She ran easily right through the rest of the day and into the night, following the golden arrow that only she could see. Just as dawn was beginning to brighten the sky the arrow swung hard to point perpendicular to the road. It seemed her quarry were off the road in that direction.

As she slowed to think about whether to stay here and wait to see which way the arrow pointed after the dawn or to follow it and come up on her quarry in the dark she suddenly felt a burning thirst and the cramping of hunger. She’d forgotten these creatures needed both food and water, which was a problem as she had neither... nor any way to get any.

That decided her, her quarry would have both.

Decision made she moved cautiously off the path and walked carefully and slowly through the vegetation trying to make as little noise as possible.

Soon she spotted the flickering light of a small fire, likely recently rekindled by the person on watch for the break of the nights fast. At the thought of the bacon and fried potatoes her Fae used to break their fast with while travelling her stomach didn’t just grumble, it howled. She’d never felt the gut-clenching need for food of starvation before, she’d eaten of course but only for the experience.

Surprising her, her body stumbled forward without her consciously deciding to.

There was a shout in some very rough tongue with short and chopped syllables and a flare of green tinged flames erupted to her left. A tall beastman with the head, horns and hooves of a bull burst from the vegetation and skidded to a halt, confusion and shock writ large on his face.

He said something in that same tongue, harsh and chopped. Clearly some beastman language they were always so rough and unsophisticated compared to the true speech.

She said in Fae, “I don’t understand you.”

He replied in the same language with a very suspicious and puzzled look on his face, “Obbst, how can you not understand Harkag it is the language of your birth.”

Ok, so there was some information this body was of the same race, named Obbst and this one knew him.

Thinking fast she decided on a partial truth, “I know nothing of events before yesterdays morn, I awoke on the ground under the canopy with no knowledge of who I was.”

“Odd, how came you to find our camp?”

“I wandered aimlessly in the forest until I came to a road, then I followed that road. Smelling the smoke of your fire I came to here. Speaking of which I am reminded, I am starved and in dire need of water I have had none since I awoke.”

The Minotaur unhooked a waterskin from his waist and tossed it to her, “Water. This is not acceptance of your claim merely an act of charity.”

She greedily slurped on the waterskin filling her screaming belly with coolness, she could feel it running down the inside of her empty stomach and found the sensation extremely novel. Thirst slaked she returned the waterskin with a muttered thanks as more of the mercenary group arrived… including her targets.

Shock was on every face and a babble of voices rose mostly asking how it was possible, they’d seen him carried off by a flying beast of some sort. More information for her to make her story more believable. The spell lit her targets with a faint golden glow that would take more than a tenday to fade, the Fae woman’s face was calculating but the pigfaced beastman she could not read at all.

She spotted a Noble and his protected arriving at the back of the group. That could be a huge problem, Nobles were far more intelligent and observant than almost any other race. If he’d known the owner of this body she would be discovered and there absolutely was no way around that. She just hoped he would not give that information away for free and would attempt to bargain with her first to see who could provide the higher price. It was a reasonable hope, the Iaernide were well known for their amorality and mercenary nature.

She repeated the tale of waking in the forest but now she knew they had seen her carried off she could add details and told them there had been shattered branches above her when she awoke, being very careful to make it clear their words had led her to mention that. A head injury would explain the memory loss nicely and falling from a height was a perfect excuse.

She feigned staggering but was surprised to find it was not that feigned she really was weakened by hunger. She said, “I have not eaten since I awoke then ran all day and night, I am feeling weak. Could I get something, some food?”

A Satyr ushered her toward the fire where he handed her a few pieces of hardtack and a cup of water while he busied himself frying up a couple of three finger thick steaks of venison.

The Minotaur who had been on watch, who had introduced himself as Resk, hovered nearby keeping a very close eye on her. Clearly she was not accepted as being this Obbst yet which was not a difficult position to understand with the prevalence of magics that could change forms, cloud minds or even raise the dead. Her targets knew she\he was not as they seemed but they couldn’t say a word since they had murdered their employers representative, the mercenaries would certainly take that very poorly if it was discovered.

The sheer enjoyment of food when so hungry was surprising to her, compared to past meals she’d eaten this was barely above swill meant for animals but she was finding that the tastes were intense. Soon she was full to the point of discomfort and feeling contentment such as she’d never felt before, another novel experience.

Breakfast taken the mercenary group broke camp and set off, travelling at the extremely slow pace of the heavily laden wagon they had with them.

The mercenaries still kept a close eye on her, some of them anyway, some had accepted her story but she did not know what the group dynamics were. Until she knew that she would have to be very careful. Sooner or later the Noble would doubtlessly talk to her and Nobles were noted for their guile and skill in manipulation, she would wait for his approach. He knew the background better than she and was likely even more skilled than she in this area, she played the great game of course but she’d never really focused on groups.

She just hoped he would not prove an enemy. As she was currently she would stand very little chance against the Noble on his own let alone with the three Soldiers he had backing him.

She had spent the morning just walking and observing trying to get a feel for the group and a better feel for the body she was in. Her life and her aims depended on her knowing more and as the day drew toward noon what she hoped would be an opportunity to do that approached in the form of the Noble and his protected.

Walking slowly alongside her, he said, “Nrrka Driv Obbst it is good to see you again. Are you well? I was very discomfited by the report you were missing.”

Ah, he definitely knew the body.

Being very careful to address the servant not the Noble she said, “The Noble’s concern is appreciated. Forgive me but I do not remember our interaction at all.”

The Noble said, “That is a shame, I did enjoy our mutually profitable experience and we had planned to continue our relationship. We must discuss this again soon.”

That dropped her worry level significantly… the Noble wanted something from her or from her body at least, that meant he would be negotiating rather than exposing her and she may be able to count on him for support and knowledge.

“I thank the Noble for his compliment and look forward to our later discussion.”

They travelled for the best part of a tenday and suspicions toward Veldt from the mercenaries slowly dropped until, a day short of reaching the port city of Farhan, the servant woke her in the middle of the night.

She started upright and gave a strangled grunt.

The servant said, “Quietly, Noble Trftdrwx wishes to speak with you and there is a limited window of opportunity here. Follow me.”

Moving eerily quietly the servant scuttled off into the darkness, it’s four legs picking the best position to avoid all twigs, leaves, branches. Indeed to avoid anything that might make a sound.

Moving nowhere near as stealthily she followed the servant through the dark and still camp, passing the boundary of the camp and moving into the surrounding forest she saw Rayosh and Albrecht slumbering peacefully at the watch post. She spotted the Noble leaning casually against a tree near the slumbering sentries, as the servant scuttled off into the underbrush.

The Noble spoke, “Who are you? Because the body you wear is certainly not yours and you are far from your time in this realm. Your speech is the way Fae was spoken more than twelve thousand turnings ago and while head injuries have been known to cause someone to speak with a very different accent, it has never been known to change grammar to that of four generations earlier. Add that to the fact you use protocols for dealing with an Iaernide Noble that are eighteen thousand turnings out of date and I really must ask, who are you?”