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 vulva 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, dressed in a loose-fitting shirt and pair of pants. 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 pooling underneath her.

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 with both hands. Moving both hands to the hilt he pushed the blade up into the creature’s brain 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 just being realistic. We killed Naga, and we 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 seemed to notice him just in time as it thrust its trident at Edwin instead, 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 and scales, sending a horrible burnt fish 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 glow 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 only 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.”

Jenus could tell by Edwin’s face that he had been dreading this kind of reply. 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. I’m sure that we could give you some kind of reward for helping us out if you gave us time to put some money together…”

“Do you even know how much my people have suffered because of them? How many of YOUR people?” 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! What are you, some kind of idiot?!”

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, he took a few deep breaths before continuing. “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 with mustard from Orgrimmar!”

“Hey, don’t tell them that! They don’t care! 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, the puncture wound left behind by the ice spear sealing up and leaving a small circular scar behind, 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! In fact, I’d be grateful if you all just completely forgot that this ever happened!”

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…”

-

It was dark as Jenus entered his small, cramped room, but as he dried his hair lazily with a towel he decided against lighting a lantern. Walking to the window he opened one half, letting in the brilliant moonlight. Looking down he noticed Edwin sitting on the ground not far away, his various weapons laid out in front of him on a small roll of cloth as he meticulously sharpened and polished the lot one by one. Jenus watched him sadly for a minute or so before turning away and preparing for bed.

Edwin had been like this since the Isle of Thunder, never sleeping much as he busied himself with menial tasks. His behaviour in general had been different, he had stopped talking as much and would usually just stand there listlessly whenever he wasn’t being asked a direct question. However it was true that his performance on mission had been steadily improving. Just the day before they had a mission to eliminate some of the saurok that had been plaguing the locals and Edwin had once again been brutally efficient, cutting down dozens of the lizardmen often before they knew what was even happening. Despite this Jenus wished he knew some way to bring the old Edwin back, even just a bit. Jenus had never realized until these last few months that the nights around the campfire were much colder with Edwin silent and brooding. The problem was that broaching the subject was a sure way to make Edwin stomp off without a word, so as of now there had been a silent agreement among the group to just not talk about it until he was ready.

Just as he was about to climb into the bed Jenus heard a voice from outside. It was faint but his elven ears picked up the words all the same. “Edwin? What are you still doing up?” Glancing out the window, Jenus saw Reni approaching Edwin. She was dressed in a loose-fitting shirt and pair of shorts, her bare feet making hardly a noise in the grass as she sat down next to him. “You need to get to sleep. We’re waking up early tomorrow.”

For a moment Jenus considered closing the window quietly, laying down in bed and ignoring this conversation. However curiosity was quickly getting the better of him. Moving silently he picked up a wooden chair from the corner of the room and placed it very gently near the window. Making himself comfortable, he took a canteen of water and a plate of Pandaren rice cakes off his bedside table and began to snack as he listened intently.

“I know. You’re not my mom” Edwin replied after a long silence, not looking at Reni as he neared the end of his weapon cleaning.

“Right. I know. Sorry.” Reni sat there, quietly watching for a few minutes as Edwin finished and began replacing everything carefully into their proper sheaths. “You didn't sleep a lot last night either” she finally said, her voice a bit accusatory.

Edwin stopped halfway through rolling up his cloth bundle. “What did I just say?” he asked, his voice dangerous. “I was fine, wasn’t I? I just need a little cold water in my face in the morning.”

“What about the week before that?” Even from where he sat Jenus could see Reni scowling at Edwin now. “Stop pretending this is just today or yesterday.”

After a moment of heavy breathing Edwin spoke calmly, though Jenus could see him shaking. “I SAID it’s none of your business. You have no idea what I’m going through.”

“Because you won’t even talk to me about it. How am I supposed to know?” Reni hesitated for a moment before placing a hand on his shoulder. “But I do know that she probably wouldn’t want to see you acting like this.”

Edwin stood up, one hand clutching the cloth bundle tightly as he shrugged off Reni’s hand. He was trembling. “How do you know what she would have wanted? You have no right to tell me that.” He finally looked at Reni, eyes blazing. “Fine, what do you think I should do then? Huh?”

Reni looked quite uncomfortable now but didn’t back down. “I think you should let her go. She’s dead.”

“Let her…” Edwin muttered, and Jenus was sure for a moment that if if it was anyone but Reni he would have probably punched them in the face. “How dare you. You want me to just forget about her? To pretend she just didn’t exist? How could-”

“No!” Reni froze in place, clearly not having meant to shout to loud. After a moment of silence she seemed to conclude that nobody was coming to check on them and continued. “I’m not saying forget about her. She was important to you. I’m just saying… I wish you would remember that you’re alive and you still have people who care about you.” Reni, who was still sitting, reached up and took Edwin’s hand. With a gentle pull he collapsed back to the ground in a sitting position.

“H-how can I just let her go?” Edwin asked, and Jenus could tell he was trying to hold back tears. “That’s just… asking too much…”

Reaching out, Reni pulled Edwin into a hug. As he cried softly she soothed him, stroking his hair tenderly. “Maybe that is asking too much. I’m sorry.” Reni continued to stroke his hair for another moment before pulling away as Edwin calmed down a bit, wiping his face on his sleeve. “Then, can you do something else for me instead?” she asked, her eyes not leaving his face.

Edwin smiled faintly as he composed himself. “Sure. What is it?”

Leaning up, Reni moved her face towards Edwin and kissed him once. “You don’t have to let her go. But can you forget about her, just for tonight?” She crawled into his lap, moving in for another kiss. “Look at me, just for tonight.”

“W-wait…” Edwin moved his head back, eyes huge as he fought for words. “Reni, I.. what are you…”

“I’m sorry” Reni said, getting off Edwin. Her face was noticeably darker even here in the moonlight. “I’m sorry, that was probably pretty weird for you, wasn’t it?

“Why would it be weird?” Edwin looked confused as he sat up straight again.

“I’m a goblin, stupid…. I’m sorry. It’s just, if I were a human this probably wouldn’t be so strange.” Reni turned to leave. “I’m going to go to bed, I’m really sorry.”

Edwin’s hand shot out and grabbed Reni’s, stopping her fast. “Just a second. Come back here.” As Reni reluctantly sat back down, Edwin took a moment to compose his thoughts. “Look, it’s not the fact that you’re a goblin at all.”

Scoffing, Reni looked away. “Sure. I understand.”

“I’m not lying to you. I do find you attractive. You’re cute. You also have some great boobs and hips. It’s really not about that.” Edwin was rubbing the back on his head, looking down at the ground.

“Oh… well, what is it then?” Reni looked quite a bit more pleased with herself now but still sounded skeptical.

Still not looking up, Edwin spoke to the ground. “I don’t want you to do something like that with me just to make me feel better… I know you’re trying to help but you should do that with someone you really care about. Like I said, I think you’re a lovely girl. I’m sure there’s someone better for you than me.”

Reni just looked at him for a moment, and then turned his head to face her. She kissed him again, much longer this time. When she broke the kiss she smiled at him, putting her hands to his face. “That’s not true.”

Edwin sat there for a moment, staring into Reni’s eyes. Then he put his arms around her, drawing her in as the two began to kiss passionately. Jenus could see their tongues flashing in the moonlight as Reni wrapped her arms around Edwin’s neck and pulled herself closer to him. The two stayed like that for a couple of minutes, hands slowly exploring each others’ bodies, until Edwin finally broke the kiss. He stood up, Reni still hanging on around his neck. “Let’s go to my room.”

“Alright then” Reni replied breathlessly as Edwin hurried inside.

Listening at his door Jenus heard footsteps coming up the stairs, then the sounds of a door opening and closing. Though he considered going to Edwin’s room to try and listen in further, his curiosity had been satiated. Though he did have concerns about all of this Jenus had to admit that this might help Edwin out of this spiral of depression. With a sigh he finished his rice cakes and flopped into bed, drifting off to sleep shortly after.

-

Mitzi was speechless as Jenus finished his story. She just stared out at the pond, mouth hanging open as she tried to comprehend this. Eventually she found her voice again, and spoke in a slightly cracked voice, “So… what kind of relationship do they have exactly? Are they lovers?”

“I don’t know much to be honest. That night was the most I’ve ever seen or heard of their… physical relationship. They’ve been rather good about keeping it from the rest of the group. Or at least, Grosh and Qiju have never said anything to me about it. I wonder if I would have noticed much if I didn’t see them that night.” Jenus stood up, wiping his hands on his pants. “But since I did notice them that night, I was aware of certain things after that. They’d both go to bed around the same time, they’d touch each other’s shoulders and hands a lot… it’s just a feeling, but if I had to classify their relationship I guess it would be ‘friends with benefits’?”

“I just…” Mitzi tried to control her breathing. “I just don’t understand... why does she like him? I mean she’s a goblin!”

Jenus gave Mitzi a long stare. “Well. You’re a gnome and you like him. Is it really so hard to believe?”

“But, we’re still mostly the same! I’m just, well, short. How does he think she’s…” Mitzi trailed off, not knowing exactly what she was going to say.

“You mean because she has green skin? And big ears?” Jenus chuckled as he walked closer to the pond. “I don’t think that kind of stuff bothers him much. He’s never once complained about us not being humans after all. It’s one of the good things about him, he just sees other people as people. No matter the race.” Turning back to Mitzi he motioned back down the road towards Edwin’s house. “I think we should probably start heading back. I don’t know how much more I can tell you. This time I mean it, you should be talking to Edwin and Reni if you want more answers.”

Mitzi stood up and followed alongside Jenus wordlessly as they made their way back. Her mind felt like it was spinning with all of this talk about Reni. As Mitzi bit her bottom lip in frustration, for the first time she wished that the goblin would just go away.

It wasn’t long until they reached the house again. As they neared the front door Mitzi was glad that she didn’t hear any shouting or screaming coming from inside. It was probably safe to enter.

Opening the front door Mitzi heard the sounds of people talking, and after taking off her boots she entered the kitchen to find William, Mary and Reni all having a chat. Mary looked up from chopping potatoes and brightened up. “Oh, Mitzi! I’m glad you’re back. Edwin is still sulking out back, but he’ll be back for lunch. Why don’t you go talk to him?”

Glancing over at Reni, Mitzi was surprised to see that the goblin wasn’t glaring at her for once. Instead she was peeling potatoes, and looked up very briefly before returning to her task. Mitzi saw that she had changed out of her armor, and was now wearing a simple shirt and pair of shorts. “She’s right. I’m helping Mary make lunch so you don’t have to worry about that, and I’m sure Edwin wants to see you too.”

There was a bit of an awkward silence in the air as Mitzi thought of something to say, but thankfully Jenus came in at that moment and filled it. “Ah, I can see everyone missed breakfast entirely then?”

“Yes, we’re just skipping right to an early lunch today” William said, sketching absentmindedly on a pad of paper with a stub of pencil. “How was your walk by the way?” he asked, looking back and forth between Jenus and Mitzi.

“Very fair” Jenus replied happily, sitting down in a chair across from William. “The area is quite pleasant.”

Nodding, Mitzi quickly agreed. “Yes, it’s lovely around here. I can see why Edwin bought you a house out here.”

“Not just Edwin, we have Reni here to thank for that as well!” Mary said with a smile at the goblin, who did not look up from her potato peeling.

There was once again that feeling of anxiety coming on as Mitzi asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, when we were buying the house Reni came with us and let me tell you I am SO glad we brought her. Everything looked fine in the house at first glance but she was able to point out over a dozen things for the owners to fix.” Mary smiled proudly, like she was bragging about her own daughter. “In the end she took over the negotiations and ended up getting us 10% off the price they were asking, plus they fixed all the issues we found as well!”

Reni still didn’t look up but Mitzi could see her cheeks were flushed a dark green. “I didn’t do anything really. They were just trying to cheat you and I pointed it out. I’m just glad I was useful.”

Mary hugged Reni from behind, smiling down at the goblin. “Well that’s why you’ll always have a place to stay here, no matter what.” Though Reni smiled Mitzi could tell her heart wasn’t into it. She went back to peeling potatoes, a sullen look on her face.

Something about all this just made her feel even worse. Mumbling something about going to look for Edwin, she went back to the front door and slowly put her boots on. She had never really paid attention until just now but Reni and Mary were on good terms. More than that, she seemed to absolutely love the goblin. Mitzi remembered something Mary had said earlier, ‘I have those lemon candies you like’. How many times had Reni been here in the past? But it wasn’t just that, there was something else about Reni that made her feel uncomfortable. Something Mitzi couldn’t yet quite put a finger on.

Trying to push these thoughts aside Mitzi left the house and wandered around to the back yard. There she smiled as she saw a small but well-maintained garden, filled with all manner of herbs, vegetables and even a couple of fruit trees. Mitzi thought that this must be William’s side hobby, he always did seem to enjoy tending to the plants back at the Westfall house. It took Mitzi a bit to locate Edwin, until she found him sitting casually on one of the lower branches of an apple tree. His eyes were closed while he leaned back against the trunk, and for a moment Mitzi thought he was asleep. “Edwin?” she asked, cautiously.

Opening his eyes, Edwin jumped down from the tree and landed right in front of her, making Mitzi jump back and yelp as she fell on her butt. “Oh, sorry about that!” Edwin said, face turning red as he helped Mitzi back to her feet. He grinned apologetically, kissing her on the cheek. “I heard you coming and I just… wanted to surprise you.”

Though she did feel a little annoyed Mitzi shrugged that off. She stared hard into Edwin’s eyes. “Nevermind about that. You ran off without saying anything at all.”

The grin slowly slipped off Edwin’s face as his shoulders drooped a bit. He sat down on the ground, leaning against the trunk of the apple tree. “Sorry about that too. I know, I sorta… lost control back there.”

“Why are you so upset at Reni?” Sitting down next to Edwin, Mitzi didn’t know why she was asking him this. She knew the answer. But she did want to hear Edwin’s take on it all the same. “You weren’t nearly as angry with Jenus.”

Scoffing, Edwin smirked and stared off into the distance. “It’s like I said, I expect that kind of stuff out of Jenus. He’s crafty, he always seems to be listening in on conversations he shouldn’t and being where you don’t want him. It made sense to me that he was the one to do this, after all I have these daggers now, I know they’ve been a bit nervous about the company I keep.” He paused for a moment, staring towards the house before continuing. “As for Reni… I’m just acting stupid, I know. But she’s my partner. We made a promise to each other that we wouldn’t keep secrets like that, and she ends up breaking it just like that. It might sound silly but I’m not really angry with her, deep down. Just disappointed.”

The frown on Edwin’s face made Mitzi feel anxious again. “You really trust her don’t you?”

“Well, yeah. I trust her with my life.” Edwin said it boldly with no hesitation, making her feel even worse. He looked at Mitzi, concerned as he put an arm around her. “What’s the matter? You’ve looked like something is on your mind since you got here. Did Jenus say something to you during your walk?”

“No, nothing like that” Mitzi lied, giving Edwin a warm smile. “Sorry, I’m just hungry. I get a little cranky sometimes.”

“Alright then.” Edwin did not look entirely convinced but he dropped the subject. They sat like that for a moment before Edwin lifted Mitzi up and put her in his lap, wrapping his arms around her stomach.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Mitzi asked as Edwin settled back. Her head was leaning back against his chest, and despite her nervousness she found this quite comfortable.

Shrugging, Edwin looked down to Mitzi with a faint smile on his face. “I just felt like sitting here like this for a while. Is that ok?”

Feeling a blush redden her cheeks, Mitzi looked away from his face. “Oh… fine. If you really want to that badly.”

“Thank you.” The two of them sat there for a few minutes, Mitzi closing her eyes and enjoying Edwin’s body warmth as the breeze kissed her face. “Plus, I can also see right down your shirt from here” Edwin added as an afterthought, squeezing her boobs.

Without opening her eyes, Mitzi reared back and drove her elbow into Edwin’s side. With a wheeze of pain he let her go, laughing. Mitzi ignored him and squirmed into a more comfortable position. Though part of her mind was saying she should be thinking about Reni, Mitzi was grateful for this opportunity to relax. With the combination of Edwin’s warmth and the shade of the tree, Mitzi was practically powerless to resist the nap that claimed her.

-

“Hey, wake up” came Edwin’s voice as he gently shook her awake. “I think they have lunch ready. Let’s go, alright?” Nodding as she rubbed her eyes Mitzi got up and followed alongside as Edwin went inside and removed his shoes

While Mitzi was removing her boots as well there were the sounds of footsteps and Mary came around the corner, a serious look on her face as she marched up to Edwin. “Good. I wanted to talk to you.” Jabbing a finger into his chest, Mary drove Edwin back a step with a vicious glare. “We will all sit down and have a nice lunch. You will NOT make a fuss or start a shouting match, do you hear me? After lunch your father and I are going into town for a few hours, and then you and Reni are going to have a talk. A nice civil conversation.” When Edwin did not respond right away she jabbed him harder with her finger. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes” Edwin grumbled, his face red as he avoided Mary’s gaze. “I won’t yell at her.”

Mary seemed satisfied, nodding and walking back towards the kitchen. “Good. Fine. Then come on, the soup should be done by now.”

Mitzi felt like giggling as Edwin sulked after his mother. It’s not like it was that funny, but this reminded her so much of her childhood it made her nostalgic.

Lunch was rather uneventful, and seemed to go by quickly for Mitzi. Thankfully the atmosphere wasn’t that awkward at all as most of the people at the table chatted lively. The only outliers were Edwin, who didn’t talk much, and Reni, who was almost completely silent as she looked down at her plate. Before she knew it, she was helping Mary and Edwin clean up the dishes. As Mitzi began to feel that worry begin to grow inside of her again, Jenus stood up with a grateful smile. “Thank you again for lunch Mrs. Ogden. Your meals are always a treat.”

Mary blushed a bit and shook her head. “No, no it’s fine. Just something I threw together. Will you be joining us for dinner tonight?”

“Unfortunately not. I have some people to meet with back in Dalaran. Reni, Edwin, please take your time, but I would like to see the two of you after your business is concluded.” As the two mumbled their agreement Jenus seemed pleased as he turned to Mitzi. “Well, since I’m going to Dalaran anyhow should I bring a message from you? As far as they’re concerned you’ve been missing for over a day right?”

Putting a hand to her mouth, Mitzi gasped. “Oh my stars. I completely forgot about that! Just a minute please, I’m going to write a quick note.” Dashing upstairs, Mitzi scribbled a quick note explaining her situation and assuring whoever read it that she was quite fine. As she made her way back downstairs again she found Jenus waiting patiently at the bottom, who graciously accepted the letter. “Please, tell them that I’ll be back later on tonight to make a full report. You can give that letter to any of the Dalaran guards, they should know what to do with it.”

“Of course. Will do.” Jenus smiled at Mitzi, then reached out and patted her on the shoulder. “Good luck.” Without waiting for a reply, he took out a hearthstone and in a few seconds he was gone.

Feeling apprehensive, Mitzi returned to the kitchen to see Edwin and Reni both sitting at the table, neither one looking at the other. William and Mary were both bustling about, gathering together some of the leftovers to bring to the neighbors. As she tied her supplies into a bundle, Mary sighed and turned to the rest of the group. “Alright, we’re going to be leaving. I’ll hopefully see you when I get back. Are the three of you going to be staying for dinner?”

The silence that answered the question was long. Reni squirmed in place, not saying anything as Edwin looked up at the ceiling and crossed his arms. “Um, we’re… not sure” Mitzi finally said with a weak smile.

Mary looked like she wanted to say something, but after a moment she finally nodded. “Well then, we’re off.”

Everyone stayed quiet as they listened to Edwin’s parents putting their shoes on and leaving the house. For a few minutes after that things were calm, nobody moving. Then, without warning Edwin looked down and uncrossed his arms, sighing. “Alright then. Where do we start?”

Reni looked up as well, meeting Edwin’s gaze with some difficulty. “I just wanted to explain myself properly, and apologize to the both of you. I was just… I worry about you a lot.” Reni’s gaze shifted over to Mitzi, then back to Edwin as her cheeks darkened. “Could… could we maybe have this conversation in private? I just… feel awkward talking about some of this stuff in front of Mitzi. Please?”

Taking a deep breath, Edwin nodded as he pushed out his chair and stood up. “Fine. We can talk in my room then.” Looking to Mitzi, Edwin placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. “We’ll be back in just a bit.”

As Reni got up and left the room with Edwin, Mitzi had the sudden urge to tell them to stop. To grab Edwin’s hand from behind and pull him back, tell him that whatever Reni had to say she could say in front of her. ‘What am I so worried about?’ Mitzi thought as she heard them going up the stairs. ‘He said he loves me right? Then why am I so worried?’

After a few minutes, Mitzi decided that standing there was going to do nothing. She would make another glass of tea, that would at least eat up some time.

The water seemed to boil painfully slow. Horribly so. Even with her magic she couldn’t help but think that this was just taking far, far too long. By the time the water boiled she didn’t even care anymore, leaving the stove behind and sitting down in a chair feeling frustrated beyond belief.

The minutes seemed to crawl past. Mitzi began counting the seconds under her breath, making it up to five minutes, and then ten. What was taking them so long? Probably just Reni crying, based on what she’d seen so far. That was the most logical explanation, surely. After all, when you got right down to it there was no way this was going to turn out good for Reni. She had broken Edwin’s trust and even if she did something unexpected like confess her feelings for him, Mitzi felt confident that she would get turned down. Quite confident.

Try as she might, Mitzi could not stop the mental images forming. Reni crying, grabbing Edwin by the collar and telling him with tears in her eyes that she loves him. Edwin resisting at first, then saying that he cannot deny his true feelings as he passionately pushes her down onto the bed…

Shaking her head, Mitzi sulked over to the window and looked out over the back yard. No, she didn’t really believe that. Not completely anyway. Though Mitzi had been separated from Edwin for a decade she still felt like she knew him, and she didn’t believe he would have told her ‘I love you’ just to turn around and cheat with another woman. However something still bothered her no matter how much she tried to push it aside. Reni. Unless something crazy happened she would be leaving here today with a broken heart. She would lose the most important person in the world to her. In a perfect world both of them could find a way to be happy. “Maybe…” Mitzi murmured, her eyebrows creasing as a crazy thought occurred to her, but she shook her head again. No. That was ridiculous.

It had been at least fifteen minutes by her count, if not more. Mitzi stood up. She couldn’t take it anymore. Without waiting another moment she went right to the stairs and up to Edwin’s room. She intended to listen at the door, to just eavesdrop for a moment before returning downstairs, just to get an idea of what was going on. That was what she told herself.

Mitzi entered the room suddenly, not bothering to knock. Both Edwin and Reni, who were sitting on the bed next to each other, looked to her as one. Mitzi couldn’t help noticing that Reni’s eyes were red and wet with tears.

The whole room was silent for a few moments before Reni finally broke it. “Well, you’re just in time. I was going to come look for you.” Getting down off the bed, she walked up to Mitzi and bowed low. “Please, what happened yesterday was my fault. There’s no excuse, but I was thinking of Edwin when I acted.” Looking up again, Reni met Mitzi’s gaze again, her face serious despite the fact that her eyes looked sad and forlorn. “I promise you however, we will never take a violent action against you again. I will see to that personally.”

“Oh… thank you.” Mitzi really didn’t know what else to say. “I’m really not angry with you about that though, please don’t worry.”

Smiling faintly, Reni nodded. “Yes, Edwin told me you’d say that. Thank you. You’re very kind.” Reni took a deep breath and smiled, though it looked quite strained to Mitzi. “Well, I had better get going myself. I’ll see you in Dalaran later on tonight Edwin.” As Reni walked past Mitzi the goblin put a hand on her shoulder. “Congratulations, I heard Edwin confessed. Please, just take care of him. That’s all I want.” Mitzi saw Reni’s expression for just a brief moment as she turned away, and she was sure that the goblin would be crying again when she left.

Mitzi watched Reni walk to the door. That feeling of apprehension hadn’t gone away. She felt like it should have, but as Reni left the room and started down the hall Mitzi could only feel like this was wrong somehow. “Edwin, what did she tell you?” Mitzi asked, quietly.

“Well, pretty much the same as you. She was sorry for what she did, she said she was just trying to protect me, and then she said congrats on us becoming a couple.” Edwin looked curiously at Mitzi. “Why? Is something the matter?”

Taking a few deep breaths, Mitzi’s mind raced. She had been positive that Reni would tell Edwin something more than that. She didn’t know what, but the fact that Reni was just leaving like this seemed wrong to her. She couldn’t shake that feeling. Part of her wanted to just accept this. After all Reni had essentially just given up on Edwin. The fear, no matter how small, that she would be sidelined by another woman had vanished. However, there was a new feeling gnawing at her, one of guilt. The more that she thought of Reni’s face, that sad and lonely expression, the more the feeling of guilt grew.

Without warning Mitzi started running towards the stairs. “Reni!” she cried, not knowing what she was doing. She heard Edwin say something behind her but she completely ignored it as she rounded the doorway and made it into the hall. Reni was standing there at the top step, looking confused as Mitzi walked up to her. “You can’t leave yet” Mitzi told her, reaching out and grabbing the goblin’s hand. Without another word she started dragging Reni back to Edwin’s room.

“What? What the hell are you doing? Let me go!” Reni yelled, finally reacting as Mitzi tried to pull her into the room. “Why can’t I leave?!”

“Because!” Mitzi shouted, pulling with all her might. She saw Edwin out of the corner of her eye looking completely baffled but tried to ignore him for now. “You didn’t tell him everything!”

Reni froze in place. Her eyes widened, and for a moment the two just looked each other in the eye. Then she snarled, and tried desperately to pull her hand from Mitzi’s. “What are you talking about? Get off of me!”

“You’re going to regret it if you don’t tell him!” Mitzi cried back, holding on to Reni’s hand with both of her own. “Are you really ok with leaving it like that?”

“Shut the fuck up!” Reni screamed back, losing all her patience now. She desperately tried to struggle from Mitzi’s grasp now, teeth bared in anger. “What the hell do you know?! You don’t know ANYTHING! Let me GO you horrible bitch! You already won, what else do you want from me?!”

“Hey, what’s going on?” Edwin asked, looking alarmed. He quickly moved between the two, grabbing each by the arm and forcing them apart. He looked to Reni, who was still struggling wildly to get free. “Reni. Please. Talk to me.”

It took a few seconds for Reni to calm down. She punched at Edwin’s arm and screamed wildly, but almost at once she stopped, going almost limp as she started sniffing. When Edwin finally let her go she collapsed onto her knees, face buried in her hands. Finally, Reni spoke in a small but clear voice. “I’m in love with you, Edwin. I have been for a while now.”

The expression on Edwin’s face went from concerned to shocked to confused. He seemed to struggle with this. “What? But… you’ve always said… that you don’t think of me like that…”

“Of course I said that you dummy!” Reni cried, looking up angrily at Edwin. “I was scared to death of you being weirded out by it, so I kept my feelings to myself.  I thought… I thought I had all of the time in the world to tell you. B-but now it’s all over… I never even had a chance against her, did I?” Reni put her face back in her hands and started to sob, drooping even lower.

“Reni…” Edwin’s expression was unreadable as he sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. “I… I just didn’t know you thought of me like that.”

“That’s why you’re an idiot. We were having sex, how would I not think of you like that?” Reni demanded. Realizing what she said, she glanced guiltily to Mitzi.

Edwin’s face went a bit pale as he gave an apologetic look to Mitzi before turning back to Reni. “Well… I guess you’re right.” After a moment of hesitation Edwin reached down and pulled Reni into a hug. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I’m such an idiot. I do have feelings for you too, honestly. Strong feelings. Maybe… if things were different…” he trailed off, and looked up to Mitzi. “But I’m sorry, I do love Mitzi. I want to marry her someday.”

Mitzi felt her cheeks flush red, but didn’t have long to bask in this news. Reni nodded slowly and stood up. “I know. I’ve always known. I never even had a chance against her, like I said.” Walking up to Edwin she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the cheek. “Thank you for listening to me. For being my best friend.” Tears ran down Reni’s face as she shook. “I… before I met you I often wondered why I was even alive. I thought nobody ever really cared about me. But then I met you and… life has been so incredible since then...  all I ever wanted was to be by your side forever.”

“We can still be partners, Reni. You’re still one of the people I trust most in the world.” Edwin looked hopeful, which pulled at Mitzi’s heart.

Shaking her head, Reni wiped her eyes. “I… I don’t think that would be a good idea. I’m going to need some time. I’m sorry.” Edwin seemed to deflate a bit, his face darkening as he looked to the floor.

As Mitzi watched this exchange, that feeling of guilt simply wouldn’t go away. It took Mitzi a few minutes to put her finger on exactly what was causing that sensation, but when it struck it came all at once. Reni reminded Mitzi of herself. Even now she couldn’t help imagining their roles being reversed, with a crying Mitzi giving practically the same speech.

Standing up, Reni dusted off her clothes. “Well, I’m serious this time. I need to get back to Dalaran. Mitzi, once again I’m sorry for what we did to you. ...Edwin. I’ll talk with you again the next time I see you. Don’t worry, I think that one day again we can be partners. I just need some space.”

Nodding back, Edwin looked rather gloomy. “Yeah. I’ll see you then.”

As Reni turned to leave Mitzi felt that same spontaneous urge to do something. She walked up to Edwin, making him look up at her with that same depressed expression. “Edwin. I have to ask you a question about Reni.”

Edwin looked rather confused and Reni stopped in the doorway, not turning around. “Uh, alright then” Edwin said, a bit unsure.

“How do you feel about Reni?” Mitzi watched Edwin’s expression get more confused so she elaborated. “She said that she loves you. Do you love her?” Turning back around, Reni’s face was halfway between curious and angry. Mitzi did her best to avoid the goblin’s gaze as she waited for Edwin’s response.

“Well…” Edwin paused. He looked more than a bit unsure as he glanced to Reni and back to Mitzi. “I… I know that I have strong feelings for her. I-”

“What does ‘strong feelings’ even mean?!” Mitzi shouted, getting annoyed with such a wishy-washy answer. “Fine. Let me ask you an easier question then. If we hadn’t met, and you still thought I was dead, would you have gotten married to her some day?”

Nobody move or spoke. Mitzi was sure she could hear a pin drop. Reni was focused on Edwin’s face, her own face blank as she waited for an answer. Edwin opened and closed his mouth, clearly lost for words. Finally, he looked to Mitzi with a pleading look in his eye. “Mitzi. What good is this going to do anyone?”

“Please Edwin… just tell us” said Reni in a small voice.

Edwin’s shoulders sagged. He looked in Reni’s direction, though not quite at her directly. “...Yes. I would have married her. I was planning on discussing the topic after the Legion invasion. I thought that even if you were against it you might be ok with settling down after all this.”

Closing her eyes, Reni nodded. “Thank you Edwin. I… I’m just glad you thought of me that way.” She smiled, but Mitzi could see the fresh tears again in her eyes. “Thank you for everything.” Reni turned to leave a third time, squeezing her eyes shut.

Mitzi still wasn’t quite finished however. Marching over she grabbed Reni’s hand again and pulled her back in the room, slamming the door shut. “Wait. I’m not done yet.”

Reni whirled on Mitzi, her face furious as she tried to shake her hand free. “WHAT?! What else do you possibly want from me?!”

“I’ve been thinking!” Mitzi shouted back. She had indeed been thinking, her mind working constantly since before this began. The guilt from earlier had reached a boiling point, even now Mitzi could imagine this exact situation being reversed. If Reni had just told Edwin how she felt a little earlier, or maybe if Edwin had talked about getting married earlier, then it could have so easily been Mitzi being the one whose heart was broken. Mitzi just couldn’t shake the feeling that by being with Edwin she was actively ruining this girl’s happiness. So, she decided to try her crazy idea from earlier. “I… I think I have an idea. One that can make us both happy!”

The hand Mitzi was holding onto stopped moving. “Wh-what is it?” Reni’s face looked apprehensive as she stared into Mitzi’s eyes.

Taking a few deep breaths, Mitzi collected her thoughts. She didn’t know if this was the right thing to do, or even a good idea. Her heart in particular was unsure, casing her to doubt herself. Deciding to just say it and damn the consequences, Mitzi squeezed her eyes shut and said in a trembling voice, “M-maybe we can… share him?”

The silence in the room this time was even longer than last time. Mitzi finally opened her eyes and saw that Reni’s face had gone almost completely slack with shock, and a quick look to Edwin confirmed that his reaction was much the same. Finally Reni closed her mouth, eyes shining. “R-really?”

“But I’ve got a condition!” Mitzi declared, setting her face in a scowl. “It’s a simple one. I’m Edwin’s wife. His only wife. But I don’t mind if you stay as…” she hesitated, not knowing a nice way to say it, and went with “...his mistress.”

Reni’s mouth quivered and for a dreadful second Mitzi thought the goblin was going to scream in anger or attack her or both. Then Reni started crying, wiping her eyes for a moment before she reached out and hugged Mitzi. “Oh th-thank you!” she sobbed, burying her face into Mitzi’s shoulder. “Thank you! Yes, I accept! I’m sorry for calling you a horrible bitch! I was… I just didn’t want to lose him and when I saw him look at you the other day I just…”

As Mitzi stood there, patting Reni gently on the back and wondering if she had made the right decision, she looked up at Edwin. He was looking back, his face in a frown. “So… was anyone going to ask my opinion of all this?” he asked innocently.

Pulling away from Mitzi’s embrace, Reni wiped her eyes and glared back. “Oh, please. Like you’re really going to say no. You just said you were in love with me, don’t pretend like you don’t want this.”

Edwin’s face went red. “You don’t know that! I might have said no, who knows?!”

“ARE you saying no?” Reni shot back angrily.

“Well… no.” Edwin responded simply as he sat down on the bed. “That is, I’m ok with this, yes. Yes.”

Throwing her hands in the air, Reni sat down on the bed next to Edwin. “Then stop complaining!”

“But… Mitzi, are you sure you’re ok with this?” Edwin asked, looking concerned. “I’m not against this, true, but I don’t want you to do this if makes you uncomfortable.”

Mitzi shook her head.“I’m not… completely sure. Not 100%.” Looking at Reni briefly, Mitzi looked back to Edwin determined. “But I am mostly sure, yes. Unless this just totally doesn’t work out, I don’t see why we can’t make it work. I can’t stop thinking about how we could have so easily missed each other today. Who knows what would have happened if we met just a few months later.

Nodding, Edwin looked to Reni, his face serious. “Reni. Are YOU ok with this? This is a big step. Are you really ok with… well, with us not getting married? With Mitzi being my wife?”

Reni looked down at her hands as she twiddled her thumbs. “I’m also not completely sure. To be honest I’m… not sure I would have done the same thing if I were in her shoes either.” Taking a deep breath, she looked into Edwin’s eyes with a determined look. “I knew that she’s the one you really love, I’ve known it this whole time. But I just want to be with you. If I have to share you with someone else then I don’t care. I mean it’s not like I thought we were really ever going to get married in the first place. No priest in Stormwind would ever do that. Even if what we have isn’t normal though I’ll try to make it work.”

For the third time the room fell silent, nobody speaking or moving for a few minutes. However the atmosphere was much different this time, there wasn’t that uncomfortable nature this time. Mitzi was reminded more of a calm before the storm. There was a feeling of anticipation in the air that everyone seemed to feel.

Reni finally broke the silence, standing up and stretching as her joints popped. “Alright then. I guess since we’re all official now we need something to break the ice, right?”

“...Break the ice?” Mitzi asked, confused.

“Yeah.” Reni turned and climbed up into Edwin’s lap with a sly grin on her face. “A little group activity to bring us all a little closer. I’ll go first, since you went last night.” She put both hands on Edwin’s shoulders and pushed him down onto the bed before leaning in and kissing him. Edwin did look a bit surprised but didn’t resist as his hands moved up and started rubbing Reni’s back.

“Wait! What are you doing?!” Mitzi cried, turning away from the scene. “I-if you’re going to start that at least wait until I leave!”

“That defeats the whole purpose. This is to help us all grow closer. How much closer can you get than this? Plus… to be honest, I want to watch Edwin fuck you.” Mitzi turned in surprise to look at Reni, who had turned away from Edwin and was smiling coyly at her. “Are you sure you’re not interested in watching us? Not even a little?”

She wanted to say no. She wanted to just turn and leave… yet Mitzi found herself turning back slowly and sitting in a chair. “I’ll stay for a minute. Not long, you understand.”

Grinning back at her, Reni turned to Edwin and reached down to her shirt. Pulling it up and over her head she threw it off the side of the bed. She reached up to unhook her bra, but before she could Edwin was already burying his face in her chest, hands moving to do it himself. “No, let me” he said simply, licking the space between her breasts before grabbing the bra with his teeth and tossing it off the bed in one fluid motion. Turning back he took her left nipple into his mouth as his right hand came up to tease her free breast.

“You sure are energetic today” Reni said with a giggle, gasping as Edwin changed breasts. “Is it because Mitzi’s watching?”

Instead of answering, Edwin’s hand dropped from her breast and down to her waist. He slipped it down into her shorts and after a second Reni gasped even louder and grabbed Edwin’s head tight. His hand moved back and forth and Reni’s started to move in rhythm with it, her hips bucking into Edwin’s hand.

“Wait, wait!” Reni cried suddenly, pushing at Edwin. Edwin stopped and removed his hand, looking surprised, before Reni pushed him back on the bed again. “I wanted to go first this time” she said softly into his ear before getting off the bed. Smiling, Reni reached down and in one motion pulled her shorts and panties down to her ankles. Stepping casually out of them, Reni pouted while standing there in just her socks. “Now it’s not going to be just me being naked, is it?”

“Alright, just hold your horses” Edwin said with a smirk as he began to unbuckle his belt. Lifting his backside off the bed he slipped his pants and boxers off while Reni helped pull them off his feet and threw them on the floor. Finally he slipped off his shirt, throwing it in the increasingly large pile of clothes. “There, satisfied?” he asked, putting his hands behind his head with his erection standing up straight.

Crawling back onto the bed, Reni nodded happily. “I just love how big your dick is” she said, smiling as she put her hand on the shaft and began stroking it gently. She leaned in and kissed Edwin for a minute, their tongues coiling around each other as Edwin’s hand lazily played with her breasts. Breaking the kiss, Reni grinned this time before moving down to Edwin’s penis. Leaning in she gave the tip a quick kiss, running her tongue up and down the length a few times before opening wide and putting at least half of the length of Edwin’s erection in her mouth.

Edwin groaned in pleasure as Reni’s head bobbed slowly up and down making obscene slurping noises, and after a moment he placed his right hand on the back of her head, fingers running through her hair. “Holy shit. You’re getting really good at this” he said, his breathing a bit labored.

“I don’t mind at all” Reni said with a giggle, licking the head of Edwin’s penis like a cat lapping milk. With a grin, she looked over at Mitzi. “Plus, I think she liked this almost as much as I do. She hasn’t taken her eyes off us for a second.”

“What?” Mitzi had been zoning out, and looking down she realized one hand had been absentmindedly rubbing her crotch while she watched. Guiltily she put her hands back to her sides as Reni chuckled.

“It’s fine, Mitzi. It’s perfectly natural for you to feel like this.” Reni leaned over and took Edwin’s penis into her mouth again, bobbing her head up and down quicker this time. Then taking a deep breath, she moved her mouth slowly down the length of his shaft, not quite getting the whole thing into her mouth but making a valiant effort. Edwin moaned louder than ever as he put both hands on the back of her head now, guiding her head up and down.

“I… I think I’m about to come, Reni” Edwin said breathlessly.

Mitzi expected Reni to pull her head away but instead she pushed down harder than ever on Edwin’s cock, her nose barely touching his pubic hair. Edwin cried out and let go of Reni’s head, his body relaxing as he caught his breath. Reni sat up, a sly smile on her face as she wiped a bit of spunk off her chin. Looking to Mitzi, Reni closed her eyes and smiled. “Can I ask you for a small favor? Would it be too much trouble to get a glass of water?” Feeling completely embarrassed but not knowing what else to do, Mitzi summoned a glass of ice water and passed it wordlessly to Reni, who accepted it gratefully and took a long drink. “Thanks! Helps to clear the throat after all that… So Mitzi, why do you still have your clothes on?”

“What?” Mitzi repeated, not knowing what else to say. After a moment of failing to think of a good excuse she nodded and stood up. “Alright then. Just so we’re all even” she conceded, feeling her blush intensify as she began taking off her shirt. Edwin sat up to watch and she could feel both pairs of eyes watching her as she slowly disrobed, finally taking her panties off and dropping them on the floor.

“Wow, I guess you DO have naturally pink hair!” Reni said admiringly as she looked at Mitzi’s vagina and put her glass of water on the bedside table. “I’m jealous, it looks so pretty.” Reaching out Reni grabbed Edwin’s cock again and gave it a few strokes. “I know that Edwin likes it. He feels ready to go again.” She leaned in to Edwin’s chest and began licking his nipples. “Do you like her, Edwin? Do you think she’s pretty? Do you want to fuck her?”

“Yes” Edwin breathed, eyes focused on Mitzi as Reni continued to stroke him.

“Well, I’m sorry Mitzi. You’ll have to wait just a little bit longer.” With a seductive smile Reni put her arms around Edwin’s neck and moved herself into his lap again. Lifting her ass in the air, Reni positioned herself above Edwin’s cock. “Are you ready?” she said into his ear in a sultry voice.

Not bothering to respond, Edwin grabbed Reni’s hips and pulled her down. His cock buried itself in her dripping pussy in one stroke, and Reni cried out loud as Edwin began thrusting into her. She buried her face into his chest as he began fucking her slowly, then faster and faster as Reni started moving her hips with him. As  Reni started moaning louder she started leaning away from Edwin, hands holding on desperately to his neck as he continued to pound at her, one hand moving up to tweak her nipples.

Mitzi sat back down on the chair, feeling the cold wood on her bare flesh. Her breath was quick as she moved one hand down to her pussy, feeling how wet she was. She felt just a bit of shame, why was she getting so turned on by this? However there was no denying it, there was something about watching Edwin have sex with this other girl that simply excited her. Maybe it was the fact that Edwin was going to make love to her after he finished. Maybe it was the contrast of Edwin’s pale penis driving into Reni’s green vagina, with just a hint of pink around the edges. Whatever it was, Mitzi finally just decided to stop thinking too hard about it for a moment. Slipping two fingers inside her pussy and using her free hand to caress her breast, Mitzi bit her bottom lip to stop herself from moaning out loud as she watched the scene unfold.

Edwin began to slow down a bit, and for a second Mitzi thought he was about to finish. However when he stopped he stood up, pulling Reni off of his erection and then throwing her down on the bed. Mitzi almost cried out as it had seemed a little rough, but Reni only giggled wildly as she looked up at Edwin, her face flushed red. “Well now. What do you want me to do?” she asked, her hands moving up and down her body.

“Turn over” Edwin ordered as he gave his penis slow, easy strokes.

“Well, if you say so” Reni said, flipping over as she reached out and grabbed a pillow. Burying her face in it she raised her ass in the air and shook it invitingly. “Like this?” she asked, innocently.

“Perfect” Edwin replied, a hungry look on his face as he reached out, grabbed Reni’s thighs and pulled her to the edge of the bed. “You know, Mitzi does have a nice pussy. You’re right. But yours is nice too, I have to admit.” Mitzi could clearly see Reni, her vagina shaved clean and bald. The green flesh of her body blended smoothly into a delicate pink right where the folds of her labia began. She couldn’t stop watching as Edwin leaned in with his tongue out, licking at Reni’s outer lips as she squirmed in appreciation.

After a minute or two Edwin finished, flicking her clitoris with his tongue a few times before standing up and rubbing the head of his dick up and down against Reni’s pussy. “Are you sure you’re ready?” he teased, sliding the fingers of his free hand up and down her thigh.

Moaning into the pillow, Reni turned her head slowly to look at Edwin, giving him a sultry look. “Please fuck me. I want to feel you inside me again” she said with a pleading tone in her voice.

Grinning triumphantly, Edwin grabbed Reni’s hips and thrust into her. “Your wish is my command” he said, his eyes narrowing as he started humping her faster and faster. “You’re so agreeable today… does being watched really turn you on that much?” Edwin asked, his grin widening as he let go of Reni’s hips and reached down, grabbing her breasts. He leaned in, head coming close to hers. “Your nipples are rock hard too” he said into her ear, nibbling on the tip.

“O-of course they’re hard” Reni gasped, hands gripping the pillow tightly with both hands as Edwin continued to pound her. “Y-you’re being s-so rough today. I l-love it.”

“And that’s the only reason?” he asked, running his tongue along the back of Reni’s neck as he thrust. “Come on. Tell me the truth. You like being watched.”

“W-well…” Reni hesitated, and Mitzi saw that the goblin briefly turned her head looked right at her. “Maybe I do like it a little…”

“A little?!” Edwin asked, incredulous. He grabbed Reni’s nipples and pinched them both at once.

“I… I love it!” Reni finally cried, her face flushed a dark green as she bucked back against Edwin. “W-watching her touch herself to us… I’m so horny I can barely think!”

Edwin looked at Reni’s face as his pace slowed for a moment, then with increased vigor he picked up the pace, driving his dick in faster. “Reni… you know I can’t stand it when a girl blushes like that. You’re so fucking cute!”

“W-wait!” Reni yelped, burying her face in the pillow as she gripped it harder. “If you do that I’m… I’m about to-” Mitzi barely made out. Letting go of Reni’s breasts, Edwin grabbed her hips and kept thrusting, cutting off her sentence as she cried out in a loud voice, barely muffled by the pillow. Edwin too thrust one final time and cried out himself, and for a moment both were silent and still as Reni’s pussy dripped onto the sheets. Then Reni pulled away from Edwin, turning over and flopping down onto her back as her chest rose and fell in labored breathing. “Wow. You were good today.”

“Well I’m glad you think so” Edwin said as he sat down on the edge of the bed. Mitzi noticed that while Reni was still recovering her breath Edwin had already gotten his back, and in fact judging by his erection he seemed quite eager to go again.

“You don’t have time to be sitting around” Reni chided, sitting up on her elbows. “Just look how ready Mitzi is.”

As Edwin looked up at Mitzi she felt her cheeks redden once she realized she still had her fingers buried in her pussy. She hadn’t quite been able to bring herself to an orgasm back there. Moving her hands to her sides she avoided Edwin’s gaze. While she thought of something to say she saw as Edwin stood up out of the corner of her eye, walked up to her and before she could do anything picked her up in his arms. She finally met his gaze and the two just looked at each other before Edwin leaned in and kissed her gently before walking towards the bed. As Reni moved out of the way Edwin laid Mitzi down, and getting on all fours above her he looked down at her with his grin like a cat with some cornered prey. “What did I just say about blushing girls Mitzi? It drives me crazy.”

“That’s okay” Mitzi replied, feeling her heart pound as she tried to maintain eye contact. “You… can do whatever you want to me” she said, not quite managing to keep Edwin’s gaze the whole time.

Moving his body close to hers Edwin kissed Mitzi passionately, their tongues slowly intertwining with each other, before breaking off the kiss and travelling down her body. As Edwin made it down between her legs he wrapped his arms underneath her legs and lifted her backside off the bed. As he sat up on his knees he gave her pussy a long and slow lick before burying his face in her crotch, hungrily slurping and smacking as his tongue and lips caressed every spot they could reach.

Mitzi bit down on her finger to stop from crying out as Edwin continued, and had to close her eyes in embarrassment when she saw the huge grin on his face as he ate her out. Edwin was infuriatingly licking and kissing everything but her clitoris, making her want to scream out in frustration and pleasure simultaneously.

“Was yesterday your first time having sex?” Reni asked, and when Mitzi looked up she saw the goblin not far from her at all, lying on her stomach with her chin in her hands as she watched Mitzi’s face. “You keep looking away and you blush a lot.”

“Y-yes” Mitzi managed as she felt Edwin push two fingers inside her and start moving his tongue teasingly around her clitoris.

“You should watch then.” Reni reached out and moved some strands of hair from Mitzi’s face with a sly smile. “Edwin’s working so hard to make you happy. You shouldn’t be embarrassed.”

Nodding, Mitzi had nothing else to say as she forced herself to look back towards Edwin. Her heart jumped when she saw that he was staring right back at her, face still buried in her crotch. She saw the corners of his mouth turn up in that grin of his, and her whole body shuddered as he finally licked her clit directly. Mitzi didn’t look away this time, hands gripping the sheets as hard as she could as Edwin’s tongue danced around her most sensitive area. “I’m… I’m about to…” She felt her mind going white again, and when the pressure was too much she finally shut her eyes tight as her whole body trembled violently before going limp.

As her bottom touched the bed again and she could thankfully have a moment to take a quick breather, Mitzi looked up to Edwin and saw him wiping his face with a dry section of the bedsheets. He laughed as he finished, reaching over and taking a sip of the water Mitzi had summoned earlier. “Well, I guess you liked that then huh?” he asked, hands moving up to feel her stomach as Edwin leaned in for another kiss. “Can I still do anything I want to you?” he murmured into her ear.

“Of course” Mitzi breathed, feeling a thrill run down her spine as Edwin got back up on his knees. For a moment Edwin just ran his hands all over her body, his eyes marveling at her as she lay there naked for him.

Suddenly Edwin reached down and grabbed both of Mitzi’s ankles. Lifting both straight up in the air he let go and grabbed onto her legs, pulling her close to him. Reaching down Edwin guided the head of his penis to Mitzi’s vagina and rubbed it up and down, parting her lips and making Mitzi moan in anticipation. Looking spurred on by her voice Edwin buried half the length of his dick in her in one go. Redoubling his grip, Edwin used her legs as leverage as he started thrusting into her, and before long her hips were bumping against his pelvis as he slammed his full length inside her with every stroke.

“Look at him go!” Reni said excitedly to Mitzi as Edwin continued to pound at her, grunting. “Hey Edwin you must really like fucking Mitzi right?”

“I love it” Edwin responded, his breath only a bit labored. “Making her feel good makes me feel good too.” Looking Mitzi in the eye, he grinned. “If I could I’d make you feel good like this all the time.” Then Edwin pushed her legs together, wrapping one arm around them as the other groped at her chest. He started fucking her again, and Mitzi could feel her thighs making it tighter around Edwin’s cock. As he shifted position slightly and continued pounding her, his free hand playing idly with her nipples, she felt that build up again. Noticing when Mitzi clutched the sheets, Edwin smirked. “Almost there huh? Alright then.” Spreading her legs back apart, Edwin once again grabbed one leg with each arm and picked up the pace. His breathing quickened, and for one glorious moment the two were both there on the edge. Then Mitzi felt her body tense up, and as she squeezed Edwin’s cock he came inside of her.

Pulling out of Mitzi, Edwin sighed gratefully before dropping Mitzi’s legs, which were a bit sore now. As they thumped back down to the bed, Edwin leaned in and kissed her for a long moment, stroking her hair with his free hand. When he finally broke the kiss Edwin leaned over and drained the glass of water before flopping down on the bed. Reaching out he pulled Mitzi close to his right side, and motioning for Reni she joined him on his left side, snuggling in close. “I love you. Both of you.”

All three were quiet for few minutes, just basking in the afterglow when Reni interrupted, sitting up straight. “So, are you ready yet Edwin?”

As Edwin also sat up he looked back and forth between the two of them, smiling faintly. “Just give me a minute or two. I’m not exactly a machine here.”

Pouting, Reni flopped onto Edwin, finger tracing a line through his chest hair. “Hmph. I don’t want to wait.” After a moment Reni perked up again, grinning widely at Edwin. “Well. Is there any way we could help? Anything you want us to do?”

Edwin’s brow furrowed as he thought for a minute, then shook his head. “Well… I’ll just wait for a minute.”

“What is it?” Reni asked, looking intrigued as she leaned in, licking his neck gently. “Just say it.”

Looking guiltily at Mitzi, Edwin’s face went red. “...Feel free to say no if it’s too weird. But I was just thinking… maybe… the two of you could kiss? A little?” Both Mitzi and Reni both went silent, giving Edwin blank looks. He quickly avoided eye contact. “Alright. Nevermind. I-”

“Alright” Reni said, shrugging. “Sure.” When she got looks in return she just shrugged to the two of them. “I don’t see anything wrong with that. It’s not like he’s asking us to have sex with each other.”

Mitzi felt her face going more red than Edwin’s as they both turned to look at her. Taking a deep breath, she actually considered the request. If she was being honest with herself it wasn’t the worst thing Edwin could have asked for, but Mitzi had never kissed another girl before. She shyly avoided their gazes. “I-I’m not so sure…”

“Oh it’s not that big of a deal” Reni said, her voice breezy and nonchalant. She felt two hands grab her shoulders, and before Mitzi knew what was happening Reni was kissing her.

Breaking the kiss, Mitzi pushed Reni in surprise. “Hey! Don’t do that without my permission!”

Sighing, Reni sat up and looked sadly at Mitzi. “I’m sorry. I keep forgetting that this is only your second time. I guess this is all going a little fast for you, huh?” Reni smiled and patted Mitzi on the shoulder. “That’s fine. I’ll just go first again, ok?” she asked, turning towards Edwin.

Mitzi felt quite annoyed. This goblin was looking down on her just because she had a little more experience in the bedroom. Hardly thinking, Mitzi reached out and grabbed Reni’s shoulders with both hands before pushing her down on the bed. She felt satisfied when she saw the surprised look on Reni’s face as she looked up at her. “Don’t get so cocky” Mitzi said before bending down and kissing Reni on the lips.

She was mostly doing it just purely for revenge, but now that she was kissing Reni Mitzi had to admit it wasn’t that bad. Her lips were softer than Edwin’s, and when Reni slipped her tongue into Mitzi’s mouth she was a slower kisser than him as well. She still preferred Edwin admittedly, but this was by no means bad. As her breasts rubbed against Reni’s, Mitzi accidentally let out a moan as their nipples brushed against each other.

Feeling something at the entrance to her vagina, Mitzi looked behind her to see Edwin kneeling there and poking the head of his cock into her folds. His dick was rock hard again, throbbing gently in his hand. “You two are so fucking hot right now. I’m sorry, I can’t wait any more.” True to his word Edwin thrust right into Mitzi, making her gasp out loud as he started to fuck her.

It was a curious sensation as Mitzi rocked back and forth on top of Reni, having nowhere to look but into Reni’s eyes. The goblin looked surprised at first, then giggled as she ran a hand through Mitzi’s hair. “He’s insatiable today, isn’t he? Couldn’t even wait until-ahh!” Reni cried out suddenly, her eyes shutting tight. Glancing around she could see one of Edwin’s hands down towards Reni’s crotch, thrusting in and out as his other hand gripped her waist for support. Reni just wrapped her arms around Mitzi and moaned.

After a few minutes of Edwin pounding her Mitzi felt him pull out suddenly. Before Mitzi knew what was happening Reni gasped and let her go, letting out little moans as Edwin’s lovemaking rocked her back and forth. It was Mitzi’s turn now to grab Reni when Edwin slipped three fingers inside her, gently flicking at her clitoris with his pinky. As Edwin continued to fuck Reni, Mitzi found herself letting go of the goblin and the two met each other's’ gaze again. There was a needy look in Reni’s eye, and before Mitzi knew what was happening Reni leaned in and kissed her again, wrapping her arms around her neck. Mitzi was surprised but didn’t pull away, abandoning reason as she kissed Reni back.

It was right when Reni finally broke the kiss, moaning out loud, that Edwin switched, plunging his penis back into Mitzi with hardly a moment’s pause. Mitzi felt her own breathing speeding up now, and before she could grab the sheets she felt Reni grabbing her hands, linking their fingers together. “I’m so close” Reni managed, sounding out of breath. “L-let’s all come together!”

Nodding, Mitzi closed her eyes as she felt the orgasm building up. Edwin’s hand moved from her hip to her shoulder and suddenly he started fucking her harder than ever, moving her whole body back onto his cock every time he pulled back. It was too much for her, and Edwin’s hand thumbing her clitoris finally sent her over the edge again. Mitzi pulled close to Reni, feeling the goblin’s body tense up and shudder as she came as well. Finally with one last thrust, Mitzi felt Edwin ejaculate inside her, filling her to bursting with his seed.

For a long moment they all remained motionless, heavy breathing the only noise. Then Edwin pulled out of Mitzi with a satisfied sigh and flopped down on the bed. “Wow. You two. Are the best.”

Mitzi rolled off of Reni, letting go of her hands with a hint of embarrassment, and smacked Edwin in the face. “You jerk! You couldn’t just wait until I got off Reni?”

Grinning apologetically, Edwin held his hands up to calm her. “I’m sorry! I know I don’t look it but I really am! I thought I would like it watching you two kiss but… well. I wasn’t lying. It was really hot.”

Frowning back at him, Mitzi folded her arms. “You don’t sound sorry either.”

“Don’t I?” Edwin asked innocently, before reaching out and pulling Mitzi into his arms. Leaning down her kissed her, and though she considered staying angry with him Mitzi ended up kissing Edwin back. When he broke the kiss Reni turned his head towards her and kissed him as well, their tongues leaving a trail of spit connecting them when they finally pulled apart. As Edwin settled back into the bed, Mitzi to his left this time, Reni once again took the other side and happily snuggled in. “I meant what I said earlier. I really do love both of you.”

“Same here” Reni chimed in after a moment of thought, pulling the blanket over all three of them before settling back down. “I think I love both of you.”

Feeling that blush rise to her cheeks, Mitzi looked away from Reni’s teasing look to Edwin’s smiling face. The truth was she didn’t know how she felt about Reni exactly. In just one day their relationship had completely turned around. After a long expectant silence Mitzi finally spoke. “I love you too, Edwin. And Reni…” she paused again, looking at the goblin. She didn’t want to respond with ‘I love you’ in kind if she didn’t mean it. Instead, she just said what was on her mind. “...I’m glad I don’t regret asking you to join us.”

That seemed to be enough for Reni, who smiled as she reached out and took Mitzi’s hand for a moment, her eyes shining with suppressed tears

When they finally let go and both squirmed in closer to Edwin for the warmth, a few minutes of peaceful rest had gone by when Mitzi started to get the feeling that they had forgotten something. Wracking her brain, she finally remembered what it was a moment too late.

The door flew open and Mary stepped right in the room, tying off her apron. “Edwin, are you staying for dinn-AHHH!” she screamed, her hands flying up to her mouth as she finally registered what was going on.

Thankfully Mitzi was actually covered up this time so she only had to hide her face in embarrassment, but she saw Reni waving out of the corner of her eye. “Hello Mary!”

“Hello Reni” Mary said absentmindedly, looking directly at Edwin. “Edwin” she said severely, not smiling. “Are you staying for dinner?”

“Uh no, I have some important meetings in Dalaran. I-” Edwin began, looking nervous.

“Let me rephrase that. You WILL be staying for dinner. And you WILL be having a talk with me before said dinner.” Mary’s eyes were unblinking as she folded her arms and waited for a response.

“Well, the Legion is attacking mom. We have no idea if-”

“If you don’t show up to dinner, I promise that you will be WAY more afraid of me than any demon” Mary hissed, making Edwin’s shoulders slump in defeat. Taking a deep breath she smiled to Mitzi and Reni. “Well, we’re going to have pork chops and some vegetables we grew for dinner, and I’m making a cherry pie. Do you two have any preferences?”

Mitzi couldn’t quite meet Mary’s eye. “N-no, I’m fine.”

“Pork chops and pie. Sounds good” Reni agreed, nodding.

“Good. Well then. I’ll see you before dinner then, Edwin” Mary said with finality, pulling the door closed. “At least things turned out ok…” Mary said absentmindedly as it shut.

As Mizi and Reni looked to the suddenly gloomy Edwin, Reni patted him encouragingly on the shoulder. “Hey, look on the bright side. She’s not going to yell at me and Mitzi at least?” Reni giggled as Edwin gave her a light shove, and not even Mitzi could help but smile.

-

It was late in the afternoon when Mitzi stepped out of the portal and into Dalaran again. Since this was the city of mages nobody even seemed to bat an eye as they walked past. Reni and Edwin stepped through behind her as Mitzi let the portal shut, cutting the magic off. They were all standing in a breezeway between the city proper and Krasus’ Landing, a large platform where people kept their mounts. “Come on” Mitzi said, leading the way.

Thankfully dinner had ended up being much easier than expected. Mary’s talk with Edwin hadn’t lasted more than ten minutes, though he was rather silent for a few minutes after the two of them returned. Besides that they had all shared a good meal, had some nice conversation and left. Mitzi had expected some sort of talk with Mary about the… incident, but even though Mary looked at her and Reni with meaningful looks from time to time she never actually broached the subject. Mitzi was grateful, one day she would discuss their particular situation with Mary but she hadn’t been looking forward to that day being today.

They finally came to their destination, the apartment building she lived in. The rooms inside were rented out free of charge to female members of the Kirin Tor, in fact Biyu even lived right next to her since the Pandaren was her apprentice. Originally she had thought about returning to the Hall of the Guardian to inform her fellow members of the Tirisgarde, but had decided to start with her fellow housemates first. Mitzi could only imagine that Biyu was going crazy. “You know you two don’t have to come with me” Mitzi said, looking over her shoulder to Reni and Edwin.

“Well I am kind of responsible for you being gone, I should explain” Reni said, looking a little uncomfortable at being reminded.

“I just want to see where you live!” Edwin chimed in cheerily.

Not knowing what she expected, Mitzi sighed and nodded. “Alright, fine. Come on.”

As they entered through the front door, the mat magically absorbing the dirt off their feet, it only took a second for someone to rush around the corner. “Who’s there?” came a voice right before Mollie, a human girl of around sixteen ran into sight, scowling at all of them before focusing on Mitzi. “Mitzi!” she cried, running up and hugging her desperately before speaking quickly. “Oh my god we were all so worried about you! We heard a couple of psychos took you! Actually we have some of them in the waiting room and Archmage Kalec is talking to them now! Is that the guy Biyu’s gonna punch?” Mollie finished, pointing at Edwin.

“Calm down a second” Mitzi said, hugging the girl back briefly before pulling her to arms length. “What do you mean you have some in the waiting room?”

“Those guys that took you! All three of them showed up with a letter from you saying you were coming soon, and the Archmage asked them to wait until you actually DID show back up.” Mollie began to pull Mitzi along, heading towards the waiting room as she continued to almost completely ignore Reni and Edwin. “Come on!”

Deciding it would just be best to go along with it, Mitzi allowed herself to be dragged along as Edwin and Reni followed behind. They quickly came to the waiting room, which was mostly used as a reading room by the girls of this house, as Mollie took her leave. However right now the room was living up to its name and they could see five people all seated around the place, who looked up as they arrived. Grosh, Qiju and Jenus were all sitting near the middle, all three looking bored rather than nervous. Biyu, who was one of the eight, sprang up when she saw Mitzi and rushed over, scooping her up in a hug. “Oh Mitzi! I mean master! I was so worried about you! Don’t ever do that to me again!”

“Hello everyone” Edwin waved as he and Reni entered the room behind Mitzi.

Biyu froze, and then slowly put Mitzi down on the ground. Then, without warning, she whirled around and drove her fist into Edwin’s gut as hard as she could. Edwin’s leather armor seemed to soften the blow but he still staggered backwards, clearly winded. “You piece of shit” Biyu growled, advancing on him with her fist raised. “Had your goons kidnap my friend, huh? I’ll show you…”

Before Mitzi or anyone else for that matter could act, a thin wall of ice appeared between the two of them. Mitzi was grateful for that as she saw Reni slowly putting a knife back into her belt, glaring at Biyu. One of the figures, a man with blue hair, stood up. “Apprentice Biyu. That is enough” he said in a warning tone of voice before making the ice disappear with a wave of his hand. He cleared his throat, and motioned to three empty chairs. “Please, why don’t you join us?” he waiting until everyone was seated before nodding and continuing. “Excellent. It looks like our friends here were not lying. Well then. First things first. I am Archmage Kalec, one of the leaders of the Tirisgarde. I will be performing a small inquiry due to the events of the last few days. So, to that effect, I will have all people gathered here tell me a summary of events from their point of view. Than I shall determine the best course of action to take. Agreed?” he asked, looking towards Edwin’s group. They all nodded a bit skeptically.

Thus the next hour was spent with the long and tedious process of everyone recounting the events of the last two days. Archmage Kalec was tedious, asking questions to even people like Biyu who ended up not knowing much at all besides the fact that Mitzi was gone. Finally he ended with Mitzi herself, having her laboriously recall the entire adventure before falling silent at last, thinking.

Finally Kalec leaned forward, putting his nose on his steepled fingers. “One last question then, Mitzi. Do you think these people deserve punishment for what they put you through?” he asked, his question direct and blunt.

Thinking honestly about it, Mitzi tried to think if she even hated these people at all. Looking to Grosh and Qiju, she couldn’t even seem to muster up any sort of anger at all. True they had kidnapped her but really in the end they hadn’t hurt her, and if she thought about it this situation was really what had helped her and Edwin get together. “No. Not at all. I actually had fun” she admitted with a smile, taking Edwin’s hand as he smiled back.

As Biyu’s mouth fell open in surprise Archmage Kalec looked shocked, glancing back and forth between Mitzi and Edwin. “Oh. I… I see.” he said simply, clearing his throat. “I see. Well, if you say so then it sounds to me like no action is necessary… congratulations, you two.” Kalec reached out a hand to shake Edwin’s.

“Three” Reni said, grabbing Kalec’s hand and shaking it.

Archmage Kalec just looked at Reni for a long moment, not understanding. Then suddenly his face turned almost completely red. “Oh. Yes” he mumbled. “Um. Very good then. Well. If everything is alright then I will be going.” The Archmage left the room quickly after a quick round of goodbyes, not quite meeting Reni’s gaze again.

Biyu laughed out loud, her good nature mostly back now that she knew the truth. “Well, I’ve never even seen him get embarrassed let alone blush!” Looking around the room, her smile died a bit as she saw Edwin’s smiling face looking back at her. “Um, I really am sorry for punching you back there” Biyu added, scratching the back of her head.

“It’s no big deal” said Edwin dismissively, though Mitzi noticed that he tenderly gave his stomach a rub and winced in pain. “I’m just glad Mitzi has a friend that’ll stand up for her like that.”

“Oh, you’re sweet!” Biyu giggled. Mitzi was a bit annoyed that she seemed to so easily drop the subject.

“Anyhow” Jenus said, standing up with a bit of an annoyed expression on his face. “I think I’d better go. I have a report to make, and I’ve been kept here all day now.” He turned to Mitzi, his face softening as he bowed low. “Mitzi. I am very sorry for putting you through any sort of hardship.” His eyes darted to Reni and then back to her. “I am glad that things seemed to work out well however.” Mitzi felt her cheeks redden. She wished that Reni would have just kept her mouth shut.

As Jenus began to leave, Qiju starting after him with only a wave to the group, Grosh stood up and walked to Edwin who was still sitting calmly in his chair. It was only now Mitzi noticed that Grosh’s hands were balled up into fists. “Edwin” he said simply, glaring down at him.

“Uh… something wrong, buddy?” Edwin asked, looking a bit uncertain.

“How did you know about my sister?” Grosh demanded, his teeth clenched in anger. His voice was nice and calm but Mitzi was sure he was about to explode.

It took a second for Edwin to realize what he was talking about. “Oh… you mean when I said it during the whole Mitzi thing” he said as he nodded. He avoided Grosh’s gaze as he looked to the ground. “It’s really not that big a deal.”

Grabbing Edwin by the collar Grosh lifted him out of the chair. Everyone scrambled to their feet around the room but Grosh didn’t even seem to notice. “I have never told any of you about my sister. HOW do you know about her?”

Scratching the back of his head, Edwin looked almost unconcerned as he avoided Grosh’s gaze again. “Man… this is really awkward. Well, the truth is that you actually did tell us.”

Grosh just stared back at Edwin, the anger still clear in his eyes though it seemed a bit tempered now. “No, I just said. I’ve never told you all about her!”

As Edwin snorted with laughter Grosh looked like he was about to punch Edwin, so he quickly elaborated. “Ok, ok. You remember one of the first nights we stayed in Pandaria, when we stayed at Honeydew Village?”

“Yeah” Grosh confirmed, looking a bit less certain now.

“That old Pandaren had that fruit wine, and you said it was stuff for gays so you ended up drinking like four bottles of the stuff.” Smiling like he was remembering a fond memory, he looked to Qiju. “Remember Qiju? We had to drag him to the inn and let him sleep out back.”

The troll laughed out loud, slapping his knee. “I ‘member dat! You shit your pants!” The troll howled with laughter, clutching his sides in mirth.

Grosh turned back to Edwin furiously, his face blushing a dark green as he tried to ignore Qiju. “What does that prove about my sister?”

“...Well, you pretty much talked about her the whole time. To be honest you wouldn’t shut up about her.”

“I…” Grosh tried one more time to regroup. “Prove it then. I never talk about my sister.”

Edwin shrugged, looking a bit exasperated. “Fine. She works in a weapon shop in Orgrimmar. You said that she cuts her hair way too short, and that’s why she’s never going to find a man. You said that all the other orcs you talked to think she’s a dyke, and it doesn’t help that she really likes leather a lot. You said that if she would just settle down already you could go out there and find some girl who would finally-”

“Ok!” Grosh cried, stopping Edwin mid-speech and dropping him to the floor. “Fine, ok! You win!”

Taking a deep grateful breath now that he could breathe right, Edwin’s face set in a firm line as he looked Grosh in the eye. “I am sorry I used that against you though. That was wrong of me. But please believe me in the future, I would never hurt your sister.” Reaching out a hand, Edwin grinned. “Why don’t we just call it all even, ok?”

Looking rather unhappy with everyone staring at him, Grosh shook Edwin’s hand as quickly as possible. “Fine, ok. Whatever. I’m going outside.”

Waving at Grosh’s retreating back, Edwin chuckled. “He really does try too hard sometimes.”

Finally, the only ones left were Mitzi, Reni, Edwin and Biyu. Mitzi looked to Biyu with a smile. “Well, I’ve been gone all day. Did anything important happen?”

Shaking her head, Biyu waved away those concerns with one hand. “No, no. Don’t worry. I took care of everything today. Why don’t you guys go and get some sleep?” Biyu pointed at Reni, who was still in her chair. “I think you have a man down.”

As Edwin and Mitzi looked, they could see that Reni had completely passed out. She was slumped over, head resting against the edge of her chair as she snored gently. Edwin walked over, and with some small difficulty managed to pick her up. Reni mumbled, but didn’t seem to waken as she curled closer to Edwin’s chest. “I don’t think she slept last night at all. And on that note I guess I’d better head home myself. I need to get to bed.” For a moment Edwin turned away from her, and Mitzi had the sudden idea that he was going to leave her behind. Instead he reached out and shook Biyu’s hand. “It’s nice meeting you again. We should all get lunch soon!”

“Indeed.” Biyu smiled back, and leaned in. “I am sorry for punching you. But if you ever break Mitzi’s heart I will beat the shit out of you, ok?”

Mitzi was sure that Edwin would flinch or at least react somehow, but he just grinned back. “So I have nothing to worry about.”

Laughing, Biyu clapped Edwin on the shoulder. “You’re all right. Good night, you two.” Biyu let go and hugged Mitzi again. “I’m so glad you’re safe. I was serious, please don’t make me nervous like that again.” With that, she stood up and left the room.

Feeling a bit awkward now, Mitzi drew a circle on the ground with her toe. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“Oh…” Edwin looked clearly disappointed. “Well the bed at my place isn’t huge but it can fit all three of us nicely… do you want to come over?”

As Mitzi nodded she tried to not look too enthusiastic about it. “If you insist” she said, following alongside Edwin as he carried Reni in his arms.