Bound Evil

“By the Five, cap, she's on the brink, I’ve told you guys this multiple times, I'm not a healer.”

The Amazonian woman came forward, sending the leader a withering look, but then focused on Emily.

“You gonna hurt me if I take a look at your wounds?”

Emily blinked owlishly and shook her head. It truly felt like they had come full circle, except for Ashe who nervously hovered nearby.

Emily did not intend to hurt either woman nor was she really in a state to do so.

The large woman kneeled and began inspecting Emily, it was only now that she spotted a large satchel clinking with the sound of glassware.

Emily had a split second to take all this in before an amused voice broke her from her surprise.

“Come now Selia, you know how much that old man costs me… But more importantly, what makes you say that she’s lying?”

Selia glanced at Ashe and then went back to examining Emily.

“My sis was saved by this woman here. She can fight according to her, so she has to have one.”

Emily's chest was making it hard to concentrate, but she could tell these two had a more civil relationship than the others, even still, Selia was wary of him.

“Before you ask boss, she doesn’t know what; just that she has to have a title relating to magic.”

The smile that appeared on the leader's face was the furthest thing from relaxing. It set Emily’s nerves alight and had her readying herself.

“Well, now we’re at an impasse. You killed one of my men and then lied to me when I invited you to my table. How are we, going to sort this out.”

Alex glanced at Emily and then back to the leader.

“This is not the best place to talk about this-”

“Here is the perfect place. Make your decision before I make it for you.”

His tone took on a dangerous edge and the smile vanished as if it had never existed.

Alex looked about, still unsure but Emily snorted.

“I wasn’t lying. I don’t have an active title, but Ashe is not wrong either. What she saw was what we’re calling my natural gifts, and have nothing to do with titles. I literally woke from my first sleeping today.”

The leader remained smiling but his eye moved back over to Selia who nodded in his direction. This caused his taunt posture to relax by a hair and he seemed to nod at Selia to continue inspecting her.

“Well then, congratulations on your Awakening. Now how about we talk about how you’re going to pay me back for my lost worker.”

Emily cocked her head.

“We hardly have any money, so I doubt that's what you are looking for. However, I don’t quite care what it is, if it gets us out of here alive, I’m all ears.”

The leader looked amused, but Alex’s face twitched.

“What I want is simple. You’ve seen our mounts no doubt, they’re partially responsible for our moniker. As it so happens, the particular species we ride only breeds in the approach of spring. Ours are sterile as they are working animals, so now and then we have to replenish their numbers.”

Emily frowned, unsure why she was suddenly getting a class on the breeding habits of wolves.

“To cut a long story short I need you to go and pick up a litter or two. At least five if you can manage it.”

Up until now the rest of the tavern had continued as though ignoring their little group. Laughter and conversation filled the walls, but as the leader asked for his toll, a ripple of whispers began to spread out from their table. Causing the conversion of the room to come to a halt.

Selia looked grimly at the captain but didn’t say anything.

Emily could feel the shift in the mood of the tavern but remained focused on the handsome man.

“So you’re just going to let us go if I say I’ll get them for you? What’s to stop us from just leaving the city?”

The leader looked like he was having fun.

“Oh, you’ll need to if you are going accomplish this, but as for you coming back, it's simple. Your friend here had quite the ask of me. Something I still haven't made up my mind on. If you don’t do this for me, I won’t be able to help you.”

Emily looked from him to Alex, she had a feeling this mission was no small task.

“Well Alex, it's your mysterious plan, can we get by without them?”

This whole time Alex had been watching the leader with an unreadable expression, but when Emily saw him look over at her, she saw his jaw tensing and she had her answer. Turning back to the man.

“Sure, sounds like fun.”

The leader's smile was one of delight.

“Then I’ll have Selia mark their hunting grounds on a map for you two. For now, you need to rest and heal but don’t take too long. We’ll be leaving the city in a week or so. Your chance expires then. If you fail and somehow survive, I’ll kill you on sight.”

The hairs on Emily's neck were standing on one end, but she’d given a few such deals, so it felt strange to be on the other side of it.

At that, the leader got up from the table, he looked back at the two of them.

“I wish you the best of luck for my sake. If you return victorious ask for Kael, my men will make sure you find me so we can talk about the details further.”

His last words seemed to ripple through the room with even greater force than the wolves.

As Kael began to walk away he was joined by another man Emily recognized. The second sub-leader Emily had seen before, only now this man's eyes were locked on Alex, a grim look of disgust appearing on his face. He looked eerily familiar but Emily couldn’t place him.

Kael left the room with a seemingly chipper energy to his graceful walk. When he disappeared through a back door Emily looked to Alex, about to ask what that was all about when Selia spoke.

“Shit… He only gives his name to people he’s either going to kill or hire, and at this moment I couldn’t tell you which group you fall into.”

Emily shrugged, the movement sending pain shooting down her spine.

“-I can appreciate that, he seems like a pretty interesting man,” Emily said holding onto her chest.

The Amazonian woman stared down at Emily, a perturbed look on her features.

“I’m fairly certain you don’t have a head injury, but I’ll have to double-check that in a moment. It will be better if you two come with me, but first. You hold no intention of hurting either me or my sister, correct?”

Emily shook her head, she was aware this woman had once kept her captive but Emily held no grudge against her, she had just been doing her job –or in this case, her title– and she had not treated her badly. Selia made sure Alex confirmed it as well before leading them from the busy common room.

Down a narrow hallway, all four packed into a small side room with a single large bed. It looked like the sisters had been resting here before all the commotion began.

The second the door closed, they relaxed and a warm light shone in Selia’s eyes.

“Right, I’m going to treat you, but first I just wanted you to know that I’m grateful for what you did for Ashe. You didn’t have to, so thank you.”

Emily felt an uneasy burbling in her gut at the thanks but ignored it.

Nodding in Ceila’s direction, Emily spotted Ashe still standing near the door, eyeing her steadily. She still looked exhausted but before she could ask how she was doing Selia held up two leaves from her jar.

“Hold these under your tongue for as long as you can, we need to strap the wound and then I’ll grab a map for you. Honestly, I never know what that man is thinking. Sending just you two on this mission is suicide.”

That immediately caught Emily's attention as she put the leaves in her mouth, they tasted bitter like bay leaves.

“Any details on what we just agreed to would be great.”

Selia paused and squinted at Emily.

“You mean that, don’t you? You don’t have that faintest idea of what you just agreed to.”

Alex had a stony expression, it seemed like the only one in the dark was Emily.

“The way I see it we just have to go get a couple of pups from out in the snow, maybe kill a couple of mommy and daddy wolves.”

Selia’s face turned earnest.

“You need to take this seriously. If what my sister told me is true you two can fight, but normally, to do this safely, Kael either goes alone, or we work as an entire company to set up a full-scale defensive line. Even then one or two people have been known to die on the trip.”

Emily played with the leaves in her mouth.

“Fine, I’ll keep that in mind, any weaknesses that you could point me towards.”

Selia looked like she didn’t believe her but she nodded.

“They’re cautious of fire, but a single little campfire won’t do it. It's gotta be a lot. They move in large packs and are intelligent hunters, with the ability to run for days.”

Emily was quickly discovering why they kept them as mounts.

Ashe suddenly came forward and switched places with Selia, beginning to bandage Emily's wounds quietly. Selia went over to a nearby pack and pulled out a well-used map and a piece of charcoal.

“You’re in luck, the hunting grounds are in the opposite direction to the recent elven burrows, but it's still at least a day's travel up into the mountains.”

Her words were followed by the crinkling of the page as she drew on it, and then folding it up he held it out to Alex.

He pursued his lips and reached for it but she snatched it back.

“From Ashe’s story, you still owe her something. She left too quickly to get what she was owed, but at least we can rectify that now”

The woman was imposing in the small space but Alex seemed to nod.

“Of course, I would have happily given it to her had she stuck around. Do you have a map of the wide region? Specifically the mid-point between here and Lorethil?”

Selia went back to her pack and pulled out another map. This one was much larger and seemed like it was less used. Alex opened it and marked it somewhere with a small cross. Emily tried to crane her neck but couldn’t make out much from the bed.

As the other two remained locked in conversation, Ashe spoke in a rushed voice.

“I was just telling my sister what happened to me, I didn’t know she’d go tell her boss, and for that I’m sorry, but I promise I didn’t say anything about your… abilities.”

Emily looked down at the woman and tried to figure out if she was angry at her. As it turned out, she didn’t feel any displeasure for the woman.

“It’s fine, but as compensation, I’d like you to show me some magic as well. I’m interested in learning, but as of yet can’t read.”

Ashe's eyes widened.

“You can’t read… Ah, yes I can teach you a thing or two, but It’ll have to be when you get back I’m still very weak.”

Emily smiled and nodded, by this time Selia happily handed over the folded map.

“Emily, you’ll start to feel better soon, that leaf I gave you is what Tonic Meisters use to make basic potions, it's not as effective but give it time.”

Emily was already feeling better. The pain was still there but it was fading at a constant rate. Wanting to know how Ashe was doing she asked as much. As it turned out, Zeth was good at his job. Ashe still needed time before she could use her sourcery again but she was on the mend. Emily went on to more mundane things with the two. She never asked Ashe why she ran, instead choosing to let their conversation flow naturally. Selia was a treat to talk to and Emily found herself relaxing into their presence.

Eventually, Alex cleared his throat and nodded towards the door.

“We need to leave, we’ll hopefully be back before the week is out”

Ashe was sitting on the corner of her bed.

“Then I wish you good luck, hopeful all this is worth it. Oh and happy awakening day Emily, I’ll get a gift for you when you return.”

Emily made a confused face but waved to the two women.

Stepping back out into the hallway, and then the tavern itself, got almost no acknowledgment.

The men and women in here were relaxing and didn’t have time to spare on them. They walked towards the door and Emily spotted Fetu alone in a corner. He watched them leave, his eyes unable to leave Emily’s form.

She was used to the glares filled with either resentment or fear. To a certain extent, Fetu was scared, but more than that he looked lost.

Emily turned to the door and walked out ahead of Alex. She traveled past the large signboard and navigated through the other buildings, which she now figured had to be stables of sorts.

Passing through the alley once more they began navigating out of the area. When they hit the red bricks once more Alex took them down that same narrow passage and out into the streets. Light was more abundant here and yet the time ensured almost no one was around. Alex turned to look at Emily with a tired expression.

“Why did you follow me, Emily?”

Emily pressed her lips together, a vexed expression plastering itself on her brow.

“You insist on keeping me in the dark and wonder why I followed you? I told you I wouldn’t ask what you’re doing anymore. But you’re aware that one of those people is Ave’s killer, right?”

The look that crossed Alex's face was nothing short of simmering hatred. And as quickly as it had come, it left him.

Alex released air through his nostrils.

“I am well aware of their crimes, I don’t need reminding. But for now, I need them… I can accept my part in this, but no more pointless killing.”

Emily scowled at him.

“It wasn't pointless, he had it coming.”

“So you said… Fine, in all likelihood this probably would have been the outcome anyway.”

Emily looked Alex up and down.

“What do you mean, you knew this would happen?”

“No, of course not, but us doing something for them was always a possibility. I just didn’t think they’d make it this hard. Fuck. We need to go over your primary titles again, we’re going to need all the strength we can get.”