[The Rearing Stallion] You called me a what!? (Xelin)

[Xelin Sylaaf]

"Elhayam," Xelin led the name roll off his tongue and he nodded to himself. A dumb smirk crawled across his face as he helped Pain drag the bodies into the hole and began tossing dirt over them. "Well, it's not my place to judge." He motioned to the crude grave, "But, I think Elhayam sounds much prettier than Pain. Just a thought, though. It's just that people might be less hostile to an Elhayam than they are to Pain." He chuckled as he tossed more dirt over the bodies, hiding all traces of the terrible deed. "But if it's because you hate your parents, well, I can more than understand that."

[Elhaym]

The smell of the bodies had at last broken through the mental and physical barrier Pain had erected. It was simply too much, truly the odor of death. she turned away from Xelin and began to wretch, barely containing herself from truly losing it and becoming sick. After her heaving subsided, she wiped away some saliva from her mouth with her forearm, and turned to face Xelin. The makeshift grave was complete. Their ghastly deed was done. But what of Xelin?

"Xelin... I can't say I've ever really thought about how people would react to me calling myself that. I guess it is a little... uhh, what's the word they used. Eccentric, I think? Someone told me that a while ago. I guess i've been using it so long I've never thought about it." And she hadn't. Did people really think so oddly about her name? It just wasn't really something she had ever considered. Maybe, she would ask some people she met. Xelin already seemed to think that it was a bit odd.

Pain realized something. She used the name Pain because she had no longer identified herself with her family. She couldn't go so far as to say she was an outcast; far from it. She could most likely show up at any of her relatives doors throughout Sylira and be welcome. It was just they weren't interested in her. Her brother had been the golden boy, after all. Maybe, just maybe... if she could find friends, people that did care for her just a little, like Xelin...

"I'll tell you what, Xelin... you call me Elhaym." she said, offering up none of the reasoning she had just come up with, rather only stating it bluntly. "We're done here, we just have to cut the horses loose and get back into Syliras. It would probably be best if we didn't go through the gates at the same time." Pain said, pausing for a brief moment. "Goodbye, Xelin... thanks. Thanks for everything."

Pain left Xelin there, as she marched through the brush and trees to the spot the three horses had been left. It was a bit of work, but she was able to free the crude knots that the mercenaries had tethered the horses to several trees with. Encouraging each with a harsh pat, she urged them to wander off. Someone would find these horses, presumably someone better fit to own one than a mercenary.

Pain looked over her shoulder, but she couldn't see Xelin through the clearing. She felt a tinge of sadness, but decided it would be best not to go back. He was a hired hand, and though he seemed to be someone with whom she could eventually be friends, she thought it best to simply move on. Pain looked towards the direction of Syliras, and let out a sigh.

A three mile run back, and nothing to return to but the shattered remnants of her room. Despite, she felt free. She could walk through Syliras without fear. It was this feeling that gave her the spirit she needed to make the trip back.

[Xelin Sylaaf]

Xelin waited some time after Pain had headed off. He gave it some time, figuring that his walking speed might be faster than hers. He wandered for a while aimlessly around the field, doing what he could to avoid being near the pile of freshly upturned dirt where the grave was. In the recesses of his mind, he imagined a hand bursting through the dirt, but it was mostly simple imagination. Finally he'd decided he'd given her more than enough space between them. He didn't speak, even to himself, which he was want to do in the midst of edgy situations. Still he smirked at the thought how that girl was one of the few who could keep his mouth shut. "Goodbye Elhayim." He said to the night air and turned back towards Syliras.

[Dusk]

XP Award! Pain XP Award: Storytelling: 2 XP, Tactics: 1 XP, Running: 2 XP, Unarmed Combat: 3 XP, Intelligence: 1 XP Lore Award: Hidey-holes, Planning a fight, The smell of burning flesh, The screams of someone burning alive, Murder, Owing a debt Ledger: -50gm Xelin XP Award: Interrogation: 1 XP, Tactics: 1 XP, Stealth: 1 XP, Throwing (Dagger): 1 XP, Acting: 1 XP Lore Award: Planning a fight, The smell of burning flesh, The screams of someone burning alive, Assisting in murder, Broken ribs really hurt Ledger: -2sm for ale, +50gm, -1gm 10 pints oil Additional Note An excellent adventure! I loved it, highly entertaining to read. Congrats on being ambushing murderers.