The human just smirked, much to Nyara's frustration.
"Well... I couldn't have you running off the second you woke up and getting into trouble again, now could I?" Riona purred.
Nyara glared at the merc, who raised her hands, laughing, before deftly unlocking the shackle from Nyara's wrist. She rubbed the red mark that the cool shackle had left. Then, a thought struck the elf, and she paused, half out of bed.
"H-how long was I unconscious?"
"A solid twenty-four hours." Riona grinned. "Speaking of which... how do you feel?"
Nyara took a moment to peer inside herself, searching for her well of mana. It flickered weakly, purple light dancing faintly.
"I'll be fine. I must have drained my mana down to the last drop… It—well, it needs a bit longer to fully recover, but I'll be fine."
Riona shot her a look of concern, but Nyara shrugged it off, standing and stretching. Her lithe muscles rippled with the movement, though there was an underlying fatigue in the way she carried herself.
"No one else needs healing, right?"
"Nope! Everyone's right as rain, thanks to you." Riona beamed. "If you feel up to it, I think we should head back to the Explorers Guild, collect your reward for completing the quest, and get some rest."
Nyara nodded slowly. Suddenly, her stomach let out a loud grumble, making her flush with embarrassment. Heat crept up he neck, turning the tips of her ears turned red.
Riona laughed, smirking at her, before handing Nyara an apple.
"Don’t worry. I’ll go find something more substantial for you."
One week later....
Nyara and Riona were back at the Explorers Guild, having taken a week for Nyara to recuperate after her ordeal at Orchard Village. The merc sauntered behind Nyara as the pair examined the quest board.
"Large rat infestation, suspected goblin den, mushroom collection—ah, hells, these are lame!" Riona groaned, reading through the requests.
Nyara shot her an amused smile, her lips quirking as she raised a brow.
"Did you think there were bandit rings to break up every day?" the elf asked teasingly.
Riona sighed, running a hand through her short dark brown hair. A stray lock fell over her forehead, and the merc pushed it back with a huff. Her green eyes sparkled with impatience for action, her small, restless movements further betraying the mercenary's desire for excitement.
Nyara plucked the goblin den and mushroom collection notices off of the board, ignoring Riona’s loud groan of despair. She headed over to Lydia.
"Hi, Lydia," Nyara greeted the receptionist, setting the notices down for the other woman to mark as taken.
Lydia glanced at the quests and then back up to Riona.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"Does your friend want to sign up for the guild? This'll be the third quest she's taken with you."
Nyara glanced questioningly at Riona. The dark-haired merc’s jaw set in a determined line, and she shook her head firmly.
"No. Sorry, no offense to you," she said, directing her words to Lydia. "I just don’t like to be tied down."
Lydia gave Riona an understanding smile and nodded, signing both quests off to Nyara before clapping her hands together.
"There you go! Safe travels!"
The pair nodded their thanks and left. As they walked towards the forest containing the suspected den of goblins, Nyara pondered the events at Orchard Village.
"Using so much mana at once was so damn reckless! Mother would kill me if she found out I drained myself like that once....let alone twice like I ended up doing. Well, there's nothing to be done about the past I suppose. I'll just...have to be more careful in the future."
She was so lost in her thoughts that she jumped when Riona gripped her wrist tightly. The warmth of the mercenary’s calloused hand burned against her skin, firm and unyielding. Nyara jerked to a halt, sensing that something was wrong. Her ears twitched slightly, pointed tips straining to catch any suspicious noises.
"We've got company." Riona hissed.
Nyara nodded, ears twitching at the telltale shuffle of boots around them. Her hands moved slightly towards her sword as she mentally berated herself for being so lost in thoughts but she shook it off. Now was not the time to be distracted by self reproach. She tapped Riona's hand 7 times. The merc nodded immediately understanding that Nyara had made out 7 potential attackers. After a few minutes of tense silence Nyara’s hand gripped the hilt of her sword, her pulse quickening as she readied herself. Then she called out,
"Show yourselves! I can hear you creeping closer, cowards." Her voice rang with distain, a palpable challenge to those lurking in the shadows.
A large human man stepped out from the cover of a large tree. His muscles rippled underneath scarred skin as he pointed a longsword in their direction. At the reveal of the man whom Nyara assumed to be the leader of the group, the other 6 bandits stepped out, leaving the duo with no doubt that they were well and truly surrounded. On unspoken instinct, Nyara and Riona turned so they were back to back, eyeing the circle of men warily. The leader stepped forward slightly a glint of predatory intent gleaming in his eyes.
"Looks like we've got a mighty fine catch today boys! That little lassie's an elf!"
The men crowded in closer, whooping and leering at the two women. Nyara raised her sword with a steady hand as Riona lifted a few daggers threateningly.
"Stay back." Nyara's voice was cool, unamused as she stared down the leader. He responded with a laugh, advancing closer and jumping back with a curse as Nayara darted forward, sword slashing for his throat. He backed away sightly, eyes narrowed.
"Stupid knife-eared cunt." He snarled.
Nyara smirked taunting the man, daring him to come within range again. The leader hesitated then roared for two of his men to subdue the pointy eared bitch. The men approached, the stale oder of sweat washing over Nyara's sensitive nose. She could feel Riona at her back, ready to act if the bandits decided to jump in with a 7 vs 2 free for all. Nyara observed the men appraising them swiftly as they charged her. One man clumsily brandished a shoddy looking sword while the other simply swung a studded wooden club.
Nyara sidestepped sharply, breaking away from Riona’s back as the first attacker lunged, his shoddy sword swinging in a reckless arc. She deflected his blade with her own, steel shrieking against steel as she parried with ease. The second bandit, wielding a studded wooden club, rushed in from her left. Without missing a beat, Nyara twisted her grip, letting her blade continue it's slide off the first man’s sword before driving the pommel into his jaw. He staggered back with a pained grunt, giving her just enough time to pivot and duck beneath the club as it whistled over her head.
With fluid precision, Nyara surged forward, slashing deep across the club-wielding man's thigh. He let out a strangled yell, dropping to one knee as blood darkened his trousers. Nyara turned back to the first man just as he recovered, his teeth bared in fury. He charged again, but this time, she didn’t meet him with steel. Instead, she darted inside his guard, twisting at the last second. With a brutal efficiency, she drove her elbow into his ribs, then slammed her knee into his gut. He crumpled, gasping for breath.
Meanwhile, Riona had already dispatched another attacker, a dagger buried in his shoulder as he howled in pain. Two more bandits rushed her, but she met them with a wicked grin, sidestepping the first and kicking him into the second. The pair stumbled, giving her just enough time to whip out another blade and drive it into the thigh of the man closest to her.
The leader snarled at the sight of his men falling so quickly. His grip tightened on his longsword as he stepped forward, locking eyes with Nyara.
"Enough of this," he growled, muscles tensing. "I’ll carve that smirk right off your pretty little face."
With five of the men down - at least temporarily- Nyara focused her attention almost solely on the leader of the ragtag group, trusting Riona to cover her blind spots from their remaining enemies.
