Early the next morning Mitzi finally woke up, blinking blearily as sunlight lit the entire room. It was only when she moved that she realized she was laying naked on top of Edwin, who was still snoring gently. She sat up quickly, the previous night’s activities coming to mind and making her blush. She looked over at Edwin’s sleeping face and smiled, feeling almost giddy as she brushed the hair from his forehead. Edwin had said he loved her last night. Multiple times. It was like a dream come true.

It was the sounds of people bustling about down on the first floor that snapped Mitzi to her senses. She was sitting here, completely naked in Edwin’s bed. This would be awkward if someone were to come in. It was just when Mitzi was about to jump off the bed and get her clothes that the door banged open. “Edwin! Wake up! Your father-” Mary started yelling, stopping short in the doorway as Mitzi stared back at her. After a moment, Mitzi covered her breasts with one arm and her vagina with the other, blushing furiously as Edwin sat up next to her.

“Hey mom.” Edwin yawned loudly as he rubbed his eyes. “Are you gonna make some breakfast?”

“Oh. Uh.” Mary looked completely flustered. “Yes. I’m going to make some bacon and eggs. And pancakes. I know Mitzi likes pancakes.”

Edwin smiled widely. “That sounds amazing! Thanks! We’ll be downstairs in a little while.”

Nodding, Mary stepped backwards and shut the door with a snap. Mitzi put her face in her hands, wanting to die of embarrassment. “We couldn’t even keep it secret for one hour…” she muttered.

“It’s not like we were going to hide it, right?” Edwin asked, suddenly scooping Mitzi up and tossing her down onto the bed. “Anyhow, I was thinking that since we have a few minutes, we should have a quick session.” His grin was absolutely wolfish as he pounced on her, kissing the nape of her neck as his right hand started moving up and down her leg.

“What? But we just woke up! And your parents will hear us!” Mitzi thought about slapping the hand away from her leg, but as he slipped a couple of fingers up inside of her she gasped and shuddered.

“I told you last night, I’m pretty addicted to your body” Edwin said nonchalantly as he began licking her breasts. “If you think about it, this is sort of your fault. Just try not to make too much noise, that’s all.”

As Mitzi tried her best not to be too loud, she found herself desperately grabbing at the pillow, shoving it over her face and moaning into it as Edwin went to work.

-

As she reached the front door of the house, Reni looked behind her in irritation at Jenus, who was still at the end of the path and walking at a much more casual pace. “Come on! Why won’t you just hurry up already?!”

“We’re already here. Stop getting so upset. Just knock on the door” Jenus said lazily, looking around at the trees on the property.

Scowling, Reni turned away and knocked on the door. As she waited she looked down at herself, smoothing out her armor in places to make herself look a bit more presentable. The door opened after a moment and William stood there, looking down at the goblin in surprise.

“Well if it isn’t Reni! Good morning!” William looked over her head at Jenus, who was just now making it to the door. “And um… James right?”

“Jenus.” The elf did not look very happy that his name was the one forgotten.

“Right, yeah! Sorry about that. Come on in you two, the wife’s just making breakfast. I’ll see if she can whip up a little more.” William put an arm around Jenus and started leading him inside, motioning to his feet as they entered the house. “Shoes off by the way.”

“Well, I don’t know if we can stay, we-” Jenus began as he started pulling off his boots.

“Of course we’ll stay for breakfast! Mary’s cooking is the best. Thank you! Hurry up, James!” Reni quickly kicked off her boots and walked happily into the house as Jenus scowled and struggled with his laces.

Entering the kitchen Reni saw William talking to Mary, both in a whispered conversation. Mary looked a bit concerned, but as soon as she saw Reni she smiled brightly. “Hello Reni. How are you? I’m making plenty of food this morning, feel free to take a seat. I think Edwin should be downstairs soon.”

Reni moved to the table and took a seat, smiling gratefully at both of Edwin’s parents. “Thanks. I’m really sorry we showed up unexpected like this.”

“It’s fine! You know you’re welcome here any time.” Mary smiled back at her and turned to continue frying bacon.

Jenus entered the room and greeted Mary, who thankfully knew who he was, and it wasn’t long after he sat down across from Reni at the table that they all heard footsteps coming down from the second floor. Edwin came around the corner into view, wearing a loose-fitting white shirt and black pants and humming to himself. He stopped when he saw the two sitting at the table, narrowing his eyes. “Good morning you two. I expected to see you two a little earlier.”

“We decided it would be best if everyone had some time to cool their heads” Jenus said with a smile. “And if you’re worried about the incident, don’t be. It’s decided that we’ll just call it all even”

“That’s it?” Edwin asked, his face darkening as he looked back at the elf. “You threaten my friend and that’s it? We just call it bygones?”

“What’s going on?” Mary asked, looking back and forth between Jenus and Edwin.

“Look, Edwin, we have to focus here. I know you’re angry but she didn’t get hurt. We need you to combat the Legion. I know that you’ve lost some respect for us, but-”

“Yeah, you sure DID lose some respect from me!” Edwin yelled back, slamming his fist on the table. “I can’t believe you’d do that. Then you made Reni and the others go along with your stupid plan, and-”

“It wasn’t his plan. It was mine” Reni’s breathing was a bit labored from nerves as Edwin turned to her, stunned. “I’m sorry. It was my idea. I thought it was possible that you were being used. I only did it to try protecting you-”

“That’s bullshit, Reni!” Edwin yelled, baring his teeth as he slammed his fist on the table. “If you were so worried you should have at least TRIED talking to me first!” Reni flinched, her head drooping as Edwin took a step closer. “I expected this kind of stuff from the rest of the guys, but not from you. I just…” He shook with anger as he glared right at her. “Get out. I don’t want to see you right now.”

“Edwin” Reni said, her eyes filling with tears as she trembled. “Please, I’m sorry. I never meant-”

“I don’t want to hear it! Get out of here! If you don’t-ack!” Edwin’s response was cut short by Mary smacking him in the head with a ladle hard enough to fill the room with a sharp crack. Even Reni winced in sympathy through her tears.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Mary demanded as Edwin clutched his head with both hands, groaning in pain. “How dare you stand here in my kitchen and make a girl cry!”

“Make a girl…” Edwin stood up and glared at Mary, eyes blazing. “Mom, you don’t even have any idea what’s going on! Just stay the hell out of-ACK” he was cut off once again as she smacked him directly in the forehead even harder this time.

“We do NOT shout in this house. And you should be ashamed of yourself for yelling at a crying girl who’s trying to apologize, no matter what she did.” Mary turned away from a flabbergasted Edwin with a “hmph” and walked up to Reni, pulling out a handkerchief and offering it to her. “There there, calm down. Why don’t we go into the parlor and sit down for a minute. I have some of those lemon candies I know you like.” As Reni stood up with a wordless nod Mary glared at Edwin again. “Edwin will be skipping breakfast due to his behavior, so we can have a talk without him for a bit.”

“Skipping breakf…” Edwin stopped himself mid-sentence and just fumed in place as Mary led Reni out of the room. They heard him growl in fury and leave in a huff out the back door, not bothering to say another word as he slammed the it behind himself. Reni felt horrible that Edwin had gotten yelled at, but seeing as she couldn’t even form words well right now as she sniffled she was grateful to Mary for the save.

“Edwin!” William called, looking frustrated as he followed after his son.

“I’ll just stay here then” Jenus said casually to Reni’s retreating back, like nothing at all had happened. Reni really hated him sometimes.

As Reni was being walked out of the kitchen they turned the corner and saw Mitzi standing there. She jumped as they came into sight and nodded her head at them, face red. “G-good morning.” Without waiting for a reply she quickly walked around them, but not before looking back at Reni for a brief moment. Reni glared back, and once again she felt that bitter anger. She wished that the gnome would just go away.

-

Mitzi waited around the corner as she made sure Reni and Mary were not coming back right away. Breathing a sigh of relief she entered the kitchen, and saw Jenus standing near the stove, casually munching on some bacon as he scanned the place. “Mary gets upset if people eat early” Mitzi said, sitting down at the table.

“Then I just won’t get caught” Jenus replied, finishing off the bacon as he smiled and sat down across from her. “How are you this morning?”

“Fine, thank you.” Mitzi thought it was a bit strange to be exchanging pleasantries with one of the people who had kidnapped her the previous day, but shrugged it off. “How are you?”

“Oh, doing alright. Yesterday’s fiasco was easier to smooth over than I imagined, so I’m relieved about that. Incidentally, I really am sorry for everything that happened. We all got a little trigger happy I’m afraid, but please believe we never intended on hurting you.” Jenus smiled brightly, moving some strands of platinum blonde hair out of his perfect elven face. “And as for Grosh I think he was just trying to scare you.”

“He said I was going to vanish and have a ‘nasty accident.’ That’s not trying to scare someone, that is a direct threat.” Mitzi frowned back at him, not trusting this elf for even a moment as she folded her arms.

Jenus steepled his fingers dramatically and rested his chin there. “Ok, well, yes. But believe me, I would have stepped in at once if he would have actually made to harm you.”

“So you COULD have saved me but you didn’t. From the orc holding a knife.” Mitzi did not budge her arms or frown even a bit.

The smile on the elf’s face looked a bit strained now. “Look, I did apologize. I also meant what I said, I wasn’t going to let you come to harm if I could help it. I’m not an idiot, Edwin would have probably taken all of our heads if you’d ended up dead.” Jenus brightened up this time, regaining some of that natural swagger. “Besides, I’ve actually grown quite fond of you as well. I can see why Edwin is so taken with you.”

Mitzi was a bit annoyed to feel her cheeks flushing at the flattery. “Fine, I accept your apology. Anyhow it wasn’t really your idea, was it?”

“Well, I guess you overheard the whole thing huh? Though I imagine even the neighbors heard that.” Jenus sat back in his chair, balancing it on two legs. “I figured you weren't going to be far behind him.”

“I'm not exactly surprised that Reni did it, but I really don’t know why she hates me so much. What exactly did I do to her?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Jenus closed his eyes and got comfortable. “It’s not just you. Well, in a way it is I guess. Reni gets pretty defensive when it comes to Edwin. She’s pretty much been like that ever since we made our little group.”

Another thing was bothering Mitzi, but it took her a moment for her to put it into words. “Why was Edwin more upset with her than you? He seemed angry with you, but I didn’t expect him to shout like that at her.”

“Partly because he doesn’t trust me that much. I don’t blame him for that, I’ve kept a lot of secrets from him over the years. I’m also his teacher, so it’s good for him to have a bit of fear in me.” Jenus opened his eyes lazily and met Mitzi’s. “Simply put Reni’s the opposite. The two of them are very close. Most of the time it’s rare to see them far apart. Edwin’s a smart kid but he’s a bit too naive and trusting for his own good sometimes, I think he was just angry that she actually did that behind his back.”

Frowning, Mitzi got up out of her chair and went to find the kettle. “I’m going to make some tea while we wait. Do you want some?” Jenus nodded in response, and with a quick chant she summoned enough water to fill the kettle up. Sliding it on the stove she muttered another spell and a stream of fire shot from her fingertip, slowly heating it up. Mitzi just found this quicker than waiting for the normal fire. Once the water began boiling she calmly made two cups of tea and sat down at the table. After a minute of waiting the two sipped at their tea in complete silence. “So why are the two of them so close anyhow?” Mitzi finally asked, not able to take it any longer.

A smile broke across the elf’s face. “I was wondering how long you would last. Well, that story goes back to when we were still captured by the Naga. You see Edwin and myself were among the first prisoners brought to Nespirah back in the day. Qiju was the third member to be with us, then Grosh, a Forsaken named Carrie, and Reni was the last.” Jenus let the front legs of his chair drop to the floor with a soft thump, his face set in a frown. “And let me tell you, Reni was not the same person she is today at all. If you think she’s a bitch now, you should have met her back then. I could barely stand her. To be completely honest the only reason she was included in our initial plans of escape is because Edwin insisted on it.”

Mitzi blew gently on her tea as she listened. “How exactly was she worse? And if she was so bad then why did he insist on including her?”

Snorting, Jenus looked quite annoyed as he recalled. “You know Edwin. He’s a nice guy. I’m sure he would do that regardless. But Reni realized pretty quickly that she could take advantage of that kindness. That was mostly what made her terrible to be around. Edwin would give her some of his rations if she looked hungry enough. If anyone got into an argument with her he’d step in if she just cried a few crocodile tears. He’d help her with mining the pearls if she just looked tired enough. And trust me, she would be sure to rub it in our faces, especially with the food.”

“So, what happened? What made her be less terrible?”

“Well, the day we escaped from Nespirah is what changed her attitude I expect.” Jenus took another sip of his tea. “This is good, by the way. I wish we had something to snack on while we drink. Anyway, I never told you about the day we escaped did I? That would probably help things make more sense.” He stood up and stretched his arms over his head. “But if I’m going to tell you this, why don’t we take a walk? It’s a long story and I’d rather someone not walk in halfway through. Especially Reni.”

Hesitating, Mitzi glanced around. “Aren’t we waiting for breakfast? Everyone should be here soon right?”

Snorting, Jenus shook his head. “Do you really think we’re all just going to sit down and eat a civil meal after all that? Come on, breakfast is ruined. Face it. We’ll leave a note, tell them we’ll be back for noon. That way we can build up a real appetite, what do you say?”

Though Mitzi was torn it didn’t take her long to come to a decision. “Fine, I’ll take a walk with you. Leave a note then.” As Mitzi sipped at her tea Jenus took a small pad of paper from his pocket and a pencil. Scribbling a note, he signed it and passed her the pencil and paper wordlessly. “Did you want me to check the letter?” Mitzi asked curiously, pulling it to her.

“I’d like you to sign it please. And include a quick sentence about how you’re not being taken against your will too, that helps. Even though I guess it does sound kind of suspicious to write that. Point is, I want Edwin to be sure I didn’t take you away from here against your will or anything.” As Jenus explained Mitzi frowned and scribbled a quick note. She really didn’t trust this elf.

Leaving the letter under a saucer, the two left out the front door and began making their way to the main road. After a moment of walking in silence Jenus spoke, his face serious again. “Anyhow, you want to know about that day right? Well we had just eaten our first meal of the day and were just getting ready to start mining when we heard the sounds of a commotion happening far off. Thankfully we had a few makeshift weapons ready by that point, so while our guards panicked and some went off to see what had happened we were ready to strike…”

-

As three of the five guards slithered off into the dank depths of the beast, the taskmaster turned to the six of them and snarled, lashing out with his whip and leaving a fresh gash on Qiju’s back. “Get back to work! This changes nothing! If you don’t meet your quotas today there will be no second meal!”

The six of them quickly began to pry loose the pearls from the flesh of the creature. Using the shovels provided wasn’t easy but thankfully it was easier than using their hands, which Jenus and Edwin had done when they first arrived. While they worked, Jenus looked up and happened to meet Grosh’s eye. The orc briefly looked to the taskmaster, who was speaking in hushed tones with the other remaining guard, and then back again. He nodded. It was time.

Jenus reached over and tapped Reni gently on the shoulder once. Without a moment of hesitation she gently placed her shovel on the ground and crawled as quietly as possible over to Edwin. She pulled two small bent pieces of metal out of her shirt and started fiddling with the shackle around his right ankle in one motion, eyes narrowed in concentration she she feverishly tried to pick the lock. The other five began making more noise as they worked, nothing excessively so, but shovels did scrape against the pearls more than normal and everyone grunted harder than usual as they gave Reni time.

There was a long and horrible moment where Jenus thought they had made a huge mistake. They had chosen Reni for this job because she was the least conspicuous, and even though the guards hadn’t known anything was amiss yet Jenus was sure she couldn’t do it. He looked to Grosh, who was staring back with a serious expression. He was thinking the same thing. They had to change the plan. Just when Jenus was thinking he might have to risk whispering something to the orc, there was a sudden and very audible “click” noise as the shackle opened up.

“What the hell was that?” the taskmaster yelled, turning at once and starting over. He dropped the whip to the ground, this time taking out a trident. “That’s it, all of you in front of me NOW!”

“Why don’t you make us, snake?” Grosh asked, hands gripping his shovel tightly. Next to him Reni was bent over Qiju’s shackle now, not even bothering to keep quiet as she worked at the lock.

The taskmaster snarled, exposing his fangs. “You whelp!” Turning to his fellow guard, he motioned towards their group. “Come, you haven’t had much of a turn with the whip yet have you? It’s time you learned.” As the other guard moved and picked up the whip with a satisfied smirk on his face, the taskmaster surged forward, eyes focused on Grosh as he raised the trident, obviously meaning to bash the orc with the haft of the weapon.

Without warning Edwin freed himself from his chain and dashed directly at the second guard, his shovel in one hand as he pulled out a makeshift knife with the other. The second guard panicked, pulling back with the whip and snapping it at Edwin frantically, but he dodged it with ease as he closed the distance. The guard tried pulling a sword from his own belt, but Edwin’s shovel came down hard on the hand causing him to scream out in pain. The shovel lashed out at his face next, spraying blood and teeth as it connected with a sickening crack. Before the guard could even recover Edwin had moved behind him and slit his throat, kicking the body to the ground as the Naga struggled desperately.

The taskmaster was distracted for a moment by Edwin jumping free, but unfortunately for him it was a very costly moment. A “click” noise brought him back to his senses a fraction too late. Grosh’s shovel smashed him in the side, knocking the wind out of the Naga. He turned back quickly and managed to block a second shovel blow from the orc, unfortunately he didn’t notice Qiju coming up behind him until it was too late. The troll’s shiv stabbed into the Naga’s side over and over again, dozens of times in the space of a few seconds, until ending it with buying the knife into the Naga’s neck.

As both Naga lay on the floor, twitching in pools of their own blood, Edwin and Grosh began stripping their guards for any sort of weapons or other important items. After a moment Grosh pulled a key from the taskmaster’s belt, unlocked his shackle and passed it down the line.

“Well that went better than expected” rasped Carrie, taking the key and quickly releasing herself. She accepted the sword that Edwin offered her with a smile. “Thank you handsome” she said with a wink, snickering as Edwin blushed angrily and looked away.

“Let’s hurry” Jenus said as he freed himself and accepted the sword Grosh was passing him.

“One second” Grosh muttered, pulling a knife and a short sword from the taskmaster. After a moment of consideration he passed the short sword to Qiju and the knife to Carrie, taking the trident for himself.

Reni scowled around at everyone. “Hey, is someone going to give me a weapon already?” Looking to Edwin she pouted her lips a bit. “You’re gonna leave me defenseless?”

Edwin hefted the second guard’s trident curiously before nodding to himself. He turned and passed her the shiv and a knife. “I’ll be fine with this and the shovel. Are we ready?”

Jenus would have preferred that Edwin keep the knife but he shrugged. There’d be no use in complaining about it now. “Ready as ever.”

Moving quickly, the six of them started making their way towards one of the tunnels that led to open ocean. Carrie both broke off from the group, moving ahead quietly on her own so she kept an eye out for patrols. Soon enough she spotted one, and alerted the rest of the group with a single barely audible tap of metal on metal.

The group moved her direction, ducking behind a large pillar, and soon they spotted four guards coming their way. Thankfully they were all males, which meant they wouldn’t have to worry about a possible spellcaster. They were speaking urgently to each other, though Jenus couldn’t quite make it out. The Naga were most likely not going to see them if they continued this way, though everyone could quickly see it wasn’t a sure thing. With grim expressions everyone got ready, Qiju and Grosh slipping quietly off to one side to hide behind a nearby pillar while Edwin and Jenus got ready to rush from the other side.

After a few heart-pounding moments, as the guards were just drawing near enough that Jenus was sure they would spot them any second, he saw Qiju casually heft a small stone and hurl it into the dark. The guards stopped at once as they heard the noise, all turning about and pointing their weapons into the darkness. Once again taking advantage of the momentary lapse in concentration everyone acted at once, all running full tilt at the guards who whirled in surprise to meet them. Jenus saw the guard nearest to him snarl and whirl his trident around, but Edwin’s weapon caught it in mid-air giving Jenus the perfect opportunity to move in and slip his sword into the Naga’s side. By the time the Naga let go of the trident and desperately grabbed at his sword Edwin’s shovel was smashing into his collarbone. As Edwin ended the Naga’s shrieks with a few more vicious blows with the shovel to the head Jenus turned and stabbed indiscriminately into one of the remaining Naga, which was struggling with Qiju before being quickly felled by the sneak attack. As Grosh and Reni cut down their opponent, Edwin leapt at the Naga keeping Carrie at bay and stabbed the trident into the creature’s back as hard as he could. As it screamed in pain Carrie was able to easily step in and open his neck.

The battle was over less than a minute after it had begun. Without waiting Edwin dropped the trident, quickly finding two swords and a knife among the corpses. Everyone else followed suit at once, scrounging what they could from the bodies wordlessly.

“Alright, let’s go. Everyone alright?” Jenus asked, looking everyone over. Grosh has a nasty cut on his arm, but he was already tying it off with a strip of cloth with an unconcerned look on his face so he assumed things were fine.

“We doin’ good. We be outta ‘ere son” Qiju said confidently, bent down over one of the Naga. He seemed to be straining with something. After a moment he finally  pulled something free, and held up a Naga fang triumphantly. “A souvenir.”

Rolling her eyes, Reni started marching off again. “This is ridiculous. Let’s get out of here, then you can buy all the stupid Naga teeth you want.” Qiju glared after her but followed behind without a word.

“She’s right, let’s move” Carrie looked to Edwin with a smirk. “Oh hey, thanks for saving me by the way. Don’t go falling in love with me now.”

Chuckling, Edwin turned to walk with her. “Don’t worry about that. I dont-”

There was a flash of blue, and Carrie staggered like she had just been pushed from behind. Jenus looked, and to his shock saw what looked like a long blue spear going in Carrie’s back and out through her chest. It took him a moment to realize that the spear was actually made of ice, and then a feeling of dread settled in Jenus. They had a spellcaster. “Everyone! Hide! They have a witch!”

“Carrie! No!” Edwin yelled, his shock finally wearing off as Jenus dragged him behind cover.

As everyone scrambled out of the way and Carrie fell to the floor, another ice lance came soaring out of the darkness to strike where Jenus had been only a moment before. “Get them! Did you whelps really think you could escape? There will BE no remorse! I am going to kill you all right here!” came the shrill voice of a female Naga.

There was only the briefest of moments for Jenus to collect himself as he stood behind a pillar. He could hear the sounds of more guards getting closer, and if he left cover he would be a sitting duck. Before he had a chance to think much more than that there was a sudden chill to the air that began intensifying rapidly. Shards of ice began to fall from the air all around them, and everyone had to scramble out of the way as a blizzard roared into existence. Though Jenus had received a few cuts, he looked with a heavy heart at Carrie’s body as the storm pummeled it. If she had lived through the ice spear she wasn’t any longer.

Looking back to the battle at hand Jenus saw three more Naga guards coming at them, with Grosh, Qiju and Edwin not even hesitating as they rushed with weapons drawn. A fourth Naga was even now rearing back with a spear which he hurled at the Jenus. He managed to dodge at the last moment, wincing as the spear caught some stray strands of hair. He moved quickly, closing the distance as the Naga took out a scimitar and shield. The creature quickly put Jenus at a disadvantage, keeping his guard up and delivering quick slashes which Jenus just barely managed to avoid. It cackled while advancing slowly, grinning widely all the while. “I’m going to enjoy breaking your body, elf. I wonder how long it will take your bones to break when I squeeze you.”

“What a morbid imagination you have” Jenus replied, smiling despite the fear he felt. Out of the corner of his eye Jenus saw Grosh slay the guard he was battling with a scream of rage, pick up the fallen sword and rush at the witch. Jenus had a very brief moment of triumph, he was sure that the witch wouldn’t have time to react to this.

Another ice bolt hit Grosh in the left shoulder, knocking him clean off his feet and sending him crashing to the ground. The witch laughed, and Jenus could clearly see her forming another ice spear even now as he barely managed to block another sword strike from the Naga. “I wonder which one I’ll pick off next?” she turned to Jenus, lifting the spear and smiling. “I believe the elf then.”

“Damn you!” Edwin screamed, screaming in rage as he struck rapidly at his attacker. The Naga barely managed to keep him at bay, hiding behind the shield as a Edwin lashed out continuously.

As the spear formed completely in mid-air, the witch grabbed it and raised it as she eyed Jenus. Bracing himself to dodge, he was surprised when she suddenly turned to Edwin and reared back. Jenus didn’t even have enough time to yell, he just watched helplessly as he tried not to die. Right before the Naga threw the icicle something small and shiny flew towards the witch’s face, making her shriek as she hurled the spear wildly. It missed Edwin completely as it hit the ground, smashing into fragments and scattering across the floor.

Quickly turning his head Jenus saw Reni standing there, legs shaking violently and arm outstretched. For a second he had no idea what had happened until the witch turned to face the goblin. A knife handle protruded from the Naga’s eye, her face blazing with hatred. “You little bitch!” she screamed, stabbing out with a finger. A cone of blazing cold shot from her finger, catching Reni mid-leap. She skid along the ground, landing in a heap and covered in frost a few feet away from where she had started. With a wave she sent a handful of whirling ice shards at the fallen goblin, ripping her flesh and clothes indiscriminately. Reni did not move, face-down and blood

Edwin let out a scream of rage. He leapt at his attacker, smashing the shield aside with his entire body and stabbing his sword up and into the Naga’s chin. Putting both hands on the hilt he pushed the blade in as hard as he could, kicking the body aside as it twitched. Taking his remaining sword he ran at the witch, growling furiously. “I’ll take your head for this.”

“Not today!” the witch cried, throwing her hands out wide. A wave of ice flowed from her tail in a wide circle, freezing Edwin’s feet to the ground and stopping him in his tracks. “I’ve made a grave error. You monkeys can live for a few minutes longer!” With some quick hand gestures she disappeared in a blink of purple light.

“My… my lady!” yelled the Naga Jenus was fighting, clearly hurt by her abandonment. Jenus felt bad for the guy, but not nearly as bad as when Grosh bashed his skull in from behind with the shovel. With a scream of rage he turned and smashed the last Naga in the back, breaking the head off the shovel and sending the creature into Qiju’s waiting blade.

Dropping the broken handle of the shovel, Grosh gingerly felt the wound left by the spell. “I hate mages. That thing was deep in there.”

As Qiju and Grosh checked the bodies of the Naga, Jenus walked over to Carrie’s body. A pool of blackened blood spread out from under her, and even though Jenus had no real hope that she was alive he checked anyhow. Sighing, Jenus stood up as the sound of breaking ice brought him back to his senses. Edwin was stomping over to Reni, who still wasn’t moving as he gently picked her up. “Reni. Reni! Are you ok? Talk to me! Say something!”

“I… I never meant for this... “ Reni croaked. Her eyes barely opened and Jenus could see tears in her eyes. “I was going... to stay out of the fighting... if it got serious.”

“You’re gonna be ok Reni. Don’t worry. When we get out of here we’ll find a priest to cure you. You’ll be ok by dinner time, I promise.” Taking a knife Edwin cut a long strip of fabric from his shirt and began to patch Reni up as best he could. Jenus was dismayed to see that her legs looked especially cut up, he was surprised if she could even stand. Finally satisfied with the rudimentary first aid Edwin stood, gingerly lifting Reni in his arms.

Reni lifted a fist and weakly beat on Edwin’s chest. “No. Just leave me... I’ll slow you down too much.”

“Maybe it would be best to do as she says” said Grosh. The glare Edwin gave him was dangerous and he sighed as he clarified, “Look, how are we going to get her out? We need to swim out, I doubt she’ll be able to do much like that.”

“Then she’ll just hold onto me and I’ll swim! Or we’ll think of some other way!” Edwin shouted back, glaring at the orc and taking a step closer. “That’s enough of this nonsense. We all promised we’d get out of here together remember?”

Scowling, Grosh also took a step closer to Edwin. “Is that so. So you would really do the same thing for me if I was hurt huh?”

“No, probably not.” The satisfied look on Grosh’s face lasted for only a moment as Edwin continued, “I’d probably have to get Qiju to help me. I mean, you’re like a foot and a half taller than me.” Grosh opened and closed his mouth, lost for words as Qiju chuckled. Smiling briefly to the orc, Edwin turned and walked up to Carrie’s body. Apologizing to Reni he gently put her on the ground and then bent over the corpse. He reached out and closed her eyes with a long sigh. “She had a sister. Still human. She wanted to meet her before she died.”

After a moment of silence Jenus finally spoke up. “We’d better go. That witch will send more guards soon.” Nodding, Edwin stood and gathered up Reni in his arms again and without another word the group was off.

As they continued towards the exit, Jenus was the only one to hear as Reni spoke quietly to Edwin. “Why are you doing this for me? You know I’ve been a bitch to you right?”

“Don’t talk like that. You’re fine. It’s like you said, people just misunderstand you.”

Jenus heard Reni thump her fist against Edwin’s chest again. “I just said that to make you feel sorry for me. I’ve been doing that to you the whole time because you’re so damn stupid. It’s easy to make you do what I want. You shouldn’t do what girls say just because they cry.” Edwin must have smiled because Reni sounded quite annoyed. “What’s so damn funny, huh?”

“Oh nothing. Is that what you’re sorry about? I already knew about that stuff, don’t worry” Edwin said dismissively, as if it didn’t matter. Even Jenus was a bit surprised at that. “I mean it’s not like you were ever that annoying so it’s fine.”

“...Well, if you knew then why did you just go along with it? Are you just messing with me? Laughing at me behind my back?” Despite sounding weak, Reni’s voice regained that angry edge for a moment.

“No, nothing like that. Geez you’re paranoid. Well, if you want my reasons there’s two. First of all, I just didn’t mind doing it. Like I said, you never asked me to do anything crazy. If a little extra food or water made you happy I didn’t mind.” Edwin sounded a bit embarrassed as he continued, “And the other reason… well, I could have just done what everyone else did. Ignore you and go about my day. But you seemed to cheer up a little bit whenever I’d help you out. I just figured it’d help make this place a little less horrible for you.”

Reni was silent for a long time after that. They encountered one more Naga patrol, six guards who all seemed on high alert, but thankfully they were able to get by without detection. As they neared one of the exits into the ocean, the sounds of sloshing water faint in the distance, Reni finally spoke again, her voice barely audible. “You’re such an idiot Edwin. You’re never going to get a girl acting sappy like that.”

“You’re welcome” Edwin replied, his voice cheerful.

“I didn’t say ‘thank you’!” she said in a loud whisper, and Jenus could hear her thumping angrily on Edwin’s chest as he tried not to laugh.

Jenus had only a moment to grin at their antics before he spotted the exit around a pillar and stopped abruptly, feeling dismay creep into his heart. There were eight Naga at the exit, one of them a female and one a larger than average male with heavy shell armor and a large shield. As everyone else stopped behind Jenus, they took turns carefully peering around the corner at this newest roadblock.

Gently placing Reni onto the floor and leaning her against the pillar, Edwin looked expectantly to Jenus. “So, what’s the plan?”

“It doesn’t much matter what plan we make. This is probably the end of the line” Grosh said, his voice calm and almost unconcerned.

“You could sound just a little more upset about that” Edwin shot back, looking annoyed.

Grosh shrugged, and winced. He had moved his injured shoulder. “Look I’m surprised we got this far. We killed Naga, and at least made it this far. At least our deaths won’t be entirely in vain.” He pulled out two swords, a serious expression on his face. “I say we rush them. We probably won’t win but we can at least kill that witch they have. We won’t let this one get away.”

Jenus reached out and put a restraining hand on Grosh’s shoulder. “Look, I understand that we aren’t guaranteed to win but we shouldn't just run in there. We should think about this, or wait for an opportunity.”

“Don’t be stupid, the longer we wait the more Naga are going to show up. What sort of ‘opportunity’ are you even expecting to possibly happen?” Grosh growled, turning to Jenus with a furious expression.

Edwin moved between the two, gently pushing them apart. “Look, let’s not fight. Let’s just wait a minute or two, ok? Maybe some of them will leave. You never know.”

Judging by Grosh’s twitching eyebrow it looked like he was just about done with Edwin. “Listen. One of those patrols will come here in a minute and then we’ll have even more Naga on our hands. Stop being stupid. We are on our own.”

A loud cry echoed through the cavern, and their group turned quickly to see a human clad in thick metal armor charging right into the group of Naga. His shield smashed one in the side as he moved in towards the large armored male, who barely managed to block a blow from the human’s glowing sword. “Out of my WAY!” he screamed, slamming his foot on the ground as a shock wave seemed to ripple out from his foot. The Naga around him all seemed to hesitate with fear as this warrior dueled with their commander, blades flashing as the armored serpent tried desperately not to get hit.

“Attack him, you imbeciles!” screamed the female, lashing out and scratching one of the guards violently in the face for his cowardice. “How dare you hesitate for even a-AHHH!” she screamed suddenly in terror as a large black cat leapt on her seemingly out of nowhere, bearing her to the ground and ripping at her with its claws. The guard with the scratch marks looked around quickly, scanning for more intruders, and was met with an arrow in the forehead.

Following the trail of the arrow Jenus saw a Night Elf calmly notching another bow and firing it at the struggling witch who was even now trying to cast a spell at her feline attacker. The arrow struck it in the chest, and as the Naga shrieked the cat closed his jaws around her throat and crunched down, silencing her forever.

A dwarf stepped up next to the night elf, grinning widely. “Nice work, missy! The rest of ya, just die already!” Lifting his hands Jenus saw sparks crackling between them, and after a moment of channeling the power he threw a handful of lightning towards the Naga who were even now trying to swarm the human warrior. It struck the first one and then seemed to jump from creature to creature until they were all shrieking in pain. Two more fell, and the remaining three smaller Naga angrily left the human to their commander as they rushed towards the elf and dwarf.

The elf’s cat managed to intercept the first one, and the dwarf threw up a palm and slowed the second one down with a burst of ice. However the third one drew near, trident ready as it bared its teeth in fury. The elf let another arrow loose but it hit the creature’s shoulder, not even slowing it down as it reared the weapon back. Jenus was already moving to try and intercept but he could already tell he reacted too late.

Jenus didn’t realize that Edwin was running until he was already practically there on top of the Naga. It thrust its trident at Edwin, who barely managed to dodge and close in, slamming the thing in the chest with his shoulder and jamming a knife into the creature’s side. It screeched in pain and punched Edwin in the gut, and while he reeled the Naga brought the haft of his trident around in an arc and caught Edwin in the face, sending him crashing to the ground. It snarled and raised its trident to finish Edwin off.

“Hey. You.” The Naga turned his head towards the Night Elf, who calmly shot the thing in the eye. Before the body even hit the floor she was already whistling to her cat and pointing at the commander, who looked rather overwhelmed as he tried to account for this new threat as well.

“I will not yield!” the Naga commander screamed, swiping wildly with his sword and causing the human and cat to leap away. “I fight for Queen Azshara!”

“Oh shut your hole” the Dwarf said with a scowl. Chanting angrily he balled his hand into a fist and it burst into flame as something red hot seemed to drip to the floor. With a cry the dwarf hurled a ball of molten lava at the Naga, hitting it in the chest. The lava melted the armor it touched and began burning skin, sending a horrible smell through the place. The Naga screamed in agony, dropping his weapon as he tried desperately to remove his breastplate. Wasting no time at all, the human warrior stepped in and with one brutal strike the creature’s head was rolling on the floor.

Jenus sprinted to Edwin’s side and helped him to his feet. “Are you alright? He got you good there.”

Nodding Edwin managed a woozy grin. “Yeah. I just need a second.”

“Thanks for the help there, boy!” laughed the Dwarf as he slapped Edwin hard on the back, sending him staggering forward. “You look like crap! Let me help you out.” Extending his hand the dwarf mumbled to himself and a green slow pulsed around Edwin, clearing up some of his minor cuts and scrapes.

Shaking his head briefly, Edwin smiled at the Dwarf. “That’s much better. I guess you’re the people who caused the commotion. If that’s the case we need to thank you. We were able to escape because of that.”

The human walked up to his companions, sheathing his sword. “Not a problem. I only wish we would have known there were more prisoners, we’d have tried to save you ourselves.” He reached out and shook hands with Edwin. “Rodney. Rodney Townend. This handsome fellow right here is Dandak, and the lady with the bow is Fylanna. We’re quite pleased to meet you. I admire your resourcefulness in escaping.”

Looking quite pleased with himself, Edwin grinned. “We’ve been here for two years, we’ve had time to get ready. I’m Edwin Ogden, and this is Jenus. It’s a pleasure to meet you.

“Charmed” Jenus said as he quickly shook hands as well, wanting to get on with it. “Listen, is there any way you could possibly help us escape? We were planning to leave right here but I’m not sure we could make it to the surface. If any Naga attack we’ll certainly be killed.”

“Don’t worry!” Dandak reached out and placed his hand on the elf’s chest, chanting a quick couple of words. Jenus felt a strange sensation, like his lungs were slightly lighter now. “You’ll be able to breathe in the water like this. We’ll lead you to a safe place.” He turned to Edwin. “Your turn lad.”

“Oh, wait a second!” Edwin turned and ran back towards the pillar, leaving the Dwarf looking puzzled as he glanced to his companions. Then he came back in sight, carrying Reni in his arms. Grosh and Qiju flanked him on either side and Jenus could tell both looked more than a bit nervous. He couldn’t blame them, they were in trouble if these adventurers wanted to make trouble. “Sorry about that. Can you also help them our friends too? I can’t really leave here without them. And Reni here is pretty badly hurt, if you could heal her a bit I would be very appreciative.”

The Dwarf lost all trace of a smile. The Night Elf and human looked at each other solemnly, and Jenus knew this was not going to turn out well. “I’ll heal you boy, and help you breathe underwater. But there’s no way in the world I’m going to cast a good spell on a greenskin. I owe you a debt, but I’ll never help those things.”

Edwin’s face obviously struggled with this. He opened his mouth a few times, his face turning red. “But, why? I’m not asking you to like them, just help us out.”

“Do you even know how much my people have suffered because of them?” Dandak shot back, glaring at  Edwin’s group. “They can rot down here for all I care. Now, are you going to come with us or not?”

Breathing heavily through his nose, Edwin just looked down at the floor for a moment. Jenus thought he was about to scream, but he looked up at Dandak with a determined look on his face. “Ok then. If you owe me a favor, then don’t cast that charm on me. Please cast it on Reni here instead. I’m pretty good at holding my breath so I can probably make it to the surface, but she can’t like this.” Edwin turned to Qiju, his face set in an intense scowl. “I’m sorry but you and Grosh should probably hide out here for a bit. If I make it to the surface I’ll send Jenus back down to get you guys. If I don’t then look for some other way out, alright?”

“Didn’t you hear me?!” the Dwarf yelled, face turning red. “I’m not touching any of those things! That includes the goblin!”

That finally broke Edwin’s patience, and his face was livid as he turned toward Dandak. Despite his anger he placed Reni carefully on the floor, leaning her against his legs before returning his attention to the dwarf. “Why?! Why won’t you just… help them?! Why is that so hard?! They might die down here if you don’t help them!”

“Edwin, enough.” Qiju laid a hand on Edwin’s shoulder. “Just go. We’ll find another way.”

Shaking the hand off Edwin glared back at the troll. “No! How could I just leave like that?!” Turning his glare back on the dwarf, Don’t you care at all?! How can you sleep at night if they die?!”

Dandak looked completely unfazed. “I’m sure I’ll sleep just fine if some orc, troll and goblin I’ve never met before dies. Why should I lose sleep over that?”

“Why would you lose sleep over that?” Edwin repeated, balling his hands up into fists. He looked like he was about to explode as he squeezed his eyes shut. “You’re really not going to lose sleep? Three people might die here today. Three people with families and friends and people who love them and don’t want to see them hurt. You’re gonna just let them die and you’re telling me you’re just going to go home and sleep like nothing happened?” Edwin opened his eyes and stared furiously at the dwarf, tears shining in his eyes as he fought to hold his voice steady. “You fucking monster.”

The dwarf opened his mouth, but nothing came out for a moment. “Um…” he mumbled, looking quite a bit less certain as he glanced at Rodney.

Throwing his hands up in the air, Rodney backed up a step. “Don’t look at me. You’re the one who refused to help.”

Looking back to Edwin, Dandak set his face in a firm scowl once more. “Look boy it doesn’t change the fact that I won’t help them. I’ve seen plenty of random greenskins die, why would this be different?”

“Because they’re not random greenskins you asshole!” Edwin cried back, wiping his eyes before clapping Grosh on the shoulder. “This is Grosh! He acts all reserved and badass, even though he tries a little too hard sometimes! And when he gets out of here he wants to eat a cheap sausage on a bun from Orgrimmar!”

“Hey, don’t tell them that! Also what do you mean tries too hard?” Grosh complained, shaking Edwin’s arm off.

“This is Qiju!” Edwin continued, ignoring Grosh as he clapped a hand on the troll’s shoulder. “He’s really quiet, but he loves listening to stories and he laughs way too hard at fart jokes!” Qiju shrugged, as if saying ‘well you got me there’. Edwin let go and put a hand on Reni’s head, who looked up at him with an unreadable expression on her face. “This is Reni. Some people say that she’s annoying but I think she’s fun to be around. And when she thinks everyone is asleep at night she cries because she’s scared of dying here.”

“You… you knew about that?” Reni’s cheeks flushed a darker green as she covered her mouth with her left hand.

Edwin looked down at Reni and nodded once, patting her on the head before looking back to Dandak. “Alright then. If you’re really ok with them dying then I don’t need help from someone like you.” Reaching down Edwin picked up Reni and re-positioned her in his arms to make her more comfortable. “Jenus, I’m sorry. I’m going to stay here and help them find a way out. Please report my disappearance if I don’t return. Grosh, Qiju, I think we might be able to find a solution if we take one of those female Naga alive. That one we fought earlier is still around here I’ll bet, we can find her if we start looking quickly. I imagine they’re going to call in reinforcements soon enough.”

“Wait…” Dandak looked concerned as Edwin checked his weapons. He grit his teeth in anger. “Why are you doing this? Do you really think they’d do the same for you? If we were members of the Horde right now they’d be leaving you behind!”

“That doesn’t matter. Maybe they would leave me behind, I don’t know. But I do know one thing.” Edwin looked at Dandak directly, his eyes were red but also unwavering as he met the dwarf’s gaze. “If I was the kind of person who would just leave three of my friends behind to die while I got away to safety… I wouldn’t even want to look at myself in the mirror after that.” Turning away, he nodded to the others. “Let’s go.”

Jenus watched helplessly as Edwin began walking away, speaking in urgent whispers with Grosh. He turned to Dandak and saw the dwarf scowling at the ground, his hands balled into fists as he shook. Finally after a moment he growled in fury and started marching towards the retreating figures. “Dammit, stop! Stop already you little shit!” Edwin stopped and turned around with a surprised look on his face as the dwarf marched up to them and pointed at Reni. “First things first, put her down.” When he hesitated for a moment the dwarf snapped his fingers in Edwin’s face impatiently. “I don’t have all day! Just put her down already!” As Edwin placed her on the ground the dwarf put a hand on her shoulder, muttering as a green glow covered Reni’s body. Jenus could see the cuts and gashes left behind by the Naga healing all over, closing up like they’d never been there. “Can you stand?” the dwarf asked, his gruff demeanor softening for a moment as he removed his hand.

After a moment Reni stood up unsteadily on her feet. She bounced in place, bending her knees as she bobbed up and down and smiled. “Yeah, I can move again!”

“Fine, whatever” the dwarf said, placing his hand on Reni’s head as a blue glow surrounded her body. “You two, get over here” he barked to Grosh and Qiju, who both quietly accepted the charm. Wordlessly Dandak also cured Grosh’s shoulder before turning to Edwin. “There. I hope I’m not a monster in your books anymore?” he asked, placing his hand on Edwin’s chest and surrounding his body in that same brief blue aura. Dandak looked a bit exhausted after all of these spells as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“No, not at all!” Edwin reached down and hugged the dwarf, who almost immediately tried to struggle out of it. “Thank you so much! I’m sorry for what I said, you’re a great guy Dandak! I was just angry, that’s all! Hey guys, remember to say thank you to Dandak!”

“Get off of me!” Dandak roared, finally pushing Edwin off with great effort. “I just did it to shut your mouth, you hear me?! I don’t want thanks from any of them!”

As the dwarf turned to walk away, a hand on his shoulder stopped him and made him angrily turn around. Reni stood on her toes and kissed Dandak in the cheek. “Thank you for helping us” she said with a smile.

“I-I certainly didn’t do this so some greenskin would kiss me!” Dandak yelled, whirling around and marching back to his companions. Jenus tried not to laugh as he noticed how red the dwarf’s face was.

“Well that was certainly a waste of time” Rodney mumbled, rolling his eyes.

“I thought it was sweet” Fylanna replied, smiling broadly as she looked at Jenus. “You have a very interesting friend there. But more importantly, we should all get moving. We’re enchanted with some powerful spells to help us move in the waters of Vashj’ir, so we should be able to keep you all safe until we get to a safe haven.”

“Excellent. Thank you, we owe your group our lives” Jenus said with a bow.

As everyone made their way to the exit, Fylanna gave a sly grin to Dandak. “Well, there’s one good thing about all this.”

“What’s that?” Dandak replied, eyes narrowing.

“At least you’ll be able to sleep well tonight knowing you helped three people, right?” she asked innocently.

“Oh shut your face, you purple wench!” Dandak’s face was still red as he picked up the pace. “I’ll never live this down…” he muttered to himself.

-

“So, that was pretty much how we escaped. We rested up at Silver Tide Hollow for a couple of days before deciding that we would assist in the efforts against the Naga.” Jenus sighed gratefully as he finished his story, and perked up as he noticed a small pond nearby. “Why don’t we go sit down for a moment? I could use a moment off my feet.”

As the two sat down on a log Mitzi summoned two glasses of water and passed one to Jenus, who accepted it gratefully. As he drank, Mitzi sipped at her own glass thoughtfully. “So, that’s why Reni is so attached to Edwin. She feels like she owes her life to him.”

“That’s certainly a big part of it yes. I believe that her, Grosh and Qiju all feel at least in part like they owe their lives  to Edwin. Like I said earlier Reni was a lot different after that whole experience. She’s certainly not pleasant to deal with all of the time but I won’t lie, I find her quite dependable. Of course I would never tell her that.” He chuckled to himself, finishing off his glass of water and thanking Mitzi when she offered him another.

“That explains a lot. I don’t know why but it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders or something.” Mitzi smiled as she watched dragonflies buzz around the pond. Of course it made sense that Reni would want to protect Edwin if she owed her life to him.

“Why is that?”

“Well… I don’t know. I guess I just thought… that she was in love with him or something.” Mitzi felt strangely apprehensive now. She had finally voiced a concern that had been nagging at the back of her mind since she had met the goblin. She looked to Jenus, hoping he would confirm how crazy her suspicions were.

Jenus took a long moment to respond as he drank his water thoughtfully. Finally he put the glass down on the ground and looked Mitzi dead on. “Why do you think she’s not?”

Feeling that sense of apprehension growing stronger Mitzi took a sip of water to clear the spit from her mouth before speaking. “You just said, they all have a life debt to him. And…” Mitzi trailed off, realizing she didn’t have much more evidence than that. “What, are you saying she IS in love with him?” Mitzi finally shot back, feeling suddenly annoyed.

Shrugging, Jenus picked up a rock and after turning it in his hand for a moment threw it at the pond. It skipped over the surface three times before plunking into the water. “Damn. I thought I could do five.” Before Mitzi could say something out of frustration Jenus spoke again, his tone serious. “I don’t know how Reni feels. I’m not her, and I’ve never asked her. You’ll have to do that if you want to know I’m afraid.”

Looking down at her feet, Mitzi’s mind raced as she considered this. It couldn’t be true, right? If it was true did Edwin love her back? She hadn’t seen him in ten years, how well did she really know this Edwin she was with now? Trembling slightly she looked up at Jenus again. “What exactly is their relationship? Are they just partners?”

Frowning, Jenus didn’t look at Mitzi. “I’m sorry, but I think you should be asking Reni or Edwin about that.”

“No, tell me what you know!” Mitzi cried back, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to turn towards her. Jenus still had that frown on his face and Mitzi could tell he wasn’t going to budge. She decided to use her trump card. “Listen, you owe me for what you did the other day. So if you tell me this I’ll forgive you, ok?”

Jenus hesitated, his face shifting as he thought. “Listen, I really don’t think I should be the one telling you all of this. I wasn’t lying when I said that. Besides everything else it might be something you just don’t want to hear.”

Taking a deep breath, Mitzi thought for a long moment if she should push the issue or not. She could just wait until she got back, and ask Edwin when she saw him. But… there was a small doubt in the back of her mind. A part of her thought there was a possibility, no matter how slim, that Edwin wouldn’t tell her the truth. Or at least not all of it. She hated herself for even thinking that but she couldn’t deny that she had only known Edwin again for a day after more than ten years apart. As much as she wanted to think that she knew practically everything about him that just wasn’t the truth. “Please, just tell me what you know.”

Turning back towards the pond again Jenus sighed and put his hands on his knees. “Like I said, I don’t know exactly how she feels. I can just tell you what I saw.” Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Jenus felt around for some more skipping stones. “I never thought I would even tell this story to anyone. This was just a couple of months after we had mistakenly thought you were dead. Reni and Edwin were pretty close by that point, ever since they went to Dalaran together. Not that it was anything closer than being good friends as far as Edwin was concerned.”

“Wait, wait… why did they go to Dalaran together?” Mitzi was starting to feel a bit upset and bit her bottom lip in frustration.

“Well I think I told you that once we were done with the Naga we took a little personal time before heading to Pandaria. Reni said she didn’t have any family she actually wanted to see so she ended up travelling around with Edwin when he visited his family and then went to Dalaran to look for you. Ever since then they’ve pretty much been inseparable. Honestly last night may have been the first time they’ve spent more than twelve hours apart since then in fact.” With quick flicks of the wrist Jenus started skipping stones across the surface of the pond, one after the other. “Anyhow. One night we ended up in the Veiled Stair. There was a small inn there called the Tavern in the Mists, and thankfully they ended up having enough rooms for us all. I wanted to relax that night and they had a small outdoor bath so I indulged myself for a few hours, well beyond the time everyone else had gone to bed. I had just gone back to my room and was drying my hair when I decided to open the window for some night air…”