There were few things sweeter than an early morning walk to Maddison. The silence as the world awoke was music to his ears, and the early chill made the journey pleasant, given summer's merciless hold over the region. But, returning empty handed had soured the experience these past few days. A week's worth of bushwhacking had given him a dead lead, a cape full of thistles, and a temper that had him cursing at every inconvenience that snagged his boots.

That was, until the sound of water lead him to a small abode. His hopes to wash up and take a break were dashed quick when he saw an object in it. It wouldn't have been the first time he saw a body floating in a lake, and he had been inclined to leave it where it was. Until it started flailing.

From its sudden cries, he knew it was a young woman. And once she found the shoreline, his frustrations at the distraction melted to worry. The cold water had done very little to provide her comfort as she shivered in a sopping wet brown shawl, her shoes lost in her journey through the water, and every visible limb peppered with reddish scrapes that were already going purple at the center from being hit. Still, the woman held an alarming amount of energy.

"Thank ya, sir, I never been on good terms with water. Must've fallen in and gone to sleep 'cause when I woke up I was floatin' in that lake over there, and it felt real nice until I started drowning." She wiped her soggy black locks away from her eyes, squinting at the hulking man. He hadn't jumped in himself, since no one in their right mind knew how to swim. He'd shot her an arrow fastened to a rope and pulled her to shore, but was more silently confused than relieved at his success. "You're a real-life saver, sir, you a hero?"

"Err... no milady." He quickly scanned her, the torn and tattered shawl was damply clinging to her, with a death knot still holding half her black hair up in a ruined bun. If a noble had been shoved into peasant clothes and pushed off a waterfall, that would fit the bill he was browsing. He grimaced again at her injuries, especially the one or two goose eggs lining her forehead. "You... alright there milady? You look hurt..."

"Oh no! I'm Sariel! What's your name sir?"

"Maddison Sungard..."

"Yer father's name Maddis then?" She watched his blank look with genuine intrigue as he slowly shook his head. "Maddis ain't a real good name for your mother..."

"Maddison is just my name don't think too hard... Mi'lady, you look like you've been hit by something, there's bruises all over you." He slid a bag off his shoulder and pulled a length of bandage out. To his relief, she didn't scream or claw him when he wiped the dirt off her face and tied it around her head, but she still had a loony sense about her. "Might I ask what happened?"

She felt the rough cloth and gave him a beaming smile. "Thank you, sir! I lost my other bandana runnin' through the forest playin' Stone the Witch with my friends! If ya need anything just ask sir, I'm real good at followin' orders and dodging rocks... and stabbing things too I guess."

"You were chasing a witch mi'lady?" He walked up to his horse that he'd leashed on a nearby tree, grabbing a woolen blanket to wrap her in as she started to shiver. "Was it a real bonafide witch?"

"Chasing a witch? Oh no, I was the witch! Known the game as long as I can remember sir. Gotta dodge all the rocks till the villagers get tired, and that's why I'm real good at it."

His face darkened to hostility, that must have been why she didn't drown. "You're a witch?"

Sariel nodded. "The hero that came to our village called me The Black Witch after I stabbed him for cutting up Morris... Maddison has got a bit of a Morris ring to it, hope ya don't get carved up sir, looks real painful." She leaned towards his face, which had yet again dropped to confusion. "You're real handsome sir, you sure you ain't a hero? Got pretty blue eyes and everything."

He turned away with a sigh, tying his bag and throwing it over his shoulder. "Don't throw me in with that lot. If a hero called you a witch I'm not buying it. Can you use magic?"

"Not sure, what's that look like sir?"

"Precisely." He ripped the knotted leash loose, leading his horse to her side. "I'm a mercenary, not that there's much of a difference if you call me a hero, except I forsake ethics just to turn a profit. Not for the hell of it."

"Not sure what ethics are sir, but I got some payment if that's what you're asking for." She ripped the decorative piece out of her hair. "You can keep this for now, got some valuables in a little chest under my bed."

"So you've got a place to go?"

Sariel nodded. "Back over to my village sir."

"The village full of people that tried to stone you?"

Sariel waved her hand to try and shoo his growing doubts away. "Just a game sir, don't you worry about me."

"You know where the village is?"

She scratched her head, looking at the three forking waterfalls with a twisted frown. "It's a small one in a forest. Got a few bristleback boars and probly two or three fresh graves."

"Well, we could follow the stream from the falls you were closest to." He tugged on the reign in his grip, pulling the dark brown horse away. "Come on mi'lady."

"Oh! You're coming with me? How kind of you sir, I'm sure I'll owe you lots when we get back. My village likes to put people up for the night if that interests you."

"Sure."

They walked for a couple of seconds in awkward silence, Sariel giving his features and leather armour a closer inspection, even randomly poking parts of it when she thought he wasn't looking, until they locked gazes like an angry cat and a timid mouse. "Sorry sir, how do you know we're going the right way?"

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"I'm guessing. We'll follow that waterfall's stream and trace it back to any villages. Since you said you fell in a stream and floated here..."

"Oh, how smart! I hope the water didn't change directions while I was sleepin' in it." She smiled at Maddison's dropping expression.

"Yeah... that would be unfortunate if the waterfalls suddenly changed direction..."

"Wouldn't it? " Sariel chuckled to herself. She was enjoying this modest conversation with Maddison the mercenary. Of course, she didn't know what a mercenary was, but from his helpful nature she assumed it had to be something good, something like a friendly guide or mail boy. She'd seen one or two of those go through her village.

They continued their hike, weaving through the thick thorns and shrubs with a couple scraggly trees to keep their balance as they neared the buffeted flat rocks of the waterfall's crown. "Scuse me Mr. Maddison are you married?"

He stopped in his tracks, sizing her up with a cocked eyebrow. "That's a bit fast milady."

"I was speaking too fast?" She smiled feverishly. "Sorry sir, said 'sscuuuse meee miister Maaddi-"

"I know what you said!" He sighed as she jumped in timid surprise at his tone. "Sorry... why do you ask?"

"Well, you see there was this hero that came to our village. Called himself Corian and had blue eyes jus' like you... nothing else really in common, you're about twice as meaty and brown haired but..." She pinched her hand as she thought about how to word her request. "My boss Medila wanted me to get him to marry her, sorta shoved me at him and said, "you'd better snatch him, with a guy like that I'm set for retirement!" But, well... when I saw Corian carvin' up Morris I didn't even think, and I sunk a blade into his back... she'll probly be mad if I don't bring something else back."

"You killed him?" Maddison watched her with wide eyes, gently grabbing her shoulders as she lacked the fear he was expecting. "Don't tell me you killed a hero..."

"Was aiming for his shoulder, but I guess I missed a bit... sunk it right in here." She twisted her arm around and pointed at the right side of her spine. "Coulda just fainted, but he did cough up some blood. Then all the villagers wanted to play Stone the Witch. I personally thought it was a bad time, but didn't really have time to complain."

Maddison paled as Sariel continued her tale of escape. "Salorez have mercy, we need to get back to your village!"

"Mmhm, right you are sir. Don't think Medila's patient enough to wait for me to return, I don't wanna get fired."

"No, it's not that! Hurry! Hopefully this is the right way." He scooped her up in his arms, lifting her into the horse as he jumped on in front of her. "I hope you haven't been out too long."

"What is it, sir? I Don't think I can afford an express delivery to my village..."

"Heroes have trackers linked directly to the King's generals, so if you killed one there will be a squadron at your village within the day." He kicked the Horse's side, breaking it into a gallop as it leaped through the rough terrain.

"You wanna meet them then sir? Personally, I don't like heroes too much after meetin' Corian. Also, he wasn't a bonafide hero, said he was an apprentice goin round savin villages,"

"We have to beat them, doesn't matter if they're a first-tier hero or apprenticed scraps, the tracker's still on them." He grabbed Sariel's collar as she almost flew off the galloping mount. "What are you doing? Hold onto something!"

"Right, sorry sir. It alright if I grab yer ponytail?"

"No! Grab my shoulders!"

"Alright, sir." She grasped his shoulders with an iron-tight grip. "You want a massage or somethin'?"

"Just don't fall off..."

"Suppose that's easy enough sir..." she sat up straight, looking around the whizzing forest as they flew alongside the trail. "Umm... sir?"

"What is it?"

"You're pretty stiff, you're sure you don't want a massage? I won't charge ya for it, dunno massage rates around this area."

"For the last time just don't fall off the horse!"

"Right then sir." Sariel looked around in boredom, trying to blow her bangs out of her eyes since she couldn't move her hands. "What's the horse's name?"

"Horse. He's a rental."

"That's real nice." She squeezed on his shoulders, doing it once more as if inspecting something about them. "Oh, sir... jus' realised you got some leather on. Your shoulders ain't actually stiff I don't think." She let the silence hang before leaning around to try and look at his face. "You never told me if you were married, sir."

Maddison let out an exaggerated sigh. "Actually, let's play a game on the way to your village."

"What's that sir?"

"The game is, if you talk, you lose."

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The brisk heat of the afternoon baked the air as Maddison tugged on his horse's reins. There wasn't a village in sight yet, but from his right he'd caught a whiff of rank smoke riding the winds. Wood wasn't the only thing the mysterious fire had eaten, so he turned their path and set his mount into a quiet walk. "Recognize anything around here?"

Sariel was silent, watching him in torn confusion as she nodded, pointing forward.

"Your village that way?"

She nodded.

"What time did you kill the hero at?"

Sariel returned a blank stare. She wasn't very good at charades, and wished he'd get to the village already so she could talk again. The disappointment pooled out of Maddison as he watched her play with her hands to figure out a good mime for nighttime, so she eventually clapped them together and placed them beside her ear, closing her eyes with a gentle smile.

"Night time...?" Maddison got off the horse, shaking his head. "Could have just said that."

"Sorry sir, ya told me not to talk until we reach the village, it's about five minutes aw-" she gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth. "I lost the game! Real sorry sir! I'm talking again-Oh! I did it again!"

Maddison widened his eyes as Sariel grew frantic in her speaking paradox, finally clasping her lips together so tight there was a ring of white around them. "You can talk... just stop asking if I wanna marry your boss. Cause I don't."

Sariel groaned in disappointment, she was going to the serf swarm for sure now. She'd skipped a whole day's worth of chores and had nothing to substitute it with. Maybe the local lord gave complimentary food to his serfs, she'd never really looked into that.

"I'm gonna have to ask you to be a little quieter though..." Maddison whispered, tying the reign in his grasp to a tree and gently lifting Sariel off the horse with a grunt.

"Sorry there sir, Medila warned me to tell men not to pick me up 'cause I'm fat."

"You're not fat." Maddison put his finger to his lips. "Now keep your voice down in case there's people near."

Sariel let out some obnoxious laughter. "Course there's people near! You run fast enough we'll be at my village in a minute flat! Watch." She tore off into the woods before Maddison could grab her, giggling playfully as he tailed her in. He gradually faltered in the chase, completely underestimating her agility as she shrank into the distance.

"Wait! Stop! I get it! Now get back here!" Maddison stopped to catch his breath, watching her fade into a tinier speck as she beelined for the smoke looming over the canopies like a hungry snake. "Fine..." He waved his hand tiredly and turned away. "Go get captured for all I care. Bloody bush people." He took a couple steps, glancing over his shoulder as a strange feeling gripped him. He'd gone through the effort of pulling her out of a lake, so he deserved at least some form of satisfaction in knowing his efforts weren't in vain - and some explanation as to why she was practically prancing through crazy land...

He tapped his foot, pressing his thumb into his forehead to soothe a phantom headache. She had also mentioned the money under her bed. The stream of smoke was small, a weak flicker for the amount of distance. Perhaps it was a bonfire and they'd over-roasted a pig. He sighed at his own thoughts.

"I'm not that stupid." He muttered, already regretting the once-in-a-blue-moon act of idiocy he was going to take. "Come on lady slow down!" He called, continuing his pursuit of the mysterious woman.