Devin charged into the nearest person he could see, who happened to be the mousy haired man who had tried to deflect their problems onto the Silver Queen. Thorn shot out and stuck the man in his throat. The thief barely had time to register what was happening before he fell to the ground, blood pouring from his punctured neck. Devin turned and flicked Blossom out, sending it flying a few feet and stabbing into a woman's chest. She reached for the dagger and fell backward, hands grasping at the air weakly. He flew over, pulling the dagger from its resting spot in the now dead woman and dove into more of the melee.

Murton was charging in on Devin’s left, swinging his massive axe and roaring. The axe hit a smaller woman in the mid section and cleaved her clean in two. The axe kept going and stuck in another brigands chest. The man fell backwards and pulled Murton, who was still holding the axe handle, with him.

Glancing backward, Devin saw Griff had flung himself into the fray as well. The giant of a man stood at least another head above anybody else in the encampment and was using his massive shield as a bashing weapon. He swung and struck a man in the face, flattening it entirely and throwing him back into another thief. With his right hand, he swung his hammer about, causing equally devastating blows and fracturing bones.

There was a sharp, wet, thwacking noise and Devin looked back to his front to find a thief standing in front of him, an icicle through his throat. His eyes were wide as he fell to his knees, then onto his face, dead. Teryn gave a small wave to Devin and started summoning more icicles to throw into the battle. Shia was beside her, loosing arrow after arrow into the thick of things. Devin hoped this experience wouldn’t do any lasting harm to the girl. Everyone's first time is difficult, and multiple deaths could spell trouble for anyone.

He reached another group of thieves, a man and woman, who were fighting with each other. Their swords were locked and they were grimacing into each other's faces. Devin swept in and stabbed with each dagger, catching them each in the side. They gasped in surprise in near unison, clutching at their sides as he pulled his weapons back.

Slashing with Thorn, he cut the man and gave the woman a swift kick to follow his cut, sending them both backward. A shout sounded behind him and he whipped around to see another thief charging at him, his sword held high.

Devin brought his daggers up in an X, catching the falling blade between them as the man swung down. He gave the thief a swift kick in the crotch, and stabbed into his neck as he doubled over. He withdrew Blossom with a quick pull and the dagger sprayed a line of blood across the dirt.

The woman he had kicked moments ago was on her feet again, holding her side and stumbling toward Devin, her sword held high above her head. He almost felt sorry as he sidestepped the clumsy swing and stuck her in the stomach with Blossom. She let out a soft whoosh of air from her mouth as the dagger hit home. Devin withdrew his weapon and the women fell forward, landing face first in the dirt.

With a quick glance around, Devin saw most of his team were faring well in their fights. Teryn and Shia were picking off stragglers and keeping the braver brigands at bay. Griff was smashing people with his hammer and shield, sending broken bodies sprawling across the camp. Murton was surrounded by four brigands, swinging his massive axe to keep them at bay.

Devin hopped over the dead woman and ran towards his dwarven friend. A man leapt in front of him with a bloodied sword and roared a challenge. Behind him, the four thieves were closing around Murton, getting bolder with their attacks. A quick look to the left showed Teryn and Shia busy holding off some thieves who were using the tents as cover to close the distance and get around the two women.

Devin growled at the new contender as he prepared to charge into him. The man held his sword in front of him and took a quick swing. Devin parried the blow with Blossom and came in low with Thorn. The thief managed to suck his gut back and avoid the thrust. Devin switched his thrust into a slash and tried to cut upward. His blade caught the man across his upper chest but only managed to cut into his leather armor.

As the man took a step back to regain himself Devin closed in with him. He needed to get past this thief and help Murton. The dwarf could probably handle it, but Devin saw no reason to tempt fate considering their past successes with five members becoming four with each even mildly dangerous mission. The brigand brought his sword sideways at Devin who was toe to toe with the man now. Devin lashed out with Blossom at the man's arm and bright red blood flashed through the air.

The man cried out and dropped his sword halfway through the swing. Thorn was thrust into the man's throat, cutting short his cry. Devin pulled the dagger out with a wet slurching noise and pushed the dying man to the side with his shoulder. He charged forward and thrust his daggers into the closest of the four people attacking Murton.

The woman screeched in pain and alarm and fell forward. Devin turned to the man on his left and swung at him, trying to catch him before he could compose himself at the new threat. Murton let out a roar and swung his axe hard at the combatant nearest him, shattering the feeble attempt to block and lodging his axe deep into the man's chest.

Devin attacked with a flurry of thrusts and slices, his enemy barely fending them off, fear splayed across his face. Devin kept advancing on the hapless man, intending to send a dagger deep into his body. He thrust in with Blossom and connected to the man's gut, stabbing him. The man bent over and Devin brought Thorn back for the killing blow.

“Devin, behind!” A call came from one of the women far behind him. He hesitated for a moment with his right hand drawn back and glanced over. His eyes caught the glint of sun across a freshly made sword before a large punch on his right hand drove his arm forward.

Thorn flew from his grip, trailed by an alarmingly large amount of blood. Devin withdrew Blossom and spun toward his new assailant. The woman holding the sword was grinning triumphantly and preparing her next swing. Devin flicked his dagger at her and caught her in the left eye. The grin remained on her face as her head jerked back, her body following with it and falling slowly.

An arrow hissed by and finished the man Devin had stabbed in the gut. An icicle followed close after that, flying past his right shoulder and killing another thief who was trying to crawl on his hands and knees around a tent and out of sight.

Devin reached down and gripped the hilt of his dagger. After a few tugs it came out of the woman's head, pulling her mangled eye with it. Flicking the dagger, he frowned. The damn thing would not just come off. He reached up with his right hand to pull it off and had to fight back a wave of nausea as he caught sight of his hand.

The pinky and ring finger of his hand were both missing, leaving only stumps that were slowly pumping blood out of them. A fiery pain spread suddenly where the fingers were missing and hit him like a caravan being pulled by an ox.

“Devin, are you alright?” Shia ran over to him. “I wasn't sure if I got the person in time- Oh my gods, your hand!” She covered her mouth with her free hand, her other still holding her bow.

Murton came over next as Devin just held his hand in front of him, still dripping blood onto the ground.

“What's happening over here? Ah, shit…” Murton said as his eyes found the mangled hand.

Teryn and Griff came over together and both saw the hand immediately. Griff said nothing, his face as impassive as ever. Teryn took his hand in hers and leaned in close inspecting the wound.

“It seems to be a clean enough cut, right at the knuckles. That’ll make the cleanup and recovery a bit easier,” She said.

Devin nodded at her, his throat a tight ball now. He had lost both of the tips of his pinkies years ago and had just come to terms with that. How would he be able to hold his dagger properly with only three fingers on his right hand? His dagger!

“Thorn,” the words came out as a rasp. He cleared his throat, “Where’s my dagger?”

“I’ve got it lad,” Murton held up the dagger. He held it up covering most of it with a mailed fist. Devin sheathed Blossom and took it gingerly. As it slid from behind the fist of Murton his heart sank lower.

The handle was scored by a large gash were the blade had connected. After it had travelled through his fingers, the blade connected with the small pommels and cut into that. The blade itself was bent at an awkward angle, though from the force of the strike or it hitting something after its flight, he couldn't tell.

Devin just stared at the broken weapon resting in his good hand. In front of him Teryn nodded to Griff who walked off. The dagger had been given to him by his mentor, a man he owed everything he could do and everything he was too. The one task he had entrusted to him was keeping the daggers safe and making sure they saw use. In this surreal moment he found a bit of odd humor in that, using them and keeping them safe seemed exact opposites.

“Come now Devin, we can worry about that later. You know what we have to do now. Your wound is still bleeding and susceptible to infection, especially if bone is exposed.” Teryn pulled softly on his hand and led him toward the middle of the clearing.

Letting himself be pulled, he finally broke the locked gaze with his weapon and looked toward where they were going. Teryn was leading him towards Griff, who was standing by the fire still blazing in the middle of the camp. Bodies were strewn about around them, the aftermath of the battle that took place. Devin looked back at Griff and saw him leaning towards the fire, his hammer outstretched and deep in the flames.

“Oh fuck, I hate this part,” he muttered.

Teryn led him to Griff and they both stared into the fire, watching the flames lick the silvery metal of Griff’s weapon. The sharp scent of burning flesh, hair, and blood hit his nostrils as several chunks of people popped and hissed on the hammer. Murton and Shia both came up beside him, standing on either side and Teryn still held his mutilated hand.

“What are you going to do?” Shia asked.

Teryn and Murton glanced at Devin. He did not answer and kept staring into the flames. Throbbing pain in his hand was all he could focus on, a sick way of his body telling him he had yet another hurdle to overcome. With only a dim awareness he realized he was still holding the broken Thorn in his left hand.

“Somebody take this, please,” he mumbled, holding the dagger up but keeping his eyes on the hammer that was starting to glow orange around its edges. Shia grabbed the dagger and stuck it through her belt. After making sure it was secure she turned back toward the group.

“What are you going to do?” she asked again, her eyes flicking between the hammer and Devin.

“You said you were on a farm, right?” Murton asked. She nodded, eyes not settling on him.

“What did you do when an animal lost a limb?”

“Well,” she began, “Normally we would just kill it and turn it into whatever we could. Cows and goats would be skinned and turned into hides and meat. Horses we did the same thing for.”

“Did you have any you did not kill for their parts?” Teryn asked her.

“Yeah,” Shia said, nodding slowly. “My dad had a dog who lost his back paw in a fight with some wolves. He refused to put it down and had to stop the bleeding, so he-” She stopped, her eyes growing wide as she realized what they were doing.

“Are you serious? Can’t we bandage it and take him back to town?”

“No,” Murton said, shaking his head. “We are too far from town. Plus, we don't know what they did with the blades beforehand or their cleanliness. The best thing to do is to cauterize the wound to stamp anything out now.”

“Devin, are you seriously going to do this? We have herbs to help with infection.” Shia grabbed his left arm as she talked, breaking him from the trance the fire held over him. The hammer was starting to glow nearly uniformly across its surface. It would be ready very soon.

He turned to Shia to find her eyes still wide, hints of fear in them. He held up his left hand, “Take the glove off this hand for me please.”

“What, why?”

“There’s something I want to show you. Please, just remove it.”

Shia reached up with shaking hands and grabbed the tips of Devin’s leather glove. She gave it a tug, but it did not move. She grabbed the bottom and rolled it up, pulling it from his hand.

As she pulled it off, Devin asked, “Do you know I’m called Tenfingers?”

“I always figured it was just a name, some nickname given for something that happened or some inside joke.” She said, pulling the glove away. Devin felt the air, cool against the sweat of his hand. His pinky was cut at the second knuckle, leaving only a small stub in its place. He wiggled it in front of Shia.

“I lost it years ago, when we first started adventuring. About a year after I lost the left one, I lost the right one too. After the second one this lot,” he jerked his head towards the other three, “Started calling me Tenfingers as a little joke. I’ve been cauterized before. It sucks, but it's the only choice we have at this time.”

Shia sat in silence for a while, looking into the fire. Devin watched her and wondered if she was really ready for all this. They had been thrown into something bigger than any of them expected. He felt a pang of guilt at dragging this young woman along. When they had first picked her up he did not expect her to last very long, either quitting shortly in or being killed like many of the others.

As he looked her over he felt a strange sense of watchfulness over her, as if it was his job to protect her. She could handle a bow well and could certainly protect herself, but he wanted to make sure she did not end up the same way all the other fifth members had.

“I guess we’ll have to call you Devin Eightfingers now, eh?” Murton broke the silence, his face in a half grin.

“Well, technically, he would be Devin Seven-and-a-half fingers, with the missing half of finger on his left hand. The two half fingers missing made him Nine,” Teryn said. Murton snorted. Shia looked from Teryn to Murton to Devin, her eyes wide and in shock with no hint of humor on her face.

Griff grunted and Devin looked toward him, expecting it was one of his strange sorts of laughs. Instead he found the large man holding his hammer near him, glowing red. Devin could feel the heat of the metal radiating off the weapon and winced slightly.

“It’s time, Devin,” Teryn said softly. He nodded to her and turned to Murton.

“Take my arm with her please,” he asked. Murton nodded and grabbed his right arm around the bicep, helping hold it straight outright with Teryn holding the forearm and hand.

“I promise I’ll try not to struggle too hard, but I can promise you this one will be a bitch,” Devin said.

“We’ll hold on to ya, lad,” Murton said.

“I want to help,” came Shia’s voice from behind Devin. He glanced over his shoulder and found her looking at them, her bottom jaw sticking out slightly.

He nodded in appreciation, “Thank you Shia, You can hold my left side so I don’t thrash around.”

She shook her head, “No, Griff should do that. He has more strength than me and can assure you won't flail. I’ll take the hammer.”

Everyone’s, including the normally impassive Griff, eyebrows shot up at her suggestion.

“You don't have to do that,” Devin said.

“Are you sure, lass?” Murton asked.

“We have done this before with just three if you want to just hold his left side.” Teryn suggested.

“No, he said it himself,” Shia said. “It's a bigger wound and bigger burn, and he’s going to thrash. It's better if Griff holds him and I take the hammer.”

No one said anything, the only sound was the crackle of the fire and slight hiss of the glowing metal hammer turned cauterizer.

“Ok,” Devin conceded. “Teryn will let you know when to stop.”

Shia stepped in front of Devin and took the hammer from Griff gingerly. Griff came around behind him and put a strip of leather into his mouth, then grabbed him firmly by the left arm and shoulder. Devin nodded his thanks and gripped the leather tightly with his teeth.

“Ready?” Teryn asked him. He took a steadying breath and gave a quick nod. Shia started to move the glowing red hammer toward his outstretched hand. He felt the heat start to radiate onto his skin and closed his eyes.

The hammer connected with his hand like lighting, red hot and excruciating. Pain shot through his hand and up into his arm and shoulder. He jumped involuntarily, held in place only by the three people holding him. The smell of burning flesh and blood assaulted his nose, making his stomach roll.

He tried to fight down a scream, but after only a few seconds lost his battle. His scream ripped through his throat, one of pure pain and escaped around the leather. The bit eventually fell from his mouth. Devin tilted his head back as his scream continued, echoing around the small clearing in the impending dusk air.