Sheira didn't know what happened one moment she was watching her guards fight against the ambushers and the next moment she was knocked out and woke up in the bandit camp tied up in a small cage located in a damp cave.
The cave was illuminated with multiple torches, with some already going out, which made her sure that she was there for multiple hours at least.
All of the protective items were stripped from her and her dress was gone, her mouth was gagged by a piece of cloth and her arms and legs were chained to the cage with her barely not being able to move, all her captors gave her was what she could assume human peasant clothes, they were ragged and dirty, and worst of all they made her itch all over, and what she found even worse than on this coarse wooden floor they didn't even give her shoes but instead let her suffer the splinters in her feet.
As Sheira struggled to try and break free, she wondered what happened to Azure and the rest of her guards, but she didn't want to think about it, if she was here that meant her friend was dead.
Grief overcame her as tears flowed down her face, and yet due to the restricting chains she couldn't move much, her tears hit the wooden floor of the cage.
As she was moving her limbs as much as she could trying to find a way to escape she noticed something on her palm, she turned it and saw a small scar in the shape of the wing.
She didn't know what that mark meant and why was she branded like this but the only thing that she could assume was that someone captured her as a slave.
She wondered why someone would go through so much trouble just for her, and yet deep within herself she knew, they just wanted her blood.
But she didn't recognize this mark, her father made sure to teach her all of the slave owner insignias in case she needed to stay clear of them, and yet this one was unknown to her.
Sheira didn't know how long she was captive but it certainly felt as if it was forever.
She was not allowed to grieve the loss of her dear friend for long before she heard footsteps coming closer and closer to her cage.
She noticed 3 men approaching her, she could make out that they were talking about something but she couldn't hear what, but she did not care much.
What occupied her mind most right now was her friend's death and what seemed like her dark future, she expected to become cattle for some rich noble who would exploit her blood for his benefit, and Sheira was sure no noble would ever stop at just that.
She shuddered at what these people had in store for her, she didn't want to think about it and yet that was all that went through her head.
She closed her legs as much as she could as she shut her eyes in anticipation, all she hoped for was that these people finish quickly as she knew what would happen to the captured elves even if they were to be sold.
But her worries didn't come true as 3 men stopped right in front of the cage, the middle man carried a cane and was dressed in very expensive clothes, he looked like he was in his 60s and he was quite skinny and seemed he could barely walk without his cane, while 2 men that stood on his sides were hooded in the same way as the attackers were.
She relaxed a bit but still kept her private parts as hidden as she could before the middle man turned to the man on his left and spoke.
"Master will be quite pleased with your work, he has spent so many years trying to obtain this kind of specimen" The way the man looked at her made her disgusted, he looked at her like she was just an item to be traded.
Man tapped his cane on the ground before turning to the two men "You two get out of here, I would like a moment alone with this specimen" he turned back to Sheira as he wickedly grinned
"My master has already sent a carriage with a reward to your headquarters, go and arrange transport for this specimen to the City of Razul," he said as he placed his hand on the cage.
Two men bowed before disappearing leaving the infirm man alone with Sheira.
Sheira watched in fear as the man stroked the metal bars of the cage as he gazed at her, in his eyes she could make out… arousal.
The man dropped his cane as he held it to the bars of the cage he pressed his face between the bars as he stared at her before whispering "You are beautiful, it's a shame you were the only one we were able to procure"
He shook his head before continuing" But even if it's just one of your kind, you were worth every single crown master had to give for you, we have so many experiments in store for you, I'm sure we could at least make couple hybrids with your unique properties with enough experiments"
He cackled like a lunatic before catching himself and coughing into his hand.
"Anyway, your new home is already waiting for you" he held onto the cage with one hand while grabbing his cane with the other.
Sheira just couldn't deny it to herself anymore, she was truly going to become someone's slave, and once again like any time before, she was helpless.
She wanted to scream and yet the gag in her mouth prevented her, the man kept circling the cage staring at her with a creepy expression, like he just found a precious new enchantment ingredient.
Multiple times he even pushed the cane through bars and poked her just to enjoy her discomfort, she squirmed as much as she could but she couldn't escape, she was truly helpless and nobody would save her.
After what seemed to be hours of torment the man seemed to get bored and slowly walked out of the cave leaving Sheira alone once again.
He was quite worried about what happened after he left his fighters to deliver the princess, in one moment they executed the ambush flawlessly and then one of the defenders turned into a monster.
He pulled back his hood and mask allowing himself to breathe some fresh air after all this time, as he removed his hood and mask he revealed a face that was full of old battle scars, with one of his eyes blinded.
Some of those idiots even said it was an Argus, but if that was true then none of them would make it back.
He trusted them with his life but they were surely mistaken, it was true that they lost some of their best fighters to a monster but it could have been something else, especially with them being able to escape.
It could have been a Basilisk, or even a Gryffin, while these monsters were capable of killing some of his men they still wouldn't instill so much terror.
There weren't many monsters that could kill even one of his fighters and here it killed multiple and traumatised rest.
It was a terrible loss for him, but the reward they earned will cover it, after all for him every life has a price.
500,000 crowns will make sure that they never will have to risk their lives ever again.
And yet he couldn't take his mind off the monster that managed to kill his fighters, if it was truly an Argus they should have run as fast as possible and delivered the princess to his client in the shortest time they could.
For many monsters, he was confident in his ability to defeat them, including some lesser dragons, but against an Argus his confidence was thin.
The observer his client sent had already gone into the holding area to check on the princess, he was there for hours.
He didn't know what he was doing down there for so long, but as long as his master paid up it would be fine.
The observer asked two of the guards he assigned to him to leave him alone with the elf princess, but thankfully he confirmed that their reward was already on the way.
All they had to do was deliver the princess to the city of Razul.
He didn't want to waste time, so while his men were preparing to rest for the night he decided to scout nearby woods.
Even if the forest was pitch dark it wouldn't matter to him as he could still see as it was mid-day.
He wanted to make sure that the monster that attacked his men wouldn't sneak up on them.
But there was nothing, no monster in sight, all he could see were wild animals.
"Nothing suspicious," he said as he rubbed his chin, lack of monsters was normal as the Ebon Forest was very scarce with mana, which made the creation of greater monsters impossible.
And yet that just makes the question of what killed his men even more confusing.
He thought for what seemed to be forever before coming to a conclusion "Shit, a Blessed Child".
That was the only thing that would make sense to him, if the enemy had a blessed child it would certainly be possible for defenders to fight them back, as most blessed children have great blessings bestowed upon them by their gods.
But that didn't answer all of his questions, If the enemy had a blessed child why were they allowed to kill so many defenders?
Why were they able to snatch the princess from the blessed child's hands, the more he thought about it more confused he became.
Perhaps the blessed child awoke right then, but that also was unheard of, as all blessed children had their blessings awakened by the age of 5 no matter the race.
Another point was that he never heard of the blessed child being able to turn in the monster.
This situation was unprecedented, it just wasn't possible.
It wasn't possible and yet it happened, and that was what worried him the most, The Impossible happened, and the perfect plan was almost ruined.
Luckily, they still had the princess, and their crowns would be delivered and given to them once the princess was in his client's hands.
He still didn't know what his client wanted with her, and it wasn't his place to ask that, he would be paid and he would finish his job, that was all there was for him.
He gave the dark forest one final scan before rushing back to the camp, they had to prepare transport and get the princess to Razul before the next day.
They still had a couple of hours before sunset, but he didn't want to risk the blessed child finding them.
He decided he would prepare the horses and deliver the princess personally with some of his men acting as guardians.
He couldn't afford to fail this job, he already lost too many men, if he had to leave some acting as decoys so that they could fulfill this job so be it.
As he arrived in the camp he walked slowly towards his tent before being stopped by the observer.
Observer tapped his cane to get his attention "Excellent job Golden Fang, you truly live up to your reputation"
He coughed before continuing speaking "I checked on the specimen, and It was completely untouched and in great condition, my master will surely be pleased."
He wasn't sure why this man kept referring to the elf as a specimen, but he didn't care, Golden Fang had more important issues to take care of, such as transporting the princess before she was found by the blessed child.
Golden Fang bowed before the infirm man before speaking "You honor me, any job we take on will be carried out perfectly."
Observer tapped his cane before answering "And you proved so, I hope the specimen will be delivered soon."
Golden Fang nodded "Yes, I was just on my way to prepare transportation for the prisoner"
Observer smiled "Excellent, I will be traveling with you to make sure the pecimen is delivered, please don't let me distract you"
Before Golden Fang could even answer him the man disappeared from his sight.
Such an infirm man just disappearing like this from his sight was worrying, but everyone had their secrets, and it was not his place to ask questions.
He went into his tent and started preparing transportation plans.