Adventure of Coco 1

Several hours after leaving Aurelia, night settles over the forest. Coco finds a secluded hollow and guides Sable into brush, keeping horse and rider concealed beneath the trees.

Firelight flickers ahead between dark trunks. Vael’s horned-helm mark glows faintly beneath Coco’s sleeve, while Sable stands motionless, her breath quiet against the cool air.

Through the branches, armed slavers surround a covered wagon. A frightened beastwoman is bound to a timber post, her ears pinned back as one man checks the ropes.

The beastwoman lifts her head. Her eyes find Coco through the branches, widening with sudden recognition or desperate hope, though she makes no sound.

A twig shifts beneath Sable’s hidden hoof. One slaver turns sharply toward the brush, hand dropping to his weapon as the fire snaps behind him.

Coco steps from the brush into the firelight, Sable remaining concealed behind the trees. The slavers freeze as every face turns toward him.

The first slaver draws his sword, but his confidence falters beneath Coco’s steady gaze. Two others shift uneasily, glancing toward the dark road.

The slavers spread around the fire, weapons ready, while the covered wagon creaks behind them. The beastwoman watches Coco with guarded hope as the flames expose every hostile face.

Coco laughs, clenches his right fist, and thrusts it toward the second slaver. Green magic erupts across the clearing, striking his shoulder and hurling him hard against the wagon.

The blast succeeds, but its recoil burns through Coco’s glove, leaving his knuckles reddened and stinging. The flash and thunder announce him to anything listening in the forest.

Coco draws his sword and faces the first slaver. Behind him, the injured man groans on the ground, clutching his scorched shoulder while the others hesitate.

Coco dashes across the firelit clearing. His sword arcs low and clean, severing Rusk’s left hand before the slaver can raise his weapon.

Rusk’s sword crashes into the dirt beside the fire. Blood darkens his sleeve as he drops to his knees, screaming, while the other slavers recoil from Coco.

The strike’s force jars Coco’s wrist, splitting the reddened skin across his already burned knuckles. His sword remains steady, but pain pulses sharply through his arm.

Coco thrusts his burned hand toward the fleeing slaver. Green energy tears across the clearing and detonates against his right leg, blasting it away beneath the knee.

The second slaver crashes into the dirt, his weapon spinning beyond reach. The severed stump smokes faintly as the force throws him onto his back beside the wagon.

The remaining slavers stop cold. One stares at Rusk kneeling in the firelight, while another lowers his blade and measures the dark forest around them.

The horned-helm mark flares beneath Coco’s sleeve. Green light spills across the clearing, gathering beside the fire until Vael’s towering form steps from the glow.

Vael crosses the clearing with impossible speed. One slaver’s blade is knocked aside, another is swept from his feet, and both crash into the dirt beneath spectral bindings.

The remaining slavers freeze, then drop their weapons as Vael’s green chains tighten around their wrists and ankles. Rusk stares from his knees, clutching his ruined arm.

Vael’s bindings hold every slaver immobile while the fire settles. The beastwoman remains tied to the post, but the clearing is now under Coco’s control.

Coco cuts through the beastwoman’s ropes. She stumbles free, rubbing her wrists, while he searches the wagon and finds shackles, travel provisions, stamped trade papers, and a locked iron chest.

Coco questions Rusk about his origin and the captive’s abduction. Rusk spits blood into the dirt, offering only a crooked smile and a lie about finding Nara abandoned.

Vael silences the other slavers and drags them toward the road, but stops before Rusk. His injuries are too severe; striking him unconscious could kill him. Rusk remains awake, glaring after Coco, memorizing his face.

Vael’s spectral bindings tighten. His hand passes over the fallen slaver’s ruined leg, green light sealing the wound and restoring enough strength for Rusk to survive. Then Vael turns toward the others.

The clearing erupts into swift, terrible motion. Vael strikes the bound slavers down, leaving them lifeless beside the road, while Rusk remains conscious, healed, and unable to stand.

Coco searches the wagon thoroughly and gathers its accessible goods: travel provisions, sealed waterskins, blankets, rope, a compass, stamped trade papers, and several purses of coin. He places everything useful into his bags.

Coco holds the stamped papers beneath the firelight while Vael keeps Rusk pinned against the roadside. Nara watches closely, one hand guarding her bruised wrists.