Kazex gets suspicious but a visitor comes by

After Zaria departed for her home Kazex was left all alone in the tower, minding his own business until Helga returned from the market. He wondered if she would find anything interesting worth buying. Regardless, he spent several hours working on his potions in order to refine his skills while he waited.

But the sun eventually reached its peak and then started its slow descent and Helga hadn't returned yet. Apprehension started nagging at him - an insistent worry that wouldn't leave him and that only kept growing as the minutes ticked away with Helga still not returning.

As the evening gave way to a dark dusk, the goblin could only squint at the diminishing sun with a furrowed brow. "Where is she? This isn't like her - with daylight ending, the market should have finished some time ago..."

Perhaps something had happened to her... but what? It was Helga, by the Spirits! Who could even manage to pose a threat to a witch whose real power he didn't even know the true extent of?! It was honestly quite stupid of him to even entertain the thought!

And yet...

The distinctive sound of confident knocks echoed in the silence of the tower and turning to look at it, Kazex allowed a small glimmer of hope reflect on his face despite himself. With some luck, Helga would be - wait, it couldn't be Helga, the door would open for her and he'd have heard the chiming sound as she entered if it was truly her.

The disappointment he felt with that realization was bigger than he expected.

"Who could it be at this hour?" he muttered to himself as he left the cubicle that served as his room to answer the knocks. Opening it, Kazex's neutral look shifted to one of surprise. "Talanah?"

The small smile on the elf's face widened a fair bit. " That was my name last time I checked, yes."

"Come on in, come on in," he replied, waving her forward. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I could drop by and catch up for a bit. I come bearing gifts," she announced, bringing his attention to the small satchel that she was carrying. Peering at what was inside, Kazex raised an eyebrow.

"Pomegranates?"

"Well, I thought you'd like to have some more variety in your meals! I also wanted to tell you to expect our next sparring session tomorrow by the eastern glade, the one with the small river, so these are just a little gift. Where's Helga, by the way?" she explained, glancing at the stairs that led to the second floor as if expecting the witch to appear from them at any moment.

"Yeah, about that..."

With concise words, Kazex quickly gave Talanah a rundown of the situation and his concern that something could have happened to her, even if it was a far-fetched one.

"I can't claim to know Helga very well, but she doesn't strike me the type of person to willfully stay outside for so long without a good reason. Perhaps something came up while on the market and she had to stay there and address it?" the elf questioned.

"It's a possibility, but a slim one. Helga is experienced and I doubt whatever problems any of the townsfolk could have would give her too much trouble."

"Who would want to do anything against her, however? She's done nothing but good for the area, as far as I've seen."

"I know as much as you do - which is nothing," Kazex told her with frustration before he looked up to meet her eyes. "We need to find out what's happening and quick," he declared.

"I agree, but... night is going to fall quickly. We'll look very suspicious if we start slinking around in the dead of the night around the market place looking for clues - especially with you being a goblin."

"You're an elf, your presence alone should make any villager who gets the wrong idea to think about it twice. Besides, they should already know of me: Helga didn't exactly hide my existence to them," he said, shaking his head.

"Perhaps you're right, but I still think we should wait until morning - we'll have to ask around and waking the people up at night won't endear us to them. Are you so sure Helga is in danger?"

The goblin knew what Talanah was really asking - 'do you really think Helga would immediately need our help?' It was a good question; did he? He only had a mild suspicion at best about the whole matter and one didn't usually get far with only suspicions. And besides, Helga was a powerful witch...

"Blast it, we'll wait till morning! But at the break of dawn we'll start looking for her if she hasn't returned by then," he said with a grumble.

Talanah nodded. "Of course, I would expect nothing else. Since it looks like we'll be waiting until tomorrow to start, do you think I could stay the night here? Given the circumstances, I'd rather keep you company."

"Oh... of course, you can stay in the tower tonight. It will take my mind off things at the very least."

"Of course," Talanah easily agreed. "Well, how have you two been these days?" she asked, following him to the kitchen.

"Quite well, not much happens in here honestly. I don't mind, though - it's a change of pace I can appreciate," he replied, sitting down on a chair once they entered. Watching as Talanah placed her satchel on the table, he was quick to help himself to one of the pomegranates she'd brought. "What about you? Still hunting spiders?"

With a sigh, Talanah sat down on the chair in front of him. "Yes. Otuaranak seems to birth them almost as fast as I can kill them, but sooner or later she'll notice what I'm doing, I'm sure."

"Say, don't you think maybe you could use some help?"

Talanah smiled in amusement. "Why, are you offering to help?"

"Well, there's plenty of them - you told me this yourself. I'd just feel better if I could watch your back," he replied with a shrug of her shoulders before taking a bite of the fruit in his hand.

The elf let out a small laugh at his words. "I'll consider it when you manage to avoid eating the ground for more than a minute in our spars," she teased with a grin.

"Hey now, that's not fair and you know it! You're were just lucky to be born with such unfair strength," Kazex complained with a scowl, which only made Talanah chuckle in amusement. "It's not funny, you know. What's up with that, anyway? Are all elves as strong as you?"

Talanah shook her head in the negative and the way her braided ponytail swayed due to the motion managed to briefly catch Kazex's attention as she spoke. "No. We elves are strong even if we don't look like it, but as far as I know, I'm the only one who has my level of strength. I was born this way - I could already hold my own against most adults with ease as a child and I never really questioned why until I was basically in my adulthood. I suppose I just didn't see anything wrong with it," she explained, falling silent for a moment before she grinned. "I guess I'm too strong for you, Kazex," she joked, flexing her biceps.

The goblin rolled his eyes at her boasting, but his gaze still moved towards her arms. Mostly bare as they were, Kazex could clearly see the muscles in them bulge noticeably as she flexed them. It was obvious that Talanah had had extensive physical training before coming to this forest and yet, while certainly impressive, the muscles on her arms weren't hideously huge to the point they could believably give her the kind of strength she actually had.

If anything, they belied the true monstrous strength she possessed; he'd been on the receiving end of it and he was all but certain that kind of strength wasn't normal by any means. Perhaps her strength was the result of some magical effect or spell cast before she was born? He wasn't that knowledgeable about magic - that was more of Helga's expertise- but he supposed spells like that could exist.

"Regardless, it just isn't my strength that is abnormal, even by elven standards. I'm fast - much, much faster than most-, and my endurance is matched by very few. In all honesty, I'm pretty sure there are only a few hundred of elves that could match me and half of those would be elders who have had the time to perfect and hone their abilities," Talanah told him, tapping her fingers on the table all the while.

'Or perhaps her abnormal abilities are just the lucky product of chance. It could happen,' Kazex amended to himself, though he wasn't completely convinced.

"Does it bother you?" he asked next, clarifying his question when she gave him a confused look. "Being different - so much stronger and better than most other elves."

"Not really. I always considered my superior skills to be a gift and besides, they're a part of me, one that I had to train to polish and truly make my own. Everyone could see that back home and it's not like they make me inherently better than any other elf, just more skilled at some things - and besides, you are different yourself, just like me," she finished with a smile.

Kazex laughed. "The good kind of different, I hope."

"Of course! We wouldn't be talking otherwise," Talanah replied with a grin. "I'm just saying, you should know how it feels, being different. It doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing."

"Well, that won't stop me from paying you back for all the beatings you give me once I get better," he declared as he raised a fist in challenge, eliciting another laugh out of her.

"Oh, I don't know, I'll probably be a dried up hag by the time that happens," she mocked. "But hey look at the bright side: if you ever manage to make me get serious, I doubt most elves will be a problem for you. I'm sure you'll leave them all shocked!"

"What a comforting thought," he drawled with a roll of his eyes before looking outside the windows of the kitchen.

Night had already fallen and the only source of light was the few candles he'd lit up before Talanah arrived. They were still going strong and a slight, pleasant waxy smell hung on the air around them as they burned.

'I just hope Helga is okay.'

"I like this," Talanah suddenly told him, bringing him out of his thoughts. When he turned back to look at her, the elf continued. "I like spending time with you and Helga. You were right, it's good to speak with other people after so many months of mindless killing and hunting in the forest; I missed this. I think I should drop by more."

"You could always take us up on our offer and stay with us, you know," Kazex reminded her and he didn't miss the grimace that crossed over her face as quick as lightning.

"I know, but... it's complicated. I'm still considering it," she said, avoiding to look at him in the eyes.

"Don't worry, we're not going anywhere. Well, it's already dark and I want to wake up at dawn to start searching for Helga," he said as he stood from his seat.

"Alright, I'll stay here a bit longer but I'll make sure to be up then. Where can I sleep?"

Kazex stopped, considering the question. "Actually... I hadn't thought about that. I don't think we have more than two beds. I guess... you could sleep in Helga's room... if it's not too weird with you."

"Don't worry, I'll manage. I'll let you go to sleep then. Good night, Kazex."

"Good night, see you tomorrow."

And with Kazex gone, only Talanah was left in the kitchen, peering into the flame of the candles with a melancholic look as the shadows of the night descended upon the tower. Tomorrow would bring a new dawn, but until that moment arrived, Talanah kept a silent vigil with no other company than her own thoughts, unknown to all but her.

Later, much later, the elf left the kitchen in silence and only the candles, now with their wax almost gone, were left in the room, still burning, still shining in the darkness.