Chapter 3- Rogues and Travellers

“Are you alright?” the werewolf asked as he turned to face her.

Oh.

My.

Goddess.

This man. He was tall, with tanned skin, ash blond hair, and striking grey eyes. He seemed a little older than her, early twenties, and absolutely her type.

She would be drooling over this man if he weren’t covered in blood from that dying… Thing…

“I-I-ah, yes, I am,” she stuttered. He nodded and reached out a hand to her. She took it and let him help her stand up. He suddenly jerked her arm forward and inspected her wrist.

“That’s a deep gash…” he murmured.

"I-I'm fine," Peggy stuttered.

"Don't be a hero," he grumbled. "I have a friend who can heal it up."

"A friend?"

“Archer, you asshole!” a voice screamed from the forest trail. Peggy turned to see what appeared to be two other werewolves. One was in clerical garb, pale-skinned, light-haired, and with a serene expression that didn’t really match the vibe of the moment; the other was in ranger's gear, dark-skinned and black-haired, huffing and puffing.

“We said not to run off and-” the ranger froze as he noticed the dying creature. “Oh for…”

“He was just saving a pretty lady,” the one in clerical garb said, patting the ranger on the shoulder.

“Sorry, Eli, Mikael. I heard the rogue and-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Mikael said, waving his hand dismissively before crouching down and inspecting the creature.

“What-who-” Peggy stuttered.

“After all that, he hasn’t even done the decent thing and introduced himself,” Eli sighed.

“There wasn’t exactly time between hearing the rogue and killing it,” Archer frowned.

“Sure, sure,” Eli said, taking Peggy’s hand into their grip. “Let me see this.”

“I have bandages, I can-” Peggy started.

“Oh, no need,” Eli said. They leaned down, pressing their forehead to Peggy’s wrist. She could hear them whispering something, but couldn’t make out the words.

Suddenly, cold shot through her, and her wrist felt like someone had put baking soda in the wound.

“Ow!” she cried out, going to swat Eli away, but Archer grabbed her wrist. “What-”

She blinked in surprise as Eli pulled back, and her wrist was healed. There were no marks anymore; there wouldn’t be a scar.

“Whoa…” she whispered.

“They’re pretty cool, right?” Archer chuckled, letting go of her hand.

“Yeah… They?”

“I do not identify with the concepts of male or female,” Eli said serenely.

“Oh… Is that a werewolf thing or-?”

“That’s an Eli thing,” Archer said. Peggy nodded slowly.

“O… Ok then. Thanks for saving me and fixing me up?” she said, uncertain.

“No problem,” Archer nodded. “Honestly, you probably saved us a bit of a headache by drawing its attention first.”

“Gee, thanks,” Peggy said sarcastically, frowning. “What even is it?”

“We call them rogues,” Mikael said, still hunched over the body, looking through its pockets.

“Some call them rogue wolves,” Eli added.

“So it was a werewolf?” Peggy asked. She suddenly fely sick at the idea.

“It used to be. Don’t feel too bad for it though. It’s not like it was really alive anymore,” Archer said.

“It looked pretty alive when it tried to eat me,” Peggy retorted.

“It may have had a beating heart, but it was nothing more than a wolf puppeting a husk. The human likely died some time ago-” Eli said.

“Looks like it was a mid-stage rogue. So the human would have died about six months ago,” Mikael called over his shoulder. “Poor bastard has a wedding ring in his pocket.

“That… That answers so little,” Peggy sighed.

“I’m surprised you were adventuring out this far and didn’t know about rogues,” Eli said. “Although by the looks of things, you are a human as opposed to a werewolf?”

“Yeah,” Peggy said. “I’m Peggy Lystara. I’m a-”

“Oh!” Eli’s eyes suddenly shone with excitement. “I do believe my cousin married your cousin’s father!”

“You knew her majesty?!” Peggy burst out and then suddenly covered her mouth.

“Yes!” Eli beamed. “I was dragging these two toward the city in hopes of seeing family, and I suppose Archer beat me to dragging him to the city!”

“Do you know where she is?” Peggy asked.

Silence stretched across the woods that seemed to block out even the sounds of crickets and owls.

“... You… You don’t know where she is?” Eli asked, their face suddenly pale.

“Surely she’d be at the castle, right?” Archer asked, stroking his chin.

“Wait… How long have you been traveling?” Peggy asked, her voice shaking, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

“... Eight months… Why?” Eli asked.

“... Her majesty disappeared six months ago…” Peggy explained.

Eli's eyes widened, and an unnatural silence fell around them.