Ferodias POV / Ten Years Earlier

Ferodias carefully shifted around once he heard everyone outside move to react to a body impacting a tree after the distinct sound of Brasyl's bow firing an arrow. Once he was out from under Tori, he carefully pulled her the rest of the way into the tent as a bright flash illuminated the sky; the light persisting as it hung in the sky as bright as the sun.

Stepping out from the tent with his sword and shield drawn, he looked around to see four hooded individuals scattered around the camp, with a fifth having been impaled to a tree by an oversized arrow through their shoulder. Regan had just finished casting the light spell and pulled a crystal from his robes before dropping it to the ground and smashing it with his staff, a wave of magic pulsing from it.

The hooded figures simultaneously drew their own crystals, breaking them as they tensed, though nothing happened as Monty closed the distance on one of them, driving his spear through their left calf and pushing them to their knees as he followed up with an elbow to their jaw, knocking them unconscious.

"Scatter!" One of the hooded people called out, turning to run before tripping as Danica swept their legs with her hammer from where she had been laying in the dirt. The hooded figure rolled to react as Danica slammed her hammer into the ground, the ground close around her rumbling and cracking as the hooded figure's arm slipped into the shifting and cracking earth as it got crushed and trapped them.

Ferodias was quick to cut off the one who had been closest to his tent, pursuing the hooded figure who moved with magically enhanced speed. Though it was nothing when faced with the speed Ferodias cultivated as he shoulder-checked the hooded figure. This hooded person grunted as they fell, but they were especially quick and got back to their feet as they looked straight at Ferodias. Despite the bright ball of light directly above them, Ferodias could not make out any details about their face, he could only guess that their clothes or more specifically their hoods were enchanted with some kind of shadow magic to conceal their identities. "Surrender, and you will live to see the morning sun." He ordered as he bared his teeth with a vicious snarl.

With a quick glance around, Ferodias could see that Brasyl had another arrow notched and aimed at one of the two remaining hooded people who was also currently held at a bloody spear point by Monty. Danica had a firm foot pressed against the wrist of the free arm of the figure who had their arm currently crushed by the ground itself. The final hooded figure surrendered and was held at staff point by Regan, the end of his staff glowing a fiery red.

Ferodias looked back to the hooded figure he had cornered as he let out another snarling hiss before speaking up. "Come on then, this is just business for you, isn't it... Surrender, and we might be able to tend to that tree ornament before they bleed out." He offered, his voice unwavering as he stared down the shadowy abyss of where a face should be on the hooded person.

The hooded person hesitated, their posture still low, and looking ready to book it if they could. However, they looked from side to side at the companions before staring down at Ferodias. "What sort of guarantee do I have that you'll let us live?" A feminine voice called out from the shadows of the hood.

Ferodias looked over at Regan and tilted his head before looking at the hooded woman. Regan disengaged the hooded person he had at the end of his staff, only for Brasyl to turn his bow on them and make sure they stayed where they were. "We'll form a pact. If you tell us exactly who hired you and how you managed to poison dinner. If you are telling the truth, I'll have our mage heal your injuries, and I'll even pay you for your cooperation." Ferodias offered as Regan came up beside him, holding his hand out, palm up, as a pale blue magic sphere with runes was conjured up. Ferodias reached his hand into the sphere, waiting for the hooded figure to come and meet his hand to initiate the pact. "If any of your people so much as harm a person in the next two days, you'll lose your arm. If I go back on my word and my people harm you or any of the four others that are here now within the next two days, I'll lose my arm. Do you agree to these terms?" He asked, his voice now cool and calm as he had the hooded people at a disadvantage.

The hooded woman seemed to consider the situation she found herself in before taking a step forward and meeting Ferodias' hands in a firm handshake. "Fine... I agree." She said as the orb of light flashed and broke in two magical bands of blue light enveloping their arms all the way up to their shoulders before sealing into their skin and fur. She pulled away, rolling up her sleeve as she looked at her arm, her olive tone skin marked with the symbol of their pact. She sighed and rolled her sleeve back out.

Ferodias relaxed a little bit before looking at his party. "Alright guys, stand down. Brasyl, get that poor bastard off the tree." He ordered as he shared a look with Regan, the half-elf nodding as he set about treating everyone's injuries. Ferodias then looked at the hooded woman and tilted his head a bit. "Alright, so how'd you do it?" He asked as he sheathed his sword.

"Do what?" She asked with some defiance in her voice as she crossed her arms.

Ferodias bared his fangs with a low hiss of warning before continuing. "How'd you get the poison in the soup?" He clarified as he looked her over.

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The hooded woman sighed a bit as she rubbed the back of her head. "We cornered one of the guards during your little visit to the village up the road. Told him to pour the poison in the soup so we could take the girl without a fuss, and if he didn't do it, any blood would be on his hands." She explained as she uncrossed her arms. "It was supposed to be a quick job, in and out, no contact, no blood, no trace beyond the one coward who never saw our face." She looked back at her people before looking at Ferodias' party and then back to Ferodias himself. "We weren't told that adventurers were going to be with this caravan, let alone a dwarf." She mentioned bitterly, earning an amused snort from Danica as she was helping herself to a bowl of the poisoned soup.

Ferodias nodded intently, not finding any faults or obvious deceptions in her story. "Alright, and who hired you? And I don't just mean the middleman." Ferodias stated as his tail curled and lashed behind him.

The hooded woman shifted around before glancing at her people again, watching as Regan actually went about mending her people's wounds, putting together the hooded individual's arm that was crushed by the ground. Turning to look back at Ferodias, she spoke up. "Hoziris Kelsen is the one who hired us using a handler who we regularly have contact with." She stated simply, though as Ferodias' ears twitched expectantly, she continued. "Our handler did have some background information on the guy... He's an ore merchant, tends to scalp as much as he can from various mines, and sells them out of the kingdom." She explained further.

Ferodias seemed appeased as he nodded once more. "Do you even know who you are here for?" He asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

The hooded woman seemed to watch him for a moment before slowly reaching into her other sleeve and procuring a rolled-up piece of parchment and showing it to him. On it was a detailed drawing of Tori. "We were told to grab her and make sure she stays alive. Figured she was the daughter of a rival of some kind." She expressed rather plainly as she rolled up the parchment.

Ferodias scoffed a bit before actually laughing with amusement as he covered his mouth. "A rival, you say? By the gods, you have no idea who you were trying to cross." He mused. He could tell that the hooded woman seemed to feel indignant at his laughing as he decided to paint the rest of the picture for her. "Forget rival merchants, you were about to abduct a lady, a Count's daughter of all things. I'm starting to think that you may have been underpaid for this little job of yours." He said, noting how the hooded woman seemed to shift with surprise at the revelation. "She had just escaped being kidnapped with two other noble ladies from your employer's previous hirelings, and it looks like you were being used to quickly fix that mistake."

Ferodias could see the hooded woman's fingers flex and tighten as she clenched her fist, though she remained silent for a while, considering her words and circumstance. "At least that bastard paid half upfront." She finally said before looking Ferodias over. "If I never see you again, it'll be too soon." She said simply as she turned to look at her people again and shot Ferodias another glance as he walked up and held out five gold coins.

"The feelings are mutual. Now move along. See if you can't do us a favor and get any future attackers off our tail until that merchant is dealt with." He said with a bit of a smile.

The hooded woman looked between Ferodias and the coin before taking them up and bouncing them in her palm. "Between this and the healer's fee... I suppose I could make an effort." She considered before tucking the coin away. "Let's get going." She called out to her people as they gathered and followed after the woman, one of them having to be half carried by another as their leg was still weak from being pierced through by Monty.

Regan came up beside Ferodias, looking after the hooded people as they disappeared into the night before looking over at Ferodias. "I know we all took them alive because we wanted answers, but why'd you let them go?" He asked as he leaned on his staff.

Ferodias stared into the shadows for a while longer before looking back over to Regan. "They used non-lethal methods." He said before looking back out to the woods. "I had a good feeling about it. They have some kind of honor and look out for each other. I figured I could make use of that, and my hunch succeeded. I fulfilled my end of the bargain, and my mercy and trust were rewarded with information and a temporary ally." He explained as he then looked among the camp. "Let's get these people on their sides and start cleaning up. We don't want anyone choking or getting hurt due to how they collapsed." He mentioned as Regan nodded and the party set to work.

It wasn't much longer until some of the guards from the village up the road had come out to see what the commotion was about, having seen Regan's magical light clearly illuminate the night sky. After Ferodias explained the situation, more guards and villagers made their way over to the campsite, helping the unconscious villagers and guards into the carts and wagons before escorting them to their village so they could spend the night behind the safety of their walls. They were halfway to the village when the caravan started to wake up from the drugged state, and Ferodias was once more left with the task of explaining almost everything that happened while they were unconscious.

It also didn't take long for the guards to deduce who among them had poisoned the others. There were mixed feelings all around, though, as the man was essentially family and lifelong friends with these people, and the motives for poisoning the others were far from malicious but were without a doubt cowardly. At first, they tried to pass the verdict off to Tori as to what should be done with the man, but she turned down the suggestion, stating that this should be handled impartially by the judicial system within the city. The villagers deferred to her suggestion, and thus, the man was stripped of his arms and armor and was bound with rope for the time being. The man in question did not resist any of this, though the despair was plain on his face.

As everyone was once again settling in for the night after the villagers had generously shared their own food for that night's dinner; Tori made her way over to Ferodias and smiled, her cheeks flushing faintly as she looked up at him. "It looks like I'm owing you more and more with each passing day... To think you'd manage to even get the name of the one who was targeting me so quickly." She said as she brushed some hair out of her face. "I'll be sure to file a report and get a bounty on the man once we're in the city. Maybe then I'll have an uneventful journey back home." She considered as she looked out to the villagers as they set up their tents in the village square.

Ferodias nodded intently, watching her as one of his ears waggled. "Well, I'll make sure that trip is uneventful, if you'll let me." He offered as he flashed a smile when she looked back up at him.

Tori looked pleasantly surprised by that but smiled a little more as she pretended to look thoughtful while tapping at her chin. "Are you certain? I surely hope you're not just trying to get me to owe you more." She mused lightly.

Ferodias chuckled a bit as his tail swished from side to side. "Getting to escort a Lady as lovely as you? I'd pay for the opportunity." He replied with a toothy smile before sheepishly scratching his cheek. "Besides, Brasyl's got his heart set on getting a wagon, and I'm sure he'd be happy if our first job was making sure you got home safe."

Tori hummed for a moment, watching Ferodias as she stepped closer, getting to her toes as she leaned over and gently kissed his jawline. "I'll think about it." She whispered softly against his cheek before stepping away, walking with a small sway in her stride as her dress swished with each step.

Ferodias was left with a lingering warmth in his cheeks as his ears waggled some more. "Gods… What a woman."