Lissa's eyes narrowed at the being's choice of words. "Murdered, you say?"

The being blinked, layers of bark slowly grinding in front of his eyelids, before moving back in their original position. "Yes. Murdered. Is there a different word for when a sentient forcefully terminates the life of another? Cassandra did not want to die, was healthy, and would have lived many more years if you had not killed her."

Lissa's eyes narrowed further as her hand slid back towards the handle of her mace. In the background, Trista was still coughing, trying to get a modicum of breath back into her body. "You were with her then?" Lissa asked, narrowly managing to keep herself from sounding overly threatening.

The being pondered the question, bringing his hand up to what seemed to be his chin, and tapped on it. "In a way. I followed her to... limit the damage she caused."

Lissa's hand relaxed slightly at the answer. "You knew she murdered innocents?"

"She enjoyed causing harm without reason," the tree-man responded with a grimace. "She relished dealing pain. She was a monster who needed stopping!"

Lissa had taken a quick step back. The being had grown more animated as he spoke and had seemingly become taller as he did. Not having forgotten the strength he had, not to mention whatever strange magics he had at his disposal, she had slipped into a defensive stance almost subconsciously. "I..." Lissa began, then paused. "I suggest you speak to the Priestess about this. She was the one who fought this... Cassandra, and brought an end to her rampage."

The being nodded and turned around. He stretched out his arm, the massive limb fully sliding out of his coat. It was less thick than that of a Troll, and the bark hid the muscles, that Lissa knew were there, perfectly. He grabbed a curtain and gave it a short tug, tearing it loose. Picking up the still coughing Trista in a fast, but careful movement, he held her up in the air for a short moment, his hand covering most of her back and his fingers holding her up underneath her shoulders. Using the other, he quickly wrapped the curtain around her, providing her with a modicum of decency. "That seems like a good idea," he responded, turning towards the Paladin. "Let us go then."

Despite the being's massive size, he seemed to have little issue navigating the debris that littered the path that Trista had unwillingly taken when she had been blasted out of the square. His broad legs parted stone and wood as if they were mere blades of grass. It made a lot more noise than grass, though, wood splintering and stones turning to dust. If this strange creature was made of bark, as it seemed, then he was a lot tougher than any tree she was familiar with.

She didn't know what to make of him. Her instincts told her that he was harmless. How he had behaved like a medic wasn't a behaviour that was easily faked. Either he was a master of deception or he genuinely was a medic. Given how he had saved the Knight, she believed it was the latter. Yet there were all too many things that were strange. On one hand he was obviously acquainted with the witch, even if he seemed to disagree with what she did, but he had seen her demise as murder. On the other, however, he had saved Trista, even when he had no reason to, as he had more than enough raw strength at his disposal to be a genuine threat to her, even with her training and equipment. She was going with her instincts for now, though her hand never wavered far from her mace. She needed more information before she could make an accurate judgement. She knew that Evil appeared in all forms, after all.

"How is your hand?" she asked. A seemingly innocent question.

"It is fine. It was but a minor cut and has healed already."

'He heals at an astonishing pace,' she realised. "Do you specialise in healing magic?"

The being harumphed. "Not even an apology for cutting me in the first place?" He paused and Lissa turned, finding herself being pointed at by a very thick finger, as if he were lecturing her. "You humans are fortunate I am not like the one who taught me. And even more so that I lack the pride so many of my fellows possess."

He started walking again, nearly trampling Lissa underfoot. She quickly hurried on, realising that while the being may claim it did not possess pride, it wasn't above giving her an 'accidental' kick that would likely leave her thoroughly bruised.

"To answer your question; yes, I specialise in healing magics. I am adept in it, more so than any other I have met, save two. Even among my kin, there are none who approach my talent. Ah, there is the Priestess you spoke of. Are those two others friends of yours?"

Lissa nodded. "Mira and Mina, Squires of the Order. The one in between them is Glissandi, the Priestess."

Without waiting for her to finish her introduction, the being glided past her with a surprising delicacy given that he shared the body-size with that of a Troll, who were quite well known for possessing the very opposite of anything resembling grace.

The Squires reacted fairly normally to the apparition of a giant with limbs and a face made of bark, who was holding the dazed, but alive, form of someone they clearly thought dead. That is to say they jumped back, letting the thoroughly exhausted Priestess crash into the cobblestones, and drew their weapons, swearing extensively throughout the process. When they spotted Lissa, however, they calmed down remarkably, but they didn't sheath their blades. The being ignored them both and simply walked towards the Priestess, who had landed badly, hitting her temple on the stones, and had been knocked out by the impact. The being grumbled, shifted Trista so she was only laying on one arm, and picked the unconscious Priestess up.

"It would seem our talk will have to be delayed. I assume you have residence somewhere in the city?"

The twins backed up a bit more as the creature loomed over them and gave them both a questioning stare.

'Do you think he's an enemy?' Mira thought towards her sister. She felt a wave of angry confusion in response. It was at times like these that Mira really wished her sister had mastered the ability to think in words rather than emotions. 'Paladin Lissa's over there. She's keeping calm. I don't think he's a threat?'

Her sister radiated back a desire to attack and Mira responded by mentally slapping her with an utterly horrified feeling.

'He's holding both the Priestess and Knight Trista! Not to mention that even Paladin Lissa is even keeping her distance! Don't tell me you hadn't noticed that?'

When Mina sent back a reluctant response of shame, Mira had to fight off the urge to slap her sister. The girl would've engaged an opponent even the Paladin was wary of!

'You'll get us both killed one day if you don't learn to curb your aggression.' Mira sent her twin a clear image of her shaking her head in disappointment, and threw in a chastising look for good measure.

"Squires, we're packing up. Mira, stay with me to escort our guest to the inn. Mina, find the nearby groups of militia and tell them that the danger has been dealt with, but forbid them from entering the square for now. I want the Priestess to take a look at everything afterwards and I don't want them disturbing the site, or us for the time being. I'll deal with Captain Dar." Lissa gave Mina a short look that made it clear that the Paladin had caught on to the girl's aggression and that she was being sent away as a precaution.

Then she gave Mira a different look that told her to remain on her guard. The twins gave a near imperceptible nod in return. Despite the situation, Lissa felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth. Travelling with capable people was always a blessing, even if one of her party still lacked practical experience.

As she guided the strange being who carried her two party members through the empty streets, she felt strangely safe. Despite the fierce lectures she had given the Priestess earlier in regards to safety, the Paladin often relied on her instincts. They had grown, over her many years of active duty, to be frighteningly accurate. They had kept her on high alert when they first entered the town and she had stayed on guard until the Priestess had vaporised the witch. Now those instincs were quiet.

Another reason for it was, though she would never admit that publicly, that the Paladins who lead the parties exaggerated the danger with the intention to raise the Squires and Knights. Combined with a whole other load of reasons because paranoia was often quite practical. Especially in cities, given that being surrounded by a mass of other sentient beings overloaded a Warrior's senses.

The silence didn't last long however. Soon enough they were greeted by a small party of militia-men. She assured them that the threat was gone, that the Priestess and Knight were merely exhausted, ordered them to stay out of the square, and made them fall in with her small party. The being had been wise enough to put his hood on the moment they left the square, avoiding any issues regarding his appearance. As they went more groups joined them, until the the small gang was surrounded by a small army. The militia seemed more at ease now and chattered amiably amongst themselves, but they retained a decent enough level of alertness.

Just before they reached the inn, a panting Mina rejoined them. "The square is kept under guard, sir, nobody will approach it without your explicit permission," the girl gave her report.

Lissa nodded in response and guided her party towards the inn, where she could see a very impatient Captain Dar pace back and forth in front of the window, looking hungrily at them. She didn't blame the man. If she were in his place, she would have hated having to sit out a battle against Evil, even more so since the fight had been fought within his jurisdiction.

The very moment the door had been closed, the Captain rushed her. "The girl and her brother are asleep in their room. Save for us, and some guards, the inn is empty," he reported. Urgency underlined his voice and just as she had expected, the faithful man did not delay before asking the questions that mattered. "Tell me, Paladin, is the witch vanquished?" The burning eyes of the Captain were so intensely focused on Lissa that he had somehow managed to overlook the giant behind her.

"Rest assured Captain," Lissa said as she clasped his shoulder. "The witch is gone. Turned to less than ashes. She will not plague you again. However..." she trailed off as a shadow fell over the Captain, his eyes jumping from her to the source. "I will have to ask you to station your guards outside the inn, as well as depart yourself. Me and mine have things to discuss that those from outside the Order are not privy to."

The Captain saluted, slightly slower than usual. She did not blame him. He was a veteran, but had likely only ever faced humans or Goblins. Giants or whatever this creature was, were things the good man had obviously never encountered before. He opened his mouth, as if to disagree with the politely phrased order, then nodded instead. "As you wish, Paladin." He turned around and bellowed orders into the inn. A dozen guards appeared from deeper within the inn shortly thereafter. Some of them remembered to salute the Paladin, but most were too busy gawking at the giant man whose features remained hidden in the coat. The Captain quickly called them to order, and it didn't take long before the inn was emptied, save for the Paladin, her party, and the mysterious being.

The creature walked towards the stairs and carefully placed a foot down. He shifted his balance, bit by bit, and the stairs started groaning. Slowly he moved his full weight onto it and, satisfied that it did not give in, started climbing the stairs.

Mina and Mira stared at each other, openly dumbfounded, as the stairs creaked in protest to the load being placed on them, before hurriedly chasing after Lissa. They caught up with her in one of the larger bedrooms, where he had put down the Priestess on one bed and Trista on another. The Knight, clearly awake now, was clutching the curtain tightly towards her as a makeshift shield and clearly felt naked without her weapons. Her status of undress clearly mattered little to her.

"Your weapons and armour are over there," the being said, his voice rumbling through the room. It was a large room for an inn, but the sheer size of the creature made it seem small in comparison. Trista's eyes flashed from the creature's face towards the pile, then back towards him, before she catapulted herself out of the bed, grabbed her sword in one smooth movement, rolled across the floor and landed on three of her limbs, the fourth holding her blade.

"Calm yourself, Knight," Lissa's voice interjected.

The being nodded, his deep eyes gazing down sternly on the wary Knight, voicing his silent disapproval. "You should get dressed first. And eat. Then rest. And you should certainly not be moving about as such. You were clinically dead for a while and rest is the best way to deal with that. Especially for the mind. You will suffer from confusion, headaches and dizziness for a few days, along with bouts of being violently ill, so I suggest eating only light meals. Stews, broths, those things."

"I... what? I died?" Trista asked incredulously. Then the bout of promised dizziness hit her and she fell sideways as gravity decided to change directions. Lissa raced towards her, but the being was faster. His long arms shot forward and grabbed both woman and sword before the former hit the ground and the latter hit the former. As Trista mentally scrambled to reorient herself, the being put her to bed and gave her a very stern look.

"Stay. In. Bed," he rumbled.

Instinctively recognising medical authority when she heard it, Trista nodded, before her face contorted in pain as the headache hit her.

The being turned towards the Priestess and shook his head disapprovingly. "She used several spells to delay the effects of having exhausted her stamina. That much is obvious. She then proceeded to fully empty her magical reserves in an uncontrolled burst and on top of it all she has a concussion from when she was dropped." He gave the twins a withering glare and they did their best to melt with the wall. "Normally I would simply prescribe plenty of rest in a dark room along with a concoction of nightvale and baselroot to prevent any swelling, but I require answers and therefore lack the time to let a natural healing occur. Hence, I am forced to hasten the process."

As he moved his fingers to the side of the Priestess's head, placing the tips at her ears, Lissa mentally steeled herself. It was a shame she was a moment too late in realising that buckets might have been very useful for her companions.

'Oh well,' she thought. 'Floors can be cleaned.'