Anya continued looking for the book, eager to get some reading snacks as quickly as possible. She came across other numbered volumes, including titles about medicine and surgery, but there were no knight books. She moved on to the next case.

"This is kinda fun," said Anya, "I like finding things. I'm a good finder, you know. We'll find Sir Jerry in no time, I'm sure of it. And then you can read to mister Elric and I."

Anya smiled when she imagined being read to with mister Elric. That would probably make him her new friend; her first one.

The girl had striking features, though the little grime and dark circles hindering such beauty made Corinne pout, just a little bit. She was sure a nice bath would fix her right up, but The Den was not the most...um.
"Farewell, Julia, and the best of luck be with you." Corinne smiled and touched two of her fingers to her lips serenely as the woman tipped her hood and went on her way. The sign for prayer and parting, yes. She prayed the half-elf would have an easier time ahead. But who wouldn't. The Den was...nice.
Suspicions confirmed with hooting coming from the rickety doors of the building that was a little bit away, and sounds carried all the way to the forge made Corinne shudder.
Poor, poor Julia...
You can say that again.
But I didn't say anything.
Oh...you know what I mean.
Lysander whinnied. Corinne shot him a look to which he acted oblivious, snorting a little and lowering his head to drink from the water trough the smithy had been kind enough to put out for visitors on horseback.

"Strange...I could have sworn it was something." Corinne pursed her lip, though not for long as she noticed Rowan's smile, and his missing teeth, and couldn't help but return it to the man. She was blushing a little at the mention of Ben's name, but nodded eagerly. "I shall wait here for him then, Rowan. Thank you very, very much!"
And she proceeded to find herself a nice little corner somewhere within the building, piling it up with some of the lighter bags of sand that lay about for multipurpose, and creating herself a nice little corner in which to sit and wait for Ben to return. She always enjoyed watching the smithies work. The way they created new from old, and made old new again, and improved and chipped away and worked at their labours of love until they were beautiful, and perfect, in her eyes. She held much respect for Rowan and Benjamin. And his mother was a wonderful old woman too, though she often had the habit of musing about Corinne as her daughter, which made the elf laugh and correct her often.
There was nothing like that going on between herself and Ben. Really. Really really. Really really really.

Sebastian was all too happy, clapping a hand onto the man's back during the hug and grinning up at him eagerly. "Same old, same old. Enjoying my ale. Though, I had the strangest dream last night, if you'd believe it...can't remember it now though. Shockingly enough, did you notice Pucksy's was in ruins this morning? I woke up in one of the rooms, which was surprising, went down and half the place was blown to bits. Crazy, innit? Oh well...there goes the best ale in town, at least until they're sorted again. In other news... The missus and the boy been givin' ya trouble, eh? Corinne's the same. Always, always nagging me on. It's crazy." he laughed. She pouted over at him. He shot her a mock-apologetic glare which made her smile again. It wasn't the things he said, but the ways he said it that mattered. "Nagging me on about your boy too, if you'd believe it..."
"Uncle!"
"Sorry, my flower!"
She blushed like crazy. "I...I..." threatening as she wanted to sound, it was nowhere near what it should have been with her blushing like that.

"Still, Rowan..." Sebastian looked over at the table where the woman had left her sword, and his fingers seemed especially focused on the pommel.. "Big piece of work for a little lady like that. These days, all those kids are so full of surprises. Think this beauty'll be good as new by tomorrow?"

Tirarian moved around the cart and pulled off a box. She prised it open with her weapon and looked at the rows in poultices inside.
"Something to numb the pain is probably better here," She tossed him one of the bottles. "Just a sip or two every four hours."
She started heading towards his house

It was time to go. There was nothing more Liesel could do but wait for judgement. She was just going to have to take it like a man
As she started to walk off, she noticed the crying boy and his relative (Mother? Grandmother?). Despite the woman's best efforts to soothe him, he just wouldn't calm down. He was practically drowning in his own snot when Liesel approached them.
"Go away" the old woman hissed "can't you see you've caused enough trouble?"
Liesel ignored her rudeness, prefer instead to kneel down and place a gentle hand on the child's shoulder.
"Stars and moons and air ballons, fluffy clouds to the horizon, I'll wrap you in rainbows, and rock you to sleep again..."
Maybe it was the fact that it was the 'demon' that was singing to him. Maybe it was the youthful voice and sweet tune. Or maybe it was just that Liesel happened to be good singer. Whatever the reason, the child stopped crying and looked straight at Liesel. And he smiled! It was such a nice smile, if you got past the tear/booger mix plastered across his face.
"You have a lovely son" Liese said to the old woman "He takes after his mother, I see" she thought it better to err on the side of flattery than insult.
Before either could respond, the Kasai hurried off. She had to prepare her defence.
"Oh well, back to the tomb"

Delvin looks as the supposedly "demon girl" sang to the boy in order to calm him down. She sang with such loveliness that he was for a second entranced by it, before shaking his head to clear it out. After that, she hurried off into a direction, probably to defend her case.

"Dosen't seem to be a demon child now aye?" Zeld says

"That dosen't mean that she's not a demon, she might be a sucubbus or a thing that can influence people, but after she sang....I'm not exactly sure. I think it's time we introduce ourselves Zeld" Delvin replied

Zeld chuckled " Let's go talk to a "demon child then. "

Liesel had barely left the street when she heard footsteps mirroring her own. The threat of church was weighing heavy on her, so it was only natural for her to panic, fearing a guard or bounty hunter had come for her already.
She span around, a little too fast, and tripped over herself, landing unceremoniously on the ground with her legs wide open
"Give me time!" she cried "I need more time!"

Seeing the girl tripped herself, he hurriedly walked over to her, his tall body giving a large shadow, obscuring his face with his hood. He quickly knelt down and offered his hand to the fallen girl.

" I'm not part of the church nor do I believe that a young girl is a demon. Name is Delvin and yours? " Delvin offered

"Oy, introduce me as well Delvin! I'm a person with feelings you know !" piqued Zeld the Skull.

Delvin subconsciously tapped Zeld.

South Side of Estermere

Elric caught the bottle, as he dropped his book down to the street. He opened it up and took a sip of it, "Much appreciated." He picked up his book and followed Tirarian back to his house.

---

Elric's Abode.

Remington rolled his eyes as the little brat mentioned it was fun. This job could have been so much quicker. Remington thought to himself as he continued searching. WHY SO MANY BOO- A new thought occurred to him. "Did you say 'Sir Jerry' or Surgery?" Remington inquired, making sure to emphasize the pause between Sir Jerry. He pulled out a book and checked out its spine. Internally he was lamenting how long it was taking.

---

Harkness Street

"She sang like da-da-da..." The child remarked, unable to say daddy, for he knew that his father was gone, long gone. The mother of the boy wiped off the rest of the boy's tear and snot from him and wiped it on her tunic, where there was already a large concentration of it. "You've been remarkably good... Why don't I get you something nice to eat?" She said, as the boy hugged the woman, "Okay Mommy~!" He released the hug as he stood up, glancing up at the woman, "You'll be able to get food too right? I don't want Mommy to be hungry." The mother gave a small smile, "I'll be alright, as long as I can see your smiling face Hawk." The woman's stomach growled as she led the boy, named Hawk, down the opposite way of the street that the Kansai went down.

Another man, who drank from a dingy green bottle and sitting in the muck and mire, peered at Delvin. "... Did that man just talk to himself?" He mused to himself as he took the bottle and had a sip from it.

---

Smith's Smithy

Rowan blinked as his face contorted into a frown. "Pucksy place is in ruins you say? Ack! Well I'm glad you didn't suffer from it!" He said expressing quite a bit of concern. He chuckled, "Oh same ol' naggin' for the Beast of Burden o' the house." He glanced at the sword, as he lifted it up and began inspecting it. Rowan coughed as he then spoke in a falsetto, "Rowan! You spilled your mug of ale! Rowan, I need you to watch Roslyn!" Rowan then spoke more normally, "Dad! I can't watch Roslyn! Dad! I need the forge! Dad, the roofing fell and I have to go to the bakery, can you handle it!?" Rowan paced the area as he told the story, and placed the sword back down near the anvil. "Yeah, gonna make a nice amount of coin dealing with that. Yeah, I can get it done by tomorrow, charge a bit more for moving it up in the list..." Rowan pondered.

"Dad!" A voice called out. Rowan glanced over, "Well, welcome back Ben!"

James was panting by the time the house was inside; the ground floor was apparently empty. James tentatively sat down his bucket, and stepped through the gaping hole. He drew his longsword, and ascended the stairs. If he was lucky, she'd gone back to bed and slept in, undisturbed by the intruders. Carefully, he opened the door knob and went over to their bed, still empty. He threw the covers around, and saw it was also empty.

"Anya!" he called out. "Anya, are you here?"

Liesel took the hand uncertainly, dragging herself to her feet. She didn't quite trust this fellow, and the mysterious voice that followed was unnerving.
"Liesel. Liesel Steinhartz. I look after the graves at night around here. And no, I'm not a de-"
There was something wrong with what the man said - he had made reference to both demons and the church. Those weren't common topics of conversation, much less to a stranger.
"Who mentioned the church?" Liesel eyed the tall man warily, taking a few steps back. As she did that, she drew her concealed Dagger, the smooth, cold metal resting in her hand, awaiting use.
"You and your invisible friend better explain yourselves, or else I'll yell 'rape'. What do you want with me? Who are you, really? And how do you know about my association with the church?" her voice was low and quiet, but there was a definate threat there. 'Delvin' would have to choose his next words very carefully, or else he might have the Estermere Guard coming after him.

Ark'kruy'ek let out a chuckle at Randolfs comment. A look grew in his eye that told Ark'kruy'ek was about to say something appalling. "You are right. We are diseased. We get it from the food we eat....and we have eaten a lot of humans in our days. Guess you should teach your friends to bathe in the future. We not be so sick then." Ark'kruy'ek laughed. "I enjoy your petty insults. They let me know I'm not the ignorant one." Ark'kruy'ek called for three of his hunters. "They will lead way to sight of incident." Ark'kruy'ek and his hunters began to lead the visiting group. Ark'kruy'ek walked in the back beside the dwarf Rihar. "You think the eating insult was too far?"

"Word gets around pretty quickly, especially in a small town like Estemere." Delvin replied calmly

"Oy Delvin show me to her, these empty socket can't clearly see through this pouch, let me have a look at the lass!" Feld said through the pouch, slightly muffled.

Delvin, cautiously making sure that no one is around, took out Feld and showed the girl a rather small skull with several cracks etched into it. Making no movement save for the jaw the skull once again speak
"Oh my she's pretty this one, though she needs to relax a bit seeing she's gonna shank you if you don't answer her question." Delvin quickly put Feld back to his pouch and answered Liesel.

"I'm Delvin Magnum and the delightful dwarf albeit in a skull, you just met is both my for smithing mentor and companion Feld the Skull.I'm a part time mercenary and also a part time blacksmith. I was hoping for a job or perhaps a powerful mage living here when I heard that you were going to be "purified" in a church. While none of this is in any way my business, Zeld and my morals always decree that we will help anyone in grave danger, in this case you. I do not need any payment other than perhaps information if you have it on mages specialising in spirits and whatnot. And also Feld can sense magic, that magic can be traced back to you. Perhaps you are what Zeld and I have been seeking for 7 years."
Delvin quickly summarise what happened when he was 17 and what happend to Feld.
"So you see we've been trying to find mages that perhaps can return Feld to his body, perhaps you can help us?" Delvin ask

Anya looked at Remington, confused. She wasn't entirely sure what she was being asked, but she would clarify.

"Of course I said Sir-"

But just then, she heard a familiar voice calling out to her. Her papa was back! She bet that if they didn't find the knight book, her papa could definitely tell some cool knight stories to them. He also probably brought snacks too.

"I'm in the study," called out Anya, "A Stranger Who is a Friend of Elric's and I are looking for a book about knights to read to mister Elric so that he feels better because he's sick! And also we're going to eat snacks!"

"I was worried about him when they told me, too. Hope the good man is okay." Sebastian's face mirrored the concern, though it was replaced by a little chuckle, and his voice took elements from his elven side as he almost purred in response to Rowan's narration. "Working you hard, Rowan. I know exactly what you mean."
He looked over at Corinne, sitting on the makeshift sack-chair in the corner, and shook his head and his dark brown hair out of his eyes and imitated her to the best of his ability, deep voice almost murdering the rendition in falsetto "Uncle, you've got to stop drinking, it'll destroy you. Uncle, come down and talk to me, you're always up alone. Uncle this, uncle that." and he laughed, almost oblivious to the elf's features drooping from the corner as she watched him imitate her like that. She didn't think it was asking too much of him personally, but...he wouldn't be able to see past his growing addition, it was his own fault. "Uncle, stooop, pleeeease..."

And she pulled the verdant green hood over her head a little in response, almost whimpering from where she was, a little embarrassed and evidently uncomfortable. It didn't take long for Sebastian to catch onto it though, and he excused himself from Rowan's current work to go and kneel before his niece, using a hand to tilt up her chin and have her look into his grey eyes. They glittered like always, though at his delicately crafted lips was a little apologetic frown. "Sorry, my flower."
And she sighed a little and looked away from him with a bit lip, though he turned her head to him again and stroked her cheek with hardened hands. They were from his crafting days, that isn't to say he didn't craft anymore, but his work was not as legendary as it once had been, leaving Corinne the primary bread-winner. "Don't be like that, Corinne...I said I was sorry, didn't I? I really am."
She sighed and placed her hand on top of his, finally smiling just a little. "...yeah, I know, Uncle Seb. Go on, I'm sure you and Rowan have more to talk about."
"That's my girl." he smiled softly now, and messed up her hair which made her pout, and made his way back to where Rowan was. "Moody, my girl. At least Benny isn't like that..." he said in a hushed voice, "Though Roslyn, I'm sure she gives you trouble time and time again. Lassies, of any age, are so difficult to understand, eh?"

He eyed the sword, eyebrow raising in that characteristic Corinne inherited from her mother, who shared it with her brother. "It's a beauty, that's for sure. Still wonder how that elf carries it with her. Listen, Rowan." he brought his voice down, playful as ever with a glint in his eyes accompanying it, "I'll pay the balance if she's a little short. You know those travellers, most of them struggle to just find a decent place to stay, and now with The Hippogriff as it is, I-"

He was interrupted by a familiar voice that made Corinne almost jump out of her seat.
"Well, welcome back Ben!"

"Well look who it is," Sebastian turned and gave the brown haired, blue eyed boy a little wave. "Welcome back, Ben. Corinne's be-"

"Oh, uncle!"
He could barely finish his sentence before the elf struggled up from the little pile of sandbags, and quickly closed the distance between herself and the young human male. The funniest part was, she was a good three odd times his age, though it didn't matter in the slightest, you could look at both and she'd still seem a little younger. He was around nineteen or twenty human years, inheriting the best from his father and his mother. Brown haired, bright blue eyed and standing well above six feet, at six foot four or so. He was wearing the typical, dark, fitted trousers and light boots under a shirt with sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms, not overly muscular but definitely having seen a lot of work at the forge. Though normally he had his apron on when he was at the forge, it was hung neatly on a little hook in one corner of the workplace, where he and his father hung up their aprons for the evenings. He had just enough time to set down a large roll of almond bread on a nearby clean table before Corinne wrapped her arms around his neck and one of his arms snaked around her waist and gave her a little squeeze. She embraced him rather tightly, almost glowing with light and life at seeing the youth again. She couldn't help but smile, and flush, and every last telltale symptom denying that they were 'just friends'. "Benjamin, there you are! Where were you? I...I longed to see you!"
Evidently, the bakery...though she was curious what the occasion was.
"Is that almond bread?" her nose caught the scent of the warm roll and it made her lick her lips, "It smells delicious!"

"Look at those two." Sebastian rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, leaning against one of the walls closest to where Rowan was working, "I don't know. I'm just glad she's happy. Bet she keeps your son busy too, eh?" he scratched the back of his head before staring off into the distance. "They don't mind very much here in Estermere, since she's my niece and all, but...anywhere else, a relationship like that would mean nothing but trouble. I should know...heh." Sebastian's voice trailed off, "Us halves found it difficult enough to belong. Hence I like it here. The mayor really is a swell guy...ah."

"Hmph. I'm afraid I still can't trust you."
Liesel didn't even bat an eyelid at the talking, animate dwarf skull, however her cheeks did go a light peach when it called her pretty. "T-thanks, I guess. I wish I could return the complment."
Liesel was wholly unimpressed by Delvin's talk of "helping those in grave danger". He was a mercenary, he said, and thus of changeable opinions. All someone had to do was press some money into his hand and he could turn on her.
Still, now was a bad time to be making enemies. If she argued with him, he might turn on her immediately.
"It seems I have the knowledge you want, 'Delvin', but so far you haven't shown yourself to be trustworthy. This coud all be a plot to sell me off to the church. And I'm afraid you cannot help me - you would have to convince an entire town of my innocence. You have little to nothing to offer me, so I must offer you the same."
Liesel tried hard to seem aloof and cold, but she couldn't quite manage it. Instead, she sounded like a little girl who had to make an adult decision. It was almost pitiful.
"Besides, why should you help me? There are many other mages who can perform this task,all older and wiser than me. Try the Astronomer's Guild, they'll sort you out."

Julia looked upon the commotion curiously, stepping up slowly to the beaten man. “Well, that was some hit, hmm?” she pointed out with a smirk, the tip of her braid fell out from her hood as she loomed over the man. “And it isn’t even supper time yet, such a shame.” She extended a hand to the stranger, offering to help him up. Hesitant at first, he took Julia’s hand with a shaky grasp. Bracing him with her other arm, she attempted to pull him up. Weak and battered as he was, once he managed to get a foot under him and flat on the ground, the endeavor quickly rose to success. “You alright there?” she looks over him with a cautious eye as she tries to steady the man once on his feet. He nodded slowly, well, perhaps it was a nod. Though as incoherent as his response might have been, Julia took it for a nod. She scans the area for some place he can sit and rest. “Good,”, her voice is soft and comforting, “I’m sure you can find some place to sit and rest. You took quite a beating there, though you’re still standing, so it looks like you’ll be fine.”. She looks him over one last time then nods. “If you would pardon me then, I should be on my way.”

Once more, she turns towards the tavern. Slowly stepping up to the swinging doors, she peeks in at first, hesitant to go in. The noise from inside was just a tad overwhelming. She knew it was going to be rowdy, but this was just insane. She held herself there at the door for a long moment, just observing the commotion inside, everyone was busy, she was sure they wouldn’t notice her. Slowly and carefully, Julia opened the door, and crept inside, sneaking past the crowd and inching her way over to an empty table nearby. With a cautious eye on her surroundings, she sat down. It wasn’t too long before a wench found her way over to her. “whaddle it be, miss?” the woman muttered to Julia, crouched down over the table to better hear any response. “Just a glass of whiskey please, and a room for the night, if you have.” is what she said into the wench’s ear, placing a small coin pouch on the table in front of her.

“I only hope I have enough” Julia thought to herself, “I’ll need to pay the smithy as well in the morning. Hopefully work won’t be too hard to come by. I’ll get on that tomorrow…” she continues her thought, a small yawn slips from her mouth. The wench returns with a tall mug of whiskey and a bowl of stew. She wasn’t expecting the stew but was more than happy to slurp it up. She glanced at the door, “I wonder if that man is alright”, giggling softly, she looked around the room, “I wonder who exactly it was who gave him that beating and threw him out”. Dismissing the thought, she shrugged “from the sound of it, perhaps he got what he deserved, an interesting notion to think about, but the last thing I want to do is get involved with trouble, especially in this place”. Her thoughts were quieted once she began eating the stew, a delicious mix of spices, beef and vegetables. Oh how the whiskey went down smooth, it was much better than what she had in her flask, a taste that she had almost forgotten, and missed dearly. Any worries she had were absorbed in that meal, gods, she could eat …

Elric's Abode.

... SON OF A... MIMSY I SOLELY BLAME YOU FOR THIS! Remington angrily thought as he heard a yelling to directed towards the brat, and the brat yelling back which... A smile crept upon Remington's face. Remington quickly drew out his steel dagger, and rushed up to Anya and hold her at knife-point, keeping the blade near her neck. "Okay. Playtime is over." Remington calmly stated, "Well, I suppose I'll have to improvise in another manner." This entire operation has went to shit. Remington thought to himself.

Remington steadily held his dagger as he kept up a devious grin.

---

Gnoll Village

Randolf glared daggers at the Gnoll. "Savage c-" Cateline interjected, "Trading insults will only increase the time you will have to spend with them. Not exchanging those insults will allow us to conduct the operation in a faster and more efficient manner, and will allow you to not deal with them as much as you would be if you traded insults for short bursts of happiness." Randolf paused, and reflected on the idea. "... You're right." Cateline smugly smirked, "Of course I am correct, it was an incredibly simple observation, which you couldn't seem to understand." Randolf grumbled as she made her retort.

As the Gnoll Hunters came, the proceeded to follow. Rihar cocked his head to the side when he noticed that Ark spoke to him, and was in the same position. "Nay, it wasn't. Randolf has heard worse insults over the years."

---

Hunter's Den

"...THEN I SAY, THE ARISTOCRATS!" One of the patrons of the Den boisterously howled out. Everyone who was at a table began slamming upon it with a great fury, as loud chortling consumed the interior. The inside of the place smelled heavily of tobacco smoke, which seemed to permeate the very foundation of the building. On the right end of the tavern were rows of practice bullseye targets that were carved onto a piece of wood and hanged on the wall. Some of the boards had knifes sticking out, others had arrows, while others had small throwing axes in it. But there was not a single board that was completely empty.

Beneath the bar-stools next to the main bar, there was a large concentration of puke that was left on the floorboards and was seeping into the basement below. The puke was primarily a greenish color, with some traces of a contaminated yellow. The main bar-table was filled to the brim, and had no stools available for anyone else to sit there. The crowd there was a mix of people, some were dressed in heavier metals, others were dressed in simple leathers, many had weapons, others did not. Man and woman alike were there and they were laughing hysterically, some were trading blows. In fact, at the main table there was a confrontation that was occurring between a human male and an elven male.

The Elven male was significantly taller than his human opponent, and was dressed in some rather pretty chain-mail which was polished so well, that it was glimering, along with the short-sword on his side. He was currently holding his human opponent by his flowing black locks, and was repeatedly slamming his face onto the bar-table. The serving staff was watching, and seen exchanging coins for bets to be made concerning the outcome of it. The human male was bleeding onto the table, as he had a rather large gash in his forehead, he scrambled around with his right hand as he reached for an empty glass and slammed it into the eyes of the elf.

"WAAAAAAA!" The Elf shouted out as he immediately let go of the human, as shards of glass stuck out from his eyes, as blood began pouring from the sockets. The Human male, who was dressed in a green tunic with some black embroidery grabbed the Elf by his torso and slammed him down onto the ground, just barely missing a table that had patrons happily eating some mutton, potatoes, and beans and drinking a variety of alcoholic beverages. As the elf went down with a thud, the Human man began kicking him repeatedly in the head, as the Elf's ears quickly became swolen.

A tavern wench who had an eternal smile, due to the scars carved into her face, whistled to the man. "Tha's enuff." The man glanced down at his opponent and smirked as he kicked him one last time, before returning back to his booth. Getting up from a round table, a man who wore no shirt, which showed off a kraken taking down a larger boat tattoo on his chest walked up to the Elf, and grabbed him by the hair and dragged him out of the establishment.

---

Estermere Woods

"... They haven't arrived yet." An Elf who was dressed in head to toe in tanned leather stated, as he sat around the corpses of Grushtov and Jel. He was waiting alongside the goons the Empire hired out. ... Reporting this up the Chain of Command is going to suck. The Elf sighed as he took out a deck of cards he kept in a small coin purse. He dealt them as he placed the deck on Ringo. "Alright, well, one game shouldn't hurt. If they don't arrive before then... Then we follow Plan C." The goons nodded, as they collected their hand. "Alright, as usual I'm house." The goons gave a brief cheer as the Elf chuckled, "Ah... yes. Good idea getting those laughs out earlier. Because we are all going to suffer for the failure of those two. But what's life without a little risk? May we be shown some mercy, for our foolishness in trusting them to fulfill the task." The Elf clapped his hands, as they began playing blackjack.

---

On the Way to Elric's Abode

Elric glanced towards Tirarian, "So, you saw the Knight today? Did you get to share any interesting stories?" He inquired as he kept a good hold on the box of tablets and the book.

---

Smith's Smithy

Rowan smirked, as he chuckled. "Not the only man who'll be nagged to the grave, won't be the last." He shook his head, "Aye, she's a real piece of work... Takes after her Mum, in regards to that. Lovely girl my Roslyn." Rowan smirked as Corinne as she mentioned she'd be willing to pay up the rest of the balance. "An, I'll hold ya to it Co-" He stopped as Corinne went to discuss with the boy.

Benjamin smiled, "Just got it fresh from Maurice. And you always have such a good se-" Rowan glanced at Benjamin, "Ben! I'm going to be using the forge tonight, got a new and important order. Moving it up in the ledger." He gestured towards the blade. Benjamin eyed it rather curiously, "But what about the wo-" Rowan waved him off, "Son, I'll work it again overnight. Go on, take the day off."

Benjamin blinked, "Are you sure dad?" Rowan nodded, as Benjamin turned to face Corinne and smiled. He scratched the back of his head, "Well, looks like I don't work to do at the forge today. So..."

Rowan faced Sebastian, "Same here, I'm glad Benjamin is happy and... Aye, the Mayor is a swell fellow. Seb." Rowan stroked his chin in thought, "Who was the one who bought the last round of ale? May not be able to do it tonight, what with the new order that I'd really want to get done. But, yeah, gotta get another round of drinks between us."

James walked around to the source of the voice, and pushed the door open. A strange man was holding Anya at knifepoint. Why was he here? What did he want? Why wasn't Elric a better babysitter? None of these questions mattered, pushed aside by a sinking feeling, deep in his gut. His teeth grit and his body grew tight, as his eyes narrowed, growing cold.

Ochs. He pointed the blade at his foe, placing the hilt near his cheek.

"I'm only going to tell you once." he growled.
"Leave now, and I won't kill you."

Showdown at Elric's Abode

Remington right pupil glanced towards the blade of the knight, as he kept the dagger steady. Remington allowed a lull to occur as the knight growled out. "Allow me to make a counter offer." He calmly stated as he continued to keep his dagger ready, "You back off, and I will do what I need to do. If you accept this offer, you will back down now, I will finish up what I need to do, then I shall calmly leave and I won't kill the brat. And you won't kill me. That is what will happen."

Estermere Woods

One of the goon tapped on Jel's corpse, "Hit me." The Elf tossed another card towards the man. He looked at it and frowned, "Damn, bust." One of the guards piped up, "So think Remington and Mimsy are alright?" The Elf paused, before he dealt another set, "Time will tell."