Their ride went on for about an hour before the gseirut got too exhausted. It just suddenly stopped and lay down on the ground, refusing to move any further, not even at the baymout's angry hissing. Raf'ney-krush swore. He had to bring his captives back as quickly as possible, otherwise his payment would be reduced. Of course he could just have returned with the girl and maybe the man's head but unfortunately, he had been explicitly told to bring both of them alive.

There was no way for him to transport an unconscious man on a running baymout's back, otherwise he wouldn't have gone after the stupid young gseirut in the first place. Now Raf'ney-krush climbed down Bay's back and helped the girl descend. He tied her up again, just to be on the safe side and to demonstrate his power. Then he sent Bay off to hunt before climbing onto the gseirut's back to check up on the man.

After making sure he was still alive and forcing him to drink some strong liquor, Raf'ney-krush climbed back down, uncertain what do to next. He hadn't planned any stops, if they moved so slowly they might run out of food. The two fools hadn't had much with them anymore and despite having brought a lot himself, he wasn't sure for how long it would last.

'Who are you?' the girl's voice interrupted his thoughts. For the first time, he really looked at her. She was, as he had to admit, indeed already a woman, way too old to get married. What in the world could have made these two fools run away? Especially together, it didn't make any sense to Raf'ney-krush. He could faintly imagine reasons not to want to get married but if you already decide to run away, why run away with the person you were supposed to marry?

'Alright, if you don't want to tell me...' Nume uttered. He had completely forgotten about her question.

'Raf'ney-krush.' He replied.

'What?' Nume asked curiously.

'I said Raf'ney-krush.' He repeated impatiently.

'I don't understand... Is that the language of dretho?'

Now it was his turn to be confused. 'Dretho don't have their own language... It's my name.'

'Oh.' Nume said, blushing. 'It's rather complicated. Would you mind me calling you Raf instead?'

'Yes.'

'Oh...'

He turned around and walked away, hoping for the woman to stop talking.

'Who sent you?' she asked. Raf'ney-krush sighed but didn't answer. She made a few more attempts to get him to talk but she remained unsuccessful, he just sat down a few steps away from her and waited for Bay to return.

But before the baymout came back, he suddenly noticed water streaming around his bottom. He quickly jumped up and looked around to find the source of the stream. Before he even noticed a strange figure standing only steps away, he realised Nume was shouting and calling for somebody. When he spotted the blue person hovering above a pond that he was certain hadn't been there before, he drew his long sword. He rarely used his weapon but he knew how to, if need be.

'Hello.' The woman greeted cheerfully. 'I see you've found them then.'

'You know him? Did you send him after us?!' He heard Nume shout.

'I know everybody.' Was all the woman replied.

'Who are you?' Raf'ney-krush demanded, interrupting the pointless conversation.

'I am Sethara. And you are Raf'ney-krush. But I'll just call you Raf, I'm sure you don't mind...'

'I do.' He said, raising his sword to lay stress on his words.

'... Now, why did you have to beat Kran up like that? There was no reason to hurt him.' The woman said, hovering over to the gseirut and ignoring Raf'ney-krush's gesture completely. Something about her was not quite right but he failed to grasp what it was.

'Get away from him. They are mine.' He hissed.

'Oh no, they most certainly aren't.' Sethara replied. Meanwhile, Nume was standing close by, obviously uncertain what to do. Just in that moment, the baymout returned. It was running in big jumps and came to a sudden halt when it spotted Sethara. The creature hissed at her and refused to come any closer. Sword still drawn, Raf'ney-krush walked over to Bay, not taking his eyes off of Sethara who was now back over her pond.

'Hush.' He spoke softly, laying a hand on the baymout's nose. He'd never seen it scared of anything before so he suddenly felt as if Sethara might be much more dangerous than she looked.

'If you could untie them now, that would be very helpful.' Sethara said calmly.

'No.'

'Oh come on, don't be so stubborn.'

'They are my captives, there is a huge payment waiting for me where I'm taking them and unless you offer me something even better, I will not release them. I'd rather see them dead.'

'Now that is very rude.' Sethara said, much like a mother reprimanding her child. Her behaviour and Bay's reaction confused Raf'ney-krush, he didn't really know what to make of her.

'Leave now, or I shall have to make you.' He said angrily.

'Try it.' She said with a smile on her lips. That was too much for him, he didn't hesitate before charging at her. Within the blink of an eye, he'd passed the distance between them and his sword hovered just above her head. He waited for her to realise it, then he swung his sword hard, cutting her in half.

His sword cut through her as if she were made of air and the unhindered sway made him lose balance for a moment. He turned and stumbled before readopting it. Then he wheeled around and stared at her in disbelief. She was still smiling right at him, no wound was to be seen.

'How in the Gods' names...' He started.

'Enough of this now.' Sethara ordered.

'You're a ghost.' Raf'ney-krush concluded. That made Sethara laugh.

'No, I most certainly am not. I'm very much alive, I'm just not here.' She said. 'Now these are some pretty horns you have there.' Sethara continued. All of a sudden, she reached out for him and before he could back away, her small hands closed around his horns and pulled them down so he was looking straight down on her head.

'How...'

'...Can I touch you when I'm not there? I can't. But I can make you believe I could.'

By the time Raf'ney-krush realised he could move his head freely, Nume had already snuck up on the gseirut's back and was about to untie Kran with her still tied up hands. But the horned man was too distracted by Sethara to notice. And the baymout wouldn't come any closer so it couldn't hinder Nume either.

'A half creature, very interesting... there aren't many of your kind left, you know.' Sethara's soothing voice spoke. 'Half phraio, half dretho... I didn't even know such a conjunction could result in viable offspring...' She seemed to be fairly interested in him. Meanwhile, he was fascinated by just how real her touch had felt despite her clearly being nothing more than some kind of a projection.

The loud calling of his baymout freed him of Sethara's tight grasp around his mind. He turned around quickly just to see Kran, back with the living, untie Nume.

'Sweet...' He whispered. Then he raised his voice and said: 'And what do you attempt to do next? Your gseirut won't move a bit and you are unarmed.' He found the situation to be rather funny. After all, he'd caught them once, it wouldn't be any harder the second time, if they really did manage to escape.

Raf'ney-krush moved closer to the gseirut, sword still drawn. But then he suddenly stopped. He couldn't feel his right foot anymore. When he looked down, he saw nothing. But when he looked up again, Sethara was standing right in front of him.

'Promise me not to hurt them, will you?' She said softly.

He wanted to push her away violently but since she wasn't actually there, he obviously couldn't. Now both of his feet refused to obey his command.

'Bay!' He called out loudly. The baymout hesitated at first but came closer when he called once more. It wouldn't take its eyes off Sethara and when she returned its gaze, Raf'ney-krush felt a sudden relief and quickly ran around the woman and climbed up on the gseirut's back, holding his sword up to Kran who stood in front of Nume in a weak attempt to protect her. It made Raf'ney-krush laugh. The fool had obviously not learned anything out of his last lesson. But he was lucky, Raf'ney-krush felt rather tempted to give him another one...

//Isn't that an epic name? Let me know what you think about it!