As it turned out, whether or not katava was potent enough to keep Spidena in good spirits all day was a moot point as far as Ben was concerned.

It had taken him the entire day to track down two marigold plants, and he had been quite near giving up, when he had found them dappling a sunny span of forest that didn’t have any trees, but it did have a small, shallow pond in its center and was surrounded by long grasses with the occasional flattened spots where deer had obviously rested prior to his arrival.

Despite this delightful change in luck, by the time Ben was making his way back to where he’d left Spidena, his stomach was reminding him that he hadn’t eaten a proper meal since the previous night, and even that he hadn’t been able to finish.

He idly wondered if Wolf would perhaps feel generous enough to hunt for their dinner again. Which then led Ben’s thoughts to turn to the very troubling question of how much did the bird actually understand, and was that truly normal?

With his thoughts starting to become increasingly disturbed at the notion of a sentient raven capable of pecking his eyes out if he offended it, Ben continued moving toward the camp.

Until a rush of instincts froze him in place.

Without understanding the reason for it, he slipped behind the nearest tree trunk that was large enough to hide his presence.

That was one benefit to his skills as a dodder.

His sense of danger or impending disaster was remarkably strong.

Though the one downside was that his senses propelled him away from any potential danger when he was still far away from it.

Ben paused and considered the slim possibility that the threat was a bear or some other mundane problem one might find in the woods…

Then he thought of Spidena sitting on the ground with massive blisters, and a docile nature that was probably killing her a little on the inside, and a cold sweat broke out along his back.

He needed to make sure she was alright… Then he second guessed this urge.

She had all manner of magic tricks in that bag of hers… But then the flash of memory about the Hounds unit being the ones to take her mother away from her, reinforced a sense of duty and guilt that was too sharp to turn away from.

Shaking himself free from his moment of indecision, Ben lowered himself closer to the foliage of the forest, and crept forward soundlessly.

It didn’t take long for him to discover what had triggered his wariness.

He heard voices.

Two men.

Ben paused and continued to listen while pausing behind the thick trunk of a walnut tree.

“— You won’t get hurt if you just hand over the bag you crazy wench!”

Ben almost moaned.

It was like the incident with Oleg all over again.

Then again, maybe that was for the better. Spidena could crush their larynxes and he wouldn’t have to do a thing. If only they had taken one of the drink trays with them when they’d left.

“And I’ve already told you,” Spidena’s voice was a sugary sing-song that, despite the present threat, still almost made Ben snort in laughter. “Try to take it, and I’ll use your skull as a water bowl for my raven.”

“Holy sh-” Ben’s whispered curse was cut off as he started to stand straight, and just happened to see the backs of the two men.

One of them had drawn a knife that glinted in the dappled light of the forest.

Ben’s heart slammed against his chest, propelling him to take two frantic steps forward, he halted however when a rush of black feathers swooped down at the assailant’s back.

Wolf began clawing and pecking the man’s bald head with great gusto, making him yelp and dance away while also trying to beat off the bird. Because of this, Ben was able to get a better look at the two robbers attempting to rob Spidena.

The bald man had dark eyes, a wide, shiny head, small silver hoops in each ear, a black coat buttoned up, and black pants.

The other man was attractive, with sable brown hair that stuck up in different directions, a sprinkling of freckles over his nose, and a dark eye color Ben couldn’t discern.

The bald man with the knife was the thickest and appeared older, but the lean man who donned a navy blue coat and green shirt underneath was quick…

Which Ben could tell as he pranced out of the way of Wolf and his companion battling one another.

After noting the details of their appearance, Ben darted a glance over at Spidena who was already rummaging around her bag and nervously glancing up at the two men as she did so.

The look of genuine apprehensiveness in her eyes stirred something in Ben… Something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Only, unlike those previous times, he wasn’t prevented from doing anything by an authority figure or rule.

Though he still hesitated out of habit.

He could restrain someone, sure, but if they had any magic he didn’t have a block with him, so he was susceptible to any magical attacks…

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

These thoughts held him in place as he continued to watch Wolf dodge the bald man’s multiple attempts at beating him away.

But then Spidena stood, and a cry of pain left her mouth… That then turned into laughter—no doubt the katava was still wrecking havoc on her.

It made for quite an alarming expression on her face, but she held out her hand, a squat glass bottle with a rounded bottom filled with cloudy water in her hand.

With his instincts roaring back to life, Ben knew that whatever was in that bottle would release some kind of magical chaos, and not wanting to have even more complications to deal with, he launched himself into the fray and headed straight for the witch.

Spidena’s eyes snapped to him, and for a brief moment he thought she looked relieved to see him, that is until he snatched the bottle from her hand, turned to the slimmer assailant that had started to inch back toward Spidena, and crunched the heel of his boot into his groin. Ben then turned to the bald man that was still losing against Wolf’s advances, and did the same thing when he happened to be in the middle of trying to spin away from the raven’s beak.

With both men rolling around on the ground in pain, Wolf swooped back up to the nearest branch of a tree and let out a triumphant squawk.

Ben looked back at Spidena, and handed her bottle back to her, then wordlessly moved over to where the bald man lay wheezing on the ground with his hunting knife at his side. He plucked it up to inspect.

“It’s crude, but sharp,” he said more so to himself than Spidena as he noticed the sloppy folds of steel near the hilt. He then reached for the sheath that was at the bald man’s belt, only by the time he did so, the man had recovered enough to grab Ben’s wrist.

Without batting an eye, Ben turned with his free hand and jabbed him in the eyes before continuing what he was doing without even flinching.

When he eventually straightened, he looked at Spidena and found that while she wasn’t as deliriously happy as she had been before, she still looked more amused than annoyed.

“That was a cheap way of fighting,” she criticized with a scoff.

“It doesn’t matter how you fight when it comes to survival. Winning is what counts. What do you want to do with them?” he retorted matter of factly.

“Oyy!” the slender man on the ground called out while attempting to lurch himself to his feet.

Ben kicked out almost lazily, his heel catching the bandit by the sternum, winding him and effectively leaving him utterly breathless.

“It’s hard to root for you when you are so… careless about hurting others,” Spidena said after a flat beat.

“Says the woman with a potion bottle in her hand that would’ve done Gods know what,” Ben retorted dryly before rounding the witch to crouch down by her satchel.

“What’re you doing?” Spidena demanded her hand tightening around the bottle in her hand.

Ben didn’t answer straight away as he continued to rummage around the bag, and pretended to be quite confident about doing so even though he felt his fingers graze something with feathers that was still moving, something slimy and cold, a type of grain, a creature that nibbled at his finger, and then… By sheer luck his fingers wrapped around a familiar little bag that he withdrew while masking a sigh of relief.

“What in warts is that?” Spidena’s hand flew to her hip.

Ben grinned at the bag. “Katava. I figured we could convince them to wander away from us for a day and we go on our own way after we make them have some of this.”

“Why is your first inclination to poison people?”

Coming back to standing, Ben glanced at Spidena briefly before saying, “Coming from you that does make me concerned about myself a bit.”

“As it should.”

“But to be honest poison is the best way to deal with people without confrontation.”

Upon finishing his sentence, Ben heard the rustling of the bald man regaining his footing, and so he turned round again and kicked his groin again before the man could even get his fists up.

Spidena stared at him pointedly.

Ben shrugged. “If he can’t afford his lifestyle now, it’s not like he could’ve afforded kids anyway.”

“Children aren’t their parents! Though… I would pity anyone inheriting his hairline…” Spidena confessed, albeit reluctantly. Her generosity for the man that had been about to gut her was quite thrifty indeed.

“We can hear you!” the man with still in possession of his hair interjected indignantly.

“That’s wonderful. Do you want a reward for maintaining some form of sense?” Spidena asked airily, while staring at him unimpressed.

“Do they have to drink this in a tea?” Ben waved the bag in the air drawing Spidena’s attention back to him.

“It is better in a tea,” she confirmed.

“We aren’t going to drink anything you–ACK!” The slimmer man had started to rise up, fury and indignation in his face until Wolf descended once more, pecking his head a few times in good measure.

Ben tilted his head over his shoulder thoughtfully. How in the world could he force them to drink enough of the stuff…

As though sensing where his mind was going, Spidena let out a defeated breath.

“There is another way to give it to them… but first you have to build a fire.”

Ben looked over his shoulder, curiously at Spidena who was giving him a tired half smile, but he did have to wonder if perhaps that one was maybe a little bit genuine.

And for the first time since meeting her, he didn’t entirely mind if that was the case.