"My Love, is something bothering you?" Rose-sweerui asks as I continue to linger behind the pair of women. It's not the bag, I just have stuff on my mind. Though my injuries, however patched up, are still an issue. From where the pain is, some shots must've hit me right in the joints.

Really impeding my ability to move... Bugger. Shit a brick. So damn many of them.

I suppose I am lucky that this is all so spread out. Having an arm ruined so much I need to tear it off is certainly something. Rose-sweerui slows down to meet me, and she puts her hand on one such arm. She tries to apply some magic to it and I remember she asked a question.

I gently grab her and let us stop so I can get another bothersome thought out, "That is the first time I ever killed an actual person... And I killed multiple in quick succession. Everything else... It was always monsters."

"You were only protecting yourself from those who want you dead!" she reminds me as if I can forget. I sigh and my eyes cross the growing distance between us and Einervaene. They stay facing forwards as my mind ticks away.

"It doesn't matter why I did it... I... Did it. That's all that matters." I say, my voice hollow as we walk again.

"We are still alive, my love. That is all that matters. Just forget about it," she encourages, a gentle grip on my elbow.

"You say while still being soaked in their blood... While I am, too." I point out, a bath sounding real nice about now. Yet, Rose doesn't feel the same. In fact, she sticks her head up. Full of pride to the point she's glowing.

"I am soaked in the proof that I protected you. The blood on you is that same set of proof." she tells me, giving insight into her view of the world. I blink as her fingers dance up to my chin, a delicate tickle singing on my chitin.

"She also did a fair amount of that." I point out, literally doing so to get the focus on Einervaene.

"She only played a small part." Rose dismisses, her handing coming down for a wave of the same make.

"I'd be dead without her intervention." I make sure Rose understands as I wobble on the leg that was shot. If they had any more of those anti-magic-people bullets, I'd be dead. Were it not for that monologue, Einervaene wouldn't of had the time.

"No, no Undwote would not be seeing you again. You would be making him too busy with them. As you did." she...

"You are deluded," is all I can say, my face getting close to hers. I set aside some pain and put the distance between us.

"I am, aren't I? I have done quite a few things most of my kind would never do. And that is just fine by me," she tells me, rushing ahead and backpedalling to show off that smile. She plants herself firmly and catches onto me with a tight hug and giggle. The bag muffles and Rose stops. She backs away.

The panic in the bag continues, and my eyes widen a little. Oh, right. Help is in there. He's alive? The bullets didn't get him? The bag is surprisingly intact, actually...

"When did I get so far ahead...?" the clueless lightning woman says, the muffles loud enough for her to hear. I let out a quiet huff and focus on getting the bag down. The moment it touches the ground, a body comes crawling out with all he has.

"Oh, yeah, that's right..." I mutter, letting my earlier thoughts express themselves as our escaping baggage yells whatever he can.

"WHY WAS I STUFFED IN A BAG!?" he demands to know as he gulps in most of the world's air. All-That-Remains-Is-A-Lack-of-Air. He stops, eyes hopping between the girls, and he backs up.

"You two, this is..." I begin to say, shutting down as I realise I have never heard his name. Help, he may have been, but his name, it most certainly isn't.

"Baltanthan." he answers, straightening himself out.

"Right, Rose, Baltanthan. Baltanthan, Ros-"

"Rose'lhia to him," Rose interjects, a sneer already on her face. I quickly stare at Baltanthan, already aware of the problem. He seems to know enough, too. He's more than happy to meet her with a glare.

I'm getting too used to calling her Rose.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Demanding and insufferable, got it." Baltanthan spits, the aelenvari's head-bulbs flaring up.

"Don't," I tell Rose, putting a claw on her and then turning to the last one, "Baltanthan, Einervaene. And so on."

"Nice to meet you." Einervaene greets, her expression taking on an aspect of confusion. I even know the kind, how smart of me. She's trying to recollect the familiar, but forgotten.

"Certainly look a lot different when you are not shopping while covered in filth," he comments with a nod.

"Ah! Now I remember, you are the one I spoke to about that magic detector!" Einervaene perks up at and I start to ponder. Does this mean that Baltanthan played a part in why Einervaene broke through that window?

"Yes, yes, that would have been me. And what about you? You still haven't told me your name, Bug," he asks, his foul attention turning to me.

"It's Nin." I say to him, a twitch of annoyance in my claws.

"Bug?" Einervaene repeats, her eyes clearly lingering on the yellow bug stains.

"Please... Do not panic, Einervaene." I say to her, a long sigh escaping me as I take my hat and mask off.

"Wait. So that thing I was chasing was you!?" Einervaene lets out, her face glowing with embarrassment as she steps to have a closer look.

"You aren't bothered?" I ask as she continues to show curiosity, of all things. I... I was not prepared for that. Though, I suppose she's never seen an osibindah before. She doesn't know.

"I am a little surprised to see it was you. And admittedly, I think I might be a bit biased against you now... Due to how everyone reacted to seeing you. I'm s-sorry... But, but! I have never seen one of your kind before. I know Jherikra is supposed to be filled with many more species than the other lands. But I did not expect to see an insect-like being."

"You should be lucky it was me you met, then." I comment and Baltanthan snorts, a mutter escaping his lips. My eyes shift to him, sharp points most certainly gripped by the colour of my eyes.

"This... This is why people were attacking you?" Einervaene is hesitant to ask and I nod.

"Yes... I am now known as an osibindah. They have a reputation for..." I try to answer, my words escaping me as Baltanthan's expression occupies my view.

"Raiding, pillaging, and burning towns. Raping women, devouring children. And, most importantly! Mutating men into more of them that will do the same until the mountains turn to sand," Baltanthan comments with all the snark he possibly can. I growl at him and it makes him scoff.

"I see..." Einervaene says, her thoughts clearly lingering.

"We should get going." I say, reaching back down for the bag.

"Well, it's nice to meet you then. I am very glad you have shared this secret with me!" she greets with a smile and a quick bow of courtesy.

"Nice to meet me?" I question, blinking at the strange retread as I mask up.

"The true you!" her smile unwavering.

"Well, that has gone easier than I had hoped for..." I comment, resealing the bag and hiding myself fully. Rose slithers past my efforts and snatches up a map, her legs taking for a quick hop. The map whips open and she lingers noises in her mouth.

"Well, the good news is we are not far from Thrurstradtur!" she exclaims, tail swinging.

"If you say good news, then there's likely bad." our new cynic points out and I'm inclined to agree.

Rose shrugs, "I am speaking in relatives with the distance. And... Our quickest route might be to climb the mountain by hand. Rather than by taking the roads."

"Why would we need to avoid the roads? Nin-kischu hid who he is quite well before." Einervaene argues and even then, I cannot agree with her. The key word she said is 'before,' I am not hiding anymore. The fact I even needed to tell her about...

"He might be able to. But, at the same time, it is both a very busy road and one with frequent checks. That much I know, these mountains are much different to other settlements. How do we even know if a thorn might overstep their authority and demand my love undress? We would be repeating the evils of last night again. In worst circumstances!" Rose aptly puts it, leaving me with little need to voice my fears.

"That is fair. But, maybe we could take the roads ourselves while he climbs independently from the rest of us?" Einervaene suggests. The idea clicks with me and I nod. I can certainly climb a mountain, I can most certainly.

"He's the only one strong enough to carry our stuff." Rose reminds her and I mind my wounds. That is certainly a point and a half. With all this blood caking up my body, I'm probably going to struggle.

"Is there a way we can split the load between us?" Einervaene asks as her eyes shift to the bag that not only has all of Rose's stuff, some of Einervaene's. But, now, we even have the new stuff added by Brewbrt!

"Only if we destroy some of my clothing..." Rose quite bitterly suggests, a shiver rocking her form.

"So we do that, then." Baltanthan shrugs. Rose glares so hard she almost forces magic out into the open.

She looks away, huffing, "No, we find another means."

"Brewbrt packed us quite a few new things. Maybe he'll have packed us more bags?" I suggest, though, I haven't had the time to look through how our contents have been altered. Still, I need to get Rose onboard with the idea. Me going on my own would be safer for these three.

"If there's a sewing kit in there, I might be able to reduce that bag into a bigger one." Einervaene suggests and we all turn to her. She flinches, clearly not expecting the attention. She puts up a wiggling smile, going a bit red.

"Regardless of how we spend our time, we need to get moving." Baltanthan says, his eyes turning the way we came. I nod, minding my experiences with the valley-riders. We may still very well be within their expedition range. We killed a fair few, their leader included. They'll want my blood.

"He's right, we should get moving. The closer we can get to Thrurstradtur, the more time we can spend thinking up plans." I say, taking the lead with the movement while glancing around at everyone.

"Fine by me, let's just get going already!" Baltanthan goes, his feet already springing him to the front. Rose comes back to my side and clings to me, face against my arm.

"We better not destroy my stuff..." she moans, a cute whine following it. She slips her hand into my claw, squeezing it gently. I try to return the gesture. I suppose I'll always have her, somehow.