The last survivor.

Khala made a long circle around the tree where the bird had flown away from, fairly sure that Ariane’s enticing body would keep the peeping tom’s attention long enough. She approached silently and kept her eyes trained on the bushes around her and the tree canopy up above her. When she got closer, the half-elven girl noticed a dark green spot up in the tree.

“I found you, pervert. Don’t do anything stupid and come down,” Khala threatened the stranger.

The man in the tree was so captivated by the bathing beauty in front of him, that he was startled when Khala spoke to him. “What?!—Aaah!” he cried as he lost balance and fell off the tree branch and landed on the ground with a loud thud. “Ahh, damn that’s gonna leave a mark.” he groaned in pain.

Khala rushed to the spot where he had fallen, drawing her daggers and pointing them at him, “It’s the least you deserve.” Now, she got a better look at him. He seemed fairly short for a man but it was hard to tell with him sitting on his bum. The green spot she had seen was the ranger’s tunic he wore.

“Whoa, whoa, easy there, lady. Okay?” the man held up his hands in surrender.

The ruckus alerted the others. Mira rushed to the spot sword in hand, “What’s going on?! Khala, who is this?” The swordswoman also pointed her sword at him.

Ariane walked out of the water, not a care in the world if the young man saw her in the nude, “Looks like we have a peeping tom here. Did you like the show, boy?” She grinned at him.

“Wh-What? N-No, I wasn’t—” he tried to protest.

“Don’t lie to us,” Khala threatened him, “A whole company of knights could’ve marched past that tree without you noticing, with how you stared at Ariane.”

It was a strange situation, with three naked girls surrounding him, scolding him for peeping, his cheeks were beet red, “I-I didn’t mean to, I-I only heard someone at the lake here and I came to investigate.” He didn’t know where to look with the three naked beauties in front of him.

Khala followed his gaze and startled as if noticing she was nude for the first time. Blushing profusely and covering herself, she cursed, “Damn it, Ariane could you cover us?”

“What? Oh, sure,” Ariane nodded and cast an illusion spell. Magical fabric materialised around Khala and Mira, hiding their nakedness from prying eyes.

“Uhm, didn’t you forget someone?” Khala raised an eyebrow as Ariane herself still stood naked and proud in front of them.

“Oh? I don't mind, I’m not as shy as you,” Ariane smiled, “But if you insist.” Ariane extended the spell to herself, now all three of them covered.

The young man didn’t know if he should’ve been grateful or saddened at the development, but at least now he could look without risking getting kicked or punched, “C-Can I get up now?”

Khala glared at him, “Very slowly, and keep your hand where I can see them.”

Mira nodded to him.

The young man slowly got up from the ground, holding his hands up again once he stood. Khala had guessed right, he was short. About her height, and a lot smaller than Mira or Ariane as a result, “I really didn’t mean to peep. I’m sorry.”

“Can you blame him?” Ariane giggled, greatly amused by the development, “But it’s not polite, you should’ve joined us instead.” The sorceress winked at him.

His cheeks went as red as a tomato at Ariane’s teasing, “I-I couldn’t do that, I didn’t know if you were friendly.”

“Oh, we are very friendly,” Ariane giggled.

“He seems harmless, even if he is a pervert,” Mira said, “and now there’s two of them.” She sighed and shook her head. She lowered her sword.

“I suppose you are right,” Khala put back her daggers, “Who are you, and what are you doing here? You look like a ranger.”

The boy let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding. His hands went to his hood and he pulled it back, revealing that he was a half-elf like Khala but with blonde hair instead of her red mane. “I’m a mercenary, Lex’s my name and my group was hired to find the missing womenfolk.”

“Right, the mayor had said something about that. Why are you alone, though?” Mira asked him.

“I-Well, my comrades and I ran into a group of bandits,” Lex said, “They… they had a bridge troll following their orders.”

“Y-You mean…?” Khala gulped.

Lex only nodded to her.

“I’m sorry about your friends, Lex,” she said, “Do you know if those were the bandits you were looking for?”

Lex shook his head, “No… we never had the chance to find out. But they must have a powerful mage to control that beast, so I think it’s a good bet that it’s them.”

“Hmm, a mage with mind control powers? That is bad news,” Ariane said. She smiled at the young half-elf, “Well, we are on the same mission, so it would be logical we combine forces right?”

“I-I’m flattered for the offer, but do you really think we could defeat them?” Lex said.

“We’ll need to come up with a plan, of course,” Khala said, “Don’t you want to avenge your friends instead of running away?”

He gulped but then nodded, “Y-You are right, I can’t just run away. Maybe with your help it will be different.”

“Welcome aboard then, pervert—I mean Lex,” Mira laughed, “I’ll keep my eye on you, though.”

“Oh, I will too. He’s pretty cute,” Ariane winked at Lex.

“Just don’t make him pass out like the last guy,” Khala laughed.

The small half-elf laughed nervously, “P-Pass out? What do you mean?”

“Don’t you worry about it,” Ariane giggled.