Page 42 of Hell-Bound

“Some rations for ye. The sleepers don’t eat much food, so I wanted to make sure ye had something.”

As he passed the small parcel, Ren felt a strong twinge of guilt about Jester before giving him a tight handshake and slipping out the door.

Outside, she saw the same Half-Orc female sitting motionless on the fountain edge. Momentarily distracted, Ren hadn’t felt the tug on her bag.

“Pssst. Elf lady. Reeeen.”

It wasn’t until a still-invisible Jester gave her a push that she came back to attention.

“Sorry, yeah, I’m here. Hey, Jester. Do the sleepers know what’s happening? Or do they just stay like that?”

Jester did not reveal himself.

“Hmm, that depends. Some sleepers can communicate, but others just work. I really don’t know why. I try not to think about it.” he said, voice becoming grave.

Ren didn’t push. This was the first time she had heard Jester be serious about anything.

She felt another tug as Jester led her through the street.

“I know a way to avoid the big bad Devils around here,” he whispered.

“Jester, why are you staying invisible?” she asked after walking a distance from the bar, “Fred can’t see you from here.”

Tugging Ren along, Jester didn’t respond.

It wasn’t until they arrived at the outskirts of the city, the same area where Ren had appeared the day before, that Jester popped back into existence.

“The forest of Nahmir,” he said, gesturing around with a little turn.

Ren stopped and crossed her arms.

“Are you going to explain what that was about back there?”

Jester did not stop walking, but his tail lashed around nervously.

“Nope.”

Ren started following again before Jester could get too far ahead.

“Are you wanted or something?”

No response.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” she said, remembering how uncomfortable she became when people brought up her past.

Jester stopped walking and turned around, a smile that didn’t look quite as genuine plastered on his face.

“Yes, you did. But don’t you worry, little Elf. I just didn’t sleep so well. Not with you snooooring the whole night!”

“W-you were watching me sleep?!” she exclaimed. Ren ran up to Jester, trying to grab onto his tunic. “Wait! You can’t just—”

Jester disappeared, reappearing in a tree a few feet away.

“But Reeeeeen, you looked so cuuuuute,” he teased.

“No. More. Watching! It’s creepy. What if I was…doing private…things!”

Jester gawked for a second. “Private things?” he mocked. “What sort of private things could you possibly be doing?”

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