Elaina sat in the dark of the shop, reflecting on just the last twenty-four hours or so and the wild ride that it had been. Her thoughts danced from memories of Azade and Anisha’s nude bodies entangled with one another, to their faces when they were under her. When she ran the previous night in her mind, she found her imagination taking over for where her memory left off. She considered the possibilities of what they could do together, what she and Azade could have done here behind the counter, or what she might be able to do to Anisha in the back of the wagon while they were traveling.

She had to shake herself from her steamy fantasies to bring herself back to the present, to remain focused and alert. It was strange how a little sexual attention or a bit of flirting had been able to set her down such a winding road so far from reality. Anisha might have been right about it being part of her nature, a thing that other humans didn’t really have to worry about. Elaina wondered if it was something Kaethe experienced; before she turned into a vampire, she had the same blood as her after all.

Elaina turned her sword to gaze upon it, a finely made weapon with jewels embedded in the crossguard. It was a gift from Kaethe when she had come to this world. Her sister, or her sister’s double rather, had done a great deal for her since she’d come here. It was vital for her to remind herself that it wasn’t her sister exactly. It was a subtle but important distinction to make considering what the two had done with one another for so many nights after arriving at the Obsidian court. It started with Elaina letting her sister feed on her, as the need for blood had not been mastered yet. It took years for some to have even a small amount of control over it. She’d functioned as a blood bag for her, in a controlled environment for controlled feeding. But when the teeth had sunk into her neck, she’d become aroused; feeling her blood and energy passing into her sister had been a surprisingly erotic sensation.

But it wasn’t her sister, she had to remember that. Because when Kaethe had noticed her arousal, her response wasn't to stop immediately or turn away, she kept going and only wanted more. Her real sister, the Kaethe of her own world, wouldn't have triggered that response in Elaina. Nor would her sister have indulged her if it had.

Elaina’s eyes closed slowly as she remembered the feeling of her lips on her neck. There was a sharp sickly sweet pain to being fed upon, and a strange sort of paralysis that came with it. She could practically feel Kaethe’s hands wandering up the front of her tunic. She'd been tentative at first, hesitant about what it was she was doing to a woman who had been victimized for years by another woman with her face. But Kaethe was a vampire, and her desires had won out over reason, seemingly out of nowhere. Had it been Elaina’s blood passing into her body that had done it? Perhaps part of her nature conferred upon Kaethe and overwhelming her? Or had she a portion of it for herself?

The latch at the front door rattled briefly then turned. Elaina’s eyes came open suddenly, and her grip tightened on her sword as her other hand came away from the bulge in her pants. It had wandered there, seemingly without her notice. Blushing in the dark, Elaina forced her breathing under control and strained to listen.

“It’s open.” She heard a male voice whisper, “Idiot just leaves his door unlocked.”

“What do you think happened to the window.” A second male voice whispered back. Delightful, there were two of them. She shifted her weight slightly, bringing her sword level and to the ready but being careful not to reveal herself.

“Probably just some kid knocked a ball through it.” The first man replied. Elaina heard a bit of crunching as he stepped through the room, “careful, there’s still a bit of glass on the floor here.”

Elaina kept her back to the counter as her ears tracked the sound of glass crunching underfoot just on the other side. She noticed that when they weren’t stepping directly on glass, she couldn’t hear the footfalls of boots. They were either very soft-soled shoes for sneaking around, or the two were just that good. She hoped it wasn’t the latter. She ran her palm down the flat of her blade, infusing it with a portion of her magic. It made the weapon a little lighter, a little harder, and a little sharper.

“...You feel that?” One of the assailants said as he suddenly stopped. Elaina’s eyes went wide, realizing she’d just given herself away somehow. She threw herself up from behind the counter and swung her blade at about neck level, only to find nothing in its path as the assailant ducked beneath the swing gracefully. The arm of the second one whipped out, sending a small blade whizzing past Elaina’s head as she narrowly jerked it to one side.

The first one came back up, a dagger-length blade popping from a bracer-like contraption he wore along his arm. He swung at her like he was performing a punch and the blade tip scraped across her breastplate as she leaned away. His other hand snatched out, took hold of her hair, and yanked.

Elaina let out a cry of pain as she was hauled over the top of the counter by her hair before spilling heavily onto the ground. With a quick motion of her sword, she cut herself free and swung out at the man’s legs but again found nothing there to hit as he leaped backward. She scrambled to her feet as quickly as she could, catching a glimpse of the man with the punch dagger holding the lock of her ginger hair to his nose.

“Not bad,” he said before discarding the hair to the side. Both he and the other man wore tight leather armor with hoods, their faces painted black to make it hard to make out their features. But there was no mistaking the shape and quality of the eyes. They were both half-elves like Anisha.

A second punch dagger snapped into place from the bracer of his other arm. Elaina didn’t waste one more moment and threw herself at him with her sword ready. The second man’s hand flashed down to one of the bandoliers he wore strapped across his chest and let fly two throwing knives with one single throw. She tumbled forward under the blades as they glimmered in the night, raked her sword along the floor, and swung it in an upward arc, taking little pieces of the wood with it as it went.

Her blade missed the man with the throwing knives, but the bits of debris struck him in the face, blinding him for just a moment as she pivoted and brought her sword around to block a strike from one punch dagger blade and then another in quick succession. As she knocked the second to one side, she leaned in with her shoulder, barreling into the man and slamming him into the counter behind him. As the two collided with it, she brought her arm up to his throat and bent him back over it. She couldn’t hold him, though, as he brought one of the weapons up to attempt punching her side just under the chest plate, and she was forced to jump back to avoid it. Elaina brought the sword down quickly, the magic in the blade humming and flashing halfway through the arc of her swing and passing clean through a foot or so of the wood counter where punch dagger-man had been just a second before.

“She’s a fucking swordmage.” The man spat, the line she had cut in the bar still sizzled and crackled with the heat of the magical discharge on impact. So far, neither of them had got a significant strike on the other. Elaina was already beginning to feel a little winded. But there were two of them and one of her. The odds that had already started in their favor were quickly stacking more heavily against her.

The man with the knives brought his fingers away from his eyes and blinked a few times before pulling a knife from his bandolier, “Then let’s get on with it.”

Elaina charged again and this time was met halfway by the man with the punch daggers, swinging a quick combination of strikes that she was only barely able to parry before she was forced to retreat to one side as more knives came flying in her direction. The swordmage barely managed to keep her balance as she spun, blocking another strike from the punch daggers while a second one cut a line out of her thigh. The wound wasn’t deep due to how quickly she was moving, but the shallow cut was painful enough to remind her that she was losing ground fast. Two more knives came flying by her head, one of them cutting a small piece out of her ear. He was getting closer, even with how quickly she was moving in close quarters with his ally. Simply trying to avoid the knives wasn’t going to work anymore.

The swordmage swung wide with a single-handed strike at the man with the punch daggers. This man was too quick to be caught by such a strike and it created an opening for his ally to lob another blade at her. For a brief moment, she felt as though she were moving in slow motion as the arm of the knife-man cocked back and hurled the blade in her direction, just as she took her sword in both hands like she was playing stickball. With a heavy swing, she deflected the knife out of mid-air and into the Mr. Punch Dagger. The flying blade didn’t strike him cleanly, but he did bring one of his arms up to block his face. She came in swiftly on the vulnerable side and sank her sword deep into the soft flesh of his abdomen, the magic of her weapon allowing her to pass clean through the leather armor like a hot knife through butter.

Elaina pushed the sword down to the hilt, the foul coppery smell of his blood fizzing and popping on the magic of her blade filled her nose. He stared at her wide-eyed, blood beginning to trickle from his mouth. The two held there frozen for a moment, before the man’s face contorted into a rage. Blood spilled through his gritted teeth as he prepared to strike at her, but she didn’t afford him the chance. The swordmage turned her blade and jerked it upward, moving the edge a few inches as she did, causing the fight to go out of him entirely. Another thrown blade came flying at her from a new angle. She had expected him to try and find some kind of opening the moment she was clinched with Mr. Punch Dagger. She pivoted, interposing the punch dagger man's body between her and the blade, and felt the impact of it sink deep into his back.

Using both the strength of her free arm and the sword itself, Elaina hurled the body back off of her weapon toward his ally, who was quick enough to leap to the side rather than get bowled over by the body. She advanced swiftly, sending a sweeping horizontal swing which she knew he’d duck under, immediately following it with a downward strike to coral him just a little to one side. As he did, she turned her blade and brought it back, cutting through his calf as quickly as she was carving meat. He’d drawn a knife to stab her at close range but let out a cry of pain as one leg stopped supporting his weight, and he faltered. Within that hesitation, Elaina brought the blade across his throat. The magic in the edge caused it to pass through nearly to his spine with the swing. A sweeping arc of crimson splattered across the back wall as the man’s cries went silent.

Elaina stepped back, her chest heaving with the exertion of the fight as the second assailant fell to the floor, grasping at his throat in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. Short of magical healing, nothing would save him.

The back warehouse door swung open, and both Azade and Anisha came through, ready for a fight. It took only a moment for them to assess the situation, seeing the bodies lying on the floor inside the shop’s lobby.

“By Umranu...” Azade whispered as she took a few more tentative steps inward before looking up at Elaina, “We heard a bit of thumping around. Why didn’t you call us?”

Elaina took a deep breath, trying to steady herself, and smirked a little, “Oh, you know, I was just having so much fun I got caught up in the moment.”

Anisha pocketed a vial she had been holding and moved up beside Elaina to look her over, examining her closely, pausing briefly at each of the shallow cuts. The ear was strangely the one that held her attention for the longest, which made Elaina worry that it was more severe than she had initially thought, “She’ll be alright. Just minor cuts.”

Azade unstrung her bow and set it aside, her brows furrowed, “You should have called us.” She scolded, “You could have been killed here.”

The redhead chuckled, “you haven’t hired a lot of swords before, have you? That’s sort of how it works. You pay me to protect you, and I do what I can to keep you out of harm’s way.”

Anisha made a face that showed Elaina had a point, though she was careful to keep her back to Azade when she did. The alchemist produced a small vial filled with soft blue liquid from the pouch on her belt, “Drink this. You’ll feel better.”

Elaina took it slowly, giving it a cursory glance before popping the stopper off and downing the contents in a single gulp. It had a sort of syrupy quality to it with a coolness that aerated into her nose and which she could feel all the way down to her stomach, “You make healing potions?”

Anisha nodded and leaned close to make sure the wounds were closing correctly, “Lucky you.”

Azade still looked frustrated with Elaina, "You know it doesn't make you somehow smarter or stronger by refusing to ask for help."

Elaina glanced up at her as the potion did it's work and saw just how serious the look in Azade's eyes were, "I didn't mean it to come out like that," she apologized, "I just meant.."

"I know what you meant," Azade cut her off with a gesture of her hand, "I understand it's your job. But you can't keep doing it if you're dead or so badly wounded that you can't perform your duties. Do you understand?"

"I thought I did, but now I'm not sure if this is personal or professional concern."

Azade's eyes softened now and she let out a brief sigh, "A little of both, I suppose. Just tell me you won't try any more lone wolf stuff to prove some kind of abstract point about your competence hm?"

Elaina nodded, "Of course."

"Thank you," Azade said with a distinct tone of relief before gesturing to the bodies, "So... two of them. Guess they really wanted him dead, hm?"

“They weren’t just simple hatchet men either,” Elaina said as she took a cloth from the counter and wiped her blade clean. The sword no longer thrummed with the magic she had placed in it earlier, “Both had a fair amount of training and knew how to fight.”

Anisha yawned, holding a hand over her mouth as she did, “Maybe they were expecting Rashuk’s shenanigans. Probably has a reputation for overreacting, all things considered.”

“That seems likely,” Azade huffed, “I don’t suppose they said anything before you dispatched them?”

Elaina frowned with a nod, “Yeah, we had a little chat about the weather too before they started throwing knives at me.”

Anisha gestured to some of the blades sticking out of a nearby wall, “I was going to ask about those.”

The redhead motioned toward the man she’d nearly decapitated as she sheathed her sword, “It was that one, there.”

Azade began to unbuckle some of the armor she’d managed to get back on, “The weather?” she asked flatly.

Elaina shook her head, “Sorry, no. There wasn’t much to say. But they’re half-elves, and they’re definitely Orbonne.” She leaned down over the man with the punch daggers and turned him over slowly, holding one of his arms up with the weapon still attached, “This steel right here is well made. The emblem normally on the pommel of a sword is here at the base of the blade, stamped into the metal itself.”

“You would think assassins wouldn’t want to carry around anything that identified who they worked for,” Anisha commented blithely.

Elaina stood, dropping the arm with a heavy thud as she did, “The Orbonne company produced these weapons when the Abyssals were still a thing, and there wasn’t as much cause for the cloak and dagger routine. I doubt they’ve had the funds needed to produce anything new since then. So they’re stuck with the stamps and emblems if they want steel that’s any good.”

“I suppose,” Anisha yawned again, “Do you think there will be any more?”

“Doubtful,” Azade answered, “Two already seems excessive; if they’re going to try for Rashuk again, it won’t likely be soon, anyway.”

Elaina agreed. It wouldn’t make sense to keep throwing men at a merchant who might warn people their company intended to deal with anyway. This had been an added precaution, albeit a failed one.

"I'm going back to sleep then," Anisha announced, making her way back through the rear door with a brief wave to Azade and Elaina, "Goodnight."

Azade set the armor aside on the countertop and motioned over to the bodies, "What would you like to do about these?"

Elaina glanced down and then shrugged, "I'll just go grab a town guard, tell them we handled a break-in. They'll want to speak to Rashuk, though, so we need to be sure he's clear on the fact he hired us to protect him. They'll take it from there."

The archer shook out her long silken black hair, "I'll go let him know. We'll get what rest we can after that and leave after breakfast. Does that sound alright to you?"

"That works fine for me. I'll go get the guards." Elaina said as she made her way to the door.

"Elaina," Azade called as Elaina's hand fell on the latch. The redhead looked back over at her smiling warmly at her, "Good work, but remember what I said."

Elaina felt a little flutter in her chest and a little heat in her face, wanting very much to delay her trip to see the guards to stay there with the beautiful woman stripping down out of her armor. But the longer she lingered, the more questions there would likely be from the guard when they finally arrived on the scene. She had to pry herself away from Azade, giving her a simple nod of thanks before pulling the door open and stepping out into the cool night air.

The guards didn't give them much trouble about the break-in, Elaina had begun to accumulate a reputation in just the short time she had been in town, and the guards had caught wind of both incidents at the Frog Song. The barman was considered an honest and trustworthy individual, so when he told the story of what had happened, it was supposed to be as close to gospel truth as one could get. Knowing that the men here were connected to the men that had started things the night before satisfied the guard's line of questioning. Once they were done documenting what happened, a cleric of Umranu, the god of death, took the bodies away on a cart to be prepared for burial.

Elaina got what rest she could after that, but it was only a few hours before they rose again for breakfast. It was a simple meal of pastries and fruit that Rashuk had there in the office, after which Anisha and Elaina prepared the wagon and got the rear doors open while Azade and Rashuk went to the stables nearby to bring the horses around to hitch up. The whole process took about an hour. They said their goodbyes to Mr. Rashuk, leaving him with the hope that perhaps this wouldn't be the last time he could do business with Azade, who's beauty captivated even him.