Then
The farmer frowned as the eight horsemen thundered into his yard and cast a glance to his wife. He was a large man, heavily muscled from years of hard work, with tightly clipped blond hair covered by a straw hat. His wife was also quite imposing, though her strength came from her days as an adventurer and guard. They were both armed; he with a stout club at his hip, she with her longsword.
"Halrod!" The leader called, as the gang pulled to a halt in a threatening semi circle. "Do you always arm yourself when you do chores?"
"Dangerous times, Durn." the farmer replied. "The bandits that killed my sister are still on the loose. Can't be too careful."
"True, I suppose." The new sheriff said with a scowl. "And where are your children?"
"Don't know." said the wife. "We bid them run and hide when we heard a mob poundin' down the road. Dangerous times."
"Fine then. I'll get right to the point." said Durn. "Where is your niece?"
"What do you want with her?" Halrod asked. "Her mother's dead. She's just a girl. She'll cause no problems."
"Oh, but a young girl like that, all on her own?" said Durn with a lecherous grin. "And such a beauty? She could get into trouble alone. We just want to... make sure she's safe. Right boys?" There was a round of chuckles from his gang.
"Well, she ain't here." said Halrod, with a frown.
"You sure, farmer?" Durn's second asked. He drew a dagger and started cleaning his nails. "I mean you're her only family that she has. Where else would she go?"
"She was here. " The wife said. "Not an hour ago. We told her she couldn't stay and sent her on her way to the port."
"Well that's a shame." said Durn. "I really want to find her. I might just have to have a look around... Just in case." Around him, his men began drawing weapons.
The farmer's wife was faster and her sword was drawn in a flash. "Idiot! I thought sheriffs were supposed to be smart. I did you a favor, sending her that way." She glanced at her husband who clenched his jaw tightly. "The road is straight with nothin' but fields on both sides. No place ta hide. Even if she sneaks past you and makes it to the city, it will take her days to find a ship that'll take her. You want her? Go get her."
Durn spat in the dirt. He knew his boys could take these farmers. But he also knew they were no pushovers. How many would he lose in the process. Not worth it if the girl wasn't here. "Fine then. Thank you for your assistance, Sheara." He glanced at Halrod, who stared, fuming at his wife. Good enough for him. "Lets go, boys." As the gang turned and thundered down the road. Durn smiled, wondering which one would be sleeping in the barn tonight.
Sheara finally turned and met Halrod's gaze as the sheriff's party disappeared over the next hill. They glared at each other for a moment before she spoke. "You're a better actor than I woulda thought, Oaf."
"Helps in keepin' you happy, Shrew." Halrod replied. The glare lasted another second before their demeanor broke and they relaxed into relieved grins, releasing held breaths. Together they turned and went into the house.
Inside, they went to the kitchen and to either side of the table. Together, the lifted the table, along with the section of floor it was attached to, revealing a compartment underneath. It was not large, but there was plenty of room for the four occupants it concealed, especially since three were so small.
"Are the bad men gone, Papa?" Seven year old Ginny was already clambering from the cavity before here question was answered.
"Yes. Your mother frowned and scared them away for now." Halrod reached one arm down and hoisted nine year old Lara upwards with ease. "I think one of them might have wet himself." The girls giggled and Sheara demonstrated the aforementioned expression.
Last out was Burt, five years old and clinging to the back of a tall girl of perhaps twenty. She was slender with delicate features and long blond hair similar in color to her uncle. The girl wore a simple blouse, a calf length skirt, and sturdy leather shoes She set Burt down on the kitchen floor and gracefully levered herself out of her hiding place. "Were they here for me?" she asked.
Halrod slowly raised his eyes to meet hers. "They were. Your aunt is right. You can't stay here. It isn't... safe." He dropped his gaze to the floor.
"But... why?" The girl did what she could to keep her voice steady. "What do they want?"
"Mostly, I think, to sully your mother's memory." replied Sheara with her trademark frown. "But men like that don't need an excuse to do awful things." She heaved a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, Terra. Your mother was my friend long before she was my sister. I would do anything I was able to help you but..." Her eyes flicked from Terra down to Burt, at her side. "I can't just go adventuring any more. I can't protect you all."
Terra had followed her aunt's eyes. "I... understand." She knelt to retrieve the two bags containing the belonging she'd managed to recover from her former home and her traveling cloak. "Where should I go? What should I do?"
"South." Halrod replied. "Take the river road." He went to the oven and reached behind it, pulling out a small pouch that jingled as it moved. "There is an inn across the bridge. If you leave now, you'll make it just after dark. Take this. If we could spare more..." He glared at the floor. shame written large on his face.
"Out the back then." Sheara said, as Terra took the pouch and wrapped her arms around her uncle. She stepped forward and hugged her niece tightly. "Stay to the fields and off the road until you cross the county line. You'll be fine. Your mother raised you well."
Terra released her aunt and looked over the people in the room. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but though better of it. Instead she turned, slipped out the door and was gone.
Now
A sturdy cabin materialized seemingly out of nothing. Sarah ran through the pouring rain to the door, slipping inside and slamming the portal shut behind her. She took her dripping cloak from her shoulders, revealing her relatively dry traveling clothes underneath, along with the tiny, green figure clinging to them.
"It never rained that hard in the forest!" exclaimed Jix. "I doubt I could have even flown in that!" She released Sarah's clothes and took flight, diaphanous wing beating rapidly. Her trajectory appeared to be toward one of the four sets of bunk beds that was included with the 'secure shelter' spell her companion had cast. She only made it about a foot, however, before the tether that more often that not, bound her to the mage, stopped her. "Really?" Jix said with an ill concealed grin. "Could you let some out, please?"
"I'm sure it did rain this hard in the forest." replied Sarah. "The trees just blocked some of it." She hung her sopping cloak up on a peg by the door and bent to remove her muddy boots. "Let some of what out?" She asked innocently.
"The leash." Jix answered
"Who's leash?" Sarah grinned impishly as she set her boots aside, and used a cantrip to clean the floor.
"Our leash!" returned Jix. "You're just as stuck by it as I am." Jix could feel Sarah's playful mood though the spell-bond. The human had come a long way since the spell was first cast. She was still more comfortable with Jix alone than with other sentient beings. There was still fear, and the occasional nightmare, but the improvement was marked.
"What's your freedom worth to you?" asked Sarah. They knew from experimentation that the tether could be made long enough to give them independent run of the cabin. "Once I loosen the leash, you have all the power. What's in it for me?"
Jix rolled her eyes, grin still fixed in place. "Fine, human. What's the game tonight? Do you want to put away all my clothes away and leave me naked? Force me to pleasure you? Cast that spell on me that makes me do what you say all night?" She felt a surge through their empathic link at the last suggestion. "Ugh. Me and my big mouth."
Sarah laughed. "Maybe a 'suggestion' that you grab your impressive boobs and don't let go. That will have to wait though." She walked further into the cabin, noticeably unimpeded, suggesting the tether had been loosened. "I want to work on enchanting that haversack for a little while. And we should start a fire and get something to eat."
"Very well." sighed Jix. I could use a little exercise anyway, after being stuck so close to you all day. Maybe twice through basic form."
"Don't wear yourself out too much." Warned Sarah. "I don't want you falling asleep with me tied down again."
"Oh heavens."The atomie snickered. "We certainly wouldn't want that. You sleep chained up anyway, mostly."
""I do." agreed Sarah. "After I've prepared for it. I really had to go. And it was chilly without a blanket."
"I'll keep that in mind," said Jix, retrieving her sword. "Maybe three times through the form, just to make sure I'm good and tired. I do love it when you squirm." She then zipped away to the far side of the cabin as Sarah stuck out her tongue at the fey's retreating back.
As the pair went about their business, the weather outside intensified. They could not see any lightning in the tightly closed cabin, but thunder shook the small structure repeatedly and the rain pounded down harder than ever. Sarah went about lighting a fire in the magically provided fireplace, leaving the 'unseen servant' that also was provided by the spell to tend it. The sale of enchanted goods Sarah made kept them supplied with gold so she spent some time each day doing so. They spent and hour or so at their own pursuits before Jix returned to her companion.
"So I was thinking." Said Jix as she lit upon the desk Sarah was working at.
