“So why did you bring this guy back with you?” Lissa asked while Mera and Mela fretted over the unconscious man’s body. Garza rubbed his cheek where she had slapped him when he had gotten close enough. “Because I figured they could patch him up?” Lissa rolled her eyes and sighed, they were the only ones in the room with this man. Saida, Almios, and Darvick were currently talking to the guards to forestall any interference. “Well along with the slap your punishment is he is staying in your room until he is better. Understood?” Lissa put her hands on her side and stared at Garza.

He met her stare and after a few seconds he looked away, “Gods Lissa, you don’t have to rub the fact I screwed up in my face.” Garza turned to the man and watched as Mera and Mela had their Focuses out now mending the cuts, bruises, and various other injuries. Lissa stood on her tiptoes to make sure she reached the top of his head and knocked on it, “How else am I supposed to get it through your thick skull?” Lissa smiled, she knew the big idiot too well and counted on him laughing any second. As if on queue he did just as she got off her tiptoes, “You aren’t that much shorter than me. So I don’t know why you do that.”

Mera looked at both Garza and Lissa, “Can you two please take that outside? We need to heal and it is easier without distractions.” Lissa grimaced and grabbed Garza’s arm dragging him from the room. Shutting the door behind them Lissa looked at Garza, he was wearing a shit-eating grin. “You know, you haven’t done that to me since the academy when you would……” Lissa’s cold glare quickly silenced him before he could continue. “Do you want me to throw you down the stairs? Just. Like. I. Used. To?” Lissa poked him in his exposed side to emphasize the point. Garza put his hands up in defeat, “No need, let's get back to the others alright?”

Garza started walking to the stairs while Lissa barely caught him whispering, “Is it that time of the month already?” She chose to ignore that comment, for now at least. She hated thinking of her stupid self in the academy, and what she did being brought up irritated her to no end. As they reached the bottom floor Lissa noticed that a guard officer was talking to Saida impatiently. “Ma’am, I understand your station affords you some, privilege. But you can’t just climb onto roofs and building haphazardly. You may hurt someone, or yourself.”

“I am well aware of that…” Lissa saw her do a once over on the guard, “Sergeant, but I know what I am doing, and if I did indeed hurt myself or someone else we can take care of it.” Saida turned her at the encroaching footsteps from Garza and saw Lissa still standing at the stairs. “Oh, Lissa! Finally can you please explain to this upstanding gentleman our situation?” Lissa could only sigh as she walked closer, she loathed when Saida passed things to her like this. “Ma’am she ain’t the one that……” The Sergeant’s words fell on deaf ears as Saida took a seat with Almios and Darvik and stole some of their food.

Lissa strode towards the man and she noticed a quick flash of disgust cross his face, “So what seems to be the problem?” Lissa noticed that Garza hastily took a seat with the others as she approached. The Sergeant bowed as she got closer, “Simply put ma’am you, and a few others of your party have caused quite a ruckus.” Lissa raised an eyebrow at his words while looking pointedly at the table and noticing no one but Saida met her gaze, “Oh? Is that so? Can you explain?” He nodded and continued, “Of course, Firstly your companion climbing the roofs caused quite a commotion for a few streets since some people thought her a burglar or suicidal. Second your companions,” the Sergeant pointed to the table.

“Abducted a man and took him here, with some rather interesting injuries on his person according to witnesses who saw them coming back.” Lissa looked at the table and saw Almios mouth to her, “Sorry!” Lissa was irritated but kept a stone face, “And how is that a problem? We received information that a group of individuals are attacking and harassing Blooded. Along with witnessing, experiencing, and preventing further harm coming to one such person along with myself.” Lissa stepped closer to the man as he shrunk back at her rising anger. “I assure you that they did have a reason and however this man received his injuries was justified.”

The Sergeant attempted to interject but Lissa cut him off, “Or are you presuming to have authority over Dominion Emissaries?” He shook his head while Lissa could see Saida giving her an encouraging wink. “Now, I can promise you once this man has been attended to and we have spoken to him assuring his cooperation. We will happily give him over to you. Until then Sergeant please leave.”

Lissa stood her ground for a moment while the Sergeant in front of her stood agape. After collecting himself he turned and walked out loathing the experience of talking to her. Saida clapped slowly as Lissa took a seat next to her. “I left him for you since I could tell something was off about him. Good to see I was right.” Almios finished chewing just as Lissa sat down, “Though it does sadly validate those poor bastards claims that some of the guards are helping them.” Garza shrugged before speaking, “Some people can’t help but hate others. Though why they don’t hate Blooded like me is still odd.”

“Only the gods know why or how this all started, the question is what can we do about it here?” Lissa looked to Almios as Darvick as she finished, “You both walked around the city how bad do you think it is?” Almios had just taken another bite of food, so Darvick took the initiative. “It’s not pretty that is for sure, most folk we talk to seemed to think it was because of the Blooded that this beast is getting closer to the city. The thing seemingly avoiding attacking or at least not seriously injuring Blooded like you ain’t helping either.” Darvick finished by pointing a forkful of chicken at Lissa.

Almios took a drink to clear his throat, “Same with me, though I did hear that a rumor started from the Silver Shield parties that returned saying a Blooded was ‘leading’ it.” He scoffed as he finished, “If that were true I doubt there would be any survivors, the reports clearly show whatever this thing is, is smart but only for an animal.” Saida sat up before Lissa could interject, “Actually, from what Lissa, Micah, and I heard it is most definitely smarter than that. Those reports didn’t get into the gritty details as this man did. It toyed with them and tested their wards and seemed to get angry at those that hurt it.”

Lissa nodded as Garza, Almios, and Darvick looked to her for confirmation. “I agree with her assessment but you will have to wait for Micah as he has something to show us when he wakes. Back to the topic of the problem in the city with the attacks and general hatred of Blooded does it warrant further Emmissarial attention or not?”

Almios shook his head, “No I don’t think so, once we stop the attacks I think it will go back to normal in time.” Darvick nodded in agreement with him, while Lissa saw Garza raise an eyebrow. “I am on the fence about it, clearly there is something else going on here besides the discrimination, but since that is purely what we are talking about I think we shouldn’t worry about that overly much.” He eyed Lissa, “What is your opinion Lis?”

Lissa sat for a moment in thought thinking about that child, and what was done to them. “I think we should send a message back explaining the situation and request someone come to oversee the guard and keep an eye on the city to make sure it doesn’t get worse while we are gone.” Garza nodded knowingly, “Figured, so when should we leave?” he put his arms on the table. “The longer we sit here the more trouble that monster causes.” Almios looked at him quizzically, “It’s a monster now eh?”

“Whatever it is, it is still out there doing gods knows what.” Garza retorted, and Lissa sighed as quickly their conversation turned into an argument over semantics. Ignoring them Lissa grabbed a hunk of chicken from the platter in the middle of the table and started eating. Lost in thought about when they should leave, and eating the particularly good food she didn’t notice the footsteps coming up behind her. “So, we got that guy patched up. A few fractures, some internal bleeding, but nothing we couldn’t handle.” Mera’s cheerful voice reached Lissa’s ears.

“That’s wonderful! Is he awake!?!” Garza asked abruptly, sitting forward causing Almios to almost fall out of his seat. “Yes he is awake, but you aren’t getting anywhere near him,” Mera said hands on her hip and looking pointedly at Garza. “Fair enough, he probably won’t want to talk to me anyway,” Garza sat back once more while rolling his eyes. “Back on topic,” Lissa said pointedly, looking at everyone around her. “We pushed the horses pretty hard to get here faster than we anticipated. If we don’t give them until at least tomorrow night to rest we may push them past their limits.”

Lissa could only think of how the horses would react if they were taken out now. Meriweather would be more than a handful and spirited and attempt to lead the others in a rebellion. “So, if we aren’t leaving until tomorrow night at the earliest what are we going to do?” Mela asked while coming up on Lissa’s left. “I don’t think we can solve the tensions here in one day,” Saida smirked softly, “Although we do know where a bathhouse is now so we can enjoy it while letting the horses rest. Plus I can make sure the horses are treated the same.”

As Saida was finishing her little speech Lissa felt a hand touch her shoulder and an outstretched hand appeared in front of her. With a smile, she put a coin in the hand, “May I ask how you woke him?” The male attendant’s voice reached her ears with a distinct tinge of a job well done, “A bucket of cold water ma’am.” Everyone around Lissa except for Saida looked at her quizzically. “Micah should be down shortly, hopefully dry. And we can then head to the bathhouse.”

Almios looked at Lissa and couldn’t contain his laughter while the attendant walked off. Darvick sighed and began portioning some food for Micah. Garza was laughing along while Saida smirked, Mera and Mela meanwhile shrugged and found a place for themselves at the table.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lissa walked into the bathroom after her exquisite massage and sighed. The room itself was easily ten meters by ten meters while the bath took up the center. Six by six meter section of glorious paradise. Everyone had requested personal massages and private bathes as well. Thankfully it hadn’t made her a pauper, but it certainly did cause her to rethink her finances until she received her next wage. She dropped her towel and walked towards the steaming water, through the steam she noticed on the far side a steady stream of water pouring in.

Breathing deeply of the increasingly moist air she also noticed an almost perfume-like scent attached to it. It was sweet, sharp, and soothing. Lissa felt her muscles lose any remaining tension in them from the massage. Lissa would need to see if she could tip the masseuse, they had done a wonderful job and had spent what felt like hours attending to every muscle. She reached the edge of the bath and knelt dipping a hand in. “Hot, but not unbearably so,” Lissa remarked to no one in particular.

Lissa turned back and picked up her towel, and began searching for either a rack or bench to put it on. She found a bench on the right side of the room next to a very provocative statue. Lissa examined it for a moment admiring the stonework and the depiction of the happy couple. Turning she also found more towels hidden by the mist at the statue’s base. “Good to know, and I wonder if they ran out of single rooms and gave me one meant for lovers or some such,” Lissa said to herself while getting back to the water.

Slowly she walked into the water, hissing in discomfort as it reached her waist. Lissa slowly lowered herself in and found that the section in front of the statue had padding of some sort on. “This is meant for lovers,” taking advantage of the added comfort and submerged fully into the water feeling the heat was across her face. Opening her eyes in the water Lissa also found that submerged in the middle of the water was a large padded section with seats facing each side. Breaching the surface once more Lissa decided to use the seats and slowly walked to them.

Settling into the seat Lissa closed her eyes and leaned her head back onto the top of the seat and closed her eyes. The sound of the water streaming in, the smell, and the almost hypnotic nature of the steam caused her to begin drifting off. For what felt like an eternity she sat in the water and barely noticed the sound of the water cease. Opening her eyes Lissa also noticed that the steam now hung magnitudes thicker in the air.

“My time is up isn’t it?” Lissa asked no one in particular and attempted to stand. She tried to push herself from the water and found she couldn’t move her arms or legs. A quick flash of panic crossed her mind until she breathed and noticed a cavity form. The water had set like stone trapping her, “What fucking magic is this!?!” Lissa screamed as she fruitlessly struggled to break her prison.

“A test is in order,” a deep aged voice said from behind her. Lissa tried to crane her neck to see who had spoken, but with a combination of the fog and her immovable body, she couldn’t see them. “Who is there! Release me immediately!” Lissa yelled once more eliciting a quick tongue click from whoever stood there. “So impatient, are you so eager to begin?” They asked footsteps now beginning to circle the room, while Lissa continued to struggle. She kept track of the footsteps and stared at their source as they got within the angles she could see.

“Will this test release me?” Lissa asked while her anger, frustration, and impatience grew. “Again so eager, but yes it will once it is complete.” The voice was behind her still, which meant someone else was in front of her. With a snap of fingers from behind her, the sound of water resumed and Lissa quickly burst from the water and stood on the seat. She waited for any possible attack, scanning the room she saw the mist thicken in front of her. Bursting from the came a woman covered head to toe in cloth leaving nothing, not even the face exposed.

She threw a dagger at Lissa which she dodged by falling into the water. As Lissa fell she noticed the woman threw another dagger at her. Turning her body to try and avoid the blade it wasn’t enough and it sank into her side. With a large splash, Lissa hit the water and swam towards her assailant who had also fallen into the water. The other woman scanned the area around her, but the mist that had previously hidden them also hid Lissa as she approached.

Pulling the dagger from her side Lissa stabbed into the woman’s knee trying to bring her under the water. The dagger easily slipped through their clothing and punctured flesh, with only one leg to stand on the assailant fell into the water. Lissa immediately noticed they didn’t scream in pain or acknowledge the injury besides falling. Extracting the dagger Lissa stood and tried to plunge it into the woman’s back. Lissa hadn’t anticipated her opponent pulling her legs out from under her and fell back into the water.

The woman quickly hovered over Lissa and tried to grab the dagger with one hand. Lissa noticed the other reach towards their back, presumably for another dagger. Lissa wrapped her legs around the other woman and began squeezing while grabbing with her free hand at her opponent’s elbow and pulling it towards her. Lissa realized her mistake as she saw a dagger in the hand of her opponent coming at her. Lissa readjusted her grip and stopped the blade, but now both of them were locked underwater and losing air.

The stalemate lasted a few heartbeats before Lissa headbutt the woman making sure one of her horns hit where the nose should be. While her opponent reeled from the strike Lissa quickly spun the woman around and put her below her. Lissa dropped the dagger in her left hand and grabbed the woman’s to prevent her from grabbing it while breaching the water to get air. Gasping for air Lissa unwrapped her legs and pressed one foot on the woman’s stomach while the other pressed on her chest pinning her to the floor of the bath. Lissa knelt to gain stability and pulled the other woman’s arms and hands up.

Feeling her struggling Lissa smirked reveling in the struggle of her drowning foe. The water grew increasingly cloudy as the blood from Lissa’s side and the woman’s broken nose. Soon Lissa couldn’t see the woman beneath her struggling, she could feel it though. The thrashing slowly became less and less energetic and soon enough stopped. Lissa let go of the woman’s arms and stepped off their body almost falling as they shifted. “What the fuck was this about?” Lissa asked hoping the voice from earlier would answer. When silence returned to answer her she began walking out of the bath and noticed how cold she was getting.

Lissa put a hand over her wounded side to staunch some of the blood flow. As her hand touched the wound Lissa noticed she didn’t feel pain from the wound, or anything at all from her side. “Fuck, it was poisoned,” Lissa stepped out of the bath fully and tried to recall where the statue and towels were. She couldn’t do it, her head felt cloudy and she found it increasingly hard to stand. Stumbling to where she thought the statue was Lissa fell forward and over a bench her head slamming into the ground. Trying to push herself up from the floor Lissa couldn’t do it, no matter how hard she pushed she couldn’t stand.

“You must learn, young Callista, that you can not do everything by yourself,” Lissa heard the voice from earlier said while walking towards her. “Fuck you! What kind of test is this where you send an armed assassin at someone taking a bath!” Lissa slurred out slowly, while elegant pants and shoes pushed their way through the encroaching mist. “A test to simply encourage growth,” the feet appeared to say to her, as the steam closed in further. Lissa saw the legs kneel and an elegantly gloved hand touched her chin before caressing her face. “I have such high hopes for you, Callista,” They said while Lissa could barely keep her eyes open. Letting out a deep sigh Lissa felt powerless as she could no longer fill her lungs. “Now sleep and when you wake you will need to continue your journey.”