[Bennet is... not relieved, precisely, because if Stratos had insisted upon resisting he would not have turned away from fighting him, aye, even killing him if he had to, but he does feel a certain tension leave his shoulders and a sense that this is, perhaps, the road better traveled. Having any ally, even a mage, is better than having no one at all.]

[Inclining his own head forward in acknowledgment, he relaxes from his ready stance at last and comes for, withdrawing from his tunic a cloth to wipe his sword clean with.]

Agreed we are then.

[And no, he makes no move to re-secure Stratos. The mage will have his chance to prove himself an ally. But he will be ready, and if there is even the first whiff of betrayal, he will not hesitate to strike this man down and carry him the rest of the way to the valley trussed and hooded.]

[He considers the bandit's body as he cleans his blade, nudging it over with his boot.] This group was ill-equipped and iller-trained. Should we expect similar constitution from those at the camp?