Alira must have recovered from the shock quickly, as she sheathed her sword moments later.

“Seems there were a few surprises,” Erik eyed Malvina as he spoke.

“Yes, how about we open that bottle of alcohol and toast to surprises,” I remarked. If drinking would not bring people together, nothing would.

“I’m sorry for reacting that way,” Alira spoke as she was filling her cup.

“No, you reacted better than most people I’ve met,” Elara said after already downing her first cup.

“So... Is the ability to resist empath powers connected to being able to look at a basilisk?” Erik clearly was not my number one fan.

“Yes, it seems to have its uses,” I politely smiled.

“I’ve never heard of such an ability, and trust me, since my sister is an empath, I’ve searched.” He was clearly not buying it, but some things had to stay secret.

“I’m from another world, so I’ve acquired some weird spells,” looking at Alira continued “or so she says.”

“That must be it,” his skepticism was palpable.

“Well, enough about my weird powers, how about you, Erik? I’m assuming you're an archer of some sort,” was I being petty? Maybe just a little, but he started it.

“Sharpshooter is the name of the class,” he seemed to take great pride in it.

“Is there a difference? Are your arrows, like, more sharp?” I said with a smile.

Clearly sensing my jabs, he took a more laid-back stance and said, “It’s 'sharp' as in more accurate.”

“Yes, I saw you had superb aim,” then after a small pause, “not very effective though.” Alira was already rolling her eyes.

“Erik, you'll have to excuse Tiberius; his lifelong dream is to be a jester, and he’s always practicing.” Alira’s comment brought laughter, and of course, I joined. If you dish it, you have to be able to take it; otherwise, it’s kinda pathetic.

Malvina put her hand around Elara's shoulders. “I’ll tell you now, we’re gonna be best friends,” then took another drink and continued, "If being on a kill-on-sight list isn't the foundation of a great friendship, I don't know what is.”

We all drank to that.

The alcohol didn't last long, so eventually the discussion took on a more serious tone. “So, what are your plans after this night?” I asked Elara.

“We originally had another bounty, but we met with a different group, and they convinced us to join them,” her tone took a sad note when reminded of their fates.

“So you are going to finish the bounty?”

“We were four initially; we might need to head to a city and find more people,” she said with dread in her voice.

“You don’t like cities, I gather?” It was rather obvious.

She sighed as she adjusted her position. “No, the constant barrage of feelings I get makes it hard to keep it a secret. And it gives me terrible headaches. Honestly, I prefer the basilisks to the city,” a small smile appearing on her lips.

“As my ankle can attest, we are short a few members as well,” I said with a higher voice so all could hear.

“Maybe we can help you with your bounty and take it as a compatibility test, if everyone else agrees, obviously.” Though I didn’t see any problems.

Malvina enthusiastically said yes; Alira and Erik both looked like they had the same idea.

“So what was the bounty?” this time addressing Erik.

“It’s not so much a bounty as it is a favor. There’s a village two days from here where a man we used to know lives. He helped us both a lot at some point, and now we plan to return the favor.”

“And what monsters plague that village?” I was expecting a lot of answers but not the one I got.

“Just people,” he said with disgust.

“Isn’t there some centralized power to offer assistance?” I didn’t know much about this continent, but I remember Alira mentioning a kingdom of Erathia that spread through most of this land.

“That’s the sensitive part,” Elara continued. “The reason he asked for our help is that he suspects the leader of the ‘bandits’ is an empath, and that’s why every official sent to verify the situation reported nothing,” her frustration was clear.

Alira seemed inflamed. “Then we must respond to it immediately; that’s how most of the empath warlords started. You first take a remote village, gather a following, once the village is under your control you expand.”

“So how does this mind ‘control work’? You wave your hand, and they will always do as you say?” Elara tensed, so I followed it with “no offense, Elara.”

“I only met one other empath, and we were both different. I am more towards sensing emotions and even getting the occasional thought, and if needed, I’m good at mind reading,” she paused as if unsure if she told too much with that statement, “but mind control is almost impossible for me. You need the right frame of mind, and for me, it’s abhorrent.”

“The other empath had no problem with mind control but was very bad at mind reading, as it takes more finesse. From what he told me, the more powerful you are, the easier you can control another, and the more he will follow directions even if you are not in his presence.” Even as she said it, she couldn’t suppress a yawn.

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“It is getting late, and we have a lot to cover tomorrow,” Alira responded.

The village was surprisingly large, at least from a distance, as Alira and Erik had gone to scout. We managed to avoid detection by taking a more arduous road, but it only set us back one day from the original estimate.

A sudden noise, and they both appeared from the shadows.

“At a glance, nothing appears out of the ordinary,” Erik reported.

“So what’s the plan, Alira?” All eyes turned to her.

“Well, only you and Elara should be immune,” she looked at Malvina but decided against it, “so I think you two should do some in-person reconnaissance.”

“Yes,” Erik agreed, “one person will be very suspicious, two can play a lost bounty hunter role.”

“Return by nightfall,” Alira said very seriously, “if not, we will have to try and rescue you.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I said.

As we approached the village, nothing seemed to be amiss. We passed random people; some saluted, most ignored us, all with work on their minds. The inn seemed the logical choice.

The inn was sparsely populated as you would expect at noon. entering I adresed the bartender or was he the owner “Hello.”

“How can I help you?” he asked in a normal business voice.

Elara made her way to face him and asked, “We are here to visit Thorian. He last said he lived in this village, but we don’t know which house exactly.”

“Hmm… yes, I think I remember him, but I haven’t seen him in a while. I think he sold his house and left.” I was good at reading facial expressions and voice tones, though not so much if a person was lying.

"That's unfortunate" I said.

Standing closer and turning to face her, I asked Elara, “Managed to get anything? Truth or lie?”

“Definitely a lie. You keep asking questions, I need to focus,” she turned and sat at a table, but kept watching us.

“Very beautiful village you've got here. Who is in charge? He did an amazing job...” My questions were cut short as three individuals entered the inn: a woman in a very intricate blue tunic with leather shoulder pads and a long skirt, and two men. The one in the middle was in a formal dress suit, the medieval version, and the other was a big guy in chain mail with a two-handed sword on his back. They moved to face me.

“I am the mayor’s son. What brings you to our humble village?” the middle one said, clearly the boss.

“I was just saying to the innkeeper, such a beautiful village you have. My compliments to your father; he is a very good leader.” Who knows, maybe I was misreading the situation.

Turning to see my companion, he made a remark to the big guy, “My father will definitely want her.”

He must not have realized I heard him. "What did you say?" I demanded, my tone turning aggressive.

“Take him to the mine; I’ll deal with the girl,” Suit Guy said as he turned to Elara.

The Big Guy wasted no time and charged me, but I managed to sidestep just a little so he bounced off my shield, and we both crashed into different walls, but his looked more painful.

Before I could get up, a frost spell of some kind hit me in the chest. ‘Oh my god, she is a mage.’ I had to be sure not to hurt her; there were so many questions I wanted to ask.

Getting up, she fired a spell that didn’t seem to do anything maybe some kind of buff on her?. The Big Guy was rising to his feet, eyeing me intently. A lightning bolt later, and he was down for good.

This seemed to make the mage back away. A yellow light followed by a scream made me look to Elara and the Suit Guy, assuming she might need my help, but he was either incompetent or something because his arm was mangled, and he was sprawled on the floor, clutching his arm. Usually, the leader is the strongest; guess he was a trust fund boy.

The mage glanced at the door, but that was not happening. A Bolt of Lightning left my hand, but she had materialized an ethereal red shield which blocked it. That spell seemed a staple of the mages here. She seemed more confident after that, but I was just trying to daze her. This time, sending a more powerful Bolt, it collapsed the shield and impacted just enough to bring her to her knees, still shaking from the current.

“Take a seat on the chair next to you and put your hands behind your back,” I said in my most threatening tone.

She complied and grabbed the chair.

“Are you OK, Elara?” She was standing over the guy trying to heal him, I think.

“He got hit in a major blood vessel; I managed to stop the bleeding, but he lost a lot of blood,” he was passed out but seemed to still breathe.

Turning to the mage lady, I got the threatening tone back. “What is your name?”

“Mara,” at least she was sufficiently panicked.

“Why did you attack us, and what were you planning to do with us?”

She stammered a little but managed to answer, “I had to; the baron and his three sons control this town. Anyone who stands against him is killed or sent to the gold mine.”

“How are they controlling the village?” While clearly we had some idea, there could still be surprises.

“Him and his sons can read minds and even control people. You don’t know who to trust; everybody can betray you, so we all obey the rules.” She seemed sincere.

“What else?”

“They brought mercenaries; they have been gathering for a few weeks.” This could be very bad.

Looking to Elara for confirmation, she gave a short nod.

“How many men does the baron have?” This was going to get bloody.

“I don’t know exactly, 50 or so guard the mine, and he has at least three times that at his residence training,” her response was not good.

“How many prisoners are at the mine?” It was our only hope.

“A hundred or so, maybe.”

“Come, show us the way to the mine,” I pointed to the door.

As we were walking out of the town, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, she said, “You want to take them all, just the two of you?” she looked afraid, but maybe I could see a touch of hope.

“With you, we will be three,” I pointed out.

She seemed to consider her options but didn’t turn back. As we reached the entrance, I fired a lightning bolt into the sky as the convening signal in case we needed help. Fortunately, it was overcast, so the lightning didn't draw unwanted attention.

There were not 50 guards, more like two dozen, which was actually bad long term. It meant more people to fight later.

Once Alira and the others arrived and were up to speed, we attacked before news of our encounter in the village could be discovered.

It was a surprisingly easy victory. As soon as the first guards fell most fled in the direction of the village. As we got to freeing the prisoners they did not looking good. Many were emaciated, and wounds could be seen all over their bodies. We managed to bring them all out, and Elara was very busy trying to help as many as possible.

“They are in bad shape; I thought they could help us,” I told Alira.

“Some might, but clearly not all,” Erik agreed.

“We have one advantage,” Alira spoke louder for all to hear, “They will regroup and attack this mine.”

“How is that an advantage?” a prisoner asked.

“It’s easier to defend than to attack,” she responded.

“We’re weak and don’t have any armor,” another voice said.

“If we work together, we have a chance,” Erik tried to encourage them.

A murmur washed through the crowd, but they seemed beaten; they needed more.

It was Alira’s turn to try to embolden them. “We will build a barricade; we have some powerful adventurers,” pointing to me, “just have hope.”

“I’m not powerfull enough to fight them. I'm afraid I'll die in this damn mine. ” a man from the front said, and most seemed to agree with him.

It was time for some drastic measures. I stepped in front of the man but addressed all of them.

“Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the willingness to act in spite of it.” I let a long pause hang in the air, then continued.

"I'm not asking for grand acts of heroism here—just for you to stand your ground. Is that too much to ask? Or are we all just going to turn tail, grab our pickaxes, and head back to the mine like nothing's happening? Because if that's the plan, then we're done before we've even begun. So, what's it going to be? Stand and fight, or retreat and dig ourselves deeper into the same old holes?"