Free Questing Sucks (Book 1) by Kevin Weinberg

place, and this would be an odd sight for someone like Sehn, who only left home on rare occasions.
    Daniel squatted next to Sehn, all anger and hatred removed from his eyes. What resided there now was a bitter sadness.
    “Sehn, do you remember your promise? That no matter what happened we’d avoid trouble and keep on moving? Now more than ever you need to keep it.”
    “What are those fools doing to that woman?” Sehn asked. “Why is she being tossed around in a sack?”
    Daniel sighed. “I might as well tell you, because you’re about to find out, anyway. They’re going to rape her and then hang her. It’s common practice among bandits. Just lay low, and they’ll be gone before you know it. Don’t make any attempt to help her, or you may just get us all killed.”
    Sehn’s expression remained blank, giving off no trace of emotion. “Help her? And why would you worry about me doing something like that? Her life means nothing to me. The Great Sehn does not worry about the strife of others.” Sehn’s ears twitched as he spoke, which Cah’lia knew was a bad sign.
    Doubt, uncertainty, and confusion—none of these things registered at that moment in Cah’lia’s mind. She knew as sure as the sun rises and again sets that there was going to be a fight.
    “Good, Sehn. Now, let’s return to our horses. I despise what is being done here, but there are ten armed men and we number but five. And like you said, the last thing we need is people thinking you’re some kind of hero, right?”
    Sehn nodded.
    The woman screamed, cried, and flailed her arms and legs as the ten men pushed, prodded, and passed her around like a tray of food, their eyes glowing with deviant lust. They were a hairy bunch, and the whole of them appeared unwashed and messy.
      The woman shrieked as they dropped the sack to the ground with her still inside. She screamed, and they kicked her, punched her, and grabbed at her hair. Cah’lia noticed Sehn watch all of this without so much as blinking an eye.
    But his ears did twitch, Cah’lia reminded herself. This won’t be good.
    Patrick tried to get Sehn to leave, but each time he placed a hand on his shoulder, Sehn shrugged him off.
    “Sehn,” Patrick said, “do you really want to see this? What if we’re spotted? Let’s just return to our horses until these men leave.”
    Patrick said something else, but his words were drowned out by the woman’s screams. What these men were doing was disgusting, and Cah’lia could barely contain her emotions. Never once in her life had she been so revolted, so angry, so willing to shed blood. Cah’lia couldn’t bear to take any more of this, and from the looks of things, neither could Sehn. She had to do something, but she couldn’t act alone. She decided to give Sehn an easy way out of his twisted ego.
    “Sehn, is it just me, or does that woman appear to be carrying a diamond bracelet?”
    There was no such bracelet. She just needed to give him a way around his ridiculous mental hang-ups.
    Sehn’s eyes widened, and his hands gripped into fists. “Yes, I see it now, Cah’lia. It’s no wonder those fools are after her. All stolen property falls into the sole dominion of Sehn! I shall rob that woman blind and delight in her suffering. Let’s go!”
    Patrick, Daniel, and Rillith tried desperately to halt Cah’lia and Sehn. Rillith grabbed a hold of Sehn’s tunic, but Sehn brushed him off. Together, Cah’lia and Sehn charged out of their hiding place behind the boulders and sprinted, in plain sight, at the ten bandits torturing the poor woman.
    It didn’t take long for them to be spotted. The men released the woman and turned to the two Elves rushing at them.
    “Halt, you two!” the leader cried out. “This is Raven Corps territory now. Be gone from here at once!”
    Cah’lia heard Sehn chant under his breath. It wasn’t his usual, arrogant sound, either. It was a low, mumbling growl of disbelief as he focused intently on the beaten state