Lady of Curses

Seeing that the elf was immersed in reading, and probably will be for some while, Aella decided to finish things on her end. She sat up and grabbed the three ornamental daggers and the horn that made her uncomfortable. 

The feeling of disgust and contempt against the horn was so bad that Aella cut a piece of her dress and wrapped the horn in it, just so she didn't need to touch it directly, and Aella didn't mind cutting her dress, after all, it was already mostly destroyed, and she will trow in thrash the moment she gets some other cloths. Gricelda didn't lift her head out of the journal, so she didn't see Aella's antics, but if she did take a look at what Aella was doing she would probably let out a chuckle because Aella looked ridiculous while dealing with the horn. 

Aella could leave the horn so that she doesn't need to touch it or deal with it, but she was confident that this horn had great value and she could deal with her discomfort for some benefits. After she had done with that, she put the coin pouch on her hip ready to go. 

Aella went out of the room and made her way down the stone stairs, she was going to look for her summoner. She could just desummon herself back to her home plane, but it would be better if she had her summoner's agreement and cooperation, it would drain her less and take less time. 

While walking down the stairs it got darker and Aella slowed down. She had to be careful if she didn't want to slip and split her head open, and it didn't help that both of her hands were full. In her right hand were the three daggers which she was holding between her fingers, and in her left hand all her muscles were stiff as she clenched her fist around the horn.

It took some time before Aella finally saw the stone door leading to the open space. Fortunately, she didn't fall and was without new injuries. The experience of going down the stairs in complete darkness wasn't nice and Aella was hoping not to repeat it. 

When Aella finally got back to the open space, she still saw the blood, guts, and limbs all around. The three madmen she left behind were now dead, like the rest of the bandits. 

She saw the beastkins were here too. They no longer were naked and similar to the elf were now with some armor and weapons. Most of them were holding spears, except one of them that had a sword. 

Aella started to look for the woman who summoned her, and it didn't take long before she found her. The woman was just standing there with a grin on her face, looking at all the dead bodies. She didn't move a muscle she just observed the bodies like a statue. 

It looked a little bit creepy from Aella's perspective, but it looked like the woman was happy so that was a bonus. The beaskin woman was some distance from the rest of the group, who were just talking with each other and looking and the gruesome scene. Aella didn't pay much attention to them and walked directly to where the lone woman was. 

Even when Aella closed the distance the woman didn't move and continued looking at all the blood and bodies. 

''Hello there.'' Seeing that the woman wasn't reacting even when Aella was right next to her, Aella decided to address her first. 

The young beastkin woman slowly turned her head so that she was facing Aella. Her smile was still on her face but Aella started to see streaks of tears running down the woman's cheeks. The woman didn't say anything and just hugged Aella, her face buried in Aella's chest. 

''Thank you.'' Aella heard a muffled thanks but didn't say anything, and just stood there letting the woman cry in her chest. Aella's hands were in kind of awkward position, as they were full and she couldn't hug back or put them in a comfortable position, but for now, she didn't care that much. 

After a while, the beastkin woman slowly stopped the hug and retreated some steps backward, away from Aella. Now the beaskin woman looked a little more creepy because now she had some blood on her face, armor, and hands. 

''We have to go now!'' The woman was crying for some time because it looked like Gricelda had finished reading the journal and came down. It looked like she was in a hurry, but no one had idea why so although they started to get ready it was at a slow pace. 

''We have to get moving before the main force gets back.'' Hearing that there were more bandits the beastkin started to pick up their pace. The crying woman got back together with the others and they started to pick up some sacks. 

Aella had missed the sacks, that probably were filled with loot. One by one the sacks got picked up, even Gricelda took one, and they started to move in the direction of the exit. 

Aella wasn't intending to accompany them, as she had already got some nice stuff from the office, and she was ready to go back to her dimension. 

So she walked closer to the woman who summoned her here and got her attention by gently bumping the woman's shoulder. The woman looked at Aella with a questioning gaze.

''I presumed the task was completed to your satisfaction?'' The question confused the woman for a moment before she remembered why Aella was here, and she just nodded with a smile. 

''Great.'' Aella gave a smile to the woman as she continued. ''I have already taken my reward so, I will be departing, I wish you safe travel.'' And with those words, Aella stopped walking alongside the group and started the process of going back home. 

The group took some glances at Aella but didn't stop moving and they saw how a magic circle formed beneath Aella's feet, and with a flash of light Aella was gone. 

***

Gricelda was finally free, but if they didn't move fast their freedom will be short-lived. She read the journal that belonged to the captain of these bandits, and unfortunately, they weren't just your average bandits. They were backed by a whole kingdom. 

This band of thugs was formed so that they could freely raid and pillage villages and merchants that were in the neighboring kingdom. The bandit's base, this cave, was near the border, so that gave them a good chance of escaping, but they had to do it fast. 

The main force of this operation was called somewhere else for some time, to deal with close by situation, and they will be gone for some days. The problem was that Gricelda had no idea of how many days they had been gone, and how long until they got back, so the faster they got away from here the better. 

Another driving factor was the nation that was behind all this operation, and Gricelda didn't want to be a slave in this nation. As a whole she didn't want to be a slave, but if she had to say Berkanea was one of, if not the worst place someone like her to be a slave. She had some suspicion when she saw those three decorated daggers that Aella found in the office, but now with concrete proof, Gricelda was more than ever motivated to get out of here. 

She looked back to see how others were fairing but saw that every one of them was looking in front with a determined look. So Gricelda didn't say anything and just continued to lead them. They were determined to get back home, to their families and friends.