"She was lucky." Elysia commented dryly.
"No need to scoff, miss. We went to the Circle of Stones and found all kinds of traces in the disturbed earth, including the tracks of humans, beasts and cloven-hoofed demons, and a disembowelled calf on the altar."
"Cleft-hoofed demons?" Frey asked, and Elysia didn't like the look of interest in her eyes.
The pedlar nodded.
"I would not venture to the Circle of Stones tonight." he replied "not for all the gold of the Kingdom."
"It would be a suitable quest for a hero." declared Frey while giving Elysia a meaningful look, who felt shocked and flustered.
"Surely you don't mean that..."
"What better mission for a hero than to face those demons on his holy night? It would be a magnificent death."
"It would be a stupid death." Elysia muttered.
"What have you said?"
"Nothing."
"You'll come with me, won't you?" Frey said in a threatening tone as he absentmindedly placed his hand on the hilt of the sword.
"A promise is a promise". he replied, at the same time that he nodded.
Frey slapped her back so hard that Elysia thought she had cracked her ribs.
"Sometimes, cat girl, I think you have hero blood running through your veins, perhaps one of your ancestors was a brave warrior." He plodded back to her beer.
"Of course". Elysia answered as she gave him a tired look.
Elysia rummaged through her luggage to pull out the mail shirt she had bought before leaving the city of Rivereim, and she noticed the innkeeper, his wife, and the peddlers all staring at her in amazement. Frey sat near the fire; as he drank beer, he mumbled something in a language he didn't know; he looked like he was talking to someone.
"You're not really going to accompany him, are you?" the fat pedlar whispered, and Elysia nodded.
"Why?"
"Because he saved my life. I owe him a debt." Elysia believed that it was better not to mention the circumstances in which Frey had saved her.
"I Saved the catgirl from some ratfolks who intended to invade Riverheim and then prevented her from being taken away by agents sent by a noble house of the Empire." Frey yelled, and Elysia nodded bitterly.
"Frey has the hearing of a wild beast, and also the brain." she thought to herself as she continued to pull out the mail shirt.
"Yes. The cat girl believed that after the chains of slavery she could be free in this place. She didn't know that they would surely hunt her down to get her back even when she is in a different country."
The pedlars were beginning to back away.
"A runaway slave." Elysia heard her say one of them quietly, and she felt herself blush. "Why does she call you cat girl?"
Elysia removed her hood covering her head and removed her cloak to put on her mail shirt, revealing her adorable cat ears, her exotic feline eyes, and revealing her curious tail. .
"She is not human. I heard that there is a reward for the eradication of any beastmen." commented the peddler. "And I'm sure there's a hefty reward for returning a slave to her rightful owner."
"Yes, you are right on both counts, I have a bounty for not being human and another for my capture." Elysia commented as she fixed her gaze on the peddler. "The personal agents of a senator from the Empire were no match for my companion's sword. What carnage! There were heads, legs and arms everywhere. he ended up on a pile of corpses. When it was all over, the city guards didn't say anything and simply stepped aside. The adventurer's guild didn't even sanction it."
The fat pedlar looked at his companions, then at Frey, then at Elysia, and back at the former.
"A sensible man stays away from anything he has to do with nobles." he told the man that he had spoken of the reward, and he immediately fixed his eyes on Elysia. "Of course, I don't mean to offend you."
"I am not offended," Elysia replied. "You are absolutely right in the world. I am a runaway slave and a half beastman hybrid."
"Runaway slave or not." said the old woman. "May the gods bless you if you bring back my little Gunter."
"He is not small, Lisi". the innkeeper intervened. "He is a robust young man. Still, I hope to see my son back. I am old, and I need it to chop wood, shoe horses, lift barrels and…"
"I am touched by such fatherly concerns." Elysia interrupted him while adjusting some long leather gloves which reached her elbow.
Frey stood up and looked at her. Then I place and fasten his helmet on his head, then hit his chest with an armored hand.
"Light armor is for the effeminate, and elves." declared Frey "If you want real protection, you need plate armor."
"Perhaps it is better for me to wear this kind of armor, Frey. I don't think I have enough strength to move easily in such heavy armor."
"You're kind of right, cat girl." Frey turned and looked directly at the innkeeper. "How will we find the Circle of Stones?"
Elysia felt her mouth go dry, and she fought to keep her hands from shaking.
"There is a trail that leads off the road. I will take you to the point where it begins."
"Good". Frei replied. "This is too good an opportunity to pass up. It's not every night you get a chance to fight demons."
"Come on, cat girl, let's go." Frey decided, and started toward the door.
Elysia picked up her backpack, and when she reached the entrance, the old woman stopped her and put something in her hand.
"Please, miss" she told him. "Take this. It is a father's amulet. My little Gunter wears one just like this one."
"And a lot of good it has done him." Elysia almost answered, but the expression on her woman's face made her hold back. In her face, there was fear, worry and, perhaps, hope, which moved her.
"I will do everything possible." It was the only thing Elysia said before she left the place.
Outside, the sky was brilliantly lit by the silvery light of the moon. Elysia opened her hand and saw that it was a small iron triangle hanging from a chain of fine links, it was the symbol of the cult of the Triumvirate. She shrugged and hung it around her neck; Since Frey and the old man were already advancing down the road, she had to run a short distance to catch up with them.
♦ ♦ ♦
"What do you think these marks on the ground are, catgirl?" Frey asked at the same time as he bowed to the ground. Before them, the path continued into the forest.
Elysia stood at the edge of the path, and she hoped the innkeeper had returned home safely.
"Footprints". she said she. "heading west."
"Very well, Cat Girl. They are carriage tracks and they enter by the path that goes to the Circle of Stones."
"The black carriage?" Elysia asked.
"I hope so. What a glorious night! It is the answer to the prayers of anyone who calls himself a true warrior: a chance to possibly fight a worthy opponent and get revenge on that pig that nearly crushed me."
Frey let out a merry high-pitched laugh worthy of a maniac who enjoyed battles, but Elysia could tell that while Frey was excited, he wasn't calm. He seemed tense, as if he suspected that her death hour was approaching and that he would not deal with her well. He was curiously talkative.
"A carriage? Is the Sect made up of nobles? Frey, do you think the Kingdom is in such a decadent state?"
Frey shook his head.
"I do not know. I could have a noble as a leader. Members are likely to be local people. They say that corruption is deeply rooted in these remote places."
Elysia shook her head, looking dismayed.
"But make no mistake, cat girl. The madness of this country makes me want to throw up. That this nation is so corrupt that its own rulers can sell themselves to the Powers of the dark gods or dark lords, it is a terrible thing."
Frey gave a low, furious growl and spat on the ground, and Elysia tightened her grip on the hilt of the sword as she wondered how much killing intent she was capable of unleashing without needing to be in a real combat situation.
"You're right". Elysia answered with a soft and cold voice. "Like this country, the empire also has laws against corruption and dark god sects. But unlike the Kingdom, the empire has the Inquisition; With its agents, the inquisitors, the Inquisition sees to it that the laws of the Empire are enforced."
"Elysia. You don't get it," Frey affirmed, shaking his head. "The humans of these nations are soft and decadent people, who live far from war. They do not understand the terrible things that gnaw at the roots of the world and seek to undermine us all. Inquisitors? Ha!" Frey spat on the ground. "Laws! There is only one way to deal with the threat of the dark gods." He concluded as he rested his great sword, Lævateinn, on his shoulders and began to walk towards the depths of the forest.