After all this time, Elyza has come to expect that travelling always is, and always will be, boring. If she’s being honest, she sort of hates it. The monotonous hours blending into long, boring days. Sitting, waiting, watching for nothing. Some folk read books, sing, talk, but she can’t find anything to keep her attention long enough. She’s tried reading, but the words blur together and make her feel sick. The bumpy roads and even rougher ride inside the carriage does not help the nausea.

She decided a long time ago that travelling was something she could never enjoy, and never would. Yet, with these loud, charming idiots, somehow travelling isn’t quite as bad as she remembers it being.

Cheese always has some ridiculous thing to say when it gets too quiet. Cariston has stories of myths and ancient beings that have never sounded interesting until now. Cornelia has stories of great parties and plenty of atrocious gossip about the noble families of Pyke. Naliah doesn’t speak often, but when she does, it's always some oblivious comment that makes Cornelia roll her eyes, and the others laugh.

Then there's Trizzi, who for most of the journey has her head stuck in a book, but yet when she talks, Elyza can’t make herself look away. Her gentle smile, the sound of her adorable laugh, the way that no matter how ridiculous of a story she’s just heard, she still praises them and asks to hear more. Elyza is determined that this is still just a little crush, and nothing will ever come of it, but she’s also very aware that her heart aches terribly when she thinks about having to part ways.

On the second day of travel is when Cheese starts asking about everyone's family. He tries to explain his mouse family, but Cornelia cuts him off with a sharp insult that Cariston immediately jumps in and soothes.

Cariston talks of what he knows about his family. He was taken in as a baby by Captain Jack Cariston after his parents died of illness on board his ship. A few years later, he was given to the house of the Vael in Dulsaid, a holy place dedicated to the goddess of knowledge, Ioun. He doesn’t place much importance on his parents, he never knew them. Mother Serena of the church was as much of a mother to him as any biological mother could be, and Captain Cariston was as much a father figure as a sailor who spends much of his time at sea can be.

Cornelia has no issue speaking of her father, and how great he is. She talks of the great parties he’s held, and the fact that she could do anything she liked back home. She brags about how because of his influence, nothing could ever happen to her. She still doesn’t give out her fathers name, which Elyza still can’t figure out the reason why. Cornelia knows that no one in the group is from the Equilius Coast, so why is she hiding who her father is? Elyza obviously knows who Lord Mcshelf is, she’s worked for him in the past and done a few things she definitely isn’t proud of for him. He…well, he isn’t a great man, but no noble is. They’re always corrupt in some way, be it money or power.

Naliah talks of her family in a strange way, speaking as if she’s recalling a story rather than memories. Her parents died when she was young. Her older sister Ashryver took on the role of caregiver for her and her younger sister Ophelia. She talks about them in a strange almost detached manner, recalling facts about their home land and certain events, but not talking about them with any kind of emotion. In fact, the most emotion she shows is when she talks of how as the weakest and smallest member of her tribe, she was never liked. To the point that even her own sister cast her out. She was handed a sword and told to make something of herself, and not to come back until she had. Elyza struggles to read what Naliah is feeling about it all, first it comes off as a harsh anger towards her sister, but then the next moment a deep sadness at being cast out. In typical Naliah fashion, she doesn’t seem to notice the effect her story has had on the group at all.

Cheese has told his story of Professor Archibald before and how through magic and great studying the Professor managed to change Cheese from a normal mouse into what he is today. But the hours on the road are long, and seem to have given Cheese time to think on how to extend the full story where he manages to add in every single detail possible and his short story somehow lasts so long that Elyza stops paying attention about half way through.

“What about you Elyza?” Cariston asks, at long last stopping Cheese’s ridiculously long story. Cheese pouts for about a millisecond, before he’s grinning. “Yeah Elyza, you’ve never told us anything about your family. You have to tell us!”

Elyza feels her stomach drop, her mouth going dry as she thinks of her family. She gulps, clearing her throat as she realises everyone is looking at her, waiting expectantly. She glances over to Trizzi, who so far has been adding odd comments here and there, but for the most part has kept quiet. She’s placed her book down, a small smile on her face as she nods. She’s obviously trying to be encouraging, and the stupid thing is it actually works.

“I didn’t have a particularly interesting childhood.” Elyza says softly, trying to build the words up in her head. What should she even say? She can’t just tell them the truth. “I was very close to my mother, I was her world, and she was mine.” She says, choosing her words carefully. “She passed away when I was seventeen.”

“I’m sorry Elyza, that must have been hard.” Cariston says, looking genuinely remorseful for her. She feels a stab at her heart, already regretting her words. But she pushes through it and smiles, averting her eyes to the carriage floor. “It was a long time ago now. But in a way I was lucky. I had a mother who loved me, when so many others didn’t.”

“That doesn’t change anything.” Cariston says, the softness still in his voice, but he looks at her with a pointed stare. “I never knew my biological mother, so I could never miss her. Just because I didn’t have something you did, doesn’t make your suffering any less.”

Elyza doesn’t know what to say, or how to even react to his words. In a way, he’s right, but she doesn’t want to admit that. She suddenly feels very vulnerable and exposed, a spike of panic stabbing at her chest as she tries to stay calm.

“What about your family Trizzi?” She finds herself saying quickly, successfully moving everyone's attention off of her and onto Trizzi. Trizzi grins, launching into a seemingly well rehearsed explanation of her family.

“Well, my father, who we’re going to meet in Strasa, I did tell you that, yes? Anyway, my father is the lord of Strasa, he’s a very busy and important man. Growing up, he did his best looking after my sister and I. Although, I imagine we were both a handful, as all children are.”

“Did your mother not help raise you too?” Naliah asks, obviously not reading between the lines as usual.

“Ah, no. She sadly passed the day I was born. Her and my father were local heroes, so when she passed, the whole city mourned for her. But, it isn’t a sad thing, it doesn’t have to be, I mean. Each year there’s a festival of remembrance for her. There are games and parties, it’s a celebration for the whole city.”

“It sounds like a nice time.” Elyza says, her own smile faltering as she sees Trizzi’s excited grin fade.

“It is! This year it might be a bit different. Or, um, not different, but difficult for my father…and for me.”

“What’s changed?” Elyza asks softly, not even realising she’s leaning forward in her seat. She locks eyes with Trizzi, and for a second she sees a pang of guilt flash across Trizzi’s face. Shaking her head slightly, Trizzi’s demeanour returns as she smiles and continues.

“My sister, Kalira, She won’t be there. Or, at least I doubt she will…Neither my father nor I have heard any word of her whereabouts. The last I saw of her was when she left the academy about a year ago.”

Naliah’s head perks up at the mention of Kalira’s name. Elyza can tell by the look that spreads across Naliah’s face that she knows something. She keeps quiet, listening to Trizzi go on to talk about the festival and her father. Elyza just watches Naliah, trying to read her. But she looks conflicted, like she’s trying to figure something out.

“I’ve met Kalira...”

Everyone’s eyes turn to Naliah when she speaks. Elyza looks between her and Trizzi, noticing the way Trizzi’s tone instantly changes. “You’ve met her? When? Why?” Trizzi asks with an edge to her voice, sounding more serious than Elyza has ever heard her.

“I met her when she was still at the academy. She asked me to meet her to talk.”

Trizzi seems to relax slightly at that, sitting back in her seat as she keeps her eyes on Naliah’s. “She got in trouble for meeting up with a lot of people, I hope you weren’t one of them…what did she offer you?”

“Power, Or how to gain it at least. It wasn’t a particularly interesting conversation.” Naliah says, shrugging as if she were simply stating a fact. Elyza can tell she’s lying, she’s sure Trizzi must see it too. But Trizzi just sighs, a small smile finding its way to her lips once again.

“Kalira has always been the charismatic one. She’s always had a sway over people, could just talk her way out of anything. I never had that charm, always preferred books to people. But thank you for telling me, Naliah. if she tries to contact you again, please let me know.”

Elyza wants to ask more, wants to know what the hell Trizzi’s sister has to do with Naliah’s weird powers- but before she can open her mouth, the carriage jolts to a stop. There’s a yelp from Cariston as some sort of magic projectile flies past his head, barely missing him. The whole group are on their feet in an instant, Cornelia Jumping out and rushing forward before anyone can say anything to stop her.

Elyza immediately follows after Cornelia, mostly to make sure she doesn’t run head first into bandits and get herself killed, but also because she’s been itching for a fight and absolutely is going to shoot first and ask questions later. Cornelia is already throwing fire at the men not so sneakily trying to ambush them. From the looks on their faces however, it looks like they did not expect anyone to fight back.

The group springs into action, the fight is made much easier when Trizzi, who is last to leave the carriage, immediately starts pelting the bandits with…meteors? Elyza doesn’t give it too much thought as she loses another arrow, quickly advancing on her foes.

The four briggands begin to fall back, fear in their eyes as they catch each other's glances. Elyza smirks as she meets the gaze of a particularly panicked young human man, but her face drops as his eyes go wide and in an instant he stabs his shortsword into his chest. There’s a horrible pained gurgle as blood drips from his lips, and the world slows down around her as she watches his body begin to crumble. He slumps forward, shadows suddenly surrounding the body, writhing wildly until where he stood, a shadowy demonic entity now stands.

“What the fuc-” Cornelia starts to say, but is cut off by another pained cry as a second man takes his life to summon another terrible shadowy monster. The man who seems to be their leader seems satisfied with their sacrifices, grinning as he slams a spell into Cariston’s shoulder and laughs pitifully at them. Elyza doesn’t realise she’s moving until she sees his smug grin drop from his face, and fear flash in his eyes.

In her periphery she sees her friends taking care of the shadow creatures, Naliah cutting through one with a growl and a few choice words in Draconic. Elyza advances on their leader, arrow after arrow being fired at him until she’s close, arrow aimed at his face. “Do. Not, Mess. With. US!” She snarls, seeing red as she hears a pained yelp from somewhere behind her. The man looks terrified, his eyes darting from her face to behind her, and back once again. He breaths in quickly, shoving his hand on her arm and closing his eyes.

At first nothing happens, and then she feels the pain. She swears, her hot anger from only moments ago fading with the agony shooting through her body. Her eyes scrunch up, her breath coming out in pants as she tries to concentrate, to not black out in front of this asshole. She forces her eyes open, seeing the dark energy radiating from his hand fade. The pain slowly subsides, and she sees true terror in his face as she pulls her bow string back, ready to burry an arrow between his stupid eyes.

In one fluid movement he moves his hand from his belt, a dagger sticking into his chest only seconds later. The look on his face scares her, his terror from mere moments ago morphing into fanatic joy.

“You’ll regret this, archer.” He all but whispers, sinking to his knees as a dark energy surrounds him.

Elyza takes a step back, her dumbfounded expression, turning to one of horror as she sees something ripping out of his chest. He screams in pain as his body is torn apart. Everyone's attention is drawn to him instantly, the last shadow demon forgotten about..

Elyza takes another step back, suddenly feeling incredibly small, and honestly terrified, as a huge insectoid creature hovers in front of her. All she can do is stare in terror as this huge humanoid mosquito rises out the shattered remains of the mans corpse. It’s wings beat at an incredible speed, filling the air with a horrific droning noise that suddenly assaults Elyza’s ears.

Her hands clasp around them, eyes closed, wincing in pain once again, her vision strains and the world becoming muffled around her. There is only the noise, a horrific buzz electrifying the air.

Harsh impacts of several spells smashing into the creature's body breaks through the ringing, the blows sounding monumental, even compared to that horrible droning. She barely manages to dodge out of the way and retreat back to her friends as the creature lunges to stab at her with its large, protruding proboscis.

Elyza looks to her right, seeing Naliah looking frustrated as she obviously wants to get close and slash at the demonic insect. But Cariston tells her otherwise, giving shouts to Cheese she can barely understand. Elyza looks back to the nightmare in front of her, grabbing several arrows, knocking and losing blindly in a vague attempt to fight back.

Several arrows hit the creature as it falls from the sky momentarily, and Elyza feels her breath come easy again. But then it moves suddenly, its body too big to move at the speed it does. Her eyes widen in horror as she realises its speeding towards Cheese. She needs to move.

She rushes in front of Cheese with a shout of his name, with just a second to spare. She hears him yelp in surprise at the sudden movement, and she almost wants to tease him, that is until she feels the sharp stabbing pain strike her shoulder. Its huge proboscis stabs into her torso. She grabs it, pushing the creature's head away to dislodge it, when the second wave of pain hits, and her body is flooded with a vile, intense toxin. She screams in agony.

She sees white, the pain too great to bear. The world spinning around her as she opens her eyes in a last attempt to stand, a last attempt to protect her friend. But the world comes crashing around her, her breath fading from her lungs. Her eyelids become heavy as she plunges deeply into the darkness.

___________________________________________________________________________

Long before her eyes open, Elyza feels the ground below her moving. She doesn’t move, concentrating on breathing. In, and then out again, trying to ignore the constant ache that each tiny movement of her chest creates. She’s alive, by some miracle she’s alive, the pain is testament to that. The last thing she remembers is that demon stabbing her, and that terrible pain that coursing through her. She doesn’t open her eyes, she just lies there, trying to remember what else happened, where she could be?

She hears voices. Naliah, then Cariston, then Trizzi. They’re all speaking in hushed tones, adjusting their volume when they get too loud. The world begins to make sense, her thoughts slow, but there, as she pieces together everything she can hear and feel around her. They must have won the fight, dragged her onto the cart, and kept travelling. It’s the only thing that makes sense, as she can now hear the clop of the horses hooves, and the slight creak of one of the cart’s wheels.

“Wait, what does the note say?” Cheese says loudly, earning a shushing noise from someone else. She hears paper being handled, possibly being given over to Cheese for him to read. It’s quiet for a few moments, before Naliah speaks, loud enough to make out her words this time.

“We need a copy of this. Can any of you forge handwriting?”

“That wasn’t a skill they taught at the academy.” Cornelia says, the smirk evident in her voice.

Cariston speaks next, everyone seeming to forget they were trying to be quiet only moments ago. “I could try, although I’m not that good…” He trails off, and Cheese butts in.

“Maybe Elyza can do it, she used to be a thief, right?”

“That’s not the rumour I heard, but a lot of things were said about a lot of people at the academy.” Cornelia answers, a strange edge to her voice. Elyza tries to open her eyes, not liking that they’re speculating about her past. The light is blinding, even with the covering over the top of the cart. She groans, everyone's voices growing still as they hear her.

She tries to open her eyes again, blinking several times before her vision finally clears. And just as she expected them to be, her friends are all sat together. A piece of paper gripped firmly in Naliah’s hand as they stare at her. Elyza tries to sit up, but a cry of pain escapes her lips and she slumps back to the ground again. Cariston is next to her in a heartbeat, his eyes wide with worry.

“Don't move too fast. Slowly now. Here.” he says softly, placing his hand on her back and helping her sit up slowly. The pain is excruciating, and for a moment she thinks she might pass out again. She’s panting by the time she’s sat up right, suddenly hating the feeling of all their eyes on her.

“I would have healed you if I could.” Cariston says, moving his hand to touch her wound, but then thinking better of it, as his hand falls back to his side. She tries her best to look at her shoulder, to see the damage she knows is there, but whoever stopped her bleeding out did a pretty decent job of bandaging the wound.

“Everyone okay?” She asks, trying to ignore the now very present ache in her shoulder. Everything hurts, and to put it plainly, she feels like shit. She hasn’t felt this rough in a while. Everyone nods at her, Naliah meeting her eyes with a determined look on her face. Elyza is confused as to why, when Naliah gets up from her spot and all but shoves the paper into Elyza’s face.

“You need to forge this letter for us!”

“Wha-”

“-It's important. Here, look.” she says, pushing the paper into Elyza’s hands, backing off slightly, but still hovering almost nervously. Elyza doesn’t think she’s ever seen Naliah nervous, so the letter really must be something special.

Upon reading the letter, it isn’t anything that seems dreadfully important. Something about an apostle being in Dulsaid, which means nothing to Elyza. She looks up, whining as a throb of pain ripples through her entire body. Cariston looks at her with something like pity as he carefully takes the page off of her, and explains what the note means.

He explains that they found the note among the bloodied remains of the group's leader. The Apostle is what Kalira was going by last time Naliah spoke with her, which means that they had not only been ambushed by some crazy cultists, but Trizzi's sister is leading them. Cariston's voice is still laced with concern as he goes on to say that they should have a copy of the note as it's something they should keep an eye out for. As obviously if there are more who can summon creatures like that, they're incredibly dangerous.

Elyza notices through his explanation Trizzi is quiet, more quiet than usual. When she catches her eye, Trizzi flashes Elyza a quick smile but looks away. She imagines it's probably the shock of finding out that your sister, who you haven’t seen for a year, is safe, and in Dulsaid. But is also running a crazy cult. It’s a hell of a family secret, and by the worried look on Trizzi’s face, Elyza can tell just how bad this actually is. Well, that and the fact she was nearly murdered by the creature one of those dickheads summoned. It can’t have been easy for Trizzi to watch her go down, for any of them to see it really. She doesn't know of Trizzi’s past, if she’s ever lost anyone she’s fought alongside, but even if she has, it’s never easy to watch anyone hit the ground like that, especially in a tough fight.

As they set up camp that night, Elyza sets out to forge the letter, surprising herself with how quickly she picks it up. She’s not new to this, she’s forged countless documents before, a whole new identity for her life in Pyke. Yet, it has been a good few years since she’d needed to use the skill. The progress is slow, the pain better than when she’d woken hours ago, but still persistent. The copy is pretty much flawless, a perfect replica to the untrained eye. Naliah had seemed strangely impatient for it, hovering over her shoulder watching her every move. When Elyza had finished, Naliah wanted to be the first to inspect it, pocketing both notes after the rest of the group has had a chance to look. Elyza wants to say something, to ask exactly who Kalira is and why exactly she’s so important, but it's obviously a conversation for another day.

___________________________________________________________________________

The days pass quickly, everyone back to their usual chatty selves after getting a good night's rest. Naliah seems less weird, maybe a little on edge still, but they all are. On the edge of Craydon, the town they’ll be staying in for the night, a small group of bandits attack them. After their last tangle, they’re more than prepared for it this time. It takes some fire, a few well placed arrows, and about twelve seconds for their foes to be defeated. Unlike with the cultists, there are no demons, no magic, just some stupid people who picked the wrong carriage to try steal from.

As they roll into town, Elyza feels herself finally starting to relax. The wilderness and travelling has never been her preference, there’s just something so familiar and grounding about being in towns. They’re all similar, with their layout, their trades, even the people. You always know what to expect in civilisation, unlike with nature. She yawns, stretching her arms above her head as everyone piles out the carriage, grabbing bags and following Trizzi into the inn. Trizzi makes it very clear they’re only staying here for the night, as with one more day's travel they should arrive in Strasa.

It’s a nice enough place, not to run down, but also not too fancy to make anyone feel uncomfortable. It doesn’t take long for Cariston and Cheese to get talking to the barkeep, a human woman with dark brown short hair. Elyza doesn’t catch her name, and doesn’t really care what she’s talking to them about. What she does care about, is the look of concern that crosses Caristons face as he looks at Cheese, and then leans further into the conversation.

The two of them are back to the table within moments, Cheese basically vibrating as a grin spreads across his face. However, before he can say anything, Cariston speaks up.

“Those bandits that attacked us outside of town, they’re part of a bigger group, they’ve been terrorising the town.”

“That’s not good.” Trizzi says, a frown pulling at her lips as she closes the book in her hands.

“We should go sort it out, right?” Cheese asks, scrambling into the seat next to Naliah. Cornelia makes a face, looking like she’s weighing up if she can be bothered to help this town or not. Elyza doesn’t say anything, watching the others for their reaction. Naliah seems to do the same, eventually nodding as Cariston asks what she thinks.

They all agree to help, the barkeep giving them a vague direction to go in to find this bandit hideout. With it being mid day, Cornelia suggests sleeping until nightfall so the spellcasters of the group can regain their energy for spells. Nightfall is also the opportune time for sneaking into an enemy's camp.

Eight hours later, close to midnight, they meet downstairs again. There are a few patrons still drinking, but the majority are home and in bed. Which honestly, Elyza is glad for. The less attention they draw to themselves the better. It’s better to be known as a group who passed through and took care of a problem, than to be hailed as heroes.

The bandits camp is supposedly about half an hour outside of town. The walk there is eerily quiet. Well, it is until Trizzi starts up some small talk with Cheese, who gladly chats with her. Luckily, they’re quiet still, seeming to know better than to be too loud even if they are just walking through town. Eventually, they come to the edge of town, close to the point they were ambushed earlier that day.

“It should be not far from here.” Trizzi says, pointing into the thick trees to the right hand side of the road. “We should approach stealthily.”

“I agree. There may be traps, we should have someone who can see well in the dark at the front.” Cariston adds, looking around the group before his eyes land on Elyza. She looks to the rest of them, trying to figure out who would be best. Cariston needs his light spell to be able to see, so definitely not him if they want to do this stealthily. Everyone’s eyes are on her, and she realises, regrettably, that she might actually be the best person for this.

They slowly make their ways through the trees, Cheese actually using common sense for once and staying quiet. Elyza leads them through, easily spotting the tracks on the ground even in the low light. They walk for five, maybe ten minutes without issue, small snaps of twigs underfoot being the only indicator of their approach. It’s going well, surprisingly well in fact. The most concerning thing, which Elyza hasn’t shared with the group yet, is that there are several tracks, way too many to just be a few bandits. They could be walking into a very very dangerous situation, but if they play their cards right, it'll be manageable.

Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet crumbles. She yelps, hitting the bottom of the pit as chimes sound above her, probably alerting the bandits to their whereabouts. She curses, making an effort not to scowl as she looks up and sees Trizzi staring down at her.

“Are you okay Elyza?” She asks, concern evident in her voice. “Do you need help getting out? Oh, um. Ah yes, the rope. Here.”

Elyza can’t help the blush on her cheeks as a rope is thrown down to her. She see’s Cariston join Trizzi at the edge of the pit, giving her instructions on how to get out. She’s embarrassed as hell, feeling a bitter anger towards Cariston for talking to her like she’s some idiot who’s never had to use a rope before. She knows she isn’t angry at him, just embarrassed, and pissed off that their perfect approach until now has been ruined by her.

She can’t bear to look at any of them, as she crests the top of the pit and climbs out. She hears Cornelia making some comment about it, and Naliah snickering. She wants to tell them to shut up, but what good would that do? She fucked up, and they don’t even seem to realise it.

She takes a deep breath, looking into the pit as she tries to cool her frustration. “That was a trap.” She says plainly, struggling to keep her voice even. “It was loud, they would have heard that. Look at these.” She finally turns to the group, happy to see they’ve all stopped messing around. She motions to the ground, putting a hand up to stop Cariston casting a light spell to see. Trizzi is the first to respond.

“That’s a lot of footprints, and it looks like they knew the trap was here.”

No one needs to spell it out, Elyza can tell by the way Cariston’s face falls slightly. Naliah almost seems to growl, but she can’t tell if that’s from anger or excitement of getting to fight so many people. They continue their approach slowly, carefully. Being as silent as possible until they see it, light. They come to a clearing, a cave with torch light surrounding the entrance. There are a few people milling around outside, all of them armed.

They all crouch in the cover of the underbrush, taking in the numbers of their enemy, and begin to hatch a plan. Well, that’s what Elyza assumes they're doing, although she isn’t so sure when Cornelia stands up suddenly.

“I’ll deal with this.”

Elyza just stares at her for a moment. “You have a plan?”

“Yes.” She simply replies, slowly taking her suit jacket off and hanging it up on a low hanging branch. Everyone watches her, waiting for her to elaborate. She doesn't, just goes to walk into the clearing. Elyza moves to stop her, grabbing her arm roughly. “What the fuck, Cornelia?”

Elyza can’t tell what Cornelia is more offended by, the harsh words or the fact Elyza is touching her. She rips her arm away from Elyza’s grasp, glaring at her. “I’m a noble woman, surely even bandits can’t ignore a sophisticated woman in need?”

It’s quiet for a moment, and then another, as everyone just stares at her. Elyza looks to Cariston, waiting for him to even critique her plan slightly. He doesn't, he looks just as dumbfounded and lost as she does about it. Naliah eventually speaks up. “Why don’t we just take them out? we don’t need a plan.”

“I, uh, I think we should at least strategize. We should, um, use our strengths against their weaknesses.” Trizzi says, not meeting Cornelia or Naliah’s eyes as she speaks.

“Yes, a strategy, thank you Trizzi.” Cornelia replies, obviously missing the point completely. “I’ll go in there as a distraction, everyone else moves into position and when I give the signal, we attack.”

"What exactly is that signal supposed to be?" Elyza asks with a raised eyebrow.

"I set the closest one on fire, obviously."

The quiet that elapses as they all stare at her dumbfounded, Cornelia takes as understanding and agreement. Before anyone can stop her, she's turned on her heel and is making her way into the clearing.

"Cornelia!" Cariston tries to whisper after her, but she doesn't stop. He gives Elyza a rather panicked look, before darting off to the left, hugging the tree line to stay hidden as he moves with impressive speed.

"Fuck." Elyza takes that as her cue and circles around to the right, noticing Trizzi is close on her heel, looking rather concerned at the whole situation. Trizzi hides slightly further back in the trees while Elyza plants herself as close as she possibly can to the clearing without being spotted.

Cornelia walks into view casually, the few humanoids outside of the cave spotting her almost immediately. They don't speak at first, just watching her as she strides closer, the confidence radiating off her in waves. It's only when she gets to about 40 feet away does one speak.

"What are you doing here?" They call out, the others beside them readying their weapons. Cornelia launches into her act immediately.

"Oh I'm so glad I finally found people! My horses got spooked and I've been walking for hours looking for help."

"Yeah? And what are we supposed to do about it?” They reply back, raising their own weapon as Cornelia takes a step forward.

"I'm a noble woman, don't you want to get yourself a good reputation by helping me?" Cornelia says, putting on a similar innocent act to the one she tricked the guard in Kier with. This time however, it isn't working as well.

"No, not really."

"Well, if you won't do it for reputation, surely you'll do it for gold?"

The man perks up at the mention of money, faltering with his weapon for a moment. "How much you got on you?"

"At least 1000 gold, plenty to go around."

In an instant a barrage of arrows are fired from the now very apparent archers standing beside the man who spoke. Cornelia steps back, eyes wide as a cry of pain escapes her lips, an arrow buried deep into her shoulder.

"A pretty girl like you shouldn't be alone out here, especially with all that money." The man says with a grin, sword drawn as he takes a step forward.

The world around them explodes into action. Elyza snarls as she aims an arrow at the cocky asshole. Trizzi begins chanting something under her breath, magical energy coalescing around her and forming into terrifying blazing meteors.

Naliah rushes forward, narrowly dodging several arrows as she runs past Cornelia. Even from how far away she is, Elyza can see how pissed off Naliah is as she slashes at the man. A pool of grease appears under two archers' feet as they slip off balance, missing both their shots and falling to the ground with yelps and groans.

There's fiery meteors from Trizzi, a giant spectral candelabra from Cariston. Harsh sword slashes from Naliah, and the usual cacophony of fire from Cornelia. It seems to be going well, that is until more people emerge from the cave, and suddenly they're outmatched.

Things very quickly turn from in their favour, to against them in a matter of seconds. A huge woman with a greatsword joins the fray, moving with incredible speed and agility for her size. Cariston cries out in pain as the weapon slashes across his chest once, twice, a third time. He slumps to the ground unconscious, Naliah falling to a knee beside him as she sneers at the man she’s currently in combat with. The world slows down as the woman turns towards Cheese with a sinister grin. Elyza’s legs move before she can formulate a plan, noting this is the second time in only a couple of days she’s rushed into a stupidly dangerous situation to save Cheese.

Naliah is surrounded, swinging wildly as her blood spills to the ground. She puts up a fight, taking two of them down as one stabs their sword through her middle. She crumbles to the ground next to Cariston, blood pooling beneath her. Cheese takes a hit from the woman, an arcane shield deflecting the next two attacks and making her even more furious as she swings her sword with more vigour.

“Cheese move, I’ve got you!” Elyza shouts, loosing arrows as she rushes in. The woman stops her onslaught of attacks, her attention now on Elyza. Elyza is very aware that She needs to protect Cheese and her downed companions. Her mind races, eyes darting over her surroundings trying to formulate a plan. A man rushes her with his sword, when a bolt of fire explodes in his face, and he recoils with screams of pain. Elyza takes the opportunity to grab the shortsword at her hip and slash blindly at him. He falls to the ground, his screams of pain finally ceasing.

Elyza turns to try and find Cornelia, her stomach dropping as she sees her about 80 feet away, firing another bolt of fire at one of the archers as she runs out of the clearing. Elyza doesn’t have time to think on it however as the large woman has turned her attention fully to her, luckily giving Cheese a chance to retreat..

“You think you stand a chance against me?” The woman asks, cocking an eyebrow. “Even your fighters fell to us, you don’t stand a chance.”

Elyza takes aim, easily planting an arrow into the woman’s shoulder. She laughs in response, grabbing the arrow and snapping it with a grin. “Arrows won’t stop me girl. I’ll kill you, and then all your friends. One. By. One.”

“That is not happening!” Trizzi says, suddenly appearing beside Elyza as she touches her arm. Elyza looks at her confused, but then feels the jolt of power from her magic. The woman grunts in pain, momentarily distracted from them as one of Trizzi’s meteors smashes into her.

“You can do this, Cariston and Naliah need you!” Trizzi says, desperation in her voice as she backs off slightly. Elyza’s eyes dart between the woman, and her friends bleeding out on the floor. She knows what she has to do.

She sees the rage in the woman's eyes as she lifts her heavy weapon in both hands and swings heavily. Elyza steps back effortlessly out of the weapons reach. The woman snarls, swinging again, this time swinging too high and giving Elyza a chance to step under and piriote on her heel as she leaps into the air and fires two arrows. A smirk pulls at her lips as the arrows find their target perfectly, and she lands lightly on her feet, Cariston and Naliah now only inches away on the ground.

Cheese shouts something and the woman screams, another fiery meteor slamming into her as Trizzi takes a step forward, with a dangerous look in her eye. Elyza doesn’t stop to think about what she’s doing, acting on instinct as she kneels down and places a hand on Naliah’s back, and Cariston’s arm. She closes her eyes, searching within herself for that power she’s used so many times now.

Her hands glow softly with the healing magic, and she begs that it will finally be enough. She pushes away the memories, the tears that sting her eyes. She has to be strong, she has to do this and it has to work. She needs to save them.

Both Cariston and Naliah awake, Naliah using her sword as a crutch to get off the ground. Cariston is slower, his eyes darting to Elyza as he takes in his surroundings and tries to get his bearings. The three of them stand, Elyza suddenly feeling like she can take on the world with them at her side. Or maybe that’s just the effect of Trizzi’s magic still coursing through her.

Trizzi and Cheese have taken out most of the archers, Elyza finishing them off easily now Naliah and Cariston have the main threat flanked on both sides. Cariston uses his magic to distract her, as Naliah slashes into her back. All it takes is for the right opening, and a stumble on her part, for Naliah to pierce her sword through the woman’s chest. Their eyes meet as Naliah snarls and utters a few harsh words in draconic, ripping the sword away as the woman falls to the ground.

The air stills around them, their heavy pained breathing the only sound, as finally the threat is over. Elyza see’s Trizzi drop her tense shoulders, looking relieved as she comes to join them. That’s when Elyza feels the magic leave her system, and a sudden incredibly strong fatigue rip through her body. She gasps, the air feeling like it's been sucked from her lungs as she stumbles backwards, half catching herself as she comes to sit on the ground. Focusing on breathing as the feeling pases and she rationalises that she isn’t dying.

There are tired smiles all around as Cariston tends to wounds the best he can with what little magic he has left. Elyza stays seated, watching them as she scans the treeline, making sure they’re definitely safe. That’s when she sees Cornelia, bloodied, but looking a lot better than any of them do. She makes her way towards them slowly, a look of unease taking over her features. Elyza looks around the group, seeing that none of them have noticed her approaching.

As her eyes lock with Cornelia’s again, she realises she’s the only one that saw Cornelia run. She’s the only one that knows Cornelia tried to abandon them.