Pieces To The Puzzle

The air seemed to grow thin as Mair and Fausm stared each other down. At any moment it appeared that they would strike at the other's throat. Even as they remained still and ready, the sound of echoing footsteps grew nearer and nearer as the thieves approached.

Nessa's heartbeat raced furiously as the stalemate stretched forth as the threat of being completely surrounded drew nearer and nearer. In a moment of decisive action, Nessa whipped her wand in Fausm's direction, unleashing a bolt of mana that streaked swiftly towards its target.

Fausm's attention darted to Nessa, his blade shifted at an alarming speed. The bolt of mana halted against his swinging blade with sparks flinging off the steel edge. Fausm's wrist flicked forward, bouncing the mana bolt off his blade hurling towards Mair. With little time to react, Mair raised his buckler to defend himself, but the bolt narrowly whizzed past him.

Both Nessa and Mair checked behind them, utterly confused. The bolt had struck dead center on the chest of one of their pursuers turning the corner. They fell to the ground from the direct hit, forcing the company to slow their approach. While the siblings were distracted, Fausm stepped forward and stood between them and those that pursued them.

The thieves hesitated to engage against the towering reptir. Eventually, one lunged forward with a blade poised to strike at Fausm. In the blink of an eye, Fausm parried the blade with only a slight movement of his hilt. With his attacker opened up, Fausm effortlessly raised his weapon, only to drop the full weight of it with a hilt strike to his opponent's shoulder. The attacker fell to his knees under the crushing strike and was promptly knocked out from a brutal swing of Fausm's fist.

Fausm continued to step forward toward the remainder, and without hesitation they turned tail and fled back from whence they came. Nessa noticed as Fausm struck at the thief, a peculiar glow appeared at the flat of his blade. She couldn't identify exactly what it was, and it was gone before she could properly process it.

"Typical," Fausm heaved his blade up and set it over his shoulder. With the tunnels cleared, he turned his attention to the siblings, "Next time you decide to recklessly wander off somewhere, don't." The reptir spoke coldly in his croaking voice.

"I'll admit that we were being reckless," Nessa apologized, "But this must be where the thief has been hiding out."

"Hate to break it to you, but these aren't thieves. They're just a band of sellswords camping out near the village." Fausm informed the siblings and began to walk through the tunnels, leading Nessa and Mair to hesitantly follow.

"Why would sellswords just outright attack us though?" Mair questioned from behind Fausm.

"I'd like the answer to that too," Fausm calmly responded, "I'm taking the two of you out of here and I'll be having a word with their leader."

The trio's cautious walk through the corridors of the hideout was accompanied only by the sound of their footsteps. Nessa's fists clenched instinctively as she grew upset over her mistake. She tried to calm herself down, but the aches of her wrist returned with her fluctuating emotions. The words that Rex told her echoed in her mind and mingled with her self doubt, casting her into a melancholy state.

While Nessa was stuck in her own head, she hadn't realized both Mair and Fausm stopped in front of her. They had all entered a far more open clearing of the cavern, and Nessa's gaze was turned up to an elevated platform near the ceiling. Sitting with his legs hanging off the platform, a dusk elf masked in the shadows toyed with blades he held in each hand. The stranger's eyes looked up to the siblings briefly before turning back to Fausm, forcing a sigh out of the man as he stood up.

"Of all the days to boast your moral superiority, you chose today didn't you Fausm." The sellsword twirled one of his blades in his hands as he looked down upon the trio.

"Guess so, care to explain why you're after these adventurers? So desperate for work that you're resorting to killing some apprentices?" Fausm retorted back while heaving his greatsword out in preparation.

"Hey now, we weren't about to kill the kids," The apparent sellsword captain flipped his blade in the faint gleaming lights of a nearby star crystal, shining it upon his scarred face, "Part of the job was keeping them alive. And with the pay offered up, those terms were certainly worth it. Fausm, you know full well the dry spell my boys have gone through. Without this gig, who knows what'll happen." The sellsword's voice lowered as he appealed to Fausm.

"We've all been suffering, but that doesn't excuse you stooping so low as to target guild members. Call off the job, Velld." Fausm didn't waver in the slightest as he stood his ground against the sellsword captain, "You two," He turned his attention to the siblings, "Head out this tunnel down there. It'll lead you back to town, now go."

With the orders called out, Mair looked to Nessa. Still lost in thought, she hesitated briefly, but eventually left with Mair behind her to the tunnel. The sellsword captain leapt down from the platform, aimed to descend onto the escaping siblings with his blades. Fausm took it upon himself to stand between them, stopping the blades with his greatsword. With the flat of his sword, Fausm pushed the captain off to the side after his plunging strike had failed.

"I don't get you Fausm," Velld muttered as he picked himself up, "You of all people should know how difficult mercenary work is compared to the liberties you once had as an adventurer. The guild spreads its greedy limbs over the whole underground, snatching up any real work we can be proud to take while we're left with the scraps. Those scraps ain't all there is, sometimes there's a real meal that the guild just won't touch for one reason or the other. That's where we're forced to operate."

Fausm's grip tightened on the hilt of his sword, "I'm not saying the system's fair in any way, but take it out on these kids and you'll never come to gain anything of it. Once this is over, Mariah and I will help you through these times as best we can, but not if you continue this dangerous game you're playing."

"I can't in good conscience let a job of this calibre slip when I've got mouths to feed. Stand in my way if you'd like, I'll try to limit the amount of new scars I carve into you, friend." Velld said with a smile as he stepped forward to engage the reptir.

"Took the words out of my mouth." Fausm growled back with a faint smile on his face.

"You think that guy will be alright?" Mair questioned as they both ran through the tunnel. He kept his hand glued to his side where the arrow still had him punctured.

"Can you focus on yourself right now please?" Nessa pleaded with worry in her voice. Though she was suddenly forced to halt as a pair of sellswords crossed into her path.

The sellswords raised their blades in preparation to capture the siblings, prompting Nessa and Mair to bring out their own weapons in hopes of defending themselves. The altercation began without words. The sellswords attempted to approach, but Mair held them at bay with the superior length of his pike. Nessa backed behind her brother and conducted her wand to create a collection of needles that shot out towards their attackers.

The magical needles struck at them in flashes of violet light, snapping against their clothes and armor. Having to act eventually, the sellsword charged forward and broke the front line that Mair held, allowing him to knock one of them to the side. With the advantage held, Mair kicked the blade out of his grasp and swiped the blunt end of his pike over the downed sellsword's head to knock him out.

While Mair had his own battle, the other sellsword got past him. Nessa noticed the breach in their defensive formation and prepared a concussive spell. She flipped through her tome for some of the spells that she wasn't familiar with. Putting faith in the spells left for her, Nessa took a deep breath and pushed her wand forward. A powerful wind shot from her and threatened the sellsword's balance. Despite the spell, he was able to stand his ground and close the distance between himself and Nessa.

When the sellsword closed in, Nessa felt her arm restrained. Her wrist stung at the contact with her faded scars as the sellsword held her arm in place above her head. Nessa's vision turned in slow motion as she watched the sellsword raise his blade to strike. Panic raced through Nessa's mind, she tried to look over at her tome, but her eyes were glued to the incoming sword. She heard only the pounding of her heart and felt only the aching of her wrist. With no other options available, her body made the decision to save her. Nessa ripped out of the grasp of the sellsword, swinging her wand down across his body like it was a blade of her own. A violet and scarlet concoction of magical color washed over her wand and hand as Nessa's gaze was left fixed to the floor at her feet.

Reality kicked back in for Nessa when she noticed blood pooling in front of her and dripping from her hand. The sounds of her surroundings returned. She heard the sellsword's gasping screams as he fell to the ground at her feet. A deep gash ran across his body where Nessa swung her wand. Nessa backed away, desperate to know what she had done. Before she could take in what was happening, her wrist was grabbed once more.

"Let's go Nessa!" Mair pulled her out of her ordeal, guiding her further down the tunnel while she was still lost in confusion. The images still flickered in the back of her mind until the light at the end of the tunnel proved relieving for the siblings.

Fausm and Velld dueled with ferocity. Velld's twin blades and blinding speed matched against Fausm's devastating strength and greatsword. Though the fight was close, Fausm held the lead as he found an opening to strike at the sellsword with a sucker-punch. Velld stumbled back after the clean punch struck his cheek. He looked out at Fausm, wiping blood away from his mouth as he raised his blades once more.

"Come on, those apprentices are long gone by now." Fausm tried to appeal for an end to the fight.

"It ain't about that anymore, Fausm," Velld cracked his neck and readjusted his grip on the two swords, "When one of my men act out of line, they get what's comin' to 'em. I treated you different long enough. It's time you learn where we stand."

Velld's blades each flashed a peculiar symbol on their steel edges for just a moment. Afterwards, a purple glow radiated off the weapons.

"Using your scripts now, are we?" Fausm sighed, "I suppose this really was inevitable."

Velld merely tilted his head and gave a sly grin in response before charging out at Fausm again. He swung one of the blades out at Fausm, who kept his greatsword at the ready to defend against it. The moment the two blades met, a booming screech emitted off Velld's sword. The shockwave knocked Fausm's blade back, automatically parrying him with relative ease while Velld was left steady as if nothing happened.

The sellsword captain continued his assault, pushing Fausm back with the strength of his enscripted weapons. Every clash of metal created a reaction that knocked Fausm off balance each time. Velld slashed and carved into Fausm's body. His blades danced in tandem with the blood that they drew out from the reptir's many wounds.

Fausm growled in annoyance as he was continuously struck by the sellsword captain. Amidst the torture Fausm endured, he noticed Velld's blade strike the earth a few times with no adverse effect. Thinking quickly, he held his broadsword pointed upwards and drove the wooden hilt of the sword down against Velld. Velld's parrying aura failed to activate, forcing him to defend himself without its assistance. A similar symbol appeared briefly on Fausm's sword before losing its color and disappearing completely. Suddenly, Velld stumbled and lost his balance as he struggled to hold himself against the greatsword.

Velld was forced to dodge to the side as Fausm's sword crashed to the ground with a thunderous thud. The clumsy dodge left Velld open to Fausm grabbing the collar of his shirt and lifting him into the air. Fausm left his sword behind and he heaved Velld over to throw him out towards the wall. The sellsword hit the stone wall back first, nearly crumpling to the ground from the impact.

Fausm made no attempt to engage again, and instead stood over his sword, waiting for Velld to make a move. Velld stumbled back on his feet, his eyes still flaring with the desire to fight. He held his blades beneath him and clashed them together to create a shockwave reaction that sent him into the air. Now airborne, Velld held his blades out behind him to clash one final time. The last shockwave boosted him out to descend directly upon Fausm before he had the chance to rearm himself.

Velld shot down to the ground directly against Fausm. His blades were ready to cut directly through him, but when he made impact, his momentum was halted all in one go. The sellsword looked in shock as he witnessed Fausm holding his blades back not with any weapon or armor, but with his bare hands clasped over the swords. Fausm pulled Velld forward and ended the fight with a headbutt against Velld's face that sent him to the ground, clutching his nose as it began to bleed profusely.

Fausm dropped Velld's stained swords as drops of blood fell from his hands. Even after everything he suffered, Velld still tried to pick himself up with his hand cupped over his face.

"Captain!" A man's voice rang out as another sellsword stepped into the cavern, "There's been an emergency. One of our men is down." Though the sellsword finished the report, he realized the scene before him and began to nervously stand at attention.

"Damn it," Velld mumbled under his breath, "All hands retreat to base. Treat him as best we can." He concluded with a fierce glare still aimed at Fausm.

"I'll get Mariah." Fausm growled as he reached for his broadsword. The symbol on his weapon shined once again, allowing him to easily lift it up and sheathe it over his back. Without looking back at Velld, Fausm left back to the village.

"Owwww." Mair groaned.

Hours later, Nessa and Mair sat in beds at opposite ends of a room in Mariah's tavern. Nessa flipped through her tome, still lost in thought over the fate of the man she defended herself against. Meanwhile Mair was curled up on his bed, toying at the bandages wrapped across his abdomen where the arrow was pulled out from.

"Owwww." Mair groaned again as he poked at the bandaged wound again.

"By the gods, Mair," Nessa slammed her tome down onto her lap and whipped a glare at her brother, "I painstakingly healed you, there's no way you're in more pain now than before."

"All the adrenaline gone. All that remains is pain and misery," Mair moaned in a defeated tone.

"You're insufferable sometimes." Nessa buried herself back into her tome when she heard a knock at the door, "The door's open." Nessa announced, assuming it was the innkeeper.

The human woman stepped into the room with a tray of soup and water for the two siblings, "Everything alright honeys?" She kindly asked while placing the tray on a table near the door, "I'm sorry you had such a tough time with those fellas, Fausm told me all about what happened when he came back around."

"Is he alright too?" Nessa shot to attention.

Mariah smiled warmly to Nessa. "Oh he's all peachy. He came back just half an hour ago. He said somethin' about talkin' to the lord about those sellswords, no doubt coverin' for 'em again." Mariah shook her head in disapproval of Fausm. Nessa closed her tome and put it back in her satchel, getting up to head out.

"I'll be back, I'm just gonna thank Fausm for helping us out." Nessa smiled back to Mariah before stopping by Mair's bed. "You promise not to be a pain while I'm gone?"

"I promise nothing," Mair remarked as if his soul was leaving his body. Nessa scoffed lightly and left out the door past the innkeeper.

Mariah noticed Mair's discomfort and shifted slightly, pulling out a necklace of prayer beads from beneath her sleeve. "Still in pain from that arrow huh?" She commented. Mair turned his attention to Mariah, his gaze fixed on the holy symbol in her hands.

"I mean, well, I'm alright. I'll get over it soon enough." Mair responded as he attempted to sit up, but the pain in his side forced him back down.

"Don't worry honey." Mariah waved the symbol over Mair briefly, a faint pink light waved with her hand as a soothing feeling of patience washed over the young dusk elf. In almost an instant, Mair felt his pain dull and his worries fade away out of recollection.

"Woah!" Mair sat up without discomfort and felt in awe at the miraculous effects. "How did you do that? Is that magic?"

"A little bit of yes, little bit of no," Mariah giggled as she flipped the prayer beads back up her sleeve. "Holy magic just has its own things. Used to be a priestess back in the day an' all that."

As Mariah spoke, Mair looked up at the innkeeper and noticed her sleeve was still pulled up ever so slightly. Just where her wrist was supposed to be, what seemed to be a metal bar was latched to her hand and traveled further up her arm. Mair decided not to bring it up and pushed past it.

"Well thank you again for that, I feel infinitely better." Mair showed his gratitude again to the innkeeper, until he turned his attention to the window at his side. Out from one of the tunnels of the small town, the human girl from Rex's team stepped back into the outskirts of town, looking around nervously.

Nessa walked the paths through town, searching for Fausm. It wasn't long until she found him, as he stuck out to her as a sore thumb compared to the smaller residents of the town. She approached cautiously.

"Don't tell me you're sneaking off somewhere again," Fausm groaned in a light tone.

"No, nothing like that." Nessa smiled, "I just wanted to thank you for helping my brother and I. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't showed up to save us."

"Think nothing of it. Keeping those bastards in check is the least I can do as a mercenary. They really are ruining the name for all of us." Fausm laughed heartily, something Nessa hadn't yet seen from him.

"If it means anything, you certainly seem nothing like them," Nessa responded warmly. Though as she laughed with Fausm, a cold thought crawled into her mind, "Well in truth, I also sought you out for an answer on something." Fausm was silent for a moment, almost as if searching through Nessa's expression for the question before she asked it.

"If you're wondering about that sellsword you cut up bad, he's alive," Fausm admitted. A weight was lifted off Nessa's heart as she heard the truth. "You got him good but you hit nothing vital, so he's recovering, slowly. I take it you haven't taken anyone's life yet."

Nessa dropped her forward gaze as an admittance to Fausm's assumption. "I understand I'll have to eventually. It's an unavoidable part of this path that I'll have to accept. But I'm still afraid."

"Good," Fausm muttered, shocking Nessa with his response, "Without that fear and hesitation to kill, there's nothing separating you from the outlaws and criminals you'll encounter. Killing won't get easier, but you'll know when it's the only way." His words struck a chord with Nessa, leaving her speechless for a few moments.

"I see." Nessa's smile slowly returned. "I never thought of it that way, thank you."

Fausm smiled back. "You and your brother remind me of myself in my youth, keep going down this righteous path, I have high hopes for you kids." He walked past Nessa towards the inn. "Now if you don't mind, it's been a while since I had a drink." Fausm muttered

Nessa giggled at Fausm's easy change of tone and attitude. It really felt like she was seeing the true side of him despite only knowing him for so little time. She was about to follow him back to the inn when she noticed someone slowly weaving between alleys from the outskirts of towns. Nessa's curiosity got the better of her as she intercepted the path and ran face to face with Eve.

"Ack!" Eve jumped in shock from running into Nessa. "Oh, sorry. I didn't notice you there," She spoke quietly and refused to look Nessa in the eyes.

"It's alright, did your team have any luck looking for that thief?" Nessa questioned coldly, forcing Eve to turn her gaze even further away from Nessa.

"Not exactly. We're still floundering about." Eve laughed nervously. "Um, and uh, sorry about Rex. I know he didn't exactly come off the best earlier today."

Nessa tilted her head in confusion. "Come off the best? He was downright rude and demeaning. I don't understand why a nice girl like you can even stand him."

"He's not usually like this," Eve murmured and adjusted her quiver briefly which caught Nessa's attention. "Rex has been struggling recently, and I can't bring myself to try and speak out against him when he's like this. I'm sorry. I should probably go." Eve squeezed past Nessa and walked hurriedly off into town.

Nessa's gaze was still fixed on the quiver on her back, something struck all too familiar about her arrows that she couldn't quite pin yet. Thinking quickly, Nessa waved her hand up in a beckoning motion. A violet mist wrapped her palm and pulsed as she closed her fist. One of the arrows shuddered within the quiver and, in an instant, flung itself out to fall at Nessa's feet.

Before Eve could notice, Nessa swiped the arrow and hid it within her satchel, hurrying back to the inn. Nessa's thoughts raced far beyond her comprehension. She knew she should be anxious and worried, but she hadn't yet pieced together why.

Without a word to Mariah or Fausm, she rushed up the stairs to her room and opened the door slowly. Mair had seemingly fallen asleep, leaving Nessa to quietly approach his bed and reach beneath the wooden frame. Her hand, out of her view, grasped onto the discarded arrow that was pulled out of Mair. With what seemed like minutes of hesitation and catching up with her lost breath, Nessa pulled Eve's arrow out of her satchel and compared it to the one that struck Mair.

A metal tip and a dark blue fletching. There was no longer a doubt in Nessa's mind. The arrows were identical. The puzzle was completed, and it was up to Nessa to decide what to do with it.