A/N: Hey, here's my weekly update. Hope you're all doing good, keeping safe, keeping sane. I'll see you all in another week then. As always read, review and enjoy! :)

Chapter 7

Ursten was a small village with a large population. Even as they approached the village there were a number of tents and campfires set up along the road. The people gathered around them watched the witcher and his entourage pass with empty eyes, their clothes and gaunt faces painted them as war refugees. Lambert didn't say anything as he rode past, he had seen many like them whilst walking the Path. War affected everyone, but the poor most of all. It was a fact of life. Blue eyes, however didn't know where to look, taking in all the pathetic souls as she walked beside his horse. She didn't speak or look up at him with those disconcerting eyes of hers, but he could almost feel the shock and distress coming from her.

The witcher kept his gaze firmly on the road ahead. Ignoring the plight of the refugees and complicated girl by his side. Ever since her revelation after the swamp Lambert had been wrestling with his conscience. Something he tried to avoid at all costs. A witcher with a noisy conscience was like a merchant with a heart of gold. It wasn't good for business.

A head lolled against his chest drawing him out of his moody thoughts. He glanced down at the blonde girl who had fallen asleep almost as soon as they had set off. Lambert shifted in the saddle slightly, enjoying the feeling of her small, warm body against his chest. He could smell the swamp in her hair, but underneath it was the faintest hint of lavender. The witcher sat a little straighter as the refugee camps receded and the first houses of Ursten passed them. It was nice for once to feel appreciated by someone for his actions. Women usually kept a distance from him unless he paid them to get closer. This rosy cheeked maiden was a breath of clean summer air.

A thought crossed his mind as he came upon the signpost announcing this was Ursten. He tugged gently on the reins, being careful not to jostle the girl in his arms as he brought his horse to a halt. The demon, or he supposed half demon now, took a few more steps before stopping and looking up at him in confusion.

'What's wrong?' She asked, that little crease wrinkling her brow.

Lambert tried to think of a tactical way to phrase his errant thought, but it wasn't a habit he was used to. 'I think you should stay away from the village.' He finally said bluntly.

She tilted her head slowly, the crease deepening into a furrow. 'Why?'

'Because these are simple peasants and I can't risk another scene like the last one.'

She folded her arms, awkwardly considering the shackles but it still added to her pissed off demeanour. 'The last time you brought me into a village you were trying to hand me over to be tortured and incarcerated. This time no one knows what I am.'

Lambert blew out an irritated breath. Gods this girl knew how to argue. 'I would still prefer not to risk it. Look, I'll set up a camp for you far enough away that no one will disturb you.'

'Cheers.' She replied sarcastically.

His irritation began to morph into anger. 'This isn't a discussion. You're going to stay out here and wait for me.'

'Absolutely, sir. Purgatory forbid I sully your spotless image amongst the gentry.' It was Lambert's turn to frown down at her in confusion. What had she said? Purgatory? Was that some kind of curse word where she was from?

'Exactly.' He said eventually, deciding to shepherd her away from the village before she could argue anymore. He led them off the road until he found a secluded glade surrounded by trees.

'This'll do.' He muttered, reluctantly disturbing the sleeping girl to dismount. She groaned as he lifted her down from the saddle. 'Hey, wake up now.'

'Am I home?' She asked, rubbing her eyes.

'Nearly. I just need to take care of something first.' He set her down gently and left her to set up a campfire and tether his horse. She stood obediently watching him, her bandaged arms clasped in front of her. Lambert could feel her eyes on him, along with a much harder gaze off in the shadows. Straightening up from his task of lighting the fire his attention was automatically drawn to the dark haired, filthy, blue eyed demon.

'Stay here.' He said, walking over to her.

Her mouth pulled into a thin line. 'Fine. I'll stay. You go enjoy yourself.'

'What does that mean?' He bit back.

She leant to one side to look pointedly at the waiting blonde girl. 'Oh, I don't know. Nothing I guess.'

For some reason her insinuation riled him enormously. Never mind that there was some truth in her words, it was after all why he was risking leaving her here alone. But her bitter tone and fiery glare made him want to stand here arguing with her until he won. The idea was nonsensical, not to mention time consuming. He wanted to get the other girl back to the village and see if anyone was grateful enough to give him a reward, and maybe an ale and a bath wouldn't go amiss.

'Nothing sounds about right.' He said, already turning to go. 'I'll be back by morning at the latest.'

'Morning? What am I supposed to do until then?' Her outraged cry echoed across the glade.

'Stay out of trouble.' He shot back, guiding the doe eyed girl back to the village.

'Is your friend going to be okay?' She asked, in a soft voice. Lambert snorted.

'She's not my friend, and she seems to be able to handle herself.' The girl looked away, her face paling.

'Yes, I saw that.' The witcher smirked. He walked in silence until they reached the entrance to Ursten again. The girl looked up at him, her expression fearful.

'Master witcher?'

'Hmm?'

'Will you stay with me a little while longer?' He looked down at her, his eyebrows raised.

'Well, yeah. I wasn't going to just dump you and go. I may be an arsehole, but even I have standards. Where do you live?' The look of relief on her face gave Lambert a warm sense of satisfaction. He almost felt like the White wolf himself in her eyes.

'My house is down the main street, past the tavern.'

'Perfect.' Lambert said, already dreaming of the ale he'd drink on his way back. After the last few days he definitely needed it. The sun was setting as they made their way through the village. Groups of refugees were gathered around what must have been the Ealdorman's house. A few mercenary looking men were handing out rations to them. As they passed one of the men looked up, his eyes locking on the girl next to Lambert. He grinned, a nasty lecherous grin and he felt the girl flinch into his side. The mercenary's gaze slid up to the witcher and the grin vanished instantly. Lambert narrowed his eyes to slits as he assessed the man. He knew the type; power hungry bullies that preyed on the weak. He loathed men like that.

'You know that man?' He asked the girl.

'N-no. He works for Ealdorman Fife. My ma says they're all thugs for hire, I try and stay away from them.' Something in the tremble of her voice made him extra vigilant. He kept his eyes locked on the grinning man as they continued on down the road.

'Good advice.' He said. 'By the way, I never asked. What's your name?'

Blondie blinked up at him. Her cheeks turning rosy again. 'It's Theadora.'

'Very pretty. Suits you.' He replied, with a smile. Her cheeks deepened in colour.

'Are all witchers as charming as you?' Lambert had to stop from laughing full in her pretty face.

'I can say absolutely not. In fact, you're in the minority if you find me charming.' Theadora averted her eyes. Then a loud clamour drew both their attention.

'Thea! My baby! Thank Melitele!' A woman was barrelling towards them, her arms thrown wide. Theadora let out a matching squeal and ran for the charging woman.

'Ma! I'm back!' Thea's mother enveloped her in a hug, rocking the small blonde girl in her embrace. A man came up behind them, his grey bearded face split into a wide smile.

'Da!' Thea squealed and he disappeared into the family hug. Lambert cleared his throat awkwardly, never sure what to do when confronted with displays of familiar affection. He hadn't seen much of it in his life, especially when he had been a boy. Thea turned her golden head to look at him.

'Ma, da. This witcher saved me. If he hadn't appeared then I would've been eaten by swamp monsters.' The three of them detached, the two parents smiling nervously at him. The father bowed, his balding head nearly touching the floor, while the mother stayed behind him, wringing her hands.

'Master witcher, I thank ye. Truly, there is nothing I can give that will repay you for bringing my daughter back.' Lambert folded his arms, raising one eyebrow. Thea's father paled slightly. 'But of course, I can probably think of something. We don't have much, but could I tempt you to a mug of ale in the tavern?'

If Lambert was being honest he would have preferred the gold, but his mouth was dry and his limbs were tired, and the thought of having his tab covered by a fearful, willing benefactor was extremely attractive.

'Sure, why not. I'll warn you now, all this saving of daughters has made me really thirsty.' Thea's father winced, but his smile remained in place.

'I wouldn't expect anything else from a strapping witcher like you. Come Theadora, we will toast your safe return with your rescuer.' The man slapped Lambert's shoulder good-heartedly. Usually he would have broken the man's hand for that, but with Theadora's jubilant response to spending more time with him he forgot to get mad at the old bastard. Yeah, ale wasn't as good as a fat coin purse, but being actually treated with respect for a job well done was worth more than both.

'Lead the way.' He said with a smirk. As the happy family began walking towards Ursten's tavern with Lambert in tow, a group of mercenaries passed them in the street. Several things happened at once; two noticed Theadora and nudged one another, laughing and wolf whistling. Thea herself leapt away from them, her face terrified as one made a grab for her, leering. Lambert was between the sweating oaf and the girl in a heartbeat, the mercenary blinking owlishly in shock as he grabbed the offending hand and twisted it painfully behind the man's back.

'Ow! 'ere! What gives? Let me go you freak!' The man bellowed, his friends moving to draw their weapons but a steely look from the witcher stilled their twitching hands.

'I think you owe the lady an apology.' Lambert said in an icy voice. The mercenaries glanced at one another, then burst into loud, raucous laughter.

'You 'ear that Mikels. He called her a lady.'

'I did, not much of anything ladylike about that one anymore.'

'He is a mutant, whores' are all they can get.'

Lambert's grip tightened on their buddy and he let out a yelp. His friends grew quiet pretty quick. 'I suggest you shut your fat gobs and piss off, if you know what's fucking good for you.' He pushed on the mercenary he had pinned, sending him stumbling into his group of slack jawed mates.

'Pretty bold of yer witcher. Six against one ain't good odds.'

Lambert took a step towards the men, his mouth tilting up into a nasty grin when they shuffled back as one. 'Willing to risk it. Think I'd take a few of you low lives out before you got a hit on me.' The tension was building between the men, he flexed his fingers in his gauntlet, ready to go for his steel sword at the first sign of aggression. But before the fight could break out, Thea's father stepped between them.

'Good men, come now. This is no way to behave. Master witcher, I'm sure Fife's men meant nothing by what they said. They were just japing around.' His voice had the high note of fear in it. His eyes darting furtively between the men.

The one they had called Mikels, an ugly, tall brute of a man, wearing a rough-hewn iron chest plate and rusted chain mail, grinned at the old man.

'That's right Jonus. We was japing. Nothing wrong with that is there…witcher.' Lambert really didn't like the way he said that, but causing a massacre in a village he had only just entered wasn't going to get him an ale.

'Fine.' He muttered, relaxing his stance. The mercenaries copied, the tension dissipating in an instant. With one last murderous glance at the still grinning Mikels, Lambert turned and began to walk away. Theadora looked up at him with wide eyes as she walked by his side. There was still a rosy tint to her cheeks, but there was a definite pallor to the rest of her face. She was also trembling noticeably through her thin, mud covered dress, and not from the early autumn cold. As they headed towards the tavern, the mercenaries moved on too. Getting a reasonable distance away they began to talk amongst themselves and Lambert really wished right then he didn't have superhuman hearing.

'Surpised to see that little wench back here. Didn't we dump her in the fucking swamp after we were done playing?'

'Aye, we did. But that disgusting mutant obviously picked her up.'

'Well, she won't talk. I said if she did we'd slit her family's throats. Of course, I thought she was drowner bait by then but I think the threat still stands.'

'Nevermind, we going to the camps tonight?'

'Yeah, Borkins said there was some prime meat that needed tenderising there.' The group burst out laughing again, the sound of it making Lambert grit his teeth. So that was how Theadora had ended up in that festering hell hole being ravaged by drowners. He felt his fists clench as he walked silently beside her family, unable and unwilling to reveal what he had just learnt.

He would have his drink with them, not cause a scene. But when he was done he'd find those cock suckers and make them pay for what they had done. He didn't usually go in for the vigilante shit that Geralt liked, but every once in a while, it was good to put down some real fucking monsters.

Ellie sat by the fire; her legs crossed, her bound hands resting ideally on them. The sky had grown dark since Lambert had left her here to wait for him…again, and the stars dusted the great violet, blue expanse like scattered glitter. She found herself looking up at the night sky, thinking of her home. Or at least the closest thing she had to a home nowadays. How long had it been since she was last in Purgatory? She had been dealing with so many rabid demons of late that she couldn't remember the last time she had seen the demon city. Her thoughts drifted to her friends and she wondered if they missed her. She brushed at her knee absentmindedly. The worst of the swamp mud had gone now, but her skin still felt stiff with dirt and her clothes were more like stinking rags now. What she wouldn't give for a shower. But she guessed the chances of hot running water in this world were slim to none.

Ellie sighed and looked over at Horse who was nose deep in the sweet meadow grass of the glade. His soft munching and the melodious chirping of crickets was all she could hear over the crackling of the fire Lambert had left her with. At least he'd done that much she supposed, but while she was sat in the middle of nowhere with a horse for company, he was off with that blonde girl and probably a nice soft bed. She tried not to think of those two things occupying the same sentence and then came up with the much more disturbing thought of why did she care? So, what if he was off with that girl. He had been nothing but an arsehole to her since they'd met. But every time he left her Ellie felt a niggling, tug in her gut telling her to follow him.

'Maybe I should try and sleep.' She grumbled, drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them. Horse briefly looked up, staring at her with his mournful eyes. 'Don't know what you're looking at traitor. Leaving me for dead in that swamp. What kind of monster hunter's horse runs away from monsters?'

He looked at her blankly for a moment, then blew out a snort and returned to his grass. 'Yeah, that's what I thought.' Ellie said.

Talking to a horse Eleanor, sad. She thought to herself. Her eyes drifting back up to the sky. If only she could just sleep on command, it would make this waiting malarkey bearable. Sadly, her ability to drift into an untroubled unconsciousness had been taken away with her humanity. Sleep was now something she did only on rare occasions, when she was seriously injured or relaxed. Two things that didn't tend to happen often. Closing her eyes, she did her best to let the slow passing of time sweep past her. It wasn't exactly like sleep, but it was better than nothing.

It was in this weird, half meditating state that she heard the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps through the trees. Someone was breathing heavily, their high pitched voice coming out in broken sobs as they ran. They were being chased by six other pairs of feet, heavier, yet faster than the first. Ellie automatically scented the air in the direction the sound was coming from. One young girl, twenty, and six older men. All well-built, sweaty, wearing heavy, used armour. She could smell dried blood from many different sources on them. Fighters. A pre-emptive shiver of revulsion ran up Ellie's spine as she heard the pursuit heading towards her. Whatever these men were chasing this girl for, she imagined it wasn't because she'd broken the law.

She was still sat with her knees drawn up by the fire when the girl finally broke through the ring of trees, and came tumbling into the glade. She landed on her hands and knees, her face sweaty and flushed from running, her dark hair wild, her eyes equally so. They locked onto Ellie and with clumsy, exhaustion heavy limbs she clawed her way over to her.

'Please…help me.' She panted. Falling down to crouch behind her just as her pursers burst into the clearing. There were six of them, just as she'd smelt. They all staggered to a halt as they realised one more person had been added to their party. There was a brief moment of shock on their grime covered faces before they clocked it was just another girl, and they began guffawing and elbowing each other.

The girl behind Ellie whimpered as she placed her hands on the demon girl's shoulders, peering round at the men now leering at them both.

'Well, well, what 'ave we here?' One of them said, his speech slightly slurred from drink. Now they were closer Ellie could smell liquor on all of them, and she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

'Looks like another little hen to add to our coop Mikels.' Another replied, a fat pink tongue darting out to run over already wet lips. Ellie's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.

'Leave us alone!' The girl behind Ellie shouted, her voice breaking with fear. The men only laughed louder. Deciding that Ellie wasn't a threat they advanced into the glade, spreading out as they did to cut off their escape.

'Not sure about this one. She looks like she was raised by water hags.' One of them said, giving her an assessing look.

'Not to mention she got shackles on.'

The largest one they had called Mikels shot them both a look. 'She's still a wench. Filthy or not. And if she's bound then she's probably not going to be missed.'

The girl cowering behind her began to cry, her sobs gradually turning into screams as the men closed in.

'Now, now. None of that. Screaming ain't going to help you bitch.' One of them spat, his hand already pulling at the strings of his britches. Ellie felt a red-hot poker of rage insert itself down her spine as she glared up at the man.

'No, but I will.' She said in a deadly voice. The men looked taken aback for a moment before howling with laughter again.

'The water hag talks.' Mikels said, his eyes glinting nastily as he advanced, towering over them both. 'Listen, I'm sorry you got involved in this but its best if you don't put up a fight.' Ellie shrugged off the other girl's hands gently and rose slowly to her feet, until she was chin height to the man in front of her.

'I'll give you one chance to turn around and leave us alone.' She spoke slowly and deliberately, as if talking to simpletons. Mikels grinning face fell and he turned an interesting shade of puce.

'She thinks she can take on all of us.'

'Shut her up Mikels.'

'We want our fun now.'

Mikels lowered his head so it was inches from hers, his breath reeking of booze. 'I'll teach you to get in my way hag.' He snarled, and pushed Ellie hard so she fell backwards over the other cowering girl.

'Are you okay?' The snivelling girl asked, her eyes wide with fear as she untangled her limbs from Ellie's.

'Fine.' She replied, her voice terse. Her eyes never left Mikels as, spurred on from his act of dominance, he bent down and grabbed the other girl by her throat lifting her to her feet. She let out a strangled cry of pain, Mikels practically lifting her off the ground his grip was so strong.

'I suggest you don't give us the same amount of cheek wench.' He said, tossing her like a sack of grain towards his grinning friends. The loud thud she made when she hit the ground at their feet made Ellie wince, and the men fell on her like a pack of rabid dogs.

In an instant she was on her feet, her rage burning through her like a petrol fuelled fire. A low, menacing growl slipped between her teeth but Mikels was laughing so hard at the horrendous scene in front of him that he didn't notice. Glancing back at her, his brow furrowed in annoyance seeing the filthy girl back on her feet, her defiant expression only intensified rather than subdued.

'Want another taste do you? Where were we?' He said, taking a few steps towards her. Ellie didn't need to bother manually releasing her power this time, it was all but brimming over as the rage burnt through her veins. With one jerking movement of her hands, she shattered the chain holding her hands together as if it were made of nothing but glass. Mikels had just enough time to register the change in circumstances before Ellie had closed the remaining distance between them and grabbed his throat with one hand. His eyes popped as she closed off his air supply, lifting him easily off the ground so his feet brushed the grass.

'About here I think.' She said, her voice deadly as sharpened steel. Mikels' face managed to pale and turn a funny shade of purple at the same time. The latter because of the lack of oxygen now reaching his brain, and the former because he was now looking into the flat black eyes of a monster. Its expression livid, its grip unnaturally strong. He clawed uselessly at her hand, trying to break free but Ellie barely felt his efforts.

With an angry snarl, she launched Mikels, full force, at his friends who were attempting to tear the dress off the screaming girl in their midst. Her cries of panic were joined by their comrades as Mikels flew through the air, colliding with three of them in a satisfying crash of metal and heavy bodies. Four of them fell to the floor in a heap and the other two halted in their assault of the girl.

Ellie rolled her shoulder. Despite his size, she had found it relatively easy to fling him one handed across the glade. The men gawked in disbelief at the transformed girl now staring them down with terrifying eyes. Mikels, the one she assumed was their leader, managed to right himself. He drew a dagger from his belt, and without missing a beat his friends drew their own concealed weapons.

Ellie lowered into a crouch. 'Good. I was afraid this wasn't going to be a fair fight.' She said, before launching herself at them.

In the space of a couple of seconds she took out two of the men by kicking their unarmoured legs so they twisted unnaturally. She heard the snap of bones giving way as they crumpled to the floor, howling in pain. One of their friends ran at her, a truncheon of sorts in his hand. She easily dodged his languid movement and jolted the weapon from his grasp, using it to knock both him and the two she had downed unconscious. Contrary to her last fight, these men were slow and obvious in their movements. She found it easy, even in her depleted state, to surpass their strength and speed with her own. The last man she had fought had been a witcher, blatantly not everyone in this world shared his super human abilities. The difference between him and these creeps was palpable.

The next two ran at her, one swinging a long sword, the other holding something that Ellie dimly remembered to be a mace. Both came at her from different directions at once. Taking a moment to assess, she made the decision that the mace would be harder to heal quickly from. With a deep breath she ducked under the mace's swing and came up, raising her arm to block the blade now sailing down towards her head. The sword bit into her forearm, cleaving the flesh in two but mercifully sparing the bone. She grimaced as the metal blade lodged itself in her arm but at least it hadn't been her skull.

With her free arm she used the truncheon she had swiped from the other man and threw it with practiced precision at the mace wielder's head. A resounding crack echoed throughout the glade and the man fell back, unconscious. Four down. Two to go.

The man holding the long sword extracted it with some difficulty from her arm. He looked down at it puzzled then with wide disbelieving eyes watched as the flesh he had just cut began to knit itself back together seamlessly. Wiping her hand over the wound, Ellie flicked the blood she had lost away, revealing flawless, untouched skin beneath.

'Devil.' The man whispered, his face turning white.

'Not quite.' She replied, her expression grim. The man let out a yelp of terror and turned to flee.

'What are you doing you coward?!' Mikels shouted as his comrade ran passed him. He ignored him, his armour clanking as he sprinted to the edge of the clearing.

'Oh, no you don't.' Ellie muttered darkly as she shot after him. His attire and weak human limbs no match for her, she easily cut him off. The man let out a scream and tried to about face, but this time Mikels was behind him and he shoved the man towards Ellie.

'Cut her bleeding head off. She can't heal that.' Shaking, but unable to escape in either direction now, the man faced the demon again. Lifting his long sword, he let out a cry of fear and anger as he charged at her, swinging the weapon wildly. Ellie felt that small tug near her abdomen, telling her where to move. She casually sidestepped the man's clumsy, flailing attack, letting him barrel passed her. Holding out a foot she tripped the man, sending him crashing to the ground, his sword flying out of his reach. Then with a quick, vicious kick to his head she put him out of the game with his four friends.

'Just you and me Mikels.' She said, levelling her gaze on the remaining ring leader. The girl that had started all this was still on the floor, her dress torn and her eyes wild as she watched the two of them.

'I'll make you pay for this bitch.' He spat, raising his dagger. Ellie didn't respond, instead she began to circle the man, choosing her target carefully. He was the one that had held the most authority amongst the group, so by her justice he would be the one to pay the most. Slowly, she prowled around him, like a wolf waiting for the right time to strike. Mikels wiped a hand across his brow. Good, let him sweat. She thought of the terror on the young girl's face as she had burst into the glade, desperate for help. Being hunted down like an animal, but the men pursuing her had less merciful things than killing on their minds.

Memories of her own feet running frantically over tangled roots and rustling dead leaves. A small hand clutched in hers as she dragged the boy behind her. Close behind, men shouting, running after them. Catching up. Bile rose in her throat and the rage that had provoked Ellie into this attack, flared at the memory. A deep growl ripped from her and she darted at Mikels.

He was slightly quicker than his friends, and better with a blade, she'd grant him that much at least. However, she was almost blind withy fury now and he had no time to strike before she had disarmed him of his only weapon and driven the blade of it deep into his knee joint. Mikels howled in pain, but instead of knocking him out cleanly Ellie twisted the dagger so the man crumpled around it, his hands grasping at the hilt.

With a jerk of her hand she withdrew the blade and then without missing a beat inserted it into the other leg. Mikels howled again, and now there were tears in his eyes. Twisting the blade slowly again, Ellie let his screams wash over her. With him on his ruined knees before her she extracted the dagger and made quick work cutting off his chest plate. It fell to the floor with a thud, she ripped his undershirt so his slightly portly, hair covered chest was exposed. Mikels blinked up at her with tear filled eyes, his face the same as a man walking to the gallows. But she wasn't about to kill him. Instead she took the dagger and carved a deep cross over where his heart was; making sure to let him feel every cut.

'Consider yourself marked, Mikels of Ursten. You belong to no tribe, you are an outcast from this moment on.' The words meant little to this world, nor did they really apply to a human, but the weight of them still settled on the man in front of her, as he stared up at her slack jawed. Sickened by the sight of his puffy, pathetic face she smashed the hilt of the dagger over his head, sending him into oblivion with his lowlife friends.

Ellie stood, with the dagger still clutched in her hand, breathing heavily. Gradually she felt the rage and adrenaline seep from her blood. Her more wild side drifting back into the shadows of herself. Looking around her she saw Horse stood exactly where he had been before all of that had happened, staring at her with a baleful expression.

'Fat lot of good you were again.' She said, he snorted and resumed eating. Shaking her head, she turned to look at the girl who was still frozen on the ground. She smiled down warmly at her and offered her hand. Minus the dagger.

'It's okay. They're all gone now.' The girl stared up at her, terror etched into every line of her face. Then a smooth voice broke the renewed silence of the night.

'That was fucking amazing.' Ellie brandished the dagger, making the girl shrink back further, as Lambert sauntered out of the cover of the trees. An impressed smirk on his face. He clapped his hands together slowly, raising one black eyebrow as he appraised the demon. The girl let out a whimper of fear as she took in the sight of the witcher now standing over her as well. Then with clumsy movements she clawed her way to her feet and stumbled off into the woods clutching her ruined dress to her, glancing back at Ellie with terrified eyes.

'Wait! It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you!' She shouted after the girl, but she had already faded into the shadows and Ellie let her hand fall limply at her side. Lambert eyed her for a moment, his smirk disappearing.

'Don't take it personally. It happens all the time.' He said, and something in his voice made Ellie glance at him sharply. Before she could ask what he meant, the witcher had already begun to haul the unconscious bodies off into the trees, and with one last look in the direction the girl had run, Ellie dropped the dagger and moved to help him.

After they had cleared the bodies, dumping them a safe distanced from the camp, they had sat back around the fire. Lambert seemingly unphased by Ellie's sudden unbound state. A newfound respect and cautious civility had appeared between the witcher and the demon. Ellie recounted what had happened leading up to the fight, and Lambert similarly began to tell her of his evening with Theadora and her family.

'After I saw those cock suckers in Ursten, I went for a drink with Thea's family. Didn't want to raise suspicions.'

'Of course, you're not in the least bit suspicious.' Ellie said, and the witcher shot her a filthy look.

'Am I telling this story or not?' He asked. She gave him a lopsided smile and gestured for him to continue. 'Got to talking and turns out those bastards have been working their way through the local female population. Thea was the latest up until that point. Usually they have their way with them, then ride them out to the middle of no man's land and dump 'em. Another part of the sport for them. Too cowardly to get blood on their own hands.' Lambert glowered into the fire as he took a swig from his water skin, which from the smell and sight of him, Ellie suspected didn't contain any water at this point.

'So, they were responsible for her being out in that swamp?' Ellie's expression darkened. 'I should've fucked up his elbows too.'

Lambert gave her an appreciative look before continuing. 'I took my payment and said my goodbyes. After hearing about what happened to her I didn't feel in the mood to pursue Thea anymore.'

'You do have a chivalrous side.' Ellie jibed, her smile growing, but something about Lambert's expression made it fade quickly.

'I left the tavern and went off to find the fuckers. Knew they were headed for the refugee camp, so started my search there. Didn't take me long to follow them off into the woods, heard some girl screaming her head off and realised it was coming from near here. Took off at a sprint thinking maybe it was…well, anyway. It wasn't. Turned up and you were already half way through. Watched you mop up the scraps and give your weird speech to that scumbag Mikels.'

A silence settled over them as he finished his recounting of events. The fire between them crackled and Ellie found herself staring into dancing flames. The smallest seedling of a thought took root in her mind, something that the witcher had said but dismissed almost as quickly. Looking up at him, she bit her lip, suddenly nervous to ask.

'You-errr, you said you thought something when you heard the scream coming from here. What was that exactly?'

The effect her words had on the man were not at all what she had been expecting. Lambert stilled, becoming statuesque, his water skin poised halfway to his mouth. His generally pale complexion then took on a dusky pink hue, and the tops of his ears burned a brilliant crimson.

'Nothing. I thought nothing. Obviously, you were fine. Should've known after you took out that damn water hag with your bare hands. Anyway, it's late. We should sleep. I mean, I should sleep…you do…you do whatever it fucking is you do.' The words tumbled out in a rush. The usual brash bravado she had become used to, replaced with a stuttering mess. Ellie held back a grin as the witcher busied himself with getting his bedroll sorted, then in a very dramatic display for someone getting ready to sleep, he lay on his side, facing away from her and pulled the blanket up to his neck.

She clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle the snort of laughter, then once she had calmed down she surveyed the strange man now making a song and dance of snoring very loudly. So, he had been concerned for her well-being? For some reason the thought and the way he had reacted to her asking, made Ellie feel warm to the pit of her stomach. It had been a long time since anyone had rushed to her aid. It was…nice.