Selza Sterben and Raemos Medrol stalked the Riistaja through the dark woods of Soldul. Having volunteerd to leave the warmth and company of the lakeside village for this task, both were cautious for once – even Selza was wary. The beast they hunted was wily and dangerous, but they had to hunt it – thought the Lake's water burned any Oblivionite that touched it, even Raemos himself, that property did not exist in the water that was taken from it, was still the main source of water for the area. Families used it, farmers irrigated from it, and ranchers watered their livestock in it. This area, inhabited as it was, was safe from most of the dangers of the deeper reaches of the lake. Thus, this menace – though small – had to be stopped.
The Riistaja had taken livestock before – mostly the old and sickly, but now it was taking the new sheron calves and growing bolder. It was only a matter of time before it tried for a magescian child, and so it had to be dealt with.
“Over here...” whispered Selza. She pointed to fresh claw marks on a nearby tree, “Its here.”
Raemos nodded, scanning the darkness around them. There was no way to tell where – the beast blended in well and was born to hide. It could be watching them now, and they wouldn't know...
Well.
Raemos had a way to remedy that.
He whispered the words of his trusty miasma spell, letting it leak into the canopies of the trees, a thick, soupy, dark fog that clung to anything alive. He let his magical senses travel with it. It settled on many irrelevant things – here a small amphibian, there a parasitic mushroom, but finally he felt it settle around a spiny body. “There!” he said, forcing the fog around it tighter. He heard an odd cry, and pulled at the creature with his magic. It fell to the ground, unharmed but struggling against its magical bindings.
“Nice one!” Selza said, raising her mace and bringing it down on the creature's head. She slammed it once, twice, and left it as its eyes glowed in its death throes. “You've gotten so good at that magic – I remember when you could barely control it...”
“I'd rather not.” said Raemos, picking up the kill and hoisting it over his back with some effort., “Well, there.” he grunted, “It's done, its gone.”
“Huzzah! Now we can have that beer.” Selza said, “Ohhh, speaking of which, you know that cute guy from the Obsidian City branch? That Oblivionite with the silvery beard?”
Raemos nodded. Of course he did – that one would, hopefully, be in his tent later. “His name is Ammond. Ammond Jenek – he's a private.”
“Are you gonna be done with him soon, too?”
Raemos shot Selza a look, the kind of look that plainly says that someone's crossed a line. That was not something you asked a friend, or ever, to anybody. He shook his head at her, but kept his aggravation in check. After all, Selza was more than a friend – she was his best, closest friend in the guild.
“Maybe.” he admitted. He'd been sleeping with the man for a month now, and that was fine, but he'd caught on to a few cues. Ammond wanted commitment. Raemos did not. Not yet, and certainly not with a pureblood Oblivionite. “He's... clingy.”
“Can I take him when you're done?” she asked. Raemos hoped she was only being playful.
“That's really up to him.” he said finally, and walked on ahead.
"You won't mind? Promise? I don't want to step on your toes."
"I don't mind..." he said. And he honestly didn't.
“Great!” she replied cheerfuly, and Raemos had to shake his head again. Selza could be so absurd at times.
