))Marla went to sleep closer by the camp fire than she usually did. Someone of the thieves that roamed the forest must have been there recently, the area smelled of them, beer and the fire was lit and still burning bright. Still, the young woman was shivering. Snuggling up in her clothes, still damp from her involuntary bath, her thoughts went back to last day's events.
Being grabbed by the neck like a little pub by the mother and than suddenly without warning being tossed into the water! Into deep water! Her feet searching for a hold, the heavy chain mail above her shirt pulling her down, being unable to swim. She had struggled, no, she had fought. Gasping for air desperately, swallowing river water instead, coughing it out again. Than after an eternity Val had pulled her back to land. She had been to exhausted and coughing to much water out, than that she could growl or snarl at him. And than she had been to distracted by Val's companion walking up to them. Val's companion was a strange creature, smelling unpleasantly of rotting flesh and a bit threatening for whatever other reasons. Still, being a bit threatening would not protect this creature from Marla's wrath should it ever dare to challenge her position in the group.
Many times this day she had smelled rotten flesh, the wind would carry it to her nose when she was sitting on the roof with Val, looking down at skeletons and other beasts. Skeletons, these walking chewing bones figures were somehow fascinating. Marla would have liked to snatch a bone or two off them. But they were quite aggressive, eager to protect their precocious bones from anyone who wanted to chew on them.
With vicious joy, spreading a grin on her face she thought back at the fight in the house. She moved her legs a bit than rolling into a more comfortable sleeping position, as much comfortable as the annoying chain-mail allowed for. Val had attacked the black haired man, and Marla had tried to tear at his green coat to distract him. She had payed attention not to have any of the man stumbling over her. And then she saw that Val was hurt and she had jumped at the green coated foe from a table trying to scratch and bite him. When he went down, finally falling to the ground, Marla had been happy and relieved. They had won! Val had still been swinging his weapon at the man in one last blow. And just in the moment as Marla tried to bump her chin against the man lying in the grass, he disappeared, before Marla could tell if he was dead or not. It had puzzled her mildly. For Marla humans were puzzles walking on two legs in general, so she did not spend much though on this event.
Half asleep she thought back on the plenty/lots of food that had been given to her today. This memory made her smile and lick her lips automatically. Smoked fish, that was fish like the robbers ate at their table, and they had fed it to Marla, too. Milk, in a bucket. A piece of dry meat, placed for her at the log around the campfire in Yewdale. Ham, roasted, smelling of fire, still tasty even though it was not raw. She remembered lying in the Inn chewing on the ham in blissful happiness.
Before falling asleep the Marla remembered Val, the man had thrown her into the river, he had given her food and patted her head. He had tried to communicate a lot, using words - meaningless sounds, spoken in a dark voice. But she could tell he had been pleased and happy with seeing her fighting. He had smiled at her and he had praised her. She had allowed him to pat her head. It had felt nice. Marla smiled and finally she fell asleep.
Lying in the tall grass, near the campfire the woman slept, while the two moons of illarion shone down on her and crossed the sky. Occasionally one could hear a sneeze echoing through the night.