"Hunting a witch? You?" Naya didn't believe it. Witches, as detestable as they were, could have similar power to an Elf. They weren't something a mere group of humans and a single dwarf could take on.
The disbelief showed in her doubtful expression.
Lie chortled at Naya's blunt manner of speaking. --You gotta learn to be more subtle. --
If Lyra was offended, she didn't show it, "It is our responsibility to..." she seemed reluctant to say the next part, "...protect our people."
"If I may, Madam Elf," Matthew interrupted, "It was my idea; I was sure, I am sure, that we could handle it."
Naya sized the group up.
She can't tell what sort of powers they have; she was told that the lesser races are quite weak. Alyssa might be strong if her understanding of what a beastkin meant was accurate, but she doubted any of the people here could take on a witch, even if they all worked together.
"You would all die."
--Crude, but correct. These guys are way too naive.--
While Alyssa smirked at the remark, Lyra and Thrain looked as though they had swallowed a bug.
"Listen 'ere missy-" Thrain started.
Matthew cleared his throat loudly and stepped forward in front of Lyra, "I understand your worry, Madam Elf, but my companions and I are well prepared to fight a witch." He tapped his sword handle as if to accentuate his point.
--Not very smart, this guy.--
Naya shook her head, "You would-" an idea suddenly struck her, and she stopped speaking, a light smirk forming on her face.
--Bold, I like it!--
Naya looked over each party member until her eyes met with Matthews, who Naya assumed was the leader, "You all will fight me." She commanded.
Alyssa snickered as she tried holding back a laugh. Lyra's eyes opened in shock, Thrain smirked, and it was Matthew's turn to look like he swallowed a bug.
Matthew bowed, "Madam Elf, forgive-"
"Stop referring to me like that; my name is Naya." Though she didn't want to give her name, it was not like it was her full name, and Madam Elf was quickly getting even more grating, especially with the way he said it.
"I apologize, Miss Naya." Matthew's bow somehow got deeper.
He finally straightened himself up and looked into Naya's eyes, "We are far too inadequate to fight an-" he cleared his throat, "Someone of your caliber."
"Rubbish, I'll fight!" Thrain pulled out his large silver hammer and rested it on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, brother, but I agree with Thrain." She obviously didn't like being made light of.
--Haha, these guys aren't used to being treated so poorly. It seems like only Matthew knows how stupid fighting an Elf is.--
Naya felt dissatisfied. [Elf this, Elf that; I am plenty strong without my people tied into it.]
Lia giggled.-- I almost forgot how prideful you guys are. Oh well, you're right, my bad.--
Naya nodded.
Matthew saw her nod and assumed she agreed with Thrain and Lyra. He sighed, and then his face lit up, "Miss Elf, how about you fight Alyssa over here? That should be enough to gauge our strength... Please."
He had a pleading look in his eyes.
Naya was about to reject, but. --Accept it; Alyssa is probably the strongest one here anyway, just based on her race. --
If Lia could shrug, she probably would have.
Then, a disturbing thought struck Naya. [Wait, can you control my body?]
--Hehehe. --Lia answered with only a snicker.
Naya shivered but decided not to pursue that avenue of questioning lest she hear an answer she wouldn't like.
Alyssa glared at Matthew, but it quickly became a large smile as she turned to Naya. She seemed upset that she had been volunteered to fight but also excited at the prospect of doing it.
"I don't know why they're afraid of you, but I'm not! I'll gladly see what you got!"
"I'm not scared," Thrain muttered, but he put away his hammer with a dejected sigh. Clearly, he wanted to fight as well.
--I get it. Matthew wants you to easily beat Alyssa so the other 2 erase their ideas of challenging you.--
Naya pulled on her Arcana; she had enough remaining to use a few simple skills. [If you say so, I want to leave anyway. More important things to deal with. ]
--Interrogating a human! Don't forget!--
[Yes. ]Though Naya struggled to still care after having to deal with this group, she reminded herself that lying to her shouldn't go unpunished.
Alyssa stepped forward, her hood still off her head but still wearing a black cloak around her body. Naya could see movement from behind it. [Don't tell me she also has-]
--Yup, a tail. Pretty cute, ain't it?--
Naya stared at Alyssa's tail for a bit too long because Alyssa noticed and scowled at her, "What, you allergic to beastkin too?" as she spoke, her tail stopped moving.
Naya's ears twitched, and she brought her gaze to Alyssa's eyes, "It is of no concern." she shook her head slightly.
--Interesting.--
Alyssa raised her arms, showcasing her pale hands that ended in sharp, red nails.
[Is she going to physically fight me? How ridiculous. I won't need Arcana for this.]
--You want them to know how high above them you are. --Lia chuckled mischievously.
[Yes.]
"Ready?" Alyssa asked.
Naya nodded, "Start." but Naya didn't make any movements, leaving her arms at her side and not even taking a fighting pose.
Alyssa emitted a low growl, "You're making fun of me?"
Naya didn't respond and just stared at Alyssa.
"Fine!" Alyssa suddenly rushed forward.
She reached Naya instantly, her hand slashing downward with her sharp claws, leaving a red trail in the air.
[She's fast. ]
Naya snapped her hand up and grabbed Alyssa's wrist tightly. Even when she grabbed it, she felt the force of the blow, and her arm caved downward a little before she flexed her muscles to hold Alyssa still.
Naya's eyes opened slightly wider.[ Strong too.]
Her shock was only minor compared to the look on Alyssa's face. Her mouth was agape, her eyes widened as she struggled to pull her hand out of Naya's grip.
Alyssa brought her other arm down, slashing with a much higher force at the hand Naya used to hold her other arm.
Yet in a flash of purple, Naya had gripped her other hand just as easily, with her arm only sinking slightly before stabilizing.
Alyssa now had both arms anchored in front of her, unable to move either of them even an inch in Naya's herculean grip.
Naya glanced down to see Alyssa's leg twitch, but it didn't move.
She wanted to use her legs, but she likely knew what could happen if she did that. Her face twisted in horror as she was so quickly subdued, left with no option but to wait for what Naya intended to do with her.
While Alyssa struggled, Naya only considered how to best humiliate the beastkin. Should she break an arm? [But I hate the sound of bone snapping.]
Lia had brought up a good point earlier; the other two in Matthew's group had silly ideas they could match her in combat, and she should obliterate that idea entirely.
--Hey, don't pin that idea on me! I only speak your thoughts out loud!--
The other three watched in complete shock as Alyssa continued trying to pull her arm out of Naya's grip. Thrain face was grave as he watched the purple lines on Naya's hand. Lyra was shocked, and Matthew smiled as if he had predicted this.
While Naya was fighting, Lia was watching them. --I was right; Alyssa is the strongest in the group. They totally gave up on challenging you with just this much!--
Alyssa watched as Naya's arm didn't shake despite how much force she was using to pull her arm away.
Lyra looked at Alyssa, "Alyssa, use-"
Matthew interrupted, "No. She can't; you know that."
Lyra harrumphed but nodded still.
[What are they talking about?]
--Dunno, probably some kind of racial ability. Anyway, end this now. I'm bored.--
[Sorry to disappoint.]
Naya raised Alyssa's arms without resistance, much to the wolf girl's horror. When she had them raised as high as she could go, a thought struck Naya.[ I am taller than everybody here.]
--Duh. You're an Elf; you're naturally tall... --
[I suppose. ]Naya stood around 6 feet and easily had Alyssa's arms raised above her head. [I have an idea.]
--Devious.--
Naya swung her leg quickly at Alyssa's feet, catching her off guard and causing her to fall over. However, Naya holding her arms prevented that as she found herself hanging embarrassingly in the air. But only for a brief second.
Naya twisted her body around immediately after, swinging her arms as though wielding a greatsword. She threw Alyssa with as much force as possible behind her toward the witch's home.
Alyssa was unable to resist as she was launched at the house.
Along with a loud yelp, a boom filled the clearing as the entire front wall of the witch's house exploded when Alyssa's body slammed through it.
None of her companions made any move; they stared at the destruction in shock, unable to see past the kicked-up dirt and debris.
With another crash of wood, Alyssa launched out of a pile of wooden debris. Now, her face only showed terror. However, she didn't appear to have any obvious injuries besides those done to her pride. [Impressive body.]
--That's probably the first time she's ever been handled like that.--
Alyssa's face twisted into anger, "I'll show-"
"Alyssa, stay!" Lyra ran forward toward the broken house.
At that command, Alyssa suddenly clamped up and made no further movements; sweat poured down her face as she looked like she was resisting something.
--A contract...--
"What?!" Naya said aloud, to the shock of the group.
Lyra stopped in front of Alyssa and turned nervously at Naya, "She's not a slave!" She quickly explained, "It's just a contract to prevent her beast blood from going wild."
--Witch contracts are just one type of contract; don't worry.--
Naya hadn't heard of contracts outside of the ones made between witches and devils. It was a facet of magic she wasn't educated about. [What does it entail?]
--We'll discuss it later; they noticed her.--
Thrain walked forward, but his eyes were on the witch's body as he approached it with a grave expression still on his face.
Matthew also walked forward; his eyes were on the corpse but moved to Naya as he stopped before her again, "What a beautiful display, as expected of Miss Naya!"
Naya ignored him.
"Elf, did you kill this witch?" Thrain asked from his kneeling position in front of the corpse.
Naya turned her head back, "Yes."
Thrain's grave tone also brought Matthew's attention back to the witch's body.
"Miss Nay-"
"Shut up, boy," Thrain said. He got up and walked over to Naya.
"You-" Matthew flinched and stopped after seeing Thrain's commanding glare.
--Is the Dwarf is the leader of the bunch? How odd!--
[It doesn't matter, I want to go now.]
"Elf," Thrain stood before Naya, "Do you know which devil this witch was contracted with?"
"Of course not." Naya immediately said. She had no desire to find out either.
"What type of powers did she have?" Thrain asked desperately.
--It was a Krell, a shade devil. Tell him that.--
[You know about devils? Even their names... ]For some reason, that thought made Naya more suspicious of Lia than anything until now.
--Dummy, not everyone is as naive as you. I know way more than that, but let's leave it alone for now; tell him.--
[Naive? Ridiculous. I don't care for their names, you should know that. ]Naya thought for a moment, then nodded. [But fine.] She would question Lia but didn't want to ruin anything her mother had planned for now.
"It was... a Krell." Even saying the name felt gross.
"Oh." Thrain sighed, and his face looked dejected immediately after hearing the answer.
Naya didn't care as she looked up and noticed the sun beginning to go down, "I'm leaving now," Naya said.
Matthew was about to try and stop her, but a glare from Thrain silenced him. Still, he looked displeased.
"Wait!" However, Alyssa was the one to shout, "Come with us back to Albion!"
"No," Naya started walking away; she had already spent too much time talking to these people.
Naya continued walking into the forest; the group behind her didn't say anything else as they began to huddle and discuss with each other. If she wanted, she could listen, but she did not care.
She caught the start of Thrain's last sentence, "I hired-" before she stopped paying attention.
--Ugh, I feel like we're gonna see them again.--
[If they follow me, I will kill them. ]The way Matthew spoke to her grated her, Alyssa was far too disregarding, and it was odd to see how uncaring Thrain was of her. Naya didn't mind Lyra, though.
--Bleh, you only like her because you haven't met real nobles! Just you wait!--