Chapter Three

It would seem that luck truly was not in her favour today at all.

Then again she hadn't risen this morning thinking, "Today is the day where my dear mage friends will speak of kittens whilst picking herbs and their madding talk of cute fuzzy animals will become trapped in my mind until I get the notion that getting one of the little buggers is a wonderful idea!"

Maria also wondered when this mad quest of hers turned from just a thought of looking at a few cute kittens with the silly notion of "Maybe Anders would like one?" to "Dear Maker! What have I gotten myself into?" A question that ran about in her head as she ran through the damned forest.

The sun was quickly disappearing and along with it the decent weather.
How exactly the downpour came about would forever remain a mystery to her. Maria thought that perhaps the Maker himself was upset with her for going on such a foolish task or maybe it was the fact that she was protecting and helping apostates, her friends and others. Nevertheless the rain was coming down hard and fast turning the worn dirt trails in the forest into thick slippery mud that made running difficult. Not to mention Maria managed to slip in the bloody mess more than once.

Getting up to her feet from her most recent fall in the muck she started off running towards the riverbed. Her hair escaped from its low ponytail and whipped in her face. Taking the heel of her palm she tried to swipe it away. It worked but she could feel the sticky mud smear across her face in the process. It felt like she had been running forever before she saw a small group of figures in the distance at the bank's edge. Laughter mixed with the terrified mews of the squirming sack that lay at the feet of their captors. Anger surged in her veins at the awful laughter.
How dare they make this a game! She picked up paced thinking how she could teach these children a lesson without going her usually way of "Stab now ask questions later." Maria had cooked up a grand speech to give them but when the figures of these 'boys' became bigger and taller and quite obviously full grown men she thought that perhaps a little physical violence wasn't such a bad idea.

Slowing her pace down she went into the brush, keeping one eye on the fools and the other on the sack. There were only three of them, all of them drinking from their flasks which were clearly filled with mead or something just as terrible. She laid low in the shadows and watched the men waiting for the perfect moment to strike and knock some sense into their heads.

"You know, this job isn't so bad," One piped up after taking a swig of his drink, "We should find more jobs like this one!"

The other two laughed and nodded their heads in agreement.
"Couldn't agree with you more!" One said with another bark of laughter as he crouched down to pick up the sack.

Maria moved a hand over the small blade she kept at her hip. Her fingers brushing gently across the top of the hilt as her eyes remained focus on the man. The man got to his feet and started walking over to the river's edge ignoring the protesting mews in the sack, "Say goodbye you little ver-" The man let out a howl of pain as the blade sunk into the flesh of his hand making him release the squirming bag of kittens.

His two companions were over at his side before they had the sense to look around and see where the blade had come from. It was too late when the idea finally dawned on them as Maria quickly sneaked up behind them and bashed the hilts of her daggers in each of their heads. The two of them dropped like stones.

Maria looked down at the two oafs and sighed, "Why must the Maker punish me for having to deal with disgusting men like the likes of you?"

She probed one of them with her foot to see if he would stir. Nothing. Satisfied that both of them were out cold she turned her attention to the man who still had her small blade stuck in his hand. The man tried his best to scramble back out of her reach but Maria wouldn't have that.

Without hesitating she dug her heel into his hand, hard. "Hmmm, you know I just hate it when people stoop so low into drowning innocent animals just for a bit of coin. It is so petty and very beneath you don't you think?" The man let out a whimper that he tried to mask behind a poor snarl as she applied more pressure and twirled a dagger between her fingers, "Oh are you upset with me? I know it wasn't awfully kind of me to bash in the heads of your companions and then there is the bit where I did fling a rather nasty little dagger into your pretty little hand. Oh look there it is let me help you there!" She bent down and grabbed the dagger, giving it a twist as she withdrew it. "There we go! All better!"

The man's face contorted with pain and anger as he sneered at her, "You bitch! You'll pay for this!"

Maria raised her eyebrows in mock surprise, "Will I? Well that just won't do now will it?" She didn't wait for the bastard's reply as she whipped the hilt of her dagger across his face. She patted the man on the cheek, "Sweet dreams."

She was tempted to kick him in his ass for good measure but the frantic mews a few feet away brought her back down on track. Rushing over to the sack she sunk the small blade in, cutting the bonds at the top of the bag free. The sight inside the bag broke her heart.
Six wiggling mewing wet furry faces looked up at her. Reaching inside she placed a hand on one of their tiny bodies and felt the poor creature shiver. Quickly she shrugged off her jacket and wrapped it around the soaked sack.
Rising to her feet, she clutched the sack of helpless creatures to her chest and started to Kirkwall in a full sprint. Hoping that her legs would carry her to her destination before this became a hopeless task that was all for nothing.