5 Monster

Kandor arrived at the edge of the forest, when a scream reached his ears. It sounded far behind, and was muted almost entirely as soon as they passed the natural sound-barricade of the forest. He didn't know who had screamed, nor did he bother thinking about it at the moment. Panting lightly, he slowed down and continued for a little while longer, looking back occasionally. He realized that Rendol was not chasing them anymore, so he stopped and a sigh of relief escaped him. Even though Kandor was not used to running while carrying another person in his arms, especially not such a beautiful and fragile figure as the mayor's daughter, he had somehow managed to get away in time. Now that the pursuit was over, and the adrenaline slowly exited his blood stream, he felt embarrassed to still hold the girl tightly in his arms. They had not spoken a single word since he found, and now that he slowly let her glide onto her own feet, he noticed her grey-blue eyes resting on his sweat-soaked face.

Kandor subconsciously scratched his head with one hand, before asking: "Are you alright?"

Lia still held her waist. Such a kick would undoubtedly leave some painful marks for quite some time. She would be lucky if it didn't break any rips. Kandor's rather rough means of transportation likely did not help relieve the pain, but he hadn't had much of a choice.

"I-I'm fine, I think", Lia responded, but her face was still wet with tears. Little black lines could be seen under her eyes, where the makeup had been washed away by the tears. While the sight frightened Kandor at first, he quickly realized that it had to be some kind of coloring.

"T-thank you", she continued, her speech a little shaken, which contrasted her earlier demeanor quite strongly, "for saving m-me."

Kandor shook his head. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure if it was his place to ask her why she was here at this time of night, but he also felt like he deserved an answer to that question now. Afterall, her sneaking into the camp was quite suspicious. He didn't believe she could be a spy for the Band of the Holy Chain, as the Cormorant had explained to him what a defeat would mean for her family, but he still had trouble feeling relaxed at the prospect of the young noble girl sneaking around their camp at night.

As he hesitated to speak, the two just stood silently in the forest. Lia slowly seemed to regain her composure, as she managed to control her tears. Kandor was impressed that, even through the pain, Lia had still smiled at him occasionally, though he was sure that it was mostly due to her noble manners. Now she breathed slowly, as if to relieve the pain from her waist by reducing her torso's movements.

"Well", she began after a few minutes of silence, "you probably wonder why I am here."

Lia looked at him, her face calm and finally dry, only the black lines and slight red circle around her eyes telling of the recent tears. Her eyes were clean and dark, the grey overshadowing the blue in the absence of a brighter light source.

It had gotten darker since they entered the forest. Kandor assumed that the moon had hidden itself behind a number of clouds, throwing a shadow over the land, which added to the uncomfortable darkness of the woods. He didn't mind though. This situation was already awkward enough, and he'd rather not have to face her intense gaze in full moonshine.

Kandor nodded, waiting expectantly for her to continue.

"Well, honestly, I don't have a reason. I just kinda thought it would be fun", she looked down, seemingly embarrassed, but she didn't seem to take it all that serious at the same time.

Kandor was dumbfounded. That was certainly not the explanation he had been expecting, yet he instantly believed her. He realized that she had little to worry about in her life -if you disregarded the impending danger to her entire family if they should lose the war- and a of of spare time on her hands, which she said she mostly spent reading. If one book could be a factor for Kandor's life to turn in the direction it had, then maybe the many books she had read had a similar impact on her desire to go a certain direction as well? But could one be that crazy to sneak out into a mercenary camp at night? For fun?

He shook his head again.

"You should go back home now", he said. He didn't mean to scold her, but for some reason he felt strongly about making sure she returned home safely as soon as possible. He would also have to be back at the camp soon if he did not want his comrades to think he was skipping out on his night watch duty.

"You are right", she said, looking back up at him.

Even though he had just witnessed her rebellious and adventurous spirit, he was immediately struck by the soft innocence that laid in her delicate facial features.

"I have a friend waiting at the stables of your camp for me", she continued, "I have to go find him to go back to the city."

Kandor sighed. Then he suddenly realized something. That scream he had heard just now, that couldn't have been… He gulped. If that was really the person that was waiting for her, there was no way he could let her return to the camp now. His speech trembled quite noticeably as he spoke.

"I-I don't think that is a good idea."

Her eyes observed his expression closely. While he was troubled to hide his concern, there was no fright or terror in his face, which seemed to awake no suspicion in her. She must have not heard the scream while she was wrapped in Kandor's arms. That thought, for a peculiar reason he did not dare question, shook him more than the revelation of what had likely happened to her friend when he got caught by Rendol and his men. Kandor did not think of them as bad people, and they were certainly just average mercenaries in every way, but he knew that they weren't nice to thieves. It was not his place to judge them, as he would have also used force to knockout the thief had it not been the mayor's daughter.

"I will bring you through the city gate. That's the safest way", he said. He couldn't think of a better solution. He couldn't just let her tred home alone after all.

The weirdness of the entire situation was slowly conjuring a headache in his skull as he racked his brain to get a clear understanding of the situation and the best way to proceed. This kind of stuff was really not his strong suit.

Lia sighed. She quite obviously wasn't entranced by the idea of going through the city gates, but given that the butcher had caught them use his door, she was running out of options. Fran should have no problem finding his way back into the city by himself.

"Okay", she sighed a second time, "but there might be some complications."

— — —

"Fuck, he looks terrible", said the mercenary who lifted the caught thief of the ground.

"To Arkantorx feathered bum, is there still skin on his face?!", another exclaimed as he took a glance.

"That face is never gonna recover. This might even contest captain Lanks."

"Dude, he's never gonna survive all those wounds"

"He's still breathing."

"Yea, but how much longer. Let's stop the blood loss in his shoulder at least before Rendol comes and gives him another beating."

One of them quickly removed the crossbow bolt, while the two others were holding the boy, who was still squealing at the pain occasionally. They didn't bother washing the wound, but quickly bandaged it, using Fran's shirt that they ripped apart. Most mercenaries were at least a little proficient in battlefield medicine, but their methods were still often rough and imprecise.

"Fuck, what the hell did you guys do to that guy?!", Rendol had arrived after giving up his pursuit of the other thief.

"Just one bolt, captain, lifted him straight off his feet", one of the men explained. He was one of the three crossbow users in the group. They weren't sure which of the three had actually hit their target, and after seeing the horrifying result of the strike, none of them was eager to claim the hit.

"Let's get rid of him", Rendol decisively said, " the Cormorant wouldn't want us drag that monstrosity back into the camp." While Rendol was often considered rather uncaring for the affairs of the Band, he was smart enough to know that presenting their comrades with such a terribly injured boy would not be helpful to increase their morale before a war. Many of their lives would go to shit soon enough, he had no intention of reminding them this soon before the fact.

"Let's leave him in the forest, his accomplice might still be hiding out there after all."

"Shouldn't we just end his suffering?"

"If they find him by tomorrow, he'll probably live."

Kandor and Lia had long left towards the gates of Voestrun, when the mercenaries heavy heartedly leaned the now unconscious boy against a strong trunk.