Elias would never again let Cassian make fun of his lack of planning skills because, clearly, he was no better. 

He watched the necromancer lead the creature away, blasting magic towards it with no intention of hitting it. There would be no point to it, after all. Still, it served its purpose as the creature followed Cassian a little too closely for comfort. 

“Anytime would be good!” Cassian called. 

Elias huffed but got ready to do his part. He pulled out his dagger and sent a quick prayer to whatever deity would listen and would be kind enough to keep him from getting killed. With that done, he ran towards the creature, its back facing him as it focused on Cassian. 

He could see the staff, just like Cassian had said. The thin piece was protruding from the beast’s back, reminiscent of the grotesque sight of bone sticking out of flesh. Elias pulled out his dagger and braced himself before jumping. 

Then, he tried not to gag at the smell. 

His dagger sunk into the beast’s flesh, making it easier to remain in place. This close, he could feel the matted fur, sticky with what he guessed was blood. The stench of decay was obvious and something Elias did his best to ignore as he grabbed a hold of the staff. Just as he was ready to pull it out, the creature jerked aside, nearly throwing him off. 

He managed to hold on, his hands holding tightly onto both his dagger and the mess of fur. Still, the beast kept twisting until there was another blast of magic—so close to Elias he half-wondered whether Cassian hadn’t been aiming at him. 

“Aim, damn it!” he growled. He might have complained more if not for his current position and the fact that Cassian had succeeded in drawing the creature’s attention. 

The moment of stillness was all Elias needed. He grasped the piece of the staff, feeling a strange sort of power from it that seemed to crackle menacingly. Without thinking much about it, he pulled. The fragment came out of the rotting flesh and, instantly, Elias felt the creature begin to sway. 

For a second, everything was still. Then, the beast began to fall back and Elias just barely  managed to jump off and avoid most of the creature. Most.

“Shit!” 

Elias scowled as he felt the crushing weight of the dead creature settle on his legs. He was only glad he’d avoided the worst of it, though freeing himself would still be a pain. 

“I’d offer you a hand, but I’d rather not.” 

Elias looked up and glared at Cassian. The necromancer drew close enough that his smug look was clear as day. Sadly, he was clever enough to stay out of reach. 

“Come on, least you could do is help move this thing.” 

Cassian just stared, cocking his head to he side as if considering the merits of doing the bare minimum. Something told Elias the necromancer didn’t care enough about being halfway decent to come to help. 

“I dropped the staff. If you want it you’re gonna have to get this thing off me.”

Even then, Cassian hesitated, though only for a second. With a resigned sigh, he held out a hand and muttered an incantation that had his magic wrapping around the creature and shifting it aside. Elias was quick to get up and brush himself off before holding the piece of the staff up for Cassian to see. 

“I lied,” he said smugly and watched Cassian’s eyes narrow. Elias ignored him and focused back on the creature laying before them. “What was that thing?” he asked, toeing at the body. 

“A bear,” Cassian answered easily. Elias turned to look at him, incredulous and yet finding no trace of a lie on the man’s face. He looked back at the creature.

“That can’t be. I’ve seen bears, they don’t get to be this big.” At least, no bear he’d ever heard of had. Not to mention, if the mysterious creature terrorizing the town was a simple bear the townspeople would have recognized it. 

“They don’t, but magic can do odd things,” Cassian said, gazing down at the animal. He looked up at Elias then, his dark eyes intense. “And the staff holds a power stranger than what most could imagine.” He looked down at the piece of the item Elias still held. 

He’d not noticed it since pulling it out—not with the excitement of still being alive—but Elias could feel that odd power thrumming within his hold. The staff almost felt alive in a way that was almost ominous. Elias was almost relieved when Cassian held out a hand. He was close to handing it over, when a thought struck him and he pulled his hand back. Instantly, Cassian’s eyes narrowed. 

“Hand it over, thief,” Cassian said, as if that would make Elias comply.

“I don’t know, I mean, you have no intention of doing anything about this staff. Seems to me I should keep it, seeing as I actually plan to go looking for the other pieces.”

“You’re only bothering on the unlikely chance you run into Ethelred,” Cassian pointed out. It was a fair point and—more importantly—it was true. Unfortunately for him, that mattered very little to Elias. 

“And you aren’t bothering at all.” Elias allowed himself a smug grin and delighted in the way Cassian seethed at the sight. 

For a second, he thought he might be about to get blasted away, given the prickly feeling of magic that pervaded the air. He could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end while he watched Cassian’s eyes take on a dangerous edge. 

It was probably for the best that they were interrupted by the sound of someone approaching—or rather, several someones. Cassian hurried to pull up the hood of his cloak while Elias tucked the piece of the staff into his belt, hidden by his own cloak. 

Light broke through the treeline, growing brighter as several people carrying lanterns emerged. Elias was quick to notice that they all carried weapons, likely expecting to find the beast that had been tormenting them for the last couple of days. He supposed he and Cassian had made quite a commotion. Enough of one that half the town had shown up. 

“What is that?” said one of the townspeople, slowly approaching. 

Once they were all able to see the creature lying in front of Elias and Cassian, the townspeople began to murmur amongst themselves. Curious glances were thrown at the two who had seemingly taken down the beast. Elias didn’t fail to miss the way Cassian shrank away from the attention, hunching his shoulders and lowering his head so that his face was nearly completely hidden. 

“Not sure,” Elias said, stepping forward and taking some of the attention away from Cassian. “Hard to tell what sort of creature it was, but it shouldn’t bother you any longer.” 

He wasn’t about to stand there and sell them on the idea of it being a bear. Much less was he going to even attempt to explain the situation with the staff. Sometimes, it was best for things to remain a mystery. 

“You two are the ones who took care of it, then?” the question was asked with a fair bit of doubt. Then again, the man who asked it looked fairly unconvinced as he eyed Elias. 

“With a fair bit of teamwork,” Elias said in his friendliest tone. He reached over and clamped a hand on Cassian’s shoulder. He felt the man tense beneath his grasp and could only imagine the look on Cassian’s face. “Unfortunately, my friend here was injured.”

Elias was good at a couple of things—one of them, or course, was thievery. He was also good with a knife, as made could attest, though likely in a less than please manner. But apart from those essential skills, he was also a truly gifted actor when the occasion called for it—and it just so happened that their current situation did. 

The feigned concern in his voice was likely enough to convince anyone that he and Cassian were truly friends, but it was the blood dripping down the necromancer’s arm that sold the whole thing. More importantly, it made the townspeople a lot more willing to shepherd them back into town and a lot less eager to ask questions. 

Elias shot a smug look at Cassian as they were both led out of the woods. He wasn’t surprised at the glare that was directed at him, though the scrunched up nose took a lot of the bite away. It nearly made Elias laugh. 

“Be nice, they’re trying to help,” he muttered, careful not to be overheard. The chatter around them helped with that. 

“I don’t need help,” Cassian all but sulked. 

“It sure didn’t look that way.” Elias was starting to worry that Cassian would murder him in his sleep if he continued to annoy him.

 Not that he was about to stop anytime soon. He might have continued that very moment if Cassian hadn’t stumbled. On reflex, Elias reached out and caught Cassian before he could fall, the necromancer leaning against him for a moment. 

“You okay?” he asked.

Around them, the townspeople voiced their concern, but Elias ignored them—too distracted by the hand that slipped under his cloak and nimbly snatched away the piece of the staff held in place by his belt. 

“Oh, I’m feeling much better.” Elias caught the smug look on Cassian’s face, there for only a moment before the necromancer allowed himself to be led away. 

Something told Elias working with Cassian wouldn’t be as easy as he’d hoped.