Rove
The Grasping Isle, Herhor's End
The Map of the Grasping Isle [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/554030201789743105/1028654515798409237/Grasping_Isle_Final_V1.0.png]
With the odds more equal, this was a fight that was far more to Rove’s liking than their previous ones. The closest thug charged at him, sword high above his head, ready to swing downwards. While it certainly looked intimidating, the motion was too big and far too sluggish for it to be any real threat to the Herhor. Amateur.
Sidestepping the swing, the human warrior calmly swung his blade low, the blow connecting with the man’s leather-clad shins. The thug was sent crashing down onto the cobblestones with a grunt, the larger man’s face contorted with surprise and pain.
Meanwhile, his companion decided it was also time to draw his blade. At least, he tried to draw it. With that familiar angry buzzing sound, an arrow whizzed past Rove and grazed the man’s sword hand before he could fully draw the weapon. The man grumbled a curse, shuffling towards a more advantageous position.
“If you do not fancy an arrow in your shoulder, I’d suggest you behave yourself and be a good boy.” The winged woman said from behind him, her tone cold and angry. Rove could hear some shaking in her voice though, revealing some nervosity. It couldn’t be helped, she wasn’t fully used to battle just yet. Rove couldn’t help but admire her determination, as much as he was currently annoyed by the rest of his client’s personality. Even though Ayuen was on his side, a shiver travelled across his back at the mention of arrows. Even though they were on his side, he still didn’t like the damned buzzing bastards.
“I would listen to the woman if you do not want to get more bronze where it doesn’t belong inside that body of yours.” He said, his tone carefully kept uncaring and flat. He did not particularly care if the two thugs gave him a fight or not. Truth be told, he could use somebody to rough up a bit, maybe even kill if they proved to be too much of a danger or nuisance.
“Although if you want to proceed with the fighting, feel free to continue. We all know you can’t call for the guards. Not with your... occupation.”
The two men grimaced and looked at them with furious gazes, both of them getting up and grabbing their weapons again. The man that Ayuen had tried shooting pulled his weapon from the sheath with a low grunt, wincing just a slight tad when he did so. Strong and stupid it was then, not even smart enough to realize when they were outmatched. A corner of Rove’s mouth tugged up. Time to give them a lesson on why they shouldn’t fight every brawl they encountered. There were plenty of other monsters lurking there.
“Wrong choice. For you, that is. I’m actually quite glad you did.”
Getting into position again, he waited for the two thugs to approach. Ayuen hadn’t made good on her threat yet, maybe hoping the two would flee or surrender. He wouldn’t need her skill with a bow to deal with people like these though. Her naivety was a source of concern though, but he’d address that later.
Still, better safe than sorry. Getting injured here wasn’t the most effective way of doing things. One of the thugs approached him slowly and carefully, his face grim and fierce, his gaze jumping from him to the cloaked woman standing behind him.
“An arrow for those fools, please.” He called to the back with a calm yet demanding voice, not taking his eyes off the thugs. Without waiting for an answer, he made a lunge towards his adversary, with the intent to delay and make him jump back. It worked admirably, with the oaf jumping a step back, bashing into his fellow. Their hostage, now freed due to the hustle, dashed away and hid behind some crates nearby. Great, that was one problem less.
Granted, the men had the clarity of mind to ignore their escaped hostage for now. They knew that getting distracted here would mean death. Patiently, Rove waited for Ayuen to open fire, the Herhor creeping forward, blade held in front of him and ready to catch their attacks.
A second later, Ayuen’s shot finally came through, angrily buzzing over his shoulder and whizzing towards the brutish duo. Seeing this coming, the front one steps forward and to the side, while the other stepped more to the back. The arrow missed the both of them, clattering harmlessly on the cobblestone floor. However, this was the moment Rove has been waiting for. With a burst of speed, he closed the remaining distance between him and the first thug, sword held low and close to his body, tip turning to trail behind him for a brief moment. While he stepped in, he brought his arms up, the upper edge of his blade speeding towards the man’s unarmoured armpit, where it connected and bit into the man’s flesh. With a scream, the man went down with a huge gash on his arm and upper torso.
“Shit! I’ll cut your bloody head clean off!” The remaining mercenary roared, fear and panic clearly clouding his judgement. The large man charged right at him, his weapon held in front of him, clearly attempting to make good on his threat by impaling him on a length of metal.
A futile attempt. The strike was far too obvious and far too slow, so with a graceful motion, Rove stepped into his range and half dodged, half deflected the blow, the heavy strike hitting the wall with a high-pitched screech.
He let the man charge past him, and as he did, Rove made a single well-aimed thrust at the man’s heart, piercing it through the back and between two ribs. The man’s roar died away suddenly, a gurgle coming from his throat instead. His legs gave way and the thug crashed face-first into the alley’s surface, where he laid still, a pool of red slowly spreading from under the freshly slain body.
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Now, this was a good change of pace. No injuries and everything going to plan. About damn time too. Nodding contently, Rove turned around and walked to the first man’s body, crouching down to wipe his sword clean on his victim’s clothes. As he did so, he saw the chest of the man still rising up and down, albeit very slowly. With a sigh, he tapped on the fallen thug’s chest, the Herhor rising as he kicked the thug’s weapon away from it. The clattering echoed softly through the alley, dying down quickly.
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A shudder went through the man’s body as he drew a ragged breath.
“P-p-please…” The thug’s voice was barely a whisper. Probably had a few minutes to live before he bled out if no help was got. As far as he was concerned, the mercenary could just die here. Assaulted a woman and tried to kill him when he told them off. Not his type of person. However …..he wasn’t calling the shots, unfortunately. With a deep frown and a grumpy expression, he looked back at Ayuen. The woman had lowered her bow and was standing idle at the alley’s entrance, her eyes shifting from the woman to the bodies on the floor and eventually to him. She seemed to snap back into focus and her expression became more determined, nodding once to him. Great, saving a thug it is.
“You know….if you ask nicely, we can get you some help and actually let you survive.”
He was answered by a deep moan and a ragged breath, which Rove assumed meant something along the lines of ‘yes please’. He quickly checked the man on hidden weaponry, finding a pair of daggers in the sleeves in addition to the man’s blade. All done, he walked away to the other, more dead bandit to check him over as well.
“All clear, you can go and do whatever you do now.” The Herhor said in Ayuen’s direction, uncaring.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the Pyrn give him a hateful glare before she ran to the thug to save his life. While he knelt next to the dead man, he heard Ayuen whisper softly, followed by the breathing of the dying thug becoming slower and more stable. Swiftly looking over the dead man’s possessions, he soon noticed the man had nothing of value on him. Just a few copper palms in a pouch on his belt. The bronze weaponry he had on him was ill-maintained and looked like it could fall apart at any moment. Most likely would bludgeon a victim to death rather than cutting.
“Ehm….. Sir?” A soft feminine voice rang through the dark. “I’d like to thank you for taking care of those men for me.”
Looking up, he saw the woman still standing idle in the alleyway, a few meters away from him. Well, more a girl than a woman, when he observed more closely. Probably around twenty years old and a Vysari by the looks of it, going by the small tufts of fur on the ears peeping out from under her auburn hair and lean physique. Those longer arms could identify a Vysari from a good distance away.
“If you want to thank somebody, thank her. She’s the one who made the decision.” He said briskly, nodding to Ayuen. The Vysari girl took a startled step back, as if she didn’t expect him to actually respond.
“Aahh, a-alright.” She said, looking back towards the end of the alleyway as if she thought about running away.
Actually, why don’t you run away? He thought to himself. Saves me the trouble of talking to a scared little rabbit like you.
However, instead of turning tail and leaving, she seemed to gather up her courage and stepping closer to him, opening her mouth to continue speaking.
“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to know your names. I am Triëste, a travelling alchemist, and healer.”
“Well, I don’t see why I should ca-…..”
“It wasn’t any problem, Triëste. The pleasure was all ours. My name is Ayuen.” Ayuen suddenly spoke up, stepping up next to where he was crouching down. Bloody hell. Now she found her voice...
Looking backwards quickly, he saw the thug laying still, his breathing laboured but steady. He would pull through, although he wouldn’t move for a good long while.
Rove sighed and got up, looking at Ayuen and Triëste. Were they going to bloody do this? They should just pack up and go find someplace to stay.
“Ayuen.” He called out. “We should get going, get some rest and find a healer in the morning. Come on.”
At this, Triëste’s eyes focused on him.
“You need a healer? Can I maybe be of assistance? It’s the least I can do. I have studied under a Spellguide.”
She pointed to Ayuen.
“Similar magic as she just used. Beacon Magic! And if that doesn’t work or isn’t required, I can see if I can brew up something that might help. So could you tell me what’s the problem?”
“It’s really not nec-….” He began, getting interrupted by Ayuen once more. Rove’s brow twitched as he was getting rather annoyed by this whole situation.
“Neither of us is hurt at the moment. However, we do require a healer to travel with us to the north, towards the Clasp River’s spring. We’ve gotten injured once before when we encountered several bandits, and we could make good use of somebody that can patch us up when we most direly need it.”
Great, just what he needed. Another body to keep from bleeding. His voice was court and cold, his eyes flaring as he whirled to face his charge.
“Miss Ayuen, you can’t be bloody suggesting we ta-….”
“I can manage that! Truth be told, I wasn’t doing much around these parts, honestly. I’m sure I can be useful to you!” Triëste suddenly burst through his sentence, the girl jumping up and down all excited.
“I might not look like it, but I have some experience in working for Herhors as a healer, so I’m quite sure I’ll not weigh you down! Although if at all possible I’d like to avoid fighting myself….”
Truth be told, a healer of some skill wouldn’t be the worse thing to have on their journey. However, a background check wouldn’t be a bad idea, just in case.
“I’ll ask around to see if there is anyone who can verify your story.” Rove finally managed to say, keeping his tone level despite his annoyance. “Can you tell me who you worked with or for recently?”
“Ehm, it’s been about a week since I last worked for somebody. A small job for a Herhor named Koran. Came back here to Herhor’s End with a broken leg, and I managed to patch him up quite quickly. If you go to the Herhor’s office, they’ll surely be able to say I’m telling the truth.” The young woman nodded enthusiastically, her hair bouncing wildly up and down.
“We’ll do that tomorrow,” Ayuen said, with a big soft smile on her face. Well, seemed she was warming up to the girl. Fuck. “Rove and I must first acquire a suitable bed to sleep in for tonight. Where can we find you on the morrow, Triëste?”
Rove made a dismissive ‘Ttsskk’ sound as Ayuen kept talking to the girl, obviously getting quite enthusiastic about letting her join the group. It was clear she didn’t have any formal combat training whatsoever and she’d just be in the way in a fight. Even if her healing abilities were top-notch, he wasn’t very sure at all this was the right course of action. But, a contract was a contract and Ayuen called the shots in the end. He wandered around a bit, making sure nobody else was entering the alley. He couldn’t be bothered anymore by his employer’s conversation though.
By now, Ayuen and Triëste had exchanged all kinds of information, from the inn Triëste was staying to what they had planned to do the next morning. If he wasn’t careful, his client was going to reveal sensitive contractual information to a random person she just met, damsel in distress or not. And he couldn’t have that now, could he? Time to cut this meeting short.
“Miss Ayuen, it’s time for us to go. I know a place for us to stay. Trustworthy innkeeper, decent beds. Shall we?” He placed quite the emphasis on the last two words, hoping it would get through. And it did for once. Ayuen nodded at him with a surprisingly understanding nod, his client saying her goodbyes and turning to him, gesturing to the end of the alleyway that they arrived from. Triëste waved and turned around, exiting on the other side of the alley. They walked back to the horse, ripped it away from its grassy meal and with the reins in hand, walked the last couple of hundred meters to the inn Rove had in mind.
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