I stand still on my horse, viewing the misty grey fog in front of me. The air is warm, and the humidity is making the skin around my face damp. It’s quiet, which is giving me an eerie feeling. Behind me, I hear the distant sounds of a horse approaching. Out of the fog, my partner and the love of my life, Ulrika Pence, gallops over to me. Her emerald eyes radiate out of the gloominess of the weather. The all-black attire she’s wearing pops out through the grey background behind her.

“Alright, I’m good. Ready to kick our horses into high gear, Kaio?” She says, giving me a grin. Her lovely dimples appear in her cheeks as she continues to smile at me. “What are you staring at?”

“Looking at this beautiful landscape.” She looks around, then looks at me with a confused one brow raised look.

“Kaio, what are you talking about? This place looks depressing.”

“It was until you showed up.” Her tongue presses along the inside of her lower lip as she smiles.

“Wow, Kaio, you almost made me laugh.”

“So, why are you blushing?”

“Because... I appreciate the compliment, and I found it cute.”

Her face blushes redder, and she hides her smile from me. She clicks her tongue, moving her horse up the trail. As we move further up the road, the fog starts disappearing a bit.

“Finally, it’s letting up. I really wish the damn sticky air would cease, too,” she says.

“Same here. The quicker we find our bounty, the sooner we can leave.”

As all the fog clears up, I can see villages and farmhouses outside the city of Rainor. The huts and houses look beautifully deep in color. Some homes have red, green, or orange paint. Once I get near their settlement, the dirt trail I’m on turns into gravel pavement. The elves near the road immediately move out our way as Ulrika, and I speedily gallop down it. Once we reach the end of the village, a sentry halts us from entering the gates.

“State your business here, humans,” he says in an aggressive tone.

“Look at my cape,” I calmly say. He walks between us to look at the fiery lion insignia on my right shoulder.

“Oh, you two are bounty hunters? From Kromagia? I’m sorry for asking you in that tone. Who are you looking for?”

“That’s none of your business,” Ulrika snaps at him. “Let us in so we can do our job, then leave.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says quickly.

The man next to us whistles to the guards standing near the gate entrance to make way for us to enter the city. Once we pass the gates, I’m almost overwhelmed with awe seeing so many people roaming the city. I have to hop off my horse to guide it through the busy streets. Seeing the people in their colorful outfits reminds me of Kromagia, but the gloomy weather makes their clothing not pop out as much.

The crowd begins to lessen as we further walk in. Ulrika and I look around to find stables to put our horses in. Near the city’s westward walls, I see horses go in and out of a tall brick building.

“Over here, Ulrika,” I say, pointing at it. We walk over to the building where someone sitting outside, writing something down on a book using a quail. “Is this your stable?” He looks at me with a blank expression.

“It is,” he says, with a high-lip smile.

“How much for the services?”

“Five a day, same thing for the night. Ten for the full twenty-four hours.” Ulrika takes the reigns of my horse, pulling our horses into the stable.

“I’ll pay you once we leave for tomorrow.” For a moment, he squints at us with his left brow raised.

“Alright. You better pay me, tomorrow human.”

“I’m a man of my word.” Ulrika grins while quietly laughing through her nose.

“Indeed you are,” she affirms in a whisper, walking past me.

Ulrika and I continue walking through the city, now looking for a place to rest in. While I’m reading the various buildings to my left, she takes hold of my right arm, sneaks a kiss on my cheek, then rests her head on my shoulder.

“That was a bit random,” I say, laying my head on her.

“I’m sorry. Should I warn you beforehand what I’m going to do step by step because I’m feeling a bit intimate with my man?” I scoff at the sarcasm but end up accepting it with some laughter. Before I can return a kiss to her, she suddenly pulls me over to the right towards the middle of the street. “Kaio, over there.”

She points to an inn all the way down the road called “Rose Keep.” We walk over to it, avoiding the puddles in the street. She reaches the building first, holding the door for me with a contagious grin. The inn has two levels, with each floor containing four rooms. She jogs over to the innkeeper who’s serving drinks to a person at the bar. With her left hand, she motions for the man to move in closer to her face. I hear her whisper something, then he pulls away, nodding his head with a smile.

“Thank you so much,” she says, taking her coin purse off her hip. “Our room is straight ahead, Kaio.”

I head straight to it, unbuckling my scabbard in the process. Our room is massive, just for the two of us. It only has one bed, which looks like it could fit three people on it. To the left is a kitchen with pots and pans. In the middle of the room is a rectangular table with two seats. At the end of the room, there’s a chimney with an oversized bathtub next to it. Ulrika finally walks into the room and gently lays her swords on the table.

“What a wonderful room,” she says, stripping out of her padded leather jacket, then faces the bed. “Wow, this bed has so much space to lay around on!”

“How much did this cost to rent?” I say, locking the door. She gives me a high pitched giggle as she lays on the bed, looking at me.

“Don’t worry about it. Just enjoy it with me while we’re here.”

I strip out my protective gear, levitate my sword over to the table, then take a seat at the table. I’m starting to finally feel the effects of riding for hours on horseback. My body feels like it’s heavy, and my legs are fatigued. When I put my head into my hands to momentarily rest, she takes a seat next to me, setting a scroll holder on the table. She pulls out the bounty paper and skims through it, having a slight smirk on her face.

“Olly Brightworth,” she whispers, elongating his name.

She mumbles through the list of felonies he’s committed. Once she reads his involuntary slavery charge, I cringe with anger and disgust.

“So, about your shady contact from Kromagia,” she says. The paper drops out of her hand, skidding halfway up the table.

“Are you about to tell me to not go see her again for the 50th time?”

“What if it’s a trap? She claims to know where Olly squats at, yet you don’t even know her name or what she looks like. Plus, we’re supposed to see her tonight. Yeah, I’m gonna keep saying not to trust her.” I rest my hand on her left thigh, gently clasping my fingers on the inner thigh. She moves my hand closer to her crotch then leans on me. “This whole trip is stressing me out. I don’t want to see you hurt. We can find Olly by ourselves.”

“I’m going to see her. That’s final.” Her legs squeeze my hand while she makes a pouty face. “You know I’m fully capable of protecting myself. Have more faith in me. Where was your worry when we did bounties for a year together?”

“I’ve always worried, Kaioson. But, as we got close, my worry increased greatly, so I’m more vocal about it more than ever. I don’t doubt your skills, Kaio.” She kisses my cheek but stays near my face. “I want you in one piece for later.”

“Later?”

“After this bounty, let’s go to Thaa Alora for our vacation.”

“Oh...,” I sigh with a momentarily spiked heart rate. “But we agreed on Kromagia. Why do you want to go there again?” I take a moment to understand why she wants to go there, then it becomes crystal clear about her switch. “The cabin in the woods.”

“What do you say, huh? Quiet, secluded. I’ll cook your meals.”

“Sure, we’ll go.”

I turn to her, and we start kissing till our lips get wet. Our kissing makes me lust for her, so I break away to prevent myself from letting it take over me. She hums with laughter, gradually moving away from me.

Stolen story; please report.

“Right,” she says, wiping her mouth. “Fun comes after work.”

I put my hand on the bone between her small breasts and give her a tinder palm shove. She responds with a soft flick to my forehead.

“I’m gonna nap after I bathe. Are you gonna join me in bed or roam the town?” I say. She stands up out of her seat, looks over at the tub, then back to me.

“Would it be alright if I join you?” Her soft voice and puckered smile persuade me to have some close relaxation with her before we get serious.

“Alright...fine. I’ll get the tub ready.”

----------------------------------------

Ulrika stands across the street from the inn, looking up in the sky at the intersection. My contact is supposed to give us a signal of pulsating light. Only Ulrika can see the sign because she’s holding the receiving crystal node.

“Do you see anything?” I say, walking up to her.

“Nothing. Are we early?”

“No. She specifically told me that she’ll give me the signal at this hour of the evening.” When Ulrika turns over to her right, both her brows shift down, and her mouth puckers over to the left.

“I see it.” I closely follow her as she navigates through people and the near-built houses. Once she turns into an alleyway, she pauses, then keeps me at a distance with her right arm.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think that’s her,” she whispers, unsheathing her sword from her back. “Hey!”

I move behind Ulrika to get a look at the woman. She’s wearing a long dark cloak with a hood over her head. Ulrika’s tall height makes me worry that the woman might not see me.

“Who are you?” Where is the bounty hunter?” The woman says, backing away from us.

“I’m here!” I say. She takes a few steps forward but stops when Ulrika points her sword at her and fully extends her other arm, gripping my chest. “Ulrika, what are you doing?”

“Stay where you are! My partner seems to trust you, but I don’t. Show me your face and tell me your name. After that, you may see him.” Ulrika says.

We all stay in silence. Ulrika doesn’t drop her sword nor remove her hand from my chest. The woman puts her head down and pulls down her hood. Ulrika finally puts her sword down, but her tight grip on my chest stays. I hold her hand, hoping she’ll get less tense, and, with my other hand, float a fire orb to see the woman’s face. She catches it in her left hand, just shy enough that the light isn’t enough to view her face. The fireball moves to her stomach and brightens, slowly revealing her identity to us.

“My name is Haleema Northana,” she says, moving a foot from us.

She’s an elf. Her eyes and hair are a fiery reddish color. Across her face from cheek to cheek, she has freckles. Her face smears into a small smile when she looks at me, making her ears point up slightly. Ulrika’s grip somewhat eases, but it’s still a secured hold on me.

“Bounty hunter, nice to see you again. I hope your ride here wasn’t too strenuous,” Haleema says.

“It was not bad. The humidity is terrible, though,” I say.

“Welcome to this part of the elven country.” Ulrika moves over to a wall to my right and gives Haleema a deep stare. Haleema doesn’t know where to look. She darts her eyes between Ulrika, the ground, and me.

“Please stop staring at me,” Haleema says, looking between Ulrika and me.

“No,” Ulrika responds, elongating the word with a sassy tone.

“Why?”

“I’m just making sure you won’t do anything to him or me,” Ulrika says with a gruff soft low voice as she waves her sword between Haleema and me.

“I’m no threat. I want us to achieve the success of this bounty.” She cuffs her hands together, putting them near Ulrika. “Bind me with your strongest rope if you don’t trust me, but we must hurry.” For a few seconds, Ulrika continues swinging her sword then sheaves it.

“Alright.”

Haleema turns halfway around before getting stopped by Ulrika, gripping her shoulder. Ulrika whispers something in her ear, then gives her a gentle shove up the alleyway. Once we reach the end of it, Haleema pulls up her hood.

“This way,” Haleema says.

Once Haleema moves out into the street, I pull Ulrika by her belt buckle to me.

“What did you say to her?” I whisper.

“I gave her a warning that makes a nightmare look like a wet dream.”

She gives me a quick grin, then follows behind Haleema. I don’t know whether to be accepting or nervous by that response. This whole trip over here is making her more intimate and overprotective of me.

We follow Haleema down a street that isn’t lit like the other roads behind us. I get an unsettling feeling when I notice none of the buildings have lights in them, so I wield my sword.

“This is where he’s hiding with a bunch of his men,” Haleema whispers, pointing at a small house. I take a few steps towards the door, but Ulrika pulls me away.

“No,” Ulrika says, taking both swords out. “Haleema, you enter.”

“Ulrika, you’re a bit overprotective,” I say.

Before Ulrika can respond to my comment, Haleema says, “It’s fine. I’ll open it.”

She reaches the doorknob but stops. Her whole body freezes. I get a sizzling feeling that goes up my arms. It’s a magical sensation, but I don’t recognize what it might be. She lets out a quick gasp with wide-open eyes.

“Get back!” She says, pointing fingers at us.

In a split second, I see a flash of a blueish-white aura appear around Haleema, Ulrika, and me at the same time. The door explodes, sending me through a window of a house across the street. My ears are ringing, but they’re minute in volume. Sounds of chainmail with heavy stomping appear from the left of the road. A group of men wearing silver face masks run by my window. I hear Ulrika’s voice mixed in with men grunting off to the right.

“Fuck me,” I whisper, struggling to stand to my feet.

I head over to the window to see what’s going on. The first thing I see is Haleema sitting against the wall of the house I’m in. The fire across the street is giving me an imperfect glimpse of the damage that’s on her. She curls her right leg in and grunts in pain. Her right arm moves to her left side, then she starts groaning louder. I lean further out to see where her hand is. There’s a sizable splinter in the side of her abdomen.

“Don’t touch it,” I whisper.

“Someone shut her up,” a man quietly shouts from my right.”

“Kaioson! Kaioson! Are you okay?” Ulrika screams.

Someone starts walking towards the building I’m in. I move to the right of the window, keeping an angle to see Haleema.

“You thought we didn’t know you were spying on us these past days, huh? Now we got your hunter. This little investigation and manhunt of yours will end tonight,” he says with a deep raspy voice.

Once I hear the piercing sound of his sword moving out of his scabbard, I quickly sense for my sword. Its presence is somewhere outside to the left near Haleema.

“Help me, hunter. I beg of you,” Haleema yells in a weak voice.

With a flick of my index and middle finger, I send my sword into the man. When I hear him stagger behind the door, I blast it open, using a forceful explosive wave out of my hand. His body goes flying into the front door of the building that’s on fire.

I call my sword out of the fire into my left hand while looking down the road where Ulrika is. Two men shake her from side to side by restraining her arms. I send my sword down the street to the man securing her right arm with both of his hands. It severs both his arms right at the elbow. She gets free of the second man with a strong kick to his crotch, picks up her swords from the ground, and slays him with ease.

“Kill them!” A heavyset man says between Ulrika and me. Two men surround the bigger guy, then two rush me with short axes in hand. I bring my sword back and quickly take them out.

“Ulrika!” I say, pointing at him.

“Yes?!”

“Subdue him!”

He turns around to look at her. In one massive strike, she disarms him, sending his sword flying into the air. The two split away from him, one attacking me and the other going after her. We take them out, she starts roughing up the last one, then I run back to Haleema to check her condition. Blood drips down the wound where the splinter chunk is. She attempts to pull on it, but I take her hand away.

“Don’t touch it, or you’ll bleed more,” holding her hand.

“No. Pull it out.”

“You’re insane.”

“Please, Kaioson. I can instantly fix it with my healing magic, as long as I don’t pass out from the shock.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Just rip it out.” I hover over it, debating whether to remove it. “Kaioson, please. Don’t let me die.”

“Okay...okay.”

I cup my hand around the wound, then begin pulling. It’s deep inside, yet it’s coming out slowly. She firmly grips my hand that’s pressing down on her side while aggressively breathing through her teeth. Some spit flies out as she tries to endure the pain.

“It’s out! Heal yourself,” I say in a near panic. She covers the hole with her left hand, and in a burst of red light, she slouches over. Her hand drops away from her side, leaving a fresh scar. “Haleema?” She isn’t moving, so I put my finger under the end of her jawline. There’s a strong pulse, so I lean into her nose to hear her breathe. “Thank goodness.” I lift her into my arms then walk over to Ulrika. The man she’s on is not moving but breathing. “Are you okay?”

“I knew not to trust that fucking bitch!” Ulrika says in a screeching voice, standing up to her feet.

“Settle down. I saw her protect us with a shield the moment before the explosion. Take him and follow me. We need to hide before the whole city is on us.”

I kick open the door of what looks like a vacant building. The front of the house has vines crawling up the face, and the windows are cracked. Ulrika lays the masked man bonded in the corner of the room. I create three floating flame spheres to illuminate the room, then lay Haleema on the ground. The only injuries I can see are a few cuts and bruises around her face and arms. Parts of her clothing is ripped, exposing parts of her body. I tear open her shirt to further view the scar. When I lean my head down, I feel something warm move down my forehead to my nose. I swipe it with my hand and examine the substance in the light.

“Shit,” I say.”

“What’s wrong?” Ulrika says, standing in front of me. “Oh my god, you’re bleeding.”

“Must’ve been the glass.” She examines my head, parting my hair in different areas.

“It’s only in one spot. Does it hurt?”

I shake my head, saying no. She rips off a portion of the hem of her shirt. The lower left of her four-pack is badly bruised and reddish in color. Once she dabs my head wound, I immediately flinch downwards.

“I’m sorry, but try and not move so I can soak up all this blood,” she says.

“I’ll try.” I manage through the pain as she dabs my head. She drops the bloody rag and rips another piece of the hem of her shirt. “You’re gonna bare your stomach if you keep dressing me.”

“I don’t care,” she says, giggling. The muscles on her stomach flex as she continues to laugh. “I’ll take every inch of fabric for you.” I take hold of her left waist, rubbing around the bruised abdominal muscle. She drops the rag, then presses my hand against her stomach. Haleema’s grunting makes Ulrika let go of my hand. “Oh, look who’s up.”

“Ulrika, stop it. Haleema, how are you feeling?”

“Did we catch Olly?” Haleema says, gripping her healded side and sitting up.

“I don’t know. Everyone was masked. We do have someone here, though.” Haleema looks around the room then spots our captive.

“Help me to my feet.” I motion my head to tell Ulrika to help her. She rolls her eyes at me, then helps Haleema to her feet. “Thank you, Ulrika.” Haleema staggers over to the man and pulls off his mask. “Huh? Where is Olly? Was he with you?”

“You’ll never find him. He’s long gone. You’ve failed, mage,” he says, chuckling in his speech. She puts his hand near his face. I can see a faint flow of energy wrapping around his face.

“Tell me, or your eyes will pop out your skull, you cultist dog!”

“Fuck you, you pointy ear bitch.” The energy around his face tightens. He somewhat starts straining and gasps for air. “You might as well kill me. I’m not going to give up, my lord. We will soon bring the earth to its knees, and our queen shall be the supreme power of this world. Hail—” With a fierce scream, she kills him. The force caves in his head, making his eyes nearly bulge out his eye sockets.

“Oh, god! What the fuck, Haleema! What was that all about?” Ulrika says.

“Haleema...what is going on here?” Haleema slowly turns to us, having a slight frown.

“I’m a sorceress tasked to destroy an elusive cult called Nite. I’ve been searching for partners to help me put an end to their scheme in reviving an ancient deity who will bring calamity to the whole world. Kaioson, I’ve witnessed the incredible skill and the potential for you to become a superior swordsman mage.” She walks a few feet in front of me, then takes her hand off her side. “Will you become a Paladin?”

“Huh?” Ulrika and I say out of sync.