lacking, but I'll do what I can to stop this. Unlike you all, I don't have responsibilities outside of keeping myself alive and harassing you all." I replied. "But I also recognize I'm not a very capable solo person."
Gregor nodded. "Well, I'm going on a vacation, then."
"A vacation?" I asked. Surely he's not meaning that this would be a vacation for him?
"Yes, a vacation. Time to go relieve some stress on someone face." Gregor replied.
"Touch bit violent, huh?" I joked, flashing a smile.
"There's that smile." Gregor said with a soft voice, then stronger, "But yes. This organization kidnapped you. I am feeling a touch violent."
The process of sending the people back where they came from was going on. My cheeks turned bright at his words and I said, "Goodness. Maybe we should find you a good dummy."
"I've tried dummies before. Unfortunately, they tend to break." Gregor said.
"Mm. Maybe is I see that Leonin again, I'll ask if he uses dummies and where he gets them from." I replied.
"What Leonin did you meet?" He asked.
"That's an excellent question... I only talked to the little boy they carried. He was such a cute and well spoken baby, and knew me." I told him. "There were three Leonin and that boy. He knew Alexander, too. What did he say his name was..? The woman Leonin was Snow Den, Alexander's previous student.. I think he said his name was Isarial."
"Ah. You met the Hearthry's." He said.
I snorted and started laughing, "Is that their name? Oh my."
"I don't quite understand why you're laughing. Does their name mean something?" Gregor asked.
"Gods, yes." I breathed. "It's so cute. So a 'ry' is a little king. And a 'hearth' is where you put a fire to keep your home warm. So Hearthry would mean 'Little King's Home'. Isn't it cute? Acause they are lions with a little son?"
"That is funny. I don't think I'll bring it up to them, though, but it is funny." Gregor said.
"There is an alternate, though. A 'ry' as a thing and not a name was an animal pen when I was little." I grinned. "Which would make it, 'Home for animals'."
"Definitely not going to bring that one up. Dirthin already wants to fight me, and I'm not gonna give him a reason." Gregor said.
"Arguably, it's a good name." I said. "You could just keep a fight verbal, probably. Leonin used to generally like that, too."
"That would be his brother's department. Dirthin is a very physical fellow." Gregor told me.
"Feel better yet?" I asked.
"I suppose a little." He answered.
I poked his belly, and noticed the victims had all been sent home now. Once again, I thought of my axe, a tingle began in my shoulder, and I noticed something light up. Distracted by the light, I walked over to it. My axe was under a pillow. I picked it up, then returned.
"So, I guess the mark let's me find stuff? Acause it seemed like the axe lit up when I thought of it." I said.
"Well, that sounds handy and underwhelming." Gregor said.
I shrugged and said, "I don't mind acause I didn't ask for it."
"True. A free gift, I suppose." Gregor said.
"If everyone's done, let's gather round so I can take us home." Bibs said.
I was fine with that. We all joined Bibs, and he used a scroll to take us home. Tilton headed home once we'd returned. He had no intention of going anywhere else. Bibs and Kershka were going to Bibs' house to prepare to leave in the morning, and Gregor was going to the Guild to prepare things.
With the gates shut for the night, I couldn't fetch my bow and arrows. It wasn't quite done processing, but it was usable. I'd just have to take special care of it to keep it from snapping. Either way, I chose to follow Gregor. He didn't comment on it. Probably just focused on what tasks he needed to do to get ready.
I was thinking of getting a thin sheet of metal to reinforce my bow with, for melee instances, since using the bow as a melee weapon is an option. I was pulled out of my thoughts when Gregor opened up a door upstairs that wasn't his office and waved me in.
It was the first time I'd gone in his room. I hesitated briefly, but smiled and went inside. His room was actually decorated and comfortable. A bed, night table, and dresser. With a chest at the foot of the bed that contained gear. There were things to aid in meditation, and a few broken dummies.
I examined them briefly, identifying how he'd hit them to put them in that state. I noticed there were also things you could tell he prized. Probably trophies from past adventures. He was getting a bag ready, while I looked around.
"Are there any Iron Spiders or Drider around?" I asked.
"Drivers? I don't believe so, no. But there are a few Iron Spiders in the woods." He answered, still doing his task.
"Ok, I'll hunt some when we won't be busy." I said.
".. Why do you want them?" He asked.
"Acause their thread is sturdy. It doesn't tear like cloth." I pointed at the dummy. "This is just burlap that's triple coated. Their silk thread isn't strong enough for armor, but it's durable enough to hold Goliaths for some time. It may fair better, cause this is just stress ruptures in the cloth, not tears where you hit it. Except here." I pointed at a different one, "That looks like some knives were used."
"Ah, well.. that is because I am a shifter." He said. "I hadn't meant to hide it from you, I just simply.. don't talk about it."
"Ooh, neat. It's fine. Not like you've got some disease you'll pass me if you kiss me." I replied. "I won't speak of it."
"Thank you for your understanding." He said.
"I would only be upset if it was a year or two from now and you didn't tell me." I said. "Or if we decided to have a baby in the future and it shifted. Not that I'd mind much, but it'd hurt."
"I could understand that. It's why I decided to go ahead and tell you now." He replied.
I approached him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for trusting me."
"Thank you for not raising the pitchforks and torches." He said.
"Oh, I have nothing against shifters. Historically, they are a peaceful people who want to be left alone." I replied. "It's brave of you to tell me, because if I was a bad person, you'd have a lot to lose by doing so."
"If you were a bad person, you wouldn't be in my room." He said.
"I could be a bad person." I grinned. "I can be a sneaky and naughty person."
"Being sneaky and naughty doesn't make you a bad person. If it did, it would make both Tilton and Bibs bad people." Gregor said, reasonable again.
"Yes. That's true. But it helps." I replied. I started untying my hair, to tend to it. There were loose strands I wanted to tame. I sat on the very edge of his bed while doing so.
"Are you wanting to stay here tonight?" He asked.
"I hadn't really thought it through." I said, my face turning bright red.
"Allow me to officially invite you to stay the night." He replied.
I generally kept my hair in two braids, it was thick and had a tendency to curl if left alone, which I didn't like. They were both loose now, and with my face still red, I said, "Thank you, I'll accept the offer."
"You know.. You're gorgeous, right?" He asked suddenly.
"I'm not very pretty, I'm plain with brown hair and eyes. Even my skin isn't a pretty tone." I replied.
He moved closer to me, then cupped my chin. He said, "You are beautiful." Then he kissed me.
Surprised, I was slow to return his kiss. It was gentle and non demanding. I was almost disappointed when it ended. "I'm glad you think so."
"Would you like the bed to yourself, or not to yourself?" He asked.
I squirmed a little while thinking about it. I hadn't even sat in his lap, yet. That was even the first kiss we'd shared. Then again today.. "I've never shared a bed with someone before. Not only would I dislike to dislodge you from your own bed, but I also think I'd like to try it." I replied.
"Alright. Shall we have something to eat before bed? I believe we all missed our last meal." Gregor said.
"That would probably be a good idea." I said. "Sorry."
"For what?" He asked amused. "Cause you'd better not be apologizing for getting kidnapped."
"Sorry for missing dinner with you." I clarified, grinning. "I was quite disappointed when I'd noticed."
"Well, as it turned out, you hadn't missed it. It was just a little delayed." He said.
I smiled and petted his cheeks. Then gave him a tight hug. "You're really cute."
He returned the hug, lifting me easily from the bed. "So are you. Let's go eat."
We went and had a meal at the tavern like usual. I wasn't as chatty at though. But he didn't seem to mind. Once we finished, we returned to his room in the Guild. He pulled off his shirt and pants to get into bed, I cheekily stole the discarded shirt, and put it on, stripping off my damaged shirt and breeches below it. I grinned at him before getting into his bed.
"I'm glad that shirt was cleaned recently." He said.
I shrugged and said, "Even if it wasn't, I wouldn't mind. Just acause it's yours."
"You say that, but after a day of dealing with adventurers and training it can get pretty ripe." He said.
"Just sweat. D'you know how common it was to bathe three hundred years ago? Maybe once a month to a year." I told him. "And usually just one pair of clothes."
"That sounds like it must have been an interesting time to live." Gregor said.
"Tilton did his best to instill better bathing habits in me, but I really don't like my face getting wet, so I can't bear it more than a few times a week. Or if I stink. Like during the monthlies." I shuddered. "I hate the monthlies."
"I've heard they can be terrible." Gregor said.
I snuggled to him and smiled sleepily. "Mmhmm. This ok?"
"Yes, this is very comfortable. It has been a very long time since I shared a bed. I hope I don't kick in my sleep." Gregor said.
"I won't get upset." I mumbled, falling fast asleep.
I woke later than usual, finding that Gregor's shirt did not make a good nightshirt. It'd rode up completely while we'd slept. How did I know? I felt hot skin against my body. The shirt was bunched above my chest. My arms were tucked around the awake already Gregor as well.
"Good morning. How did you sleep?" He asked.
"Wiggly, apparently. But without dreams." I said, stretching a little and tried to right the shirt.
"Apparently my shirt is inadequate for night wear." He said.
"It's much roomier than I usually wear as I sleep." I noted. "I'm not accustomed to it." I sat up, which helped settle the shirt. I noticed I'd left my hair down and it was a mess. "Aw, man. I didn't fix my hair back."
"I'm sorry, I was unaware you wanted to have that fixed up. I could have reminded you." He commented.
"It's not on you. I try to keep my hair braided cause it gets wild if left loose. The knots take forever to manage." I said glumly. "Haah, I was too sleepy."
"Well, you did go through quite a bit yesterday. It's not unheard of to be tired after such an event." Gregor said, sitting up.
"... I was actually pretty scared.. specially when they were discussing using me since I was pretty." I confessed after turning away from him to stand up. I retrieved my discarded shirt and breeches.
He got up and pulled on his own pants and said, "Well, I'm glad we were able to reach you in time."
"I'm nearly positive I could have escaped again. Tilton taught me all kinds of ways to hurt men." I said.
"I swear he never wanted you to be anywhere near someone of the opposite sex." Gregor said.
"He and Bibs are both the opposite sex, though." I pointed out.
"Anyone of the opposite sex who may want to be in a relationship with you." He clarified.
I dressed in my own clothes and offered his shirt to him. "Did he give you grief?" I asked with a grin.
"He tried to, but as with most arguments he tries to get into with me, it ended with me saying 'I don't care about your opinion'." Gregor said.
"Mm. Was he mad?" I asked.
"I'm not sure if he was mad or.. just being extremely overprotective." He said.
I shrugged. "He's funny."
"I suppose he is. Ready to go get some breakfast?" He asked.
"Yup. Then I'll fetch my bow." I said.
"Alright. Let's just go downstairs. The cook usually has some breakfast ready by now." He said.
"Okies. Sounds good." I replied. "OH! WAIT!" I bounced at him, wrapped my arms around his neck, and snuggled him. "Good morning."
He wrapped his arms about my middle, and squeezed me. "Good morning. This is a fantastic way to wake up."
After he set me down, we headed downstairs to have breakfast. Clara was with her mother this morning, still right as rain. Gregor entered the Kitchen to request our meals.
"Did you have a nice night?" Krista asked.
"Yes and no. Got kidnapped yesterday and roughed up. And I need to get a proper brush now because my hair is a wreck. But I did sleep pretty soundly." I told her. I did my best to tame it into a bun for now.
"Who kidnapped you? And how'd you get away?" She asked.
"An organization of slavers working off an Island to the far North. I got away because they entered the cage to try to hurt me. But I went back to try to rescue the other captured people, which is when Bibs, Gregor, Kershka and Tilton arrived to bring me home." I told her.
"On an island to the North, huh? That's interesting." She said.
"We were on a different continent as well." I told her. "There were jungle trees, which I'd never seen before. They had vines growing off the branches. They had some kinda magic trap that sprang and teleported me all the way there. Come to think of it, I have no idea how they found me."
"Well, you could just ask. I'm sure they'd tell you." She said.
"Probably. We're gonna take care of that organization. Minus Tilton, but I can't blame him. He's always loved Dueling Rivers. For nearly four hundred years." I told her.
"I didn't know he'd been in this area for so long." She said.
"He liked it when it was a farming community." I said. "He was born on that Cresent Island."
"The one to the West? I don't think I've ever heard of anyone coming from there." She said.
I nodded. "Yes. The very one. He doesn't talk about it."
"I wonder why. Something may have happened on the island." She said.
I shrugged, then grinned as my face turned red, "Know what? Gregor said I'm beautiful."
"Well, you know what? He's right." Krista said.
I laughed, "You're gorgeous. I love your eyes and hair. Clara's, too."
We chatted until Gregor brought our breakfast. We ate together, and I chatted to him about random things. After breakfast, Gregor stayed to brief Krista on his absence, and I ran to fetch my bow and arrows. I stopped by Bibs' after that to fetch my spare clothes, but Bibs had them ready in a pack for me. Along with an item I'd not thought about; a quiver for my arrows.
"Well, you seem none the worse for wear for having been out and about all night." Bibs commented.
"I stayed with Gregor last night." I said.
"Ah. I was unaware you had advanced to that stage. I'm glad he was able to put you up for the night." Bibs replied.
"Which stage?" I asked.
"Where you're staying with each other. I'm sorry, did I misread that? Relationships are not my forte." Bibs said.
"I'm not sure myself." I said. "I followed him and he offered to let me sleep there and let me choose if it would be by myself or not."
"Well, what did you choose?" Bibs asked.
"To share. I couldn't kick him put of his own bed. It was actually really comfy since he's so warm. I fell right asleep." I told him.
"Well good. Good sleep is good for you." Bibs said.
"I trust him a lot because you and Tilton would have told me if he would hurt me." I said.
"Oh, for sure. He would not have been allowed anywhere near you if that was the case. Even though it's not, I'm sure Tilton still put him through the ringer." Bibs said.
"Gregor said he tried to. But it went the way it always does." I shrugged. My cheeks colored a little when I thought of him calling me beautiful and my first real kiss.
"You alright, you seem a little flushed." Bibs commented.
"Yup. I'm fine." I smiled brightly. "Just happy acause I was called beautiful."
"Ah, alright then. I'm assuming you two got your preparations taken care of." Bibs said.
"He packed. He was finishing up, and I fetched my bow. See?" I strung it, and pulled it back without knocking an arrow to show it's flexible, yet taut quality. It's draw had some serious heft to it, which was only easy due to muscle memory.
"That's a nice quality bow you made. Glad you remembered how. Tilton would have your hide." Bibs said.
"I might've made it a little weighty to draw." I replied, easing the bowstring back to a neutral position and unstringing it. "But that just means it can penetrate plate armor with the right arrow."
"Indeed. Which may be helpful with what we're off to do." Bibs said.
"Mhm. Oh, right. I'm gonna go buy a proper hairbrush. I left it down and it's a mess now. Be right back." I told him.
"Alright, we'll see you in just a little while." Bibs said.
I ran off to the square and purchased a good brush along with a night dress. There was a lovely dress that caught my eye, I wasn't gonna get it, but was convinced to pretty easily. I made sure to get some oil for my bow and string, really that was all I'd need. Bibs had thoughtfully packed the rest for me. I packed away my purchases into the bag and returned to Bibs'. Gregor had arrived just before I returned. With that, we were all ready to go.
"Alright, everyone. Are we ready to go back and see what we can do about this?" Bibs asked.