The moon shone in the sky over Eldenreach, and its rays crept through the window of the apothecary, lighting up the whole room. Mera was sitting at her alchemy station, concocting potions and poisons the villagers had requested, but her mind was elsewhere.
When is that giant oaf going to be here? He said he'd look into it two days ago, and still I haven't heard a thing from him. Gabriel's still not back after three days with that harlot, and I haven't—
DUFF, DUFF, DUFF.
The door shook in its frame, and Mera rolled her eyes before wiping her hands on her apron and marching towards it.
"Hanitz, if you break my door knocking like that, the guild will be paying for a new one."
The door swung open mid-scolding, and Hanitz blinked down at her. "How did you know it was me?"
"Because you're the only one in town who shakes the whole house when you knock, you oaf. Have some restraint," she snapped back.
"Sorry, Lady Mera, the doors are much sturdier in Gorsen. Takes all your strength just to make the slightest sound."
"You've lived amongst humans for half your life." Her face tightened.
"Sorry again, Lady Mera, I just like the way it sounds, that's all."
Hanitz looked over his shoulder and called out. "Bring them here, lad."
Gilbert stepped out from behind the giant's frame with two corpses strung over his shoulder, and he approached the door before dropping them on the porch. Mera froze with her mouth open and eyes wide.
"Are these the ones?"
Hanitz nodded, and she looked down at them to examine the bodies. The first was a human with its face crushed so completely that not a single feature remained, and the second was smaller, a dwarf with one clean spear wound through the heart.
"How am I supposed to question them?" She raised her head slowly towards the giant.
"Don't worry, Lady. The first one refused to talk."
A proud smile crept across his face as he continued. "The second one got real chatty when he watched me stand on his friend's face. Ha, ha, ha."
Mera stood up with irritation clear in her voice. "Your brutishness doesn't impress me. What did they say?"
Hanitz opened his mouth to speak, but Gilbert interrupted with a chuckle. "They're gathering information on the freak."
Both Hanitz and Mera turned their heads slowly in unison to stare at the C-ranked adventurer, and the smile wiped off his face instantly.
"I think it's time you get back to the guild lad, before the witch adds you to the corpses."
Gilbert was paralyzed to the spot since the Guild Master and the Apothecary, two of the most important people in Eldenreach, were staring at him like they wanted to skin him alive. He mustered his strength and replied, "Yes, Guild Master," before going on his way.
Hanitz turned back to Mera the moment Gilbert had left his sight to find her standing there with her arms crossed, tapping her fingers against them and glaring daggers at the giant.
"Witch?"
Hanitz pretended not to hear her and continued. "They were sent from Galveston to check on the lad. The small one said the lady paid them one gold coin each."
"And who is this woman?"
"They didn't get a name, only a description."
He raised his hand to his chin and thought for a moment. "A young woman no older than 20 with long pitch-black hair and purple eyes that sparkled when the sun hit them, and a gentle voice like a sister of the church."
Mera's fingers stopped mid-motion as Hanitz added, "Also, she's a repeat customer. This is the third time she has hired them in the last two years."
"Is that all?" Mera's fingers began tapping against her arm again.
"I believe so, Lady, and I'll leave you for the night, so try to get some rest. When I'm back at the guild, I'll send some adventurers over to watch over the house for a couple of days."
Hanitz began turning away when Mera's voice stopped him. "Are you not forgetting something?"
"Huh?" The giant replied, trying to remember if he had told her everything.
"The bodies! You oaf, get rid of them."
Hanitz bent down and muttered as he picked up the corpses, "You know I'm the one doing you a favour."
"And Hanitz, thank you. I couldn't have asked anyone else to do this for me." A small smile crept onto her face.
...
The screams of the chief's wife and son tore through the room where Tess was standing in the middle with her blade firmly planted right in front of the chief's eye.
"I will ask you one more time, why are you sending adventurers to their death?"
The crowd of villagers grew, and they were mere feet away from the door to the chief's house while Gabriel stood in the doorway, half facing the crowd and half facing Tess and the chief. The former Paladin turned to face the crowd and blocked any exit or entrance.
"Let them out." A voice shouted.
"Yeah, let them out." Another followed suit.
Gabriel reached his hand towards the hilt of his blade as his eyes lit up with an ominous red glow, and the crowd continued their shouts.
"Look at his eyes."
"He's a demon."
"The chief must've summoned him."
"Let the wife and child go."
Gabriel's eyes widened in realization. He's a mage.
He pulled his sword from the sheath and spun around as Tess twisted to the screaming woman and child. "I'm not going to hurt you. Stop screaming." Her blade pulled back a little as she turned, and a smile crept over the chief's face while his hands raised in front of his body to form a triangle with his fingers.
Gabriel dashed into the house, and his eyes met the chief's as he raised his sword. The chief opened his mouth and spoke the incantation.
"Ascanta sí."
Tess turned back towards the chief as panic grew in her eyes, and she looked down at his hands while the former Paladin slashed down with his blade. An orange glow began collecting in the chief's hands, getting brighter and brighter, and then there was nothing as the light disappeared.
Screams rang out as the chief's hands flew through the air, spinning while blood squirted from the stumps. He raised them up and screamed into them in agony, and Tess looked to Gabriel with a confused look on her face while her sword still pointed at the chief.
A pained look crossed his features. "He's a mage," he let out as he dropped his sword to the ground.
She nodded towards Gabriel, half in appreciation and half in acknowledgement of what she had to do, and Tess walked over to the still screaming mage before thrusting her sword through his chest to end his screams.
The voices of the crowd echoed around them, and in the chaos, they had closed in on the door, surrounding it like the wooden wall around Eldenreach.
"He's dead!" one voice said.
"He is," another replied.
"Oh, thank the creator."
Tess and Gabriel glanced at each other in confusion as more voices rang out. "Oh, they've saved us."
The chief's wife stood up and hugged her son tight with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Thank you. Thank you."
"You've saved us." Her lips curled upwards into a genuine smile.
The crowd at the door began erupting in cheers and raining down admiration on the two adventurers, but they just stood silent, flitting between looking at one another, the crowd, and the chief's wife.
A smile formed on Tess's mouth as she whispered towards Gabriel, "What is happening?"