Chapter 08

The presence of the broken wagon and dead oxen did not bode well for their planned excursion off the main trade road. Markus had laid temporary enchantments on both of their clothing and weapons at the first sign of the wreck.

“It might not be much, but it should stop us from getting stuck full of arrows like those poor beasts,” Markus pointed to the oxen for emphasis, who bore a disconcerting similarity to pincushions.

Aela knelt by the fallen oxen and tasted the air, “Not dead long, hour maybe. Enemies still nearby."

“Can you track them?” Markus asked.

Aela snorted, of course she could. Whoever had attacked the wagon had left tracks so obvious even her youngest sister could find and follow them. The real question wasn’t if she could follow them, but whether they should follow them at all. “I can,” Aela replied tactfully, unwilling to expose Markus to unnecessary danger, particularly given his weakened state.

“Then we had better get a move on-” Markus pulled something free of the wreckage and held it up to show her. It was a child’s stuffed animal toy, “We need to do something Aela, I can’t just walk away from this sort of thing.”

Aela had already determined a rough count of the combatants and was not happy with what she had uncovered, “They are twenty, maybe more,” Aela pointed out with the intent of gauging Markus’s reaction.

Markus didn’t even hesitate, “We can do this, I know we can."

There it was again, that unwavering certainty and conviction.

“You are sure?” Aela offered him one final chance to back down.

“Absolutely," Markus replied firmly.

Aela took the child's toy from Markus, holding it up to her nose and inhaling deeply. Tasting the air with her tongue, she was fairly confident that the child was not in the same direction most of the tracks indicated. Prowling the immediate vicinity and keeping a sharp eye out for possible indications of where the child had gone, she was not disappointed.

Following a trail of broken branches and displaced foliage, she motioned for Markus to follow and stay quiet. There were four sets of tracks heading in this general direction, three men and one woman by the scent of it. Knowing they were on the right trail, Aela increased their pace, easily maintaining correct heading with minimal effort.

After twenty minutes of brisk marching through rough terrain, she was confident they would catch up to their quarry soon.

As if in confirmation a woman’s scream pierced the relative silence.

“Go!,” Markus yelled, already a little short of breath he grit his teeth and pushed on, “I’ll catch up to you!"

Shifting her brisk stride into a run, Aela crashed through the underbrush.

The woman cried out again, “Someone, please!” Her desperate plea accompanied by the muted wailing of an infant.

Aela pulled down her scarf, roughly shifting its folds to protect her throat and leave her mouth unrestricted.

"Nobody is going to save you now," a rough man’s voice sneered.

“Start over, I like it when they scream,” chimed in another as he laughed.

"What is that?" Querried a third.

Aela burst through the underbrush and into the clearing.

A young woman in a torn and muddied dress cowered in the centre of the clearing, a newborn clutched to her chest protectively angled away from three rough-looking men in tattered gambesons and furs that were approaching her with weapons drawn.

Maintaining her momentum, Aela leapt at the closest of them, her head hammering in towards his neck and snapping her jaws down hard. Before he even had time to register what had happened, Aela jackknifed her head away again and shoved the man away hard, tearing a bloody mouthful free in the process.

The two remaining men turned in time to watch their companion fall to the ground. The one to her right levelled his crossbow and fired, the hasty shot going wide.

Drawing her hunting knife, Aela leapt at him, easily closing the distance before he could draw a melee weapon to defend himself. She rammed the knife through his gambeson and into his belly, spitting the chunk of meat she had torn from his companion into his face, blinding him. Bearing him to the ground, Aela stabbed him again and again in rapid succession deaf to the man’s feeble pleas for mercy.

"JUST FUCKING DIE MONSTER!" The last man standing screamed from behind her.

Something impacted and ricocheted off Aela’s back.

Spinning about, Aela could see the fear and surprise on the man’s face as she charged towards him, his crossbow hanging limp in his hands.

"But ... I shot you ..." He moaned, eyes wide with fear.

Aela smiled wide, blood and saliva running down her chin as her tongue darted in and out of her mouth, savouring her prey's fear.

Casting his crossbow aside, the man turned and ran, "SOMEBODY! SAVE ME!" He screamed.

Aela easily ran him down, pushing him in the back and knocking him to the ground.

"NO! WAIT! PLEASE!" The man desperately tried to crawl away, his trousers reeking of urine and feces.

Aela pressed him face down into the mud by planting a boot heel in the square of his back “No mercy for you." Raising her foot momentarily, she brought it crashing down again, the impact accompanied by the crunch and sensation of bones breaking underfoot. Aela repeated the action twice more for good measure before bringing her heel down on his neck.

Re-entering the clearing Aela could see the woman still cowering on the ground but slowly dragging herself away, her infant clutched desperately in one arm while she clawed at the loose earth with the other. Seeing Aela approach her eyes were wild with fear.

“Stay back!” She screamed, scrambling for a weapon, she snatched up a nearby rock and tossed it at Aela. The rock fell short by several feet and wouldn’t have done anything to Aela anyway..

Aela cleaned her knife on her cloak then sheathed it. “Not here to hurting you,” she said, raising her hands to show she meant no harm, for all the good it did.

“Let us go,” she begged, feebly pushing herself away.

Aela could hear someone moving in the underbrush nearby, “Here Markus,” she called out louder than she perhaps needed to.

Markus barrelled into the clearing and nearly keeled over from exhaustion. “Bloody-hell,” he wheezed, “Are-they-alright?” Markus gestured to the woman and her babe but had to lean against a tree to catch his breath.

Aela shrugged, “Think so, only blood I smell not theirs."

Markus gave a thumbs up with his injured hand while taking a deep draught from his canteen using the other.

“Sir, please you must help us,” The woman was speaking so quickly Aela could not understand her, but her body language made it clear that she was relieved by Markus’s timely arrival.

“That was the plan,” Markus replied, stowing his canteen and gingerly closing the distance between himself and the woman. “Are you and your child alright? Are either of you injured?"

“My ankle, I tripped and fell, it hurts.” She gestured to her left ankle and fresh tears began streaming down her cheeks, “They took my husband Robert. They beat him severely because he bought us time to escape. Please you have to help him! ” Her voice broke as she uttered the last words, taking hold of Markus's pant leg and holding it tight, “Please! I Beg of you!"

Markus knelt down beside her, “I can offer what assistance I can, but I cannot succeed on my own,” Markus pointed to Aela, “My friend Aela would be the one taking all the risk doing the lion's share of the fighting. So it isn’t me you should be asking, it is her."

The woman shrunk back in fear, "But this is-"

“AELA-” Markus interjected sternly, “-Is my friend and the only one who can save your husband," Markus removed the woman’s hand and walked over to Aela, “Sorry, you probably get a lot of that I expect."

Aela shrugged, Markus was more or less correct. She would be lying if she said it didn’t bother her, but she understood it. Aela had been raised amongst chimaeras and seen first hand what savagery they were capable of, so she could only imagine what stories the humans told about them. It meant a great deal to Aela that Markus was standing up for her, as somewhat misguided as his own stance was.

Wiping the blood from her face with her scarf, Aela shrugged again. In spite of saving that woman and her child, Aela had also very likely just made real any number of bedtime stories used to frighten children into obedience. Her teeth and how she had used them certainly weren’t helping.

“Please-I-beg-of-you, save-my-husband,” Seemingly under the impression that Aela was little more than a dumb beast, the woman spoke each word with agonizing slowness, accenting her final words with muffled sobs.

Markus looked to Aela, making it clear that how they would proceed was her choice. He smiled as if he already knew what she would decide.

Aela had much more experience with this sort of thing than Markus and knew to temper her expectations in regards to the ideal outcome. There was a very real possibility the woman’s husband was already dead. While bandit’s and gangs may take prisoners with the intent of ransom or selling their captives into slavery. Unfortunately, more often than not, their poor discipline and lack of medical training and care, resulted in alarmingly high fatality rates amongst those under their care.

Aela straightened her back and rolled her shoulders, “Alright."

Markus smiled wider, the look in his eyes was all the compensation she needed.

Drawing Markus in close, Aela spoke quietly so only he could hear her, “Time is our enemy. Longer he is prisoner, higher chance he dies."

Markus nodded in agreement to show he understood, “I’ll take the woman and her child to town, gather some guards and try to catch you up."

Aela appreciated the sentiment but honestly doubted Markus would make it back to the wreck of the wagon in time to do much of anything, so she just nodded. “If I rescue prisoner first, regroup on the road."

Markus nodded, “Alright, let’s do this. Good luck Aela.” He gave her a one-armed hug.

Unfortunately, Markus drew away again before she had time to overcome her surprise and appreciate it. “Maybe he will give me another when I return with the bandit’s prisoner?” Aela thought hopefully. Blood thrumming in her veins, she began jogging back towards the wrecked wagon. As brief as it had been, Aela had felt Markus’s heart beating so close to her own and she already ached to feel it again.

Crashing through the underbrush and onto the road again, Aela spotted two more of the bandits pawing through the remains of the wagon, their weapons foolishly resting against its side and out of reach.

Hearing her coming, the first bandit turned around just in time to see Aela’s fist connecting with his face, his lower jaw collapsing under the impact, blood and teeth spattering against the road.

Knocking him aside, Aela leapt into the bed of the wagon alongside the second bandit, twisting and using her tail to sweep his legs out from under him. She then straddled the bandit’s stomach and began bludgeoning his head with her fists, and after five strikes in rapid succession, his unarmored head burst like an overripe melon.

Leaping back out of the wagon, Aela saw the first bandit timidly pawing at the mess of his lower jaw. As their eyes met, she could see the warring thoughts behind his eyes as he struggled to decide whether to fight or flee. Making the choice for him, Aela snatched the pitted and poorly kept sword he had stowed by the wagon and embedded it in his chest by way of his collarbone.

Knowing she had little time to appreciate her handiwork, Aela took only a few moments to get her bearings relating to the bandit’s tracks and set off into the woods again.

Finding the bandits had been laughably easy. Not a single one of them had made an attempt at concealing their tracks. Knowing she was in at least some danger because of their numerical advantage, and wearing no armour, Aela took her time making her final approach.

To their credit, they had set two lookouts to give them advance warning of trouble approaching from the road. But they had not made sure that these lookouts could see one another, which was a serious mistake.

Aela stalked the bandit posted as a lookout as only a predator could, her movements calm and calculated, patiently approaching from where her prey least expected to find her. The hunting knife Aela’s mother had given her was an old friend, an extension of her arm, hard and cold like Aela’s heart. As the distance between them melted away, Aela felt her anticipation rising like fire in her veins, but she quelled it. Now was not the moment for such indulgence, there would be time enough for it later.

Rising to her full height in the bandit’s blindside, Aela’s left hand inched towards the lookout’s throat as her right shifted into a striking position. All at once, Aela wrapped her hand around the bandit’s throat, anchoring deep with her claws and crushing his windpipe. Drawing the silenced bandit back towards her, Aela pressed his back against her chest and drove her knife through his ragged gambeson and into his heart.

The bandit looked up at Aela, his eyes frozen in terror and mouth locked open as he tried to scream but was unable to even breathe.

Twisting and withdrawing her knife, Aela slowly lowered him to the ground but did not relinquish her hold until she felt his pulse fade entirely. Wiping her knife and fingers clean on his body, Aela began reassessing her targets. With the first lookout dead, Aela cut straight across to the second, lunging from the underbrush and nearly decapitating him with the strength and momentum behind her blade.

The second lookout gurgled wetly and fell to the ground, his lifeblood pumping steadily over the forest floor. With the death of the second lookout, Aela now theoretically held free reign over her approach and could more or less begin culling the remaining bandits with impunity.

Slipping in amongst the bandit’s tents like a shadow in the night, Aela crouched low and strained her ears for any indication that the lookout’s disappearance had been noticed. The rumbling drunken snores of their erstwhile living comrades made it clear that Aela had little cause for concern.

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With only a half dozen open-faced tents made of coarse sailcloth, seven bandits sat around the smouldering remnants of a large bonfire, drinking and boasting of their misdeeds.

Deciding it would be best to deal with those bandits last, Aela cautiously entered the first tent from the opening facing the outermost edge of the camp. She found three dirty and dishevelled bandits huddled beneath ragged blankets and furs, their unwashed bodies reeking of rancid fat and sweat.

Crouching over the first bandit, Aela held her breath and in one smooth motion clamped her left hand down on his trachea and plunged her knife into his heart. Just like the lookout, the abruptly awoken bandit could do nothing except spasm briefly before death claimed him. Aela repeated the process on each of the bandits in the tent with brutal efficiency.

There had been a time when killing someone like this had bothered Aela, but that had all changed once her mother had shown her what men and women such as these were capable of.

“Show them no pity, spare them no mercy. Given the chance, they would have neither for you.” Her mother’s words were spoken to her as a child had been accompanied by the visual aid of what such cruel and hardened men were capable of. Aela could still see the bodies in her mind, discoloured by bruises and the onset of rot. Men, women, children, it had made little difference, all of their victims had been left where they had fallen. Svala had not left it at that of course, she had explained in gruesome detail what had been done to each of their victims, particularly the women and young girls.

With her mother’s lesson in the forefront of her mind, Aela swept from tent to tent with renewed vigour and purpose, dispatching each of the beasts in turn, glaring coldly into their eyes as they struggled and died alone.

Reaching the final tent, Aela was surprised to find someone who was awake. Badly beaten and bruised, the young man had shoulder length brown hair and bloodied but otherwise well-kept clothing. He was tied to the central post of the tent, by his wrists and appeared to have at least a couple of dislocated fingers. Facing away from the centre of the camp, the bandit’s prisoner had seen Aela only as she had entered the tent but made no reaction besides narrowing his eyes in her direction, as much as his swollen bruises had allowed anyway.

Aela and the prisoner were not alone. A larger bandit sat nearby on a filthy mattress of straw and unlike the others, he held a sword in his right hand as he sharpened it with a whetstone. Taking a moment to consider her best approach, Aela now noticed that the interior of this tent was different from the others. Slightly larger and cluttered with the bandit’s ill-gotten gains. A multitude of crates and barrels were stacked haphazardly against the sides of the tent and even the tent floor was matted with animal hides. Most interesting of all was the bandit’s armour draped carelessly over a barrel, poorly maintained as it was, it still beggared belief that a lowly bandit was in possession of a suit of splint armour.

Just as Aela was considering closing in on the uncharacteristically wealthy bandit, multiple voices called out from the direction of the camp. "Boss! Hey boss! You'll never guess what we found!"

The large bandit sprung to immediate readiness, swinging his sword wildly as he struggled to gain his bearings. “What?!” He roared, thoroughly confused.

Aela had hidden behind a stack of crates and was watching him closely to try and determine what was going on, more than content to stay hidden while doing so. If they had discovered their dead comrades, she was content to wait and begin anew once they began to tire. So for now, this hiding place was as good as any.

The large bandit stomped out of the tent, “Jerrard? Is that you? You better have this woman or I'll have your guts for the garters.” There was a sudden pause in his speech and his change in tone made it clear he was very angry.

Sneaking out the back of the tent, still crouching, Aela spied on the events unfolding in the centre of the bandits camp. There were more than twenty bandits now, seven of them including the larger bandit were armed. It seemed like not all of the bandits had been in their camp when Aela had started the cull, and the stragglers had just returned.

“Where are Slint and Barder?” The larger bandit asked, his sword hand twitching angrily.

“Dead,” one of the bandits replied matter of factly. Prompted by a visual cue Aela couldn’t see from her vantage point the bandit elaborated, “Someone or something got to them over at the wagon."

“Did you find what did it?” The larger bandit asked, his tone heavy with the threat of imminent violence.

“N-no boss! We did-URK,” the smaller bandit staggered backwards as the larger bandit buried his blade in his belly. “Boss please,” he begged pitiably, fingers trembling around the rapidly growing crimson stain in his gambeson.

“FIND THEM!” The larger bandit bellowed, waving at the cowering pack of bandits around the camp, “NOW!" The larger bandit stalked back towards the tent, a pair of bandits following a half step behind, their superior equipment suggesting that they were his lieutenants.

Seeing the rest of the camp's bandits rapidly arming themselves and leaving the camp in short order. Sheathing her knife, Aela decided to slip into the tent as well. Sneaking around to the entrance facing the centre of the camp, Aela Stepped up behind the bandit lieutenants. She could see the larger bandit was preoccupied with donning his armour, so quick as a snake, Aela took hold of the bandit lieutenants by their necks and smashed their heads together with a wet and meaty crack.

Surprised, the larger bandit staggered backwards, the unsecured straps of his armour causing its bulk to shift uncontrollably and send him crashing to the ground as he lost his balance. "What is this?!" He swore while scrambling away from her.

Snatching up the larger bandits sword from on top of the crates where he had left it to don his armour, Aela stalked towards him. She jabbed at his legs with the point of the sword, driving him backwards and out of the tent. Making little real effort to injure the bandit leader at this point, Aela was not disappointed that he only received minor cuts as he fled.

Hampered by his own armour, the bandit leader squandered the precious seconds it took Aela to duck through the entrance of the tent, as he tried and failed to get to his feet. "Do you want the valuables?" He demanded, "Take them! Let me go!" Half cowering half raging with indignation, the bandit leader made for a poor sight.

Aela disregarded the bandit’s simpering demands and flipped the sword in her grip, taking a firm hold on the blade's flat sides with her palm and fingers, brandishing it like a club. With one brutal blow, she backhanded the pommel across the bandits face. Another lesson Aela’s mother had taught her, “Always take a prisoner."

“Pleash,” the bandit begged through broken teeth, his jaw hanging limp on one side, “Pleash!"

Aela discarded the sword and struck him with her fist as hard as she dared, throttling him within an inch of his life. When she was done a few moments later, the bandit’s face was a bloody mess, so she took care to roll him onto his side to make it less likely he would choke on his blood and broken teeth.

Taking rope from by the tent, Aela removed the bandit leader's armour and bound him so securely that she doubted she would be able to escape the ropes were she in his place.

Aela spared a few moments to cut the young man free, “I am going to hunt down the other bandits,” she told him, dragging the bandit leader to the pole they had used for tying their other prisoner.

The bandit’s prisoner, with tears streaming down his cheeks he clasped his hands together and lowered himself to his knees before Aela, “Please, my family, I beg you. I will give you everything I have, please save them! "

“Wife and babe are with friend, taking to town-” Aela was interrupted as a bandit cautiously poked his head into the tent.

"Boss..." He stared at Aela in shocked surprise.

Lunging forward, Aela snatched the bandit by his gambeson and dragged him into the tent. She bit down hard into his jugular before he had time to react, blood spattering into her throat and down her front. Releasing the bandit and returning her attention to the bandit’s prisoner, she could see he was pale as a ghost “Family safe, want to see again, don’t move!" Snatching up the bandit leader's sword again, Aela stepped out into the camp.

Twelve bandits were still equipping their armour and weapons. At first, none of them noticed her, cries of surprise instead coming from tents around the camp, most likely a result of having found the bodies of their comrades.

Unwilling to pass up the opportunity provided by their distraction, Aela charged the closest knot of bandits and sheared the nearest man’s head from his shoulders, following the strike down and through into the arm of a second bandit, cracking the bone and snapping the sword. Letting the broken sword fall from her grip, she snatched the sword from the decapitated bandit’s scabbard as he fell.

Pushing past the now screaming bandit clutching at the mutilated stump of his arm, Aela rammed her newly acquired sword into the belly of the next bandit then kicked him off of it, sending him sprawling into the coals of the bonfire.

The screams of these bandits seemed to have alerted their friends to the monster in their midst, cries of alarm now being heard not only from within the camp but from the direction of the road.

Aela smiled, blood and saliva running down her chin as she clove the next bandit’s right-hand free just below the protective layers of his gambeson. With little time to savour the moment, she felt two impacts against her back. Grabbing hold of the last bandit left standing within arms reach, Aela lifted him bodily by his chest and turned to face her attackers.

Four more crossbow bolts were fired in rapid succession, three of them striking her human shield in the back, the final bolt going wide and disappearing into the treeline.

“YOU!” Aela pointed to one of the five crossbowmen standing in loose formation on the other side of the camp who was struggling to work the draw winch of his weapon. Using the thrashing and smouldering bandit in the firepit as a stepping stone, Aela leapt towards her target, discarding her human shield in the firepit as she did so.

Panic claimed two of the bandits. Dropping their weapons and abandoning their comrades, they turned and ran into the forest. Aela’s next target managed to reload his crossbow just as Aela removed his trachea with a backhanded swipe of her right claw. Knocked off his feet by the strength of the blow, his trigger hand spasmed and misfired, the bolt from his crossbow catching another bandit in the arm.

Sensing someone sneaking up behind her, Aela took hold of one of the remaining uninjured crossbowmen and whipped him about.

The bandit sneaking up behind her was already swinging downward with as much force as he could muster, realizing too late that a companion now stood between them. The axe connected with a muffled crack and the bandit in Aela’s grip screamed in pain.

Deciding he was no longer a threat, Aela released him. Clearly, in fear for his life, the companion refused to let go of the axe, so Aela snapped a kick to his groin.

Reacting too slowly, the bandit caught the full force of the blow and screamed in high octave agony as he fell to the ground alongside the companion he himself had injured.

Hefting the axe in one hand, Aela brought it down on his back and embedded it in his spine. Releasing the axe Aela could hear the curses and cries of the bandits who had left earlier and only now just returned. Her grin widened, there was plenty more killing to be done, here in camp and more besides once she tracked down those who had fled. An arrow impacted then ricocheted off her shoulder, leaving her tunic and cloak undamaged.

"Fuck?!" The bandit who had fired at her swore, drawing and firing a second arrow.

Raising her left arm to shield her face, the shaft of the arrow shattered as it connected with her leather vambrace. Markus’s enchantment had made the leather as strong as steel. Aela laughed as she charged them and to their credit, only four tried to flee.

Sometime later, with the last of the bandits taken care of and their remains laid out in the camp, Aela performed a headcount. “Twenty three not including the three they had encountered first, nor the two by the wagon, or the leader. So twenty-nine total” She mused aloud.

"The Divines preserve us ..." The bandits captive muttered as he surveyed the carnage of the bandits camp before doubling over and emptying his stomach.

Killing wasn’t something everyone had the stomach for, Svala had explained it as a sort of evolutionary defence mechanism to impede a species infighting. The problem as Aela saw it, was that once you were okay with it, you had a considerable advantage in confrontation with those who aren’t. The existence of bandits was a testament to that, abusing an accrued set of advantages to oppress the weak and vulnerable.

Aela consoled herself with the knowledge that these particular bandits would not be able to take advantage of anyone else ever again.

“What now?” The bandits captive asked timidly, unable to meet her gaze.

Aela shrugged, “Longer than expected. Meet Markus and guards on road to town."

He flinched as Aela walked past him to retrieve the bandit leader from the tent.

Hefting the bandit leader over her shoulder, Aela lamented leaving the suit of Splint armour behind but saw no practical means of taking it with her short of wearing it, and given the smell coming off of it, she was unwilling to indulge that train of thought. “Oh well,” Aela sighed, exiting the tent she readjusted the bandit leader on her shoulder, ignoring his pained groans.

“We go,” Aela said, nonchalantly breaking a dead bandit's hand as she refused to adjust her stride while vacating the camp. She reserved pity for those deserving amongst the living, not the unworthy dead.

The bandits former captive fell into step a dozen paces behind her, very likely conflicted in his choice to follow his would-be saviour.

Aela shrugged, she wasn’t doing this for him, this was for Markus.

Aela and the bandit’s prisoner didn’t have far to travel before a squad of the town's guard and their accompanying sergeant materialized into view. They had only left the wagon behind a minute or so ago, and it would be another fifteen minutes or thereabouts to town. She hadn’t seen Markus at first, the dozen rank and file of the town's guard had taken flanking positions roundabout him, imposing their armoured bodies between him and harm's way.

Upon spotting Aela, her dishevelled companion and her prisoner hanging over her shoulder, the guard sergeant began bellowing orders, “FORM RANKS!" The sergeant took a position at the edge of the formation, “MOVE-IT MOVE-IT!" The guards formation was impressive given the distant locale of the town, ten guards armed with spears and shield formed a phalanx two men deep, while the remaining two guards levelled crossbows back-a-ways and on the flanks.

Markus was trying to say something, but the sergeant didn’t seem to hear him.

"Oh no! What shall we do now?" Thoroughly shaken by both his imprisonment and witnessing Aela’s butchery of his captors, at the end of his rope, the young man slumped to his knees.

“I said to withdraw! She's with me!" Although she had lost sight of him again, Aela recognised Markus’s voice and he sounded quite angry indeed. "You tell your men to lower their weapons, now!"

Even though he was speaking too fast for her to translate the words, Aela recognised an “Or else” when she heard it. She found Markus's stubbornness and bravery in the face of overwhelming odds both impressive and profoundly disturbing. Aela had seen the look in his eyes in the dungeon as he stared down the monstrous spider and again shortly after when facing the dire wolf, he was prepared to die. There was no doubt in her mind that Markus’s trauma, the source of his scars, were directly linked to his reckless abandon when confronting danger. Only that didn’t seem quite right, in both instances, Markus had only intervened once she was in danger, like he was doing now.

A cool shiver ran up Aela’s spine, her breath growing hotter, fingers and toes tingling with excitement. She recalled a time when Svala had explained something similar to her when she had first started puberty. Aela could not remember some of the details, but one example fit particularly well with his behaviour. A clan warrior defending their family, a protective instinct chimaeras and humans shared with each other, albeit to varying degrees, would drive individuals to lay down their lives for family. Markus had said that they were friends, and as lonely as he seemed to be, it was not much of a leap to think he would think of her as family.

The guards had lowered their weapons, the two lightly armoured guards with the crossbows jogged past Aela, even though she was not overtly hostile, they made sure to give her a wide berth all the same.

Markus ran over to Aela, stopping just short of bowling her over, he wrapped one hand around her in a tight hug. Holding the embrace only for a second or two before stepping back again, “Please don’t take this the wrong way-” Markus said, his expression one of profound relief, “-but I am glad you are alright."

“You were worried for me?” Aela asked, happy that her guess regarding his character was more or less correct.

“Of course I was worried! You said there were like two dozen of them in the woods,” Markus sighed and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “You’re my friend Aela, I would have been worried even if there were only one psycho running around in the woods, let alone two dozen of them.” Markus sighed again, this time more dejected than frustrated, “If something had happened to you, I never would have been able to forgive myself."

Aela found the confirmation of his feelings bittersweet. As a general rule, chimaeras did not die of old age. Whether it was at the hands of the mob, a blade to the gut on a battlefield, the fangs and claws of a rival or dungeon monster, chimaeras did not die peacefully. Was Markus aware of this? Was that what made him so upset?

“Only human and undisciplined. Not a threat,” Aela explained.

That wasn’t it, Markus’s eyes drooped slightly and he hunched his shoulders, no doubt saddened that she had not understood his meaning. Aela smelled fresh blood, Markus blood. All this running about had probably torn the half-healed scabs on his injured- “Oh," the realization struck her all at once. Markus wasn’t just upset because she had gone into danger, but because he wouldn't be able to even attempt her rescue if it had gone bad. Little by little, Aela felt like she was beginning to understand him better.

“Markus didn’t send to danger alone,” Aela began to explain.

Markus seemed confused but gave Aela the opportunity to explain herself without him interrupting her.

Aela drew her hunting knife and held it out for Markus to inspect more closely.

Markus took the knife and rolled the handle in his palm, he seemed confused at first, but then the realization hit him all at once. His eyes going inky black, Markus frown turned into a quiet smile as the silver Carona of his iris fixed onto the glyph he had carved in the handle.

“Wasn’t alone, you were with me. Returned without single scratch,” This was a half-truth, but Aela felt he needed to hear it. While it was true the protections Markus had laid on her cloak and clothing had stopped the bandit’s weapons from outwardly harming her, even without it, few amongst them had sufficient skill or a powerful enough build to pierce Aela’s armoured hide.

Markus hung his head a moment, releasing a deep breath, his shoulders relaxing. When Markus looked up again, he was smiling and Aela couldn’t help but smile in return, “Thank you Aela, while I had considered it myself, it meant nothing compared to hearing it from you."

Too late Aela realized how wide her mouth had become while smiling, panicking as she realized just how many teeth she had left exposed. Quickly angling her face down and away into the folds of her blood-soaked scarf, she pursed her lips shut, daring to hope he hadn’t seen.

“Aela are you alright?” Markus took a couple of steps to the side, so he could look her in the eyes.

“I-I am fine, not worry,” Aela lied, stopping herself just in time as she was about to smile again.

Markus frowned and despite her request, looked quite worried indeed. “Aela...I-”

Markus was interrupted by the sergeant of the town guard, who abruptly presented himself at attention, "My lord! Our scouts came back with the word that the site is, uh, secure. In accordance with protocol, all valuables and objects will be considered evidence until they are returned to their rightful owners. Ahem, the research fees to which your Lordship is entitled will be made available after careful consideration of said evidence." The sergeant snapped a stiff salute, then turned on his heel and began barking orders to his men.

Aela hadn’t understood a word of it, but she figured it had something to do with the bandits camp and the state she had left it in. Imagining the look on the guard’s faces when they came across the bandits all stacked neatly in rows was a little funny, in a morbid sort of way.

“Who’s that?” Markus asked, pointing to the bandit leader Aela had taken prisoner, as if he had only just noticed him.

Aela shrugged, “Bandit leader, I think, was ordering others."

“Nice thinking Aela!” Markus gave her a playful shove, “I’ll bet he knows about other outlaws operating in the area. Capturing him is sure to help reduce the danger around town from bandits."

Aela frowned, “But fewer bounties for capturing bandits?”Aela hadn't thought this through as well as she should have. There was no way the town guards were going to just let her keep the bandit leader to interrogate at her leisure. Aela should have interrogated him BEFORE meeting back up with Markus. “Dammit,” She muttered.

Markus shook his head, “No, I think you misunderstand Aela. We will get paid for the information the Guild or town gets out of him. While it won't be nearly as much as the bounties posted using that information, it should still be a sizable sum indeed.” Markus grinned, “And there is nothing stopping you from pursuing the bounties as well anyway. Not to mention what you will have earned from taking out the bandit camp today as well."

Now Aela didn't feel so bad, although perhaps only because her mother wasn't present to berate her for slipping up.

“Oh, by the way. I hope you don’t mind, I already offered Mrs Lindsay and her family a place to stay until they figure something out," Markus said sheepishly.

The name was not familiar to her, “Who is Lindsay?” Aela asked, puzzled and if she was being honest, feeling a little jealous.

“The young woman we rescued earlier. I forgot her husband's name in the excitement just now, but the man you rescued,” Markus pointed over to where two guards were chatting with the dishevelled young man she had freed from the bandits. “He is her husband, ...erm I forget, but he’s her husband, based on her description."

“You offered shelter in house that needs desperate cleaning? House you don’t buy yet? That house?” Aela asked jokingly.

Markus smiled “Yes that house,” he shook his head, “No, our house,” he amended. Taking a minute to share the moment before moving on, Markus pointed to Aela’s captive, “Probably best if you hand him over now, and I’ll have a quick chat with Lindsay’s husband so he can think about my offer, then we can head home."

Markus’s positive attitude was infectious. Aela hardly noticed the town guards expressions of horror and disgust when she dropped the bandit at their feet. “Today has been a good day,” Aela thought.

Buying their house had been far easier than Aela had anticipated. less than ten minutes after entering the Guildhall, Markus had not only had the ownership transferred to his name but posted a request with the local craftsmen Guilds for a small army of carpenters and general labourers as well.

Markus had seemed equally surprised in regards to the easy access to manual labour at such short notice. “The clerks said that many of the craftsman’s wives and general labourer’s wives would take on a job like this since it is mostly just some maintenance work and cleaning,” Markus said, no doubt paraphrasing what Aela had heard, but been unable to translate fast enough to follow in their conversation. “Depending on how many people show up this afternoon and tomorrow morning, we can probably start picking out some furniture tomorrow and move in."

Aela smiled, soon they would be living together under the same roof, preparing and eating the same meals, in a home that belonged to them, they were practically Life-mates. Confident her scarf had been arranged just right, Aela indulged in an abnormally broad smile, “Today-” She thought happily, “-was definitely a good day."