I was in a meditative state all night and kept watch while I rested and no one came to the room. It was close a couple of times, as the queen stopped by the door and looked like she wanted to come in, then later her eldest daughter had her hand raised and was about to knock, then moved on. Her twin didn't look at the door at all as she passed and Sylvana glared at the door when she passed.

At least she's keeping her anger in check. I thought with a smile.

Dawn on the other hand, held me tightly and slept all night. When she woke up in the morning, she must have forgotten where she was for several minutes. Either that or she was still half-asleep. Her hands roamed freely over me and she wasn't shy in her liberties as she caressed me. Of course, when her hand reached for my delicate part, I had already formed a protective dome of Presence over the area. She pat it a few times as if she knew what it was, then I heard her sigh.

“Damn codpieces.” Dawn mumbled and moved the hand up to rub my chest. “Come on, Dalur. Take off the chastity belt.” She said in a much stronger voice. “Hey, wait a minute. Why are you wearing a dress?”

I didn't move or say anything and let her reach the proper conclusion on her own.

“Oh... oh, no. No. I...” Dawn stammered and I felt her try to remove her arms from around me. I moved my arms and held onto her to stop her from retreating in embarrassment.

“It's all right.” I said in a soothing voice. “I really needed someone to cuddle me last night.”

Dawn stopped trying to pull away. “Really?”

“I can't sleep otherwise.” I said.

“I'm sorry I mistook you for...” Dawn stopped talking and her arms trembled.

“It really is all right.” I said and turned around in her arms. “I miss the people I love, too.”

We exchanged a look of understanding and laid there for several minutes without moving.

“Would you really light the whole thing on fire?” Dawn asked.

“If I didn't know the trees are more alive and caring than the people, yes.”

“You really believe that.” Dawn said, her voice unsure.

“I can see the flow of energy inside the trees.” I said. “The elves living around and inside them are mere specks of life in comparison.”

“You're not one of those monks that preaches tolerance, are you?” Dawn said, her voice now harsh.

I laughed. “Hardly. I'm a bounty hunter.”

Dawn looked at me and didn't blink her eyes for about thirty seconds before she spoke. “Hunter, the Bounty Hunter.”

“It took me a long time to come up with my name.” I said with a smile, and after a moment, she laughed. “We should get dressed.”

“That won't take me long.” Dawn said and looked at the shirt and pants beside the bed.

“I've got a few scavenged armor pieces and weapons I can loan you.” I said and sat up.

“Just a loan?” Dawn asked and looked up at me.

“They aren't going fit properly, obviously.” I said and slid off of the bed and stood up. “We'd need to visit a human armorer for that.”

“Not an elf armorer?” Dawn asked and slid off the bed next to her clothing and stood up.

I turned away from her and pulled off the nightgown and stored it. “Most elves aren't partial to outsiders, as you know.” I said as I took out my uniform pants and put them on. “Plus, I don't want to spend any more time here than I have to.”

“That sounds like a recent development.” Dawn said and took off her nightgown as she stared at my back to make sure that I don't turn around. “Is it because of me?”

“Technically no. I really need to get back to my party, so we can move on to the Second Choutia Kingdom and continue our work.” I said and pulled on my black long sleeved t-shirt and tucked it into my pants. “Finding you has just hastened what I had planned to do and moved up my departure.”

“Why? What are you doing?” Dawn asked and put on the shirt first to cover her nakedness.

“Saving the world by killing one creature at a time.” I said and put on my coat and buttoned it up. “I've decided to keep my word to the queen and I'm going to close the cracks. However, I don't plan on hunting down everything that comes through them.”

“What are these cracks?” Dawn asked and slipped on the pants.

“Breaches in space that allow creatures from other planets to come here and kill people.” I said and ignored her shriek of surprise as I tied my hair into a ponytail, then tied up the ponytail with another hair tie and slipped on my blast shield. With that done, I walked around the bed to stand next to her. “I don't think there's much choice for women in what I have.” I pulled out several different-sized armored chest plates and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head at them.

“You're just carrying these things around?” Dawn asked, her surprise at my revelation about the cracks forgotten, as she ran a hand over the closest piece. “These are high quality! Where did you get them?”

“City guards that were vampires.” I said and her hand froze.

“V-vampires?” Dawn asked.

“There's none in the elf lands and my friends and I cleared the First Sothen Kingdom of them.” I said and took out three different helmets. “I won't know how many are in Second Choutia until we go there and cast the locate spell.”

Dawn braced her hands on the bed and stood there silently as I took out three full sets of armor.

“I suggest just the boot attachments and the bracers, since the thigh and upper arm pieces won't fit you.” I said and I tried putting several pieces on her with the chest piece she picked. “Yes, that should do it.”

“I can't wear it like this.” Dawn said when she managed to get her voice back.

I chuckled. “I'm just getting the pieces ready.” I said and took them off of her. I gave her the proper leather backing for the armor and strapped it into place, then added the armor pieces over top of them. “How's that?”

“I thought you said we had to wait to see an armorer for proper fittings.” Dawn said and turned at the waist, then bent her arms and legs to test their movements.

“There's no joint protection, so you need to be careful if anything happens.” I said and stored the other armor pieces. “What kind of weapon do you use?”

“Long sword and shield.” Dawn said. “I haven't practised with the pike or the spear yet.”

“Long sword. Long sword.” I said as I rummaged through the loot bag of holding and pulled a sword out. “Nope, broadsword. Just a second.” I tossed the sword onto the bed and kept digging. “I really should have organized it instead of just tossing them all in.”

“You just...” Dawn reached for the broadsword and tried to lift it. She managed, barely, then dropped it back on the bed. “How strong are you?”

“I think I'm about halfway between a drackolope and a garglemacer.” I said and ignored her shocked face. “Aha! I found one!” I said and pulled a long sword out. “There you go.”

Dawn took the sword without a word.

“What kind of shield do you use? I've got small wooden ones, normal ones in both metal and wood, and tower shields in both metal and wood also.”

“N-normal. Metal.” Dawn said and accepted the normal shield. “I don't need a helmet.”

I nodded and put the helmets away. “Well, I guess that's all.” I said. “Are you ready to go?”

“But... weapons...”

I chuckled and took out a belt and hooked the sword to it and put it around her waist, then I slung the shield over her shoulders like a backpack. She stared at me like I had done the most amazing magic and I laughed.

“You never thought of wearing the shield on your back, huh?” I asked with a grin. “This way you can carry it openly and it's not threatening.” I held a hand out to her. “Come on. We need to get to the stables and head to the closest town.”

Dawn took my offered hand and we left the room. The guards that stood beside the door at the end of the hall stared at us as we left. We went down to the main floor and went over to the stable. There were four horses set aside and one of them was the one I had ridden yesterday.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Hey, boy.” I said and pat it, then looked across the stable to see an elf woman brushing one of the horses. I walked over to her and gave her a smile. “Excuse me. Could I bother you for a speed boost for my mounts?”

The woman huffed and ignored me as she kept brushing the horse.

“I'll take that as a no.” I said and walked back over to Dawn and the horses.

“Let's just take the horses and go.” Dawn said.

“I don't want to leave without getting the horses boosted.” I said. “We can travel a lot faster if... here comes someone else.” I turned to the entryway and another elf woman came in. She looked tired and like she hadn't slept well. She walked across the room and went right to the stall at the end of the stable and started to tend to the feed bags for the horses.

“I'll be right back.” I said to Dawn and walked over to the woman. “Excuse me.”

“I'm busy.” The woman said and filled another bag to attach them to the horses.

“I'd like to offer to help in exchange for speed boosting my borrowed mounts.”

She stopped filling the feed bag and turned her head to look at me. “Can't you do it yourself?”

“I can only assist in casting the spell.” I admitted. “What do you say?”

The woman looked at the thirty horses and then back at my face, then she sighed. “I'm too tired to argue.” She said and went back to work. “Help me feed and water the horses and I'll do it.”

I smiled and generated twenty Presence Hands, let them glow slightly blue instead of keeping them invisible, then picked up twenty of the feed bags that hung on the horses faces. I picked up a huge sack of feed and poured it out and used my Presence Hands to move the feed bags underneath it and filled them all in about ten seconds. I carried them over to twenty of the horses and hooked them around their heads and I hadn't moved from in front of the woman. She stared at me as I filled eight more and hung them on the remaining horses, which left the two she had.

“May I?” I said and pointed to them. She nodded and I picked them up with Presence Hands and hung them on the last two horses. “There. Now the water.” I said and held a hand out to the large tap near the wall. I used a Presence Hand to open the tap and let a good amount of water gather in a large ball. I used its inherent Presence to control it and floated it over to the first trough and dropped it in. I did this for all thirty horses and turned off the tap, then I absorbed all of the Presence Hands. The woman had a look of astonishment on her face, as did Dawn and the woman that had ignored me.

“My mounts?” I asked and motioned to them.

“Y-yes, of course.” The elf woman said, a little dazed. She followed me over to the horses and went to put her hand on the closest horse.

“I need to help, if that's okay.” I said and held my bare hand out.

“You want me to... touch your hand?” The elf woman asked, clearly surprised.

“It lets me share energy.” I said. “I promise not to take it personally or ask you to do more than that.”

She had to think about it for a minute, then she touched my hand. Her face went a little red, and I wasn't sure if it was anger or embarrassment, until she started to cast the spell and I added my Presence to it.

It was definitely embarrassment. I thought as she blushed and my energy went through her hand and into the horse. When the horse glowed blue, the three women stared at it.

“Now the other three, please.” I said and we did them, too. “Thank you for the help.” I said and bowed my head to her.

“Y-you're welcome.” She said, then she walked over to the side of the stable and picked up a feed bag, then she remembered that all of her work was now done. “I'm going back to bed.” She said and dropped the bag as she walked out of the stable and didn't look back.

I created a set of slightly blue Presence stairs for Dawn to use to climb up onto my horse. She didn't say anything and climbed up and sat on the saddle. I quickly tied the reins of the other horses together in a train, then climbed onto the same horse behind her. We left the stable and went out into the street, and I was glad that it was still very early in the morning. The streets were clear and we rode at a good pace out of the city. I checked the map the elves had given me and the closest crack was only a couple of hours away. I turned the horse in that direction and it didn't stop or try to ignore me. It trampled right into the forest and through the underbrush.

“You know, it would be really helpful if I had some kind of guide to lead me to all the cracks in the elf lands.” I said out loud and let my Presence be felt. After a few minutes, a little ball of light appeared in front of me. “Hello, there.”

“Who are you talking to?”

“A special forest guide that only friends of the forest can see.” I said. “Are you the same one that had helped me before?”

The little ball moved from side to side in a clear indication of no.

“I figured that would be too much to hope for. It's been a year since then, after all.” I said. “Well, little friend, here's the map.” I held it up to show it. “We're here and this is the closest one we're going to first. Can you take me there?”

The ball bobbed up and down and became a green arrow for me and pointed in the right direction.

“Thank you.” I said and stored the map, then we took off through the trees at a fast trot.

*

“He already left?!?” Sylvana exclaimed as she sat down at the breakfast table. “How? The guards were supposed to watch him!”

“They did watch him.” The queen's eldest daughter Braya said. “They watched him perform some high level magic to feed and water all of the horses in the stable, then they watched him ride away with the human woman.”

“Why didn't they stop him?” Sylvana asked. “He's not supposed to go anywhere without an escort!”

“I think we lost the right to keep tabs on him when he found one of the prisoners.” Bryana, the queen's second daughter and twin to the first, said from beside her. “Even I'm angry that the elders of those cities didn't contact us when they found outsiders.”

Queen Orella sat in silence as breakfast was served and she listened to her daughters discuss the mess they were in. She really hadn't known about there being more outsiders in her lands. Like Bryana, she was worried about the elders not contacting the royal family after discovering the breach.

I should have been more strict in my policy change concerning outsiders. The queen thought. She hadn't slept well last night and she sincerely doubted that she would sleep well tonight. When her daughters debated whether or not to send someone after Hunter, she spoke up. “Have one of the mages plot out his route and we can have an escort group meet him at his next destination.”

“I think it would be easier to wait until he goes to the next town and have them assign someone to escort him.” Braya said. “It saves us travel time and the potential to miss him in transit.”

“That is a good idea.” Queen Orella said. “Contact the towns and cities close by and have four guards prepared for detached escort duty. Whichever city he shows up to first will have his escort.”

“What if he doesn't want the escort?” Bryana asked.

“Tell them that he was promised safe passage in our lands and needs our people with him to guarantee that.” Sylvana said. “He won't argue, because it's true... and he won't openly refuse because that could negate his safe passage.”

“He also promised his services to close the cracks to enter our lands.” Braya said with a smile. “He's not out of our grasp yet.”

Queen Orella was tempted to tell her daughters than they had already lost him, through no fault of their own, and trying to manipulate him would only make things worse. She sighed instead and her three daughters looked at her.

“Eat.” The queen said and started eating. Her daughters were surprised, because it was the first time in as long as they could remember, that they didn't give thanks for the food.

*

Unodae wasn't surprised to hear from the other servers about what had happened with Hunter. She knew there were members of her race that blindly hated outsiders. They were easy to spot and deal with, as she had overheard the queen doing. It was the ones that hid their prejudice in plain sight and didn't let it show until it was too late to deal with them. Those people were the worst to have around. You couldn't trust them and they made everyone else look bad when they are revealed.

Today had been her day off and if she had known he was in the castle, she would have gone to him and told him not to listen to anyone else. She would have told him exactly what a normal woman was like and that they didn't harbour any real hatred towards outsiders.

Of course, I'm a little biased. Unodae smiled at the thought, then she closed her eyes and remembered the fun they had together while cooking in the kitchen. Hunter, please! Don't let them sour you!

*

I perched myself on a low hanging branch while invisible and I stared at the crack. Something like grubs were moving around it, except they were three feet long and had mouths like buzz saws and ate literally anything they could chew on. There were also thousands of them on this side, and I could see through the crack and even a rough estimation easily put them at a hundred thousand. At least.

Well, now is as good a time as any to test it. I thought and tiny bolts of Presence Lightning rolled around my fingers. “Anyone want fresh barbecue?” I asked and shot a hundred bolts of Presence Lightning at them. I didn't stop there, though. I also used Chain Attack and the bolts jumped to hit ten more past the first, then ten each past those. In only a few seconds, every single one of the grubs popped apart in a little explosion as their internal juices boiled instantly.

“That's disgusting.” Dawn whispered from behind me and covered her mouth and nose.

“No, this is.” I said and hopped down to land with a squelching sound in the middle of the mess.

“Ugh!” Dawn grunted and dry heaved.

“Now you know why we didn't stop to eat breakfast first.” I said. “I'll be right back.”

“You're not really going to... HUNTER!” Dawn gasped as I jumped into what she saw was a gaping maw. “He really did it!”

I disregarded her yell, because I had told her what I had planned. My Presence had recharged already, so I let another hundred bolts out and used Chain Attack. I also used Presence to enhance both my body and my attack. Almost like a tidal wave, the Lightning spread out farther and farther, and then they started to explode. I managed to cover myself in Presence just in time as their fluids and gore splashed all over. It covered everything. I had only made a small dent in the huge mass, though. I had cleared out only enough for me to safely look up at the sky and memorize the star pattern. Which was lucky, because I felt a huge mass of them surge up and flow towards me.

“Time to go.” I said as I pushed the fluids away with Presence and jumped back through the crack, grabbed the side, and pulled it closed. I started to sew it shut and I actually felt the mass of creatures hit the other side. I relaxed as I put the last stitches in and then I healed it. I took several deep breaths and stepped back from the spot and Dawn jumped at me.

“You're insane!” Dawn laughed and hugged me from behind. “I can't believe you let that thing eat you like that!”

“Sacrifices... have to be made.” I said with a sad voice.

Dawn turned me around to tell me that she was sorry, then she saw my grinning face. “You... you...”

“Thanks for the hug.” I said and tried to pat the top of her head and she smacked my hand away. “There's no loot, so we don't have to waste time looking.” I led her over to the horses and we mounted mine. “Next stop, breakfast.”

“How can you eat after that?” Dawn asked and the green arrow pointed where we needed to go.

“The question is what will I eat after that.” I said. “Can you guess what it is?”

“For Black Laura's sake, don't say it!” Dawn said, her face turning slightly green.

“One foot long magic tree slugs.” I said and heard her dry heave. “It's okay. Once you scoop the guts out...”

“HRGH!” Dawn covered her mouth. “Stop! STOP!”

I stopped the horse and she slipped off and ran into the bushes. She dry heaved a few more times, and when nothing came up, she sighed and came back over to the horse.

“Why did you do that?” Dawn asked and held a hand up to me.

I took her hand and used Levitation to lift her up and sat her on the horse. “I'm trying to teach you a very important lesson.”

“Wh-what?” Dawn said, and I felt her surprise at being lifted like she weighed nothing.

“No matter what you see, or smell, or touch, you still need to eat to keep your strength up.” I said and got the horse moving again and the train of three others followed behind. “Plus, it's better to get that sick feeling when you're stomach is empty. Believe me.” I'm also trying to distract you from what happened to you. I thought. Something like that weighs on you until you can deal with it on your own.

Dawn nodded in agreement and we followed the green arrow as we rode through the trees.