1-11 To rescue their master

People walked down the pastoral street of Venswick, going about their business, when suddenly the clam was shattered. The front of a shop exploded as three people were hurled through the glass and timbers into the street.

“Impale!” Evalynn shouted as she leaped from the shattered opening, her spear red with blood and glowing with channeled energy.

[lvl 12 Glaive Knight talent: Impale] Unleash a powerful strike on a prone foe, pinning them to the ground.

She landed on the chest of one of the men, driving the weapon through his chest as it glowed with fire. She yanked the weapon free as the other man got to his feet and tried in vain to raise his weapon in defense.

“Dance of four strikes!” she shouted and suddenly blurred as she launched into a rapid series of attacks. The man parried the first thrust, but the next three came right through his defenses, punching holes in his chest.

[lvl 21 Glaive knight talent: Dance of four strikes] Step into the dance and unleash four quick thrusts with double your strength bonus in damage. Each strike is successively harder to block or parry.

“Who is this madwoman?”Alexandria cried as she climbed to her feet among the rubble that had once been the storefront. One of her thugs was already dead, the second well on his way to joining him. A woman in plate armor was tearing them to shreds as she raged to protect Jaina. Alexandria quickly took stock of the situation and wisely decided to run.

People began to gather at a safe distance as Evalynn lifted the man off the ground by the point of her spear.

“What have you done to Roric?” she shouted as the man tried to push himself off the weapon.

“Evalynn!” Jaina called as she ran into the street and pointed to Alexandria. “Stop her!”

The thug screamed as Evalynn used the spear to toss him aside like a bag of trash. Alexandria had a good head start and was about to reach the crowd, but Evalynn was a master of the glaive, the spear, and the bow. She held the weapon mid-shaft and pulled her arm back. The crowd realizing what was about to happen, began to scatter for fear of being caught in the path.

“precision toss!” Evalynn shouted and threw the weapon, leaving a trail of red light.

[lvl 5 Glaive Knight talent: precision toss] A highly accurate throw that doubles your chance to hit at extreme range. Damage is reduced, but critical strike chance is increased.

The weapon sailed through the air as amazed onlookers watched it follow the fleeing woman. With almost perfect accuracy, it struck Alexandria in the back, toppling her to the street. Jaina ran after her as Evalynn followed, her hand stretched out as she yelled, “Recall!”

[lvl 6 Glaive Knight Talent: Recall] Summon any weapon you have just thrown back to your hand.

Alexandria staggered to her feet to see Jaina and the madwoman bearing down on her. She frowned with an angry glare and put a hand as she yelled, “Color storm!”

[lvl 12 deceiver power: Color Storm] Fills the air with a cloud of swirling colors that confuse and disorient. Anyone entering the cloud must check vrs concentration or randomly turn and run out in another direction.

A wall of swirling colors like balls of paint filled the air just ahead of Jaina. She struggled to see through the haze, but the constant swirl made it impossible. She ran into the mass, and suddenly it felt like she was spinning around until she staggered out the side facing down another street.

“What?” she cried and turned around in confusion. She saw Evalynn enter the cloud, and a moment later, she ran out in the opposite direction. She came to a halt and looked around as she realized something had gone wrong.

Jaina tried again, running into the swirling cloud that blocked the street only to come running out into Evalynn’s arms.

“Jaina,” Evalynn said as they nearly collided. “Who is that woman?”

Jaina came to a frustrated halt as her emotions ran wild. She wanted to strangle Alexandria, but the cloud blocked the street, and by the time they went around, she would be long gone. With tears forming in her eyes, she explained how the woman ran the brothel and wanted Jaina to work for her. She went over all their encounters, from when she tried to buy her from Roric to the conniving efforts to pry her away from him.

“And now she has killed him and tried to kidnap me,” Jaina sobbed.

“Hey, calm down,” Evalynn said soothingly and pulled into a hug. “I get to be strong for you for a change. Listen, I have died a bunch of times. It happens a lot when you play alone. He will be back in four hours, and until then, I will keep you safe. He didn't lose anything because I have his spear, and you have the bag with all the money. Everything else he was carrying was starting gear, and he will respawn with that.”

“I guess that’s true,” Jaina said and wiped her eyes. “But I hate that they hurt Roric.”

“While I have a feeling you’re right, we can’t be sure they had anything to do with it until we speak to Roric,” Evalynn replied. “I wonder if he had my glaive when he died? I spent seven hundred gold on that to have it specially enchanted to give me a bonus against beasts.”

“You really don’t like beasts,” Jaina cried.

“I'm sorry,” Evalynn pleaded. “I was angry, and I needed something to take my frustration out on. Please forgive.”

Jaina turned in her arms, and Evalynn hugged her firmly for a good long while. She let her go just as the color storm faded, revealing Alexandria was nowhere to be found.

“She likely ran back to her brothel,” Evalynn said as she took Jaina’s hand. “She will undoubtedly have more thugs and perhaps traps to hamper us. I suggest we recover my weapon and then head to the spawns. I worry they might have people waiting for our master.”

“Why is she so determined to get me to work for her?” Jaina asked as they ran off to recover the missing weapon.

“I suspect it has to do with what Roric said,” Evalynn replied. “He made twelve hundred gold in one night from just the two of us. Jerrik said he threw a fortune on the stage, and I bet others did the same. That happened because of you and your perfect combination of race and class. She knows how valuable you are and desires to put you to work for her. All she has to do is find a way to separate you from Roric.”

“But that’s pointless,” Jaina grumbled as they ran through the streets. “She needs me to accept her collar willingly. Killing Roric and trying to drag me off isn’t going to make me want to serve her.”

“She must have had another step to her plan,” Evalynn replied. “Something she wasn’t counting on me spoiling.”

“Thank goodness you were there,” Jaina replied and touched her neck. “And I suppose thank goodness the collar came off when it did.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t doing so hot with my skills limited to level four,” Evalynn agreed as they reached the edge of town.

They ran down the road, heading for the rock way out in the ocean of green. An hour down the road, they could see the distant rock, but something bluish-gray lay in the grass just ahead.

“Oh my god! Is that Roric?” Jaina cried.

“The body lingers around until the respawn, and sometimes even after that if you are carrying special items or somebody has done something to preserve it,” Evalynn replied. “If it didn’t, you couldn’t use a resurrection spell on it.”

“I still think it’s terrible,” Jaina groaned as they got closer.

“Bodies used to last a lot longer,” Evalynn replied. “forty-eight hours if I remember, but then the visitors did an update, or something changed. Some people think it has something to do with the old necromancers.”

They reached the body to discover it was indeed Roric with two deep wounds on his back and a shallow one on his chest.

“He was ambushed,” Evalynn said as she turned the body over. “Probably assassin classes. They struck from behind with fatal blow, or backstab.”

“They? Are you saying there was more than one?” Jaina asked.

“Two deep wounds indicate two simultaneous attacks,” Evalynn said and then pointed to the starting spear the assailants hadn’t bothered to take. “He has blood on his weapon, meaning he wounded one of them. My guess is there were three, but he somehow detected one and ruined his stealth before he could land a serious attack.”

“Roric is hard to sneak up on because he can smell people,” Jaina said as her heart broke to see him this way. She started to sniff and had to wipe her eyes as the pain and frustration got the better of her.

“He will be back soon,” Evalynn said and took Jaina into her arms again.

“I thought you weren’t very good at people skills?” Jaina sobbed as Evalynn rubbed her back.

“I got better over time, but you two are helping me loosen up,” Evalynn sighed. “I also think I really needed the sex.”

Jaina laughed through her tears as Evalynn let her go.

“There's plenty of that when you belong to Roric,” she said and looked away from his body. “Let’s go look for your weapon. I can’t bear to keep staring at his body.”

Evalynn nodded and took her hand as they waded into the tall grass. The rock was well off the road and judging by the grass, Roric never reached it. Evalynn quickly looked behind the stone and pulled the grass apart to find the shining golden blade of her glaive.

“It’s still here,” Evalynn said with a sigh of relief. “Now, let’s go to the spawns and find our master.”

“Shouldn’t he respawn in the village?” Jaina asked.

“Did you pay for a home point? Or use the anchor stone?” Evalynn asked.

“There's an anchor stone in the village?” Jaina asked.

“It’s just on the east side,” Evalynn replied. “The big white stone with the angel carved on the face.”

“I don't think Roric even realized there was one,” Jaina replied and looked to the distant fields. “He assumed we were too close to spawn to need it.”

“Either way works,” Evalynn said and put a weapon on each shoulder. “Common, by the time we walk out there, he should have respawned.”

They returned to the trail and walked for over an hour before Evalynn pointed out the hills that players spawned on. Even now, a player was walking down the slope, but it didn't appear to be Roric. There were three spawn hills relatively close together, and Evalynn suggested they go to the middle one. Then, if Roric spawned at any of the other points, they would easily see him.

As they walked, Evalynn looked at Jaina and decided to as the question that was troubling her.

“You do realize you will reset if you die?” she asked.

Jaina looked down and nodded that she knew the truth of her predicament. She was technically a monster player and couldn't respawn like the hero ones did. As a morphic, she had to pick a place to “inhabit” and then bury a magical crystal she could summon. Once done, she would respawn normally so long as she was near the crystal when she died. However, if her crystal was destroyed, or she was dragged too far from its presence before dying, she would reset instead. This would put her in a sort of null state like she was back at the character creation board again. She would have to recreate her character and start over at level one.

Nobody understood why the visitors created the system this way, but at least she could move her crystal anywhere she wanted. Some classes were limited to very specific locations like graveyards or forests.

“Roric plans to build a large camp full of NPCs and beasts,” Jaina said with a sigh. “Once he does, I will bury my crystal in the camp and be safe.”

“So long as you never leave the camp,” Evalynn pointed out.

“I won’t be able to leave the camp,” Jaina said. “Roric intends to chain me to his throne on a long leash. I will be his pet to dance and provide for his needs.”

“And you won’t ever want to travel?” Evalynn asked.

“Well, maybe,” Jaina replied. “Once I reach level fifty, I can evolve into a new monster type called a mimic.”

“Wait? You can become a mimic?” Evalynn gasped. “That’s amazing!”

“You know what those are then,” Jaina said with a pleased nod. “Once I do that, I can create my own sort of anchor stone. Then I am free to travel as far and wide as I want.”

“You are lucky you don't need to make a dungeon heart,” Evalynn said. “Those things have to be purchased with points, and they are terribly expensive. Not to mention players can destroy them, which really sets the poor monster player back.”

“Roric and I did a lot of reading about the problems between hero and monster players. I still can't believe it's so bad,” Jaina replied with a sad look. “And hardly anybody plays monsters now.”

“Well, you two picked a fine pairing,” Evalynn laughed. “A monster player who can easily pass for a hero, and a hero player who looks like a monster at first glance.”

“I suppose we do make a funny couple,” Jaina agreed and put her hand on Evalynn's arm. “Of course, we're a triple now.”

Evalynn nodded and licked at her lips nervously.

“You can accept me into your relationship just like that?” she asked.

“Evalynn, our relationship is very unique,” Jaina said. “All we needed to know was if you had the heart for it and that you wanted it. You proved all that and more during your day of service. Now, stop doubting and tell me you are Roric's slave.”

“I am Roric’s slave,” Evalynn said and couldn’t help but smile. “And I will protect his property with my life.”

“Thank goodness, because my life appears to be in danger,” Jaina added as they started up the central hill. “But, I have a question for you, miss super warrior.”

“What do you mean by that?” Evalynn asked.

“I mean, now that I have seen you fight, and I know what you can do. How come you never used any of those super moves on Roric?” Jaina said.

Evalynn looked shocked as her cheeks blushed, and her eyes flashed to Jaina.

“You were holding back!” Jaina accused.

“It isn’t what you think,” Evalynn tried to explain.

“Oh, and what am I supposed to think?” Jaina questioned. “Did you throw that fight on purpose? Were you hoping he would take advantage of you? Oh my gosh, do you have a fantasy to be dominated by a beastman?”

Evalynn's face was red as a rose, her eyes locked forward as she could not answer Jaina's questions.

“Ha!” Jaina laughed triumphantly. “So that’s why you took to all this so easily. You wanted this to happen!”

“Can we talk about something else?” Evalynn groaned.

“So you had a fantasy about being taken captive by a savage beast-man who ravages your body like an animal?” Jaina pressed.

“Please don’t tell Roric,” Evalynn begged.

“Oh, I am telling him everything,” Jaina laughed. “No wonder you single out beastmen for your anger. You were hoping and praying one of them would put you in your place. Goodness, you must have been starved for sex.”

“It's just a little fantasy,” Evalynn said as she trembled in embarrassment.

“But it isn't anymore,” Jaina cooed and clutched at her arm. “The fair elven maiden has been made the beast's prisoner, and now she is his sexual plaything. I bet he takes her back to his lair, where he ravages her body until all she will ever crave is his hot beastly cock. That must be why you like to suck his cock so much. It’s the ultimate humiliation to be forced to suck your new beastmaster.”

Evalynn had to clear her throat as Jaina burst out laughing to see her so uncomfortable.

“Oh, don't worry, sweetheart,” Jaina said with a big smile. “Your secret isn't at all safe with me.”

“What have I gotten myself into?” Evalynn groaned as she looked into the sky.

“You got yourself into exactly the right relationship,” Jaina assured her. “Now you have a master who will fulfill all those dirty little fantasies.” Evalynn groaned again as Jaina laughed and looked ahead to the hill.

“So this is the central spawn,” Jaina said as she looked around. “Why are there always three points?”

“Nobody knows,” Evalynn replied as they reached the hill's edge. “But I need you to do something.”

“What?” Jaina asked.

“You said you could force people to notice you. I want you to use it every thirty seconds or so as we climb the hill,” Evalynn instructed.

“That’s my allure ability, but can I ask why?” Jaina pressed.

“Rogues can hide in plain sight, but the power requires concentration. I suspect your power breaks concentration and will force them to appear,” Evalynn said.

“You really know you’re stuff,” Jaina said.

“I have a long history of being taken advantage of,” Evalynn replied. “Maybe that’s why I have the fantasies I do.”

“OH, Evalynn,” Jaina said and put a hand on her arm. “If you ever feel like we are taking advantage of you, just say something. Roric wants you to be happy with your role. He will work with you to make some adjustments.”

“And if I want him to use me how he sees fit regardless of how I feel?” she asked.

“He can do that too, but it will be hard to take away once you give him permission to do that,” Jaina answered.

Evalynn nodded as they reached the halfway point and Jaina began casting allure even though she could see nothing. As they crested the top, they were greeted by an empty clearing where the new arrivals first appeared. Jaina checked the other hilltops and then used her allure once again. Three men in various types of leather, with belts and pouches to excess, appeared around the clearing. Evalynn was waiting for this to happen and threw Roric's spear with all her might, sending one to the ground before they knew they were seen.

The other two quickly responded, but Evalynn leveled her spear that looked more like an ax and, in a blur, rushed across the clearing to gouge one of the others. Jaina quickly used allure again and turned the last man her way before smiling seductively. He was struck by the power of her seduction and lowered his weapon before taking a few steps her way.

“These fools aren't protected by potions,” she said under her breath as the man walked toward her with hungry lust in his eyes. To the right, the second rogue was desperately trying to fend off Evalynn, but the level thirty-two glaive knight was a superior fighter. All Jaina had to do was stall the last man long enough for Evalynn to kill the other.

He stepped right up to her naked body, his eyes filled with hunger. She trembled as his hands came to her sides and slid up until they cupped her breasts. She began to twist under his rough handling when something struck his head, and he rolled to the side.

“You don’t have her master’s permission to touch her!” Evalynn yelled as she turned her full attention to the last of the three rogues. Jaina stepped back and watched the slaughter as Evalynn cut the last man a half dozen times before impaling him to the ground.

“Are you alright?” Evalynn asked when he finally stopped moving.

“I am fine,” Jaina replied as a shooting pain went through her back. She stumbled forward to reveal yet another rogue behind her with a bloody dagger in his hand. Evalynn yanked her weapon free and charged only to trip on what looked like a magical line and roll into the grass.

She was immediately set on by two more men who came out of thin air. They hacked at her with swords as she tried to right herself and fend them off. Jaina fell to her knees in terrible pain as she looked back to see the man who had stabbed her approaching.

“You really should have accepted Alexandria’s offer,” the man said as he smiled down at her.

“Why are you helping her?” Jaina groaned to stall for time to allow her regeneration to work.

[lvl 4 Morphic skill: Regeneration] Your fluid body recovers from wounds quickly. Restoring 10 health per second until your stamina bar depletes.

“She pays us well,” the man laughed. “We do the occasional job for her, and we have all the access to her girls we want.”

“So that’s all it takes to buy your loyalty?” Jaina spat as her back rapidly began to feel better.

“She pays us in gold when needed,” the man said as he took out a coil of rope.

“What’s that for?” Jaina asked as she leaned back and tensed to use her claws to strike.

“She wants you alive,” he replied. “Somebody like you is worth ten girls because you can be almost anybody.”

Jaina was readied to time her attack for when he reached down to grab her, but suddenly one of his comrades flew over her head and crashed into him. She looked back to Evalynn, back on her feet and dancing in a flowing series of chops. She was destroying the man trying to fend her off, but suddenly another man came out of the shadows and plunged a knife into her back.

“Ahhh!” Evalynn cried and whirled about as she ignored the wound and a second man suddenly appeared to stab her side.

“Evalynn!” Jaina shouted and climbed to her feet as the two men near her got up.

“Where do you think you’re going?” the one with the rope shouted as Jaina tried to help Evalynn.

It was now five on two as Jaina backed up to the wounded Evalynn and prepared to fight off the group.

“There must have been three on every hill,” Evalynn grunted as she bled from several wounds. “The rest came running when we killed the three here.”

“And now we're surrounded,” Jaina said as her fingers elongated and became sharp blades. The two went back to back as the five men formed a ring about them. Evalynn readied to fight to the death when somebody jumped out of the grass and buried a spear into one of the men's back.

“Roric!” Jaina cried as he used the spear to throw the man into one of his comrades. Evalynn took his sudden appearance as an opportunity to attack and quickly rushed the two closest to her.

“Of course, he respawns now!” one of the men cursed as he tumbled away from Evalynn and vanished into the tall grass. In seconds the fight was four to three, but Evalynn was easily three times their level, and despite her wounds, she was still strong.

Roric went after the two men closest to him, and Jaina rushed in to help with her claws. The battle turned in moments, and it wasn't long before the last man fell.

“Are you two alright?” Roric asked as they looked around to make sure the battle was over.

“We’re fine,” Jania said as she rushed to Evalynn.

“One has gotten away,” Evalynn said before Jaina took her into a kiss.

[Lvl 1 Seductress skill: Healing kiss] Kiss a target to begin channeling stamina to heal them. Restores 6 health a second until healed or stamina is depleted.

Roric sniffed the air while they kissed and announced the missing man's scent was gone.

“He probably fled back to his mistress to her they failed,” Evalynn said as Jaina released the kiss.

“Mistress who?” Roric asked.

Jaina took a moment to explain how Alexandria attacked them in the store but were soundly beaten by Evalynn. During the battle, their collars vanished, and thus they knew he had been killed. It wasn't much of a stretch to put the two events together, especially since Alexandria bragged about knowing how to get the collars off.

“I was ambushed on the road,” Roric said. “I smelled them coming, but I only managed to clip one before the other two struck.”

“We tried to run down Alexandria, but she used some kind of confusion spell,” Jaina said.

Roric nodded and began to root around in the bodies, especially in bags and packs. He claimed every piece of jewelry and turned packs inside out until he found what he wanted.

“My collar!” Jaina said when the dragon leather wrap fell out of a bag.

“They must have stolen it from my body,” Roric said as he picked it up.

“We found your body,” Jaina added. “Evalynn was amazing. She took charge and knew exactly what to do. She knew rogues had attacked you based on the wounds and that you might be in danger at the spawns. She even predicted the ambush on the hill and showed me how to use allure to spoil it.”

“Did she now?” Roric said as he looked at the nervous elf.

“I was just doing as you instructed and keeping Jaina safe,” she said.

“You protected my Jaina,” Roric said with a nod. “I am very grateful.”

“Your new spear is here in one of the bodies,” Jaina said and looked around until they saw it sticking out.

“Well,” Roric began as he gathered some of the bags and packs from the fallen men. “We actually made a decent amount of coin from this.”

“We should leave the spawn immediately,” Evalynn suggested. “The one who got away will run straight to that woman. She may have more people to throw at us.”

“She isn’t afraid of throwing them at us in town,” Jaina growled. “They might just be waiting for us back at the inn.”

“We have to go back,” Roric said as he walked up to Evalynn. “I think you're better suited to protecting Jaina than dancing on the stage. I want you to stay in your armor and be close to her at all times.”

“I will not fail you,” Evalynn said.

“You don’t want her to dance?” Jaina asked.

“I don’t think she is comfortable with that,” Roric replied and motioned them to start walking.

“Oh, I think you’re wrong about her,” Jaina said with a smile as she fell in beside him.

“Jaina, please,” Evalynn begged.

“Something I should know?” Roric asked as he noted the odd exchange between his two slave girls.

“Somebody has a fantasy about being dominated by a beast race and forced to do all sorts of unspeakable things,” Jaina said.

“Is that so?” Roric said as he looked at his elf slave, whose fair skin was bright red.

“It was just a little fantasy,” Evalynn squeaked.

“She threw the fight with you because she wanted you to collar her and ravage her body,” Jaina explained. “She’s as into this as I am, if not more.”

“I just held back a little,” Evalynn admitted.

“Hmm,” Roric said as he eyed the woman with a smile. “I am going to put this knowledge to good use. I do love the feel of those lips, after all.”

“Ha!” Jaina laughed. “Poor Evalynn will be on her knees night and day. Speaking of which, if you don't give me another orgasm soon, I will go mad.”

“Let's get back to town and reclaim our tent,” Roric said. “Then I will give you both a gift before the dance.”

They hurried back with nervous trepidation, expecting Alexandria to cause more problems. Their fears were justified when the woman appeared with almost twenty others just inside the town.

“Ah, there you are,” Alexandria said as she walked out in her sexy dress. “My perfect plan ruined by some mad elf woman he wants to be this fool's pet.”

“I can skewer her from here,” Evalynn whispered, but Roric held up a hand to keep them calm.

“Why are you causing us so much trouble?” Roric asked. “We have done nothing to you.”

“Nothing?” Alexandria laughed. “Ever since you and that little slut arrived, my business has suffered. The combination of her class and race are unique, to say the least, and I made you a reasonable offer that you turned down flat.”

“She isn't for sale,” Roric said as he held out his arms. “None of my women are. Once they become mine, they are mine forever. Besides, I make more from an hour of Jaina's dancing than you were offering.”

“I'm afraid that isn't going to be good enough,” Alexandria replied. “I am not about to let a shapeshifter seductress getaway.”

“You can’t take her anyway,” Roric laughed. “She has to put the collar on willingly, and she would never do so for you.”

“Oh, but people can be convinced,” Alexandria replied. “I bet she would do anything to save you. Even beg to be collared by me.”

“That’s why they killed him and were waiting at the spawn,” Evalynn whispered. “They probably planned to spawn camp him, keeping him in a death loop until Jaina agreed to take her collar.”

“You, viscous bitch,” Jaina shouted and pointed an accusing finger. “One day, I will make you kneel before Roric and beg him to collar you.”

“Sorry, sweetie. I don’t soil myself on beast races. I have cheap whores for that,” Alexandria replied and held a hand up to motion her guards to get ready.

“We can’t win this fight,” Evalynn said as she readied her glaive.

“We can't possibly outrun so many,” Roric replied.

“Leave them alone!” shouted a musical voice as heads turned to see a woman in a simple white dress. She had soft purple skin and long curly lavender hair. She ran to stand in front with her hands out as if about to cast a spell.

“Gisley?” Jaina said in surprise.

“Out of the way,” Alexandria commanded. “Or you can you experience a respawn.

“No! I won’t let you hurt them!” Gisley said defiantly.

“Neither will I,” said a gruff voice as a tall gray-skinned man stepped into the street holding a broad sword.

“Gerris?” Evalynn gawked as the man she was on her knees for now stood defending her. Suddenly more people ran from the crowd and joined their side, holding weapons and spells at the ready. The three were mystified about what was happening until they realized these were Jiana and Evalynn's clients. Even more began to arrive, with Chandice and Innkeeper along with all the barmaids leading the charge.

Alexandria looked enraged when the swell of defenders began to outnumber her own forces.

“It looks as if you are not as popular as you might think,” Roric said and folded his arms. “And Jania is more valuable than you will ever be able to afford.”

“Her talents are wasted on you!” Alexandria shouted. “I could have made her a queen among prostitutes. Her name would be known in every city, and kings would bid for us to come and entertain their cities. The money I could make with her skills would buy a kingdom of my own!”

“Jaina is already famous,” Roric said as he gestured to the crowd. “She doesn't need your help.”

“Yeah, now go away baka!” Gisley shouted.

“Watch yourself, little insect,” Alexandria snarled and turned away, ordering her minions back to the brothel.

They watched the woman go with contempt and relief as the battle was averted. Hopefully, this show of force would send Alexandria back to plotting and buy them some time to think.

“I don't think it would be wise to stay in this town much longer,” Evalynn said as the crowd began to disperse.

“No, it would not,” Roric agreed. “We need to get our tent and retreat to the inn where we will be safer. After that, I will plan where we should go next, and Alexandria can rot in this little town.”