"I mean it's really not good. I know that guy and the one beside him. All of us were KIT's together."

"Kits?"

"Knights-in-training."

"So they're assassins now?"

"After they dropped out of the program? Mercenaries, maybe. All sorts of agencies would swoop in to recruit them. Knight dropouts are knights without the certificate."

"Great. That's great. The intimidation is working. Can you take them?"

"I know most of their habits, but it's been years. Even before they dropped out they were battle-hardened and never hesitated to kill. Say I can take them; that leaves forty-five for you."

"Maybe deal with them quickly?"

Kerv gave him a look that stung. Letting up, Kerv shook his head.

"I'd rather not kill them."

"Is that an option?"

Kerv didn't answer. Turning away, he physically pulled Kelly and Teddy out of their private conversation and directed them to reposition empty crates in a tone that brooked no argument. Bellavarn followed suit and tossed the table he'd been using to organize his notes. After moving them, obviously.

"Why don't we have any spears? I thought that's classic military stuff."

Teddy grunted trying to push his crate. Even when empty it weighed a quarter ton. Kelly abandoned her own box to push along with her cousin. Kerv ran over to the pile of possessions and tipped over a barrel of weapons.

"Spears are for infantry. You can use these."

Only half of them could qualify as polearms. Two were halberds and one looked to be a hoe. The rest were barely sharpened swords and rusted over daggers. Nonetheless, Bellavarn positioned them in a way that any charging fool would get a bad case of tetanus.

Someone would surely blame Bellvarn for touching the "possession", but that was a later problem.

The frantic kerfuffle was almost for nothing as they didn't have time to set up half the weapons before the mob was within spitting distance. Bellavarn appreciated them being kind enough to maneuver through the aisles instead of trampling the dead. One person broke off when they spotted someone they knew among the dead. The older man bent down and cradled the teenager lying on the cot.

"We're down to forty-six."

The number remained unchanged in his mind considering the frenemy at his back. Bellavarn tried to get in the first word, but the booming voice of a tiger drowned him out.

"Here you are again. The falcon that stabbed us in the back. Still hiding and letting your comrades bleed."

"We had orders, Tiger. I had orders. What would you have me do?"

Of course his name is Tiger.

Bellavarn snuck a crowbar into Teddy's hands. It was more solid and sturdy than anything else lying around. Seeing the numbers up close made his hands sweaty. The groups varied greatly. One was a mass of sweaty, dirty, and bloody soldiers. The other was a flock of scrawny fresh faces.

"We trusted you to guard our backs the same way we did yours. I saved your sorry ass, and then you turn around to protect the enemy."

"He was the mission. It was our job to protect him."

Jackal sneered.

"Bullshit. You just wanted to impress the boss lady. If you were thinking with your head instead of your crotch we wouldn't have lost damn near everyone."

There was a history here. No one understood it, so no one interfered. Not yet.

"I did what was right. The other's deaths couldn't have been for nothing. Completing the mission was paramount."

Tiger waved a massive arm out and roared.

"Damn the mission! The men standing beside you and at your back; That's who you protect. That's who you protect."

"I'm not going to stand here and listen to you preach. I have new orders. A new charge. The past is in the past."

"Orders to protect a criminal. Seems like the past is repeating to me."

Called out, Bellavarn finally inserted himself into the conversation. If he kept letting other people tell the story it would be the only one they believed.

"I saved a Princess. Tell me how that makes me a criminal."

Jackal's laugh was the type of squeaking you'd expect from a rat.

"The boy speaks! Any number of women would have played out your bedroom fantasy for a bit of coin, but you had to go and try it on actual royalty. Didn't all those tutors teach you manners?"

"And where are yours? Waltzing up here all high and mighty when you're the ones who abandoned your duty. No... You two are cowards, waiting for 10 to 1 odds before attacking, all the while preying on the grief of your comrades."

Bellavarn angled his incredulous shout around the two leaders.

"They no doubt told you I was the cause for your hardship? That I was the reason for this war? That my presence somehow caused thousands of enemies to rain down on us?"

"Shut it, pipsqueak."

Tiger got close and used his size to overshadow Bellavarn. It didn't escape notice that he stayed out of Kerv's striking range.

"You are a criminal judged by the King. Questioning his authority is a death sentence on its own."

Bellavarn held nothing but contempt for the so-called King. However, speaking out here, when they were already planning on killing him, would accomplish nothing. It was unfortunate that his silence played into whatever fantasy Tiger was cooking up,

"This war is punishment for your crime. We all get to go home as soon as your head rolls. For some, it is already too late. So let's end this farce and start the execution."

"...execution?"

It didn't stick.

"My execution?

The laughter came unbidden from his gut. The words were like slime on a windshield. The insults slid off him but the stench of the accusation would always remain.

"My execution!"

The humor was gone. Bellavarn pushed Kerv aside and left the safety of the barricade. He came within biting distance of Tiger's fat nose. The man was wide and tall, but he was just a peacock compared to Bellavarn's presence.

"You dare judge me for watching over the dead when you were the ones to abandon your post? A strong, healthy, able-bodied man like you? What possessed you to leave your friends to rot on the battlefield?"

Bellavarn shoved the beast's chest. He wasn't afraid of a bark with no bite.

"You're scared."

Push.

"Weak!"

Shove.

"A pushover too frightened by his own shadow to push back."

Veins were popping out all along Tiger's skin. Knuckles cracked as his fingers curled into fists.

Bellavarn sidestepped the coiled beast and ignored the threat entirely.

"Are you here to start another war? Unlike this one, it will be on home turf banging at your door. It will be in the cities and the streets and none of the people you care about will be safe because you killed the only son of one of the most powerful families in the world."

The words sickened him. He wanted nothing more than for everyone to back down, but his blood was too heavy to spill. His family controlled a third of the kingdom and if Bellavarn knew his mother, she would watch the world burn if anything happened to him. Braster would hand her the matches. That was why he needed to live. To laugh with his father. To hold his mother's hand. To greet a new little sibling.

These bullies were just the first stepping stone.

"If you need to grieve for your brothers and sisters, grieve. If you need a tissue we have boxes full of them. But make no mistake, because if you decide that my death is more important than the lives of your friends and family, you dishonor everything you have ever fought for."

Bellavarn's breathing was strained as his brain caught up with the words spilling out of his mouth.

Two people understood he was referring to the dead lying at their feet and slowly backed away to grieve in peace. Then a third followed, but that was it. The rest misinterpreted his words as a direct threat on their loved ones.

A massive fist came for flying his face but it was outpaced by a second projectile. Out of position and off-balance, Bellavarn could do nothing but watch the attack soar through the air. The impact rocked his head and he staggered back away from the Tiger's claw.

The entire scene froze.

A hand slowly reaching to his forehead, Bellavarn hollered with indignity.

"Ow."

The entire mob and party were dumbfounded by the audacity of the attacker. All eyes went to the brown boot lying nearby. It sagged pathetically.

Throwing up his arms, Bellavarn admonished the crowd.

"Who throws a shoe? ...Honestly."

A hand on his collar pulled him out of the way of a sword aimed at his neck. Kerv lifted him full-bodied and tossed him like a pillow.

"Get back, idiot."

Bellavarn landed back inside the barricade on his ass. Kelly kicked him, but he deserved that. When he had the wherewithal to look back at the crowd, it was flowing over their paltry defense. They were enraged to the point of pushing past the pointy objects in their way. Kerv swiped at a man trying to jump over and collapsed with a hole in his gut.

Teddy started hitting a man trying to climb over a crate with the crowbar while Kelly started picking up short weapons from the ground and sticking them anywhere she could. Bellavarn looked for an opening to join in but couldn't find a safe spot. There wasn't room to swing his baton safely.

Digging into a pocket and pulling out a spinner, Bellavarn pressed the activation button. Feeding it mana caused it to spin with power. After two seconds, the rotations became a blur in his hand.

That was when his periphery caught someone charging around their barricade. Their blade was already out and about to stab into Kerv.

So he threw.

It was like every other throw before it. Like the rocks he threw at Kerv to train. Like the spinners he used to distract Jerome and Ash.

The man fell over. Blood poured from his gouged neck. The damage was gory and so much more extensive than he ever thought possible.

It was too easy.

Just a flick of a wrist and gone.

I could die like that.

Bellavarn didn't see the new blade coming his way. Kerv cursed and angled his shield to block. The bouncing clang rang in everyone's ears. Kerv ran his weapon into the man's armpit. A kick to the chest sent the dying soldier toppled into a group of two more.

"It is you or them Bell. They don't deserve your pity."

There was a sickly fire in his stomach as Bellavarn relived getting stabbed and poisoned. Pain. Fever. Death's Door.

Kerv twirled his blade and charged back in without hesitation. He fought with practiced discipline while his other two allies fought frantically with their lives on the line.

Bellavarn watched in sudden awe and subconsciously realized he was sinking. Shock was setting in, but he couldn't afford to succumb just yet. A third traitor charged through an aisle of the dead. Once again, they headed straight for his best friend.

Sink or Swim.

His fingers twitched only once before pulling his baton from its sheath.

Intercept. Parry. Counter. Body blow. Trip and a kick to knock them out.

All actions flowed together as his opponent underestimated him. Hands into his coat he activated three spinners and didn't bother charging them. They sprang to life on the move an instant before they sunk into two new targets. Landing hits in a crowd was elementary.

The world turned as a force tackled into Bellavarn. His baton got pinned awkwardly as the disgruntled soldier straddled him. Bellavarn reached for the nearest object which happened to be a wooden lid.

"It's your fault."

The blade descended halfway into a wooden board. Bellavarn abandoned the idea of extricating his weapons and all his strength to push back the blade inching towards his chest. The tug of war gave him time for a cold look at his attacker. It was a woman. Hot tears were dripping down her cheeks.

"My boy was only sixteen."

Her son was dead. Lying still somewhere in the field after following in her mother's footsteps.

"I'm not... getting stabbed... again."

Bellavarn's arms spun and he flung the woman off of him. Still holding the board, not willing to kill her, but not able to afford to leave her conscious, he whacked her across the temple as hard as he dared. It wasn't enough because the bereft soldier was still reaching. So he hit her again. And a third time.

He didn't get time to see if she was still breathing before he was once again pulled away. This time it was a friendly face. Kerv covered their backs as they retreated. Their defenses were overrun and the mob barely thinned at all. Thirty-odd enemies followed after them.

"Where's the other two?"

"They ran in the other direction."

"But-"

Kerv cursed and blocked an arrow. An archer was hiding in there somewhere.

"They only had three men after them. We have thirty. Get your head in the fight and try to hit that archer; we can't stop running until you do."

Hitting an archer in a tide of bodies using a toy shuriken. What he wouldn't give for a gun right about now.

He ducked the next arrow and retaliated by throwing two more of his dwindling spinners. An unlucky man caught both in the chest. He was alive when he fell, but he got trampled in the next second.

"There's too many. I can't get a clean shot."

Clicking his tongue, Kerv holstered his weapon.

"Fine. Get ready."

"Wha-"

Kerv's leading foot dug into the ground and it became the point at which he pivoted. Bellavarn couldn't escape the iron grip in the same way he couldn't protest fast enough. Body twisting, Kerv's entire momentum funneled into a throw of legends. He hit a nat 20 and Bellavarn flew.

All eyes followed him like a shining comet across the sky. In the moments between screams, he saw the archer on the ground pulling another arrow. Two spinners came to life in transit, their blue light carved streaks until one landed in the archer's shoulder. The other was blocked by Tiger's shield.

Alarmed, Bellavarn realized he was falling straight into the beast's maw. Relying on the only tool at his disposal, he pulled a flash talisman from his jacket and broke the seal.

Tiger was cunning. His shield blocked the effects, but also briefly hindered his vision of Bellavarn. Maybe it was Tiger's plan to take Bellavarn's full weight, or maybe it was a mistake, either way, they both dropped.

Bellavarn was on his feet in an instant, but that was enough for Tiger to nick his arm. Jackal was ready to intercept when a spark originated from his partner.

Flash Paper. On Tiger's shield.

"Blasted-"

Jackal couldn't cover his eyes in time. The discharge of magic rocked Tiger's shield and made him stutter long enough for Bellavarn to get eight feet ahead.

Blinking away the stars, Jackal witnessed Kerv bound past him. He'd cut down several dazed members of the mob and barreled through them to catch up.

And thus was the order.

Bellavarn was in front cradling his arm. Pants only slightly wet.

Tiger was on his heels.

Kerv and Jackal were fighting a moving battle while they pursued.

A disoriented mob of twenty trailed behind at varying degrees of speed.

And their destination?

A wagon where a pair of cousins recently rendered their only foes unconscious.

"Shit."

Kelly's idle curse repeated more vehemently as she realized Bellvarn wasn't slowing.

"SHIT!"

She grabbed Teddy's hand and leaped out of the way.

Bellavarn planned to use his speed to slide cleanly underneath the wagon like a badass. Instead, he tripped on his own foot and tumbled underneath like a twinkie rolling across the hardwood. Before getting halfway out, the wagon wheels left the ground. Living in-between moments, Bellavarn saw Tiger's shining shield toss aside the wagon like it was a movie prop. The rotations stopped and Bellavarn was left entirely exposed as the wagon crashed into fragments behind him.

Magic is so unfair.

Even as Bellavarn wielded his baton and let its energy spark to life, he knew he stood no chance.

The blows were bone-shaking. Forget staying on his feet, it took everything he had to reorient his weapon in front of him to block the next strike. The clangs were fast and the only reason they were blockable in the first place was that all strikes all went either for his heart or neck.

Survive.

His arm bent painfully. It still came to block.

Survive!

Air escaped his lungs as the shield flattened him. Still, he blocked.

Survive.

The sword strike shattered the earth beneath him, and still, his arm held. His fingers, though... His fingers cried mercy and let go.

The baton was levitating. It was time. Bellavarn's death sentence was descending like heaven's blade. Even if either of his hands responded, he couldn't grab the weapon in time. Each twitch of the finger caused shocks to cascade through his system. The sky was so pretty.

Take my arms.

No escape. No running. His legs failed to support their own weight.

Take my legs.

There was no plan B. Only destruction.

You'll never take my head!

Teeth clamped down.

The last secret function clicked into place the same time a pair of incisors did. It was the self-destruct. The magic circuits operating the blade portion of the enchantment separated like a continental shift. As the metal weapon in his mouth turned to ash, the remaining energy that once powered the weapon shot off in the only direction it could, sending a shining cerulean sickle directly at Tiger's exposed neck.

The arc of mana continued upward, shaving off a few chin hairs before vanishing into the sky.

Bellavarn felt the chuckle vibrate in his throat as Tiger's tilted perspective also caught the Falcon descending.

Kerv, poised in the air to strike, followed through. The glint of the setting sun on his sword disappeared into Tiger's clavicle.

=

The killing blow halted halfway, held in place by a clenched fist. Sweat on Tiger's brow, his knee bent from exertion. The sword writhed like a worm inching through the earth.

Bellavarn collapsed. He watched the show like a disgruntled movie-goer who bought the wrong ticket. He felt someone tugging at him but couldn't angle his head.

Kerv's dilemma shimmered in his eyes. Did he finish Tiger? The wound was ghastly. Did he need to push the blade the extra inch? What was he risking if he let his old comrade live?

The decision was taken away when Tiger yanked the sword out, allowing his left hand to be ravaged as Kerv somersaulted with the weapon.

Time resumed its normal frantic pace as Kerv squared off against the arriving Jackal. The hands tugging Bellavarn were joined by a second pair. They dragged him through the mud to relative safety.

Head bobbing, Bellavarn couldn't believe it.

Holy shit, I'm alive.

It came out as, "Hoysha, I'm olive."

Kelly and Teddy dragged the disoriented noble across the ground. The loose earth and spattering of sand made their job easier and more difficult at the same time. Bellavarn's struggles were meek, though, his groans of pain were telling. Teddy wasn't a medic; however, watching Bellavarn get pummeled into the ground like a sack of rice gave him the confidence to say that the noble suffered a broken rib, or three.

"Teddy, we need to leave him."

"We talked about this."

"That mob is coming. Kerv can't stop them, they'll gut us to get to him. Teddy—Teddy!"

Kelly was left to tug Bellavarn like tossed luggage while her idiotic cousin broke away to retrieve a batch of torches lying around from the carnage involving the wagon. A lot of good they would do. The crazed soldiers would loot the torches off their bloody corpses and complete their entire ensemble.

She was getting nowhere. Dropping her load she grabbed the sides of her helmet and tossed it away. Sweaty and sticky brown hair matted to her cheeks, she frustratingly wiped it off. Running hands through the knots in her hair, each foot started in a different direction.

"Teddy... I-I can't."

A whimper was held as her throat locked up.

Why was he acting brave? Why couldn't they just leave? They could run and no one would bother coming after them. Kelly still had her sword.

The *shink* it made when drawn was satisfying. Peering down at the target of her revenge made her chest heave with exhilaration. Seeing him in pain poked at her buttons. The gladius bobbed in her hand in anticipation. The sound of battle was far away even though the shouts grew nearer by the second.

Teddy wasn't looking. Kerv was pinned down. The traitor was in the palm of her hand and she had all the time in the world to relive the years of pain. No matter how she sliced him, Kelly would relish it.

And that scared her more than all beatings.

"Fine. Fine then! Come at me. Come at me you sons of whores! I'll make you wish you were never born!"

Rage. Kelly tore past her cousin and straight into the mob of killers. There was no sense to madness. Like a tornado, it was inexplicable and devastating, and the bodies fell without remorse because the pain wasn't on the outside. It wasn't on the outside.

Pain and grief collided. It brought tears to Teddy's eyes, but he followed his cousin into battle because if Kelly were to die today then who would be there to watch over him? Lighting the torches was the easy part.

Their bravery spurred Bellavarn. That and the fact that three men skirted the army of two with the kind of tunnel vision that put coal trains to shame. Fingers twitching. Grasping. Then his arms reignited. His feet scrambled.

Digging out a spinner, he aimed at the closest man while using a shoulder as a sighting stick. It was a direct hit, but with no mana supplied, it didn't kill. On empty and without a weapon, Bellavarn counted his lucky stars that the self-destruct didn't turn his head into gooey shrapnel, but he sure wished he had more than gravel lining his pockets.

The first attacker was on him. It was a running stab that Bellavarn eagerly avoided. The weapon stuck halfway into the cart, Bellavarn thought to go for it, but the dagger attached to the man's belt was free game. Pulling it out and kicking the man away, he readied himself.

Ester could see it all. Kerv dueling two knights at once. Teddy waved fire around like a rabid caveman and Kelly learned what it meant to be a true berserker lost in a sea of red.

And Bellavarn was cornered and outnumbered.

Unclenching, the impressions in her palms breathed fresh air. Ester searched for a solution. Being atop the proverbial watchtower gave her a great view with nearly zero options. She was a noncombatant surrounded by useless knickknacks and sealed containers.

Lightbulb. An expensive display case was in open view. It was clearly locked, but Ester didn't give a damn. Stomping on the glass, she pulled out the emblazoned bow and three accompanying arrows. They fumbled out of her hands while she wrestled with the weapon. It felt slippery with some type of resin. The decorations weighted it oddly and Ester had no idea how to hold it. Seeing Bellavarn get a cut made her grit her teeth and throw out any type of etiquette. Her palms were sore from the damage her fingernails caused.

Standing, she drew back the bowstring. The arrow slid along the shaft and kept getting bouncing away. Clicking her tongue, the sound was dull compared to the pounding in her ears.

Sucking in a breath, Ester pulled back and released. The arrow barely went ten feet as it clattered down the pyramid.

"Two tries left."

Bending down, her hand missed grabbing the next arrow. It sent the third tumbling off. Cursing she picked up the remaining arrow.

Bellavarn had his back to a wall of debris. The flash paper he used only bought him a few seconds. Ester sighted the largest man as a target and pulled back. Sweat dripped off her fingers.

Breathing in, she released right as her foot slipped. The arrow flew off into the sky unnoticed and Ester nosedived. She crashed into several corners on the way down and barely managed to halt herself before falling into an open box of rusted weapons.

Blowing her bangs out of the way, she groaned.

The only saving grace was she found the arrow that rolled off earlier. Taking it in hand, she reclined into a sitting position and blindfired.

The distant yelp of pain was music to her ears. It was too bad she didn't get to see the damage before blood trickled into her eye.

Bellavarn witnessed the man drop with an arrow through the knee, the tip that stuck out was painted with a yellow smiley face. The situation might have been hilarious if the smiley face didn't turn itself upside down.

Is that thing laughing?

A breeze whirled through the battlefield. The sky darkened in dramatic conclusion. Bellavarn accepted the third cut of the day so he could dive into the pile of debris. His newly trapped status encouraged the remaining adversaries to abandon any remaining sense and pursue. The hailstorm of arrows drenched the exposed combatants like they were pincushioned by an overzealous acupuncturist. The arrows drove them soldiers into the ground and into each other.

The assaulting thunks against the wood continued even after the crawling soldiers expired. Cradling into a ball, he waited for the storm to end, terrified as the arrows gradually broke through the brittle wood. His leg flinched as it was cut by an iron tip. Covering his ears and closing his eyes, Bellavarn prayed for the end to come quickly.

It was immediate.

The silence. The lull of noise and lack of stimulus was as overwhelming. Breathing in short bursts, Bellavarn saw the bodies only a foot away. Their eyes remained open as if in incomprehension. Pushing the image away, he pushed the wood above him. It jostled once, then twice, then burst outward as Bellavarn escaped what might have been his coffin.

Stepping back into the light, the surrounding wood was skewered like dartboards. The ground, littered like prickly grass. Barely an inch remained unscathed. The epicenter of whatever mayhem spell this was overflowed as if someone misunderstood the meaning of "supply" and "drop".

The quantity dispersed away from the epicenter with the effective range reaching nearly thirty meters in diameter. Vision panning, he saw Kerv holding his former friends at sword point. Jackal seemed talkative and Tiger seemed very still.

"Help!"

Head snapping away, Bellavarn saw Teddy's head poking out of a pile of bodies. Hobbling closer even as the cries of help continued, Bellavarn soon saw it wasn't Teddy that needed aid.

"Please. What do I do? There's so much blood."

Unconcerned with wading through the dead mob, Bellavarn scurried over them to get to the cousins trapped in the middle. Teddy's hands were slippery with red liquid and he sported a swelling black eye. Kelly though... Kelly was in terrible shape. Bending down, it was difficult to tell what blood was hers and what wasn't. The brighter slices were small, although, they were dangerously numerous. The pair of arrows sticking out her back was more worrying.

"She's not responding. She protected me, but I-I couldn't... there was no way for me to-to stop her."

"It's alright, Teddy. Everything's good. Feel under her nose? Feel that? She's just unconscious."

He didn't say anything about the blood loss and possible internal damage those arrows were doing.

"Do I... *sniff* Do I pull them out, or?"

"No! Don't. Ahh..."

Bellavarn started reacting to his own wounds as the massive dose of adrenaline drained from his system. Faint and dizzy. His vision drained of color, sashaying with each movement of his head. Focusing became a monumental task.

"Lay her on her side. Keep her... Uggh. Keep her steady. She needs a medic—Kerv. Kerv! We need a medic."

Attention drawn away from his negotiation with Jackal, Kerv shouted back.

"Keep Kelly stable, they'll be here shortly."

How did he know? Bellvarn's eyes shuttered like a camera and shifted over to the Left Corner entrance. Even his addled brain could make sense of the procession jogging his way.

Reinforcements.