She spoke with a detached voice, as if it didn't concern her.
'I was born in a cabin built by both my father and mother.
My father had been exiled from the Elvish Glade he had been living in because of his love towards my mother.
But I never met her, I was told she left us before I could speak.
Ironic, isn't it? Leave your coutry, family and friends for love, just to be left alone.
Anyway, I grew up knowing only my father, and the forest around us. It was a small cabin, but we had all we needed.
From time to time we would visit a small village to trade pelts and meat for tools, but even then I would avoid other people.
It was a boring life, looking back into it, but it's all I knew at the times, and my father taught me all I neede to know.
We lived like that for many years, until I was old enough to be considered an adult, when I started questioning my father's decisions.
He kept avoiding my questions, refusing to respond most of the time, until one day I was fed up, and I left without a word.
In the end, I never got to know who my mother was, or why she left us, and I intended to find answers.
Young and inexperienced as I was, I traveled the region, living off the land, and trading away what I couldn't carry with me.
It didn't take long until I got caught up in a mess: I foolishly accepted a request to kill a monster, sure to be unbeatable, but it was too much.
In the end I got saved by a group of adventurers passing by, who then asked me to join their ranks, and we ended up creating the "Wandering Bunch", with which I travelled for five years, but never once did I find any information and... I guess I just moved on, forgetting it altogether.
We had some adventures, and I learned a lot from them.
They even taught me some magic, told me I had a knack for it.
Can you imagine it? Me, with long robes, glasses and a book on each hand... well, maybe the books, sure.
The rest is fairly boring: in the end we were defeated and I found myself trapped in a castle. What comes after, you already know'
'Is that it? I feel like you're skipping some things'
'You're imagining things. Unless you want to know all the names of people long dead'
'Some might still be alive, like your fa-'
'Would you look at that, we've arrived! Time sure flies when you're having fun'
She was, infuriatingly enough, correct, and we were late already; all I could do was to save my questions for later.
Many details were skipped, and while names were probably useless information, as she claimed, I had some doubts on some details. And her father might still be alive, judging by her story, she could be no older than two centuries, in such a lenght of time empires can rise and fall, but elves barely age.
She led the way, rushing to meet Neenie - and making sure I had no way of further pressuring her -, who was waiting us in front of the Council Hall, the steps of the structure elevating him just above the crowd.
'There you are! I thought you left me alone to face the council...'
'I would never be so heartless'
'For some reason, I find that hard to belive, Sasha. Good morning Neenie, I hope we didn't make you wait too much'
'Don't worry. But let's go in now that you've arrived'
'Before that, can I see the orb? Yesterday I was sure it had stopped glowing out of the catacombs, but it became bright again once we reached the barracks, is it possible there are undead here as well?'
'I... Well, noticed it glowed when provided with magic, so I poured some for... Emphasis?'
He was getting embarassed, having to reveal his little trick, as Sasha snickered.
'But don't worry, the orb has been still, I made sure of it'
He continued, walking towards the entrance
'Name and reason of visit'
'I'm Neenie Quickfoot, with me are Tarkus and Sasha'
'Do you have an appointment?'
'Yes'
'Hm, let me check inside, please wait for a moment'
The guard that spoke, thankfully different from the one I spoke the night before, calmly went inside, leaving us alone with the other guard who had still to say a single word.
After a few tense minutes, the guard returned
'Seems everything is in order, please proceed. Jon, show them the way'
The silent guard showed us in, escorting us through the Hall, all without saying anything.
From the outside, the Council Hall had been an impressive structure, finely detailed, but it was inside that it displayed its true splendor: paintings, busts, relics and other works of art adorned the hallways; even the roof was painted in scenes recalling the founding of the city.
Our giude, for a lack of a better term, brought us to a door at the end of the corridor, directly opposite to the entrance. It was a majestic and massive door, four meters high at least.
He knocked, and shortly after, a voice responded
'Come in'
We entered a large room with a large table in the middle, taking the most of the room, U shaped, made of marble and adorned with gold.
Six figures were sitting on the table, on our right, three halflings, on the right three dwarves. A seventh chair, the most impressive of them all in the middle of the bend, had been left empty.
We approached the center of the room, following Neenie's lead, who I assumed had some knowledge of the procedures to follow.
'Neenie Quickfoot and two adventurers, is that right?'
The dwarf closest to the bend began speaking
'Their names are-'
Neenie tried adding
'Unnecessary. Now, let's hear it from you'
'If I may...'
The guard nervously explained what had happened, trying to reconstruct the parts of the story he couldn't have witnessed with what we had told him beforehand
The council was silent from the most part, stopping the halfling from time to time to ask a question.
I tried my best to remain silent, but couldn't help but correct Neenie on a few occasions, which resulted in me getting glared by the same dwarf.
Sasha, on the other hand, looked like she had no care in the world, and kept observing the various works of art that adorned the room.
When Neenie reached the end of the story, it left the council mostly silent, just a few whispers were exchanged.
'Let us get this straight'
Said an halfling on the right
'You violated a private property to investigate a matter that should have been left to the guards, and upon finding an unknown situation, you inform the clerics, of all people, before entering the place once more to destroy a national treasure? That seems highly inappropriate'
Neenie became white as a ghost, while I could feel my anger rising, and had to speak up
'Am I to understand that you knew of what was happening under the graveyard?'
'That would be correct, it was a gift from a passing mage, Cullis was her name, if I recall correctly'
Responded one
'Nadia Cullis was the name, the one who gracefully gifted us with that very orb without asking for payement twenty-three years ago'
Corrected another
'An orb that protected our city from monsters, a protection we were thankful of, and that is now gone, thanks to you three'
Ended the dwarf who first spoke
'That very orb was ammassing an army and digging some ruins under your noses! It would have been a matter of time'
'You say that based off what? Superstition and guesswork. We had over twenty years to test its effects'
'And if it was truly creating an army, as you say, a few dozens skeletons in twenty years seems like a pitiful number'
The halfling closest to the bend spoke up for the first time, rising from his seat
'For your crimes, I hereby sentence you to a lifetime of prison, may you reflect on your mistakes there. Any in favor?'
The whole room resounded with "Aye"
My heart sank, as the same halfling continued
'It is decided, the three of you will serve in our prison-mines for the rest of your lives, guards, if you may'
Four guards appeared from hidden nooks on the side of the door
Neenie feel to his knees, unable to speak nor move, and I too was too shocked to act.
Sasha, instead, didn't take too kindly the sentence, producing a knife from her clothes, and jumping on the table with an impressive leap, landing in front of the unimpressed halfling.
In all response, the council member said a single word in a language I could not understand, and crushed a button on his expensive-looking surcoat, which suddently started glowing a bluish hue; from his hand expanded a shockwave that threw Sasha across the room, smashing her against the archway at the entrance. She fell to the ground and remained there, motionless, in a pool of her own blood.
'Seems like she choose death instead. Unless you want to follow her, I suggest you stay put'
He turned away and exited the room through a door opposite to the one we entered with, followed by the other council members.
I was surrounded by guards, who roughly put manacles on me, before shoving me towards the exit.
As we exited, Sasha moved, barely gripping her knife scaring a guard next to her, who screamed
'This one's still alive!'
'Then capture her too'
The two of us were escorted in our cell, Neenie was apparently brought to another one, and we were stripped of most of our possessions, leaving us with our clothes only.
Once the guards had left us, promising our forced labor to start on the day after, I looked at Sasha, still dazed from recent events
'I thought you...'
'Died? Nah, that council person's a mediocre mage, even by destroying a power stone he wasn't able to'
'But...'
'The blood wasn't for show, it was a powerful blow, but I have - well, had - a Ring of Regeneration, a nifty little thing that... well, I'll spare you the details, just know it was an incredibly powerful healing item, and expensive too, one of the few mementos I have from my times as an adventurer'
She sighed at last
'But I must admit, my plan isn't going as well as I intended, I guess I owe you an apology'
'I... I'm just glad you survived'
'You and me both. But I think it's time we formed a new plan'
'What?'
'It's not the first time we escape a prison, isn't it?'
'This is different, it's a proper prison this time around, with guards doing rounds and-'
'Exactly, which makes it all the more exciting! If you think it's my first time, you're mistaken; adventurers often get on the bad side of the law, even if we act for the greater good'
She then thought it over a bit before adding
'Not that I know what this "Greater Good" even is'
The way she spoke and the glint in her eyes woke me up from my stupor
'Ah, hells, I hope the Gods won't judge me too harshly for this'