The Whispering Woods earned their na.
Wind moved through the canopy above, rustling leaves in patterns that sounded almost like voices. Aegis crouched behind a fallen log, peering through the underbrush at the bandit camp below.
It was bigger than she’d expected. Two dozen tents arranged in a rough circle, a central firepit still smoking from breakfast, and at least thirty ard figures moving between structures. Wooden palisades marked the periter, hastily constructed but functional.
"Thirty-two," Kanna murmured from her left, eyes scanning the camp with professional detachnt. "Maybe thirty-five. Hard to tell who’s a combatant and who’s support."
"I count four sentries on rotation," Scarlett added from Aegis’s right. "Two on the north approach, two on the south. Honestly, they’ve got decent discipline for bandits."
[That’s because they’re not really bandits. They’re ex-military.]
Aegis rembered this quest from the ga.
Captain Renn and his rry band of deserters, forrly of House Tormund’s personal guard. They’d been blad for a noble’s death they didn’t cause, fled before the executioner’s blade, and turned to banditry out of necessity rather than choice.
In the ga, you fought them 3 at a ti, in waves. It was one of the most popular fights from the ga, an endurance test that felt like it went on forever. In the end, you killed Renn, scattered his people, and collected the artifacts.
But Aegis wasn’t bound by the ga’s plot.
And, she had a fairly big advantage staring her in the face when she pulled up her attributes.
[Heh... Why not?]
"I’m going to talk to them," she said.
Silence.
Then Scarlett grabbed her arm.
"You’re going to WHAT?"
"Talk. Negotiate. Use my words." Aegis patted Scarlett’s hand. "You know, the thing I’m actually good at?"
"There are thirty of them!"
"Thirty-five," Kanna corrected.
"NOT HELPING."
Aegis gently pried Scarlett’s fingers off her arm.
"Look. We could fight them. We’d probably win. You two are monsters, and I’m not useless either. But people would die, and there’s the off chance one of you would get hurt."
"So your solution is to walk into a bandit camp alone?"
"Not alone. You’ll be right behind ." Aegis smiled. "If things go wrong, you have my permission to kill everyone."
Scarlett’s eye twitched.
"That’s not reassuring."
"It’s not ant to be reassuring. It’s ant to be practical." Aegis stood, brushing leaves off her coat. "Stay hidden until I signal. If I raise my left hand, co in weapons ready. If I raise my right hand, co in friendly."
"And if you don’t raise either hand?"
"Then I’m probably dead and you should avenge dramatically."
Aegis didn’t give Scarlett ti to argue. She stepped out from behind the log and started walking toward the camp.
The sentries spotted her almost imdiately.
"HALT! Who goes there?"
Aegis kept walking, hands visible at her sides.
"My na is Aegis Starcaller. I’m here to speak with Captain Renn."
The sentries exchanged glances. One of them, a wiry man with a crossbow, kept his weapon trained on her while the other ran into the camp.
A minute passed. Then two.
Then a figure erged from the largest tent.
Captain Renn was exactly as the ga described him. Tall, broad-shouldered, with a scar running from his left temple to his jaw.
His hand rested on the sword at his hip as he approached.
"Aegis Starcaller." He stopped ten feet away, studying her. "I’ve heard that na. The, uh, new noble. Making waves in Rosevale."
"Guilty on all counts."
"So, what, you got tired of all that success and ca here to get robbed or sothing?"
His n snickered. Aegis smiled.
"You’ve been raiding Torven Greymarch’s artifact shipnts. He wants his goods back. I’m here to make that happen."
Renn’s expression didn’t change, but she saw his shoulders tense.
"... And you think you can just walk in here and, what? Demand we hand everything over?"
"No. I think I can walk in here and offer you sothing better than stolen pottery."
That got his attention.
"I’m listening."
[Good. Now for the gamble.]
"You’re not really bandits, are you, Captain? You’re soldiers. Ex-House Tormund, if I’m not mistaken. Fled after that ss with Lord Harwick’s death." Aegis watched his face carefully. "The one you didn’t actually commit."
Renn went very still.
"How do you know that?"
"I know a lot of things." [Like the fact that the ga’s codex had your entire backstory.] "I know you’ve been out here for three years, picking off rchant caravans because you can’t show your faces in civilized society. I know your people are tired, your supplies are running low, and winter’s coming."
"Get to the point."
"The point is this: you’re wasting your talents robbing traders when you could be getting paid to protect them."
Renn stared at her.
"What exactly are you offering?"
"I’m offering you legitimacy." Aegis spread her hands. "House Starcaller needs security contractors. People who can handle themselves in a fight, operate independently, and don’t ask too many questions. You need steady inco, legal protection, and a way out of this life before a bigger group than yours with twice the training cos and wipes you out."
The bandits yelled various things. Clearly, they didn’t like that too much.
"And Torven’s artifacts?"
"Returned. All of them. Consider it a gesture of good faith."
Silence stretched between them. Renn’s jaw worked as he processed the offer.
"You’re either very brave or very stupid," he said finally.
"Little of both, probably."
"And if I say no?"
Aegis’s smile didn’t waver.
"I’m stuck on two options. Option one, I leave, report your location to the authorities, and let them handle it. You might survive. You might not. Either way, you lose everything you’ve built here."
"That sounds like a threat. Besides, what makes you think we’d just let you walk out?" As if to prove his point, so of his n started casually drawing closer to Aegis.
"It was an observation, actually." Aegis tilted her head. "But if you’d prefer a threat, well, that’s option two."
She moved.
Aether Step carried her forward in a blur of displaced air, closing the ten-foot gap in an instant. Before Renn could react, she was behind him, one of Ruby’s blades pressed against the back of his neck.
The camp exploded into chaos. Bandits grabbed weapons, shouting, scrambling into formation. But Aegis just stood there, knife steady, watching Renn’s face in profile.
"Additionally, I have two of the best fighters in Valdria hidden in those trees," she said quietly. "If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead. If I wanted this camp destroyed, it would be burning. But I don’t want that. That would be a waste. I’d much rather just hire you. So..."
She stepped back, sheathing the dagger.
"What do you say, Captain?"
Renn turned to face her. His hand hadn’t moved from his sword, but he hadn’t drawn it either.
For a long mont, he just looked at her.
Then he laughed.
"I heard you were fertility-cursed, but damn, you really do have balls, Lady Starcaller. I’ll give you that." He glanced back at his people, tense, ready for a fight, but waiting for his signal. "I’m not going to force my n to do anything, though. So, instead, I’ll leave it in their hands. What do you all think? We taking the lady’s offer?"
For a while, no one said anything.
Then, one hand went up.
A murmur ran through the camp. Aegis caught snippets: "steady pay," "better than freezing," "she’s got a point about winter."
One by one, more hands went up.
Renn turned back to Aegis with a resigned expression. Aegis wasn’t sure if it was relief or disappointnt.
[Maybe he’d really believed he’d go out in a blaze of glory, and now I’m taking that away from him, huh?]
"Fine. We’ll work for you."
"Glad to hear that." Aegis turned toward the trees. "Scarlett! Kanna! You can co out now!"
---
Torven’s face when Aegis walked into his warehouse was priceless.
"You’re back already?"
"I am."
"With the artifacts?"
"Being delivered as we speak." Aegis dropped into the chair across from his desk. "Your stolen goods, intact and accounted for."
Torven blinked.
"The bandits just... gave them back?"
"They... have been dealt with." Aegis grinned. "You’re welco."
"How the hell did you—"
"Trade secret."
Torven stared at her for a long mont. Then he shook his head, opened a drawer, and pulled out a small iron key covered in faded runes.
"The Archaeologist’s Runic Key. As promised." He slid it across the desk. "I don’t know what ruin you’ve found, Lady Starcaller, but I’m starting to think I should be more curious."
Aegis pocketed the key.
"Maybe soday I’ll tell you. For now, pleasure doing business."
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