“...Unsafe… get...… before it… in our sleep…”

“I’m… you will follow me…. or do… challenge my…”

The sound of two unfamiliar voices arguing dragged my back into the realm of consciousness. My head pounded as I did my best to pry my eyes open. Everything felt sluggish and any attempt to move my arms and legs ended in failure. It was only when I noticed the flames falling from the sky and the orange horizon across the ground did I remember what had happened.

I’d been ambushed after making a foolish mistake and apparently, they’d kept me alive for some reason. As I struggled to free myself, a pair of legs approached me before a set of arms lifted my head up and blow more of the powder in my face.

“Cugh Caagh Caug” The back of my throat burned like fire as the power forced itself into my body. A blanket of darkness overwhelmed my mind once more, but, unlike before, I managed to stay awake.

However, the pair of legs seemed satisfied with the results and simply allowed my head to fall as they returned to their sit around the campfire. Although the new bout of sluggishness had overtaken my ear remained functional so I did my best to catch whatever it was my capturers had been discussing when I’d woken up. It took a bit of effort on my part, but I managed to cut through the powder induced vail and focused on the voices all around me.

“... with enough poison to kill an ogre and yet it’s still alive. Bringing it back with us is the dumbest thing we could possibly do.” The man that spoke in a strange manner. His words dragged a bit and, every now and again, he would vocalize unnecessary sounds. It was so bad, I had to filter it all out just to get the jest of their conversation.

“That’s to be expected with darh’ki. Back in Hovan, I heard of one that was capable of lifting a fully loaded cart, And, the mule that pulled the cart over its head.” The next man spoke in a simulator manner, but his voice was little slurred.

“All the more reason why this is a stupid idea. You saw how the arrows were pushed out of its body. That thing managed to fend off all of you off even when we were in the best condition and had the drop on it. How are we gonna deal with it now that Bryan’s arm is shattered and Caleb can’t even walk under his own power anymore!? Think of what Greyham would have done, you have to realize that this is foolish.”

The sound of angry stumping preceded a rough hand yanking my head up again. This time I was able to get a look at my captors through my half-closed eyes. The one that stood out the most was─

“Foolish was taking this stupid job in the first place! Foolish was getting yourself killed three days into a week-long trip! Foolish, is coming back into elven territory to collect your damn brother corpse just so you can give him a burial that’ll be too damn good for him!!”

I heard the tears begin to fall even as the guy holding my head began shouting. There was also a sour stench clinging to him and I could practically hear the longing in his voice. It was unfortunate that the dead rarely replied, and when they did, it wasn’t pretty.

Based on the silence that followed, the man had hit a few sore spots with his rants. Things were finally starting to fall into place regarding the shallow graves and dead bear, but there were still a few unknown factors. In any case, I did my best take in their appearances. Two of them were missing so they must have been patroling the perimeter, and I couldn’t see anything but the sheens of the guy holding me.

The standing directly in front of me was a foot or two shorter than me, there were a few strands of grey mixed into his unruly shoulder-length brown hair. The specialized leather bracer he was wearing and quiver on his back meant that he’d been one of the bowmen. He had a scruffy beard and a few scars across his eyes and cheek. Fresh pain and lost was reflected in his eyes, but beneath that laid a strong resolve.

It was obvious who the man with an arm in a sling was. He was the second shortest of the group and his eyes were slightly glazed over as he leaned against a tree. The fact that he wasn’t writhing in agony suggested that his friends had given him some of the stuff they were giving me. To the right of him was another man with a splint on his leg and bruises on his exposed back. I couldn’t see his face, but he had shoulder-length blonde hair and a strange black pattern inked on his left shoulder.

The man that had blown the powder in my face was a bit on the slim side, had sheet-white skin, and bloodshot grey eyes. Though the others had stopped what they were doing, he alone continued to pour the powder into small packets with strange implements. While he was apart of their group, he didn’t seem all that bothered by the mentioning of the deceased.

The final member here had skin darker than my own. He was bald, had almost black eyes, and was the most muscular of the present group members. He leaned against a tree and did his best to seem uninterested as he lazily stared in my general direction, but angry behind his eyes was unmistakable. When he turned his head away I could make out a purplish bruise on the right side of his head. He must have been the one I knocked out first.

Beyond their facial features and skin tones, there wasn’t much else to distinguish the men apart from one another. They wore similar leather armor and they weren’t carrying many personal items with them. I would have liked to see more, but the moment that had allowed me to evaluate them in the first place had passed. The man with the hold over my head regained enough of his composure to resume the conversation.

“No-Now if we want to give my brother and Tavin their due without going broke, and find a healer for Bryan and Caleb we’re gonna need more money than this job is paying. We get back to Lancaster and sell him to Riache. He’s worth 600 seks at least.” The man finally released my head and walked off after that, however, the one he’d been arguing with asked an important question.

“Do we even have enough danken powder to make it back?” It was the powder man that answered the question.

“It depends on how we use it. Given that the darh’ki started waking a couple hours after receiving a dose large enough to kill ten men several times over, it will take multiple doses a day to keep him sedated for the three-day trip. We have just enough to if we use it all on him, but unless we want to deal with the wails of those two the entire way we’ll have to keep them sedated as well.”

“Do you hear that, Renvar? It’s your men's’ well-being and the mission versus taking your prize. If you won’t kill it for common sense’s sake, do it for those things.” There was another bout of silence before a new deep voice spoke up.

“I’m all for honoring our fallen, but not at the cost of our lives.”

“Than what do you suggest we do? Leave them in those shallow graves and wait for’em to come back as monsters.”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all. I just believe that taking this one is a mistake.” Those words sent a chill down my spine. He couldn’t mean what I think he did.

“This one? Do you believe that there are more of them?” Than powder man seemed hostile in his response, but the other man maintained his composure.

“This isn’t my first time dealing with Darh’ki, and one thing always remains true. When you find one of them, several remain in hiding. That one is their forerunner, one of the best they have to offer, trying to take him isn’t worth the effort. But it's another story for the ones still scurrying about. Without their fighter, they should be easy enough to catch and contain a few of them.”

No NO NO NO! I tried to break out of my bonds body my body still refused to obey my commands. I didn’t know anything about other Darh’ki, people like my given the way they used the world, but I would not allow them to touch Aiyana.

“So, how do we find the others?”

“That my friend is simple, we just get our friend there to led us to them.”

“Are you sure it’ll do it?”

“Of course he will. After we persuade him to do so. He may heal quickly, but I’d wager it still feels pain. Merkru, how long before the dose wears off?”

“A few hours at least.” the powder man’s reply was a brief one.

“Alright, then we sleep in four-hour shifts. Everyone carries a danken pouch just in case. Come morning, we’ll begin getting answers from our friend here in the morning.”

While there was a bit of reluctance from the man that had been arguing with him, the group agreed with Renvar’s suggestion.

As they went about preparing their meal and inspecting their equipment, feeling began to return to my limbs. However, before I could do anything, a pair of legs walked up and my head was raised for the third time. The dark-skinned man looked down at me with a vicious smiled on his face.

“Better safe than sorry.”

That was the last thing I heard before the man let go of my head and smacked me with the broadside of a sheathed sword.

I lost consciousness again after that.