Hellrien suppressed the instinctive urge to scream. There was another wailing sound, then all of a sudden all noises stopped.
Hellrien sat still for a moment, her whole body trembling. The tension of her nerves released slowly. She leaned her head on the wall, allowing time to pass by. After a few minutes she was able to breath normally again - but there was no way she could go back to sleep tonight!
The next time she heard something - a couple of hours after midnight - the sounds were markedly different. Muffled footsteps, like somebody trying to move as quietly as possible. Coming her way. She could hear it quite clearly. Hellrien stood up, her sword ready to strike. Ranesora's teachings echoed in her ears.
There was a little bit of faint light coming from a wall candle in the corridor, so Hellrien could discern shadows moving in there - but he, she or them outside couldn't see into Hellrien's room at all. Not if they were human.
A hunched shadow appeared in the doorway. The man, if it was a man, moved slowly towards the bed in the corner. There was something sharp in his hand - like a knife, or a dagger. Hellrien looked past him to see if there was more assailants coming at the door. Almost instantly she saw another shadow appear on the doorway - but the light still came from behind it from the corridor, so neither could see inside the room, or they would have noticed Hellrien standing there.
The first intruder was already very close, breathing tensely. The air smelled of sweat and garlic. Hellrien squinted her eyes and could see him crouching down over the bed and thrusting it with something, only a step away from her.
Hellrien didn't hesitate. The blade of her sword swung down like an axe. There was a slashing sound when cold steel sunk into flesh and bone, then a gurgling sound and the man toppled over the bed and stopped moving.
”Is it done? Is she dead?”
The whisper came from the door.
Hellrien straightened up and grunted something from her throat, quietly slipping towards the doorway. Another shadow stepped inside, opened his mouth to say something... before a deadly swing from a blade closed it forever. A muffled grunt came out of the sliced throat, the man collapsed and dropped his knife. His corpse twitched for a few moments more.
Hellrien stood in the darkness and listened.The smell of blood wafted in the air. She held her breath and kept listening. Neither intruder was breathing anymore.
Ranesora had taught her well.
Hellrien fetched a candle from the corridor and hunched down to examine the corpses. She realized she recognized both of them. The men from that table, the ones who had exchanged glances earlier this evening! But why would they...?
Suddenly Hellrien felt like slapping herself when she realized how stupid she had been. Stupid, stupid Hellrien! The sword! She may have been dressed like a vagrant, but her sword was much too fancy - and valuable - for simple drifters to be walking around with. Who knows what they had made of her; a sellsword down on her luck, or even more likely someone who had stolen the sword in Bree and was now on the run, looking for a way to turn it into a quick coin. Whatever they had taken her for, the sword must have looked very tempting to their eyes - tempting enough to kill for it.
And now she had killed them... killed! Hellrien suddenly realized she had never actually killed anyone before. The weight of it shook her to the core, but there was no time to waste into ruminating about the issue.
What next? Burwod hadn't instructed her for these kinds of situations. It was clear as a day somebody was waiting for these men to return. She had seen more than two at that table. And who knows, maybe the waitress was in on it? Maybe the owner of the inn as well? Maybe everyone here? It wasn't unheard of for sleazier inns to sometimes set up and prey upon their patrons this way. And even if that wasn't the case, they might still want to string her up to the nearest tree if they caught her with two corpses in her room. There was no law in this land as far as Hellrien was aware of, and who knows how friendly the owner of this establishment was with the cutthroats? There was only her word against, well, against two corpses slain with a greatsword, and she was a total stranger here. And what about the noises she had heard earlier? Who or what could be responsible for them? What kind of madhouse was this place, anyway?
No, she couldn't take her chances with that. There was only one thing to do. She had to flee! Flee, and explain Burwod later what had happened. He would know how to deal with the situation, if it couldn't be swept under the rug.
Quickly Hellrien pulled on her moccasins and vest, grabbed all her things and sneaked up the stairs. The tavern was quiet and empty. She peaked outside of the window. The yard was empty too. She opened the front door as quietly as possible, slipped outside and started running towards the stable where she had left her horse.
