All grew still as they stared at the dead troll before them, making sure it did not rise again. Ruthrrien was the first to accept it and turned towards the stranger, still gripping her ax as she eyed him warily.
“It’s about time you killed something, dwarf.” She said tauntingly over her shoulder as she sized up the tiefling. He was abnormally tall for his type, coming in well over six feet. Black horns protruded from his forehead and curved back over his black, crew cut hair. Lean and muscular, his right arm was much larger than his left, and looked as though it had been formed from stone, yet moved as normal as any other limb. He carried no traveling pack and was dressed only in thin leathers, an armored chest plate, and armored shin plates. On his belt hung a scimitar and another strange weapon that none of them recognized.
Before Ainz could respond to her taunt, a black wolfhound suddenly came bounding forward, stopping by the tiefling’s side for a quick scratch behind the ears. It trotted forward into their group and walked fearlessly up to Gelwyn who was still a bear. It licked her nose and barked playfully, and they began chasing each other around the clearing.
Ainz was now eyeing the stranger as well. “Thank you,” he said gruffly, giving him a slight nod.
The tiefling shrugged carelessly, leaning against the railing at the base of the bridge. “It was nothing,” he responded in a deep rumbling voice.
“Just passing through?” Ainz responded suspiciously.
“Pretty much,” he said unperturbed, watching the wolfhound bound after the bear.
“You seem to be traveling light,” Lucerin observed.
“Do you live here?” chimed in Ruthrrien curiously.
He raised an eyebrow, “I wouldn’t say that. I tolerate it here.”
“Why?”
“Not even most tiefling’s deal with this,” raising his larger arm up a little.
“What is that?”
“My arm…” he replied with sarcasm, tiring of her questions.
She huffed angrily. “Well obviously not a normal one.”
“It’s a rock that I shoved my arm into, what do you think it is lady?” His thin tail flicked with annoyance.
Sensing the tension, Lucerin cut in. “So you were just out for a stroll then and happened upon us?”
He just shrugged in response.
“Then why did you help us?” Ruthrrien asked, still frowning at him.
“You idiots should have known better than to take on a troll.”
She crossed her arms and stood taller, nose in the air. “I do it all the time,” she thought to herself, but didn’t say it out loud since it was in fact the first troll she had fought.
“We weren’t exactly looking for it,” Lucerin replied, seeming to be the only one aware of the tiefling’s strength.
“And if it hadn’t been for that creepoid, you’d still have a problem.” indicating the dwarf with a quick jerk of his head.
“You’re one to talk,” Ainz replied with a sneer. Lucerin shot him a “do not piss this guy off” look.
Unperturbed, the tiefling shrugged. “Whatever, come on scruffs.” calling the dog back to his side as he began to head off into the trees, ignoring the trail completely.
“Are there any other creatures we should be wary of?” Ainz asked as he passed by them.
“Just me.” he responded with a smirk.
“Just you?” Ruthrrien scoffed
He ignored her. “Oh and werewolves. I’ve been trailing a few of them around here recently.”
Lucerin and Ainz exchanged a dark look, their suspicions about what attacked Ruthrrien confirmed.
“Why would you be trailing them?” Lucerin asked ludicrously.
“One less werewolf in the world makes for a better world,” he replied over his shoulder as he neared the trees.
Ruthrrien hadn’t noticed the look between them, having been watching the tiefling retreat. “Hey wait!” He paused, glancing back at her. She dug in her bag and pulled out one of the flowers. “Have you seen any of these?”
He turned back to her, arms folded across his chest. “You won’t find many more of those without going into spider cove,” he said with a chuckle.
“Where’s that?”
“Across the bridge,” nodding at the bridge behind them. “Just head south. You’ll find it,” he dropped his arms and turned to leave.
“You got a name, stranger?” Lucerin called to his retreating back.
“Anune,” he said without turning, disappearing into the shadows. The wolf hound was sniffing the skeleton curiously when a soft whistle sounded from where trees. It pricked up its ears and bounded off after his master.
“He definitely lives here,” said Ruthrrien resolutely, staring at the treeline and wondering what it would be like to live in these woods.
“Well at least we know we are going the right way to find more flowers,” Ainz said gruffly.
“Yeah, that was actually helpful.” she responded, massaging her shoulder some without thinking. “Maybe we can be done with our task this time tomorrow.”
Lucerin raised an eyebrow curiously, noticing this new tick of hers. He caught Ainz eye and indicated the motion with a glance. Ainz nodded silently. But they both knew now was not the time to discuss the hidden threat among them.
The Whitney Scott 