Archives: Hunt for Kiran
Chapter 15: Searching Kanon
There had been little traffic on the road, and for awhile, they were able to track the paw prints. However, as they progressed southward, tracks from wolves or stray crossed the road as well, confusing the trail. Near evening, they reached an off-road at a sign for the village of Meale, obviously a rest stop for travelers. A glance at the ground revealed a few remaining dog tracks, though this road had seen more traffic, obscuring the tracks in the mud.
{“We should investigate this path,”} Adriel said and began down the road to the village.
“Yeah, probably,” Mica said automatically. He wasn’t really listening. His brain was addled from lack of sleep, getting beaten about the head in numerous bar fights and trying to wrack his brain to find out what the whore wanted of Kiran.
Tracking was the ever complicated, ever easily fallible method of finding someone. Yrsanne herself knew of it and could practice it, but she was by no means a master. Nothing was for certain when it came to imprints in loose earth.
The village ahead looked somewhat promising, considering their luck so far. If Adriel thought it wise, she saw no reason to disagree. “Let’s try to avoid outstaying our welcome this time.”
With all in agreement, Adriel continued down the path to Meale. As the three and a half dark elves entered the village, the reaction of the townspeople was less than pleasant. Many of the people in the town square scurried away into their homes, shutting the door behind them. A few men held their ground however, and brazenly approached the dark elves, placing themselves in their path.
“Please leave,” one man said sternly, arms crossed over his chest. “We don’t service dark elves here, no matter what yer friends might have told you.”
Our friends? Adriel thought. What could they mean by that? “We mean no harm, we are searching for a criminal amongst our people and we believe he may have come here,” Adriel said, using the same story he did in Shinning Hill. “Has a dark elven couple with a dog passed through your village since last night?”
The man dropped his stance slightly at what Adriel told him, reconsidering his position. “Err...yeah, they did,” he said.
Mica’s attention was caught by the response of the villagers. He’s been here. “Which way did he go?” Mica growled. His fists tensed as he took an imposing step towards them, eyes flaring with the hatred that fueled his body so far over the day. Teeth grit, he took another imposing step forward. “Tell me which way he went, and be absolutely damned sure about this. Any falsehoods spoken, and I’ll make sure you’ll have wished that you never crawled forth from your mother’s wombs.”
The village man tensed again as Mica made his demands. He even fearfully took a step back from the infuriated half-elf. “I don’t know, there’s only one road out of town, and you just came down it,” he replied. “If you want to know anymore, talk to the innkeeper. They stayed there last night. Maybe he knows more.”
“We’ll do that,” Mica said icily. “Show me the way to the inn,” he said, his voice a low growl. “Make it snappy, we’re losing daylight.”
“It’s right over there,” the village man said, pointing at the large building down the square.
Adriel understood Mica’s drive to find their father, but he was growing increasingly uncomfortable with his means. The villagers seemed more than ready to accept Adriel’s polite questioning, but Mica scared them for no reason, treating them as if they were the enemy.
“Thank you,” Adriel said, politely bowing his head to the villagers. The crowd parted, allowing the dark elves to pass through them.
Mica followed Adriel silently. With every ounce of his strength slowly being sapped away by being awake for so long, he had to keep angry or fall prey to his lack of sleep.
The dark elves came upon Meale’s inn and Adriel opened the door to step in, but as soon as the innkeeper saw him, the man bustled over to the front door, shouting; “Oh no ye don’t! I’m not taking any more dark elves in! Out with ye!”
“We’re only here to ask questions about the dark elves you took in last night,” Adriel replied, refusing to move.
“I’m done talkin’ about it! I already got a tongue lashin’ from the mayor, an’ I don’t need no darkies comin’ around and complaining about mistreatment of their heathen kind,” the innkeeper growled. Taking a hold of the door, he tried to shut it on Adriel, but the young dark elf held it open, locking his elbow.
“This is important. We must know everything you know about them,” Adriel said. Though judging by the innkeeper’s behavior, it seemed like now was the time for some of Mica’s trademark rudeness.
“OUT!” the innkeeper growled furiously.
Mica took a step forward and cracked his knuckles. “Alright, boy and girls, go wait outside. It’ll take a couple minutes for me to torture the information out of him and make sure I get the truth.” Mica stated, a cruel smile crawling over his lips. “First I think I’ll start by removing your fingernails...” Mica started. “Unless you suddenly think you can be more cooperative.”
The innkeeper suddenly shrank back as the imposing half-elf approached him threateningly. “A-a-alright...I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you!” he stammered, staggering back from the door. “Look, they came in the middle of the night, he said the lady was pregnant, and that they were going to Alania. I told ’em not to leave their room during meal times, but they went tramping out at the lunch hour.”
“Alania?” Mica yelled. “What the hell is in Alania? That’s bloody bullshit. There are no dark elf settlements in Alania, at least not that I know of.” The irritated half-elf jumped forward and grasped the innkeeper’s shirt. “Tell me where they went, asshole, or I’ll rip your heart out through your chest and stuff it down your throat for lying to me.”
The innkeeper threw up his arm to shield his face. “They didn’t say!” he cried.
“Mica!” Yrsanne hissed. It was out of the usual for her to reprimand, but she was getting quite tired of the brawler’s constant intimidations of every living being he laid eyes on. She said no more, but glared. All she asked was that they not overstay their welcome. Mica seemed intent on ensuring there was no welcome to overstay in the first place.
Mica released the man. “Tch. This place is useless,” the half-elf spat. “We’re losing daylight, he can’t have gotten too far from here with that dead-weight whore and her foul mutt with her.” Mica dug in his purse and flipped the innkeeper a few gold coins before leaving through the door before Adriel and the others.
Yrsanne glared after the bastard. Of course dark elves had a bad reputation, but Mica seemed quite determined to ruin all possibility of a decent discussion. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll kill him before he does any serious damage to anyone in this village,” Yrsanne said to the innkeeper, meaning it as an apology. She followed behind, but got into the habit of leaving her hand on the hilt of her blade and her eyes on Mica’s temper.
Ever since leaving Shinning Hill, Sythenra had been giving Mica wide berth. She almost resented Adriel for ordering her to go with Mica, but he wasn’t the one to blame. Mica was unpredictable at best, and simply volatile at worst. After Mica stormed off, Sythenra glared at his back, then leaned in toward Adriel. “I’m going to scout the area a bit and see if I can find any leads,” she said, then took the initiative and head out of the inn.
The dark elf ranger slipped back behind the inn, then cast an invisibility spell on herself. Out of sight, she breathed a sigh of relief and rested for a moment. At least this would give her a break from Mica while she did something useful. After she had relaxed and released some of the tension built up by Mica’s anger, she began to investigate the dog tracks.
Adriel didn’t get a chance to reply to Sythenra, but he had no complaints. After seeing how badly Mica terrified the innkeeper, he began to regret his wish earlier. At least this innkeeper might have a better opinion of dark elves than of his own kinsmen—if he believed Mica to be human. With a heavy sigh, he turned and followed behind Mica and Yrsanne, praying that Mica simply left the village peacefully.
Mica had left the village entirely and sat down along the road, back up against a tree. He was tired. Tired, frustrated and away from the naïve wife that had left him blue-balled for the past decade, Mica couldn’t think without the haze of anger clouding his judgment and vision. With an exhausted sigh he laid his head against the rough bark of the tree and closed his eyes, beginning to pray. “O’ Holy mother Marfa, forgive this sinful beast for straying from the path you set in front of him. I have failed to keep my temper in check, and as such have placed myself in harms way constantly. O’ Holy Mother, please allow me some reprieve from my own festering emotions...”
Adriel and Yrsanne left the village a distance after Mica, thankful that he had done no further harm. As the two dark elves reached the half-elf, Adriel looked to the road ahead. “Sythenra is scouting for a trail around the village,” he spoke, not looking at Mica. “We should continue south. She will find us.”
Mica was asleep by the time Adriel had left the village. Even as Adriel approached and spoke Mica didn’t rouse.
“Beasts are better kept asleep,” Yrsanne muttered. “The man who coined the phrase never counted on having to drag the thing everywhere they went.”
Adriel grunted in response to Yrsanne’s remark. “I suppose the fact that he did not sleep last night led to this...” he mused, then reached out and pushed on Mica’s shoulder. “Wake up!”
As soon as Yrsanne saw Adriel going to wake him up, she took a few steps back. Waking a beast was always trouble in proverbs...
Mica opened his eyes sleepily. “Yeah, I’m up,” he mumbled. He struggled against the tree to rise to his feet, and stretched. “So, where to?” Mica asked.
“South,” Adriel replied. As the dark elf looked at Mica, he realized how exhausted his brother probably was. “Sythenra is scouting for a possible trail left by Kiran and Thiana. In the meantime, I suggest we camp in the woods so that you may rest.”
“More like a pup than a beast,” Yrsanne muttered underneath her breathe.
“Yeah...” Mica nodded, stifling a yawn. “Rest sounds good. I’ll follow your lead, so lead on.”
Adriel was relieved that Mica agreed to rest, it was one less conflict to weigh on him. “Let us go further south, then we will find a place to rest,” Adriel said. The aristocratic dark elf continued walking, leading the way down the main road.
* * *
After putting some distance between themselves and the village, Adriel headed into the woods off the side of the road. He kept walking until he could barely see the road through the trees, then looked around for a good place to rest. Spotting a place in between three old oaks, the dark elf headed for it, then set down his belongings.
“Have a rest here, brother,” he said to Mica. Mica nodded and sat down. The half-elf closed his eyes and immediately fell back to sleep.
Yrsanne sighed, watching Mica sleep for a few seconds. “I can understand that sentiment.” The dark elf guardian undid her blade from her waist, placing it gently in the grass. Sitting with her back on one of the oaks, she stretched out.
Adriel sat down next to Yrsanne, against another side of the same tree. The young dark elf gave a small sigh as he relaxed. It was good to have a moment’s respite. He had slept poorly, and though he didn’t think he could get back to sleep, he could at least rest. The last day had been so tense, partially due to the excitement, and mostly due to Mica. Maybe it was this place that allowed him to relax. As an elf, the forest was his home. Being surrounded by the vibrancy of the Kanon woods in spring, with sunlight filtering through the trees, rejuvenated his fairy soul. The dark elf closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.
After scouting the surroundings for a couple hours, Sythenra had been able to find the tracks of two people and one dog passing through the forests. Both pleased by the fact their pursuit of Kiran could continue, and disappointed that she would have to return to Mica’s company, Sythenra summoned a fairy to help her find her companions.
After a walk through the forest, Sythenra came across the resting place. Mica was asleep, and it looked as if Adriel and Yrsanne were too. She didn’t want to dare rouse Mica, so she tiptoed over to Adriel and Yrsanne, then gently roused Adriel.
Adriel woke with a start when Sythenra touched him, and seeing her face in front of his startled him. He didn’t expect to fall asleep, and despite being just woken up, he felt surprisingly alert and energized. “What is it?” he asked her. “Did you find the trail?”
Sythenra nodded. “They’ve been going through the forests,” she replied. She glanced back towards Mica, then returned her eyes to Adriel; she did not want to wake the sleeping beast. “Do you want to continue after him immediately?” she asked, hoping the answer was no.
Adriel debated Sythenra’s question for a moment as he looked over his companions. It was obvious that Mica needed more sleep, but Adriel wanted to pursue Kiran. Can I give up this lead? Kiran will only get further away... Reluctantly, Adriel decided that rest was best. Mica needed it, and they needed Mica in a better mood. Adriel didn’t want to tempt Mica’s wrath either. “We wait,” he replied. “Sit on the other side of the tree and rest.”
The ranger nodded, then stood back up to take a seat at the base of the tree on the next side over. She assumed he asked her to sit there so Mica wouldn’t see her if he woke up—she was hidden behind the trunk. Though she was a little interested in pursuing Kiran, the moment of rest off her feet was good for her. It was a nice place they had picked out. Despite Mica sleeping nearby, she was able to relax.
After several hours of restful sleep, Mica awoke in better spirits than before. Taking the time to stretch his sore muscles, after being in a sitting position for so long, he took the time to fully stretch his leg and arm muscles, allowing his body to become more limber. Seeing neither his brother nor Yrsanne rouse, the half-dark elf sat back down and silently reflected on how he came to be so far from home.
Adriel was pulled back to the waking world shortly after Mica woke. Maybe it was a delayed reaction to the slight rustling of Mica moving, or some sort of intuition that he he had awoken, but it was good timing none the less. The dark elf sat straight up to look over at Mica sitting in deep thought. Despite the extra sleep, Adriel didn’t feel sluggish.
“Have you rested enough?” he spoke to Mica.
“I slept rather well, thank you,” Mica stated, once out of his reflective mental state. “Has Sythenra returned yet? I don’t see her around the camp.”
Hearing Mica and Adriel speaking brought Sythenra out of her own doze. The ranger leaned over so she could see around Adriel’s side of the tree. “I’m here,” she said dryly.
“Ah good. Have you rested well?” Mica asked with a soft smile. “I do so apologize for my rudeness in the earlier day. Lots of drink and lack of sleep are the enemy of man and woman alike. It turns the most timid of men to beasts and the the beasts of men into spiteful devils.”
Sythenra felt a chill go up her spine, despite the sudden pleasant and agreeable attitude Mica seemed to have gained in his nap. It was eerie, and she feared that at any point, he would turn back to his usual self. She almost wished he was as aggressive as he had been earlier, because at least that would have been more predictable. “I’m fine,” she said. “And uhh... Apology accepted.”
“That’s good to hear,” Mica said earnestly. “So, what’s the plan brother?”
Adriel was a little off-put by Mica’s sudden change in attitude as well, but he didn’t expect this to be a permanent change. “Sythenra found their tracks, we will be following,” he replied.
“Alright then!” Mica said, giving a final deep stretch. “Shall we take after him then?”
Though still feeling chilled by Mica’s change in mood, Adriel tried not to make any show of it. Instead, he stood up and straightened his coat. “Yes, let’s go,” he said. “Yrsanne, are you ready?” he asked the dark elven beauty, as she hadn’t spoke since Mica woke.
Yrsanne hadn’t risen at all, though she wasn’t asleep for the conversation. Rest while it was available, she had decided. “Whenever you are,” she replied smoothly. Yrsanne rose.
As the others rose, Sythenra took it upon herself to take the lead. She was the one who knew the trail, after all. The ranger turned and headed back into the forest, leading them onto the path she had found.
* * *
Sythenra led Adriel, Mica, and Yrsanne through the forests until she came across the trail of two dark elves and a dog. For a time, they followed the path silently, the ranger setting a fast pace. After about a mile of tracking, Sythenra’s attention was suddenly jerked from the trail by the sound of an arrow whizzing by her head and hitting the ground near her with a thump. Instinctively, the ranger darted to the side, finding cover behind a tree.
“More dark elves?” a voice called from the trees.
“We were lenient on your friends, but we won’t be so kind to you!” another voice called from nearby.
Yrsanne’s hand snapped in front of her and yanked Adriel back by the collar of his vest and pulled him around behind a tree. Already, Yrsanne was chanting. “Master of the air, Sylph, I call you. Protect us from the arrows that seek passage through your domain. Steer them away from us...”
Though surprised by being suddenly yanked back, Adriel was lucky; his reaction would not have been as fast as either of his more experienced guardians. Coughing slightly from his clothing having been pressed into his throat, Adriel took a moment to gather his bearings behind a tree, going from indignation to realization. Once the young dark elf realized that they were actually under attack, he peeked out cautiously around the tree to see a common elven man with a bow in a nearby tree. Looking a little further back, he saw a second one a few trees away. From their warning, he gathered that Kiran and Thiana must have crossed paths with these rangers as well.
Yrsanne smirked as she stood up, suddenly without a care. Sylph was with her now; no arrow would touch her. She strolled around the tree to face the ranger Adriel had noticed, one hand casually on her hip, the other pulling free her rapier. The ranger desperately knocked another arrow and let it fly, only to watch his sharp aim be redirected into a tree besides her. Yrsanne didn’t blink. Instead, she began to walk towards him. “Are you aware of whom you are dealing?” Yrsanne asked, her voice low. “Undine, lady of the depths, take this man as your vessel and dwell within his chest, where no air can go...” she whispered. Water spirits whipped up from her hands and shot forward, seeking to invade the man’s mouth.
As arrows whizzed past, spells being cast, the half-dark-elf sighed deeply. “We mean no encroachment within your territory where we’re not liked,” Mica called to the elven rangers. “We merely seek information and the whereabouts of two criminals.” Although his tone was relaxed and calm, Mica’s body was tensed and ready to jolt in any opposing direction were an arrow to come at him directly. “The criminals,” he continued not waiting for a response, “are two dark elves, a male and a female. They were in the company of a dog. May we inquire as to whether or not the people you were talking about were those two?”
Before the common elves could reply to Mica, Yrsanne’s spell reached the first who had spoken, and he fell from his perch, clutching his throat as he gagged on the water that suddenly filled his mouth. As he fell, the other ranger nocked an arrow and fired at Mica, aiming to harm the only one in sight.
Mica dodged out of the way of the arrow, its head nicking his shoulder. That’s it, that bitch is going to die a dog’s death underneath my boot for going for the kill without permission. How dare she...she drown someone in my presence! “Spirits of Air, disperse the spirits of water from the man’s airways. Allow him the breath of life that is being unjustly robbed from him!” Mica chanted while rushing to the elf’s aid. While his shamanism wasn’t as strong as Yrsanne’s there was still a slight chance that Mica’s own spell would draw more favor from the spirits. “Dammit Yrsanne stop your spell, or so help me Marfa, I’ll strike you dead!” he barked. He helped turn the elven man to his side and tried to help him cough up the water before he drowned.
Yrsanne ignored Mica and strolled up to the man drowning in air. Try as they might, Mica’s command of Sylph couldn’t repel Yrsanne’s Undine. The dark elf had no intention of killing the man, but she did desire to subdue him completely. Drawing her blade and placing a booted foot on the common elf’s writhing chest, she tapped the rapier underneath his chin. With a whisper, the man finally began to spew up the water she had filled his lungs with. He gasped for air, but quickly became conscious of his own mortality, pricking his Adam’s apple. “For someone who talks so noble, you are awfully quick to try and turn yourself into a murderer,” Yrsanne said, a sultry grin on her thin lips. “This blade is poisoned. If you even get nicked by it, you won’t survive the day.” It was an exaggeration, of course, but not untrue. The blade was enchanted to maintain a constant poison, just not that potent. “Don’t move and maybe I’ll be in a good enough mood to let you live.”
Yrsanne cocked her head back. “So come out,” she shouted to any other common elves in wait. “If not, the first casualty of this battle will be him. Drop your bows in plain sight.”
The other elf took heed, seeing he was out numbered, tossed his bow down and leaped out of his tree, landing a few feet away from Yrsanne. “Alright, alright,” he said, sliding his quiver off his shoulder. “Don’t hurt him, we’ll tell what you want to know, if that’s all you’re here for.” The ranger set his quiver down, then took a knife out of the sheathe on his belt and tossed it on the ground as well. “Three dark elves and a dog passed through here earlier today, a male and two females. We chased them off and told them to avoid our territory, and the obliged. They went south.”
Adriel and Sythenra stepped out of their hiding places as the rangers were dealt with. Sythenra moved in close behind Adriel, protectively, and scanned for more archers, but it looked as if there were only the two. Adriel approached Yrsanne and Mica as the other ranger confessed to seeing the other dark elves. Three? Is there someone else with them, or by chance, has Sythenra tracked the wrong group? What are the odds of a male and female dark elf, with a dog, in Kanon, even if there is another with them? Obviously, they picked someone else up.
“What path did they take? Did they follow the roads? And were they on foot?” Yrsanne asked, not moving from her present position.
“Yes, on foot,” the common elf replied. “They went south, that’s all I can tell you. We watched them until they left the range of our post. I can only assume they went to the main road.”
“It’s amazing how well cooperative you boys can be with the proper exchange,” Yrsanne said, lightly tapping underneath the chin of the elven ranger with her rapier. “I’m glad we ran into each other. Now get up, slowly.” The man did as he was told, all the while her blade tip kept about his throat. “As nice as you boys are, we’ve got places to go. Do keep in touch.” Yrsanne had maintained Sylph’s protection over her, which she still held up, should they try something as she turned away. Lifting away her rapier with a flick of her wrist and a smooth smile, the shamaness looked to Adriel and the others. “Shall we?”
Mica glared at Yrsanne. Something inside of him snapped. The memory of his mother attempting to drown him while she bathed him sprang to mind when he saw the elven man begin to drown at Yrsanne’s request. There was no difference between her or his mother. Both deserve to be put down, he growled inwardly. The spry assassin jumped forward, attacking Yrsanne with all his strength and all his speed flurrying a combo of a punch to the jaw and to the throat, and a sweeping low kick.
Yrsanne didn’t even see it coming. Mica’s first blow landed perfectly on her jaw and threw her back. Yrsanne’s dazed mind instantly switched to defense and threw her body down into a roll backwards and then back up to her feet to avoid future blows. As she came up, the rapier whipped from her sash in front of her. As she rose, her lips were already moving, calling upon Salamander through the pain in her jaw...
I see. So the dog’s not going to lay down at the feet of the master. Very well then, time to up the ante. Mica growled as he drew out Harrowing and donned the cruel gauntlet. Its vile talons tore into the flesh of his arm and locked into place. No matter how strong Yrsanne’s casts were, two spirits ganging up on one usually proved in the favor of Mica. Just like with her, my previous master. She made the same mistake, dog woman. “Gnome, brother to mother earth, become a shield against the spiritual attack I will receive.” Spirits of darkness and earth gathered around Mica, called together by Mica’s Harrowing.
“Mica, STOP!” Adriel barked. He had been caught off guard by his sudden attack against Yrsanne. What had set Mica off this time? Intending to place himself in between them to make them stop, Adriel darted forward several steps. Luckily for him, Sythenra was smarter than that, and grabbed him by the back of his armor.
“Adriel, you’ll get burned!” Sythenra protested, having realized Yrsanne’s call to Salamander.
Adriel stopped, realizing his folly, but what could he do? “Mica, save your anger for Kiran!” he shouted. With a moment to think, he didn’t think that his mere presence could have stopped Mica, though it probably would have stopped Yrsanne. Nothing could get in the way of his rage. All he could do is call upon the spirits. With that, he began a summon to the spirits of darkness, though he didn’t know if he could fully subdue Mica.
Meanwhile, the common elf rangers were back on their feet, watching the conflict. They drew their own weapons, though they seemed unsure if they should intervene, they were ready to defend themselves.
“What the hell are you talking about? ‘Mica stop!’? Idiot, if I don’t put up a barrier she’s going to fry me,” Mica yelled back at his brother. “My anger is justified, in this matter. She was in the wrong, causing undue harm to the poor elf. We could have just talked it out nice and calmly, but no, she had to go and try to drown the poor man. The guy just fell from a tree choking on water and you want me to stop? Stop what? All I’m doing is standing up for the poor bastard.”
Mica realized, almost too late what his brother was trying to do. The spirits of darkness will turn on him if he attempts to use them against me now. Shit! Dropping the earth shield, Mica forced the cruel talons of the Harrowing out of his flesh, and disarmed himself of the gauntlet. As long as the gauntlet remained off of him the spirits of darkness would listen to Adriel and not turn on him. Closing his eyes he awaited the outcome serenely. Whether it be by his brother’s hand and the darkness spirits subduing him, or by Yrsanne’s hand and the spirits of flame ravaging him didn’t matter anymore.
With perfect intent, Yrsanne had never given Salamander the order to attack. It was to be a form of intimidation, to give Mica’s anger pause, not to actually set him aflame, though she had every intention of doing so if he moved another inch towards her. Blood dripped down the side of her cheek, its red offset by the fire lizard writhing about her free arm with a desperate intensity. Everything in Yrsanne made her want to show that brute what he chose to meddle with—even Salamander lusted to taste Mica’s flesh. And yet, she held her ground.
“The idiot is you,” Yrsanne said, her voice dripping with disdain. “They attacked, never showed any interest in talking. I subdued him and never tried to kill him, or perhaps you were too preoccupied dodging their arrows to notice the fact.” Salamander grew larger with every moment it remained held at bay. Its flaming form curled up her shoulder now and it snapped its jaws angrily at Mica. “Is your tantrum over, or do I need to end it for you?” Yrsanne was disgusted by his logic, considering she disarmed the conflict without anyone’s help. Not only that, but she had gotten important information as a bonus.
“This is why dark elves are disliked where ever they go, Yrsanne,” Mica said half-heartedly. “Because pompous bitches like yourself like to try to assert superiority over other races while mistreating life in its finest.” Mica reclaimed his gauntlet with his left arm, his right arm uselessly numb. “They attacked once, a warning shot. Had we stuck to a diplomatic solution from the get go we wouldn’t be in this situation. Your overreaction to the mild threat was what landed that punch on your jaw, daft woman. Had my concern for my brother not taken over my better judgment your half-baked flames would never have gotten past my shield.” And you’d be wearing your guts for garters, my dear insolent whore.
“This coming from the most violent man, whose temper has gotten us in more heat than my methods,” Yrsanne replied swiftly. “Need I remind you of how you thought it perfectly acceptable to get into a bar fight or simply throw a woman overboard on the way to this continent? I hardly see how me responding to a warning shot that could have nearly injured any of us compares to your choices in dealing with the ‘other races’ on a whim.” Seeing that Mica seemed more apt to argue at this point, Yrsanne waved Salamander away, who seemed even more angry that he could not rend his target to pieces. “Compared to you, I’m a priestess of Rada.”
“Oh, the woman I got thrown overboard? This being the same woman who stole away the very quarry that we are hunting, and forcing us to go on this ridiculous trek across the blasted island of Lodoss?” Mica laughed. “If memory serves me right, I single-handedly ruled out each and every place in Shinning Hill while you had your beauty sleep to catch up on. Gods know, you need it. First you whine and bitch about my methods and then the next breath you’re using the same twisted logic to justify your own actions. Just because you fucked my father at one time doesn’t make you entitled to decide how to lead this little expedition. Memory and record serves, you’re the underling here. If anything you overstepped your bounds as a bodyguard to my brother Adriel. Perhaps you should learn your place before you go overstepping your bounds, lest you be put down like a common dog.”
“Can we stop this bickering and move on?” Adriel spoke up. They had seen enough conflict so far, and with Mica, there would undoubtedly be more, but now they were in enemy territory. Adriel cast a glance back towards the common elves to see that both had disappeared.
Sythenra’s ears laid back like a scolded dog’s at the shouting. She resisted the urge to correct Mica; she was the one who had slept with Kiran, not Yrsanne. There was no point in correcting this argument, the last thing she wanted to do was get in between them. At Adriel’s warning, Sythenra looked for the elves as well. That didn’t bode well with her. “They may have gone for reinforcements,” she suggested.
“I did no such thing, on either account,” Yrsanne replied, anger gone from her voice. “I defended Adriel, then ensured neither one was capable of attacking him. And by any god in the sky, I did not have any relations with the one we hunt. You are so caught up in yourself that it is not even worth my breath. Adriel, do remind your dear brother that I am not your hired plaything and if he is quite finished throwing a hissy fit, we can continue.” Yrsanne was already plotting what she was going to do to Mica in due time for his disrespect, for his ignorance, and most of all, his witless anger.
Adriel groaned as Yrsanne drug him into the conflict. “Can we leave? I would not like to be here if Sythenra was right.” Adriel strode forward, walking between the pair, and heading south. “You can argue as much as you want as soon as we are out of the common elves’ territory,” the young dark elf grumbled as he walked on.
“By all means,” Yrsanne said, sliding her rapier into place. Yrsanne followed Adriel without looking back at Mica. When he wasn’t looking, she wiped the blood from her lip.
The ranger breathed a sigh of relief when the situation was disarmed—at least for now. She fully expected that the fight would pick up again as soon as they were out of harm’s way. Sythenra slipped ahead of Adriel and began to scan for the tracks again. Finding the dog’s tracks proved easily enough, and she soon found the familiar tracks of Thiana and Kiran, along with the mysterious new woman.
