"No ma'am, you cannot let your children climb the Sunqueen's spines to the top."

"What? Why not!? We paid good coin to visit this place!"

"Besides the fact the spine may come loose and cause damage to the cactus, the fall may also cause damage to your son." I took a deep breath as the noblewoman in front of me made all manner of complaint, having long learned to tune such things out. I heard her threaten to take this all the way to the captain and I was so tempted to snap, 'Yes, please, I beg of you! See what you could possibly have me demoted to besides looking over an oversized shrub!'

"If that is what you wish ma'am, my captain is in the purple tent." I just managed to cut her off from starting another rant when she took a needed breath, and she harrumphed for dragging her kids away to said tent. I didn't bother tracking her with my eyes, instead turning my focus back on the massive cactus others were gathered around, taking shade in the great pads of the Sunqueen or even having small picnics underneath. I could see across the way Neju relaxing in the shade of the stables, the lucky humped bastard. I had to stand around listening to entitled nobles and merchants complain about not being allowed to touch or take or whatever the Dark they wanted to pretend mattered.

For Gods' sake I'd gone from a manse in the capital to a personal tent watching over a tourist attraction. No matter how the captain tried to doll it up as "guarding the site of the Sun Goddesses' greatest blessing," it was just standing around and stopping people from being idiotic, all because I knocked over a single potted plant in the temple. I took another breath and sighed as the scent of blooming fruit on the Sunqueen's edges hit my nose, filling me with calm. I suppose there were worse options... at least I'm not scheduled to muck out the stables tonight...

Jod didn't move, he didn't blink, he just kept the figure in the corner of his eye right where they were. He could only just make out the dark magic orbiting their hand but so long as he didn't do anything stupid, everything was fine. He just had to last a short while longer on guard duty and he could-

He froze as one of the other guards came out of the city gates and saw the figure Jod was watching, "Wha-"

"This cold almost makes me wish I could quit." Jod spoke up loudly, catching the other guard's attention and subtly shaking his head. Unfortunately his words also caught the attention of the other figure, raising up and staring in their direction for a long moment before padding their way. Jod froze completely now, silently praying to the gods as what revealed themselves as a dark elf came close... and passed into the city. He gave a long, shuddering sigh of relief, recomposing himself as the other guard stared in confusion. The elf returned shortly and when she vanished down the path to the wilds Jod immediately whipped around to point at the other guard, hissing through grit teeth, "Shut. The fuck. Up!"

"What did I do!?"

"When you see her you don't fucking look at her, you don't fucking talk to her, you don't fucking blink if you can help it!" Jod began to pant as the anxiety finally got to him, and he could see the other guard's eyes widen in concern at Jod, and Jod took another few deep breaths."...what's your name son?"

"Heimdyr and what in the hells is wrong with you?"

"Heimdyr, listen to me: I'm saying all this for your own safety. You need to be as plain and uninteresting as possible if you want to survive out here." The younger man still seemed skeptical so Jod sighed and gestured Heimdyr to follow him to the spot the elven woman was hunched over. Heimdyr practically jumped when he saw a human body.

"Alora alive, who-"

"A bandit. Look, I'll explain everything later, just... just trust me." Heimdyr looked scared now, so Jod was at least happy he had some survival instinct. The elf appeared a few more times but thankfully the two of them made it to the end of their shift and Jod grabbed two drinks for them back at the barracks, guiding Heimdyr to a far off corner for them to sit. Jod did his best to organize his thoughts and with a deep breath, and equally deep drink, he started, "I... I didn't pay her much mind at first. She was some wanderer who was a bit eccentric, but friendly. Came into town talking to everyone, helping out, hells she even became a sworn sword to Lord Wyrmr for everything she did, but..."

"But...?"

"...she changed. At first it was just putting buckets on people's heads for some reason or ripping up flowerbeds for potion ingredients, but then..." Jod took another deep drink to steel himself, his mug almost empty now. "I saw her once. Outside the walls. I was on patrol when I saw her facing down bandits, she burned through almost the whole group with her magic before I got there. There was one left, begging for mercy, and... and she healed him. I thought she was being too kind for her own good but then she just... burned him. Over and over again; burn, heal, burn, heal. Eventually I just put an arrow through his neck to spare him, but as you saw that wasn't the first time she sharpened her skills that way."

"Gods alive... th-the Lord, we have to tell Lord Wyrmr-" Heimdyr rose to stand but Jod quickly grabbed his arm and nearly tossed him back into his seat.

"Tell him what? His best sworn sword, loved by everyone in the hold is going after bandits? At best we'd be laughing stocks, at worst we'd end up like Jory."

"Jory...? Wait, I heard about him. Didn't he leave the guard and become some sort of hero?" Jod gave a dark, bitter laugh and finished the dregs within his cup.

"...He interested her. I guess because he always talked about wanting to be a hero, she just... spent every moment she could talking to him until he quit to join her. Almost every time I saw him he had some new piece of gear but I could see it in his eyes: he was just some soulless husk. He just kept saying the same things over and over or talking about how great she was no matter what I asked until he just... vanished." Jod sighed heavily, practically melting in hsi chair. It... It was good to finally have someone to vent to about this who wouldn't think he was insane. "I need you to understand: if you want to survive here, you need to be boring. Talk about the weather five times in a row, about how you'd like to be home with some mead, just... don't let her get her eyes on you."

Jod left Heimdyr where he was as he moved to one of the bunks, and in the morning he was surprised and a bit impressed to see Heimdyr join him for guard duty. The dark elf was leaving and Heimdyr sneezed, freezing as the woman looked towards him.

"...This cold makes me wish I could quit." Heimdyr echoed Jod's words from yesterday, and after a second the woman left to do something Jod couldn't see to the body from yesterday. He angled his head to Heimdyr and nodded, the two of them standing guard and praying they could quit someday...