Wrong Choice

As soon as they left the Capital walls the immensity of nature received them, Von, Jochen and his soon to be wife began their small journey up to Jochen's family farm just a day and a few hours north.

"damn I'm so stupid" Jochen said as he stopped and grabbed his partner's hand "Von, this is my beatiful girl summer, Summer this is my good friend and even greater ally Von" He said while waving his head between them while smiling,

"pleasure to meet you Von" Summer said while slightly bowing her head. Von could see her clearly, blonde white tanned skin, some freckles in her cheeks, a slim figure and slightly amber eyes. She was beautiful, no wonder Jochen first liked her, her clothes were rather scrawny and old but they fit her well, like it was tailored for her. She had a white shirt, trousers and some boots, it would be rather odd in a Capital woman but if she was from the outskirts it wouldn't be so rare.

"Likewise summer" Von just smiled and nodded , they exchanged a few words and the party left before sundown so they could get as much light on their first day as possible.

"So how did you two meet?" Von asked as they walked through the dirt roads along the forest,

"At a bar.." Summer began "I saved my soon to be husband from being beat up by some thugs" she started giggling

"I wasn't about to get beat up" Jochen groaned slightly "I was just.. outnumbered"

"that sounds like being almost beaten up" Von said while chuckling along Summer's giggles, Jochen looked towards his friend with a mock betrayal face

"Of course you would side with her" Jochen said while letting out some laughs himself.

Slowly but surely the sun began to fall over the horizon and darkness started pouring in from the skies, the group agreed to walk just a bit more before going into the woods and setting camp, while the areas surrounding the Capital were relatively safe, you never knew what you could encounter or who, so for that reason the woods provided more cover.

Sure enough total darkness encompassed them, Von lit a fire in his hand to provide some light which automatically shocked Summer,

"You are one of them" She said in a slightly scared tone, her more rural accent flowing through her words, "You are a.. a"

"Soulbinder honey" Jochen replied comfortingly while grabbing her shoulders "We talked this morning, remember? Von is a friend and he saved our lives. I think he deserves some trust, don't you?"

Von face switched through a lot of emotions from sadness to gratefulness to slight guilt, "Jochen is fine I can put it out" he tried arguing, he understood that some people were afraid of soulbinders, afterall not every soulbinder was nice and kind, more like they were the minority.

"Von we can't see shit here, plus we need a fire sooner or later" Jochen replied firmly

"But.." Von tried arguing again but was interrupted by Summer,

"No, he's right, Im sorry Von I knew you were a soulbinder I was just surprised" She said with a pan of guilt while looking down on the ground "I'm a rural girl, I'm not used to seeing cities or soul… soul"

"-Binders" Jochen helped "See? I can't even say the word properly" Summer tried chuckling

"You are not that far from saying it properly" Von said while smiling warmly "You want it out? say the word" Von continued while pointing at the fire in his hand.

"No, it's fine, let's find somewhere to sleep" She replied Von's smile.

The group set up a camp in a nearby forest, a few hours away from destination, Von gathered wood and lit the small bonfire, while Jochen and Summer set the beds and started prepping the food.

"Damn, that smells good" Von said as he was hit by the wondrous smell of the beef stew Summer was cooking, the spices made a tingly and slightly earthy odor which would make one's mouth water.

"She can say what she wants about how she speaks but her cooking is unparalleled" Jochen said laughing as he kissed his partner's cheek,

"Stop admiring me and pass me the pots dummy" Summer replied warmly "Yes ma'am" Jochen beamed and grabbed the wooden pots and spoons.

They sat and ate in silence, hunger making its presence. Jokes and anecdotes were thrown around, as Jochen told in detail what happened when he met Summer and Von explained how he and his brother would play with wooden swords and their epic rivalry.

"Damn I need to meet your brother, the stories he would tell" Jochen said between breaths, the laughter had been too much for him

"You might someday" Von replied smiling

"We should sleep, so we can go early tomorrow" Summer intervened between the two.

Von and Jochen finally realized how tired they were and obeyed the woman's orders. As soon as both hit their respective beds they fell asleep.

Summer woke up in terror as a hand covered her mouth, she tried screaming and with both her hands took the big strong one from her mouth, she wanted to scream for her lover, for her new friend but she couldn't. Suddenly Jochen appeared and she realized it was his hand, he put one finger of his other in his lips, telling her to be quiet.

"Von" he whispered

"I heard" Von, as Jochen had heard rustling and footsteps around them, being eight months in the frontlines had made them extremely sensitive to this sound. Slowly he pulled out a dagger and with his hand killed the fire by just clenching his fist.

Five men jumped from the surrounding bushes and attacked both Von and Jochen, Summer being behind Jochen for protection. Three cornered Von and he backed away ready to use fire in sudden notice, but being in the woods made it dangerous for Jochen and Summer, so he contained it and analyzed his enemies. The three of them had short swords but no protection, lowlife thieves, usually they wouldn't be a problem but there were three and he couldn't use his powers. He ran away.

Jochen saw as Von ran away and suddenly fear filled him in, now he was surrounded by five men and all he had was a dagger, please Von, please tell me you left because you had a plan he thought, Summer was now crying behind him, terror had taken control

"The other coward left, they don't have much but look at her" One of the men said as he aimed his sword towards Summer, "We can use her and then sell her" he finished chuckling,

"Over my dead fucking body" Jochen said while now grabbing the dagger with such strength that if he had more strength would have broken the handle in two. His face contorted in pure hatred and fear.

"Fine by me" Another of the thieves said and all five started approaching, two had gone around while leaving them expose to all sides, one grabbed Summer from her hair and started pulling her,

"NO!!" She screamed in pain and fear "Jochen!!"

"NO!" Jochen also screamed and rushed for his wife, being tackled by another from behind, "I'll fucking kill you!!" He shouted "I'll kill you"

"Like you could" The man said as he started checking Summer's face "So pretty" he now looked towards Jochen "What could we do with you",

those were his last words as a shadow appeared and slit his throat wide open, the blood falling all over Summer.

"Disgusting pigs" Von said, indifference and disgust adorned his face,

"You fuck.." One of them shouted, the others looked at him sheer terror in their eyes as the one that shouted had now a dagger between his eyes, they turned back to Von his arm raised high after having thrown the knife, a slight red glow in his forearm, "Fuck, the bastard is a freak"

"That, I am" he said as he grabbed the shortsword from the corpse next to him, he grabbed Summer and put her behind him, the man that had tackled Jochen was now with the three left, in a defensive position, Jochen stood up and joined Von and his wife, comforting her.

"You clean her up, I'll finish this" Von said in a calm tone

"None alive" Jochen replied as he took a cloth and started cleaning his shocked wife

"None" Von started walking towards them.

Normally they would fight, but what they had in front of them now wasn't human, they couldn't fight it, the thieves started running away.

One by one, there were three, then two, then one, and finally, none of the five thieves that entered the forest left.