"L-let's not," Elea pleaded, reaching out with both of her hands to try and get her small but graceful fingers around
some
part of her lantern. "Please, if you just let me-- I'll go! I won't tell anyone that you're here," the young woman insisted with increasing worry. She knew that she wasn't in a good situation, but it could have been so much worse. Probably. Right?
Right
, she answered her own hypothetical question, trying to find the silver lining in all of this.
This could be so much worse
. It was very, very optimistic of her, but she wasn't wrong. The Bloodshrouds were responsible for the Grinthers being exiled from the kingdom of Amelur a few years ago. It was reasonable to assume they would hold a grudge, that they would want to take some kind of revenge.
Especially on a member of the Bloodshrouds separated from their party, stumbling across a Grinther lair at the very edges of Amelur's borders. Elea was completely and utterly at this Grinther's mercy. Though she had her daggers, she didn't trust herself to fight him one on one. He was so much bigger than her, and well --
Grinthers could see in the dark. Elea didn't even become aware of the boar-man's presence until he had already snatched her lantern straight out of her hands. "P-please," she tried again with him. Fretful tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, though she did her best to put a brave face on rather than let her fear show.
She knew she should have been worried about how
she
was going to get out of this alive, but she was more worried about what her party members would think if they showed up and had to rescue a blubbering crybaby instead of a grown woman. There was no way they'd let her stay in the Bloodshrouds if that happened, and she was intent on proving herself to be a capable adventurer.
The Grinther made a noise that had Elea flinching and stumbling back a step from him. "Do you know who I am, little girl?" he wondered, his nostrils flaring with a snort. It took Elea a good second to realize that snort was a laugh. "Take a guess," he said, so low and menacing that it almost sounded like he was growling. She leaned away, unsettled by his beastial visage. Her breathing quickened. Though she was frightened, she couldn't look away from him. She couldn't take her eyes off his features, not lit up as they were by her lantern.
Even though he had her lantern dangling right in front of her, within easy reach, she didn't reach for it. She felt like a rabbit, incapable of fight or flight.
"A-a, um, just a-- I don't-- a Grinther?" Elea stammered out hesitantly. Her heart thumped madly, beating as loud as thunder in her ears. She was in
such
a bad situation. Had she bitten off more than she could chew in coming here? In joining the Bloodshrouds? Maybe she had, but she couldn't let this be the end. A proper adventurer would stay alert. A proper adventurer would use their quick wits and resourcefulness to get out of this situation. She had to keep him talking. She had to give herself a chance to find her opportunity.
That's what she told herself, but she knew she was panicking. Looking for that opportunity became her one hope. Elea latched onto it like a drowning woman who had found a piece of driftwood.
"Grinthers," the boar-man grunted out, "have names. No Grinther is just
a grinther
, Bloodshroud. We are people, just the same as elves. As dwarves." He leaned in closer to her, close enough that one of his tusks tickled her face, close enough that she could feel his warm breath on her face and smell it too. "As humans," he growled. It went unsaid that grinthers were far more violent and greedy than any other race on the continent. He knew that. He knew it better than any scared little human girl could.
"I-I, ah, um-- I don't know any Grinthers," Elea tried to sound brave, but her voice came out in a soft squeak. The one right in front of her, taunting and teasing her, was silent in a way that only deepened her fears. She did what she did any other time she messed up or was nervous when addressing someone in a position of power over her. She appealed to that power, that authority. "S-sir?" she squeaked out.
"Chrysus," he growled, almost offended, and rightly so. He expected more from a member of the Bloodshrouds. How could they forget the leader of the Grinthers? Even their rookie members should have known him by the scars on his face, or the unique shape of his broken right tusk. "I am Chrysus, little girl. Your name." He knew he was their bogeyman. He watched them frequently; Elea hadn't stumbled into the wrong cave. She had been lured there, separated from her party.
"Oh," Elea mouthed the word more than she said it and stared at the boar-man, her eyes gradually widening until they were practically the size of small saucers. "Oh. T-that Chrysus. I-- uhm. Hello. It's-- my name is Elea," she replied, almost dumbly.
That Chrysus
, the one clever Grinther, the only Grinther to ever lead victories against the Bloodshrouds. The trickster, the tactician. She was fucked. She had insulted
that Chrysus
.
But Chrysus wasn't offended. Not at the small, lean young woman who stood before him, so green and wet behind the ears that she was trembling. She wasn't a threat to him, and she certainly wasn't going to be a threat to his people. He made that noise again, another chuff, and took a closer look at Elea.
Though she was slender and wore modest clothes that only hinted at her femininity, he could tell she had the exact curves he was interested in. Her delicate, doll-like face only further enticed him, along with the long and straight fall of her brown hair. And though they were full of fear at the moment? He liked the brightness in her purplish-blue eyes, not yet dulled by a life of adventure. In a word, he found her pleasing.
It had been a long time since the leader of the Grinthers had a human woman. He would change that tonight, and he would make sure that she wouldn't forget him.
"S-sir?" Elea whispered, unnerved by the silence and the way he was looking at her through his beady little eyes.
Instead of replying, Chrysus lifted the lantern and drew in a deep breath. He blew it out at once in a steady stream, making the flame flicker before giving out entirely. Before Elea realized what was happening, she lost the one thing she had going for her in the dark cave: a source of light. Elea gasped in alarm, immediately surprised with herself that she restrained herself from letting out a shrill scream like she often did when she was younger.