Azrael stood, tossing the jet-black cuffs to Fabian. "Find out what this is for me." He ordered him. "That thing feels far too suspicious to ignore."
Fabian turned the heavy object over in his hands curiously, his brows furrowing. Then his gaze swept over the grotesque scene at his feet and his nose wrinkled in distaste.
"This isn't like you, My Lord." He remarked. "Why would you get your hands filthy with the blood of mere bandits?"
Azrael merely shrugged. "I was just a bit annoyed."
"Huh? What exactly happened?"
"You would not understand even if I explained it to you a hundred times." His tone shifted. "We need to be on our way now. We will be heading to Duke Orlan's manor in Wynfords' capital."
Fabian froze. "What…? I thought we were going to your estate?!"
Azrael paused, then smirked. "I have changed my mind. It will be better to enter Dalniar in stealth for what I want to do."
"But Milord," Fabian argued. "You what the price will be if–"
"I will handle whatever that is, Fabian." Azrael cut in. "Your only job is to do as I say."
Fabian sighed before he bowed his head slightly. "Of course. As you wish."
Azrael huffed. "Clean up this mess for me, will you?" He asked as he started to walk away. "The sooner we leave this goddamn forest, the better."
"Of course." Fabian then snapped his fingers once conjuring a wave of hot blue fire that ignited the bodies, engulfing everything and only dying down when there was nothing but scorched, darkened grass left.
Not even blood remained.
Fabian soon caught up to his master's pace, his eyes narrowing as he looked back at the path to the lake. 'Milord is acting a bit strange… is it because of the bandits? I wonder what happened."
* * *
Ashelia wrapped the large coat around herself, shivering at the passing breeze, her arms clutched her shoulder tightly.
"It's become so cold all of a sudden…" She sighed, clutching the coat tighter at both sides.
It was a good thing that the Archduke didn't take his coat with him. It was a good thing he had dried her up or else the cold would have been far worse. And she couldn't dare to go back home looking messy.
Home.
Ashelia buried her face in the crook of her knees. Meryl was still missing for some odd reason, she didn't know her way out of the forest and it was already past lunchtime.
Any longer and the entire Duchy would turn the territory upside down in search of her.
If she wasn't so scared of the Archduke, she would have asked him to lead her out of the forest.
'I'm tired…' She sighed. 'Where on earth are you?'
Just a few seconds after she had that thought, the thicket of bushes some distance away from her rustled and she tensed, springing up to her feet before her mind could even catch up.
Ashelia took a cautious step back. 'I… I thought he killed all of them!'
She wasn't in any state to fight, she was tired… and hungry and scared and… and fed up!
She quickly snatched up her bow from the ground and brandished it in front of her, like a weapon at the brush, gripping it so tight her knuckles turned white and the wood cracked.
Ashelia flinched, her eyes dropping to the bow. 'I broke it…' She thought in a daze. 'But it's enchanted! So how…!'
Her mind was quickly removed from the weapon when the plants bristled again and a large wolf stepped into view. Its fur was black-gray and its sapphire blue eyes scanned the area until it settled on her.
Ashelia froze.
Her mouth went agape, she stood there just staring at the animal and the cracked bow in her hand suddenly snapped in two.
That was when she looked down at it and realized that she had been clenching too hard. Her gaze moved back to the canine that had appeared.
"Where have you been?" She asked, her voice was low and icy.
Meryl's ears drooped and she peered at her owner apologetically.
"Don't you give me that…" Ashelia said through clenched teeth, then she flung the bow in her grasp to the ground. "Don't you dare give me that look!"
Meryl whimpered and retreated a few steps back cautiously. Her large form was visibly nervous.
"You're supposed to protect me!" Ashelia yelled, breathless as she thumped her chest with a trembling hand. "But you left me alone, for what? Do you know what your selfishness cost me?!"
She let out a shaky breath, her legs gave out beneath her and she collapsed to the floor. Tears blurred her vision. "Do you have any idea what I went through just because you weren't here?"
Ashelia buried her hand into her hands and started to sob, her shoulders shaking. 'Look at me,' She thought bitterly. 'Talking to an animal like it has any sense of responsibility.'
Something soft nudged the side of her head and she looked up to realize it was Meryl's snout. It rubbed her head a few times as if comforting her, then it moved to lay down in front of her and bow its head low to the ground.
Ashelia blinked in surprise through her tears. "...Are you apologizing?"
Meryl merely whimpered in response.
"So you do know you did something wrong." She remarked. There was silence between them for a long time.
She sighed, standing up shakily but the wolf rushed to her side to support her weight. Ashelia retrieved her quiver from where it was lying on the grass and hung it over her shoulder.
"Let's go home." She said softly after draping the coat over her shoulder. "It's getting late."
She didn't want to think about what happened anymore and she certainly wasn't in any mood to forgive anyone or any… wolf.
Ashelia stared at the bow she had broken by mistake, laying a few meters away from where she stood. She walked over and picked up the pieces, staring at it for a long while before wrapping them carefully in Azrael's coat.
She pursed her lips. She was definitely going to give his coat back to him when she saw again. If she ever saw him again.