Sounding a bit disappointed and more than a little worried, his voice sliced through her terrified thoughts, "I see my reputation precedes me and I fear nothing good has been said of me in it. I've a friend coming, she'll be here when the tavern reopens its doors. I am most certain you will recognize her as she has spoken before of knowing you. Before you flee and we have to play a game of chase in order for the two of us to speak, I would ask that you at least see her."
Ash's thoughts raced as she tried to figure out what would be the best thing to do. The solution was clearly to call for Luna or even for Sidus. The thought of calling for Sidus, though, made her pause a little. Sidus had already indicated he did not like the idea of her being on her own with her mana circulation damaged. If he was not personally watching, he'd have asked someone else to.
She settled again, trying to calm her racing heart, only for him to speak as he placed his other hand palm-up on the table, "Allow me to do this small thing to sooth your worries. I swear under the name of the god to whom I offer my worship, Venatio, and with the oversight of the god of contracts, Virtus, that I intend to do you no harm Ash."
A small spark of magic slid around his hand, settling swiftly. Both gods had witnessed the contract and deemed it truthful. To lie was to be struck by an immediate sanction and none had happened. She didn't completely relax, though. There were ways around contracts and far worse things he could do to her than harm her. There was also the fact that the contract extended only to Fantastoria, leaving her vulnerable in Terra.
The gods had taken note of the interaction, though, and Bris would swiftly come under scrutiny because of it. That made her feel a fair bit safer. So long as she kept him in Fantastoria there was little he could communicate to Terra that could lead someone to her. Her magic signature was something he would have to personally track, not something the gods would allow him to send across worlds even if it were possible.
Thankfully, the bidding was already well on its way to its end when she had moved to stand. The last few people were bidding and retrieving their winnings, paying no mind to the conversation happening at the table. Likely, even if they had taken note they were turning a blind eye. Without a room full of people to draw attention away from him, he practically radiated danger even with his magic and scent erased as they were. Had she arrived earlier, she'd have steered clear of him though she was almost certain that he was only at the auction because she was.
When a waitress came by, he made a small order of three drinks and some food, ignoring the slightly worried look the woman gave Ash. They were just opening the doors to outsiders when the order arrived. Ash was focused instead on the doors, wondering who his friend could be that they knew her. She'd been isolated for a while, hiding in her grove and interacting only with the people of the temples of her own god.
The Shade Elf that walked through the door was far too familiar for Ash to mistake her for anyone else. Pale skin the same color as Ash's own that seemed at odds with what she was contrasted with hair so deeply violet it seemed just a step shy of black. Her pale lilac eyes trained almost immediately onto the table they sat at and she joined them without hesitation.
"Misty," Ash greeted her by the name she'd most often answered to on Terra, "They told me you died," her eyes flicked to Bris, to the person Ash was certain was hunter that supposedly killed her.
Mistari was one of dozens of lives claimed by the hunter, every last life belonging to one of the bound races. That she was alive gave Ash a thin thread of hope that others might be as well. She remained wary, though, afraid that Misty might have been kept alive because their association wasn't exactly unknown to the world of Terra. She could just be another part of a trap meant to lure Ash in.
"Not dead," she confirmed, "Merely kept safe from harm in a way the temples couldn't manage," she caught hold of one of the drinks and pulled it to her, staring into it as she spoke in a quiet voice even as magic wove around the table to keep their conversation private, "The poachers came for me, bought into some story about my feathers being able to revive the recently deceased or something. They were looking to imprison me for their own profit," her pale eyes moved to Bris, "But Bris got to them first."
"Why didn't you let anyone know?"
"The carved charms were supposed to do that," Bris responded with a bit of frustration to his tone, "But they honed in on their lack of recognition of the material and ignored everything else."
Ash's gaze dropped again to the ring on Bris' hand where it rested on the table. He'd finally released her when Misty joined them, seeming confident she wouldn't run for a moment at least. She didn't know what the material was, either, save that it was some sort of horn and that still made her uneasy. She tried to go over in her head all of the races bound and otherwise, trying to pin down what he was.
Misty sighed slightly, "You'll have to forgive Bris, his frustration. He has been made a villain when his efforts are truly heroic. None that Bris have saved have ever been touched by hunters."
Ash frowned slightly, "You have connections to the magical protection agency, in order to be here. Shouldn't that mean someone can find you?"
"If that were the case," Bris retorted, "You'd need to worry about the same thing," he waved a hand dismissively as she looked at him, "The spells to keep the units from being tracked to a physical location are impeccable."
"Bris helped found the agency," Misty explained, "Though he stepped away from it after a while."
"After they attempted to sell a Shiverleaf Unicorn to a bunch of researchers that wanted to experiment on him to find a way to keep the magical ecosystems from collapsing," Bris bitterly chimed in.
Ash fled almost immediately, barely hearing Misty scolding Bris behind her. She desperately needed to be able to trust the magical protection agency. They knew where she was, they knew what she was. If they sold her out in her current condition there was nothing she could do.
Needing to feel the safety of home, Ash teleported to the city center and strode towards the array there, distantly hearing Bris a few steps behind her. She teleported home, leaving him behind.