Tiger and his company needed to stop every few hours. Moving as quickly as they did was too much for the horse, which was being pushed to its limits. The Hei clans horses were far superior to the average horse, but Tiger and Wolf didn’t want to waste a single second. Still, having a member of Hei allowed them to move around the terrain in a speedier manner.

Tiger stood beside Wolf and leaned in to whisper. “Who do you think will fall in love with her first?”

Wolf was stretching against a small tree. “You.” He replied back as coldly as he always did, though Tiger was perhaps one of the only men who could feel the warmth within Wolfs words.

Tiger roared with laughter. “Probably.” He bared his teeth as he did so, clutching at his stomach.

This drew the attention of the woman, who looked towards the pair. Her face shifted into confusion, though Tiger couldn’t tell what she was thinking, and she returned to taking care of her horse. She rubbed its side as it grazed on the grass and lapped up the water.

“We’ll manage the next town by night.” Wolf said.

“You wanna go in and find out any information about Dragon? Nearby villages didn’t have much…” Tiger sighed.

Wolf bowed his head. “I shall go.”

There was an awkward moment between them and Tiger narrowed his eyes.

“You don’t trust me?”

The words hung in the air.

“You will cause a ruckus.”

“Eeeeh.” Tiger crossed his arms, frowning. ‘You’re no fun…’

It was true, so he didn’t push on it.

Once Tak was done tending to her horse, they continued along their way.

Tak had not once spoken to the pair, but she communicated through various gestures. Tiger didn’t know why she didn’t speak; if it was forbidden, or perhaps she was mute, or if she just didn’t want to speak. Still, that didn’t stop him from speaking to her, telling her about his life story, or at least bits and pieces of it. It was mostly about how he missed the food from the orphanage though, since Auntie had made some of the best rabbit stew.

As they slowed, nearing the town, they could see a small caravan up ahead. They slowed down, Tak coming to a stop first, sitting tall. She gripped her spear.

Tiger and Wolf stood beside her.

The caravan continued to make their way towards the trio. Tiger could see the glint of steel on their hip, long sabres from far East.

The caravan drew near and eventually they stopped. One of the men, who had a scarf covering the lower half of his face, walked over and called out to the three.

“Ho there! It’s a cold night out, would yo-” The click of various crossbows shot out towards the trio. The horse was struck, but the bolt glanced off at an awkward angle against its skin. Tak had managed to strike at another, causing it to miss entirely.

The trio came upon the bandits with little time wastes. Tigers hand became a blur for a moment as he grabbed the man by his jaw, digging his fingers into the cloth. Wolf had stepped aside.

“It is a cold night.” Tiger smiled. However, his smile was devilish. “Don’t mind me warming up, will you?” Within a single step, Tiger had slammed the mans head against a tree, causing it to split.

Before the others could get their crossbows reloaded, they found the pair of men upon them. Tak rode around to flank from behind.

Tigers fist welcomed another man. As Tiger leapt over the foes, he kicked the side of the wagon. It splintered under the force of his kick and then keeled over to one side. He heard shouting and screaming from within the wagon. It took him moments to dispatch several other slavers. As they were dropping their crossbows, Tiger clotheslined one, then side kicked another before, grabbing a slaver and then tossing them against another before finally drop kicking them away, back flipping onto his feet.

A slaver cut at him from behind, but she swiped air as Tiger wrapped an arm around her throat and then choked her out. “Shh.” He whispered into her ear before she finally fell unconscious.

Wolf had taken care of his bandits, and Tak had cut down two that had tried to run through the backs of their knees. They still lived, though blood flowed from their legs, pools of crimson flowing out as they also wet themselves. They wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

Tiger let the woman fall to the ground, but made sure she didn’t hit the ground with her head. Tak glanced over, raising a brow in a questioning manner.

“I’m a gentleman.” Tiger roared with laughter as he walked over to the wagon. He pulled open the curtain.

There he saw a man, three women, and two children, all bound together. They were thin and looked as though they were staring at a banshee.

“Evening.” He nodded at the slaves. “Are you alright?” He asked, his smile now devoid of devilishness, but rather soft… Well, as soft as someone like Tiger could make it.