Closed.

Dhea adjusted the way she was sitting so she could better check herself for injuries. Making sure that she wasn’t severely hurt, minus the lump on her head, was her main priority. Figuring out what was going was second, and so on.
 
At least she still had her pack and weapons. But, then she realised that a chunk of her gold was missing. It was pure luck that she kept the gold in multiple pouches, so the bandits found only one of them. Her ankle was sore and pulsating in pain, it would be a bit of a feat to lean on it in the next couple of days. However, she did have the Blimberry potions in her pack.

The wooden walls on either side of her creaked and groaned. She was definitely in the hull of a boat.

A hand was placed on her shoulder then. "From bad to worse, huh?" A voice spoke. A very familiar voice. She made out the face of a particular Elvin, smiling gently down on her. Ruven was in a similar state as she was, a blood trail down the side of his face, his cloak torn and tattered.

- Hug him.
- Kiss him.
- Greet him.
- Ignore him.
 
Dhea was silent for a few moments. Of all the places to meet this particularly person, this was not on her list. She might’ve seemed rude at how long she stared at him, before her hands wiped at the blood on his face.
“Well, at least it isn’t boring.”
And she kissed him. It was a relieved kiss, saying that she was glad he was alive.
 
Ruven was pulled forward, taken by surprise, almost falling down on top of her, but managing to balance himself in a crouch beside Dhea. When she let go of him he chuckled, a bit awkwardly, and took her hand in both of his.

"I'm glad to see you again, though I wish it was under better circumstances." He said, his face turning serious now. "Something terrible is happening here, I don't think these people are just ordinary bandits."

- "How did you end up here?"
- "Where are we?"
- "How do we escape?"
- "I'll get us out."
 
“How did you end up here?”
Dhea was curious. The Elvin had been so careful and suspicious that it raised many questions on how their captors had gotten him. She could ask other questions after, when her own concerns were sated.
 
"By being careless." Ruven sighed, settling down next to Dhea. "I never went back to my tribe. I was stupid to leave you in the first place, but I only realised that when I reached Dhumpus. I wanted to help my tribe through hard times, and what better way to do that, than by making sure that the Crown is in the right hands." He lowered his voice, so that the other prisoners would not overhear them. "I caught an ox cart that went north and then a ship on the Jabaji. On my first night in the city, I realised I cannot afford to rent a room, so I slept in a stall on the Docks. Woke up here." He sighed, shaking his head. "Careless and stupid. But... it did help me find you." He brushed Dhea's cheek in a caring gesture.

- "Where are we?"
- "How do we escape?"
- "I'll get us out."
 
Dhea had sat there, listening carefully. She had pulled her knees to her chest in an almost absentminded manner, eyes glued to his face. Seeing him, even with blood on his features, made her chest loosen in the most curious way.
When his hand brushed her cheek, she had leant into his touch.
“The feeling is very mutual, Ven.”

She bit her lip, thinking for a moment. Before looking up at the hatch, squinting. Her mind was visibly working, before her head turned back to him.
“Where are we?”
 
"I heard some of the other prisoners talk about someone named Vik. He apparently owns this vessel. But, what is he I don't know, though the people here seem scared by the mere mention of his name." Ruven responded. "I heard the guards before say something about lowering down a cage. I don't know who for, but that will be our chance to escape. You are a sorceress after all." This time, his words were not judgmental, only hopeful.

The other prisoners around them murmured to each other in different languages and lowered whispers. Dhea could not understand any of them.

- Wait to see what happens.
- Drink the Blimberry potion.
- Call for a guard.
- Cast a spell.
 
Dhea shifted herself so she was crouching, before drinking one of her Blimberry potions. She would need the energy it offered her. She wanted to see what would happen, to see if negotiation was a choice, but something told her that it wasn’t possible.

She cast a small spell to sense danger, before she did anything else.
She was still a little taken aback by Ruven’s change in attitude towards her magic, but...it was a good change. Maybe after they were safe, she would ask why he was so distrustful of magic.
 
The potion ran smooth through her throat, warming her up from the inside. The lump on her head disappeared and her ankle did not hurt any more. If she needed to fight or run, she would be at full strength now.

The spell reveled to her that there was nothing dangerous among the prisoners in the hold. However she could all see the faintly glowing outlines of two scores of soldiers on the deck above them.

Suddenly, the hatch on the ceiling opened. Something blocked the light for a few moments and then the light returned, bathing the edges of a wicker cage that the crew was lowering down on a rope. The other prisoners reacted immediately - some scrambling away, trying to as far from the cage as possible, while the others waited underneath the lowering cage impatiently, some trying to jump up and grab it so the can climb out.

"A little present from Vik!" One of the guards called, with a malicious laugh.

- Try to climb out.
- Wait and see what it is.
 
Dhea didn’t trust it. It seemed awfully convenient and way too easy. She manoeuvred herself in front of Ruven, without even thinking. She waited to see what this ‘Vik’ was giving to them as a gift.
 
Ruven placed a hand on her shoulder as he stood up, his movements tense. The other hand reached for his needle thin sword, while his eyebrows furrowed. The Elvin did not like the development at all.

The cage swung lower and lower and then Dhea noticed that it was moving. There was something inside. Suddenly, a fanged jaw appeared between wicker bars, and other prisoners jumped back in alarm. The thing inside the cage snarled and roared. A wolf of some kind? The rope went slack and the cage hit the floorboards and as it did so, the doors of it flew open.

- Cast a spell.
- Draw your sword.
- Get back.
 
Dhea drew her sword, leaping up in the same swift movement. She thought for a second, before smiling to herself and weaving a spell to control the beast for a minute.
So the other prisoners could get to safety, before she plunged a blade into it.
 
She pushed back as the animal emerged from the cage. The prisoners were running away, plastered to the walls of the hull. Ruven followed after Dhea, his blade drawn. The wolf emerged from the cage. Then, its shape begun getting clearer.

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​
That was no wolf. It was a werewolf, wearing tight fitting boiled leather armour. But, there was no full moon, it wasn't even night time. These creatures did not roam during the day. How could that be? Dhea and Ruven stood between the wolf and other prisoners. Behind its flaring fur and snapping jaws, the rope of its cage leads up through the hatch. Escape - if they can reach it.

She readied a spell, but had to time to weave it. The werewolf pounced on them, making Ruven pull her aside at the last moment, but also breaking her concentration on the spell. The creature was too fast. It snapped its jaws and roared.

- Attack.
- Drop back.
- Cast a spell.
 
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Dhea cursed violently, so much so that the pirates above would likely be blushing. She wanted to step back, but the people behind her needed her help. With a soft snarl, she cast an electroshock spell and dove forward. She twisted her blade in her hand and aimed to gut the beast.
 
The same thing happened again. As she concentrated and extended an arm to cast a spell at the werewolf, the creature pounced. Ruven was forced to pull her from harm's way again, thus breaking her control of the spell.

"It's too fast!" The Elvin shouted. They needed a different plan, otherwise Dhea would exhaust herself with trying to cast a spell, but not spell would work.

The werewolf launched itself at her again, teeth bared. Should those jaws reach her, or anyone in the hull, it would be a swift end.

- Attack.
- Drop back.
 
Dhea grunted, before dropping back. She didn’t know what she could do, except use her blade. She squeezed the hilt tightly, before trying to move behind it and strike its flank. It was the only other idea she had.
“Please don’t let this end badly...”
She glanced at Ruven, before straightening her back and striking at the werewolf.
 
She drew the knife and rushed at the monster, but it did not engage her. Instead, it darted to one side and rushed down to the other end of the boat. It seemed it would rather not risk a fight with someone capable, instead choosing the weaker targets. The werewolf lashed out, snapping at the prisoner nearest to it. It caught one older guy on the leg and he dropped to the floor, screaming out in agony, howling and writhing as though possessed.

"The rope!" Ruven pointed ahead. The path in front of them was clear and if they were fast enough they could get the rope and climb outside. However, the werewolf was already tearing through the prisoners, casting them aside with its claws and fangs. Leaving now would surely mean that they would all die.

- Attack the werewolf.
- Wait to see what happens to the injured prisoners.
- Climb the rope.
 
Dhea looked at the prisoners, pain in her eyes. She didn’t want to leave them to be slaughtered like rats in a cage, but she didn’t like her chances of fighting the beast. She looked back to Ruven, her heart heavy. She mumbled a prayer and a promise to avenge the poor bastards below, before leaping to climb the rope.
 
Since the werewolf was busy at the other end of the hold, it was a good chance to climb out, even though it meant leaving so many people to die. Dhea climbed the rope and quickly shimmied her way out, with Ruven following behind her. The screams from the prisoners followed them up, forcing them to climb faster, until Dhea was just below the hatch. She could hear the voices of the guards just above her head.

They stopped to listen and Ruven took a chance to loop the rope around Dhea's leg carefully, to secure her hold on it. Below, the werewolf was tearing through prisoners. Blood mixed with seawater across the hull of the boat and the screams started changing from terror to animal rage. The air crackled with static and Dhea could only watch the bodies of the prisoners change. There were suddenly twenty werewolves below, then thirty, then as much as Dhea was looking, she could not see a single creature that was not a werewolf. The bottom of the hull swarmed as though filled with rats.

"Haul up the cage!" Came the shout from above. "Quickly now, we don't have all day!"

- Cling onto the rope.
- Drop off.
 
Dhea wasn’t dropping off, not while there were so many violent and angry creatures below, drooling for her blood. She clung even tighter to the rope, her knuckles turning white as she did. She felt so guilty for the monsters underneath them.
She squeezed her eyes shut, mumbling apologies.
 
The rope was hauled out of the hull as the two clung on for dear life. The guards were in utter surprise to see the two of them attached to it, all so busy with the rope for a moment that they could not react.

"Look!" One of the crewmen shouted. "We've hooked two of them like fishes!"

The rope was loosened and Dhea and Ruven were on the deck. The sailors stared at them in surprise and as the ship rocked with the motion, it was clear that some of the sailors stumbled more than necessary. They were quite drunk. There was their chance to escape.

- Jump into the water.
- Fight them.
 
Dhea looked at Ruven, already having her decision stark in her mind. She grabbed his hand, making sure he knew what she had in mind as she sprinted to the side and dove into the water below.
She could fight them when she had more resources, and if she was lucky, the werewolves below deck would rip them to shreds like they deserved.
She also hoped that Ruven knew how to swim.
 
The sailors tried stopping them and cutting of their path, but they were not very nimble or coordinated. The two dove over the side and into the freezing water below.

They found themselves into the thick sludge of the Jabaji River. Dhea gasped for breath, almost retching from the terrible smell, of sewage, rotting fish and slime. Ruven swam beside her, his mouth firmly closed and nose wrinkled. He looked like he was going to be sick. But they quelled their nausea - they could not afford it until they were safely on dry land. Thankfully, Dhea's rations were tightly wrapped and sealed, otherwise the terrible water would have spoiled them all.

- Swim back to the Docks.
- Swim ahead to east Khare.
 
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Dhea knew Ellie and Yan would not be happy to see them covered in muck and smelling as terrible as they did, but it was a safe place for them both to be at that moment.
And she had a feeling that the bartender would be willing to let them have a bath.

So, Dhea decided to start swimming towards west Khare.
 
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