Chapter 148: Bearded Follower (1/2)

Claire just didn’t expect the noble’s hunters to actually follow and confront her. They must either be desperate, under some kind of spell or extremely well paid. None of them were above her level, the closest one being at one eighty. Still with the six of them standing around the shield and her mother within, it would be a difficult fight. The explosion she had sent upwards was meant for the imperials but none of them had even looked in her direction, preoccupied by whatever lay before them.

“Are you sure you want to die here, mage?” one of her enemies said, an older man, his ax laying lazily in his hands. The man didn’t smile, his question not a mocking one but one filled with confusion.

“Protecting a friend shouldn’t stand above your own and your mother’s life. We’re even instructed to pay you, though I doubt that will be an option after this unnecessary pursuit.” the man said as he dragged his ax across her shield, small sparks falling towards the snow before they vanished in the air.

“And really? Trying to alarm the army? Didn’t you realize already that you’re the one against the law?” the man asked and shook his head while another laughed. A sharp glance from their apparent leader shut the man up immediately.

“We’ll wait her out, the trees are covering us but if we make a ruckus...” the leader said when Claire felt something and looked up. A smile tugged on her lips as she saw a silhouette against the sun. A moment later a figure in black landed near their group and stood up. Dark wings of ash started floating away and vanishing behind the warrior, their armor black as the night, scratched and battered, one of the helmet’s horns chipped. Blue eyes locked with Claire’s before the warrior took in the scene with a curious glance.

Claire sighed and felt a weight leave her shoulders as she crouched down to her mother and brushed her hair. “Is she alright?” Ilea asked and Claire just nodded before she looked at her friend with a smile.

Claire stood behind one of her shields, surrounded by six people. The old woman below the blankets was apparently fine, so Ilea put her attention towards the others. A man with an ax walked a couple steps towards her and nodded.

“Greetings, warrior of the Hand. I assume Ravenhall has been retaken then?” he asked and put the butt of his ax on the ground.

“Greetings, warrior of? The city was retaken, yes.” she said as she watched their movements through her Sphere. Claire seemed more relaxed now with her coming as she brushed the woman’s hair. The shield however stayed up.

“You may call me Horrus, we’re here with orders from Dawntree. This woman, a mage of the Hand has information on a dangerous fugitive.” he explained as the others moved a little around Claire’s barrier.

“Horrus then. From Dawntree? That is quite a long way to come for information on a fugitive. And why is it that she is protected behind a barrier?” Ilea asked with interest.

“It is a long way. The woman refused to cooperate, perhaps the persuasion of someone in her own order might help. We will reward you handsomely of course. We’re just here for the information, neither of them will be harmed, that is my promise to you.” the man said. The five others were now all in attacking range, either they didn’t share their leader’s diplomatic approach or he was deceiving her. The annoyed glances he shot towards the people behind her made it seem like the former.

“What are you looking for anyway, depending on the situation I might want more to help.” Ilea said, thoroughly interested in what Claire might know to cause hunters like them to come from Dawntree.

The man sighed and nodded before touching his bushy beard. “We’re looking for a female healer with the name of Lilith. We know this woman has ties to her.” the man said as Ilea tried very hard not to laugh. A big grin came to her face as she stayed calm.

“Lilith… I have heard of her as well. I think she tried to join the Hand a while ago.” she said to them after a while.

“Impossible, she was nowhere near level two hundred.” one of the mages said.

“She said the bitch tried to join, not that she did...” a warrior said, apparently he wanted to be the first one to be killed by her.

“So you know of her, then I will extend the rewards to you. Ten gold coins for information that will lead directly to her, descriptions, information on skills and classes will increase the rewards.” the leader said.

“Hmm...” Ilea said as she scratched her illusionary beard. Not an actual magical illusion.

“I know all of those things, in fact I know where she is right now...” she said and saw the man’s eyes light up. A long search it had been, that was sure. “I want to know something in return though, you may subtract the value of said information from the reward.” she said and looked towards the man.

“What do you want to know? I’ll tell you if we can’t give you the information.” he said, accepting to negotiate.

“Well it’s simple. I just want to know why you’re looking for her, when I met that girl she seemed to be on the run but didn’t want to tell me why...” Ilea said. The man seemed a little reluctant but looking at his men he shook his head a moment later.

“A girl ran away, a girl by the name of Alice. We believe she might be with the woman called Lilith.” he explained, sharing just enough to explain the situation without mentioning any family names or what exactly had happened. Ilea could think of the rest. Finally, the girl made one right choice. Running away from home to find her own way in the world, maybe it wasn’t such a bad decision to be nice to her. Only if she didn’t die of course. Ilea smiled under her helmet, knowing that the noble girl would have to survive in the wild. Perhaps next time they met, the noble wouldn’t be such a fucking twat.

“That’s awful. Well you convinced me. You know, the woman’s name isn’t actually Lilith. Neither is she a healer, at least not anymore.” Ilea started as she cracked her neck. “She did in fact join the hand, and in full capacity.” she said and looked towards the man who had called her a bitch.

“Her skills include mostly body enhancements. She fights with her fists and legs.” she said, as she lifted one fist. “I heard she can crush a man’s skull with her bare hands.” her smile got bigger as she felt the tension around her rise. “She’s clad in black, as most members of the Hand. To top it off though, she has ashen wings that carry her through the skies.”

“You….” the leader said as he lifted his ax.

“Me? Yes, welcome to Ravenhall Mr. Holmes. And now everyone, you’ll tell me what you did to Claire.” Ilea said, her eyes turning cold.

“Who cares about her now, we found you. Where’s Alice? The reward is still up for you to get, depending on what you tell us.” the man said, his ax angled more offensively now.

“Who cares about her? I do. And I swear if you don’t answer me now I will kill all of you. I don’t give a rat’s ass about Alice, she’s ran off from her shitty family, good for her. I hope she’s far away from here now and gets strong enough to fight for herself. And to develop some bloody common sense...” she said as she locked eyes with the leader.

A moment later he relented, looking towards the ground. “So it was you? You got her to leave?” the man said before he looked at her again. “We simply asked her about you, nothing more.” he added, looking towards Claire.

“They threatened my hometown, made me a fugitive and forced us out before they hunted us down and attacked us, several times until now. I would’ve killed them all if it wasn’t for my mother.” Claire said, not looking at them, her voice clear as it rang through her shield.

“Interesting. For you, I didn’t make Alice leave, that was her own decision. As was it your decision to seek out Claire and treat her the way you did.” Ilea said, a chunk of health leaving her as a red glow appeared to mix with her eyes’ blue.

“She’s...” one of them said when Ilea appeared in their midst, grabbing her first target by the throat and lifting him up. He would learn not to insult her, though that knowledge wouldn’t impact his remaining life by much. Blood sprayed onto the snow below, the mage’s throat ripped out as Ilea turned around, facing the incoming ax as a Veil of Ash stopped it in its movement.

“You fool...” the man said as the ax started burning and pushed through her defenses. She blinked and appeared next to a mage who moved further away, surely to attack her from a distance. Aki was unsheathed and stabbed into his heart. She felt his health drain as she grabbed onto his arm with her free hand, using reversed Hunter Recovery to speed up the process, destructive mana flowing into him.