They had yet to be attacked by any agent of the Courland family, but during their travels Elanna had proved herself to be a guardian despite Sira's misstep. Bandits soon found themselves dead in the space of a few heartbeats, as Elanna moved through them with a mix of graceful motion and primal savagery.
The half-blood was patient and curt with the girl, and Sira kept herself in check, making sure not to irritate the Assassin. It made things easier as time dragged on.
Eventually however, when they stopped to make camp once more, Elanna brought up Sira's lack of combat skills.
"It would be nice if I didn't have to protect you all the time," she smirked. Sira merely pouted, crossing her arms.
"I'm not that bad!"
This was met by a low chuckle, and in a split second Elanna was behind her, one arm wrapped tightly around her waist, and the other hand held up to her throat, poised as if holding a knife. Sira shivered out of fear, but felt a blush rising up in her cheeks. Elanna leaned her head down, her lips brushing the girl's ear, "are you so sure?" she whispered, her breath washing over Sira's neck.
Sira swallowed hard and pushed away from the Assassin, turning to face her once she was several paces away. "F-Fine...what do you propose we do about it then?"
That had been simple enough.
They had cleared the forest a week back, having moved through several smaller towns, picking up any supplies they needed before moving on. The terrain was becoming steadily mountainous, and pine trees were growing more abundant and thicker, soon enough they would be surrounded by trees again.
Their campsite was right next to a broad river cutting a swathe through the rocky land.
