FOLLOWING LEADS

Iris ignored the stares from her party as she made to go look at all of the loot, however, Gryff and Laken stepped in front of her. She gave the guys a smile, but their faces only hardened and then the head jerk in charge stepped in, blocking her path.

“Iris, when are you going to stop being a dumb bitch?” Mocha nickered in a low tone. Her ears twitched, and her tail flicked in agitation. “Going alone? You never go alone.”

Iris took a deep breath. “I go alone all the time, Mocha,” she said slowly. “That’s literally what I did for a year and a half. I was a solo adventurer. You know this.”

Mocha huffed and stamped her hoof on the ground, clearly agitated. “You do not! Ever since we've been together, I've always been waiting, ready to rush to your aid at a moment's notice. We’ve fought together! Or don’t you remember the Murder Hares? I even gained an ability that alerts me if you're in trouble when I'm nearby!” Mocha's frustration radiated from her like an aura as she whinnied in anger. A surge of mana enveloped the horse, and her eyes glowed with a swirling mix of yellow and green. “This ability won't work if I'm far away with others and you're off doing your own thing! What if something happened to you? You're my stupid human, Iris, and I don't want anything to happen to you!”

Iris felt a rush of emotions as Mocha laid into her. Her initial reaction was to push back, as it clashed with her independence, but that was quickly tempered the more Mocha spoke. By the time her friend finished, guilt gnawed at Iris’s heart for not considering Mocha’s feelings and loyalty, and she couldn’t deny the warmth that spread through her chest at the thought of Mocha and her new party caring about her safety.

“Mocha…” Iris began, her voice softening as she took a step closer to the agitated horse. “I didn’t realize my actions affected you so much. I'm sorry for not being more considerate, and I promise to be more mindful in the future.” she reached out, gently stroking Mocha’s neck as she sought to reassure her loyal friend.

Laken crossed his arms and turned to face Iris. “I don't know what she just said, Iris, but I bet it's something that all of us can agree with,” he said, his tone serious. “Bree filled us in on what happened. I don't really care about the reasons. We're a team, and we don't take jobs alone. Either you keep us involved or we walk.”

He took a deep breath and continued, “Now, I know that some quests may only require one of us to complete. But that doesn't mean you don't need support or that you should go wandering off into the woods without anyone knowing where you are. There are other dangers out there, especially now. The world is changing rapidly, and things are getting worse. We need to support each other.”

Gryff nodded, the big telv standing tall. “Agreed. We’re a team. We…” he said while gesturing between himself, Laken, and Mocha. “Wouldn’t have left if we knew you were going to take another job that was potentially so dangerous. You leaving while Kaira was still injured was in poor form.”

Iris wanted to retort, but as soon as the gentle hand touched her shoulder, she knew any chance of argument was over.

Not that I had one in the first place.

Bree had been right with everything she’d said earlier in the day. Iris had taken that quest to focus on something other than her emotions, or whatever other psychological mumbo-jumbo a whole team of therapists would struggle to identify. Pretty sure getting whisked away to a world with elves and magic isn’t normal. Surely my mental response is… understandable. Right?

Kaira moved to her side and looked into her eyes. “Do not do that again, love,” she said with a steely tone that sent shivers down Iris’s spine.

The guilt kept pouring on. Her party was right. Iris had been reckless, and it could have ended badly. She nodded, her expression contrite.

Kaira gave her a curt nod in return before wincing.

“I’m sorry everyone,” Iris said quietly. The others let out breaths of relief.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Mocha snorted. “Damn, straight. And don’t do it again.”

Kaira focused on the other three members of the party. “Good. Now, remember that Iris has spent her entire time in our world working with only Mocha at her side. She’s not used to working in teams like us all. Please keep that in mind, everyone,” the elf said, the Guard Captain coming out in her tone with finality. “Now, that’s settled. Let’s move on.”

She gave Iris one last squeeze before moving to sit down. The adventurer winced in sympathy as she saw the woman groan while slowly lowering herself onto a crate that had been set up for her.

Iris looked at Gryff and Laken, the two still giving off an icy stare that appeared to be thawing. She gave them a small smile. “So… How did the camp go?”

Laken glanced at Mocha but the horse shook her head. The high elf sighed, but answered her at least, “It went well. Thank Alos that we let those two bandits live. We would not have been able to get everything out without the wagon path. There was a lot that we didn’t see the first time we were there, and frankly… it was an astounding amount of things we managed to take. There’s still more and Ser Meredith’s people are heading there, but there’s nothing worth taking for us,” he said before gesturing at the wagon. “Because we couldn’t fit it. The only reason we took so long to return is because we had to free the caged animals without them attacking us.”

Iris nodded along as he explained.

Gryff walked over to the wagon and pulled aside a large fabric cover. “Come, look at what we got,” he said with a now warm smile.

As Iris approached the wagon, she couldn't help but feel excited at the sight of all the loot. She could see that the wagon was filled to the brim with all sorts of goods, from chests of coins and other valuables, and crates of wine, to armor and weapons.

When she saw those, she couldn’t help but narrow her eyes. She had to ask, “Why didn’t the bandits use some of these weapons and armor? Like, they were so under-geared compared to us. Not that I’m complaining.”

Kaira, who was still recovering from her injuries, looked over at Iris from where she sat and said, “Well, it’s possible that they were saving them to sell later. Some of those weapons and armor are really well-made and could fetch a high price on any market.”

“That’s true,” Gryff added. “It’s also possible that they were holding onto them for the Marauder Prince. Who knows when they were supposed to see him again.”

Laken nodded in agreement. “Either way, we’re the ones who benefit from their foolishness. I mean, just look at all of this. Even after giving a cut to the Guard after we report the camp officially, we’re going to be doing quite well for ourselves.”

Bree, who had been quiet ever since Iris returned, suddenly spoke up. “All of this is good and all, but did you find anything regarding the Marauder Prince?”

Gryff shrugged. “We found a bunch of documents, but we don’t know what they mean.”

“Let’s grab them and bring them to dinner. I’ll go clean up and then we can go over them after I tell you guys about what happened to me,” Iris suggested.

As they began to move into the inn, Iris noticed Kaira hobbling over to a guard from Ser Meredith's group that walked up and looked over their group. She waved at the man as she stepped slowly, her hand hovering over her abdomen. “Excuse me, would you mind keeping an eye on our wagon while we have dinner inside?”

The guard scrutinized Kaira, his countenance softening as he took in her injury, and nodded. “Of course, I'll make sure no one touches your belongings.”

Kaira thanked the man.

“I’ll wait with it as well, Iris,” Mocha nickered. “You guys take your time and find the jerk behind everything.”

“Thanks, girl,” Iris said with a smile. “We’ll figure this out.”

“Good. Now, go help your girlfriend,” Mocha said, but then the horse hesitated as she noticed Iris’s expression before blowing out some air. “Tell me later. You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Iris said with a roll of her eyes. “Lemme go help her. I’ll be fine.”

Mocha gave her a gentle nudge, one filled with love, and turned around. The horse took up a position next to the wagon, ready to stand guard.

Iris moved over to the high elf and put her arm around her. “Need a hand?”

Kaira turned her head up and peered at Iris gratefully. “Thanks. Please.”

Bree moved to Kaira’s other side. “She should be good by tomorrow with the healing goop, but she really should be resting.”

“Iris was…” Kaira began, but then relented under Bree’s glare. “Fine, yes. After we eat.”

Bree nodded. “Good,” she said before the shorter sun elf turned her glare on the adventurer. “I have her. You need to go get cleaned up. You smell like a swamp.”

She laughed and nodded. “Alright, alright. See you guys in a bit.” She gave Kaira’s shoulder a gentle squeeze and headed inside.