I was more than a little nervous about what would happen when Mauri released Havik from her restraints. I was afraid the woman would lunge at Mauri as soon as she got the opportunity and had prepared to hold her down with magic if necessary. To my surprise, though, the only thing she did was rub her probably chafing wrists and grunt wordlessly before rising to her feet.

She shot a contemptuous gaze at the two of us—at me in particular—but other than that, she made no move against either of us. Instead, she stormed off, moving to lean against a wall opposite of where Mauri and I were standing. There was an uncomfortable moment of silence as no one spoke. Mauri and I looked from the quietly simmering Havik to one another.

After a second or two, the smaller woman snorted and shook her head. She made her way back over to the fire and plopped herself down beside it as she finally spoke.

"Hey, if she wants to spend her time brooding in the corner like an angsty whelp that is fine with me," she said as she began drumming around in my bag for something, "the rain is picking back up so we will wait a bit longer before leaving," after another moment of rummaging she pulled out a loaf of bread and idly tore off a piece, chewing as she continued, "...so long as she does not attempt to attack us or escape, I care not what she chooses to do in the meantime."

I winced at Mauri's flippant comment and turned to see Havik staring daggers at the green-haired warrior. Still, she didn't say anything and I wondered not for the first time what was actually going through her mind. At first, I just assumed she was thinking about how best to go about taking us out or making her escape or maybe both. That was still probably the case, but I found her sudden willingness to help strange and a bit suspicious.

If she hadn't tried to speak up Mauri and I might've tried to attack each other. Then she could've tried to escape then, but instead, she chose to help us. Sure, Mauri implied that she would've really attacked me, but Havik couldn't have known that... could she?

Was she just that perceptive? Or maybe she's trying to lead us into a trap? I was beginning to find both possibilities very likely. After all, we were essentially heading to where her group's stronghold was, and if we were to be caught by her friends, there probably wouldn't have been much we could do to stop Havik from escaping and joining her fellow bandits.

Why wait for Mauri and me to potentially kill each other? Why risk Mauri killing her for acting out when she could just safely collect her things after the rest of the bandits had taken care of us? The more I thought about that, the more I realized that was probably what she was hoping for. Looking back—and despite her aggressive words—Havik hadn't once made any kind of moves that could be considered rash since her duel with Mauri.

That evident patience and forethought painted the platinum blonde bandit in a new and frankly terrifying light. Still, something else was bugging me about the situation—about her motives, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. I wasn't willing to put the issue to rest so I thought back on everything that happened since she tried to ambush us.

When that failed to spark any ideas I swallowed my discomfort and forced myself to remember the night I first saw her. Thankfully it didn't take me long to realize what the issue was once I'd done some digging around in my memory of that night and my brows furrowed as more questions arose.

"You got somethin' to say, witch?"

I flinched and refocused my attention on Havik who was watching me with narrowed eyes. It was only then that I realized I'd been staring silently at her while I was lost in my own head this whole time. My first instinct was to apologize and I did try to awkwardly stutter something out, but then I stopped and took a deep breath. Havik gave me a weird look and I saw Mauri looking on with mild interest at the exchange but I tried to ignore that as I worked up the courage to ask what wanted to ask.

"Havik," I began, then paused a moment, then started again, trying to inject more confidence in my voice, "why did you agree to help us find your hideout?"

"Is it not obvious?" Mauri snorted, "if this hideout is at least halfway decent they will have sentries posted around the perimeter to spot intruders into their territory. She likely expects us to be discovered and dealt with before we even reach the gates."

I turned from Mauri to give Havik an expectant look. She crossed her arms and carelessly shrugged her shoulders in response.

"More or less," she confirmed, "I don't know what you're expecting to gain from storming the stronghold of the Dealande Bandits, but you two idiots will be mowed down by guns and arrows the moment you get in range of our lookouts," she gave us a nasty smirk, "if you wanna throw yourselves to the wolves, far be it from me to stop you."

That was basically the response I'd expected but I still wasn't satisfied. Unfortunately, Mauri replied before I could get another word in.

"Oh, I was not planning to just waltz through the front entrance," she replied with a cold smile and steel in her icy blue eyes, "even if you are not the leader, I am certain someone of your skill is fairly high-ranking, yes?"

Havik's cruel smirk fell into a wary grimace but she didn't say anything. Mauri didn't seem to mind and pressed on.

"I thought so," she nodded as if her suspicions had been all but confirmed, "with that being the case, I am also fairly sure you know where the patrol is weakest... yes?"

"It wouldn't matter even if I did," Havik finally spat, "even if you managed to get inside you'd just be slaughtered that much faster," she whipped around to face me directly, "my squad—the group you two butchered—are nothing. Nothing compared to the monsters holed up in the hideout."

She was speaking to both of us but her intense gaze was focused squarely on me. I stared back and, at first, all I saw was hatred. As I held her gaze though, I began to see something else beneath the surface. It wasn't just hatred or malice but something strange. It was a look that seemed to say you can't do anything even with your twisted witch powers, but that wasn't it. Not entirely.

If anything it's more like... like she's challenging me?

It was surprisingly easy to read the woman's true emotions now that I was paying attention, but I still didn't understand them. I didn't understand her motives or actions but Mauri's mocking laughter cut into my thoughts before I could dwell on the conundrum for any length of time.

"If you say that knowing what my little Amethyst and I can do, perhaps there is some cause for worry," she conceded to my surprise, "it is fortunate then that we have no need for such an infiltration. All we need is guidance to the location of your precious stronghold after that our work is done."

Havik's expression changed then. She furrowed her brow and I could practically see the gears in her mind turning furiously as she ruminated on some private thought. Apparently, she didn't like the conclusion she came to because her expression darkened further a few seconds later. Strangely enough, the look didn't last long and eventually she shrugged again.

"It doesn't matter," she decided after a moment, "the way I see it, you two shitheads are done for either way, so sure, I'll get you close enough to see the hideout... on one condition."

"I do not think you are in a position to make demands, whelp," Mauri replied in a dangerous tone.

"No, I think I am," Havik shot back with another smirk, "I highly doubt you'll find our hideout without me, and even if you do wind up in the general area, you'll just be picked off by our scouts and patrols."

"And if I told you that would not be a problem in the least?" Mauri asked with narrowed eyes.

"Then I'd call you a fucking liar and a fool," Havik replied easily, "sure you could probably avoid a few patrolling groups but not all of them, there's too many. Trust me, short stack. You. Need. Me."

"Maybe we should hear her out, Mauri," I said, finally putting in my two bits, "I know how much you thrive in places like this, but in this situation, it might be better to give her the benefit of the doubt."

"And what makes you say that?" Mauri demanded incredulously. She jabbed a finger in Havik's direction, "I do hope you are not suggesting we put our lives in her hands?"

"I'm just saying that in this instance we might actually need her," I argued, "if nothing else, she can tell us more about the bandits. I'm thinking Qaedis plans to send help to deal with the bandits and she could tell us more about them."

I expected Havik to object, but again she surprised me by remaining silent.

"We need her like we need the azkan plague," Mauri snorted in disdain before giving Havik a dirty look, "but fine, I will at least hear you out. What is this condition of yours?"

"In exchange for getting you close enough to see the hideout, you're going to give me my sword back," she demanded, pointing to the bag lying open next to the still crackling fire, "I don't give a fuck what you do with the dagger, but I want that blade back in my hands."

Mauri opened her mouth to reply, likely to refuse judging by the look on her face, but then stopped herself. She frowned at Havik and slowly rested a hand on the hilt of her own blade. The movement was subtle and I didn't think Mauri even realized she'd made the gesture. She must've seen something in Havik's eyes that I didn't because she shook her head a moment later and replied with a sigh.

"Fine, you will have your blade back if—and only if—we reach the hideout alive and intact," she huffed, "I am not so foolish as to believe things will go smoothly even if you do hold up your end of the bargain, but for Sparkle's sake, I will trust that you will keep your word at least until we reach our destination."

I had to admit I was a little touched at Mauri's consideration, but as much as I wanted to give Havik the benefit of the doubt, even I didn't trust her completely. I would've pointed out as much if I wasn't already certain Mauri wasn't being completely genuine about trusting the other woman. Still, with that agreement settled we now had something resembling a game plan.

I took a moment to check the weather outside and saw that the rain was coming down harder than ever. It had looked like the downpour was letting up earlier but it wound up coming back with a vengeance, bringing crashing lightning and booming thunder with it. There was no way I was traveling in that and thankfully the other two had agreed.

"So... where do we actually go from here to get to the hideout?" I asked, deciding to move ahead, "and how long do you think it'll take to get there?"

"The hideout—the Dealande Stronghold if you're picky about the name—lies to the north of Qaedis' mansion in the deepest part of the forest," Havik explained after a second of deliberation, "if we were to head straight there from this location without rest I'd say it would be at least..." she paused and her face scrunched up in thought, "...at least half a day's walk. Most of the day if we took the scenic route, which we'll probably have to do to avoid scouts."

I was a bit too slow in hiding my disappointment at how long it would take to get to our destination and Havik was quick to notice.

"Look, you Tartarus-born bitch, I told you what you wanted to hear," she sneered, "if you don't like it, tough shit. Feel free to give me back my weapon and I'll cut you down and be on my way."

"Oh, look at you, thinking you would even get a chance to try," Mauri shot back in a sickly sweet tone. Then her face grew dark, "if you attempt to even reach for that bag I will disembowel you where you stand."

"Hey, there's no need for all of that," I began, trying to dissolve the escalating situation, "it is what it is. We're not in any rush and I'd rather take my time than risk getting caught getting into a fight."

And to be fair, the hideout was closer than I'd expected even if it wasn't as close as I would've liked. Having realized that though, it did beg the question of why Qaedis hadn't done something about the place earlier if it was so close to where his mansion was. Maybe he had and failed? Or maybe it was so well hidden that he couldn't find it? But given the impression I had of the old man, that didn't seem right to me either.

Maybe there's something else going on that I don't know about?

"Oh, that reminds me, I have something I wanna ask you, witch," Havik began, cutting into my thoughts. She narrowed her eyes and moved away from the wall she was still leaning on to take a step towards me, "how the fuck did you make it out of that campsite alive?" she gestured to Mauri as she spoke, "I couldn't finish you off but the light was already leaving your eyes by the time that bitch showed up to try and save you."

I grimaced at the memory, my stomach turning at the thought of the agony I'd endured as the golden-eyed bandit gutted me over and over again. I was so caught up in the memory that I couldn't answer, or maybe it was that I didn't want to answer. In either case, I found I couldn't look Havik in the eye. Mauri was saying something but I had tuned the world out to focus on Havik's question.

How did I survive? I survived because I'm not human. If anything, I'm probably closer to the Headhunter than any of the people I've met so far. Havik is right, I'm a creature that doesn't belong here... but I can't leave. I don't know how or why I was even thrown into this world to begin with... but the answer has to be out there somewhere.

I just had to take things one step at a time, deal with each obstacle as it came, and keep on surviving to the best of my ability. At some point during my introspection, I'd managed to find some measure of resolve, but then my mind wandered back to the last conversation I'd had with that eldritch nightmare calling itself Owlowiscious. I hadn't wanted to take his 'advice' to heart, but I was beginning to wonder if I had a choice.

"I almost didn't survive," I said, cutting off whatever it was the other two were arguing about. Both the warrior and the bandit went silent and turned to face me as I continued, "sure I would've held on longer than most, but if Mauri hadn't found me I would've died in that camp eventually."

"Sparkle," Mauri nearly whisper after a brief but tense silence. Her face looked slightly pained at my response, "that's... you—"

"So you're not some indomitable demon that crawled out of the deepest depths of Tartarus," Havik interjected with a smile that, at a glance, seemed to convey grim satisfaction but to me just looked more relieved than anything, "you're just some psychotic freak with a stubborn hide... good to know."

I looked away and Mauri shot Havik a cold glare, but neither of us said anything in response. Havik, for her part, didn't give us a chance to reply in any case, as she'd begun walking over to one of the mats I'd lain out on the ground near the fire. She cracked her neck a few times and groaned tiredly before dropping down and stretching herself out onto the mat.

"If we're not leaving now, I'm gonna get some shuteye," she turned her body to face away from Mauri and me, but frowned at us from over her shoulder, "I trust no one here is gonna stab me in the back while I'm out?"

"What? O-Of course not!" I replied indignantly before shooting Mauri a pointed look, "we need you to help us reach the hideout, so it wouldn't make sense to attack you now... isn't that right, Mauri?"

"Niayt Molthah göe min seyn..." Mauri muttered with an exasperated roll of her eyes, then, returning my pointed look, replied in a flat tone, "I will not harm the bandit as long as she does not attack first."

"There you go," I said, turning back to Havik with a hint of satisfaction in my voice, "we'll wake you up when we're ready to leave, is that okay?"

"Yeah, fine, whatever," Havik yawned before turning away from us, "I don't care how you wake me up, just don't touch me, got it?"

"But of course, princess," Mauri answered with a mock bow and an impish grin that told me she was probably going to do just that when the time came, "your wish is my command."

Havik turned back around, but not to glare at Mauri like I thought she would. Rather, she cast one final glance in my direction. I couldn't read her expression but almost before I got a chance to try, her golden eyes flicked to the fire, or rather to something near the fire. I tried to follow her gaze and the only other thing I could see was the bag, still lying open.

I tried to figure out what she looking at or looking for but when I turned back around to face her, Havik had already turned away from me. I was a bit disconcerted and more than a little curious but it didn't look like I'd be getting any answers any time soon. Instead of dwelling on it, I decided to fill the time by picking up where I left off in Requis' journal.

Mauri had gone back to her spot over by the entrance, seemingly unphased by the cracking lightning and booming thunder outside. If anything I got a strange impression that she found the phenomenon rather fascinating. I lowered the old journal and watched her for a moment before my curiosity took over and I spoke up.

"Do you not have this kind of weather where you come from, Mauri?"

"Nothing nearly so intense as this, no," she replied, "Djävago is blessed with only light rain on occasion, really only enough to keep the flora healthy and the fauna hydrated."

"Wow," I said with some fascination of my own, "so you've never seen lightning or thunder at all before coming to Palimus?"

It was strange.

I knew of violent storms and the like, and though I had no memory of it, I also felt like I'd experienced that kind of weather before. The sights and sounds didn't surprise me at the very least and it was the same way for a number of different things I knew about but had no memory of experiencing. It was hard to describe, but the knowledge was there even if the memory of how and when I'd obtained such knowledge wasn't.

"Before I left my homeland I had only ever seen these kinds of storms from afar," Mauri answered, a wistful little smile crossing her face, "as a child, I would sometimes watch the dark clouds gather out over the distant sea," she shook her head, "the magic within and around our forests keep such violent weather from reaching the shores of Djävago... or so my father has said."

"I see," I replied after a short but rather comfortable silence, "so... in a strange sort of way, I guess this kind of weather reminds you of home?"

"Something like that," she said with a small chuckle, "my first encounter with this side of nature upon arriving in these lands was not pleasant, but I have come to appreciate both the beauty and cruelty of nature's skyborne wrath."

I didn't really know what to say to that but Mauri didn't appear to mind the ensuing silence so I let it linger and returned my attention to the journal. For the next fifteen minutes or so I sat by the fire, absorbing myself in the pages of Requis' journal. Just as his first entry had promised, the next few entries were full of notes—theories and formulae and sketches of strange runic-looking symbols I couldn't make heads or tails of.

I had expected something more well thought out and organized, but much of what the mage had documented was abstract and scatterbrained. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to his written thoughts. It was as if he was jotting down ideas as they came in a sort of scientifically minded stream of consciousness. He was making constant allusions to terms and formulas I had no frame of reference for.

It didn't take me long to realize that I couldn't capitalize on what he knew because I didn't know the science behind any of it. For all the knowledge and potentially groundbreaking secrets this journal held within, it was all but useless to me as I was now. With a despondent and frustrated sigh, I closed the journal and resolved to educate myself in whatever body of knowledge it took to understand the ancient mage's words.

That said, I don't even know when I'll get the chance. Hopefully once this whole business with Qaedis is over and done with...

"Something amiss, my studious little Amethyst?" Mauri asked curiously.

"Nothing that can't be fixed with a bit of research," I replied in a tone of tired resignation. I replaced the journal in my bag and pulled out another of the books Qaedis had given me, "it looks like I'll have to hold off on Requis' journal for now."

Since I couldn't yet unlock the secrets of my own Spellblade I figured the next best option was to bone up on the many possible threats I'd be facing in the future. To that end, I cracked open The Bestiary and spent a good chunk of time learning about all kinds of creatures that roamed the myriad lands of Hestenia. I was pleased to see that the descriptions of almost all of the beasts referenced were thorough and their sketches detailed.

In short, the book was everything I had hoped Requis' journal would be and I had a much easier time committing the knowledge to memory because of that. Out of a morbid sense of curiosity, I flipped through the pages trying to find any mention of the Headhunter, but I found none. There were many records of creatures whose existence was almost too horrifying to contemplate, but nothing in reference to that shapeshifting monstrosity.

I also check for any kind of mention of Owlowicious and had no luck there either, not that I expected to find anything. What I did find as I continued to peruse the pages of the book were ways to eliminate, incapacitate, or otherwise protect yourself from the beasts listed. It was easy to tell that this was a text meant for practical use by hunters, mercenaries, and members of the Order.

There were tips ranging from what weapons were most effective in taking down certain creatures to tactics for ambushing and capturing a potential quarry. The book showed where to find the creatures and even suggested when to run and when to fight or whether a beast was weak enough to be fought alone or should be tackled in a group.

It all seemed very well researched—almost as if the author had personally tracked each and every one of these beasts down themselves. For all I knew, that's exactly what they'd done, but that wasn't to say there weren't noticeable gaps in some of the information written. Some of the data shown for certain creatures in certain areas was sparse, giving only one or two sentences worth of information at best.

Other beasts had adequate descriptions but no associated sketch to go with it. These exceptions were few and far between but they were there and they made me wonder how much the information could be trusted. Still, what was here was enough to keep me enthralled for a good while, but eventually, I was pulled from my scholarly musings by a gentle nudge from Mauri.

I looked up from where I sat and was shocked to see Mauri looking down at me with a grim frown and looking as though she'd just taken a dip in a lake somewhere, armor and all. Looking further down I felt my stomach lurch at the sight of her elegant green blade drawn and darkened with splotches of dark red ichor. I was still trying to wrap my head around what I was seeing when the rain-soaked woman spoke, her voice full of deadly calm.

"I am sorry to interrupt your research, Sparkle, but I think we may have company."

Next Chapter: Episode VI – The Hideout ~ End Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 18 Minutes