A Simple Job, Part 1

I always hated the taste of alcohol. But given that it was the only drink brought in this godforsaken expedition, there was no other choice.

“Oh my,” a half-elf sighed as she sank onto one of the empty cargo boxes. “Finally a break from all that walking!”

“You said that, the last time we took a break.” I paused. “That was three hours ago.”

She looked at me as if I were a madman. “Well, Yamato, maybe if I were also seven feet tall and built like a boulder, I'd— .”

“You’re just lazy.” I interrupted, then took a swig of the mead. It was horrible.

Her name was Stella Asteria. For someone who claimed to be a descendant of elves from Arcadia, she inherited none of their stamina. None of their stoicism, either. If it had been up to me, I wouldn’t have partnered with her for this expedition at all. An adventurer with a broken sword would have been better backup. Bad luck, some would call it. I called it a pattern.

Still, I respected her for it. She’d been the first to walk up and ask if I wanted to party up. Not many are keen to do that. Not with me. Maybe that was why she’d asked in the first place. Nobody would look twice at two outsiders standing together. We just look like we belong to each other instead. I never asked if that was why. Some things are better left unspoken.

The job itself was simple enough on paper: some noble had put out a bounty to recover artifacts discovered in a cave that split open during an abyssal incursion, from the second Abyssal War, near Equinox Reach. Simple enough. If you ignored the part about the incursion. The third one of the year, but all three felt different. They were quiet just like this night. The Abyss didn’t repeat itself by accident. Not this many times, not this close together. A bad omen, but nobody wanted to be the one to say that out loud. Not when the reward was obscene.

With the region freshly cleared of hellspawn by the heroes, to some it felt like a free ride. But if life had taught me anything, it was that nothing in this world was easy. The heroes of Albion had been active for longer than usual. Even perfect beings such as them would make a mistake some day.

“Hey. You’re doing that thing again.” Stella’s voice cut through my thoughts.

“What?”

“That thing where you put your hands together like this.” Stella mimicked my gesture. “And stare off into space like the world doesn’t exist.”

“I was just thinking—” I began.

“Thinking about what?” She interrupted. Again.

“Have you considered zipping it? For once?” I asked, my patience running thin. “It might do you wonders.”

“Cute.” She smiled, wry. My insult hadn't landed. “You could stand to open your mouth more too. In the brief time that I spent with you in this expedition, I’ve learned exactly two things about you: your name and the fact that you carry a lantern that doesn’t even work.”

She crossed her arms, pouting. “And you brought nothing to protect yourself with, either! Just some old-looking leather armor. The kind I’ve seen monks use.”

“These.” I raised my hands. “Are all I need. Trust me.”

“Anyway, to answer your previous question, I was just wondering how odd this expedition seemed. Haven’t you noticed?”

“I have.” All the fatigue seemed to drain from her at once. She leaned forward, setting her flask down.

Even if the heroes had cleared the Reach of abyssal influence, lawlessness wouldn't vanish overnight. It would take time for law and order to be reestablished. But in two days, we had yet to run into a single person, a monster — hell, even a hellspawn. It was all too suspicious to me.

“I haven’t sensed anything awry, so maybe we’re just lucky?” She gripped the side of her gauntlets.

“Yeah. Sure.” I said, getting up from the old cargo box. It creaked, relieved of my weight.

“Where are you going?”

“This doesn’t sit right with me. It’s almost too perfect to be true, so I’m just gonna run a perimeter check.”

“Shouldn’t we leave that to the others?” she asked. She was way too trusting of these people who looked down on her two days ago.

The vanguard and flank guard were led by the noble's front man, Brutus. He was some ex-Steel Brigade sergeant who apparently believed he’d done his time and got nothing for it. Most of the people on this expedition were friends of his. The rear guard was a small detachment of adventurers from the guild. I didn’t trust any of them. In terms of this entire company, the only person I could trust, crazily enough, was Stella.

“I don’t trust them. Now come on, let's go.”

“You want me to come along too?”

“Obviously, half-elf. You've got a better sense for danger than I do, and I'll be damned if I leave you here by yourself.”

“Fine.” She wrapped her cloak around her God-given proportions. “If there’s nothing out there and you’re just being paranoid, you will never hear the end of it from me.”

We began our rounds a few meters from the carriage. Its engine was quiet as steam was airing out of its exhaust pipes. The grounds we stopped at, although convenient and comfortable, left far too many openings for an ambush. 

Something that put me on edge. 

The dense expanse of trees left us heavily exposed to aerial attacks and the damn fog could conceal a bear in those bushes. Worse, the usual night sounds like insects, the rustle of small game, birds settling into their roosts were nowhere to be heard. Only silence, and the distant noise of Brutus's men. 

 It was quiet. Well. If you could ignore the shouting and noise coming from the front of the escort. Goddamn Brutus and his circus of clowns were taking this way too casually. I got that we hadn't run into resistance, but they could at least be considerate of where they were.

I made sure I was behind Stella so I had a clear line of sight on her. I didn’t have to worry whether or not she could see. Elves, even half bloods, had extraordinary night vision. Me? Let's just say I have an extraordinary sixth sense.

“There seems to be nothing here, Yamato.” Stella whispered her footsteps so quiet that she made almost no sound. I’d thought all elves had some natural attunement to magic, but Stella seemed to rely on physical ability alone. Odd, for someone of her blood. It was one more thing about her that didn’t add up. A question for another day, maybe, if there ever was one. 

We came across a small clearing in the middle of the forest. Moonlight cut through the canopy here, pooling silver across the grass, and for a moment it almost looked peaceful. The trees around its edge stood too still, like something had passed through and left the forest holding its breath.

Then I smelled it.

“Wait.” I grabbed Stella by the shoulder, stopping her before she could step into the clearing. The earthy smell of the forest was still there, but there was a bitter tang beneath it. Something I knew all too well.

Blood.

A lot of it, if my nose was right and my nose was never wrong. Fresh, too. Whatever had happened here hadn’t happened long ago.

“Get ready.” I clenched my fists.

Saying that was pointless. Stella was already in battle formation. 

Did she smell the blood too? No way.

The ground in the clearing looked freshly disturbed, different from the soil we stood on just outside it. I cautiously made my way to the center of the clearing and my instinct proved right. The dirt felt loose, like it would crumble away under the slightest pressure. Like whatever it covered hadn't been buried so much as hidden in a hurry. But there was no doubt about it now. The scent of blood was coming below.

 Looking down, I tightened my stance, ready to strike.

“Cover me, Stella.” I didn’t wait for a response.

I struck the ground. My fist went through the loose soil easily and, as expected, I felt the impact of metal against my knuckles. I grabbed hold and pulled. What came up didn’t shock me.

A freshly mangled body. An adventurer. The scarlet blade insignia on his breastplate matched the group that was escorting the carriage with us. 

His wounds weren’t from any hellspawn, nor a monster I knew of. They were clean, deliberate. Bladed weapons, and more than one, from the angles. Unless he’d turned the blade on himself, and these wounds said otherwise, there was only one conclusion. Someone had killed him. One of ours, maybe, or someone wearing the mask of one.

I didn’t have to wait long to find out who.

“Yamato.” Stella’s voice was sharp with alertness. Zero panic. Almost like the half-elf I’d met two days ago was a completely different person. “I can sense ten auras approaching our location. They’ve already surrounded us.”

“Back to back.” I raised my fists, bracing.

“Well, well boys. Looks like we’ve got two more who want to join the party early.” A voice resonated in the fog of the woods.

"Perfect. That adventurer wasn't enough for me," another sneered.

“Oh lucky! If it ain’t the busty half-elf. I can’t wait to get my hands on her.”

I heard the creak of Stella’s gauntlets as her grip tightened.

“Me first,” someone cackled. “But first we gotta take care of the big furball as well.”

“It shouldn't be too much of a problem,” another added. “Stupid beast didn’t even bring a weapon. How dumb can it get?” 

The laughter that came after it proved Stella’s sense correct. There were indeed more of them.

The voices finally stopped hiding and moved in towards the clearing. 

I was right. They were men from the flank guard.

“What have you done?” I snarled, my temper beginning to overpower whatever rational sense was holding me back.

“You should’ve just stayed at the carriage,” one man said. “Would’ve made our jobs a lot easier.”

“Stella. I’ll make an opening and you make your way out of here.”

Whatever I said seemed to tick her off.

“Are you out of your mind!” she whispered back, seething.

If I create an opening, run. You're faster than me. Get back to the carriage. Alert the rear guard. Hell, alert Brutus—”

“I don't think so,” The man standing at the center stepped forward.

“Big man Brutus’ orders. Sorry, furball, but tonight is the night you and the pretty one over there die." His degenerate smile made me want to punch his teeth in.

"Sic ‘em, boys.”

And like a pack of rabid dogs, they descended upon us.