"I have news to report," Perry the elemental said as he floated back up through the floorboards. Only a few moments had passed since he exited, but apparently, elementals were very fast at reconnaissance.

"Go on," Andy said. "What's the deal?"

"First of all, the forest is quite beautiful, and I was able to spot many fragrant honeysuckle bushes," Perry said, facing Kermit.

"Cool!" Kermit said.

Perry then turned toward Andy.

"The caravan is composed of three wagons," Perry said. "There are twelve bandits, two driving each wagon, three in front, and three behind."

"That's more than I thought," Morwen said. "We slayed quite a few back there, it's like these woods are crawling with bandits."

"Indeed they are," Perry said before continuing. "You are in the second wagon, and the bandits are very anxious to keep you guarded. You are utterly surrounded by hostiles to the front and back, and impenetrable forest to either side."

"Lovely," Arlene said.

"What about PL?" Kermit asked.

"He is being held, along with Sven, in the back wagon. They are both unconscious."

"Seems like Sven's still a good guy, then," Andy said.

"Agreed," said Morwen.

"But he's ok? PL I mean," Kermit said.

"He seems to be fine. Upon waking, he shouldn't notice anything different."

Kermit let out a sigh of relief.

"And what of our weapons?" Morwen said.

"They are being stored in a locked case in the front wagon."

Morwen nodded.

So much for those, Andy thought.

"And do you see where we're headed?" Andy said.

"We're headed toward the bandit's encampment," said Perry. "Our arrival is imminent."

"What should we do?" Arlene asked. "I think it'd be better to get out now, before we're in the encampment, right? Once we're there, we're even more outnumbered, and we're on their turf."

"That would be ideal," said Morwen, "but we're not equipped to break out. That is, unless anyone here has any fighting feats I'm not aware of."

"I can use Fluid Strike with or without a weapon," Andy said.

"I can use Blend into Shadow," said Arlene, "but it won't deal any damage. I need my glass vials in order to use Alchemy Bomb… so that's out. Unless there are other containers in here."

"What about a burlap sack?" Kermit said, holding up his hood.

"I… I don't think that will contain it," said Arlene.

"Oh," said Kermit.

"I have this," Morwen said, extending her hand. A flash of light coalesced into a lightly vibrating form in her hand, taking the shape of a slender sword. "This Energy Blade is as useful as my regular katana. Perhaps even more so… it can cut through almost anything. But even with your Fluid Strike, it's not going to be enough to break out of this heavily guarded caravan in time, especially if we want to rescue PL and Sven."

"What do you think their intentions are?" Andy asked.

"To be honest, I really don't know," said Morwen. "We know that they wrongly believe we're nobles. Clearly they're enemies of the nobility. I've never heard of Atnar or his 'kingdom' before, but I don't often traverse the wilderness surrounding Cresthaven. I can imagine they want money, perhaps a ransom. Or, if they're more ideologically motivated, they might be motivated to make an example of us, a public execution or something."

"Oh no," Kermit said.

"Don't worry," Morwen said, "we aren't going to let that happen."

"It seems like we have to negotiate," Andy said. "We've been backed into a corner, and we don't have much of a choice. Any other course of action at this point has a high likelihood of failure and death."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The wagon wheels continued creaking as the caravan slowed and the group sat in silence.

"I think you're right," Morwen said. "Unfortunately for me. I prefer fighting my way out of things. But as Bertha says… sometimes you have to kiss asses in this world. As long as you don't freeze."

***

The caravans came to a stop as the group finished donning their hoods and retying their hands. Andy retied his last, so the bonds were sloppy and loose. Arlene helped him tighten it as best she could, to at least give the appearance of being bound.

"Wakey wakey! We're here!" came a bandit's gruff voice as he opened the rear flap.

Andy saw light flood in through the little holes in his hood, but he couldn't make out any shapes. He heard the bandit climb onto the wagon, followed by several others. Two grabbed Andy's upper arms, helping him rise to his feet and off the wagon, followed by Morwen, Arlene, and finally, Kermit.

Sounds of livestock, conversations, some hushed whispers, crackling fires… if Andy didn't know any better, he'd think he was on the outskirts of Cresthaven. It sounded like a bustling town.

Finally, the bandits opened what sounded like a very heavy door and guided them through a threshold. It suddenly became darker and Atnar's voice came into range.

"...nobles trespassing in my kingdom," Atnar said.

"It's not your kingdom, Atnar. We're a collective," came a woman's voice.

"Surely you know that, as first among equals, my command carries more–"

"Your command? You are not first among equals. You've got the wrong idea, Atnar. We will decide collectively what to do with the nobles you've captured… Perhaps they could be of some use. But you are not a judge, jury, and executioner, Atnar. You don't give unilateral commands."

"Well I–"

"Do you understand?"

"I don't agree that–"

"I said do you understand? I need to know that you understand how our governance works."

"Sure… oh, look. Here they come." There was a sudden shift in Atnar's tone from serious to exaggerated politeness. "Welcome, welcome."

Andy felt the hood lift off his head as the room came into view. He was in a dimly lit chamber with several rows of benches. Five seats were arranged at the front of the room, three of them empty. Atnar sat in one, and his interlocutor sat in the other, a woman in dark, rugged robes made for the wilderness. Andy felt her intense gaze as she eyed him, sizing him up.

"He doesn't look like a noble to me," she said. "None of them do."

Andy looked, and all the group had their faces uncovered now.

"And you've captured a child? Come on, Atty," the woman said with more than a hint of frustrated disappointment.

"We'll let the council decide if–"

"I think it would be better for you if the council didn't spend any time on this," the woman said. "You've done quite enough. Several of our patrollers are dead because what? You wanted to play bandit in the woods? You wanted to get your personal revenge on the nobles of Cresthaven? Look, none of us like the nobility, but we have to fight smart. When you act like this, you create a big risk not only for your patrol, but for our entire community. Nobody signed off on this."

Even in the dim light, Andy could discern the embarrassed disappointment cross Atnar's face.

"Hello," the woman said, facing the group, sighing. "Atnar informs me that you are Cresthaven nobility. What is your bloodline?"

She locked eyes with Andy.

"Your family name?"

"Oh," Andy said. "Uh, Parsons."

"Parsons?" the woman said, looking puzzled. "Parsons… I don't know it. Where is your house from?"

"The… other world," Andy said.

A look of panic shot across the woman's face. "You're an otherworlder?" she asked.

"Yes he is," said Morwen, "All of them are except me."

"Goddammit," the woman said, turning to Atnar. "You see what you did? You're meddling in things you don't understand."

"Kresta, I–" Atnar began, shrugging.

"You," she said, looking toward Morwen. "Identify yourself."

"Morwen Larkshire."

"Larkshire is not a noble name, at least not in these parts," the woman said, glancing back toward Atnar. "What is your affiliation?"

"Order of the Behemoth," said Morwen.

This time, a look of panic came over Atnar's face.

"Fucking great," the woman said, a hint of rage overtaking her voice. "That's really fucking great, buddy. You mistake a group of otherworlders and a fucking KNIGHT OF THE BEHEMOTH for nobility? Our men were butchered because of you."

"We didn't mean to–" Kermit began.

The woman spun around to face the group. "No, no," she said. "I don't blame you. I would've done the same thing if I were attacked on the highway. This isn't your fault. This is no one's fault but Atnar's."

"But they smelled just like every noble I've ever encountered," he said.

"There you go with that fucking nose of yours," she said. "GET UP!"

Atnar stood up from his seat immediately.

"I will deal with you after I've cleaned up the mess you made. You are dismissed."

Atnar tensed up, clearly wanting to speak, but he stormed out of the room.

"Untie them," the woman said. "And then leave us."

The remaining bandits undid the ropes from their hands and exited the chamber promptly.

"My name is Kresta," she said. "And I truly apologize for the rash and unbelievably irresponsible actions of my brother."

"Where are we?" Morwen asked.

"I can't give the precise location of our community," said Kresta. "It is our most closely guarded secret. But... despite what you may think, if you're associated with the Order of the Behemoth, I promise you're among friends."