Rhenor had assumed he would have to spend time looking for the woman, which was why he'd decided to just head directly to her house. However, due to the fact that he exited the forest in a different place than he'd entered it, he had to walk around half the village to get there, and before he made it, he ran into her.

Lucky him.

"A certain someone told me you may have solved our problem," she said, smiling a bit too widely for Rhenor's liking. He tried not to make it too obvious that he wanted to do practically anything other than make small talk with her, but all he managed was an unconvincing smile.

"So it seems," Rhen replied as pleasantly as he could manage, sighing internally as she smiled and touched his shoulder. People who insisted on breaching the sacred rule of personal space were high on his list of his dislikes.

"I already talked to my husband about your reward, but he says he wants to see some proof," she continued, looking far too sorry about it as she put her hand away. Rhenor had almost forgotten that he'd been promised money for dealing with the druid. His priorities concerning that had drastically changed since yesterday.

"I'm certain that if the cat doesn't reappear tonight, that will be enough to convince him."

Rhenor shrugged. Even though he wouldn't mind getting a few coins from this, right now he couldn't bring himself to care. He needed to save Kaz.

"Understandable."

The woman looked relieved, as if she had been expecting Rhenor to get angry. It might still come to that but definitely not for the reasons she was thinking.

"So anyway," the woman said, making Rhen bite back another exasperated sigh. He wasn't sure why he was so annoyed since he had been planning on talking with her, but he definitely was. "I was thinking I could invite you and your partner for tea. Or something stronger if you are so inclined."

The woman winked as Rhenor tried to figure out what she'd meant by partner. He realized there were better things to focus on right now, but it was hard not to. And he wasn't sure which he wanted her to mean, either.

"Where is he, anyway?" she continued. Rhenor tried not to grimace.

"He...wanted to study the nearby woods." Good enough, though the fact that Kaz was currently trapped in those woods only served to worsen Rhen's mood.

"Oh. I see."

Rhenor highly doubted that. "But if the offer still stands, I wouldn't mind some tea."

The woman's eyes lit up again as she clasped her hands together. "Oh, wonderful. Follow me then, please."

And so Rhenor did, walking behind her towards the house he almost hated by now. Unsurprisingly, the door was still scratched up, though it was shocking how great the damage was now that he saw it from such a close distance. Rhenor would freely admit that he hadn't bothered paying this much attention before.

As the woman pushed the door open with a creak, Rhenor was hit with warm air coming from the house, and as he walked in and looked around, he could easily see why. With the two rooms he could see—separated by a staircase—there were two fireplaces. Two.

"You must tell me of other adventures you've been on," the woman said as she led him to an ornate, shiny table. The chairs were equally as shiny, which really made Rhenor wonder just how often the wood was polished.

He sat down, even though it felt very wrong to sit in an as needlessly expensive chair as this one, and sighed. Even if he had adventures to talk about, he wouldn't want to. He wasn't one to boast about anything, and he certainly wasn't one to talk about himself, or whatever he'd done. To be fair, he hadn't done much worth talking about for most of his life, but he doubted he'd think differently even if he had.

He might have to make something up now, though, just to get her to tell him what he needed to know. Now if only he was good at coming up with stories....

"There isn't much to tell, really," he said, deciding to go the opposite direction. He put his things down next to the chair, assuming that he wouldn't need his bow here. He wondered where the chief was.

"Oh, surely there has to be something. You could tell me how you vanquished the beast, perhaps," the woman said as she put a steaming cup in front of him on the table, its sweet, fruity aroma filling the air. Knowing the Crystal Mountains, the tea most likely had berries in it. Everything here had berries in it.

He was about to reply when he heard footsteps from above. Good, so the chief was here and most likely listening in on the conversation, ready to try to put a stop to it if necessary.

And Rhenor would make it necessary.

"I actually have a question for you," Rhenor said, smiling at her, which was much harder to do than he would expect. She was now sitting opposite him, also with tea. "You say nothing ever happens in Frostrun, and yet here you are, being attacked by a magical panther. How is that?"

The woman seemed to think about this for a while before humming. "You're right. That is a bit strange. But then again, most things relating to magic are, aren't they?"

So, she either knew nothing, or she was an excellent liar. Or she wasn't very bright, but Rhenor doubted she wasn't smart enough to connect the dots. It was a bit too obvious, if what the man at the tavern had told him was true.

"Strange, yes. But not random," Rhenor replied. The woman was now watching him with wide eyes, not saying anything, though she seemed to be thinking hard about this.

"Have you noticed anything before this started?" Rhenor could hear the chief starting to walk downstairs. He ignored the sounds of his footsteps though, and leaned in towards the woman, who was looking more and more unsure by the second. "Anything concerning your husband perhaps?"

"Well, I—" she started to say, but her husband cut in.

"I think it's high time you left," he said from behind Rhenor, who sighed quietly. He didn't bother turning around and instead sipped his tea, knowing full well that it would anger the man. It burned his tongue just a little, but it was still worth it.

"Oh, I will," Rhenor said, putting the cup back down on the table, and got up, finally facing the man. Rhenor was taller than the chief, which was always a good thing when one wanted to intimidate someone. And judging by how the man was glaring at Rhenor, that would definitely be necessary if he wanted to get anything out of him.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"As soon as you tell me where you hid what you stole from that cave in the woods," Rhenor continued, walking towards the man, who in turn took a step back. His eyes betrayed the shock he was clearly so desperately trying to hide.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Now—"

"I think you do," Rhenor interrupted him, backing him up against the stairs. "And I also think you know that that cat had been attacking your people because of it."

"If you're suggesting—"

"I'm doing much more than that," Rhenor snapped, already beyond tired of this. "Give me the stone, and I won't hurt you."

Since he couldn't know for sure that the chief had it, this was technically a bluff, but judging by the fact that he was not arguing against any of this at all, Rhenor could safely assume all of what he'd been led to think so far was true. The wife was loudly protesting behind them, but Rhenor paid her no mind.

"The dragons won't let you get away with this," the man hissed, glaring. It was an entirely empty threat, but it was nice to get confirmation that the dragons were indeed behind this.

"What did they promise you for this? Money? Power?"

"I won't explain myself to you," the chief growled, taking a step forward that was most likely meant to be intimidating, but Rhenor stood his ground. Frankly, he didn't feel very threatened by a man who most likely hadn't engaged in hard work in years, if ever.

"Just give me the damned stone, and you'll never see me again."

There was absolute silence as they stared into each other's eyes, both glaring fiercely at the other. As the silence dragged on, Rhenor started considering threatening him some more, but then finally, the chief gave in.

"Fine!" he snapped, pointing his finger at him. "Take the damned stone and get out of my house. I hope the dragons eat you alive."

Rhenor smiled slightly, though he definitely wasn't happy. Unfortunately, it seemed the chief didn't have the stone on him, which Rhenor had been expecting would be the case, but it was irritating anyway.

The chief huffed as he started heading up the stairs, and Rhenor followed, narrowing his eyes. He was led to the corner of what turned out to be a large bedroom, where was a locked chest was located, partly covered up by a tapestry. In terms of secrecy, this was not exactly subtle.

Rhenor watched the other man unlock the chest and reach into it, only to spring up and pull a knife from the leather sheath on his belt that had been hidden under his cloak as he swirled around.

The only thing that had kept Rhenor from being stabbed at that moment were his quick reflexes, but he didn't manage to avoid the blade completely. He grimaced as the knife cut his arm, but before the chief could try to stab him again, Rhenor grabbed his wrist and hit him square in the face with his other hand, making the other man fall to the ground with a groan.

Rhenor took in a deep breath, shaking his head. He grabbed the knife off the floor, deciding that even though the chief was now dazed and still on the floor, it would be safer to take the weapon from him. And he could use a new knife as well since they weren't cheap, and that siren had taken his old one from him.

"I'll take this as well."

He quickly checked the chest, finding the stone immediately. Taking it out and looking more closely at it, it was much heavier than it looked for its relatively small size. It had an odd green sheen, and there were several runes carved into it, and that was enough for him to be certain that this was what he'd been looking for.

In the meantime, the chief's wife had run to her husband and was now looking over his swelling cheek. She looked at Rhen, but unlike the hateful glare the chief was giving him, she just looked sad.

Rhenor nodded at her, trying to get across sympathy for her having to deal with this mess before heading down the stairs and, grabbing his things, he walked out of the house. He grimaced as icy wind hit his face. He'd gotten far too used to the warmth of the house in such a short time.

He put a hand over the cut on his arm, wincing at how it stung. He really hadn't seen the attack coming even though he should have, and he couldn't help feeling more than a little angry with himself for not being suspicious enough, but there wasn't much to do about it now.

Clutching the stone firmly in his hand, he ignored everything but the forest in the distance. He couldn't remember where exactly the invisible barrier was, and he also realized the druid had told him to come back at night, but he didn't care about either of those things. He was getting Kaz out of there. Now.

Since he couldn't remember where he'd run exactly, he entered the forest at random and started calling for the druid as he went. And it worked very well, as it turned out, because within a moment, the druid appeared behind him, making him flinch.

"You have the stone."

Rhenor resisted rolling his eyes at the painfully obvious statement.

"Yes, I have the stone. Now let Kaz go."

Rhen expected some sort of argument over her wanting him to give her the stone first, but that didn't happen. She simply agreed to it and led him to the barrier. At least Rhenor assumed that was where they now were. The barrier was still very much invisible.

The druid confirmed this by walking inside of it and disappearing for a moment before coming back with Kaz in tow. His hands were tied together with rope, but otherwise he seemed okay. Thank the gods.

"Rhen!" Kaz exclaimed, looking very relieved. Rhenor was about to greet him as well, but the druid interrupted the conversation.

"The stone."

Without a word Rhenor tossed the stone over to her. She effortlessly caught it, inspecting it closely before nodding and walking back into the barrier, not even giving him a thank you. She had kidnapped Kaz just to get Rhenor to help her, so he supposed he shouldn't be surprised by her complete lack of good manners, but that still felt overtly rude.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I was worried," Kaz said once they were alone again, quickly making his way over to Rhenor.

"You were worried?" Rhenor asked, bewildered as he used his new knife to cut the rope binding Kaz's wrists. He scowled at the red marks on the other man's skin. Why had that druid even bothered with this? Kaz was about the least threatening person Rhenor knew.

"Of course," Kaz said, though Rhen had a hard time focusing on what he was saying. Seeing him again, knowing that he was okay and safe.... It made Rhen's urge to kiss him come back, even stronger than before. And he still had Kaz's hands in his. "You were the one doing all the work. As usual, and I was—"

Rhenor realized what he'd done only after he'd already done it. And now his lips were pressed against Kaz's, and it was too late to do anything about it. Embarrassed, he was about to pull away and apologize for doing this without making sure Kaz wanted it first, but the other man was already pulling Rhen closer.

The kiss itself didn't last long, but they continued holding each other for a moment, which Rhenor was more than fine with. As long as Kaz wanted to hug, he was up for it.

"I didn't think you liked me like that," Kaz said, making Rhenor let out a slightly nervous chuckle as his heart continued hammering in his chest. Gods, he felt shaky.

"I could say the same to you," Rhen replied, his face growing warmer.

Kaz finally pulled away then, so he could give Rhenor a meaningful look. "See, this is exactly why we should talk about ourselves more."

Rhenor laughed again, scratching the back of his head. It was nice to know that all that resentment he'd been feeling towards Elaya had been completely unfounded. And even if it hadn't, it would still be uncalled for. Gods, he was an idiot, wasn't he? And now Rhen was very, very glad he had never said any of this out loud.

"I'm glad you're okay, Kaz."

Kaz smiled at him softly. Though the smile ebbed when his eyes moved to Rhenor's wound. It must have closed by now, but blood had stained his cloak where he'd been cut, which made it easily noticeable. Kaz didn't comment on it, though.

"So, what do we do now?"

Rhenor smiled. "We go to Sigallah." Then he shot a glare toward the space where the invisible barrier was. "And if we hear about some odd thing happening to a village on the way, we are not going to get involved."

Kaz looked like he wanted to argue while at the same time agreeing.

"And we are going to pick up some mead on the way," Rhenor continued, feeling all of his remaining energy drain out of him. This day had been far too stressful and tiring already, and it wasn't even noon yet. Rhenor would love nothing more than to go to a tavern or inn and share a drink with Kaz and discuss their new change in relationship, even though everything still felt strangely the same. But not in Frostrun. They would find another village, the walking distance be damned.

Kaz grinned. "Oh, that sounds interesting. I wonder if mead here tastes different to how it does in the Capital."

As Kaz started rambling about the kinds of mead he'd tried, Rhenor couldn't help but smile to himself. Suddenly, the idea of traveling to Sigallah didn't seem so unpleasant anymore. As long as Kaz was around, Rhen might even be looking forward to it.