"A fair hand, you say." Joldir addressed him sardonically, taking in the carnage.

Ulric shrugged. Fair to middling, certainly nothing to write home about compared to the curb stompers he'd been training with. Any one of the Iriel'en royal guards would have cleaned that common room out, probably without getting touched. Even Christ, their newest member and young as he was, would have fared better. Of course, Ulric hadn't pulled his sword or used magic. It hadn't occurred to him to do either one.

Losing his cool in a fight. Bad news that, he needed to be better. He'd been pissed before. He'd been murderously furious. But, normally, he stayed on top of himself and kept some semblance of control. It was a friggin miracle he hadn’t grabbed up his sword and started laying about with it, or, worse, his magic. He had a feeling that some unconscious consideration of his Shadow being caught up in the crossfire was the only reason this inn still stood. He hadn’t been specifically trying to kill anybody but, as it turned out, he was pretty sure he might have cashed the tickets for at least two or three of these caravan guards. Especially the one he'd kicked, that one had taken it square and he'd felt the body fold a bit. Well, at least Taipan hadn’t gone off the deep end.

"Eh, I've seen better." He said honestly, in return to Joldir and his partner, "You're fortunate that my partner here is indisposed. She takes less kindly to affront than I do and has a sharper response to it. Part of why I keep her around, you know."

"That and you would wander around in circles until you starved to death out here in the forest, you tundra walker." Chimed in Taipan cheerfully.

She was in a surprisingly good mood now that the fighting was over and nobody else took her up on her offer to commit assisted suicide. He saw why when he took in their table with the two empty mugs. The woman had drunk his beer while he was in the middle of all of that? Slattern.

Joldir and his partner shared a good, long sigh.

"Yes, well, I feel we have probably escaped from the worst that could have happened." the troubled guard intoned evenly, taking in the two travelers.

He turned and called at the wall, "Minna, how are things on your side?"

Or, at least, Ulric thought he had called to the wall before he looked down and realized that the tiny innkeeper had knelt down over the guy he'd kicked. Her hands glowed the soft green and orange of Sano, healing magic working on the caravaneer to repair the damage.

She must have already helped some of the others because they weren't moaning or bleeding anymore. The one Taipan had knifed in the back was still pale and looked like he would have run from her had he had the strength. At least one of them had survival instincts. Ulric had to admit being impressed by the Innkeep, she was, somehow, incredibly hard to track, like some kind of healing ninja. Or a reverse grey man.

"They are as well as could be expected, Joldir. There wilt be a tab gross large ready for ye to enforce momentarily. Fer the table, a set of chairs, the cost of sandin' 'n treatin' my floor to remove the blood, and the healin'. Also, they are barred from my establishment. The lot can find a shack outside of town to huddle in fer all that I'm carin'. I run a peaceful place fer drinking away a day's toils, stuffing bellies, an' laying down o' burdens fer a night, not a battlefield medicos station." She announced, still working on the Elf with the flailed chest.

"And the two of ye. Well, I cannot rightly be blaming ye. Still, one more of these and ye'll find rest elsewhere, yeah?" She said, laying down the law.

"Yes ma'm." Both Ulric and Taipan intoned with sincerity.

The innkeep nodded her acknowledgment and returned her complete attention to her spellwork. Catching all of the bone fragments out of the diaphragm, liver, and lungs was turning out to be a huge pain in the ass.

The female guard, Seralin, in the meantime, had gone to check on the source of all their woes. She bent down and inspected the body before she slid a finger across her throat to indicate that well would remain dry henceforth.

Served the bastard right.

"Just as well." Joldir said, as his partner rejoined him.

"Constantly at the women was he, we had more than one complaint but always his friends were backing him up, threatening any who would object down. Anytime they pressed, we threw them out for a few weeks, but caravans are the lifeblood of this village. They need the guards to pass through the forest in good order. It was coming to a head, no matter." The much younger guard told them, not a trace of sympathy in her tone.

Taipan nodded her agreement.

"For some, stupidity is a terminal disease. It is nothing to grieve when those manage to find their own way to feeding the forest. Sometimes they need some small help and that is nothing to cry for either." She proclaimed, still with that cheerful lilt in her voice.

If he didn't have a volume of tangible evidence to the otherwise, Ulric would have been sure that his Shadow had the hardest ass on the face of the planet. She had no chill at all, sometimes.

The guards looked to each other and muttered "Iriel'en bones for sure."

Ulric had to agree with them. All signs pointed to the Deep Woods folk breeding them fierce down that way.

Any doubts about that in the minds of the guards were gone, they'd watched the barbarian's huntress guard his back against a half dozen. Any who came within her reach suffered for it. And that was with the blindfold.

Well, at least things had settled down. He was coming back off from the adrenaline rush and the tiredness of the long day before was amplified greatly now. Post-combat highs had deep lows, he was thrashed. That he'd just committed somewhat justifiable homicide didn't even register to him, Varda was a whetstone polishing the edges on its denizens. Softness was not conducive to a long life expectancy. Dimly he remembered Bald'rt's claim "I kill them and think little of it" and had to be slightly amazed at how smoothly that transition had happened.

He yawned, caught off guard by his own heartfelt desire to sleep. Taipan glanced at him and fetched their mugs, refilling them without being asked. Ulric laid the same price as before on the wide countertop.

"I speak for no one else, but this day has gone too long. Have you any further need of our presence here? No questions, official statements, or anything like that?" he asked Joldir.

That one would have spit on the floor had not the Innkeeper Minna been nearby.

"What is there to investigate? I told all who stood at the gate the both of you were dangerous and you brought your own proof. Barsol went out of his way to provoke a fight, with the both of you, and if you hadn't killed him, your partner would have, with just cause. The village council will be glad to hear that the caravan guards have had one of their worst offenders removed and the rest chastised. No, this is as clean an ending as could have been hoped for, in all honesty." the guardsman admitted.

"Those tattoos, or, no, Gods Above and Below are those scars? I have not seen the like before. What does it mean that they glow?" The guard asked incredulously, his voice suggesting that he had some idea.

Ulric hadn't ever seen that particular phenomenon before, and they'd faded back to their usual appearance now, but he knew how his core had felt, how the Ceraun was flowing like his own blood, and had his own suspicions. If any of those idiots had ever cornered him or put him into a position that triggered his survival instincts, he had a feeling there would have been a lot more bodies.

"No good to anyone nearby, Joldir. Let us hope there will be no need to find out." He deflected, unable to offer any better answer regardless.

It was good enough though, the guard had been around long enough to know that any more such questions were more than rude and a [Scan] would create more problems than it solved. It was not uncommon for an uninvited [Scan] of another to result in an immediate reprisal. There were some things one did not do unless great need drove. He would not invite greater chaos to satisfy his curiosity. An Elf didn't grow old being foolish.

Taipan returned with the beers and Ulric took up their packs. He'd wasted perfectly good coin on that shirt. He should've taken dickwad's coin purse, Ulric thought to himself.

No, no, he told himself, you aren't actually a barbarian. He shook his head as they climbed the stairs. It had only been a year. What changes would he have experienced in ten?

Frowning, he threw that aside. Don't brood, Einar. Not this time. Just live for the here and now, do your best to be a good man, and forget all the bullshit that ever got fed you in your old life. Here, the weak get eaten, there they just got penned up like cattle, to live out their days while they were milked their life's blood. In nearly every way he had to measure, Ulric realized that he was a happier person here than he ever was there. Here, it felt like he moved in lockstep with the rhythm of this world, instead of being always offbeat in the old one.

Up the stairs they marched, and the room was a small but completely acceptable affair. Two beds, reasonably sized. A window of foggy smoked glass allowed the afternoon light to spill, diffused, into the room casting an amber glow on the furnishings. Taipan set their mugs down on a small round table and Ulric sat heavily on the bed closest to that window, a groan of relief escaping him.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

What. A. Fucking. Day.

The funk of the beast that had necessitated this stop in the first place was near to gone, only the barest whisper remained on their packs and flesh. Bad enough, and a reminder never to take for granted anything with regard to the monsters that populated Varda.

That reminded him, if his senses didn't deceive him, Taipan had done something amazing while fighting that monster. She'd layered her skills.

Sitting up from where he'd sprawled on his back, he saw that she was occupying a seat at the small table and grinding herbs from a belt pouch with a mortar and pestle. A rather elegant clay pitcher, glazed and painted with wildflowers, was providing the water to create some kind of minty paste.

"Taipan, did my eyes deceive me, or did you use two of your combat skills simultaneously? I thought I saw you use [Shadow Toxin], very awesome, by the way, alongside of an [Infused Arrow]. It fucked that thing up about as well as my lightning bolt and I noticed that it failed to use its sound blast after you did it." He asked, unable to keep the praise from his voice.

He didn't want to stoke her ego too much, but it was impressive as hell.

She smiled behind her bandage. "You are not mistaken Glade Chief. I can use two or even three of my skills at the same time, creating synergies between them. It is a thing few can do and the mark of an advanced combatant. My [Shadow Toxin] disrupts concentration of mana." She told him proudly.

"I have heard Idra'se can utilize six or seven different abilities and hold that for up to a minute sustained. It is how he was able to slay the Archmage Cryomancer and live to tell the tale, only losing a single eye." She explained, the awe as she did so obvious.

As usual, just when Ulric thought his respect for Idra had reached the appropriate level, he found that the old blade master had gone even further beyond. It had been a kingly gift that Bald'rt Iriel had given Ulric the opportunity to learn from that Elf. If the fundamentals were, well, fundamental, then Ulric had been set up well to have a fighting chance since his had been built by the hands of a true master. His Shadow continued, explaining her technique.

"To use two skills layered is my limit, for now. I can do three but it leaves me so weakened for a minute that it is not normally useful. I feel myself coming to a breakthrough but have not yet reached the point of stepping towards the next level. If things continue as they have, I should be there inside the month." She joked.

Even as long as she'd been serving as an agent of her kin, she still clearly had the hunger to improve, to expand her skills. It was motivating. He hadn't had long enough to really internalize the full scope of the Elves' Dance of One Thousand Steps, but he knew that he was moving easier than he had in the glade, his balance had become more sure, and his feet more decisive. The difference in being in a winning and a losing position was a matter of centimeters, placed by degrees, in fractions of seconds. Small details grew large in battle and he appreciated greatly that he hadn't had nearly the natural ability to come out into the world as he had been before his time in Irielhos.

Taipan had now given him another avenue to advance himself. Combinations of skills, perhaps of spells. He'd done a similar thing a few times, mostly in the middle of a battle, where instincts had led him and he hadn't been able to fuck it up through overthinking.

Definitely would be something to consider but, for now, he was zonked. He drank his beer and helped the Elf apply the poultice she'd been working on to her face. The skin was flaking and angrily red and her normally lustrous eyes bloodshot. He felt badly for her and couldn't help holding her head briefly. She leaned into him for a moment, taking comfort. They weren't frequently very clingy but this was a definite time for it. Neither had admitted it yet but there had been a close call.

Varda was a scary place. The creatures and plants that flourished all had weapons, some hidden, some not, and even veterans had no guarantee of being able to anticipate all the abilities of their foes. Alertness, caution, focus, preparation, and fundamentals were the keys to staying alive out there. To fail in one of those things was to be forced to lean on the others more heavily. Failing too many and something would give out, placing you into a situation like that of his Shadow.

He had no doubt that she could have kited the creature around forever if not for worrying about him. But that was beyond her control and so she used what tools she had and the result was a victory, at cost. Ulric had no doubts though that somewhere in her mental journal of possible dangers, the [Shrieking Ravager]'s abilities were categorized, annotated, and countermeasures established. The second one, if there was a second, wouldn't so much as ruffle her hair.

A comforting thought that. He was going to ask her more questions, something about classes probably, but she'd removed her clothes and he forgot what they were.

The second bed went unused. They probably disturbed their neighbors. Tough nuts to them.

They rose later than was custom. The window faced the setting sun and the pair, used to the outdoors, slept until the daylight was enough to light the room.

Ulric was woken by the moving of his partner, who'd already started tending to her injury.

The poultice had done wonders overnight, when the athletic woman carefully removed the blindfold and face wraps. Much of the irritation was gone, more like a sunburn than acid, and the light sensitivity was a thing of the past. She blinked slowly a few times as the soft glow of morning bathed the room in a soft ambiance, taking in the first painless sight since she'd been hit by the beast's musk.

Ulric was about ready to get his day started as well but Taipan's deep stretch, arms overhead, and back arched caused them a greater delay. She should know better than to do that with him right next to her. Or, maybe she did. No matter, schedules were for suckers.

When they returned to the common room, the evidence of the previous afternoon's conflict was gone, except for the decidedly fresher finish on certain parts of the floor. Appraising eyes raised to watch the pair descend the stairs. Ulric noticed that these were a different set of clientele than had been there yesterday, but rumors had found their way around; it was inevitable in a village as small as this.

Ulric had decided that the thick wool blanket being worn as a toga or sarashi of sorts would be better than going bare-chested in over-tight shorts. Damned caravaner grabby paws, may his bones bleach in an appropriate hell. He might as well be working at a Chip n Dales. Fortunately, he was following behind an actual gods blessed beauty in Taipan. Most people had their eyes drawn to her regardless of their inclinations. The lass was a verifiable hottie. Absent her face covering, even with her reddened skin, she pulled attention to her. He could sort of just coast along behind her in relative obscurity, the Human barbarian of no concern. That part was according to their plan, in fact. The fewer people who recalled him the better for moving into Prespang and, eventually, Prosper.

His partner evidenced no concern over the gazes directed their way, and he supposed that she had learned to ignore garnering attention as a member of the Iriel'en royal family and a woman of outstanding attractiveness, even amongst her incredibly aesthetic people. Aes'r were, according to Ulric's tastes, a generally exceedingly sensual folk. Even their men were pretty, which was a surprise to a thoroughly heterosexual man like himself. But it was like being surrounded by actors and Olympic athletes, you didn't have to want to make love with them to recognize beauty of form.

Taipan sat at the table they'd occupied the previous afternoon, empty again. The same serving girl came by, noticeably more apprehensive than the day before. That would happen when you observed two people more or less kick the dogshit out of a small mob consisting of your neighbors and regular customers.

Regardless, his Shadow put in their order for a loaf of fresh bread, and slices of the mystery meat, which Ulric thought had a distinctly porkish flavor, if a bit leaner than the hog meat of his old life and the [Stoneplate Boar] he'd had previously.

They did not wait long, bread that steamed when it was broken made Ulric's mouth salivate. The baker did fine work, it was a crunchy crusted loaf with fluffy insides and a smidgen of honey turned it into a fine breakfast alongside the pan-fried strips of meat, too lean to be called bacon.

As Ulric shoveled food into his mouth his mind searched back and he came to the realization that part of his Shadow's standoffishness was probably related to the sorts of behaviors exhibited by the village's most recent corpse. How many times had she been accosted by some Lordling or dignitary or some such who tried to push her into accepting their attentions? A good part of her snappish behavior was easily explained by having to deal with that sort of behavior. It also put his initial meeting with her into a better perspective.

He'd given her a rough sort of treatment in that regard and it probably colored her opinion, rightly so, of him early on. He regretted that now. If he knew then what he knew now he'd have come up with some other way to mortify her into trying to murder him so that he could turn her planned ambush around on her before she really knew what she was dealing with.

Well, it was a good thing to be reminded that you never knew entirely what motivated a person or what experiences skewed their perspectives. They almost certainly had sensitivities about which you might never know until you stumbled across them. In his case, at least his incredibly insulting approach had been entirely predicated on maybe killing her before she could put steel in his back and she was aware of that fact. She'd admitted making several plans to that effect. Which was pretty up-front on her part, if anybody asked him.

Hmm…he probably owed her an apology anyway.

Actually, damnit, she'd said he would end up killing a couple of people who wanted to test him through going after her. He'd believed her, no thought of doubting her crossed his mind, but he hadn't expected it to start so soon in their journey.

"You were right, Taipan. I might have been underestimating the temptation of some of the worse elements of the frontier towns to give you a hard time or to push my boundaries. It's something of a…I dunno, a revelation. Let me know if you can think of anything I can do to prevent any future events like yesterday's." He admitted.

The former Huntress carefully kept her "I told you so" smirk off her face, though he could nearly feel it radiating from her despite her controlled features.

"I am glad that you have learned to trust my judgment so easily, Ulric. It only took a single killing and near massacre of a handful of backwards caravan dregs, but you still learned fairly quickly." She said, graceless in her small victory.

Always one to twist the knife was his Shadow. He kept his voice low to avoid saying anything that might give hint as to their identities or purpose other than the one they'd stated openly.

"Yes, yes, fine, you were right." He said, allowing her to gloat. "Problem is, we've made noise. If we are to make it through the borders into Prespang without detection, we cannot very well be leaving corpses to mark our path. What would you have us do?" He asked.

She leaned back, sipping a hot tea, to mull it over. While she did, he dipped his delicious bread end into his cup of milk to sog the very tip of it. Milk, as it turns out, was available from a wide range of herded creatures and only some of them resembled cattle. There were Llama like critters, called [Vicun] a little smaller than their extinct Earthen counterparts but with a longer, thicker wool, whose milk flowed lightly yellow and carried a distinct vanilla note, which had sourced this morning's drink.

There were also some more, unorthodox, sources, not all strictly mammalian, including a monitor lizard the size of a mini pony, known as [Gila], with incredibly powerful digging claws that was used in many Elven agricultural plots to till and fertilize the soil with its dung. The creatures liked to create similar patches of turned, soft dirt in which to nest and had been domesticated for centuries. That the females also produced a very sweet milk for offspring from cryptic teats, hidden beneath special scales on its underbelly, was a sizeable bonus. Wild ones were notoriously venomous, the opisthoglyphous, or grooved rear-toothed monsters, chewing potent hemotoxins into their prey, which included most things up to a near-grown adult Elf. These domesticated ones weren't nearly so toxic, not having their diets supplemented by the noxious insects that contributed to their gland's venom production in the wilderness.

Ulric had not initially believed Taipan when she told him about them, not until she walked him out to a "stable" a fenced-in set of burrows in which the things lived in merry little communities of about twenty, below the boughs of Irielhos some months ago. Absent their usual keepers, the gates to the fenced areas were left open for the creatures to subsist off the land, which they did easily. They were too territorial to wander far from their home though, which made keeping them fairly easy. Ulric had only had to run for a minute or two before they stopped chasing, the Elf woman running the limbs of the trees above easily, though almost slipping from tears of laughter blinding her.

He was pulled from his ruminations on animal husbandry when Taipan appeared to be ready to explain how they were going to stay off the radar, scrubbing her hair briefly before leaning forward over the table.

"The new plan, is the old plan." She stated simply, deflating him a bit.

"Our approach is a good one, the best that could reasonably be attempted, Ulric." She continued, softly, explaining, "What we failed to account for was that, thanks to the death of the [Forest Lord], and the pulling back of the usual Elven forest tenders, the wilds are wilder than normal. Greater beasts are traveling, migrating towards the Plateau. At the same time, things kept caged upon the Plateau are moving towards softer lands around them, especially the more dangerous variants of the canopy, in the [Forest of the Forgotten]. This means that we simply must be more cautious."

Her fine eyebrow raised and she went on indicating him with a delicate gesture of her hand, "By we, I do mean you, Ulric. You are much louder than me, and, though you are well practiced moving in the forests compared to most of the Humans I've seen, it is not as if you are an Iriel'en harvester or Hunter. I can only do so much to prevent encounters with the denizens of the wood, if we cannot move with the stealth of a Triad."

Ulric didn't take that personally, it was simple fact. While he moved pretty comfortably through the bush there was no comparison to how easily, and above all, quietly his Shadow did. She took even more of the potential bite out of that statement by continuing to review the situation, a bit of uncharacteristic charity on her part.

"Coupled with our need to move quickly, I do not think even a veteran Triad could both cover the terrain as we have and remain completely cloaked from encounters. The [Bloodstarves] alone would have forced an engagement, their senses are too well-tuned to finding prey from the skies. The [Shrieking Ravager], a variant of several creatures with which I am familiar, I have not encountered before and its hunt of a separate prey just happened to bring it to us, bad luck that was unavoidable, though I admit that I slipped up and allowed myself to be disabled unacceptably. As for the excitement last night? There, I believe we may find a modest improvement."

"I'll say it plainly Ulric, you are being too soft. Had you simply broken the idiot's neck from the very start, for the temerity of occupying your place, we would have had much the same outcome with less than half the riot." Taipan upbraided him, gently.

"There is a reluctance in you to initiate violence. Once provoked you perform well, but you are too slow to respond, and too eager to avoid the conflict. Others will take note of this and seek to push boundaries. You have explained to me the nonviolence of your upbringing, the peace of your old life, but you must leave that behind you, it only invites aggression in those who have not learned to recognize the signs of a foe beyond them, hence your having to kill idiots like Lordling Morion or that one from last night. Only one with a reputation for being unassailable may present a gentle front. For the rest? You must wear your potential for danger more openly. Intimidation will save us more killings." Taipan advised.