{-Llewel-}

“Would you rather keep on walking knowing that you did nothing? That you didn’t even try?”

He didn’t want to go; it felt like a death wish, one that any reasonable person would have spotted. But her words kept coming back to him. He felt like he was letting her down as the image of the three of them leaving kept flashing in his mind. Was it really so hard to ask that they think about it, rationally consider what was best, and help keep as few people as possible from getting hurt?

Perhaps it was punishment enough that Llewel couldn’t bring himself to do any more than stand there. At least he could say his sister was safe; she went on to be with a smaller group that didn’t seem to see as much action. That didn’t do anything to ease his sense of guilt, or help him come up with an answer to his struggle.

The sound of wings flapping next to him brought him out of his motionlessness, though, to jump. It was a taller woman with blonde hair and the standard [Beast Tamer] class attire, complete with large wings to match the hawk familiar resting on her shoulder. Her eyes were dull and it only took him a minute to realize that the hawk was the only one who could see him.

“Are you the ones with the [Signal Flare]?” she prompted.

Llewel nodded, then paused. “Yeah.”

The woman and the hawk tilted their heads in unison. Then she realized what it must have been for. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about the eye thing. I see through this guy over here.” She reached up and patted the hawk’s head.

“How..?”

“Eh, it’s pretty easy to get the devs to make a few minor adjustments when you’ve got connections on the inside.” She gestured to where all the others were. “Is that where I’m helping? Looks like you guys are pretty outnumbered. It was a smart move to keep one of you over here, those monsters like taking out the guys with the flares first.”

He hoped his expression didn’t make it obvious that it definitely had not been planned. “I’m not really sure how much longer they’re going to be able to hold them off on their own, can you help?”

“I’ll take care of it,” she decided confidently, shaking her wings before flying off in that direction.

“Don’t just leave me here!” Llewel hated the desperation that showed in his voice, but at least the encounter had allowed him to make a decision. He sat the [Signal Flare] carefully on the ground in case anyone else would see it and help, then rushed off to catch up with the others.

He came up to them just as the woman landed in front of Myr and heard what the woman told his sister. “No, what they need is someone who knows what they’re doing. Leave this to me. I’ll make sure everyone comes out alright.” Then she left to join the others.

Myr stared in wonder. “It’s like all of my favorite things got combined into one awesome lady…”

“You know she’s probably at least four years older than you, right? And a player?”

It wasn’t until that comment that she realized that he was there. “Llewel! You did come! I didn’t think you were going to change your mind.”

“I technically haven’t,” he quickly responded. “I still don’t think this is a good idea. But some actual help has come this time. And, maybe, I… didn’t really want to stand there and watch you fight while I was doing nothing.”

She hugged him. “I probably shouldn’t have said what I did like that anyway…” She pulled away to watch the battle. It was almost wrapping up, now, with the woman’s help. “Has she told you her name yet?”

“I haven’t really talked to her any more than you have,” he pointed out with a shrug. “Maybe she’ll tell you when the fighting’s over.”

“Do you think we could get her to join us?”

“I hate to break it to you, but now you’re hoping for too much.”

Myr definitely chose to ignore him at that part, watching the fight up until its last moments. In the end, all of the monsters were defeated, and the woman, Zetai, and most of the others fighting wandered to where the twins and kids were; Reynneak stayed with the rest, using [Heal] on all those who needed it.

“How’d you do that?” Zetai asked the woman once they were all together.

The woman laughed. “It’s pretty easy to beat up Kyirius-level monsters when I’ve cleared all of Kehnore. This place is a cakewalk once you reach a high enough level.”

With a rush of confidence that didn’t seem to last to her a moment after stepping up to the woman, Myr said, “Hi, I’m Myr, who are you?”

“Tinath,” the woman said with a smirk. “You know, you’re a little cutie when you’re not about to get yourself killed. You remind me of my sister, almost.”

Myr slumped at the comment but a brief, sympathetic pat from Llewel brought her out of it. “Do you think you can stay?”

“Oh yeah, that would be great!” Zetai remarked, smiling now with the idea being made. “We wouldn’t have to worry about pretty much anything over here. Plus, we’d be more capable of handling any other situation like this if it ever happens again.”

Tinath shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but I should really get going. I’m not really supposed to be over here anyway; I was just taking a short stop on my way to look for someone.”

“Well, who were you looking for?” Myr asked. “Maybe we know where they are or can help you look for them.”

“I don’t think there’s anything you guys can do to help,” Tinath replied. “I’m looking for an old friend of mine. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her, but I know she has to be here somewhere… I just have to figure out where.” Her hawk companion got up off her shoulder and circled around her. “That’s my cue to go. I can’t come with you right now but, hey, maybe we’ll cross paths again one day.” She took off and disappeared into the sky.

Reynneak came up to them with one of the adults. “This man has some information about what happened. I think we should listen to what he has to say.”

It wasn’t until they all nodded and gave him their complete attention did he say anything. “It was just like any normal day; traveling from Nafrius to Anthalas City, like we always do. Sure, sometimes we might encounter a mob here or there, but they were never this strong or in such a big group. We were minding our own business before this man showed up; he had on this fancy suit, fancier than those Nafrius businessmen would wear, and I think there was something near his pen pocket but none of us were able to get close enough to really tell what it was. Then, before we knew it, we were surrounded by monsters we couldn’t defeat on our own.”

“Do you know where he went?” Llewel pressured.

The man shook his head. “We were all too busy dealing with the monsters. I’m assuming he just walked away… though I don’t think he would’ve gone very far. One of us heard him mention something about drawing someone out. I don’t know what that would mean, though—we’re all simply a group of travelers, nothing special about any of us.”

“Who said anything about the people he was looking for had to be one of your travelers?” Llewel mumbled, then turned to his companions. “It’s about time we start going. These people have had enough trouble as it is, we shouldn’t bother them more.”

“What if they run into more monsters?” Reynneak asked with a worried frown. “They’re definitely not ready to handle more, even if they’re the right level. We’ve still got plenty of stuff for ourselves and them, but if we leave them alone then they’re just going to run into the same situation.”

Myr understood what Llewel truly meant to say, though. “You don’t think it was Zuradu that had sent the monsters, do you?”

“That’s what would make the most sense,” Llewel responded with a nod. “If that’s the case, and he did this all in hopes that we would help them, then we’re only going to make things worse by staying. Even if we’re still going to the same place, we’ve got to travel separately to make sure that they’re as safe as they can be.”

“I hate to say it,” Zetai sighed, “but, Reynneak, give them the extra stuff you got. Llewel’s got a point—we can’t stay with them and they’ll need it more than we do.”

When Reynneak opened up his Inventory and began sorting through their extra supplies, the man smiled. “Oh, thank you. Please, come find us when we reach Anthalas. We’ll be sure to repay you for the kindness that you’ve shown today.”