Casper recognized then, as the sound of approaching bodies fell in behind the party along the road, that he should have made more of an effort to kill this man when he had the chance. Casper had been so caught up in Elisayra’s emotional turmoil, and wanting to clear that up he had forgotten almost entirely about the suspicious gambler and his military acquaintances.

The girls on their horses behind him came to pause at Casper’s back, waiting with anticipation as the scene began to unfold before them.

Annabelle tightened her grip around the hilt of her greatsword, while Elisayra fidgeted at the dagger at her belt. In similar fashion, Alex worked subtly at her own weapon, moving to protect Nephinae as she was unarmed and unarmored.

With the men from the woods now blocking the road behind them, and rocky hills littered with spatterings of trees to the left and right, Casper and company were very much pinched between the two groups, both of which looked ready to draw blood at any moment.

Casper sighed, closing his eyes and letting the air escape his lungs for a long, drawn out, painful moment as he weighed his options.

Were he alone, Casper could effortlessly kill all 18 men. Casper however was not alone, and needed to carefully consider the consequences of performing such a feat, especially when Nephinae was a caster and would likely be able to tell Casper was marked.

He had grown to like these people, despite the strange events that happened to transpire around their more private moments, he considered each of them pleasant company and would hate to have to kill them if he was revealed.

“Got anything to say for yourself?” The gambler spoke, taunting, snapping Casper from his thoughts regarding what to do.

“Me? You came into my camp, and tried to swindle my people. We caught you cheating red handed.” Casper noted, confused at the man's outward hostility as if he was not the one who had wronged him.

“And then you sent me away in the night with a hunter about, rather cruel don’t you think? Besides, this ain't about who wronged who, we saw the kind of gear you are packing. Good food, nice tents, better horses, I think you ought to give em here so you can continue on your way nice and peacefully. I tried to play it subtle but subtlety didn’t pay for my drinks so, here we are”

It was a highway robbery then, Casper thought. These men were all back from service to his majesty and were looking to use their skills to fill their pockets.

Annabelle laughed suddenly, grabbing the attention of Casper and the others.

“You call this a robbery? Either you are all new to this line of work, or you are profoundly stupid” She hopped down from her horse, holding on to the great sword reverently.

“Hey now” The gambler spoke with a hard tone, taking a step closer as his men lowered their weapons. “One more step and we will run you through, and once your bleedin we will run you through with somethin else aye. You give us everything you got, and I promise we leave you be. You try and fight this, no tellin what my boys might try and do to all you lovely ladies” the gambler cracked a vile smile.

“Ha! As if you stand a chance” Annabelle taunted.

“What the hell are you doing?” Casper turned and hissed under his breath to the ex-bandit as she smiled wide at the group.

“Letting off some steam” Annabelle shrugged, “we can take them”

“Not without getting hurt,” Casper snapped, frustrated at Annabelles brazenness.

“Nah, look at em, back two have a limp, front spearmans rocking a nasty infection under his left arm, gamblers hungover, two behind have nearly ruined shoes” She notes her passive observations as if they were obvious.

Casper focuses in, and upon listening to her rattle off the issues among the men casper smiled with the realization that she was correct. Her eyes were good, and her sense of people was even better.

“You two better be talking about giving up your shit because I’m getting damn impatient standing-”

The gambling man shoved his way through the men to approach the front ranks, only for his head to explode in a shower of gore, as Annabelle’s greatsword swung down in a wide arc, cleaving him from crown to navel.

The others sat stunned, awe struck at the raw speed and ferocity of the women's strike.

“Clean em up” Casper half growled the words, commanding the others to move.

He wouldn’t have to use the mark for these men, they didn’t deserve the effort.

Casper dashed in low to the second closest man, moving his body inside the guard of the swordsman as he was still in the process of mentally recovering from the sudden burst of violence. In a quick trust, Casper’s short sword drove hard into the man's ribs, up into his chest and pierced his heart.

Casper used the weight of the man's fall to carry him forward and low, swiping down at a spearman's legs and cutting clean through the ankle. The man collapsed sideways with a scream directly in an arcing strike from Annabelle that hacked the crown of his head clean off.

Casper drove his legs down and pushed further past the confused men into their back ranks, facing them from behind as their attention began to shift to the whirling mass of muscle and pure joy that was Annabelle.

Casper watched for a moment as Alex narrowly dodged a spear thrust from one of the men behind. She dismounted and drove her own blade down into the man's chest. The sword pinging off some of his armor and sending her strike wide. Casper almost considered using the mark to save her, but didn’t have to as Nephinae conjured a small flame on the man's face. He recoiled in panic at the bust of heat, giving Alex enough time to steady herself and strike true through the man's neck.

Casper ducked as he felt the air shift around him, dodging a sword thrust. He spun around the attack, moving quickly to the man's flank and angling a fist at the infection under his arm. The strike hit sensitive flesh and muscle and the man yelped in pain, quickly cut off as Casper’s shortsword carved through his jaw.

Another man went down close by, Casper unable to see the source of his demise for a few moments, until Elisayra appeared at the next attacker, her dagger punching hard into the throat of a man as she grabbed onto his back.

Casper returned his attention to the now regrouped ex-soldiers surrounded by the bodies of their dead friends.

“Yield, yield!” one of them shouted, dropping his weapon.

A dagger flew from somewhere behind Casper and planted itself firmly into the man's skull, sending him rocking backwards. Before his body even fell to the ground, Casper moved in to clear the distance and dismembered the soldier to the right with three quick cuts, spinning to take the 3rd, he was a little too late as an arrow loosed and struck firm into the man's thigh. He collapsed to the ground from the pain, only to be cleaved in two by Annabelle.

Blood soaked the ground around them, turning the dirt road into crimson mud.

“See? Easy” Annabelle shot pridefully, though she winced slightly and held a hand to her ribs.

“Easy? Looks like someone got you” Casper pointed out, walking the short distance to investigate the damage.

“It’s nothing” Annabelle dismissed, pulling up her shirt to reveal incredibly well defined muscle and heavily scarred skin. Just above her hip was a new gash, leaking blood but not quickly enough to cause any real concern other than discomfort.

“You think you’ll be alright?” Casper asked anyway as he examined the wound.

“I’ll be fine, had plenty worse than this” She chuckled, lowering her shirt much to Casper’s disappointment.

“We should clear the bodies…” Alex offered from behind, her hands were shaking slightly and her breath was ragged.

“No, leave them. Send a message to anyone else trying to follow our trail. We are already being hunted by the city guards for much worse. This won't add any more “death” to the death sentences we already have. At best it will act as a deterrent.” Casper offered.

“True” Alex admitted, though clearly the thought made her uncomfortable.

“Let's loot them for anything worthwhile and head out. I don’t want to stick around the bodies too long before they start to smell”

Annabelle began looting without hesitation, man handling the corpses to search for anything worth taking. Meanwhile, Alex seemed rather reluctant. She had killed a few just fine but for some reason the thought of touching blood seemed to disturb her a little bit. Elisayra in similar fashion seemed bothered, but not enough to avoid the work as she batted down people one by one for anything of value.

Casper took a moment to approach Alex as they searched for the bodies near the rear. As he approached, Alex flinched slightly and Casper couldn’t help but return to the memory last night.

Maybe approaching her now was a bad idea…it was obvious that a huge rift had formed due to his action, or rather his inaction, and he really shouldn’t be pressing her right after a fight he realized…

“Why did you kill them…if they surrendered?” Alex asked suddenly, catching Casper off guard and giving him substantial pause.

Ah, that must be in then. While Alex was well traveled and had been doing so fort a short while, its possible this was her first time killing a man, let alone helping to kill a surrendering one with that arrow to the leg.

“Because men like that don’t surrender.” Casper explained. “We aren’t in a position to be taking prisoners. Those people wouldn’t have just given up easily. Sure they might have left us alone for now, but just ask Annabelle, they would have gathered from friends and come after us again and again and again, angrier and angrier each time, assuming they didn’t instantly just follow us to kill us in our sleep the next time we made camp”

“Is that really how they are?” Alex asked, her voice filled with a desperate hope, wanting it to be true.

Casper realized that, while it was a possibility it wasn’t a sure one. The truth was he had no idea what they would do. Its possible they would have returned to the city to inform the guard about their movement. Or killed them in the night, or gathered more friends or any number of things. But it was also a possibility that they really would give up. Without a crew or other people to support them they would be forced to return to a more modest, hopefully honest life.

However, Casper knew what Alex was going through right now. The guilt and fear of your first kill. As much as Casper personally believed that being honest was important, letting Alex live with this guilt would be unfair, after all it was his decision. So he decided to lie.

“It was. I could tell by the look in their eyes, they were only pretending to surrender. The man in the middle dropped his weapon but the other two had not. They would have come for us the second we let them go.” He said with as much confidence as he could muster.

“Alright…” Alex nodded, she seemed to buy it, which was good for Caspers sake, and she didn’t appear to hate him so it's possible this little moment was good for their companionship. Hopefully a good first step into talking about what happened last night.

Annabelle found some well maintained weapons on the bodies that she stashed into her saddle pack to sell later at the Crimson Harbor. Elisayra managed to locate a few pieces of jewelry and a humble amount of coin to add to their collection.

Taking a moment to clear the corpses just off the road, enough to pass by without issue, they remounted and continued onward.

They rode in companionable silence for a time, listening instead to the sound of the wind as it finally became free of the trees to roll over the vibrant landscape of the eastern hills. The forest fell away behind them, giving way to open skies interrupted only by the passing clouds.

The sun shone bright overhead, not too hot and not too cold, with a perfect breeze to cool them just as the warmth stated, or a ray of sun to warm them as the wind got too cool.

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The air itself carried with it the scents of wildflowers, as patches of them broke free from the sea of yellow-green grasses on occasion.

Casper found himself trailing back slightly, allowing Annabelle to take point for a time as he moved his horse to match pace with Elisayra.

She looked happy, Casper noticed. She wore a slight smile on her face, her hair pulled back to prevent the wind from whipping it in her face, revealing her slightly pointed ears.

She blushed slightly as she brought her hand up to cover them, and casper realized he was staring a bit too intently.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Casper started, but Elisayra shook her head in dismissal.

“I don’t mind…” She confirmed, removing her hand to reveal her ears again, though she continued to blush.

“You look happy” He noted, leaving the question intentionally open to see what her response would be.

“Shouldn’t I be? I think I served my punishment very well, you seemed really really pleased with it. Enough to keep me around a little longer I hope?” She asked.

Casper blushed a little as well, turning his head slightly. He gulped down some rapidly building saliva as his brain once again wandered to the events of last night.

“Of course I’ll keep you around, but not…because of that” he tried to clarify, though it had the opposite effect he thought it would.

Elisayra’s face dropped in an instant, heartbreak and panic rising to take the place of her previously happy expression.

“No no, that’s not what I mean’ Casper quickly tried to clarify. “What I mean is, you are very useful to me, you're a skilled lockpick and pickpocket, and you’re damn good at sneaking around the battlefield. You’re an asset to this party, and I thank you for lending your skills to us” He said, trying to make things as clear as possible.

Elisayra’s expression returned to one of joy, though there was still a lingering doubt left in her eye.

“But…you did enjoy last night, right?” she asked outright. “I was useful there as well? Was it a good enough punishment for me?”

Her words and expression confused the hell out of casper. He didn’t understand one bit. Was this something he was supposed to play into? Was her perception of a punishment some form of pleasure that he should use? Or was it genuinely a punishment to her? Casper couldn’t make heads or tails of the intent behind her words.

After a minute, casper sighed and made his decision. “You did very well, I enjoyed it greatly, It was the perfect punishment” He noted, half guilty and half genuinely.

She blushed hard and she bit her lip slightly at the compliment. “I will continue to try my best,” She offered, turning to hide her expression from him.

Casper sighed again. There was no way he could have ever gotten an honest answer out of her. If he asked her directly what the intent behind her words was, she would simply lie or try to respond in a way that pleased him most. If he tried to explain that isn’t what he wanted she would believe it was a test of some sort. Elisayra’s delusions weren’t a problem that could be solved in a single conversation. He would have to work with her to get to the heart of the matter over time. In order to do that though he needed to build trust and rapport. Which meant that he needed to act predictably with her.

While her mind was clearly warped, the only way he could figure her out was to act in the way she believed he already was. That way there was no confusion between how she might interpret his words. Instead he would play into that specific role she assigned to him, so communication could be clear even if it wasn’t what he wanted.

Falling back further, Casper rode alongside Alex next. Her and Nephinae shared a horse, which would have been difficult for the creature under normal circumstances, however full elves are very light, despite their size.

Casper wanted to find a way to broach an apology, but with Nephinae there it was exceedingly difficult to find the courage to do so. It appeared that Alex felt the same way. Her expression was thoughtful, but in a depressed, anxious kind of manner that made Caspers stomach tighten.

He stayed riding by her side for a time, but after several more minutes of being unable to speak he took a position at the rear of their party to give Alex and Nephinae a break from holding up the back.

Casper tried again to find an excuse to broach the subject that night in camp, though without any trees or boulders to break up the sounds, it was impossible to find a moment to speak privately. He could always ask her to step away, but the last thing Casper wanted to do was make things even more awkward or uncomfortable by drawing attention to the conversation by having it so far away from the others.

This went on until the next night as well. Another night spent under a blanket of stars in the wide open hills, surrounded by nothing more than grass and wildflowers. It made Casper feel exposed, too exposed, however it’s not as if there were many other options.

Despite Casper’s inability to work up the courage to speak to Alex, it looked as though the others had grown quite close in a relatively short time.

Casper watched as Nephinae doted on all of the girls despite their relative closeness in age. She had become something of a camp mom in only a few days. The others loved her. After all, she was the one cooking, cleaning, repairing and tending to wounds. Casper had to admit she was rather fond of the elf too, though also a little concerned. She took so little time for herself he had considered approaching her directly to ask if there was anything more he could do. However in their very brief conversations he was under the impression that she would deny him the chance. She took pride in her ability to help others and far be it from casper to take that from her.

Alex and Elisayra seemed to be a little closer, though the circumstances that caused the closeness was the source of his incredible discomfort. The closeness wasn’t totally obvious of course, but they shared more words between one another, both women in absolute awe at the state in which the other had lived before joining up with casper.

Annabelle continued to remain mostly to herself, though she and Alex too seemed more close, given their earlier history alongside Casper at the start of his journey.

It was Nephinae that surprised him, as she took a moment away from the camp to sit beside Casper near the side of the tent, where a clothesline had been strung up between his and Annabelle's tents, drying the clothes only recently washed to remove all the blood.

She sat with a grace on her haunches, looking as though she weighed as much as a feather. In one hand she took a tunic and began the process of repairing some minor tears and holes with mending magics. Humming a gentle tune as she did so.

Casper didn’t mind. In fact he was glad to have her company. Typically this was her job exclusively, but with the volume of dirty clothes they had accumulated over just a few days of travel, it quickly piled up and became a little overwhelming, so he took initiative in washing them.

“Forgive me intrusiveness” She opens softly, moving to hand the new washed tunic on the line.

Casper only nodded to show he didn’t mind.

“Has something happened between you and lady Alex?” she asked, not making eye contact.

Caspers mind raced with the possible answers he could give, but he settled it as soon as he realized the only one he could give.

“Yea, something happened. Though I'd honestly rather not talk about it until I can speak to Alex about it personally. Did she say anything?” Casper asked.

Casper sighed with relief as Nephinae shook her head no.

“I'm surprised, you two seem very close,” Casper added.

“We are.” the elf confirmed.

“Do you mind if I ask why? I know you were a slave bought for her from a young age but…I don’t think I ever got the full story regarding you two”

“Hmm…it’s a long one, and not particularly exciting i'm afraid”

“I have time, there are alot of clothes to get through” Casper offered.

“I suppose there are,” Nephinae smiles sweetly.

A moment of silence hung in the air for a brief period before Nephinae continued speaking.

“How much do you know of elven culture and society?”

“None really, aside from the fact that they are considered a high race, and are adept at magic most often” He offered in the way of an answer.

“That is true, though there is much more. In order to explain why myself and Alex are so close i must explain a little of elven culture, if you do not mind”

“No please, I'd love to learn more. I’ve lived most of my life in a small town in the middle of nowhere. I don’t like admitting I don't know much but it's true. And I want to learn” Casper spoke honestly, and was relieved to see Nephinaes pleased expression in return.

“That is wonderful, please then do well to listen and I will share with you the culture of my people” She hummed the words. It must have been a long time since she has had the chance to share the memory of her people and their culture, as it appears she is ready to burst with the information.

“Most elves occupy the lands across the Crimson Sea to the east. While not all are magical as humans are sometimes led to believe, most in fact are rather grand regardless of their size or magic. In most cases, in fact, elven cities are comparably rather small.”

“Really? I always heard they were huge and massive and sprawling” Casper chimed in, a little confused.

“This is true, they are large in physical size but small in population. Because elves live such incredibly long lives, we often commit much of our time to improving the area immediately around us. Elves, unlike most of the other long lived races such as fiends and celestials, do not reproduce often. Elves bond in the way of magic you see. Our manna connects and forms, and it's not often that two elves' manas are compatible enough to form a bond or relationship. Because of this limitation our populations are often very very small, though when they form they form incredibly intimate, close connections within a community” She clarified.

“So basically you’re very picky, '' Casper teased, which received a slight giggle of amusement in response.

“Correct, in a way.” She conceded. “In any case. Elves bond to like magics, we are a very specialized race that highly favors expertise in a particular skill or magic. There is no such thing really as a jack of all trades, as some humans like to claim to be. This creates both a boon, and a detriment to our settlements. Because like attracts like, you can have an entire city of elves who are some of the best in, say, illusion magic. They structure their own society and culture around it, they build their cities to represent this, they become renown quickly as the single most important place to go for any illusion mage in the world. Conversely, this means that all someone would need to do in order to dismantle the entire city would be to find a way to counter their illusion magic. Once that is achieved they very likely have no other viable defenses because they are so highly specialized”

Casper nodded along, seeing where this was going.

“My people, in my home city, were specialists in a different sort. We were…the supporters of other mages you see. Our magics alone were not potent, but we acted as conduits for other mages to use in order to expand their own power. We had many alliances, we had wealth and power and good position among other elven city states though we ourselves were rather unremarkable independently.” she trailed off slightly, and casper gave her time to collect her words.

“We were the first targeted in the attack. The humans didn’t even want us, they simply wanted us dead in order to better launch their assaults on the other city states, to deny them their catalysis. I have no idea what became of the others but my people were systematically killed. So few humans are capable of casting magics, and celestial and fiend magic is incredibly different from that belonging to the elves. We were only good for enhancing the other elves of our lands and so we were better off dead” she explained. Though the content of her words was heavy, her tone maintained itself, staying even and measured despite the clearly disturbing content.

“Some of what the humans considered to be more beautiful elves were allowed to live and sold into slavery to become the prizes of those with enough wealth to afford a high race slave. I was one such slave”

She paused again, taking a brief moment to look over to Alex as she laughed with Annabelle around the fire, seemingly at Elisayra’s expense given the expression on the half elves face.

“I was bought by Alex’s father. Her uncle, the man she lived with up until recently, was the man responsible for the raid on my people, and he offered me for a discounted price. This was before the trouble between Alex’s father and uncle came to a head, though that is a story for another time” she added before continuing.

“From that day forward I was charged to care for Alex. Her father was largely absent, and got himself into much trouble with the higher lords of the lands before he was removed from his station. Alex was shipped over to live with her Uncle then to maintain titles, and almost instantly was set to marry another man.”

“Right, Alex told me a little about this a while ago.” Casper noted.

“You see, Alex confided in me much during my time as her maid. I was the keeper of her secrets. While it is not my place to share her personal matters, one such secret bonded us in a way that I cannot adequately describe, other than telling you that it was incredibly sacred to her. Of course she had shared with me many things, but this one was a secret unlike any other.”

“Can I get a hint?” Casper tried, but Nephinae shook her head.

“No, though perhaps in time she will tell you too. Though, back to the story at hand. It was with this secret that I agreed then to help lady Alex escape her uncle's clutches. She wished to take me with her but I was unable to go, it would draw too much suspicion you see. I am easy to identify, there is little I can do to hide my ears or my elven figure, my distinct eyes or platinum hair, and so I remained as she fled, despite the risk to myself.”

“So it was this secret that bonded you then”

“Right, that was the very start, yes. You see, though there is another reason. While yes it was the secret that bonded us, Alex from the very beginning took keen interest in me and my people. She wished to learn of our culture and history. She never saw herself as a master or me as a slave. We were friends. In elven culture, we rarely ever bond but when we do that bond is strong. While Alex may not have any manna, I found a bond with her unlike any I had found among my own people. Perhaps it was because it had been so long, or because I was unbonded among my own people. Regardless of the specifics I felt a connection to her the very same way my people, the elven people feel those very same connections.”

“I think I understand,” Casper confirmed, nodding along to her words. While he didn’t get the premise of magical bonding, he knew the feeling of closeness. He was close to everyone in his village. While they might not have all been blood related they were all family, and that kind of connection isn’t one that comes easy.

“I see that you do, I can tell by the look in your eyes you do truly understand” Nephinae expressed with a grin. “That is why we are so close to one another you see”

“I see…though…really there isn’t any chance you can tell me her secret?” Casper pushed playfully.

Nephinae rolled her eyes. “Perhaps then a little hint, to sate your curiosity.” She offered. “Alex wished to run away from the marriage not because the man she would be married to was a poor fit in either looks nor wealth nor demeanor. In fact he was a rather handsome, kind, and wealthy man. She wished to run for other reasons.” She confirmed.

Caspers mind returned to the first night himself, Alex, and Annabelle sat around the campfire telling stories of their pasts. His memory settled on the words she used, and while she, at the time, was pretending to be a boy and had to lie a little, Alex had mentioned she fell in love with a girl. Casper silently wondered if the genders had been swapped or not, but dismissed the thought at the sound of a scream from the center of the camp.

Casper quickly moved to look at the cause of the scream, only to exhale with relief as Elisayra was being hoisted over Annabelles head and pressed like she was lifting weights.

“That's all of the clothes then” Nephinae giggled at the sight as well, moving to string the last piece of garment up on the line.

“Shall we return to the party?” Casper offered with a chuckle of his own.

“We shall” Nephinae confirmed.