"Sorry, sir! Didn't catch what you said there!" Sariel called, giving Cody a little wave when he twisted around to look at her again.

He tucked the crystal away, speaking as loud as he could with Hord'anne squeezing his spine. "Sorry... just doing my daily prayers..."

Sariel smiled. "That's alright, you two stay right here, I'll be right back with the food." She said, tapping her foot next to a neat pile of sticks and flat rocks.

They were by no means manicured like the setting around them, and Cody assumed she had mangled more than a few hedges and flower bed walls to salvage the materials. Sariel's disregard for the fairy domain was painfully obvious. On any other day, they would have come rushing. Were the fairies just on vacation?

He gave Hord'anne a protesting kick as soon as Sariel wandered out of sight. The beast gave in to the silent order, dropping him on the grass so Cody could finally stretch his stiff back. Cody listened for her footsteps, far enough away to risk a whisper. "Alina said to follow her, not much else." He turned to Hord'anne with a soft smirk. "You think she could be a protagonist?"

Hord'anne grunted, carefully grabbing some of the sticks to start making a little teepee.

Cody sighed. "I know she has food, but if she's a good guy, we have to kill her."

Sariel was quick to return to the space, dragging a heavy object behind her that had occupied both her hands. When she was close enough to her audience she hoisted up the limp carcass of a fawn, sharing in Hord'anne's giddy excitement at the grand reveal. "This one had a proper limp, so I bashed its head with a rock a couple times. Mum was smart when she saw my rock. She ran."

Cody stared at the cute little fawn with a lack of words, the blood still dripping from its skull as it stared with soulless eyes. He looked away when Sariel drew a knife from her bag, leaning closer to Hord'anne to share his new opinion. "Definitely not a protagonist."

Hord'anne grunted in agreement.

Conversations were sparse as the three set up the meal. Sariel had thought she could skin the deer the same way Maddison had prepared the fish, but her guests were quick to step in when her first jab at the deer's neck had squirted enough blood to hit Cody's face. So instead, Sariel sat in intrigued silence as Hord'anne skinned the beast with a dainty sword that looked like a toothpick in his giant hands. Cody finished up the teepee of sticks. Textbook perfect. He then held his hand over the creation and muttered under his breath.

It immediately burst into a little bonfire, much to Sariel's delight, cutting through the evening light to illuminate a small halo around them. He quickly grabbed two larger chunks of wood, dropping them into the hungry flames to listen to the crackling sizzle of burning tree sap. "You almost done?"

Hord'anne grunted at the man, grabbing the mostly-skinned fawn and twisting its head off.

Sariel watched Hord'anne stab a sharpened stick through it with growing excitement, shooting the two a nearly wicked grin as they finished balancing the feast on two forked branches sticking out of the ground. "Never caught your names."

Cody motioned to Hord'anne. "This is my friend Hord'anne, corruptor of flesh." He then motioned to himself "You can call me Cody. You said your name was Sariel?"

She nodded. "Sariel Sariel the Black."

"The black?"

"My last name."

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Cody smiled, poking at the searing meat with a stick. "So, what brings you to the wilds? You're looking a bit beaten up, come across any justice-driven goody two shoes? Probably an annoying, pale, human teenager if I had to take a guess."

"Nah sir, got these from playing Stone the Witch. Healing good after that bath." She motioned to the closed scrape on her forehead. "Maddison told me to say I fell off a- Oh... never mind sir, got these from tumblin down a cliff."

Cody nodded in disbelief. "Have you seen any strange, friendly people? They might go around interrupting everyone's conversations... acting like the world revolves around them."

Sariel gave his question a hard pause. "Never seen any nice people like that... but I do know a real great guy. Saved me from drowning and everything."

Hord'anne and Cody suddenly paid Sariel their full attention. "Go on."

"His name's Maddison Sungard, walked me to my village, gave me food, tried to get me a job... now we're just walkin for some reason, but I left him quick to take a bath and said I'd meet him at the town."

"Really? Which town?"

She pointed in the right direction, for once. "Said it was that way. Bervolt I think. You guys lost or somethin?"

Cody shook his head. "We're looking for the protagonist."

"Dunno what that is. Maybe Maddison can help you find it."

"I'm sure he will," Cody replied sinisterly, trying his best at an evil chuckle, but his overall lack of stature; or even muscles for that matter; made him look less intimidating than an emo boy with boxing gloves.

Sariel laughed along with him. She didn't get whatever Cody had found humorous, but always felt terrible when no one laughed at her jokes. Once it had dragged on a healthy length, she stopped flat, smiling at Hord'anne. "You two hunters?"

Cody shook his head. "We're villains. What are you?"

"Not a witch."

He stopped, tilting his head. "Alright... so what are you then?"

"That's what I am Cody, Maddison been real clear that I'm not a witch, and I can be a warlock so long as I don't scream it." She smiled, leaning closer to Cody and dipping her voice to a whisper. "I'm a warlock."

Cody lit up at the claim. "Really? So am I!"

Sariel gasped, giving the crow perched on her shoulder an excited squeal. "He's a Warlock!"

The crow hissed at Cody. "Rude!"

Cody ignored the temperamental familiar, scooching closer to Sariel. "Who do you serve?"

"My boss is named Medila!"

He tilted his head, playing the name back to try and jog a memory. He hadn't heard of that deity yet, and for Sariel to have shared it so willingly meant it couldn't have rung up much of a bad reputation. Or, it was a fake name to mask something a little more sinister. "What does this Medila give you for your services?"

"Food. Although, I gotta say, Maddison's been giving me more food for a lot less work."

"Uh-huh..." Cody mustered up a friendly smile. He was leaning towards his second thought. He hadn't run across any warlocks since hitting the mainland, so perhaps this was just a bold way of telling him to drop the subject. Still, poor manners begot poor responses, and he wasn't one to shy away from a jab. He levelled his excitement, trying for a disinterested approach at the conversation. "Don't worry, Hord'anne's a pathological liar as well."

Hord'anne grunted, grabbing the stick of meat and twisting it to an uncooked side.

"Not sure what that is, sir. I'm a bonafide warlock. That's my job rinow until Medila picks me up. Got in a bit of a mess after stabbin Corian."

Cody's intrigue quickly resurfaced. "Who's Corian?"

"Hero that came to my village. Accidentally killed him if you know what I mean."

He smirked. "Oh, I know what you mean. So you've had experience with heroes?"

She nodded. "Not the greatest folk I'll admit. I like mercenaries a lot more."

"I see where you're coming from." Cody grabbed another handful of sticks and tossed them in the fire, waving away the flurry of embers he disrupted. "So you're a villain like us?"

"No sir, I'm a warlock."

"Yes, I know you're a warlock. Warlock's are villains, didn't you know that?"

"Really?" Sariel gasped. "I didn't think I could be so many things! I suppose I am like you guys." She nodded to herself, grabbing a couple blades of grass and weaving them together. Cody took the gesture as a signal to pause their chatter, first, eyeing Sariel's strange craft for a few minutes, and then grabbing a book from his bag out of inevitable boredom. Sariel wove until the groomed grass she had ran out, lost in her thoughts of piecing together all of her conversations so far with Cody.

Maddison was a little easier to understand with his few words and direct commands. She didn't like how his tone often mocked Medila's, but was fond of the many objects he carried. Her mind moved away from the mercenary, clinging once again to Medila's old and wrinkly face. An idea sprung into her head, her green eyes scanning Cody as he read a book in the firelight.

"Say Cody... you married?"