Iron of the Innocent: Mistress of Agony (Vol 2)

Chapter 13: Fugitives

274 I.C.
Sacren
Solorn Kingdom
Solorn Province
The Ruin Estate

Bethahna and Dreydan walked quietly along the green path for a while. When they drew closer to the house, Bethahna could see the briefest of glimpses of its roof through the trees. It took  time, but the volatile emotions she felt began to withdraw a little. The storm of emotion that filled her in Dreydan's arms overwhelmed her, and it had drifted from within her chest, over her skin, and into the deepest parts of her being.

Trying to not think about it, she continued to consider what she needed to do to prepare for their journey. She was grateful they were not too far from their destination. The short distance would not be burdensome. Coming around a curve in the path, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the unmistakable sound of flatulence.

"By the gods!" a voice cursed off to her right in the bushes. "There's a sweet flower for you Tarn!" the voice said loudly followed by a long laugh.

Bethahna came to a halt and glanced at Dreydan who drew his sword. Pulling her short swords, the two crept off the path toward the sounds of hysterics, grunting, and more unpleasant sounds.

Rounding a tree, the two found a halfling that was partially sitting on a low, fallen log among some surrounding, green bushes. The halfling looked up and quickly moved his upper body and arms to block the view of his normally unseen parts. His face reddened further, and his blue eyes went wide with the unexpected appearance of two tall folks.

"Well," he said after a moment, gathering some of his feigned dignity, "this is unpleasant."

Bethahna and Dreydan's swords dropped a bit at the sight of the vulnerable halfling whose hand axe was several feet away from him along with the lower parts of his leather armor. His friendly blue eyes looked them over, pausing on their stunned expressions.

"What?" he asked with a grin. "Never stumbled on a halfling shitting in the woods before?" Enjoying the humor in the situation, he laughed again at his own expense. "Good thing you approached from that direction."

"Olis! What are you doing here?" Bethahna asked when she found her words.

"Isn't that obvious?" Olis replied. "I've come to check on your well being!" The halfling took a long draw from the metal flask in his hand. Then he waved it toward Dreydan. "Reasha was very worried after you ran off with this..." he considered the large human, "...this yum-yum."

Dreydan arched an eyebrow slightly, gazing at the halfling.

"You came alone?" Bethahna asked, remnants of her surprise still showing.

The halfling was about to take another swig from his flask but stopped. He shook his head. "No. They're all back up at the house. I just needed a moment to myself." He chuckled, then drank again.

Bethahna's face registered the information and nodded. "I see." She turned walking away. "Let's go," she said to Dreydan.

Olis gave Dreydan a smile and lifted his flask in a mock toast toward the man. Then he called after the woman. "Thank you Bethahna! A little privacy is much appreciated."

Dreydan sheathed his sword as he followed Bethahna back toward the path and house.

"Nice place you have out here!" Olis called after him.

Dreydan and Bethahna quickly made it back to the trail and headed toward the house. "Sorry about that," Bethahna said softly as they walked. "Olis is very rough around the edges."

"No need for an apology. A friend of yours?" he asked.

"Acquaintance. Olis is an old friend of Tarn's. I was introduced through Reasha."