The Investigation Continues

After a few minutes, the both of us regained our nerves. I stood up and kept a tight hold on her hand, locking her fingers with mine. It was warm, a warmth I could only have compared to my mother's own hand.

"We should get back now." I told her, "We've a thief to catch."

I had only just noticed it, but Azraea's face was almost scarlet with embarrassment. She only made a light nod and replaced her bandages before I led her out of the alleyway.

We made it back to the ransacked home where the blood was still wet. I knelt down and ran my finger on the bloodstain on the floor. Then I noticed more drops of blood that led straight into the forest, it was quite a large amount.

"We should move fast." I said, "With a wound like that, the thief wouldn't have gone far. But I'd like to question them before they die of blood loss."

"You're right. That's a lot of blood. It might even be too late." Azraea saw the stains too.

"We won't know until we find them." I stood up, not letting go of Azraea's hand even once. "Let's go."

Azraea nodded as the two of us tracked the blood trail into the forest. It was dark in there, and awfully ominous. I understand why a thief would hide here now. It's not somewhere that many would go into willingly.

Luckily for us, the blood shone in the remnants of sunlight that made it through the tree canopies. It was enough to follow the trail.

The path was long and dark however, the blood was about the only thing I could see.

"Stick close." I told Azraea. I felt her grip tighten on my hand. It soothed my worry a bit.

We kept following through the forest until we reached a small clearing. There was a kind of structure there, if you wanted to call it that.

It was a rather shoddily built wooden shack, with a whole treasure trove in a pit beside it. This must be the thief's hideout. But why would they leave their stolen goods so out in the open?

I stopped as I reached the end of the trees. Azraea stopped with me.

"This could be a trap, be careful."

I carefully led Azraea to the shack, being mindful of any traps that might have been on the floor. But to my surprise, there wasn't. Not even a mousetrap was on the ground.

We made it to the door of the shack with no problem. Though something was strange, I could hear pained breathing behind the door. It sounded like a child, a girl at that. It made my heart start to pound in my ears, I felt an uneasy sense of dread looking at the door.

I opened it carefully.

As the old wooden door creaked open, I was met with a sorry sight.

In front of me was a girl, around about one hundred and fifty centimetres tall. She had flowing yet short brown hair, along with a pair of feline orange eyes that gazed at me with anger. She had a strange pair of cat ears upon her head along with a tail. However it was when I saw the tail that I saw the problem.

The girl's right thigh was sliced open ruggedly, spilling blood onto the floor at a rapid pace. Now that I noticed it, her skin was pale and she seemed very close to fainting. Yet she was stood straight, aiming the tip of a knife at my throat.

"What…do ya want…" Her voice was childish, but was also heavily pained and slow. She winced as her leg only bled more.

"Are you alright?" I asked her, trying not to provoke attack. Her expression turned to one of hate.

"Of course ah'm not alright!" she yelled weakly, "Can't ya see that ah'm…ah'm…"

The girl began to topple and swerve as she started to fall. I swiftly let go of Azraea's hand to catch her as the girl fell into my arms unconscious and the knife clattered down into a pool of blood. She needed help. Badly.

"Hold on." Azraea said, keeping her cool. "I have some more bandages."

With that Azraea put down her bag and rummaged through it. Eventually pulling out a roll of bandages triumphantly.

"Found them." Azraea announced. In addition, she also had some gauze that she could use.

Azraea quickly rushed over to the girl and placed the gauze over her thigh wound. Then she wrapped the bandages tightly over it to stop the bleeding. She tied the bandages.

"That should stop the bleeding for now." Azraea told me, "But she needs medical attention if she wants to survive."

"Uh…" I scratched my head in a rush. Suddenly I clicked my fingers. "I've got it! I think I had something in here…."

I opened up my spell book and read through the list. And it was there that I found it.

"Tier I: Heal." I chanted, placing my hand upon the girl's wounded thigh.

My hand began to glow with a greenish white energy that engulfed my hand as it made contact with the girl's body. The energy felt so soothing that my heartbeat became slower and I could feel the wound stitching itself back together slowly under the bandages.

"I think I've got it." I said. "Now…is there a bed I can lie her on…"

I very quickly scanned over the room and saw a rather badly made bed. It would have to do however. I picked the girl up and laid her down on the hard wooden bed.

"Now then…we just need to wait for her to wake up." I sat down at the side of the bed.

"Do you think that she's the thief?" Azraea asked. I nodded in response.

"Without a doubt." I replied. "But right this second, I care more about keeping her alive than questioning her about where my stuff was taken."

"You're a nice guy." Azraea said with a smirk, "You know that? That girl not only took your things, but she's a Beastkin at that. I'm surprised that you don't hate her at all."

"I know better than to hate someone because of what they are." I replied. "Beastkin or not, she's still a person."

Azraea chuckled. "You sound just like my cousin. Always going on about Beastkin rights and such. Maybe we should go support her once we've made enough to get out of Sherpstal."

"Maybe we will." I responded. Then I simply continued to wait for the girl to awaken.

*****

It was a calm day at the illustrious Sherpstal Estate. The birds were chirping, the river was flowing, and the town guards were busy with their daily exercises.

But at the top of all of this was one who had caused misery for the life of a woman and her child. Baron Alfric Alaric von Sherpstal.

The Baron was a roundish middle aged man. He had almost a full head of greying blond hair and dull but piercing azure eyes. He wore a most well-designed and expensive robe bought straight from the grand markets of Evlam and his stance was that of royalty.

You see, the Baron is the one set as the second heir to the throne of Steunvik. A prince, and brother to the brave king of the kingdom. Though his ambition hungers for that throne, it does not surpass that of his niece the Crown Princess.

Today the Baron was enjoying himself in the training fields. Despite his age and figure, the Baron was truly a remarkable fighter with the sword. This was most likely because he is one of the veterans of the Demon War that tore the nation apart. Though those were darker times.

His opponent for the day was a young guardsman that was still only an apprentice. He looked barely old enough to be wielding a sword as he met face to face with such a veteran fighter.

Nonetheless however the boy was ready to fight and held his sword well. He assumed the proper footwork before the sparring match begun.

CLACK

CLACK

The sounds of two wooden swords hitting each-other was heard all around the manor as the Baron and the boy went at it full-heartedly. Even though he was young, the boy was maybe half as skilled as the Baron himself.

But the Baron was merely going easy. He took the strikes well and parried with some exceptional skill. The spar kept going until the Baron smacked the sword out of the boy's hand. It clattered to the hardened earth.

"That was good." he told the boy in a gruff and aged tone. "Given some more years, you may become as good as I was back in my prime."

"T-Thank you sir." the boy bowed politely and picked his sword back up. He was in awe of the Baron's skill with the blade. Whilst most nobles were prideful and boasting; not one of them knew how to wield as sword as effectively as the Baron did. The boy had heard that the King was even stronger than he was.

"Tell me boy." the Baron requested, "What's your name?"

"It's Erik, sir." Erik replied, fumbling with his words.

"Erik. How would you like to become one of my personal guards?" the Baron asked of him. Erik froze up. Him? One of the Baron's personal guards? Surely he must have been joking.

"Sir? I'm just a common lad." Erik said, "I don't think it would be suitable for me to be your guard."

"Nonsense." the Baron laughed. "You may be common, but your skills match that of some of my best. I want you to be one of my personal guards."

He wasn't joking around. He was actually making him a serious offer. Erik was stunned but somehow kept his head.

"Yes sir!" Erik nodded and smiled.

"Good, good." Alfric responded joyfully. "I hope that you'll be of great service."

"I will." Erik grinned confidently.

And thus a new talent was rising in the small town of Sherpstal.

*****