MERCENARIES

For the tenth time since they set up camp, Kaylee looked around. She remained on high alert and she could feel her companions were just like her. Occasionally, Marcus' eyes would leave the rabbit he was spit-roasting and shift from left to right; when Arletta's eyes were not focused on her book they were watching for movement in the trees and Zachary would grip his sceptre hard whenever he was not staring into the fire. As for her, she played with her knife while staring at the trees.

The first creature that came out of there would be getting it between the eyes.

The air around their mercenary band was tense, but it was not like this when they first started off. However, a few days in these accursed woods and the merry atmosphere from when they first left Tiih had vanished. No one would could be expected to maintain a positive mind-set after being attacked by wolf packs every night for three nights after midnight.

"How far are we from the bandit hideout?" she asked, tossing her knife in the air and catching it.

"If we're fast we might be able to reach it by sunset tomorrow," Zachary replied.

"Urg!" she gave frustrated sigh. "I can't stand being in this place anymore. I wanna return to Tiih quickly!"

When they first entered these woods it felt like it was just another forest. The animals here were average so they thought the danger was negligible.

What they did not account for was the fact that there were many wolf packs in the area. Every time the bastards sneak-attacked them at night their party would wipe them out. However, just when they thought the foul beasts had been dealt with, the following night another pack attacked them.

Three days in these woods and Kaylee was fucking done!

"Don't make such a fuss of it Kaylee," Arletta looked up from her magic book. "It's just one more day and we can go back."

"You do realise that we will be going back the way we came right?" she responded. "We'll have to fend off the wolves again and this time we might have to protect more than ourselves."

"I understand that," Arletta said to her. "Maybe the wolves will back off if we are more."

"Only you can be optimistic in this situation," Kaylee murmured.

But Arletta seemed to have heard. Setting her book aside, the tiny mage sent a scowl her way. "Do you think I am positive under these conditions? Every night in this forest I struggle to sleep because of the damn mosquitoes! Do you think I'm not eager to leave this place?"

Kaylee was about to respond, but Marcus held up his hand and silenced her.

"That's enough," he said softly. Even then, his voice was as domineering as his stature. Kaylee and Arletta both listened. "We are almost at our destination. The last thing we need is for fights to break out amongst ourselves. Why don't you try to endure it for the next few days? If you can do that the drinks will be on me when we get back to town."

This caused both girls to back down, after which Kaylee shot Marcus an excited look.

"You better no go back on your-"

"AWOOO!"

A wolf's howl cut her off. It sounded like it was incredibly close, no further than fifty metres.

Kaylee jumped to her feet, sheathed her knife and picked up her bow and quill. To the side she saw Marcus toss the rabbit to the ground. He too had gotten to his feet with hands clasped around his monstrous broadsword. The other two were ready as well. Arletta had thrown her book to the side and raised her hands in preparation to cast a spell while Zachary's pointed his sceptre in the direction the howl came from.

Then they waited.

It did not take long for the trees near the clearing to move. Then a figure shot out of them. Surprisingly it was not a wolf but a young girl, or at least that was how it appeared to Kaylee's eyes. At first glance she could already tell a few things seemed off with her.

First off, she wore a giant grey robe that was torn and did not fit her. Second, she was barefoot in this treacherous forest. And last of all, when the girl's face was momentarily illuminated by the light of fire Kaylee saw that she was terribly scarred. The girl appeared to have stitches running across her face.

The expression on the girl's face was one of fear as she rushed towards their party. The wolves burst into the clearing a not a moment after her. Vicious creatures they were, standing as high as Arletta, with savage looking teeth dripping saliva. The one in the lead tried to grab the girl with its paw but failed to. Less than a second later the girl and her chasers reached the Kaylee and her companions. Then the girl dove behind them and grasped Marcus hand.

"Help me," she begged in a weak voice.

Kaylee was no longer paying attention to her. As the first wolf arrived she released her bowstring, sending her arrow straight through its eye. The wolf gave a painful squeal and dropped to the ground. Having already forgotten the beast, she notched a second arrow and released it into another wolf's mouth. The arrow burst through the roof of its head and it too dropped dead. Notching another arrow, she looked for her next victim.

Her companions were fairing just as well as she was. Arletta used her earth magic to call up spikes from the ground, impaling more than a few wolves. Zachary conjured a fireball and made it explode in the middle of the charging pack, causing creatures' body parts to fly everywhere. As for Marcus, he was a juggernaut. Every swing of his broadsword bisected a wolf.

It did not take long for her party to make quick work of the pack. Within minutes they were standing in front of the more than twenty wolf carcasses.

There were some of them that were still alive and mewled in pain as they lay on the ground. The party chose to silence them. When the whimpers of the beasts were no more they turned to the one who brought them.

"Why the hell did you lead the wolves here?" Kaylee shouted at her. "Now we have to move from this site!" Next she pointed at the roasted rabbit on the ground. "And look what happened to out dinner! What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I…" the girl began, fear clear on her face. "I… I…"

She was struggling to give a coherent response. After trying and failing a few more times she gave up and hid her face in her hands. Then she began to cry.

"Look what you did?" Arletta accused Kaylee, shaking her head. The other two mimicked the gesture.

"What? I'm right aren't I?" she responded defensively.

But her companions were no longer paying attention to her. Arletta cautiously walked up to the crying girl and touched her shoulder gently.

"Hey there," she said softly, her face lit by a kind smile. "Are you okay?"

The girl's cries ceased and she timidly lifted her head from her hands. At that moment the entire party got a clear look at her face. None of them could stop themselves from flinching.

This girl had a nasty stitch running diagonally from one side of her face to the other. Even the corners of her mouth had experienced some stitch work as the threading ran from the corners of her mouth to just below her ears. The girl's neck also had stitches which ran across its entirety.

When she saw the stitches Kaylee covered her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. What in the world happened to this girl?

What sort of ordeal did one have to go through to end up with so many stitches? It was not only on the face and neck either. She spotted more stitches on parts of the girl's arms that the robes revealed. Just looking at her it was surprising she was still alive!

Arletta was the first to recover. Being the kind one in the group she reignited her smile as she spoke to the girl.

"There's no need to be afraid. Everything is alright now," she said calmly, drawing the scarred girl in for a hug. After a minute, which was occupied by the girl's silent sniff, she pulled away and pointed to herself. "My name is Arletta. These are my companions Marcus, Kaylee and Zachary. Can you tell us your name?"

"S… S… Sage," the girl managed to get it out with much difficulty.

"Sage is it?" Arletta patted the girl's back gently. "Can you tell us how you ended up here?"

The girl looked at her, eyes gleaming with tears.

"I… I… I…" unable to finish her sentence, she hid her head in her hands once more and began to cry.

Arletta again comforted her. "It's okay. You're safe here. No one will hurt you."

The girl looked up from her hands and nodded in understanding, all the while trying to stifle her cries. Then she began to tell her story.

It was messy and incoherent due to her constant sniffs and stutters but they managed to catch the gist of it.

It was a sad story.

Sage was a village girl from Lethia across the mountains. The village was poor but the people got by helping each other. Then one day a necromancer came to the village and turned everyone into zombies. Her mother, her father and her little brother and sister; she watched them all being changed by the necromancer's foul magic. As for her, she was kept alive. The necromancer told her it was because she was pretty and also because he needed someone to conduct tests on.

"He… he… he did things to me," the girl whispered, her voice filled with agony. Then she went back to crying in her hands.

Everyone was affected by the story. Arletta struggled to maintain her smile. Listening to Sage, she looked like she wanted to cry too. Both Marcus and Zachary were frowning, their eyes radiating anger and pity. As for Kaylee, she wiped a few tears from her eyes, a deep frown upon her lips.

"Fucking necromancers!" she hissed. "They should all be hunted down and burned at the stake!"

Among all mages they were the most foul. Those who practised necromancy were the worst of people. Their magic was one that made a mockery of life and to advance their craft they had to bring misery to others. It was little wonder they were outlawed in almost every country of Rekke. Unfortunately, that did not stop them from popping up all over the place.

"How did you escape from your captor?" Marcus asked Sage, trying to mimic Arletta's soft tone.

It seemed to work because the girl spoke up. Apparently the necromancer had left his tower earlier that day so she took the opportunity to run away. After struggling in the forest for a long time she saw the smoke of their camp and decided to approach them but was unfortunate enough to encounter a pack of wolves. She did not have to tell the rest of the story as they had been witnesses to its ending.

"What do we do with her," Zachary asked.

Marcus sighed, watching the girl sniffing quietly as she tried not to burst out into tears again.

"We'll take her with us," he said. "After we complete our mission and get back to town we'll look for someone to take care of her."

None of them objected. The girl's pitiful story touched all their hearts.

"Are you feeling pain anywhere," Arletta asked with concern. Without waiting for a reply she looked at Zachary. "Can you heal her?"

Zachary nodded and stepped forward, arms raised and ready to cast a healing spell.

Surprisingly, the girl took a step back and rejected it.

"I'm fine," she said, holding her hands up and stepping away. "You don't need to waste your energy for my sake."

Her actions made Kaylee wipe away another batch of tears. Poor girl, she's trying hard not to show her pain because she doesn't wanna worry us.

Zachary offered her a kind smile. "It's no bother. It will hardly be a drain on my magic."

But the girl was adamant that she was fine. She said that they had already done so much for her and she would not be able to rest easy if she allowed them to heal her when she did not need it. In the end, they could only helplessly agree to the girl's wish and back off.

After that they packed up their stuff and moved their camp elsewhere.

That night, no wolves attacked them.