Zethira sprinted through the underbrush, doing her best to remain just out of sight of the main road. It was just after dusk, the last lights of the sun peeking out from just below the horizon.

She sniffed around. Elissa’s scent lingered in the air, but it was faint. Ten hours since she'd been past, maybe twelve.

Dammit!

She scowled - even if she found the hideout of her charge’s captors, there was no guarantee that Elissa would still be there, or still-. No time to ponder that. Zethira clenched her fist as she continued along the path, drawing a drop of blood with her claws.

Considering the terrain, the time since Elissa was last here, and the trail so far, those asshats' base was likely on the opposite side of the forest. The main road was safer, following along to the east, then cutting south along the edge of the forest before looping back around to the west. But every second mattered, and Elissa's safety was paramount.

There's no time for the safe route anymore.

She veered to the right, breaking off the main trail into the morass of wood and fungus now before her, powering through the underbrush as she pushed onward, into the heart of the natural fortress ahead

Zethira cursed under her breath. The Mycosi Woods were a den of dangerous forest-dwellers – creatures who feasted on man and beast alike, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

She scoffed. Dangerous to a human, no doubt – those bastards were rather frail creatures. Which is why it was all the more urgent to find Elissa, and fast.

The nearly-full moon shone down over a small clearing as she continued into the deepest part of the forest. The trees grew denser and thicker -- so dense that a stray branch grazed against Zethira’s face as she proceeded. In her haste, she hardly noticed either the cut or the drop of violet blood oozing down her face as she sped onward, pushing through a series of rolling wooded hills.

And the trees grew yet thicker still, the underbrush so full of decaying branches and hungry plants that she couldn't push further. But there wasn't time to go around either. She drew the sword at her hip -- a human weapon, yes, but their tools were still useful and it was unwise to deny oneself a useful weapon in the name of a grudge.

After a moment of concentration, she launched a single mana-infused stroke, unleashing a blade of air which carved a path into the heart of the woods. It wasn’t ideal, risking angering the forest. And there was no telling what awaited her ahead, what she might have to fight off. Fatigue set in, but that was no excuse to slow down. Elissa’s safety was paramount, and speed was of the essence. It was her job to keep Elissa safe, and Zethira wasn’t a woman known for half-assing her jobs.

She rushed onward through the new path, huffing as she sheathed her sword. Above her, the branches seemed to move of their own volition, and below her, wood and fungus crackled and stirred – already, the forest was starting to regenerate.

No more trace of Elissa’s scent – it was a damn gamble for sure, abandoning the trail, but this was still the best chance of finding her alive. Zethira pushed forward, stopping only at the sound of leaves and sticks cracking on the ground nearby. Hopefully it was just some dumb beast wandering through the forest. Zethira had neither time nor desire to fight one of the more deadly denizens of the deep.

A hiss rang out. Zethira froze in fear for a moment, her body disobeying her brain’s orders to move. Not good.

Remembering her training, she closed her eyes and hummed a few bars of an old melody she’d learned some fifty years ago. The song seemed to have magical powers, but even if it held no intrinsic magic, the notes and melody had a soothing effect on her. Gradually, her body again obeyed her commands.

“Damn!" Zethira muttered.

I expected a couple of werebats or maybe some man-eating plant, not this. She rattled through her pouch of supplies. Shit! No basilisk antivenin. Just my luck. Too risky to fight without it; hopefully I haven’t been spotted.

Basilisks weren’t known for hunting dragons, or half-dragons for that matter, but hunger was a powerful motivator. Zethira extended her claws. She climbed up a nearby tree to scout the area, and hopefully figure out where the damned serpent was slithering. The moon was unnaturally bright, even by Alstaran standards, but no time to gaze at its beauty. She leapt from tree to tree, hoping that no aerial predator would spot her as she attempted to lose the damn serpent down below.

With her decades of training, she made even the sound of her breath as quiet as possible. This was slower, traversing almost silently through the forest canopy, but Zethira would be no use if she ended up dead. That would also make getting her revenge difficult. A longer term concern though.

She was through the deepest part of the woods when the slithering finally stopped. Though she continued traversing, leaping from treetop to treetop, continuing on through the canopy until she was certain she'd lost the creature.

It was nearly midnight as she passed into the southern portion of the forest, she sniffed around, picking up Elissa’s scent once more. Elissa was close, and had been near within the hour. One final leap high into the sky over the southern portion of the Mycosi Woods led her to a clearing just to the southwest at the forest’s edge, a small fire burning, and some sort of cave within the stone cliffside. This was it.

Zethira smirked as she snaked back down to the ground and surveyed the area. Three guards. Men all of stocky build, some scars, all carrying various light weapons. No signs of being professional soldiers – common brigands most likely, but best not to take undue risk. Humans were squishy, yes, but they were also cunning pack warriors, and if there were three visible, there were likely another dozen hiding about, not to mention any number of potential traps and other defenses.

She pulled a small blowgun out of a pouch opposite her sword, along with a handful of darts. After running her thumb along one of her canine teeth and slicing through the skin, she winced, putting a small drop of her blood on the points of each dart. Dragon’s blood had a tranquilizing effect on nonmagical creatures, including humans untrained with magic, and these assholes didn’t seem like practitioners of the arcane arts. Of course, the blood of a full dragon would be better suited for the job, but her halfbreed blood would still work, albeit with half effectiveness.

Zethira steadied her breath and hummed that tune again. Beyond the stars, beyond all known land, Paradise waits, untouched by man. At least, that’s what she remembered of the song. It would be nice to find such a land, untouched by mankind and the constant wars they brought in their wake. But that was the end-goal, and that required coin. And there were more pressing matters.

She forced her breath through the blowgun. Poof. Poof. Poof. Three shots. Three clean hits. The damned idiots probably didn’t even know what hit them before they fell on the ground. No cries for help before they passed out, but the element of stealth didn’t mean another chance to get sloppy. Zethira raised her nose. Elissa was in the cave, as expected, and she was brought here recently. Within the half hour.

She skulked to the cave entrance and peered inside. Several branching tunnels – this was a natural fortress, designed to ensnare unsuspecting swords-for-hire within its traps. In that moment, she felt something almost resembling pity for these humans and their sad excuse for senses. Her face scowled at the word, ‘human’. She had no such weaknesses -- Zethira's eyes could see in the caves as easily as in daylight, and her nose could track Elissa’s scent as easily as if she were watching her charge pass through the tunnels right then.

It was quiet. Not unnaturally so – there was the faint trickle of some natural spring underfoot and some critters scurrying about on the cave roof, but no sign of intelligent or human life anywhere. The air was musty, earthy, unclean. Zethira feigned a mocking vomit – such cramped quarters didn’t suit her well at all. Dragons were the monarchs of the sky, after all. But here she was, doing what needed to be done to earn her daily bread. And the job was rapidly proving to require every bit of the ‘earning’ part of that statement.

Zethira spotted two guards flanking some sort of wooden gate into a manmade structure deeper in the cave and overheard them talking as she readied her blowgun.

“Say, the hell you think the boss wants this wench for, anyway?”

“Well, damn me if I know or care! You ain’t been ‘round here too long, so I’ll make this easy. Keep your head down, do what you’re told, collect your coin, and don’t ask questions. Do those four things and you just might survive.”

“You ain’t curious?”

“The quacking duck gets shot, you damn fool.” The second guard slugged the first.

Just as Zethira readied her blowgun, the cave behind her began to glow, illuminated by either a torch or, if she were particularly unlucky, some base fire spell. Footsteps and the rattling of chain mail followed, and Zethira cursed her luck. Stealth didn’t seem possible anymore, but this was more fun, and more than that, she needed to burn off some steam.

Her claws and fangs were fully extended as she pounced out from behind the final bend in the tunnel, charging the two guards and bashing their heads against each other before they had a chance to call for help, knocking them both unconscious.

The door was locked. One of those dimwits probably had the key on him, but there was no time to search the bodies. Not that she really had any interest in more physical contact with such gross-looking men than she could avoid. A single kick was sufficient to dislodge the door’s hinges, and a second knocked it down to the ground at her feet.

She continued inside, looking around for more signs of ambush. But instead, she found only her objective. That light, heavily freckled skin, noble demeanor, orange-red hair, soft, sky-blue eyes. The scent of lavender and rose confirmed it. Zethira quickly loosed her charge's restraints and removed her gag.

“Zethira, I-”

“No time, Princess. We aren’t safe yet. If you aren’t going to fight, I suggest you stay extremely close – the terms of our arrangement were that I was to deliver you alive, and I intend to collect after the trouble this job has caused.

“For all I know, the entire compound is on high alert by now. Should have just killed the entrance guards and been done with it, but I know how you are. Hmph. I don’t get it; just makes for more ugly complications, but, if I did, then I’d have to listen to you whine about it for the next week. I make no promises, but I’ll try to hold back my rage.”

“Thank you,” Elissa said.

Zethira drew her sword as a trio of guards ran toward the pair.

“Surrender quietly and we can grant you the mercy of a swift death,” one of the men said. “Or can you not see that you’re outarmed and outnumbered?”

Zethira smirked as she launched consecutive blades of wind at the men, throwing them against the wall and out cold. “Even I know that thrice zero is just zero.”

She turned to Elissa. “Let’s hurry before the entire compound tries to stop us!”

They continued on, Zethira in front, Elissa following behind, keeping watch for signs of pursuit from the beaten guards left in their wake. As they approached the cave entrance, Zethira stopped the young princess.

“The cave; it’s too quiet. And the path thus far has been unnaturally clear of soldiers. There's probably an ambush waiting at the entrance.”

“Let me help you!” Elissa said in a shouting whisper.

“No chance; I don’t get paid if you end up dead. Or do you think I’m so weak as to be brought down by these pricks?” Zethira spat, furious at the insinuation. “Stay here, and don’t follow unless you’re either pursued or I say it’s safe.”

“But I-”

“That’s an order, Princess!”

Zethira extended her claws as she ran into the light of the moon ahead. Thirteen soon-to-be-dead men waiting. They put on a brave face, but the rattling of metal armor and shaking of knees belied their fear. And they were right to be afraid. Elissa would certainly want her to offer them a chance to surrender, but that was a waste of time.

Zethira had seen this a dozen times already, and every time, it was the same. They’d scoff, pointing to their numbers, and then they’d die. This was just speeding it up by a few seconds. Sure, legions of soldiers in tandem, legendary champions, and masters of the arcane arts were known for slaying her kind, but these cretins were just common thugs, used to brutalizing the defenseless, but lacking any true combat experience.

It didn’t take long. Their armor was poorly-fit, their swords rusted and dull, their tactics nonexistent, more reminiscent of a drunken tavern brawl than the regimented, disciplined coordination of trained regulars. Thirteen men, thirteen corpses. It wasn’t pretty, but it was honest work.

Zethira turned to the cave and motioned for Elissa to follow. Just as Elissa reached the entrance, an arrow loosed toward her, aimed squarely between the eyes. She froze in place, until Zethira pushed her to the ground, saving Elissa’s life but taking the arrow in her own shoulder in the process. The archer groaned and collapsed on the ground just as the arrow made impact.

“Damn! I got careless. Elissa, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, thanks to you. Nothing more than a few scrapes. But you’re hurt!”

“We should get moving. It’s not safe here, and sunrise isn’t long now.”

“But you’re hurt!”

“This flimsy thing?” Zethira pulled the arrow out of her arm and threw it to the ground, the violet blood on its head seeming to glow ever so slightly in the moonlight. “I hardly think such a weak attack is going to slow me down. Now let’s hurry – we don’t know how many more are left in the caves or who else might be after you.”

Zethira began walking down further to the south, away from the center of the Mycosi Woods, but Elissa stopped her and turned her around. She placed her hands on Zethira’s shoulder. Her hands, human hands, they were soft skinned, frail, but gentle and smooth. They glowed a soft teal for a moment, and as they did, the dull pain in Zethira’s arm subsided and her wound closed.

Zethira shook her head. “Thanks, I guess. But we should get a move on, and fast; I already heard one basilisk and don’t know what other shit is waiting if we stay here. And I’m not keen on finding out. Let’s get somewhere safer, and fast.”

“Let’s.”