-”Maanica!” - shouted Anh from above, floating towards Beorg - “Once these lovely gentlemen leave, come help me!”

Olga was laying on the ground in a grotesque pose, as if someone played with a rag doll and just carelessly dropped it. Her sword flew out of her hand and ended up almost three mers away, slightly on a tangent, behind and to the left of Beorg, who was the intended target. She only had maybe another two mers to go, which, considering that the longsword's reach was almost three quarters of this distance, really wasn't that far away. The fact that the sword didn't obey the rules of physics and didn't hit the aberrant was probably attributable to Anh's skills… or perhaps to some higher, divine intervention. The nord didn't seem to care either way. He just stood there, unfazed and kept an eye on Alexiei and his men moving back to their hideout.

Even before the tanai rushed her, Maanica was already running towards the body. They met almost near her. The islander kneeled beside Olga, and carefully turned her on her back.

-”Wah did yuh duh tuh har Master Anh?” - she said reproachingly.

-”Stopped her kinetically." - the tanai response came without the usual lightheartedness - "We barely made it, so we didn't have time for subtleties. We hope she survives it.”

Maanica ripped Olga's shirt open, then put the ear to her chest, listening, then finally checked pulse by pressing on the neck. The southerner's exposed skin was already showing several large bruises.

-”Shi seems tuh bi alive..."

-”Good. For her it was equivalent to hitting the ground when falling from, well, pretty significant height, judging from the effort I had to put in to stop her.” - interrupted Anh, lustrating his new lab subject from tip to toe.

-"...but badly hurt." - finished Maanica, positioning herself over Olga's head and pressing on her temples - "I will wuk pan preventing any internal bleeding an keep di heart a go. Buh mi need yuh tuh help har breathe!".

Anh had no choice but to comply. He quickly checked Olga's life functions, and confirmed that she was unresponsive, totally limp and indeed not breathing. Guided by Greoo's expertise with hoomin biology, he gently laid his hands on her chest, half closed his eyes, and almost instantly she started to inhale and exhale, thanks to his kinetic effort.

Beorg observed this scene for a few moments, then finally shifted his attention to Niven, who by that time was already nearby. He gestured at him and they both went towards the cart they arrived with, which was safely parked some few hundred mers away.

-"That did ah real shitstorm"- said Niven, throwing away the sword and wiping his hands with a scrap of cloth - "We both did tink yuh wudda everyting di ting lock. An den dis happened."

The islander seemed relieved the situation was resolved, but his voice was tinted with anger.

-"Yu capture did factored eena albeit di chances ah eh papining did minor. Mi did hav contingency planning eena place. Buh yu sorted eh out unuself." - replied the nord flatly.

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-"Maybe suh." - added Niven with a resignated frown - "Buh mi duh na inner luv yu putting mi married oman eena unnecessary danger! Wah eff sinting happened tuh us?!"

Beorg stopped, turned around towards the islander and looked him straight in the eye.

-"Dan yu wud bi raitn aff as ah laas asset” - he said as flatly as usual - “Since yu a yah wid mi, unharmed fi di most paat, an victorious due tuh yu owna cunning, Mi reckon dat did ah remote possibility. Yu a na weh yu a by accident.”

Niven stopped there, blinking incredulously, not entirely sure how to react or what to really think. Was he just insulted or praised? He opened his mouth to say something, but by then the aberrant was already walking away and gesturing at the agent still sitting behind the rock

- ”Khaleen. Come. We need to get the cart here and rearrange it to carry Olga to Tevros. Provided she survives. Martina!”

The called man stood up, dusted himself off and joined them, exchanging greetings and pleasantries with Niven, who was still shaking his head. All three of them resumed their walk towards the cart, but Beorg soon slowed down slightly, allowing Martina to catch up. He then just nodded and started talking to her as if nothing untoward had happened lately.

-“Take a horse and go south. Meet with the agent that was supposed to take over from Maanica, inform them what happened, then return to Tevros. We need a safehouse to lay low until a scheduled transfer to Usterl commences, three days from now. Rent a whole floor in some inn." - he paused for a second, as if gathering thoughts. - "One more thing. Mayor Andros will, most likely, try to retaliate, due to how I forced my way with him...”

-”Probably try? Maybe yes, maybe no.” - replied Martina smirking - “How can you know?”

-”He is the type. Take that into account. I will want some more information, so take whoever is available and poke around.” - he again paused for a long moment - "Leave Novikovs be, but that mayor… unpredictable and impulsive. Be careful. We just need to keep him away until he cools off and forgets. Send him some wine, exotic prostitute or whatever other leverage you find he likes. Do whatever it takes to calm the situation down. He is currently labouring under impression that I am a very important person in the Empire, but that impression will fade quickly, especially when he learns that I didn't crush the Novikovs, killed half of them and enslaved the other half."

-"There is still time, isn't there? The soldiers will arrive any triskol now and when they do…" - she moved her finger right across her throat, accompanying it with a screeching sound.

The man shook his head slightly.

-"De-escalate, remember? They have a cosy relationship with the mayor, and eliminating them would only breed resentment and create empty space, which would need to be filled somehow. Just placate him. And be careful."

-"Will do and..." - the woman just took it in her stride, as if they were discussing whether they should have fish or steak for dinner -"...don't you worry about my skin, I am always careful. Besides, who would want to hurt a frail old woman?”

By now they reached the cart. Niven and Khaleen were already there, eyeing the contents and checking on the draft beasts. Martina went a little further, to the horses. She swiftly mounted up and left without a word.

-”Suh. Emkay! Wah a di plan yah. Assuming Mani an mastah Anh will rescue dat woman? Wi also need tuh move di crates more tuh di front, suh di cart a more equally laden.” - said Niven and then started to shift the crates. Beorg stopped him.

-"Wull on Niven. Fuss wi needa tuh unload four crates wid artefacts. Choose randam unes… Khaleen will han dem ova tuh di Stelander mercenaries as payment." - he added, seeing confusion on the islander's face.

Niven wanted to protest, but Khaleen was quicker.

-"Really? Artefacts?" - he said incredulously - "Couldn't you just shower them with coins?"

-"They know who I am and what I do. This is the only coin they would accept." - replied Beorg flatly, but both his associates could have sworn there was a hint of grief in his voice. He then jumped on the cart, and moved in to help Niven -”We will wait for the mercenaries to arrive and then transport Olga to Tevros. Anh and Maanica will take care of her on the way. Then portal her to the Spire, and then she is Anh’s problem.”