Bound Evil

Emily gently pushed the door to the hut closed, the warmth from indoors quickly being sapped away by the outside air.

The light had just begun to crest over the treetops but Alex had shaken her awake and made her gather her things in silence before vacating the hut.

“Any particular reason we’re leaving at the ass crack of dawn?”

Alex was already heading towards the ox creature.

“Yes, we need a head start.”

Frustrated at the explanation Emily pulled her white cloak tighter.

“And would you holiness like to tell me what for? Couldn’t we have gotten a couple more hours of sleep?”

Alex brushed the snow from the creature and leaned down to pat it below the neck, making a clicking sound as he did so, causing it to climb to its feet.

“That all depends. Do you want people to know you use blood magic? Cus they will if we don’t put some distance between us and them. Unless you want to go back in there and take care of them for a couple more hours of sleep?”

Emily glanced back at the door, contrary to what many of the heroes in her world might say, she didn’t relish killing. Emily had no problem taking a life if it got in her way, but killing for the sake of eating was a beast's path.

A line that her powers made her skirt all too often.

“Nah, don’t feel like it.”

“Right, well then we continue, we’ve got a day at most of traveling till we hit the keep.”

Emily didn’t miss the relieved light in his eyes but chose to inspect the ox creature.

The interesting thing was, it was at most a meter tall, coming to about Emily’s waist. Its woolen coat hung off it in tangles, while it turned its head to look at Alex.

Who in turn brushed the snow from its hair and reached into his pack, taking out a piece of hardtack and feeding the thing.

Sinking her hands into the beast's fur, Emily could see how this thing lasted so well out here, the wool was thick and warm. Its long face looked rather sleepy, it reminded Emily of a donkey, which she found all kinds of cute. Deciding that their newest addition needed a name, she promptly picked out ‘Cupcake’ because of his soft-looking fur. When Alex shot her a confused look she just shrugged.

A quick check through the pouches revealed a couple of extra rations and what looked like a change of clothes for each man. There was also a lantern along with a flask of oil, and tied to the top was what looked like a tarp of sorts.

Setting out along the road again did not take long, as Cupcake followed Alex’s guidance with ease. They were commonly used animals called winter mules because of their relative strength as beasts of burden, and their resistance to the cold.

Now that they were both uninjured and well-rested the journey was far more comfortable and with Cupcake, maybe even pleasant.

The road made it child's play to stay on track, cutting through the forest toward their destination. Emily noticed additional roads converging with theirs, like tributaries all flowing to the same destination.

Where that was, was still a mystery to Emily but she was excited either way. It was with this optimism that they came across something unexpected. They had been traveling for a couple hours when Alex silently called for a stop.

Emily had almost forgotten they were in a beast-infested forest, still kilometers away from safety, so she moved off-road tugging Cupcake after her.

This time though Alex followed her, ducking behind the same tree as her.

“Don’t worry I don’t think it's a beast.”

“Okay, then what?”

Alex glanced from behind the trunk they were taking refuge behind.

“There’s a blockade up ahead. Seeing as we’re half a day's journey out from our destination it’s probably the keep garrison.”

“And… that's a problem?”

Alex glanced down at her.

“If they’re out here, it's nothing good. We’ll need to go round. If they have someone who can see your title you’re done for.”

Emily glanced up at Alex, she wasn’t sure how she felt about someone worrying for her.

“That won’t be a problem. Even if they checked I wouldn’t present as anything bad. Innocent Is what I think the men from before called me.”

Alex glanced back over her shoulder once more, before searching her eyes.

“Are you certain?”

Emily simply nodded.

“Good, because we’ve been spotted.”

Emily didn’t see anyone but she trusted Alex’s senses by now and prepared her story.

A minute or so later, a form from deeper into the forest stepped forward.

Emily blinked in shock, as a man separated from the shadows themselves, stepping into their line of sight.

He wore a cloak of browns and reds that did nothing to hide his face. The bow slung over his shoulder rested there peacefully.

And though he didn’t smile, Emily got the feeling he meant them no harm.

“Fine day travelers, I’m part of the Scout garrison of Tagrin’s hand, could I ask why you’ve stopped here along the roadside?”

Emily yelped and placed her hands over her heart.

“Oh my! Please don't sneak up on a person like that!” switching her tone to that of a scolding mother.

The man continued to approach silently, but much slower now as Emily took a breath.

“We’re sorry sir, we were just taking a rest. My brother was recently injured and getting him to admit he needed a break has been tough.”

Alex briefly shot Emily a perplexed look but he masked it before grunting out.

“Yeah well, we need to get to the keep before nightfall.”

The forest man had finally arrived near them, his eye glancing down towards Alex's leg before rubbing his neck.

“Ah, my apologies ma’am, but that's going to be a problem, the road ahead is blocked on account of the elven burrow up ahead.”

Emily didn’t know what that was, but gasped in fear anyway, noticing a harsh light flash through Alex’s eyes before fading.

“There’s no need to worry ma’am, if you two’ll just follow me we’ll get you situated and you can complete the crossing when the guard unit is ready.”

Emily nodded, plastering a smile on her lips. The Scout wasn’t giving them much of an option. Guiding them back onto the road with Cupcake in tow. From here she could just make out a makeshift barricade up ahead. It was facing outward in the direction they were heading. Before that though, thick tarp structures came into view on the sides of the road, ropes fastening them to nearby trees. By the looks of things, they were still recovering from last night's storm.

Dozens of men and women came into view as they moved hastily about the area. A perimeter guard was set up in the area, and save for the blood mage's hidden lodge, Emily had not seen this many humans all in one place since arriving in this world.

A good majority of them wore simple leather armor, all containing at least some form of red on them. Whether it was the tanned hides of their armor or the very cloaks they used to protect themselves from the cold. Busily working on one thing or another.

They neared the camp and Emily saw the perimeter of men near the road move to intercept.

The Scout leading the way nodded toward one of the larger men who was flanked by two others that hung back.

“Hey Vail, we got a few more travelers, the man looks like he can fight. I’ll send a Spyglass your way.”

The man he was referring to turned to look at Emily and Alex, nodding toward the scout and sending him off. He was a large man almost as large as the one Emily had taken down last night, but his posture spoke of heavy training. As did his beard which was trimmed to perfection.

“Afternoon, as you heard you can call me Vail. I’ll assume he explained what’s up ahead, but first I’ll need to have you both checked for any illegal titles, I’m sure you won’t mind. If everything is in order you be given a place to rest while you wait.”

Emily sized the man up, he gave her that same unnerving air, the leader of the wandering fangs had. Though this was a fair bit weaker. At the very least Emily could tell he was no slouch in a fight.

“Sure, we don’t mind at all, you’re just doing your job, right?”

Emily came off as slightly too cheery even to her ears, but if the leader thought anything was off he didn’t say anything. His eyes fell to the short blade on Emily’s hip, and she found herself glad she’d left the dagger in Cupcake’s bag.

Alex was another story though, Vail’s eyes swept over his form, catching on the blades.

“While we wait, tell me. Why are you heading to the keep for?”

Emily was getting ready to answer when Alex did.

“I travel by trade, and I was just taking a break to guide my little sister to her betrothed, our parents agreed to it months ago and she finally pestered me to take her to meet him tomorrow.”

Emily had no idea where he’d pulled that story from, but she found the blush creeping up her neck all too natural.

Making sure the ‘playful’ smack on Alex's shoulder would leave a bruise, she smiled sheepishly.

“Brother, I’m sure he doesn’t need to know all the embarrassing details.”

Vail cracked a smile for the first time since they’d arrived, sharing an amused look with Alex.

“Do not worry, my sister was the same at her first meeting, it was just the nerves talking- Ah, it looks like you’re in luck, the spyglass was nearby.”

Emily turned to see a woman approaching from one of the tents, she wore a cloak of reds with simple traveling cloths underneath. Her hair was a short mop of dark brown, with piercing green eyes that tracked them as she approached.

“I’m here Vail, what do you need? Surface level?”

Emily hadn’t noticed before but pinned to her uniform was a string of beads, with a couple of pieces of multicolored glass attached to the end. It looked like the woman was carrying around far too many monocles.

“Actually, could you probe a little deeper into these two?”

The smile didn’t leave Vail’s face but Emily didn’t miss the serious tone in his voice.

A surprised glance from the woman proved that something was wrong.

“...Sure, but I only have one use-”

“I understand,” he said calmly.

The woman lifted her set of monocles and flicked through them, holding one that looked to be made of blue glass up towards them.

Flicking it over to Alex she nodded calmly and then to Emily. Her face froze as she looked at her.

“The man’s an Explorer, rank twenty-two, and the girl’s an Innocent but I need to investigate her privately.”

Vail looked at Emily with a frown as the woman got closer to him, she lowered her voice so only the four of them could hear.

“I need to examine her bridge.”

Emily didn’t quite understand what was happening, but both Alex and Vail suddenly looked uncomfortable.

Clearing his throat, Vail nodded.

“Fine, use one of the spare tents. We’ll follow with the mule and wait outside.”

Just like that, Emily found herself being led towards a tent. This one looked like it was used as a public space rather than a place to rest.

The moment the flap was shut the woman turned on Emily with a tender look in her eyes.

“Right, I’m Clarie, and how long have you known your bridge is stunted?”