Tavern

She dismounted, and tied her horse in front of the tavern. I slowly dismounted as well, and stood next to my horse for a moment as I steadied myself. Another rider went to pass us on his way through the village, and his horse stopped. Skittering to the side as it reared, and panicked from getting to close to me. The rider lost his grip, and fell to the ground as his spooked mount fled.

I limped inside as Faith watched the whole thing in confusion. I sat down at the back as far from the door as I could, and sat down. Relaxing into the hard wood of the chair, and letting as much tension out of my muscles as I could. I scanned the nearly empty tavern for any dogs. Dogs didn't like me much after a transformation either.

They didn't react the same as horses though. Sometimes they would choose to attack me. Faith came into the tavern after me, and walked up to the bar. She spoke to the woman behind the bar for a little bit before she came over to sit across from me.

"Do all horses spook around you?" Faith whispered as she leaned in close.

"We're not talking about this here," I tenderly touched my leg.

The area where I'd been cut was hot, but around the cuts was fine. I was in decent enough condition that I was sure I would survive without a healer. The cuts weren't all that deep. They were just deep enough to be as painful as possible. I'd seen this type of torture before.

It was a cruel method that was used to extend the torture out for days. They could layer cuts over previous ones that had started to heal. Those who survived it for long enough described it as feeling as if they'd been skinned alive. So where had that bastard learned it? He probably had connections to higher ups, and that meant he was well backed.

That would be a problem if we crossed paths again. As long as he was alive there was a chance of us crossing paths. My sensitive hearing picked up bits, and pieces of conversation in the tavern kitchen. I could smell the venison, and potatoes from here. I could even detect Faith's heartbeat, and heartbeat when I turned to watch the door.