Rhunal stood from the path with her fists clenched. Thinking of her friends once more, but this time she wiped the tears away. For now she knew who was really responsible for their death.
“Taino!”
Saying the name galvanized her and she marched back up the road towards the other three. She put off such an aggressive stance when she approached Hugh, that Lovell drew his sword, thinking she was coming to fight.
“Didn’t you listen to Hugh the first time? Just go back home!”
She snatched the sword with her bare hand, surprising both herself and Lovell. She had gripped it so firmly that it should have cut down to bone as she ripped it from his grasp. She failed to notice that it had not.
“I know this Taino! I know he broke into my manor and killed my friends. I’ve known him most of my life. He was my master’s bodyguard once. He was a violent man. He once beat my friend and Teacher's servant Gilbert almost to death. He was fired in disgrace, and must have waited five years plotting his revenge. Carinus was away on a long trip, and this Taino carried out his attack. I will kill him!”
She spoke the words in a rush, still clutching the blade of Lovell’s shortsword. Thick, dark-red blood flowed down her hand and down the blade. Finally, Hugh stepped forward and took the shortsword by the handle.
“Put that down before you cut a finger off.” Hugh said, firmly but not angrily.
She released her grip. Hugh took the shortsword and dropped it into the dirt. “I appreciate your fighting spirit. But it is not that simple. This Archmage Carinus of yours is famous. He is one of the most powerful and influential members of Greihold. And you are one of his people.
She had cooled off enough to respond normally. “So what if I am?”
“Part of the contract is to bring back his people alive. If I were to take you into this fight and you were to be killed... Well, getting paid for this job might be the least of my problems."
"Besides, all the same problems that I mentioned before still apply. You’re unarmored, untrained, and lacking enough power to kill an enemy from range. You’ll be cut down in moments in a real fight.”
She couldn’t find the right words to argue the point. So she a step back to avoid seeming hostile and drew the shortsword that Hugh had given her. “Cut down, like this?” She held the blade against her left shoulder and drew it savagely across her body! It cut deep into her left shoulder and across her clavicle. Blood flew from the tip of the blade as she cut herself deep! It was a sharp pain quite new to her. But she bore it with merely a snarl to mark the pain.
“Rhunal, stop!” Hugh said. The other two just stared at her, wide-eyed.
She hurled the shortsword at her feet and lifted her now deeply slashed left shoulder to point at them. “Wait and see!”
She gripped the injured shoulder with her right hand and pinched the wound together. Her right hand glowed that same otherworldly luminescent green again as she channeled her energy into letting her body heal at a manic pace! She gritted her teeth from the pain. The healing from the spell always hurt much worse than the wound.
The deep cut in her shoulder clotted closed in mere moments. Then the wound’s scab began to shrink as the wound closed on its own. She kept pressure on the rest of the slice across her clavicle. It began to clot closed and seal in much the same way. She gritted her teeth as her wound finished healing. New fresh skin peeked out from her blood spattered shoulder and clavicle.
“I could handle that easy. In fact you could ‘cut me down’ at least five times like this before I’ll stay down for good. As long as I don’t run out of blood, I’ll be fine. You don’t need to protect me. In fact I can protect you, even if it’s by taking a hit for you."
“Impressive. I know now why it didn’t work on Lovell.” Hugh stepped forward. “A typical cleric’s healing spell doesn’t clot the wound and heal it properly. It basically pastes over the injury with fake skin. Your ability seems to behave like natural healing, but at an extremely accelerated rate. That has to take a lot of energy.”
She nodded, “I’m always starving right after.”
“So what if you take a deep spear stab to the guts then? ” Lovell asked.
“A normal cleric spell would prevent you from bleeding out,” Hugh said, “but it would not stop the bleeding inside. Rhunal could deal with that kind of injury. But it is the healing of an orc’s body, which is rapid to begin with. Clearly you can’t force the way an orc heals onto a human without great harm.”
“I will kill this Taino, Hugh,” She said once again, finished with her demonstration. “I don’t care what some contract says. I am never going back to Carinus anyway. I don’t plan on getting killed in this fight. Even if that were to happen, then drag my body to the bushes and leave me.
"With you or without you, I am going to kill that man. He plotted to kill my friends. I must not let that stand. If you refuse me here, I’ll follow you to their hideout and fight on my own terms.”
He stared back at her, realizing that she meant exactly what she promised. He breathed out a long sigh, "It seems I only have one choice." he muttered quietly, but she picked it up.
“You nearly slashed your own throat,” Lovell interrupted. “Which almost makes up for you wrecking my sword! How did you do this? He showed his sword. The base of the sword, where Rhunal had gripped the blade had round indents where four of her fingers had held it.
Hugh gawked at the weapon. “Are you strong enough to bend the blade under your fingers? Show me your hand. She held her palm out. Her fingers were cut, but only superficially.
“Hugh! The bends in the sword. It's still sharp! Its as if the blade wrapped around her hand as she gripped it, leaving the edges intact. What the hell kind of witch did you hire?” Lovell exclaimed.
“I swear I do not know how I did that!” Rhunal protested.
Hugh stared at it for a long moment and finally began to laugh. “She has a lot of surprises. But I think we'll keep her on.”
“You’ve proven that I don’t have to worry about you getting killed easily. I will take you on one condition." he stated.
She bared her teeth enthusiastically. “Yes! Anything you want.”
“You are going to stay constantly by my side when we go into this fight. Through thick or thin do not stray from me. Tough as you may be, you need to learn about a group fight. It will go smoother if you work with me.”
She nodded earnestly. “I promise, no matter what.”
"Even if that means that someone else kills Taino first?"
She paused, then nodded reluctantly, "Yes, if that is the way it has to go."
He extended his hand once more, "Welcome back to the party. And from now on, no more secrets."
She took his hand for the second time, her conscience was much lighter now. She realized that she still hadn't told him that she was a former slave, but he did know that she had run away from her master. As far as she was concerned, the difference was mostly semantics. In her heart and her mind, she considered herself free.
“Well, if we’ve got everything all sorted out, we better get a move on before these thieves aren’t there when we show up. Hugh said. He turned to continue down the path and Rhunal tapped him on the shoulder.
“Uh, before we go, I’ve got another problem.” She pointed at one of the straps holding her leather vest on. She had neatly cut it and most of the top of the robe off.
He chuckled, “Good thing you didn’t chop both. Your healing demonstration might have been a lot more interesting.”
She blushed deeply, her pale green-grey skin gained a little bit of redness underneath. “Oh shit.”
It took a lot for it to be visible, but she was a lighter green than most. A result of living indoors for so many years.
Hugh dug a needle and a thick thread out of his pack, “One of the basic adventurer’s skills is the ability to repair his own gear. Another is the ability to create basic items like leather shoes or gloves.” He pointed at her bare feet. “Doesn’t it hurt to walk like that?”
She shook her head, “Nah its just a little numb after a while. I’ve had to heal them up a couple times this trip, but nothing serious.”
“Hmm.” Hugh said, “If you use up energy using your regeneration, then it sounds like you’d need to eat more to compensate. Besides, I think you’d move around a little easier with some simple sandals. I’ll show you how to make simple footwear for yourself.”
“I suppose it is a pain having to keep slamming my feet on rocks”, Rhunal admitted. She picked up her sword and sheathed it into the old dagger sheath. The small leather sheath split and the shortsword stuck out of it awkwardly.
“I guess we’ll modify your dagger sheath to fit that too.” Hugh sighed. “It looks like we might as well stop for an hour or so.”
“I’m going.” Lovell finally interrupted. “I know where this crypt is. We need to scout it out and find out what we are dealing with.”
Hugh walked over to talk to Lovell more privately. “That isn’t a good idea. What about your injury? Are you still feeling feverish from the healing attempt?”
Lovell shook his head, to both questions. “Despite her best efforts, she did manage to stop the bleeding. What remains is a shallow wound. And I’m feeling almost completely recovered. In any case, I’m not going to fight anyone. I’ll be quieter alone and I won’t let them see me.”
“It’s very risky Lovell.”
“It’s more dangerous marching up there with the whole party without knowing what we are dealing with. There could be twenty guys up there. I have to do this.”
Hugh sighed, “You’re right. Whatever you do, don’t get yourself killed and leave me alone with the two rookies.”
“I think the big guy can handle himself fine.”
“I’ve got a good feeling about the both of them. Rhunal may be a little rough around the edges, but I believe when the chips are down she will come out swinging. Imagine trying to fight someone who would get up five times after being lethally struck down. It must be terrifying. But both of them are new to this. We’ll have to be careful when we take them into a fight again.”
Lovell shrugged, “Fate will decide. It always does in a battle.” He turned and began walking up the hill. Lovell stared across the marsh from the top of the hill. It seemed entirely covered by water, but from his vantage point Lovell spotted one sliver of dry land covered in thick grass.
“Hey Lovell!” Hugh shouted from down the hill.
Lovell continued walking but turned his head to look back at Hugh.
“Watch your ass out there!” Hugh finished.
Lovell gave Hugh a casual half-salute. “I’m always careful!” He said, more confidently than he actually felt. Being a scout was a dangerous job that punished the foolhardy.
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