“Why can’t we just take the corpse back?” I asked.
“Because they won’t let us just carry dead bodies into a city!”
“Oh, it’s not that bad. He barely looks mutilated. We can just cover it with a tarp if people are going to be big babies about it. I mean, really, who hasn’t seen a dead body at this point?”
Most people.
“Wait, really?”
They both nodded at me.
“Maybe we just take the head then?”
“W-why?”
“In case they can identify whoever the fuck just tried to kill us,” I stated.
“T-that’s…not the worst idea,” Corby said reluctantly.
I basked in my victory and then cut the head off the body and kicked it up to Corby to catch it.
We packed up and headed back to the gate. The guards seemed pissed to see us, and they hadn’t even seen the head yet.
“Halt.” Multiple guards approached us, and some on the wall aimed arrows at us.
“What seems to be the problem?”
“You match reports of suspicious individuals that we’ve been told to capture–dead or alive.”
“Is capturing dead really even capturing?”
“Guess I’ll find out.” The guard reached for a sword, but a blur suddenly formed behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. He jerked back to see Go-Go standing behind him with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Hi-Hi you wouldn’t be trying to kill my adventurers would you? Cause that would be a very very big problem and the Guild would have a lot to say about that.”
The adventurer grimaced and then said, “I was under orders to kill them before they got to the Guild.” His eyes bugged out.
I’m really starting to enjoy people’s faces when they accidentally tell the truth.
“Thanks for being honest I’m going to take them now and I’m going to have a lot to say in my report back to the Guild about all this okay thanks byeeee.”
Go-Go started herding us through the gates. Go-Go had plenty of questions while we made our way back to the Guild, and my party was happy to let me handle talking to my new friend.
“Hi Hi did you sleep well I don’t sleep much anymore I have a skill that makes it so I don’t have to so I can work work work all day and night it’s so much fun also why do you have a severed that seems like a weird thing to bring into town which is super fishy is fishy a slur to merpeople I should ask Bailey.”
“I slept fine I’m also working on leveling a skill to not sleep because sleep is booooring these guys tried to kill us last night and we don’t know why they seemed to be after me in particular which seems rude but I guess I’m glad they weren’t trying to kill my friends or does it count as assassination do I have to be important to be assassinated like if a bunch of assassins were paid to kill a random homeless person would that person be considered assassinated or just plain killed oh and Corby and Bea said that they recognized the attackers as bandits that attacked them on the way here fishy probably is a slur because there’s a lot of animal words that would be a slur to beastfolk but Bailey seems cool and would probably explain it to you and be understanding because not everyone knows what everyone is offended by.”
Go-Go’s face twisted at the mention of assassins. “Oh. Well fuck I guess we should’ve told you last night. I’ll explain the rest when we’re in the Guild.” Her words were slower and quieter, making all three of us nervous. I looked around to try to see if anyone was watching or following us. We quickly made our way to the Guild and Go-Go closed the door and activated some magic stuff on the door.
“Investigations didn’t produce concrete proof but it reinforced the idea that guards were in on the kidnappings in some capacity. We want you to use your aura to question the guards, but it seems like word got out about your aura. Bentley found a hit contract in the guard barracks that mentioned it, so they might have gotten it from there. Unfortunately you’re very noticeable. The reason we didn’t warn you yesterday was we didn’t have all the facts to warrant questioning everyone since that’s a big undertaking and requires the Guild to use a lot of political muscle to hold the capital guards to account. Plus we didn’t even think they knew they had anything to worry about regarding you and I still don’t know how they knew to target you so soon which makes me worried.”
Huh. Well shit. That’s not great. People killing me means killing Corby. Should I care more about the ‘killing me’ part? Eh, Bea and Corb will care enough for me. Speaking of…
I glanced over at Corby and Bea who were now staring at me intently, like they were making sure I didn’t just die or vanish the second they took their eyes off me. “So what’s the plan then?”
“Well, this actually is the plan,” Go-Go said.
I tilted my head in confusion.
“You’re gonna stay in here till everything is settled.”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Nooooooooooooo
“B-b-but that’s so booooooooooring!!” I complained. “I’ll be fine out there. I can take care of myself; I don’t need to be on lockdown, right guys?”
I looked behind me for support, but both my party members were stone-faced.
Uh oh.
“We will absolutely do whatever it takes to ensure Nymia’s safety. Thank you kindly for your generous protection,” Corby said, tone clearly saying how serious he was. Bea nodded vigorously besides him.
“What about escorting the kids back to the villages?”
“It’ll spread us a bit thin, but we have that covered.”
“But it’s our case!”
Corby stared daggers into me with a don’t-argue face.
“Uggh, fine!” My complaints shifted into resignation and anger as I realized nobody here was going to let me out.
Stupid loving friends and partners with their logic and good intentions. Grrrr.
I spent the rest of the day stewing in my grumpiness while Corby and Bea steered clear. I felt lonely that night as there was no cuddle puddle, but I just couldn’t bring myself to join. I liked the Guild, but being trapped in here felt suffocating.
The next morning, Go-Go updated us. She was her usual cheery self, but in the mood I was in, I found it unusually grating. She just kept going on and on and I nearly put my foot through the floor from anxious tapping. Still, it was important to listen Bentley and Bailey would be taking shifts being in here on watch; the Guild’s barriers were strong, but it wasn’t as if they could withstand a siege from the city guard. Both of them also got to spend more time with their recuperating teammate–their tank, Brooke. Bentley in particular was excited to take the assignment. He said it was a dream come true to get paid to sit back and do nothing. The imprisonment–or protection as they called it–would last a week until the questioning would take place.
I didn’t mind that mindset, but I was never good at just standing still. I didn’t want to talk to Corb or Bea while I was still so worked up. I took some time by myself to use the training room and work off some steam. I could accept they wanted the best for me, but letting someone else dictate my decisions and lock me in place went against my nature. I wailed on a training dummy for a while, but I was still restless. I tried a piece of equipment I hadn’t seen before. The instructions had a lot of confusing jargon, but it seemed to be simple in practice: run on thing, thing moves without going anywhere so you can run in place. Kind of like a windmill, but it was a rug.
A rugmill?
Whatever it was, it was definitely effective. I gradually built up to my top speed. It was nice to go at top speed again. I hadn’t done that since we left Freshna. It was a frustrating mix of confined spaces and slow ass people that couldn’t keep up with me. It warmed my heart that my partners were working to make themselves faster so they could keep up with me. They knew that I hated to be slowed down and restrained.
So why the fuck did they just agree to trap me in here?
I kept running as my thoughts festered. Even running on this machine was a reminder of how I was stuck in here. It was a farce; no matter how much I ran, I never moved a meter. A sound suddenly broke me from my thoughts. I looked over and Corby was apparently shouting at me. “NYM!”
“Co–” I had stopped abruptly when I noticed Corb, but the rugmill didn’t. It shot me over the rail of the balcony, landing me on my ass on the bottom floor. “Ow,” I said in a monotone, more annoyed than hurt.
“You okay, Nym?” Corby had come down the stairs in a huff. Bea wasn’t far behind, summoned by my graceful slam into the wall.
“I’m not injured,” I grumbled.
“But you’re not okay.” It wasn’t a question.
“No. I’m not. I don’t like being confined, especially after spending two fucking weeks living in tunnels! And you of all people know I don’t, but you’re doing it anyway!”
“Maybe I wouldn’t have to if you could go five minutes without nearly getting yourself killed! Fuck, Nym. You have no idea what you keep putting me through when you keep doing this crap. My only consolation is that I’ll know if you die and I won’t have to live with that reality for long.” It was rare seeing Corbin this worked up. I couldn’t even remember the last time we had a full-on argument like this.
“Hey, I never asked you to sign a damn death pact.” I protested.
“No, and I don’t regret doing it. I’d much prefer dying than having to live in a world without you in it. But constantly putting yourself in danger alone and taking all the risk by yourself is selfish!”
My words of protest died on my tongue as a wall of fire separated Corbin and me. I looked over at Bea, who was crying.
Stop fighting! You need to communicate, not yell at each other. But I’m going first.
I blinked, registering her words. I went to scratch my head in embarrassment, but of course I still couldn’t reach.
Corbin becomes an anxious mess whenever you aren’t around. Corbin sputtered at that, but Bea glared him down. He doesn’t want you to stop being yourself. He just wants to be there with you when you’re nearly getting yourself killed, and you keep leaving us behind. I’m also pissed you keep doing that. We are a party, and you need to stop taking everything on by yourself while trying to shield us.
Now it was my turn to be glared down, and my ears drooped down the sides of my hat as I struggled to maintain eye contact.
Corbin, you should know better than to think locking her in here will stop her from doing stupid shit. And you shouldn’t blame her for doing what she thinks is right, even if it endangers her. You’d be making those decisions, too, if you had the chance.
“Sorry,” we both said in unison.
“I know you’re trying to keep me safe, and I know that I should probably stay in here while shit gets figured out. But I hate that decision being forced on me and you supporting that, both of you.”
Bea gave an understanding nod; Corby still looked deflated. “We shouldn’t be making major decisions for each other, especially when there’s time to talk it out. Don’t-argue faces shouldn’t be used like that,” Corby said.
“Okay, so I think we’re all agreed–we stay here for the week and communicate like grown ups about safety in the future. And I guess for my part I’ll try to include you guys when I’m doing something crazy, or at least not exclude you.”
They nodded and Corby dryly added, “yay…teamwork…”
I sighed and leaned against the wall.
Communication is hard.I just hope this week passes quickly.
The week dredged on even after that, but our spirits were better. Bea and Corby spent a lot of time reading, and I spent most of it working out. But I made sure not to wear myself out because every day Bailey and Bentley would fill us in on attempts to get in the Guild at all hours of the night. On the sixth night, Go-Go and Bentley had to turn back a hit squad by themselves.
I was anxious to get to the interrogations on the seventh, but we heard shouting and thudding from outside. I tensed, thinking there was one last attempt on my life before I was moved. I nuzzled into Corby, trying to calm myself. Go-Go slammed the door open.
“Undead.”
…well fuck.