Eben sits up rapidly, the dreaded chimes causing a deep apprehension felt in his bones. Adder mimics his movement, gasping at the sound. The gorgon makes a pained whine as he attempts to rise.

“Adder! No!” Eben grabs onto the gorgon’s arm. “You can’t go, you’ll die!”

The gorgon’s strength is too much though, brushing Eben’s hands off like one might detach a clingy child. “I’ll be fine, Eben. This is my duty. I have fought injured before.”

Eben wants to scream with frustration. How dare the villagers summon Adder after he was so gravely injured? Did none of them even try to consider if his friend would survive these attacks? Or was their only priority simply saving their own hides?

“They can face it themselves for once, Adder! Do you not feel your body screaming at you to stop!?”

Adder growls, face pinched. “I have to Eben, this is the only path to redemption!”

The gorgon starts struggling towards the mouth of the cave, Eben following close behind. Before Adder can make his exit, the half-elf runs ahead of him, blocking his path.

“Redemption for what, Adder?! You did nothing wrong! You are innocent and that bastard priest has manipulated you into becoming his martyr!”

Adder tensed, clenching his fists. “I killed dozens of innocent people, Eben.”

“Then let me handle it! If this is the path to redeeming oneself, I should try too!”

Adder pauses, shocked. “No Eben, you’re not like me...”

“You’re right, Adder. I’m not like you. I knew full well what I was doing was wrong, but I did it anyway. I did it because I was angry at the world for taking everything from me, for rejecting me. I hurt people as some kind of... twisted revenge.”

Clenches his jaw, taking a step forward. “I want to redeem myself. Please, Adder. Let me do this for you.”

Adder hesitates for a moment before his face hardens. “No. Eben, I can’t risk you dying for me.”

The gorgon swerves around the half-elf, nearly at the mouth of the cave. Fear suffuses every pore as the half-elf watches the gorgon head toward his certain death.

Eben couldn’t do this, he couldn’t go back to being alone and hated. This kind, gentle, amazing, person could not be allowed to die just because some fanatic had convinced him he was only valuable to the world as a killer.

“Adder! Stop! Adder!"

The gorgon didn’t heed his pleas as Eben ran beside him, desperate. He makes one last ditch effort, grabbing Adder’s hand and tugging him away from the entrance of the cave.

The abrupt movement causes the gorgon to hiss in pain, hand coming to now-red wrapping on his chest. The sight sets Eben’s mind ablaze with rage and fear.

"Adder! I said stop!"

As the words leave Eben’s mouth, a surge of burning energy courses through his body, like a bright light exploding from within. The shout seems to ricochet violently against the walls of the cave, causing a strange shimmer in the darkness.

Adder pauses at the sound, only to start listing to the side.

“Adder!” Eben yelps, concerned.

The half-elf catches his friend as he slumps to the ground, unconscious. He presses his hand to the gorgon’s neck, desperately searching for a pulse. The steady beat of Adder’s heart melts his fear away as Eben observes the man.

The gorgon is still, breathing deeply as if in sleep. Did Eben do this? Did he...Did he somehow use the magic he’s never been able to access before?

Whatever the cause, Eben wasn’t about to lose this opportunity. Setting Adder’s head gently on the ground, he races outside as he whistles sharply for Fairy.

His faithful steed comes running even in the dead of night, and Eben mounts her quickly before they race off together into the dark.

He arrives shortly in the deserted village, searching for the threat with only the hazy light of the moon to guide him towards his target. As his eyes search the darkened streets, a terrified scream cuts through the night.

Eben spurs Fairy into action, galloping towards the shrill sound. As he gets closer, he spots the perpetrators with a gasp. A party of four armored people is accosting villagers, illuminated in the glow of a burning cottage.

Villagers are scattering, running blindly away from their attackers. To his dismay, Eben notices one of the men has caught Fern in their grasp. The woman is sobbing as the man yanks off her habit, yanking her head back by the hair as he presses a dagger to her throat.

Most shocking, however, is that Eben recognizes the dark hair and cherubic face of one of the aggressors.

The half-elf dismounts, running toward the group. The party of interlopers tense and draw their blades at his approach, but the woman steps forward, raising her hand to signal them to stand down.

“Eben!” she gasps, “I thought you were dead!”

Eben grits his teeth, brow furrowing. “Claudia! What are you doing? Why are you here?”

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Claudia smiles, armor clanking as she puts her hands on her hips. “What’s with the sour face? Your rescue party is here! You might want to hide if you don’t want to fight, by the way. That monster should be here soon.”

Eben tenses. “Surely you don’t mean to challenge the gorgon? You need to leave, now.”

Claudia slings an arm over Eben’s shoulders, grinning smugly. “What’s the matter, Ebby? You scared? Don’t worry these guys are professionals— they’re from the monster hunting guild. Apparently, this entire town is infested. We’re going to make a fortune, the scales on their pet alone are worth triple their weight in gold!”

Eben takes the proximity of Claudia as an opportunity to rip one of her curved blades from her hip, stepping back to point the weapon threateningly at his former companion.

“I said you need to leave! Now!”

A look of shocked dismay crosses Claudia’s face as the half-elf challenges her. “We aren’t leaving until we get what we came for, Eben. What’s gotten into you?”

Eben’s knuckles go white from gripping the sword. Was she really asking why he was upset? “Regardless of what you think of monsters, you can’t possibly think it’s right to set a town ablaze for a payday, can you?”

Claudia rolls her eyes. “You never cared who got hurt before. I can’t go back to my village and you can’t stop being a half-breed. So this is what we have to do to survive, Eben.”

Eben steps closer, brandishing the sword. “Who are you lying to, Claudia? We both know this is going far beyond stealing coin purses. Leave, or I will stop you myself.”

A shadow seems to cross Claudia’s face. The sight is unsettling after Eben was so used to seeing sweet smiles from the woman. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

Claudia turns to the other assailants, pointing her remaining sword toward the half-elf. “Boys!” She yells.“Help me out with this, won’t you? Elf ears go for 200 gold a piece!”

Eben dodges to the side as several arrows whiz past his ear. Claudia comes in hot, swinging her blade down at Eben. He parries, blocking her attack with a screech of metal.

Claudia is unphased. She swings again, attempting to sweep her leg under Eben’s feet as he parries once more. He dodges, taking a step back as the sound of approaching footsteps causes him to look behind the woman.

He’s charged by two armored assailants, one holding a large battleaxe, the other a huge greatsword. The first one swings the battleaxe at Eben, but he quickly blocks it with a crash of metal that sends vibrations up his arm.

He only takes a few steps away when the second assailant approaches with an overhead strike from the greatsword. Eben rolls to the side, just barely avoiding the blade.

He jumps to his feet, nailing the back of the man’s knee with the heel of his boot and causing him to stumble forward. Seizing the opening, Eben slashes his sword into the unguarded neck of the man, who gurgles out a wounded cry as he clutches at his now red-drenched throat.

Eben is not given a chance to rest, however. The remaining man approaches, swinging the battleaxe at Eben again. But the man’s armor is heavy, causing him to be slow in his attack compared to the nimble-footed half-elf— a fatal flaw in his attack.

Eben kicks the man in the gut, causing him to stumble. Eben takes advantage of the opening to stab at the man’s side, fatally wounding his opponent. The man sinks to his knees before falling to his side, dead.

Eben looks back at Claudia. Her sweet face is now twisted into an ugly look of rage.

“Would you stop harassing that damn woman and come help me!” she screams.

The archer finally lets go of Fern, but as soon as he turns his back on the nun, she lunges.

Both Eben and Claudia watch with varying levels of horror as Fern releases a feral roar, grappling with the man until she rips his helmet off. With a bone-chilling scream from her prey, Fern sinks her sharpened fangs into the man’s neck, violently ripping out gory chunks of meat in a frenzy.

A few moments later, Fern pulls away, looking distraught at the bloody mess before her.

Seeing the nun has it handled, Eben turns to the woman. “It’s over, Claudia. You need to leave while you still can.”

Claudia bares her teeth in a snarl, her sword glinting in the moonlight. “How could you do this? I was your friend and you choose a town of brainwashed monsters over me?!”

Eben wipes a droplet of blood from his brow, adjusting his grip on the sword. “If you were my friend, you would’ve heeded my warning the first time.”

Claudia screams, charging at Eben with her weapon held high. Again their swords meet— the clang of metal shrilly ringing in the night air.

She lifts her sword again, swiping the silver blade before Eben has an opportunity to dodge it. He grunts out a short yelp of pain as a quick slash from the woman cuts through his shirt, leaving a shallow cut just below his sternum.

Claudia continues the onslaught, lunging once more. This time, Eben is able to avoid the initial attack, only to receive a brutal kick to his chest.

Eben clenches his teeth, feeling a new gush of blood trickle down his abdomen. He attempts to step back and catch his breath, looking for any sign of weakness. The woman is panting heavily, clearly tiring, but her eyes still hold a burning amount of rage.

Eben attacks first this time. He gives a piercing thrust toward his opponent, but she easily parries. The half-elf isn’t too upset though, he doesn’t need to actually hit her. He just needs to survive until he tires her out.

Another haphazard swipe from the woman gives him an opportunity to retaliate, he throws a hard punch before she can move away. Claudia gives a cry of pain but still doesn’t waver, delivering a swift kick to Eben’s shin with her steel-toed boot.

He attempts to ignore the pain, moving in for another strike, but Claudia is ready. The petite woman dodges, slashing at Eben’s side. The burning pain knocks the wind from him, causing the half-elf to collapse to the ground.

Claudia approaches, face stony. “This didn’t need to happen, Eben. We could’ve done this job together and lived off the riches for a lifetime.”

Eben lifts his chin defiantly, holding the wound on his side. “I don’t want to live like that anymore. I’m done with it.”

“You think I don’t want to get out? This was the job to set me free, and you ruined it!”

The woman grows nearer, raising the sword above Eben’s prone form.

“I’m not walking away empty-handed. At the very least, I can make some gold off you.”

Eben squeezes his eyes shut, awaiting the final blow. However, the stab of cold metal never comes.

There’s a scream and thud as Claudia is knocked to the ground by Fern. The nun has completely lost herself to her blood lust, eyes burning a bright red as she savagely attacks the smaller woman.

Claudia puts up a good fight, getting a few slashes in here and there, but her exhaustion finally catches up with her. She stumbles, giving a weak thrust of her weapon toward the nun. Fern knocks the blade away like a toothpick, pushing Claudia to the ground and sinking her fangs into the woman’s pale neck.

Eben squeezes his eyes shut, unable to watch his former friend die in such a gruesome way.

After a few horrific minutes of wet gurgling intermixed with animalistic growls, silence finally permeates the night. Eben cracks his eyes open to check his surroundings.

Fern is standing over the corpse of Claudia, hugging herself tightly as red drips from her chin. Eben slowly sits up, wincing at the pain in his side. He watches as Fern slowly returns to her normal state, the red of her eyes fading to her normal honey-brown.

“Fern...”

The nun jolts, looking Eben’s way with wild eyes. For a moment, the half-elf worries she’s about to pounce, but breathes a sigh of relief when concern washes over her face.

The nun quickly comes to Eben’s aid, kneeling before him. “Oh, Eben, what happened? Why didn’t Adder come?”

Before Eben has a chance to respond, a look of intense fear crosses the nun’s face. Eben turns to see what she’s looking at, his heart dropping.

Standing before him is Father Sheppard, a scowl on his face. The greying man narrows his eyes sternly as he takes in the scene.

His voice booms ominously in the quiet night air.

“What have you done?”