Chapter 16

Mahel was eating bread with honey, with a face like that of a statue, with giant dark circles and a glass of milk, Elisabhet instead was staring at Isabhel while practically in sync they ate some bread and jam, Ricliam was sipping whiskey, Jeng eagerly ate strips of dried meat, Elsionh was drinking a cup of tea with biscuits with a gaunt face but always with a calm expression and finally Mayra was imitating Mahel's meal with the difference that in addition to bread she had also taken biscuits chocolate, Mayra calmly turned to Mahel and asked

-Captain-

-Mahel-

-... Mahel- he said looking at Elisabhet- what should we do, what mission do we have? -

Mission...? Which mission? We are wanted by the Templars, by the Raven, I chose a simple mission not to attract attention, Elisabhet and I could kill a chimera, at least she with great difficulty, -

-Hey! Don't be a bully- Elisabhet said

-Girl what you call bully killed half of the former royal army, at that time the throne was taken by force by the royal commander, a coup, -

-It was not half the army, out of ten thousand soldiers I killed more or less three thousand, and they didn't even pay me, Tsk ... what a nuisance.

-Three thousand? Holy shit! -

-Already that's when he became the captain of the first shadow team-

-Already...-

Jeng then, finished the meat said

-Yes, okay, but why don't we kill the Commander of the Templars? -

-I would do it were it not that the Commander of the Templars is Hikaru-

-So? He killed for a lot less-

-This is true but if we are to get mad at the Templars and the Raven we must not kill Hikaru-

-So just treat no? -

-You are right, you have to do it but it will be difficult, he has always been stubborn .- Mahel said with a tired look

-Don't make me remind you-

Ricliam instead after a sip of liqueur, looked Mahel in the eye,

- In my opinion you should slaughter the Templars and Hikaru, or kill only Hikaru and take his place commanding the Templars-

Mahel said nothing, finished his meal and got up from the table, took his bag and went to the counter and paid the bill for the meals and rooms, left the inn, without first having beckoned to the group and went to the stables to take the horse, instead those six after seeing the sign of Mahel finished the meal, Elisabhet instead gave something to Mary who with a questioning look looked at Elisabhet who answered with another questioning look indicating Mahel who in the meantime was waiting in total silence for the group looking Muninn who had sat on his right shoulder, sure they were talking to each other, then when everyone had taken a horse, Mahel jumped over his own as Muninn flew up

-Well- said Mahel-We have to go somewhere else, I have collected the reward of the mission, but now we have to go-

-Why should we? - said Jeng

"So you haven't seen them," Mayra said

-You are really useless Jeng- Ricliam sighed- Teplari are here, apparently they have found us-

-I understand .... but then why don't we kill them all? -

-I have already killed about ten this night- said Mahel- I woke up in the middle of the night and ...-

He could not finish the sentence that an explosion that a group of ten Templars with drawn swords surrounded them, a Templar approached them

-I declare you all under arrest in the name of the Crown as members of the criminal organization "Corvo", put down your weapons and lie down-

- Gentlemen - Elsionh said calmly - according to me you should put down your weapons and lie down on the ground - and with a sweet and reassuring smile I look into the eyes of the Templars, at first the Templars did nothing, then with a shudder, they threw swords and lay motionless on the ground.

-What did you do? - Elisabhet asked

-No little hypnosis spell, it's common among Elves, -

But Mahel did not listen to the speeches among his men and set off at a gallop, the group noticing Mahel's absence jumped on their horses and followed Mahel's trail of dust.

Elisabhet forced his horse to the pace of Mahel and approached him who with a dead silence was looking at the road

-Mahel ... where are we going? -

-We are going to a provincial town in the southeast, a town I've been to a couple of times, the town is Miunher, -

-Miunher? - Elisabhet said slightly surprised - My family is li-

-Mh..well we could take advantage of your family to get some coverages, you will be visiting your family and we are friends we met on a trip, know one thing but we are going to a former base city of the "Corvo" -

-How! I've lived practically my whole life there and are you telling me it's a city full of "crows"? -

-Exactly, but now shut up and gallop we have a long way to go- and Mahel closed herself in total silence, only the gallop of her horse rang out, while her men, also in silence, put on their uniforms.

The sun hid behind the horizon, the light faded and travelers encamped or fell asleep, a single traveler remained awake whispering to the shadows, although the shadows were chased away by the light of the bonfire, only the sound of the fire broke the silence of the woods and encampment.

Mahel was sitting there, in front of the fire, and listened to the voices of his head, without paying too much attention to them, he stared at the fire, remembering that night, he did not notice the blood dripping from his arm, he looked at the fire and with a whirring of wings Muninn alighted by his side where a small pool of blood was created, Muninn dipped his beak into the pool and drank Mahel's blood, then looked up and looked into Mahel's eyes

-Thirst?-

-No, I was curious to know the taste of your blood, -

-It was good?-

-A refined taste, don't worry, I won't drink anything else-

Mahel said no more, continued to look at the fire. Time passed quickly and the timid rays of the sun illuminated the camp, waking everyone up, Ricliam and Elsionh went out first from their respective tents, Ricliam immediately lit a cigarette and approached Mahel

-Hey Mahel, I see you haven't slept- then noticing the pool of blood, which had reached a considerable size- Fuck ... why didn't you get bandaged?

Mahel looked at the kiss

-I didn't notice, I do it immediately- and getting up suddenly, without feeling the loss of blood, took a bottle, took off the bandages and showed the bloody scars, then poured the entire bottle over the wounds, cleaning them and finally with a bandage given to him by Elsionh covered his wounds with tissue.

-Thanks Elsionh-

-No Mahel-

Then the rest of the group came out of the tents, Elisabhet, Mayra all dressed up, Jeng in the uniform,

-Hey boss! - Jeng said- Spent the night in white? -

-Like the sleepless night! - Eisabhet exclaimed- Again?! -

-This is normal for him- said Mayra- he has spent many sleepless nights, he doesn't tire so easily but for sure the voices have spoken, that's why he didn't sleep, right? -

Mahel did not have time to reply that Isabhel dressed only in a shirt very similar to Mahel's perhaps a little smaller, which revealed many shapes, that although she was a half-orca, she was very curvy and soft, her hair usually with the tuft to the right and the shaving to the left it looked like a nest of branches and leaves

-Aww ... Good morning ....- he said yawning-

Elisabhet as soon as he saw Isabhel stared at the girl's chest, then his own then again Isabhel and snorting approached Mahel, who had sat down to eat a biscuit

-Mahel but do you feel nothing when you see a girl so little dressed? -

-No, I've seen so many women, even many times naked, on missions that I don't care-

- .. Nude? - Elisabhet exclaimed, blushing and muttering- pervert, maniac, womanizer-

-For missions, I had to complete them at any cost-

Elisabhet did not answer, she only moved halfway away from Mahel, for safety, then began to munch on pieces of dried meat, together with everyone except Isabhel who after going out to get some air had returned inside the tent to get dressed, a few minutes later she went out. with the uniform, with the well combed forelock to the right and with bread in hand.

They ate quickly, washed themselves, drew up their tents, mounted the horses and left for Miunher.

They arrived in the city the next afternoon, the city was in turmoil, people coming and going from warehouses, people hanging flower wreaths on the doors, Jeng looking puzzled at the city said

-What is happening? I didn't remember a party around this time-

-This festival is in honor of the god Herven, it was recently established, but it is the most loved festival by the people-

-I understand...-

The group went through the gates of Miunher, and headed, under the direction of Elsabhet, towards his house, it was located near the god's chiea, it was developed on two floors, with stone walls and tiled roof, a beautiful house, Elisabhet got off his horse and knocked on the door hard, seconds later the door opened and a black-haired, candied-skinned woman looked at elisabhet

-Elisabhet! You're back!-

-Yes mom, I'm home-

The woman after hugging Elisabhet, even with great strength, looked at the group that in the meantime was unscrewed from the horse

-You would be?-

Mahel replied in a formal tone

-We are Elisabhet's friends, she met us when she became an adventurer-

-Ah ... Elisabhet, you have become an adventurer! - with a very wicked smile she turned to Elisabhet

-Yeah, I'm iron level, that guy helped me learn magic-

-Help ... I did it all-

-Shut up you Mahe ... Alexander, you only slaughtered me with exhausting workouts-

-But now you can do a lot of spells, you should thank me more often-

The Mother of Elisabhet Mhiriam, looked at the two arguing, smiled understanding many things, then noticing the rest of the group, a human male in his thirties, a human girl with an almost innocent face, a fox man with very red fur, a very smiling half-orca , then he looked at Alexander, he was a very charming boy, if it weren't for that bandage it would have been beautiful, finally he looked at an Elf ... a silver-haired Elf looked from the south, but he looked like him, he almost mistook him for him , I stare at the Elso for a couple of seconds, then recovered, he said

-Guys you will be hungry, come inside I was preparing lunch-

-Thank you lady, we accept, let us go to the stable and let's go-

The group found themselves at the table of Elisabhet's mother, who introduced herself, the lunch was not particularly rich but it was really good and the courses were huge, at the end of the lunch they were all drowsy and sleepy, Mhiriam hosted them in the guest rooms, all they dreaded if it wasn't Mahel and Mhiriam, who were chatting the very common conversation, however, slowly took a very unexpected turn.

-Mrs ... I know who she is- and looked at the woman

-I see that not even magic can fool you Alexander-

The woman placed her hands on her ears, which lengthened, the skin cleared and those few wrinkles disappeared, an Elf of the northern forests, very rare, with black hair long to the waist, eyes as green as the greenest forest, lips delicate as petals stood out in front of him

- Unexpected, an elf from the north, practically extinct after the "War of Purification" of the Templars-

-It was already unexpected for you, but it was more unexpected for me to meet a human, no non-human, a being with such a fragmented mind-

-you are very fragmented, so if you are an elf also elisabhet is, your ex-husband was not his natural father was he? I know your story, at least Elisabhet's version-

-Truly he died during the battle of the capital, I understand ... I was fighting there too-

Mhiriam said nothing as she waded into Mahel as he looked at her, understanding who they were.