There weren’t as many mercenaries as I had expected.

Approaching the camp slowly, I made sure to walk quietly. I wasn’t in the mood to show mercy, but at the same time I was still gathering information.

They had a flag up, near the largest tent. I didn’t recognize the weird looking lizard design, but it was obviously one they held in high esteem. The pole they had strung it up upon was comically tall. Their camp was also rather orderly, even if not as fancy or ritzy as some mercenary camps usually were.

I counted a quick fifteen tents. And a few hastily made lean-tos near the campfires. Some of the tents were big enough for multiple people, but their numbers told me that I didn’t need to worry over having misplaced a large swath of them. Depending on how many were still in camp, and the twenty one I’d already killed… this size of the camp made perfect sense.

Their tents were honestly rather small. The biggest likely only big enough to hold a table and some chairs. They had a few campfires set up, but only one was lit right now. It had a pot simmering over the fire, but no one was tendering it. So it was likely just food being kept warm, or tea of some kind.

The few horses they had, and a couple donkeys, were all lined on the outer ridges of the camp. Tied to hastily placed spikes, as to keep them from roaming. They didn’t seem to have any dogs, unless they were asleep in one of the tents, and they only had one man on night duty.

His back was facing me, and he was more concerned with making sure he didn’t piss on himself than anything else. For some reason he had decided to piss into the wind.

Maybe he was drunk.

Other than him I could hear the voices of a few other men. I heard the snore of a man who likely had some kind of breathing problem. Another man had entered the largest tent earlier, before I began approaching. It had looked like he had papers in his hand.

Half a dozen men at best from what I could discern. Add that to the twenty one I had already slain… not including the young girl, it brought their happy little band to at best thirty people.

A typical size for a smaller mercenary band. Usually ones with this few members belonged to other bands, joining under a bigger banner when waging actual war. Strength in numbers and all that.

Too bad for them, they’d never see a battlefield again. Not after tonight.

As I approached the camp, I glanced up at the night sky. The morning sun was getting ready to rise; I could see the faint hue in the distance. Odds are by the time I finished killing the rest… daybreak would be here.

Which would also explain this unaware man I was approaching. He had finished relieving himself, yet was still just standing there… staring up at the sky.

He wasn’t drunk. He was simply half asleep. He was about to fall back to sleep while standing there, his pants halfway down to his knees.

Stepping out of the grass and onto the flat dirt where they’d set up camp, I rolled a shoulder as I stepped up to the unaware man. He tilted his head, right when I stepped up behind him… which told me he had heard my footstep. But he never got to find out what he had heard, or why.

I snapped his neck, twisting his head down and at an angle as I did so. To keep him from making any loud noises as the last bit of air in his lungs wheezed out as he died.

He crumpled, and I held onto his head just long enough to make sure he didn’t fall too harshly. Lowering his head, and thus his body, I allowed him to collapse as I turned and headed for the nearest tent.

The tent had some boxes around it. They were unmarked, yet made of finer wood. Stuff made by craftsmen. They had stacked them in a way that helped hold the tent up, as support.

Stepping up to the tent, I reached out and pulled back the main flap.

The sleeping man inside shifted, and lazily rolled over. He had crawled in and laid down, so his feet were at the entrance.

Grabbing an ankle, I tugged the man from his bed. He let out a tiny yelp, but didn’t get to say much more as I bent down and hit him in the side of the neck.

He went to twitching and spasming, from the broken neck, and I stepped over him and headed for the next tent.

This one had the man who was snoring loudly. I tossed aside the tent’s flap, and found a rather large man. Heavyset. He was lying on his side… and…

I frowned at the sight of his naked body. He was not only naked, but also without a blanket.

Disgusted, I did the same thing to him as I had the other man. I grabbed a leg, and hauled him out.

This man startled awake far quicker and even tried to roll up and out of my grip. Though all he had accomplished by trying to stand up was bringing his head into range for me. I swung down a heavy fist onto the back of his neck, and likewise broke it.

He collapsed into the dirt, falling face first, and went completely still.

“What the hell are you all doing out there?” a man shouted from inside the biggest tent. Likely the one I had seen earlier, with the papers.

I ignored him for now and headed for the next tent.

Pulling aside the flap, I found the tent empty.

Huffing I went to the next.

“John!” the same man who had just shouted yelled again. He sounded annoyed now. He had expected an answer from his earlier shout.

The leader maybe. Good. I had thought I had killed the captain earlier. There had been a rather stout man with Renn’s friend, in those trees. He had acted like a commander, and had the scars to prove he had earned such a title.

I had killed him a little too quickly, on accident. I had intended to just cripple him… so I could talk to him… but when I had approached the men and found one of them about to kill the young girl; I had grown a little upset.

Their damned cruelty had made it impossible for me to not use my own.

“John!” the man shouted angrily as he left his tent.

I ignored him for a small moment as I pulled the flap back of another tent. Likewise this one was also empty.

It wasn’t surprising. Most of the band was already dead. But I still had to check.

“What…? Berry what the hell are you doing?” the man noticed the naked one first. He stepped towards him, and I decided to forget the tents for a moment.

Walking towards the older man, I noticed the stripe of white hair above his ears. It was on both sides of his head, so likely not from a scar. It gave him an odd look in the dark as the shadows danced on his face, from the nearby campfire.

Then he turned and saw me. His eyes narrowed, likely trying to tell who I was in the dark, and then he realized I wasn’t someone he knew.

“Alarm!” he shouted as I reached him.

He took a stance, and swung a fist at me as I approached. I ducked it, and stepped forward and swung a leg.

Sweeping my leg, I kicked him above his knees. They both buckled and snapped, and his whole body spun in the air as his legs flew upward and his body went down.

He landed harshly, but survived. He let out a yell of pain, from his broken legs, and I turned to quickly count the remaining mercenaries who had all awoken at his shouting.

Only three. Two were sluggishly getting themselves out of their tents, and another was already heading for me. He had a sword readied, and didn’t seem bothered at all by his slipping pants. They had been hastily put on and were falling down to his knees.

The man charged me, and sucked in air as he skidded to a stop in front of me and twisted his whole body, as to swing his sword at me. He had done it in a way to swing with a massive amount of force, using momentum, by holding the blade with both hands… but I simply stepped forward and up into him before he could bring the blade around.

Such an attack was something that likely worked on those afraid to face it. Since such a sword swung full swing like that startled people, and was hard to block even when ready. But he didn’t have the strength to overpower me, nor did I fear the sword itself.

He let out his deep breath of air thanks to a shout of surprise at my sudden closeness, and I punched him straight in the chest.

His sternum snapped, and his eyes bulged as his whole face went beet red. He collapsed as he buckled, and I knew it was because I had likely completely popped his lungs.

The sword he had been holding flung outward, knocking over the pot that had been simmering over the fire. The fire sizzled as it did its best to not go out as the pots contents splattered all over.

“What the hell!” one of the remaining men shouted. It was hard to make out his words over the screams of the other man rolling around behind me, the one whose legs I had destroyed.

Glancing around once more, I found there really did seem to be only two other men left. Unless there were others in their tents still hiding. I highly doubted anyone could sleep through the agonizing screams of the man I had kicked, or the shouts of their fellows.

“What do we do?” the man who had shouted just now asked the other man. One was shirtless, the other was fully dressed but had done so haphazardly. His jacket was inside out.

Stepping towards the two, I noted their lack of weapons.

Although I had somewhat surprised these men… it was a little strange that they were acting so surprised.

Maybe they had only taken their better soldiers with them to attack the Weaver’s Hut. The two men before had fought back, if not very well, but they had at least tried.

These two looked half a second from running away.

And in fact that was what one of them did. The man without a shirt spun on a heel and ran.

The man wearing the jacket inside out turned, gawking at being abandoned. By the time he turned back around to face me, it was too late.

I uppercut him. He lifted off the ground as his head snapped backward. Every bone in his neck, and likely most the bones in head, shattered loudly. Before he even fell to the ground I had picked up one of the smaller boxes next to a tent.

Hefting the box, I heard heavy metal bang and clank inside. It sounded like pots, but felt heavier than what they should weigh. Maybe some kind of alchemist set or something.

Aiming for the man who had left the camp, I threw the box.

At first I thought I had missed, since I had lobbed it kind of high, but the box slammed down onto the man’s head a moment later. It shattered, breaking open, and a bunch of black pots and mortars flung outward.

As he crumpled, I noticed a black spray shoot into the sky. The blood splattered the ground next to him as he fell, and he didn’t get back up.

Nodding, I turned and glanced around once more.

The man with broken legs was no longer screaming. He was huffing and grunting in pain… but through clenched teeth. Other than him, the camp had gone silent. Even the campfire that had been sizzling, and the contents of the pot, had gone dark and quiet.

“Anyone still alive?” I asked loudly, doing my best to sound friendly.

No answer came as I studied a nearby tent.

I couldn’t hear anyone. No whispering. No breathing. But I knew better than to think that meant there were no more enemies left.

Still, I strode back to the center of the camp. To the man with destroyed legs.

As I approached, I noticed the clump of hair in his right hand. His fists were clenched tightly, white-knuckled. One was holding his pants at his left knee; the other was sprawled a few inches from his face. In that hand was a clump of white and black hair.

He had torn his own hair out. From the pain.

Sighing, I approached the broken man… and kneeled down next to him.

He noticed me, and immediately began to squirm and breathe heavily. He was clenching his teeth so hard I heard the strain on them, and he was spitting as he tried to shout at me.

“How many men were left here?” I asked him.

His eyes glared at me with full intent, yet he said nothing. He only raged at me.

“How many men? Or I’ll make you wish that the only pain you’ve ever known is the pain you’re feeling now,” I threatened.

Angry eyes narrowed, and I realized he believed me. He took some quick, heavy breaths, and then started to breathe through his nose. After a moment of heavy struggle, he flinched and nodded. “Five,” he said through his teeth.

Five.

I glanced around, and counted the men.

“Why lie?” I asked as I stopped counting five with the dead man nearby. The one with the sword. I didn’t bother counting the last two I had just killed.

“Five!” he shouted again, and flung out his balled fist. It hit my right knee… and although I could tell he had done so with all his might, I didn’t even bother to blink at it.

Studying the hate filled eyes glaring at me; I realized I probably shouldn’t have broken his legs as badly as I’d done.

They weren’t just broken. They were mangled. They looked like a horse had stampeded over them, more than once.

I sighed and realized I’d likely not get much information out of him. I should have picked a different man. I had thought he’d do, since he had been in the biggest tent… and had actually fought back.

Standing, I wondered who else would have been better. Maybe the naked fat man or the one who had attacked with a sword. This one had the fury needed to fight back, but not the capability to endure pain.

“Dam you!” the man hit me again. Slamming his fist onto my right foot.

Glancing down as he brought his fist down again, I felt a little sorry for him.

It wasn’t his fault I was so weird.

His fist hit again, and I knew from the feeling that if I had been a normal man… a normal human… his blow would have actually done something. It would have broken bones. Torn ligaments. Especially after several blows, as he kept doing.

A normal man would have forever remembered him, thanks to the damage he’d have dealt to his foot.

I however would forget him in a few days. At best.

Glancing around again, to make sure there really wasn’t anyone else… I decided to end this man’s suffering. I kicked him with the same foot he had been attacking, and thusly put an end to this band of merry men.

Once done I looked out over to the nearby road. I raised a hand, waving, and kept waving until I saw the horse in the distance start to move.

Watching Renn and the girl approach, I sighed and wondered what to do now.

I had wanted, needed, to interrogate someone.

Glancing down to the man with broken legs, I shook my head at him. “You were supposed to solve my problems,” I complained to the man who I had thought better.

That’s what I get for not being more careful. Nann won’t be happy with me. She’ll want to know the name of this band, whom they paid homage to… all the impertinent information. And when I failed to provide it…

Though…

Looking to the larger tent, I realized I was going to have to go through their supplies. To search for ledgers, or standing orders.

Before I do though…

Before Renn and the girl reached the camp, I went to check each and every tent one more time. To make sure I hadn’t missed any of the mercenaries.

As I searched tents, I tore them apart. Not just to check for any information, but so that no one could hide in them. I left a wake of crumpled tents as I rummaged through the camp.

“Did you throw a box at that man Vim?” Renn asked as the horse trotted into the camp.

“I had,” I said as I stepped away from the last small tent. I glanced at Renn, to make sure she and the human woman were fine. They were. The mercenary had even stopped weeping. She was looking around her, at the mess I’d been making, with wide eyes.

Honestly I had somewhat expected Renn to scare the girl off. To tell her to run away. As to spare her. To keep her from my wrath.

I’d doubt Renn’s belief in how cruel I could be, if not for the fact she had tear stains on her face and was glaring at me something fierce.

Heading for the center of the camp, and the large tent, I gestured at Renn. “Did you see anyone sneak off?” I asked.

“No? Other than that man who tried to run earlier,” Renn said.

Not too surprising. Thirty odd people wasn’t too weird a number… but…

They had just employed those humans. The siblings. Likely had done so because they had wanted more numbers for their attack on the Weaver’s Hut. So…

I paused as I entered the larger tent, and realized that was likely why that man had said five and not seven.

Two of the men here had been people he hadn’t deemed part of the band yet. Not fellow brothers in arms, just yet. Those two I had killed last. The ones who hadn’t known what to do about me.

Sighing I scanned the tent, and the oddly emptiness of it.

There was a cot, a small table, and a chest painted white. It had the same symbol painted on it as their flag. A fat lizard.

Walking over the table, I sighed as I moved some of the papers upon it. Most of the papers were letters. They were written in the language of the north, and most were just people telling each other where they were and where they were headed. One group was going to Lumen. Another was headed southwest, to see if they could scrape some deserters from the war there to bolster their ranks.

Although most of them had names on their papers, none had anything too telling. None told me who this band was, or who they were allied with. Most of the letters were addressed privately. Like a man named Harrold, telling others he had met up with a baron in the north. He was inviting others to join him for a job.

I gathered up the letters into a small pile, and then went to the white chest.

It had a metal clasp and lock. I broke it off, and popped open the chest to find a half filled chest of coin bags and booklets.

Ignoring the bags of coins, I picked up the largest book. It was half a thumb thick, with black leather. I opened it up to a random page.

I smiled at the ledger of members. I didn’t bother reading more than what was needed, to confirm it was this band’s member ledger. The bloody thumbprints next to the names proved it.

Tossing the letters I’d bundled up into the chest, I quickly went through the rest of the tent. I checked the bed, under it, and even under the rug that was frayed and torn on the ground.

Finding nothing else worth taking note of, I hefted the chest and left the tent.

“Careful,” Renn mumbled as she helped the girl off the horse. She almost fell, taking Renn to the ground with her, and the horse shook its head as if to complain at them. As if embarrassed to have riders unable to even get off on their own.

Putting the chest down near the horse, I sighed as I watched the mercenary girl look around. Her eyes inevitably fell on the dead man nearby. The one with shattered legs.

“What’d you find?” Renn asked as she stepped away from the girl, and put herself between me and her.

Oh…?

I accepted Renn’s glare and gestured to the chest. “Ledgers, letters. Enough,” I said.

“Enough,” Renn repeated my answer, and I didn’t like how she had said it a little accusingly.

The horse stepped away, and I was about to step forward to grab it but it simply trotted over to the nearby mess by the campfire. It went to nibbling at whatever had fallen from the pot, the contents of the soup.

Renn crossed her arms and drew my eyes back at her. Her left ear fluttered, and I knew she was waiting apprehensively.

I lightly pointed at the girl behind her, who was still staring at the dead men around us. It was interesting that Renn hadn’t really done more than glanced at them.

“Elisabell,” Renn reminded me.

Right. “Elisabell,” I nodded, and the girl behind Renn startled. She spun to look at us, and went to hugging herself. She did a mix of holding her stomach and crossing her arms, as Renn was doing, but did so in fear and not anger.

“U-um…!” the girl stammered, and I wondered if she had always spoken that way. Or if it was just the stress.

“She said you saved her,” Renn said before I could say anything else.

I blinked, and looked back at Renn. “I had,” I admitted.

“Why were they going to kill her?” Renn asked me.

I shifted, and knew that Renn had to already know the answer. Which meant she was only asking me… so that I’d say it aloud. So that I’d give her the answer, so she could then argue a point.

“Why was she there in the first place?” I asked her back instead of answering her question.

The girl flinched, and Renn’s eyes narrowed at me.

“Vim…” Renn’s tail began to move more violently. It started to sway side to side, and twitch. As if itchy.

“Elisabell… Who was the captain?” I asked her.

Renn’s ears shifted a little, to turn and listen to the girl… who promptly hiccuped. “Him,” she said with a point. To the man not far from her.

So he had been…?

“He had been? Really? Not the scarred man? The one who gave orders?” I asked her.

She quickly shook her head, but didn’t say anything more.

Interesting. Oh well. “What do you know about this band, Elisabell?” I asked.

Elisabell hiccuped again, and I noted Renn’s tail had jolted alongside the sound. As if it had startled her, or hurt her. “They… they called it the Lizard’s Perch. I heard them telling brother that they were heading back north. To rejoin another band up there,” she answered.

Another band. Maybe the one whose letter I had read earlier. The one who had hooked up with a baron or something.

I’d never heard of the Lizard’s Perch, of course, but mercenary bands were fickle things. Not only did they share names all the time, they also came and went.

I’ll need to send a letter to Link. He’d know.

A bird crowed nearby. I glanced at the area it had made noises from, and noticed the sun was starting to rise in the distance.

“Vim. Why’d they try to kill her?” Renn asked again.

While studying the sunrise, I nodded. “They’d been readying to flee. They realized their advanced wave of attackers had failed, or were struggling. I’m not sure what she had actually done, since I arrived as the man was hefting the axe, but it’s likely she hadn’t wanted to abandon her brother. Or they had simply decided she wasn’t worth the risk, or effort, and were going to kill her so she’d not tell us about them,” I told her.

Typical mercenary stuff.

“Then she’s not our enemy,” Renn said quickly. Too quickly to have actually heard what I had said, and process it. She had started speaking before I had even finished.

I nodded at her. I knew what she was saying. I understood where she was coming from. “I hear you Renn. But…”

She shook her head. “Vim!” she stepped forward, but only a single step. Not close enough to reach out and touch her.

“Have you told her?” I asked.

Renn startled, and suddenly looked as scared as the girl behind her. She held my eyes for a small moment, and then looked away.

Looking away from her, I looked into the young girl’s eyes. “Your brother is dead. Slain in battle,” I told her.

Elisabell’s trembling stopped… but only for a moment. Then she blinked… and then nodded.

She had obviously expected such news.

I sighed as I stepped away from Renn and the girl. To grab the horse that had started to wander off.

Taking hold of its reins, I guided it over to the pole next to the larger tent. The one with their flag upon it. I wrapped its reins around the pole, and ignored it bumping its snout into my arm. It didn’t want me to tie it here.

I didn’t care. I stepped away from the horse, as its tail fluttered in annoyance.

“I told you, brother…!” Elisabell whispered softly.

Although I kept an eye on the girl, in case she did something stupid, I wasn’t too worried about her.

She hadn’t even fought back when that man had gone to kill her. She had simply curled up in a ball.

And based off the way she was standing there… shaking and holding herself, I doubted she’d grow the nerve to do aught else.

It was too bad honestly. If she’d just attack me or Renn, I’d be able to justify what honestly needed to be done.

Even if Renn would be hurt by it. It would have been the better outcome.

Yet Elisabell didn’t do anything. She wept silently, standing still where Renn had left her… even as Renn hurried over to me as I went to go through more boxes.

“Vim…!” Renn whispered softly as I popped open a box, and found a bunch of blankets.

“Renn,” I said gently as I pushed the box over to get to the one beneath it.

“Were they really going to kill her?” she asked as she grabbed my arm.

I nodded. “Had I been a few moments late, yes,” I said. I had honestly just barely made it. The man had hefted the axe, over his shoulder. He had turned upon my approach, as the rest of the mercenaries had done, which was the only reason she hadn’t died.

“Then do we need to…?” Renn asked desperately.

Popping the lid off the bigger box, I did my best to not look away from the horseshoes inside it. They were useless, but right now I wanted to pretend they were valuable beyond measure.

Especially since I could see, and feel, Renn’s desperation. Like always she was wearing her heart on her sleeve, and right now it was bleeding profusely.

“Ask me after,” I whispered.

“After what?” Renn asked.

I stepped back, to face the girl who was walking over to us.

Renn spun, and grabbed my arm. She squeezed my elbow and arm, gripping it tightly as if for support… as we watched the young Elisabell come to a stop a few feet from us.

Studying her, I noticed the way her eyes held my own. Not Renn’s.

Yet although her eyes now had a bit of determination in them, there wasn’t much else. I didn’t see the eyes of someone about to do something stupid, or unthinkable. Instead…

Then she promptly fell to her hands and knees.

Renn’s breath caught, and I flinched as the young girl prostrated in front of us.

“Please,” she begged.

My arm got squeezed even tighter as Elisabell sucked in a harsh breath. She was fighting back sobs.

“Please let me bury my brother. Please…!” she finally asked.

Ah. Right. If this was the area they were native to, it was likely they were similar to the folks in the nearby village. Believers in the forest spirits and stuff.

They had a very serious belief that if one wasn’t buried properly then they would be haunted. Either turning into revenant spirits, or suffering for eternity because of it.

“What…?” Renn hesitated, yet didn’t let go of my arm.

“Before you kill me. Please. For his soul!” she begged.

Then she began to weep. She kept her head on the ground, genuflecting. She clung to the dirt and grass, shaking wildly as she did.

I stepped forward, and Renn tugged on my arm. I ignored her, and basically dragged her behind me as I approached the girl on the ground.

Stopping before her, I ignored Renn’s tiny whine. She was clutching my arm something fierce, as if to at any moment try and pull me away.

Kneeling down, slowly, I studied the girl’s head. Her hair was dirty. Clumps of dirt were stuck in her hair, likely from when she had been rolling around on the ground. When the men had been about to kill her.

“I’m supposed to kill you,” I told her.

Renn’s nails dug into my arm as the girl went tense.

“Mercenary laws dictate it. The laws of this land would ordain it. The laws of my Society demand it,” I told her.

I heard Renn’s teeth grind as her jaw clenched.

With a heavy sniff, the girl looked up. She looked a mess. Her face was covered in snot and tears.

“My brother wouldn’t have done it had he known,” she said with a broken voice.

“I believe you,” I said.

“But that doesn’t matter…” she whispered and looked down. She dropped her head back to the ground, placing her forehead on the dirt.

“It doesn’t.”

“And I didn’t follow him. I abandoned him…!” she whispered a cry.

“That matters most,” I said with a nod.

“I’m sorry…!” Elisabell sobbed, and I knew she wasn’t apologizing to me and Renn. She was speaking to her brother.

She had likely been supposed to join him. In the attack.

She hadn’t done so.

“I wish you would have. It would have made this easy. She would have wept and grown angry at me, but at least it would have been easier,” I said with a sigh.

“Vim…!” One of Renn’s hands swapped places to squeeze. Her right hand released my arm, and grabbed me by the shoulder, near the neck. She squeezed, clinging to me. I could tell by the way she stood behind me, that she was positioning herself to tug on me. To pull me back.

The fact she thought she’d be able to was oddly funny.

“I’m sorry Renn…” the girl cried, keeping her head down.

Renn made a sad noise, but didn’t respond.

I sighed and glanced around. At the camp. The mess I had made. The broken boxes I’d gone through. The tents I’d broken and scattered. The horses, and bodies.

The world was getting brighter. The sun was almost over the horizon now. We had a few hours, but it was likely that someone from the village would notice soon. It wasn’t far from here. Just over a few hills. I could even smell the river in the distance. They had likely set up camp as close to the river as they’d dared, to use it for water and fish.

“Martin…” the girl wept as I slowly stood.

Renn tugged on me as I did, but all she accomplished was stretching and ripping my shirt.

Turning to her, I accepted her accusational glare. She really was adorable. She looked ready to fight. To the death. Over her. Over a human girl she had only met a few days ago, and had only spent a few minutes with. It wasn’t even as if she was a real friend or anything…

Why didn’t she have the girl run off then, if she actually thought I was going to kill her?

“Well Renn?” I asked the oddly protective predator.

Renn blinked, and her face went pale as her pupils shrunk. “Me…?” she barely whispered in fear.

I nodded.

Renn immediately released me, and stepped backward. Several steps.

“Please… No!” Renn nearly gasped the words.

Woops. “Renn…” I raised a hand, to calm her.

She was starting to panic. To have a full blown panic attack. She had started breathing heavily, as if gasping for air, and had started trembling harder than the girl was.

“Vim…!” Renn barely got my name out between her raspy breaths.

“Renn… calm down. Jeez. I’ll not make you kill her. Do you really think I’d do that?” I asked her. Really? I mean, it was obvious she expected me to kill her… which was why she had been ready to pounce on me as to protect her… but…

Did she think I’d make her do the deed herself? Really?

I’d demand it if the girl had been an actual enemy, and she a threat… but…

Right here and now? In this moment?

This girl was more threat to herself than any of us.

Renn’s face contorted as she glared at me, and shifted on a heel. “What were you asking me to do then…!” she asked loudly.

“Well, it was more of a general question than a specific one. I wanted to know what you were thinking I should do,” I said, raising my voice a little too.

My companion balled her fists and stepped towards me. “Don’t say it like that then! I thought you just asked me to kill her! Gosh Vim!” Renn shouted angrily.

“I’d not torment you that way Renn. You should know better,” I said, defending myself.

“I had thought so! But the way you had said it…!” she groaned as she waved at me, as if I was proof enough of such diabolical intentions.

Smiling softly at her, I crossed my arms. “Now that’s upsetting. I was actually just kind of looking forward to how you’d fight me on it more than anything,” I said.

Renn heaved as she gasped. “Vim…!”

I gestured at the girl in front of me, who was staring at us with wide eyes. “Once you calm down, let me know what you think we should do with her,” I said as I stepped away. I went back to the boxes next to the large tent to finish going through them.

“I’m calm already Vim. As much as I’m going to be at least,” Renn said quickly.

Stopping, I patiently waited for her to answer me then.

Her ears fluttered as she took a small breath, glanced at the prostrating girl, and then sighed. “I’m going to guess you won’t let her go,” she then said softly.

“Obviously. She’s not noticed just yet, thanks to the stress and panic, but she’ll remember everything rather clearly once this is all done,” I said.

My main concern was Renn. She hadn’t hid her traits in front of the girl… but the fault in that lied with me. I hadn’t warned her.

But the reason I’d not been as on guard about it was simple.

She knew where the Weaver’s Hut was. And she had tried to attack it. Then of course, worst of all, her brother died in that same attack.

I’d not have allowed her freedom either way.

Renn glanced at her own ass for a moment, or rather the thing attached to it. “Right…” she mumbled.

Elisabell studied Renn for a moment, then turned and looked at me. I ignored her desperate eyes and waited for the rest of Renn’s response.

“Since… since you haven’t killed her yet… does that mean I can assume you won’t?” Renn asked carefully.

“Well… yeah. But don’t think it’s not still a possibility. I’m just willing to give her a chance is all,” I said.

The girl sat up, and quickly looked over at Renn with hopeful eyes.

Renn groaned and covered her eyes. She took a deep breath, and her tail actually lowered all the way to the ground in pure relief.

“Just so you know Renn, I usually regret this decision. It typically doesn’t end we-,” before I could finish speaking Renn rushed forward and wrapped me in a hug.

She clung to me, almost as desperately as Elisabell’s eyes looked. “Vim…!” Renn cried out with a muffled voice.

Patting her on the back, I nodded. “Come on Renn. Let’s go through the rest of the stuff, and then head on back. Before any of the humans come asking questions,” I said to her.

Renn nodded quickly, yet didn’t release me. She instead squeezed me tighter, and made a weird noise as she did.

Staring into Elisabell’s wide, disbelieving eyes, as Renn hugged me… I wondered what I was going to do with myself.

I did sometimes offer mercy to those like her. It wasn’t often. But I’ve done it before.

Some have worked out, others hadn’t. Most ended in tragedy for the ones I tried to save, more than anyone else. This girl seemed similar to those. Someone who was pitiful, yet not strong enough to even justify the mercy granted to them.

They usually ran away or killed themselves. Unable to either comprehend, or accept, the life my mercy allowed them.

The scary part wasn’t the danger of her harming or threatening those I protected. The Society. She was too feeble. Too weak to do much more than get her own self hurt, really. Even if she ran off and told someone all about us, few if any would believe her. Especially right now with the plague and famine going on. They’d just think she was infected with a weird deviation of the disease, or touched in the mind after surviving it. They’d sooner burn her at the pyre than believe her.

No… those like her usually were more danger to themselves than my own people.

Which was why she was so dangerous.

Her danger to herself was dangerous to Renn.

If I wasn’t careful Renn would try and adopt this girl. To take responsibility for her. To feel so strongly for her that she’d risk the Society and herself to protect her.

I couldn’t afford that. So I’ll need to be very careful.

That was more dangerous to me than anything else right now. To either lose Renn or let her get hurt, even if just emotionally, by becoming too overprotective of the girl.

“Thank you Vim,” Renn whispered lovingly as she clung to me.

Making Renn so happy almost made the risk this was going to be worth it.

Almost.

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