Astoria and her companions continued to pass through green, flower-speckled, rolling hills as the morning progressed. Astoria was getting more accustomed to riding and even though she still felt a little saddle sore from riding so much the day before, it seemed to bother her a bit less. A few hours passed without anything out of the ordinary happening until suddenly the horses got spooked for some reason. They struggled to control the reigns of the horses and then it became clear why the horses were so frightened.

A burgundy scaled dragon, the size of a large house flew over the top of them and swooped down into a nearby field. Its talons were extended downward and it grabbed two cows. It didn't pause for even a moment before regaining altitude and flying off into the distance. Astoria felt as though her heart would come out of her throat when she saw the thing. It was one thing to know that there were things like dragons in this world, and god knows she had seen plenty in games over the years, but it was completely terrifying to see a creature like that in real life. She was just thankful that the dragon hadn’t wanted to snack on them for its lunch.

"I've never seen a dragon before," Tilly mumbled to herself after a moment. 

 “Neither have I,” Ladriel said.

As they continued down the winding road, Astoria’s curiosity demanded that she probe her companions for more information about dragons. She was able to learn that the dragon they had seen was likely Volcania due to her coloring and that she was from the southern isles, far from the country of Regulus. Apparently, dragons never ventured far from their territories and the last time one was seen out of its territory was hundreds of years ago. 

Time had flown by as they talked and it seemed like they arrived outside Oliend in no time. It was still only mid-afternoon when they reigned in their horses. "So, what's the plan?" Tilly asked, hopping down from the horse. 

"Well... we need to get information on the Red Lotus from the old hag at the inn I was taken from. The problem is, we're all marked and she probably will see us coming. Who knows, there might even be other members of that organization here who would also be able to identify us." Astoria would not be deterred though and she would not let that woman get away with what had been done to her, and probably countless others.

"How about we rest outside of town until nightfall over in that small grove of trees," Ladriel pointed over to a clump of trees to the side of the road. 

"Sounds good to me. If we wait until the middle of the night, we can go into the town and make our way to the inn hopefully undetected. If we're lucky, and that is the case, then we can sneak into the inn and get her while she's sleeping."

"And if we're unlucky?" Tilly gulped and asked.

"Then someone will spot us and know that we’re back in town.I think we can take her out, but only if we are careful about not being seen by anyone.” Astoria knew that the last thing they would need is a bunch of thugs being alerted. I won’t be captured again.

"You guys can fight... I can't do anything. I get scared and think that I’ll just freeze. I want to change and be more like you two..." Tilly looked at the ground. 

Astoria took off the goblin dagger and held it out to Tilly. "You should take this. Even if you don't really know how to fight, it's better than nothing. Just remember, 'Stick 'em with the pointy end.'" Astoria chuckled to herself a little over the reference even though neither one of her companions would get it.

Tilly took the weapon with shaky hands and lifted her dress to tie it to her leg. When she was done it was concealed and looked as though she had no weapon at all. At the very least if someone went for her thinking she was completely helpless, she would have the element of surprise. It wouldn't be easy to get access to the weapon there, but it was better than nothing.

They led the horses into the grove and once they were out of sight, Tilly took some food out of her pack. They still had a bit of the jerky. The four of them ate in silence, while Astoria mentally prepared for what was to come. 

Once the meal was finished Ladriel stood up, "I'm going to keep an eye out just in case. We're far enough from the town that we should be safe but we need to be vigilant anyway." She shouldered her bow and proceeded to nimbly climb a tall tree that stood nearby. As agile as a cat, she was quickly high up into the branches of the tree. "I have a good view of the road from here. No one will sneak up on us easily. You two should try to get a few hours sleep. It's going to be a long night."

Astoria was grateful that she had Ladriel as her companion. She always seemed so confident and fearless. It made her feel a lot more secure in this dangerous world knowing that Ladriel had her back. Tilly put her pack on the ground near a tree and used it as a pillow, laying down in the tall grass and closed her eyes. Their fourth companion sat on the ground nearby, her customary blank stare stuck to her face.

Astoria had almost forgotten somehow but Tilly must have leveled up, probably more than once, from the experience they had gotten when killing the dire bear. "Tilly, didn't you level up? Did you remember to allocate your points?"

Tilly opened her eyes and turned her head to look over at Astoria. "I'm level 4 now. I placed my points this morning when we woke up. I'm not sure how much of a difference it'll make, but I should be better off than before."

Astoria was happy to hear that her new friend was getting stronger. Maybe they could both learn some things from Ladriel and then they would be more effective fighters. They had most of the day to wait around, and it was probably more important for now to get a little rest. Astoria lay down next to Tilly and decided to have a look at her friend's status to see where she had put her points before taking a nap.

Tilly's stats were looking a lot better now that she had gained a few levels. At the very least she would probably be able to take a hit better than before if things were to go south later. Satisfied that her friend would be a little more safe tonight, Astoria closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Astoria awoke to the sound of a thud as Ladriel jumped down from the tree. The forested area was silent except for the crickets that chirped loudly nearby. Tilly was still asleep and it looked like it was just about sunset. Deciding to let her friend sleep a bit longer, she quietly got up and walked over to where Ladriel was. 

"Hey, did you need to get some sleep before tonight? I can climb up there and keep watch for a while." She offered, speaking in a quiet voice. Astoria hadn't been the most athletic person in real life, but she was sure that she would be able to climb up that tree here. 

"I'll be fine. Did you get enough sleep? Hopefully this goes smoothly for us," Ladriel whispered to her. 

"I got enough sleep. Are you ready to teach me some of what you know, now?” Astoria asked hopefully.

Ladriel nodded her assent. "We don't have a lot of time right now, but I should be able to teach you something while we wait for it to get late enough to head into town. As I told you before, the archery skills are beyond your current capabilities. Tracking probably wouldn't be useful for us right now, either. For tonight’s operation, I think it’d be best if you had the stealth skill."

Astoria couldn’t wait to learn the stealth ability; it was an invaluable skill in a lot of games. She would be able to get the drop on opponents and that could literally mean the difference between victory and defeat. "That would be awesome! Let’s get started?"

Ladriel nodded and led her away from Tilly so that they could talk at a normal volume. They could still see her from where they now stood but at least they wouldn't wake her up so easily. "The secret to stealth is learning to minimize your aura and move quietly." Ladriel demonstrated by going behind a nearby tree and then disappearing. Moments later, she popped up behind Astoria and poked her in the shoulder causing her to jump.

"See? It's very useful, and the more you practice the more natural it'll be to sneak up on opponents without being seen." Ladriel showed her the basics of how to do this and after a few hours of failures, Astoria was finally able to somehow dampen her aura. She felt her presence shrink and knew that her movements would be harder to detect now. She practiced her new Stealth skill on Ladriel and noticed a new icon that closely resembled the stealth icon from the Elder Scrolls games. It was a closed eye that opened slightly when she moved and made noise. The eye opened all the way and she had been spotted by Ladriel. 

"Not bad. It seems like you have the basics down. The more you practice at it, the better you'll get. My master back home had such a high level of stealth that she could sneak up on almost anyone. You picked this up faster than I would have believed someone could. You have a lot of potential it seems. I'll teach you more of what I know when we have more time."

Astoria nodded and thanked Ladriel again for teaching her such a useful new skill. Astoria couldn’t believe how long they had been practicing stealth. The sky had already become dotted with stars and the three moons had spread themselves across the night sky. 

They had decided on a plan while letting Tilly get some more rest. They would utilize the inn’s stables to hide their horses while they looked for a secondary entrance into the inn. They would neutralize any threats and find Elena and have their answers, all while being as stealthy as possible. Astoria told her all she knew of the layout of the inn and that she wasn’t sure if any employees other than Elena lived in the place. 

"Tilly, it's time to go," Ladriel placed her hand gently on Tilly’s shoulder. Their silent companion remained sitting in the same spot they had left her earlier. I wonder if she slept at all. I hope we can heal her;she might be trapped like a prisoner in her own mind. That would be terrible. 

"What are we going to do with her while we do this?" Astoria pointed at the girl.

Tilly stirred and sat up rubbing her eyes. She blinked and looked around. Letting out a big yawn, she said, "I could stay here with her. I'm not going to be very useful in a fight but I can watch over her while you’re gone."

Astoria didn't like the idea of leaving the two of them outside town. She remembered the wolves at the farm. "There could be wild animals roaming around out here. There has to be a better solution than leaving you out here, pretty much alone." 

"Astoria is right, who knows what you could run into out here by yourself. It isn't ideal but I really think that the only way to do this is to have you two come along with us."

"I guess you guys are right... I'll come along and keep an eye on her and the horses. I can do that at least."

The four of them got onto the horses once more and began the journey into town. It’s almost time. In just a little while, that old hag will face sweet justice. She’s going to get what’s coming to her.

Oliend was pretty quiet this late at night. Only a few lights could be seen lit in people's windows and on the main street only the inns and the tavern were lit up. Astoria could hear some music drifting from the tavern along with raucous laughter. It sounded as though everyone in there was having a good time. They kept to the side of the street as far away from the tavern as they could. Luckily no one had come outside and they were able to pass through the town like ghosts, unseen in the darkness. 

It took only a few more minutes before they stood before The Whispering WIllow and Astoria felt bile rise in her throat at the sight of this place. She ground her teeth a little and hopped down from the horse as quietly as she could manage. Ladriel and Tilly also hopped to the ground trying to make as little noise as possible.

The town felt dead and other than the creaking of the sign as it swung in the slight breeze, the silence was deafening. There was a lantern that hung beside the entrance to the inn that held a candle. The uneven light flickered and Astoria was happy that they had the light of all three moons so they could see clearly in the darkness.

They went around the side of the inn toward the stables. There would be a stable hand watching the place of course, at any time of day. Horses were too valuable to be left unattended and an inn that couldn't protect the property of its guests would not last long. Ladriel motioned for her companions to stay back with the horses for a moment and then activated her stealth skill.

Before their very eyes, Ladriel crouched down and Astoria could tell that she had activated stealth. She silently moved off ahead of them around the corner. I hope that she is able to scout out the area without getting caught. The three of them waited for several minutes before Ladriel’s dark shape crept back around the corner. 

“I’ve incapacitated the stable hand. He looked like he was just a kid. I doubt he’s involved in any of this. He didn’t see me and I have him tied up in one of the horse stalls,” Ladriel said. "She may already know we're here. For all we know, we could be walking straight into a trap. We have to be extremely vigilant and stick to the plan.”

They led the horses into the stables and put them as far toward the back as possible. It was likely that some of the employees of the inn were involved in the trafficking. Because of this, they would need to subdue or possibly eliminate any people they came across. 

"Let's do this." Astoria tempered her hatred for the Red Lotus into courage for what had to be done next. "Tilly, if we aren’t back within an hour leave without us. Don't try to do anything stupid. Just head north, don't trust anyone and don’t stop for long periods." Astoria gave her friend a hug.

Tilly hugged her friend back and Astoria stole one final glance back at Tilly as her and Ladriel left the stables. Astoria activated her Stealth skill and the two companions made their way to the back door of The Whispering Willow. The door was not locked, thankfully, and they were easily able to slip inside. A candle inside a glass case hung from the wall and flickered providing faint light in the room. It was the kitchen, and a huge wood stove stood in the center of the room. There was enough room atop it to fit several large pots Astoria supposed. Knives of various sizes hung from a rack on the wall and there were crates filled with various vegetables in the corner of the room. 

A large door was at the far end of the kitchen that likely led to the common room, but there was another door off to the side. Ladriel must've had the same thought as she did and they made their way to the side door. It would be likely that the living quarters for the people who worked at this place would be here rather than upstairs with the guest rooms.

Ever so quietly, Astoria opened the door with her dagger ready, while Ladriel stood a few paces back with her bow drawn. On the other side of the door was a hallway, lit by a single candle in a glass container, just as in the kitchen. Astoria peeked around the corner and saw that there were three rooms down the hallway. Since the guest rooms were upstairs, these would probably either be for storage, or possibly staff member rooms. They walked quietly through the doorway and then shut it behind them.

Astoria was relieved to see that the stealth icon still showed a closed eye and they made their way inch by inch down the narrow hallway. All three doors were on the left side of the hallway and it didn't take long before they came to the first one. Astoria's hands felt clammy and sweaty as she reached over and gripped the doorknob. The confines of the hallway were too tight to use a bow and Ladriel had her shortsword unsheathed and appeared ready for action.

Quietly turning the doorknob, Astoria slowly pushed the door open. Rusty old hinges made the door creak a little as she cracked it open and peered inside. The room was empty. The two crept further down the hall to the next room. 

Astoria took a deep breath and tried to calm herself as her heart beat wildly in her chest. She repeated the same process as before and cracked the door open. The hinges on this door were in better shape and luckily made no noise. A mountain of a man lay in the bed in the room. Next to him on an end table sat another lantern as well as a giant meat cleaver. Astoria moved a little and to her horror there was a loud creaking noise from the floorboard she had stepped on. The eye icon opened all the way and Astoria's heart dropped. Crap!

The man's eyes shot open and he sat up. "What in the—?" was all he got out as Ladriel bounded into the room and jumped atop the bed. He must’ve been in shock to see a tiny wisp of a thing atop him holding a weapon. He reached for the cleaver, but was too slow and Ladriel smashed the pommel of her blade into his right temple. The blow must’ve knocked him out as he stopped moving and Ladriel hopped down from the bed.

The two worked quietly and quickly as one to cut part of the bed sheet into strips. They gagged the balding man and tied his hands and feet tightly. Astoria gave Ladriel a thumbs up and got a confused look in return. She just shook her head and whispered, "Never mind. So far so good."

They quietly made their way back into the hallway. It didn't seem like they made enough noise to wake the innkeeper, so they should still have the element of surprise. They got to the last door and went inside. 

Elena, the innkeeper, sat up from her sleep and her eyes opened with shock when she saw Astoria. "You!" She tried to get out of bed as quickly as her old body would allow. 

Astoria's rage at seeing the woman could not be contained. She ran over to the side of the bed and slapped the woman as hard as she could across the side of her face. The woman flopped backward onto her bed and moved a hand to her face.

"How could you do that to me? To anyone! You're a monster!" Astoria spat at the woman. Elena didn't say anything further and just stared at Astoria in shock. It was very clear that she never thought she'd see her again. 

Ladriel walked into the room at the end of Astoria's quick tirade. "Shhhh! Do you want to wake the whole place on us?" She took stock of the situation and saw the old woman laying in the bed who looked to be in a state of shock. "Listen here, old woman, you're going to spill every detail that you know of the Red Lotus to us one way or another." She put a wicked smirk onto her face and brandished the shortsword she held in her hand at her.

The innkeeper's eyes opened wide. Astoria could tell that the gravity of her current situation had begun settling in on her. "Help! Jonathan, get in here!" she yelled. "He’s going to beat the two of you bloody and then we’ll put you back where you belong." Ladriel sighed and walked over to the edge of the bed.

"If you're calling for the man in the other room, we already took care of him. No one will be coming to save you." What was left of the blood in the innkeeper's face drained out and she looked like she would pass out.  

Astoria remembered how this woman had changed from a kindly grandmother type of figure into a monster who had sold her in the dead of night. She didn't feel one bit sorry for what they intended to do to the woman. This revelation about herself gave her pause. 

She considered who she was becoming. Was she a murderer? Just a couple days ago she had been a normal high school girl and now she was going to torture and kill this old woman for both revenge and information. What did it say about her that she was okay with what they were going to do? It was too hard to think of this as just a game anymore, the people here may be just code in a program, but they were much more like real people than NPCs. 

The reality of her situation was that she didn't live in the real world anymore. She would have to be prepared to do whatever it took to survive, or she would die here sooner rather than later. In real life, the police would at least try to do something about an organization like the Red Lotus, but here she was left on her own.

She snapped back to reality as the old woman began to speak. "You're marked. You'll never get away from us. Killing me will do nothing, you might as well turn yourselves over."

"Turn ourselves over?" Astoria's face grew hot at the audacity of this woman to suggest such a thing in her situation. "You've got to be kidding, right?"

"I never kid. I will tell you nothing." The woman clamped her mouth shut and looked down. Maybe she was stalling, or maybe she just didn't care if she died. Astoria couldn't be sure.

"Have it your way, old woman," Ladriel grabbed the woman by her hair and yanked her out of the bed onto the floor. Elena let out a cry of pain as she was dragged across the room into the open. Ladriel planted a boot into the woman's lower back and dropped her to the ground. Afterward she began kicking her in the stomach over and over.

Elena coughed up some blood and Ladriel again grabbed the woman by her hair and smashed her face into the floor. "I'm not playing around. Things can get much worse for you if you don't talk. Make it easy on yourself, old woman."

Astoria had only seen such brutality before on TV and even though she had agreed to do this, she was taken aback at the efficiency and cold way that Ladriel worked the woman over. She went over to the door and kept watch down the hallway. They wouldn't be taken by surprise if someone came to help Elena.

"Talk!" Ladriel kicked the woman again. "You don't want me to have to start breaking things or cutting them off. I will do it." She said with cold hatred. It was abundantly clear that Ladriel felt exactly the same as she did about the Red Lotus and what had been done to them.

Elena spat out a glob of blood. The old woman was a tough one but Astoria thought she'd break soon and they could be done with this place. "No one would miss that girl, she had no one," she coughed again. "Lord Dane is one of the higher-ups in the organization and makes sure that when girls who are alone disappear, no one goes looking for them. I agreed to participate... and he gives me a small cut of the profits... that's all. It's just business."

Ladriel just loomed over the woman as she kept speaking. "It doesn't matter what you do. You can't go against a nobleman. He has guards and you won't ever even get to see him, much less stop him."

Ladriel grimaced. "Tell us about the mark of the lotus curse. Can it be removed? How exactly do you identify us?" Ladriel's face looked like she could hardly contain her disgust for this woman.

"Only the leader of the organization could remove the curse. I have no idea who that is. A red glow appears around you when we can see you. Please... that's all I know." 

Astoria had no intention of showing the woman any mercy. Just as she was thinking that they needed to finish the job and leave, the door at the end of the hallway creaked open and two men walked through. They were armed and paused for a second when they saw Astoria standing there holding a bow. 

The woman had been stalling. She must have known that these two would show up and was buying time. "Ladriel, we have company." Astoria said as she quickly nocked and released an arrow toward the two men. She hit the one who was further into the hallway right in the throat. He gurgled as he fell to the ground bleeding out. The second man jumped back out into the kitchen and took cover.

"They won't save you, old woman," Ladriel casually yanked Elena's head back by her hair and used her sword to slit her throat. After dropping the body to the ground she ran over to the hallway to help Astoria. 

"There's at least one more, he's in the kitchen." Astoria and Ladriel moved slowly down the hall. Ladriel led with her sword out in front of her. She walked carefully in some sort of fighting stance. They were trapped in here, and had no choice but to rush out the door into the large kitchen. As they ran out into the room, a man lunged at Ladriel with a short sword from the side. Her friend was just barely able to bring her sword up in time to parry. A second attacker rushed Astoria from the front. She fired a poorly aimed arrow which clanged as it hit the heavy iron stove on the other side of the room. Shit! She rolled nimbly beneath the swing of the man’s sword and ran to the far side of the room.

Ladriel clashed with the large man in close quarters and it was clear that she was the better swordsman. Astoria quickly fired another arrow from her bow at close range, but missed again. The arrow connected with the wall making a loud thunk. Astoria saw Ladriel move as quick as a viper and jam her long sword into her opponent’s gut. He fell to the floor bleeding out. 

The second man let out a curse under his breath and ran for the door. You won’t get away! Astoria and Ladriel gave chase and burst out into the cold night air just in time to see that the man going around the corner of the inn. They sped up and closed some distance on the man but he was going to get to the main street in mere moments.

Astoria stopped running and took aim with her bow. She fired an arrow and just barely missed her target, once more. She only had time for one more shot before he would be at the street where there could be witnesses. She took a deep breath, aimed, and fired. The arrow flew true and hit him in the lower back. The impact caused him to fall forward onto his face letting out a scream of pain. Ladriel caught him and silenced him only a second later. 

"We should search her room and the front desk." Astoria suggested. 

"Good idea. We should take what supplies we can as well. I'm sure the local guards will be on high alert after they find out about their deaths. Stick to the plan; we need to make it look like a robbery, but let’s be quick about it." Ladriel led them back to the innkeeper's room. They found a key atop the dresser that opened a strong box in the corner. Inside there were some documents, most of which looked like records of food deliveries and bank deposits. There was a letter from Lord Dane mixed in with the rest of the documents. Astoria took it and placed it in her bag to read later. There was also a large coin pouch that clinked when she removed it from the box. 

Afterward, they went to the front desk in the common room. There was nothing of use there, however, and they didn't want to waste more time than they had to. On their way back out of the kitchen, Astoria grabbed a couple loaves of bread, some large chunks of cheese and some vegetables. They had been inside quite a while now and Astoria was worried about Tilly. 

Quietly, they headed back to the stables and loaded everything onto the horses. "We need to hurry," Ladriel said in a whisper.

"I know a place that will be safe outside of town." Astoria didn’t really want to endanger Jayse’s family, but she didn’t have a better idea or anyone else to turn to for help. Morning was quickly approaching and the four companions made their way out of the town quietly and headed down the road toward Jayse's farm.