Shapeless Hero

51 - Another Deal II

"Gods arse, you could've announced yourself earlier...", a familiar voice calls out, approaching us. At the sight of her armor and weapons, it finally clicks.

"Sterl?!", I blurt. So she and her party were supposed to be our company then. They have been waiting for us in the vertical tunnel from the looks of it.

"Yep, that's me!", Sterl responds.

Two similar-looking, light-skinned elves in leather armor turn their focus back to their injured party member. The pair already took off the heavy plate armor of their damaged hyena-kin friend and continue to disinfect her wounds, as the scent of alcohol suggests.

Sterl's curious gaze jumps between Liszka and me. "Twins, huh?"

"We do look quite similar, don't we?", I respond, making sure to avoid a clear answer. Who knows, maybe there's a lie-detection skill in this fantasy-world.

"What an understatement! Only the small cuts and wounds let me tell you apart!", Sterl replies, enjoying the novelty that is Liszka and I. "How come  you know me though?", she suddenly asks out of curiosity.

Crap. I hoped she'd overlook my utterance of her name. "I've heard about your sisterly love. Gossip about a commander and your sister, was it?", I answer, trying to redirect the conversation.

Sterl rubs the back of her head, a bashful expression on her face. "Yeah... that. I thought my sis' was in trouble, but turns out, the commander was just helping her recover from a bad trip."

I feign ignorance. "A commander?"

"Yeah, I know. It's odd to have an official of the Imperium in the adventurer's guild, right?" Her eyes light up. "Oh, talking about the adventurer's guild, have you seen lady Fylka?"

I notice Liszka grinning at me, exuding blatant schadenfreude, since we circled back to that topic against my will. 

"Lady Fylka might be still roaming around, all alone.", one of the pale elfs with black hair throws into the room. His look turns to his similar looking colleague, who could pass as a younger version of the two. "Too bad Lorenzo had to run off, because he 'felt' something."

"Hey! It could've been some useful materials!", young-looking Lorenzo protests. "Haven't I brought you plenty of good ingredients for your alchemy with that sixth sense of mine?"

"I admit, the result speak for themselves, but that doesn't mean you should run off without us, just because you felt all tingly!", Timeo rebukes.

"Lorenzo! Timeo! Shut it!", Sterl interrupts and the two elves turn silent without hesitation. She looks to us. "If not lady Fylka, have you at least had a run-in with the coast rangers?"

"The who?", I inquire.

"You know, the coast rangers. Guys in camouflages? Usually looking like foliage with legs?"

"Ah, right!", I respond, happy to get away from the topic of... myself. "They found us just in time."

"Wolf-kin rogues too?", Sterl asks.

"Yeah. Those and one hostile spellcaster attacked us. So you had a run-int too?"

Sterl sighs. "Lorenzo got almost killed after splitting away. As we tried to help him, Alby got the grunt of the damage." She gestures to the patient near the campfire, Timeo and Lorenzo are tending to.

I grimace. Alby's bandages go all over her body. I can barely tell that she's a hyena-kin, and probably a tank in game-terms, considering the armor plates next to her.

I turn to Liszka. "You don't happen to have some healing potions with you?"

"How much?" the mischievous furball asks in the local language.

I groan. "Oh come on, we're talking about lives he—"

A coin pouch lands at Liszka's feet. Sterl crosses her arms. "Well? Is that enough?"

Liszka squats and opens the coin pouch. She whistles at the sight of its contents, but only picks out a single silver coin, before throwing the pouch and two health potions back to Sterl. 

Sterl looks surprised. "That's far below the selling price, you know?"

"I know. Just want food money. Otherwise glad, when can help.", Liszka responds in the local language, then her gaze falls on me. "Who knows, what we need do for get Fylka back, no?"

I feel a pit in my stomach. Lying to her doesn't feel great, but I fear more what would happen otherwise.

"In any case", Sterl says, "how about you rest a bit? We need to get Alby on her feet first anyway."

Sterl brings the potions to the elves, while Liszka and I get comfortable next to the campfire. 

"Now what?", I ask in the arctic fox-kin's language.

Liszka shrugs.

I sigh. My thoughts trail off, as I watch the smoke travel upwards, carried by the light draft coming from the tunnels around us.

I start to feel cold, once Liszka's next words and piercing stare reach me: "This is about getting your shape back, isn't it?"

My mind races. Could I take her on? Do I have to kill everyone in this space now? Must I escape Ryelope?

I stare into the campfire. "How did you find out?", I ask, whispering.

"You had to tear off your clothing, when you turned into... me. It's unheard of that a summoner would transfer their gear to the summoned. And that's not all: You tanked lethal blows without skills. You also mimicked my abilities. Besides, I can tell how little swordsmanship you actually know. It looked borrowed."

I smile wryly, my fingers fumbling. "Bullseye..." As great as my Morphing is, I suck at everything else regarding disguises.

"And now?", I timidly ask, my eyes still on the campfire.

Liszka takes a deep breath. "Let dire wolves eat the sheep, if you want your village be saved from raids.", she quotes. "A proverb from back home."

"I... uh... okay?"

She chuckles at my confusion. "I'll let you eat, if you keep me alive. That's the deal I'm hoping for here. I hope you're fine with normal food, though."

"So... you're trying to domesticate me? Turn wolf to dog?" 

Liszka cackles, receiving short glances from Sterl's party as a result. "Yes, that's one way to look at it. I keep my mouth shut and you keep being my guard dog. How about it? Deal?" 

"Deal...", I respond with another sigh. My dignity grows wings and flies away, but I can't suppress a smile when relief settles. Two crows, an Imperial commander and a political refugee now know my species, but I've given them reasons to keep me around. For now.