Elisdrasil gave an irritated sigh and slowly lowered the blade from the thug’s throat. His head hurt, the ache in his shoulder was getting worse, the thug and bounty hunter were quipping at one another, and the young woman on the other side of the room was experiencing an existential crisis. He grimaced and closed his eyes, willing everything back to the way it was five minutes before when he’d been happily lost in his meditation. But as much as he wished it were so, turning time backwards wasn’t a skill he possessed.

Matthew began to shift his position towards the exit as soon as Elisdrasil’s eyes closed, but a tap from the sword on the floor in front of him told him that the Raiaeran was still paying attention. He hesitated for a moment, shot a quick glance at the escape route, then to the bounty hunter on the other side of the room, then to Elisdrasil’s naked blade, and decided to return to his original position. He then proceeded to freeze in pace with his hands open and palms facing out. Elisdrasil nodded, then sighed and opened his weary eyes.

“Matthew, is it? Well Matthew, I’m going to tie you up so that I can get out of here before any further chaos finds its way to me. I want you to pick a chair and sit,” he commanded gesturing around the at the room’s mostly broken furniture with the blade of his sword. “And Matthew,” Elisdrasil said, bringing the Matthew’s attention back to him. “If you try to go for a knife, I’m taking your hand.”

Matthew visibly paled and shook his sleeves, dropping three knives to the floor with a clatter. Even the dour Elisdrasil had to admit that it was an impressive sight. Then Matthew carefully walked to the nearest chair and slumped into it, defeated. Elisdrasil followed with a length of cord he’d pulled from one of his pouches. Without pausing, the seer expertly tied the man’s hands together, looped the cord over Matthew’s index fingers, and then secured the whole mass to the chair’s frame. Matthew wouldn’t be able to get free anytime soon without learning how to sprint hunched over in a sitting position.

Satisfied, Elisdrasil returned his blade to its sheath and secured that, in turn, over one shoulder. He approached the young woman, still sobbing, and the bounty hunter, who was doing his best to console her.

“You did what you had to,” he said. Though the words were cold there was a softness to the edge of them. Elisdrasil thought nothing of killing those that needed killing, though he tried to avoid it wherever possible. But he also knew that not everyone was cut out for this lifestyle.

He looked around at all the carnage in the ruined tavern. He’d spent so much time in the middle of messes like this that he’d become inured to the sight of it. It was easy to forget that this wasn’t a familiarity for most people, and how shocking it must all seem.

Still, now that this location was compromised there was little to keep him here. Nodding to the half-breed, Elisdrasil quickly went through the door to the back room, gathered up his possessions, and made a quick exit. He paused one last time to glance at the young woman as he went, and then was gone.