Charge to the rescue

With a party member in potential danger, Janno decided not to take any chances and charge in there to save Kassi the ranger.

He stood up, preparing to go forward, but just as he rose up, the shadowy figure that has been molesting Kassi spun around, and Janno heard something whiz by his ear and bury itself in the tree next to him, a scant few inches from his head. He ducked down instinctively and went for his sword, before her heard Kassi cry out. "Hold!"

Straightening out, Janno could make out Kassi holding one of the figure's arms, withstraining it. "He's with me! He's one of my party!" she exclaimed, before the figure relented, dropping its arm down.

"What's going on here?" demanded Janno, stepping forward towards Kassi and the figure. Kassi tried to make herself decent as the figure's identity became clearer to the fighter. He stopped in his tracks. "... a Naumirrim!"

The figure smirked. The Naumirrims were natives of a region of dark forest called Naumir down in the south. The area was enchanted, and the small populations of elves and humans down there had interbred to such an extent as to create an entirely new breed of half-elf, with strange powers added in from the forest. The Naumirrim in question was an attractive woman, Kassi's size, with a similarly tone and lean physique. Her dark clothes made it hard to tell in the gloom of the forest, but she seemed to be wearing a long black cloak with dark grey trousers and tunic, as well as sturdy knee-high boots and a loaded belt; a rogue or hunter type for sure, Janno thought. Her ears were slightly pointed, and her skin pale like all Naumirrim who seemed to prefer the gloom of the dark. She had long black hair that blended in with her cloak in the diminished light, but her strange green eyes seemed to almost glow in the darkness. Janno narrowed his eyes. It was said that Naumirrim could see perfectly well in the dark.

"I see," she soon responded, shrugging slightly. "Worried about Kassi, were you?" Her red lips parted in a grin. "She was perfectly safe here with me."

"Who is this?" said Janno, his hand reaching for his sword again. Precious few people trusted the folk of Naumir.

"It's alright, Janno," Kassi said, still flush from what had gone on before, "this is Elle... er, Elewyn. She's a former traveling partner of mine."

Elewyn made a slight bow to Janno. "How do you do. Kassi and I were merely... catching up on old times when you arrived." She smiled, and slid next to the ranger. Kassi flushed deeper, but didn't move away.

"I... see," said Janno, trying to keep cool, "alright, old teammates. So, Elewyn, what brings you out here alone, then? Following us?"

The hunter shook her head. "I fear not. I was hunting the goblins whose tracks these were when I came across Kassi." She smiled again to the ranger, though it seemed more genuine and less cold this time.

"The goblins? Are you a bounty hunter?" asked Janno.

Elewyn seemed to weigh her thoughts for a moment. "Since you are Kassi's friend I will tell you. I was hired to go after them. You see, those goblins took something rather important..."