"Come on, Captain, we have been here for three days. We are already behind schedule enough. I want to get back home to my girl."

The King's selected part had stopped in a rocky area somewhere in the Naples region; they found a small alcove that they were able to use as shelter from the rain, which continued for three days straight. This made the road ahead unsuitable for travel, so the group was stuck waiting for the mud to dry.

"Bengie, unless you want to walk all the way back because your horse broke its damn leg, you'll go out there and set up as lookout."

Bengie, who was complaining, snorted and stormed off, taking over a watch position for the only female hired on to the party.

She walked back like she witnesses a madman's preachings, "What on earth is wrong with Benjamin?" She asked in her proper tone.

"He is having issues obeying orders." The Captain said, crossing his arms, watching the man make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.

"Oh, I see. He wants to get back to that little floozy he met at the bar a couple of night before we headed out. Poor fool still doesn't realize the bitch was playing him like a fiddle."

"Is that what his issue is?" The Captain asked in a way that made it seem like he cared when he really didn't.

"Oh yeah, it is most definitely; anyways, I'll go switch out Casper. I'm sure he is tired of sitting over Reglan and the objective." She trotted away and over to where a tall, slender male stood; he was not human, nor was he elven. He came from a race called the Luftian, people who were descendants of the air elementals.

"How's the small thing?" She asked, leaning against the rock wall next to Casper. The chill of the cold stone quickly pulled the heat from the young woman causing her to shiver.

Reglan stood on the other side of Casper in a small grove that almost made him hidden. The Luftain next to him blocked the rest of him with his body. He stepped up away from the wall to answer.

"He is alive, and he started eating again. After we got the freeze off of him, he stopped trying to pull off that 'I don't want to live' act he was giving us." Reglan leaned back with exhaustion in his face; he had been up for three days pulling Tacitus back from dangerous waters. Now that he was more active, he had a moment to rest.

"He is also very talkative," Casper added.

The girl chuckled, "You must love that. Good thing the boy is talking."

Casper chuckled.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Why are you giggling?"

"Well, Ash, you keep calling him boy, and he is a year older than you."

Ash gasped, "No. Are you serious? He is just so... small and quiet! I would have never guessed."

Casper nodded his head, "Reg had him talking all morning. We got a lot out of him, the answers we've been wondering about he told us."

She almost seemed too excited upon hearing that bit of information. "Tell me! I want to know; I have to know." She whined, making her look even younger.

Reglan groaned; he was trying to take a small rest, but with this overly excited one, he knew that would be short-lived. So he sat up and moved around to be a part of the conversation.

"His full name is Tacitus Uzi, his mother sold him, and he is a beast shifter."

Ash bounced her eyes between the two men in front of her. "Seriously?" She said quietly. "That's horrible; why would a mother do that? But you said a beast shifter? I thought beast shifters wiped those out about a hundred and eighty years back?"

"No, a good portion of them were killed out, but not all. In fact, the Uzi name he holds was initially one of the beast shifter noble names. I only know that because my father's family made their fortune from trading with them back in the day." Reglan continued.

Casper tilted his head as if he was lost in thought, "What kind of shifters were they again? If my memory servers me correctly, I was told that shifters were very biased against each other."

"Don't know, he hasn't said what he is yet, and I don't remember the stories that well to remember what kind they were."

The group's discussion was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps coming upon them. Turning their heads, looking at the incomer, the small, blond male they all had been speaking about.

He staggered as he walked, moving as if he was a toddler learning how to walk.

"You up? That's a good sign." Reglan said, now that Tacitus was up and moving about, they could head out once the mud from the rains had dried up enough to move the horses safely.

The blond nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked between the three guards and then returned his head to the ground. The same reaction he has had to everyone since they picked him up back in Tanbori.

"You keep acting like that, and the King is gonna think we beat you." Ash popped up after the moment of silence had gotten on her last nerve.

"Ash-" Casper started to interrupt her to keep her from speaking but was cut off by Reglan putting his hand to the man's mouth.

"I know you can speak." she said, stepping away from the wall, "And honestly, anyone who would bite is outside pissin' around with the Captain. So you don't have to worry about gettin' bit." Ash was in his face, with her finger up and to the side like she was making a point. Which she was, and the reason Reglan was keeping anyone from interfering was to see if she could get him to react.

Tacitus was looking Ash dead in the eye now. Which was the first time he looked anyone in the eye since that night. The two male guards overseeing him watched as he visually became calmer with this chaos incarnate girl up in his face. A slight grin from the left side of his face formed, showing off the tip of his upper canine.

"He can smile, can he?" Ash said, moving back on her hips and placing her arms in front of her chest.

"You remind me of someone," he said with a raspy voice.

"You weren't lying Reggy, he does speak." Ash seemed content with herself; the female scout, which closely resembled the personality of an over-hyper hound, had alright started scheming to pull the prisoner out of his shell. Even if the Captain had said to leave him be. She wasn't the one to listen to orders.

Ash reached into the breast pocket of her uniform and pulled out a black velvet back. Reaching her fingers into it, she asked, "You know how to play Black Bard?" revealing a game card and six-sided die.