The first mercenary, also flustered by the dark forest, yanked out his sword and turned away from the seemingly helpless prince, ignoring the yelp that left Elim's lips at the gash which widened due to the motion. He also did not notice the fact that by withdrawing his blade, he caused Elim's blood to spatter across the obelisk and drip into the runes. As all three men were facing away from the monument, none of them saw the crystal take on a strange hue.
Elim tried desperately to cling to consciousness. Even if he died, he wished he could take those bastard assassins with him. Of course, as his old tutor was wont to say, wishes were about as much use as fairy farts. Although Elim prayed that maybe the unidentified sound from the brush came from one of his escorts, even if it were, it was likely he would bleed out before anyone with decent medical skills could help him. Elim felt dimness crawling around the edges of his vision.
Although Elim felt he would pass out soon, for some reason, the darkness moved much faster than he thought it would. And...it had something like a shape. Was he hallucinating? Elim's body slid down the obelisk so he lay on the ground, facing the two mercenaries.
"AAAAAAH!!!!"
The scream of one of the mercenaries brought a slight jolt of adrenaline to Elim, causing him to slightly focus his vision. The "darkness" was on top of the mercenary, and before the second one could react, it moved, taking him to the ground as well.
I suppose I am next, Elim thought numbly to himself, but nothing happened. His vision grew dimmer, but no strange force drew the life out of him. Just as he felt his consciousness slipping away, Elim heard soft footsteps approaching, and the last thing he saw before passing out were a pair of liquid golden eyes.
**********
Elim's eyes fluttered open, and he groaned at the onslaught of aches and pains brought by consciousness. The past few hours (days? weeks?) had been a barrage of fever dreams, none of which he could remember with much clarity at the moment. It took a moment before his eyes began to focus. He had no familiarity with the dimly-lit space, and shadows were thrown across the canvas roof above him by the flickering lantern. Where was he?
"You'll be alright now, your fever has broken," Elim heard a kindly voice say, and saw a middle-aged beastwoman enter his vision. Her round, fuzzy ears and brown-furred face made him think of a bear. "Poor thing, you're lucky to have survived those wounds."
Elim struggled to sit up, his chest and shoulder covered in bandages, and the bear beastwoman supported him easily but carefully, placing some pillows behind him. As he looked at the woman who had been nursing him, he noticed she wore a rather simple tunic-style top over her rotund form. While she was furred, and her features were animalistic, the fur was merely a dusting, and her form was largely humanoid. His surroundings, also, while alien, seemed civilized. He was in a tent, but it did not look like a permanent structure. There were travel gear scattered here and there, and the ground was simply dirt.
"Where--" Elim tried to ask hoarsely, but the beastwoman preempted him with a cup of water, which soothed his dry throat. "Where am I?" he finally got out.
"You're in the camp of Tuskarelli's Troubadours. We're traveling storytellers, and we just happened to be passing through your neck of the woods. We don't often see humans in these parts though. Well, apart from bandits and murderers," the beastwoman's brows furrowed, but soon evened out. "But don't worry, few of those are brave enough to attack our merry little band. Oh, you can call me Roita, by the way."
"I -- I'm Eli," Elim said, purposefully shortening his name and not revealing his identity. He didn't know these people, even if they were his saviors, and beastmen had no fondness for the kingdom. Not to mention, the assassins might still be out there. Roita nodded with a kindly smile.
"Well, Eli, rest easy, and when we pass near human lands, we'll see if we can help you find a way home," Roita said gently, as the tent flap opened. Backlit by the fire outside, Elim saw a figure enter, its head covered in a scarf and wearing a long cloak. "Ah, speaking of help, Tsukai here is the one that found you and brought you here."
A young woman with dark skin and silvery hair stood before Elim, carrying in a bowl of stew from the fire outside. However, Elim nearly failed to register the fact that this girl appeared human, an odd thing in beastman territory, because his eyes were drawn to one single feature. Tsukai had liquid gold eyes.