Dusk is swiftly approaching, and the bitter chill of night has started to slither its way around us. We gave the patrol plenty of time to get ahead of us, but now we are trying to gain as much ground as we can before night sets in. We can’t travel on the main path and are still forced to walk in the forest border. The three of us are more cautious than we were before. If another patrol were to come this way again we would want to be ready.

I say let them come, let’s show them we aren’t to be trifled with. I’m confident in my abilities as a soldier and Thane has proven himself to be more than capable. Why run, why hide? I’d rather confront a patrol and send a message instead of cowering in the bushes. I’m ready for anything they can throw at me. I can feel my fingers aching to wrap themselves around the hilt of my blade. My hand wants to feel the weight of a sword eager for battle. I know our best course of action right now is to remain unseen, but I can’t shake the urge to exact a little revenge. I’ll be good though, I’ll follow along, for now.

Time continues to pass and the evening grows colder by the minute. We’ve been climbing the base of the foothills and will soon be close to the pass. There isn’t any snow in the area though it is cold enough for it. I imagine we will see some as we travel over the mountains.

“This looks like a good enough spot to stop for the night. We don’t have very much time before it’s dark out. We need to use the small amount of light we have left collecting firewood.” says Thane as he looks around the forest “There” he points off into the distance. “That area looks dense enough to swallow any light coming from our fire. We’ll stay there for the night.”

As much as I want to keep moving, I can’t argue with this. It would be foolish to try and navigate through the night. Especially where we are, we wouldn’t be able to see the very ground we walked. “Let’s see what we can find then head over there once we have enough wood to make it through the night.” The two of them nod in agreeance and we begin searching for anything we can burn. I manage to find a couple small broken branches and some twigs to use as kindling. Before long I have two arms full and so do Thane and Erik. All of this should be enough for us to make it through the night. Thane alone is carrying almost enough to build an entire cabin himself. The three of us regroup before setting up camp.

“Looks like we have enough let’s head over and set it--”

“Ahhhh!” Thane is unable to finish his sentence before the sound of a blood curdling scream is heard faintly echoing in the distance.

We all look at each other wondering if the other just heard the same thing.

“What was tha--”

“Ahhhhhhhh!” The scream can be heard even louder now booming through the trees like a canon. “Help!” cries the voice of a woman somewhere nearby. I immediately drop everything I’m holding and sprint towards the sound. The other two do the same and follow. I’m running as fast as I can weaving through trees as the get in my way and leaping over logs.

The main path is only a few feet away now and I burst out into the open. I stand here with the dirt path beneath me briefly glancing upwards. The sun has just disappeared behind the mountains in front of us but hasn’t quite set for the night. We still have a few moments of light before we are swallowed by darkness. I look down the path in the direction the voice came from, but there’s no one in sight. The path takes a sharp turn just up ahead. I turn around to the guys and wave “come on, let’s go”. Thane is only a few steps behind me but Erik is almost falling behind. I can’t waste any time waiting for him so I run off down the path. With no obstacles in my way I can sprint at top speed. It’s still a ways down before the path turns. Thane and I are running neck and neck towards the voice who hasn’t made any other sounds since. My heart begins to pound and my lungs start to burn from the cold air. Sweat makes it’s way out as I don’t let up for even a second.

We come up to the turn and make our way around it sliding as we make a sudden shift in momentum. The dirt path coughs out small clouds from under my feet as I try my best not to slip. Once we make our way around the corner I see a group of silhouetted figures in the distance. I slow down a bit to get a clearer picture and see six horses standing in the middle of the path. No riders sit atop them. They have to be on foot somewhere nearby. If i’m silent enough then I might be able to get the jump on them. I can’t help but grin, looks like i’ll get that fight after all.

“Let’s scout the area and see what’s going on” I say to Thane while exhaling from near exhaustion.

“Agreed”

By this time Erik comes around the corner and catches up with us. He hunches over and rests his hands on his knees. Panting as he tries not to fall over he says “give me a second to catch my breath”.

“No time for that” I say to him as I’ve already began running again.

“Oh, come on” he huffs as he begins to follow us at barely a jogging speed.

I’m at the horses now and begin to scout the area and look for where the hexa patrol went. Off to the side rests a large number of footprints. They lead off to the left and continue into the forest. I can hear the distant sound of men talking and the faint voice of a woman. I can’t make out anything they are saying, it all sounds like mumbling from here. I give Thane a signal to be silent and we move into the darkness under the trees. We crouch down and walk at a steady and stealthy pace. To my surprise Thane isn’t making the slightest bit of sound. I would imagine a man his size couldn’t help but pound the ground with his weight. Instead it’s almost as if he is gliding over all the dried leaves and small twigs on the ground like a weightless apparition.

The sound of talking is becoming more and more clear the closer we get. I don’t hear the woman anymore though. Hopefully she’s still alive. If not, these guys are going to experience the most brutal beating all of Salus has ever seen.

We weave around several trees and finally come up to a large row of bushes. Leaves from the bushes are scattered all over the ground. They also look slightly flattened, like someone stepped on them. Only moments after seeing this I can hear a voice coming past the bushes loud and clear. It’s familiar, it sounds like the same one from earlier, the patrol leader.

Luckily there is little light under the massive canopy that covers us. No one sees me as I part the bushes and peer through them. Just on the other side of the bushes the ground slopes about ten feet before flattening back out. At the bottom of the slope I can see an animal skin pack full of various items and a bow with a quiver full of arrows sitting right next to it. No one in the patrol had one earlier. That must not belong to them.

I push my hands deeper into the bush and quietly part it even more giving me a better view. I can see past the slope now, down where the ground flattens again. Only a few steps away from the bow is the woman standing with the blackest hair I have ever seen. Not a common color in this world. Her back is turned to us and each arm is being held by a patrol guard. Off to the right by about 15 feet is a man with the dark black hair like the woman, he too is being held by the patrols.

Two men hold his arms out straight and keep him down on his knees. A third man stands just in front of him cracking his knuckles with a disgusting grin on his face. A closer look reveals he has been beating this guys senseless. He struggles to keep his head up as it bobs up and down. He looks as if he could pass out at any moment. Both of his eyes are blackened and bruised, while blood and spit drips off his bottom lips.

Standing with his arms crossed is the leader overseeing all of this. I couldn’t get a clear look at him earlier but now I have no problem. He fits the bill of any other hexa leader. He wears a bright blue cape that signifies his place in the military ladder. The sides of his head are shaved and fade up to the top. The rest of his hair is blonde medium length and pulled back into a wolf tail. Standard grooming for a man of his rank. All of him is neatly wrapped in a bow of arrogance.

He is only one rank above his men, and any other ordinary foot soldiers. Still it takes years to achieve such a rank, and when these men do, they always make sure you respect them for it. It’s sickening to watch him stand there and laugh as his men beat this poor guy to the edge of death. I doubt whatever they may have done deserves this punishment. I close the bush and lean back to Thane.

“I count six men, it’s the hexa from earlier. They have two prisoners with them. One of them looks to be in bad shape, it looks like they have been using him as a punching bag for a while now.”

Thane quietly grunts in disgust “That’s no way for a man of power to behave. I say we teach them a lesson. We may be outnumbered, but I think we can handle them. They have no idea we are even here.”

I grin at hearing this, and have to admit I’m eager to get going.

“You read my mind.”

I can hear the mumble of voices coming through the bushes. I part them and peer through once again trying to hear what they are saying. Now that I can see through again I notice the leader has moved. He’s standing directly in front of the woman. He holds a knife in his right hand and is using it to clean under his fingernails. Keeping his attention down at his hands he says to her “You don’t know how happy I am that you dropped right into my hands.” He looks up at her now and places the tip of his knife firmly on her neck “You’re going to win me a well overdue promotion.”

She turns her head away from him “No no, don’t worry. I won’t hurt you, you’re worth much more to me alive.” He says as he pulls the knife away from her. He lifts the knife into the air and stares at it a bit before tossing it behind him. It flies through the air and the patrol guard who was beating the black haired man catches it. An evil grin curls at the edge of his mouth as he turns towards the black haired man.

“It’ll be a long trip back to Lunis. We’ll have some time to get to know each other on the way. You can call me Demmin.” The leader says as he lifts his empty hand up and places it on her cheek. He begins to caress the side of her face as if showing affection towards a pet. She keeps her head turned and mutters something in a strange language I’ve never heard before. He ignores this and keeps caressing her. An insidious smile begins to grow on his face.

He leans in close to her and says “Yes, I think we’ll get to know each other real well.” He tries to kiss her on the cheek, but she stops him with a swift kick to the groin. Swift and strong, like a sledgehammer between the legs. A loud howl of pain explodes out of him as he hunches over to his knees. All of his men snicker at this discreetly trying not to draw attention to themselves. Demmin huffs loudly as he stands up straight. He reaches behind her head grabs a head full of hair and forces her to look directly at him. Not wanting to appear weak he attempts to hide his raised voice by masking it with a deep gravelly sound of authority. “I’ll teach you to cooperate, you filthy Montinian rat.” He lets go of her and turns his back. “We have no further use for this man.” The patrol guard standing in front of the black haired man listens for his instructions. Demmin who has regained his normal voice calmly says “Kill him”.

The patrol guard promptly turns around and drives the knife between his ribs. He coughs once before slumping over. He was so out of it I doubt he even felt the pain. A deafening scream bellows out of the woman as she falls to her knees in sorrow. She begins to sob quietly as her head drops and stares off into the ground.

Demmin stands with his back still turned to her. “Maybe next time you’ll think twice before you try to make a fool out of me.”

The two guards holding the man let go of him and let the body fall. It makes a loud thud as it lifelessly crashes into the ground. Demmin calls out to his men and turns towards them. “Now, what say we deliver our precious cargo as soon as possible.” The woman doesn’t react to this at all. The men pull out a length of rope and begin to bind her hands behind her back. Still, she does nothing. She’s given up by this point. Before they are able to secure the binding tight, suddenly we all hear--

Snap!

Directly behind us a branch makes a loud sound as it’s broken in half. Erik caught up with us. He stands still not wanting to move another muscle with a wide eyed and terrified expression on his face. It’s too late, they have all seen him by now. Thane and I are still unnoticed however, and we have to do everything we can not to lose that advantage.

Demmin angrily points up the slope and over the bushes “You!” he holds his finger firmly in mid air “What are you doing here?”

Erik raises his hands up at about chest level and stammers “I uh-- I-- I just, got a little turned around that’s all…” He bares a nervous smile trying to prove his innocence.

Demmin isn’t giving him a second chance this time around. “You three.” he points to the men standing over the body “Arrest him, he obviously is with these two.”

The three men draw their swords and run towards the slope. Erik looks down at us and I gesture to him to stay put. He is slowly stepping backwards with the intent to turn around and run any second. I shake my head from side to side while maintaining eye contact with him. Quietly I mouth ‘don’t move’. He stops mid step and gives a single nod. The three men begin to make their way up the slope. The incline slows down their pace and forces them to hunch forward to keep their balance. Dirt crumbles and slides below them as they move higher and higher up towards us.

Thane clutches his sword tightly in one hand and waits. Just as the men are on the other side of the bush Thane explodes out of his cover and barrels into them like a charging bull. The three of them fall over backwards. Two of them slide down flat on their backs while the other rolls down like a log. Being hit by Thane like that would no doubt leave some bruises. He slides down the hill with them and holds his massive sword out in front of him ready for battle. Two of the men shake their heads and slowly stand up. One of them dropped their sword and had to quickly search to find it again. The third man however is still laying on the ground. The impact must of knocked him out cold.

Demmin immediately draws his sword and backs up a few steps “What is this!?” he yells as he cautiously examines the situation.

I don’t give him the chance to think any further before I leap out of the bushes and slide down the slope towards the other set of men. Erik stays behind as expected. Demmin shifts his attention between Thane and me, not sure who is more of a threat.

“Don’t let her free at any cost!” Demmin bellows as he raises his sword and heads towards me. There is a great enough distance between him and his men that buys me some time. Once I slide down and reach the bottom of the slope I immediately drive my blade through one of their backs. He falls to the ground grabbing at the wound. It’s only moments before the life seeps out of him and he topples over. One down, five alive, one unconscious, that leaves only four to deal with at the moment.

The odds just tipped a little more in our favor. It’s not over yet though. I take my sword and slide it down between the woman's arms. Being careful not to hurt her I slide it across the rope and cut right through it. There is no time to unbind her by normal means so this will have to do. The rope falls apart into several pieces and drops to the ground. The patrol guard is still holding onto her arm and is now trying to twist it behind her back. He is fighting with all his strength to pin her down. It isn’t working, every inch he pushes, she pushes back by two. She thrashes around violently and finally wriggles one hand free. The guard only has one of her arms in his grasp. He pulls back at her as hard as he can. She pulls the opposite way. He loses his footing and stumbles forward. She takes this opportunity to send one massive punch right to his gut. A gasp for air springs forward from his lungs as he hunches forward breathless. He barks out a wheezy cough still hanging on to her with all his strength. That’s when she delivers the next strike. She lifts her foot up and stomps all of her weight down onto his ankle. A loud crunch pulsates in the air as his ankle collapses under his weight. Unable to hold on anymore he lets go and howls high into the air in pain. As he struggles to stay up she runs away from him and dashes behind me.

Demmin angrily shouts at him “You imbecile!” giving no care to his pain “You’re letting her go!”

He tightens his shoulders and charges towards her. Sword drawn and ready to strike if necessary. The man with the broken ankle awkwardly hobbles up and pulls out his weapon as well. I step to the side and block their path. Demmin stands beside his subordinate and he hisses under his breath “You have just committed an act of treason. I suggest you all surrender before this has to get any uglier.”

I grab onto the hilt of my sword and raise it up showing them I will not easily back down “Oh, it will get ugly, but not for me.” I scoff at him with, I admit, a bit of cockiness. I’ve been fighting my whole life, and I’m not about to lose to the likes of these guys.

Off to the side of me I hear two grunts followed by two loud thuds. I turn just enough to see what it was in the corner of my eye. The two other patrol guards lay on the ground motionless. Thane stands above them holding his sword in one hand. He made quick work of three hexa guards in a matter of seconds. From the look of things, he didn’t even break a sweat. He turns his back towards the men on the ground and walks towards us.

The 30 pounds of hard steel he holds drags along the ground creating a small trail of parted dirt behind it. He doesn’t bother to raise it in the slightest, he’s letting it look heavy and cumbersome. It doesn’t need to be drawn for it to be intimidating. Thanes height alone is enough. The sword just adds an extra touch of fear, to an already fearsome man.

Demmin is no fool, he can count. There is only two of them left, and one of them can barely stand up without assistance. I lower my sword and stand at a resting position. Demmin’s eyes shift nervously between me and Thane. I’m just having a little fun at this point. I prepare to let loose a snarky remark “Looks like you--” Demmins attention is broken from the two of us. His eyes widen as he peers behind where we are standing.

Whoosh!

The sound of an arrow flies right by my ear. I can feel the wind spin and twirl as it passes by. It hits the already injured guard. His armor wasn’t enough to protect him. The arrow punctured completely through the leather and into his flesh. His legs give out and he collapses. The arrow hit him clean in the heart. Dead before he even hit the ground. I look behind us and see the woman. She holds the bow firmly in one hand. It wobbles just a bit as the rest of her begins to tremble. She lets out a long exhale that stammers as it escapes her lungs. The bow drops from her hand and she falls down down to her knees. Her legs shake as the rest of her is now frozen in place. I don’t have time to watch her further and turn my attention back to Demmin.

Demmin looks down at his fallen soldier and nervously whispers to himself “Oh boy…” He raises his hands in the air, he knows he’s been beaten. His legs slowly start to carry him backwards. I am half expecting him to run at any second. “Come on guys, I’m sure we can work something out right?” he sounds skittish now. Coward, he can’t even finish what he started.

“I know, I know! The horses, take the horses.” I don’t think so buddy. Thane and I slowly walk forward and cover his exits. I stand on his left and Thane stands on the right. Behind him is a thick line of trees. You’ve got nowhere to go now. Still trying to reason with us he says “Oh, and as a bonus how about a little money? The satchel on my horse has gold inside it. Take it, it’s yours.” I haven’t known Thane for long, but something tells me that’s not what he has in mind.

The two of us continue to back him into a corner and stare him down “What else do you want from me?” Demmin suddenly stops and stands in place knowing he has nowhere to go. I go to step forward and end this but Thane cuts me off and pushes me back with one hand. He stands between the two of us and holds me back. He wants this guy all to himself. Lunis killed nearly all his men and I’m guessing he wants a bit of revenge. I respect that and back away. Thane lifts his sword up and grabs onto the hilt with both his hands. He spins it around and sends the blunt side of the blade soaring towards him. Demmin, as fast as he can, lifts his sword up straight and hides behind it. His sword is dwarfed by the size of Thanes, he doesn’t stand a chance.

The two metals clash together and a loud clang ripples through the air around us. Demmins sword loses the battle and is pushed up firmly against his chest. Thane doesn’t stop there. All in one smooth motion he uses his massive sword to lift Demmin off his feet and into the air. In mid air he pushes at him with all his strength and flings him like a doll. Demmin soars through the air and slams into a tree directly behind him. The impact whips his head backwards and it crashes into the rough bark. He slides down and his eyes roll upwards. His sword drops to the ground and Demmins body soon follows. Thane lifts his sword over his head and straps it behind his back. “That takes care of that.” he says as he turns around and nods at me.

“Yeah, no kidding.” I say as I curiously walk forward to look at Demmin.

“He won’t be needing this anymore.” says Thane as he kicks Demmins sword towards me. It slides across the ground and dirt splashes over it like water. I want to step over it and keep walking towards Demmin, but something doesn’t seem right. I look down at the sword and can’t shake the feeling that something is off.

Something is out of place here. I bend down and clean the dirt of the sword. I start with the blade, then move up to the hilt. That’s when I see it. His blue crescent gem. It’s missing.

A rush of angers begins to consume me. It boils and burns deep into my heart. My blood ignites and floods into my entire being. Demmin was on Kheran.

My anger reaches pure rage and boils over. I squeeze the hilt of my sword tightly between my fingers. Any tighter and it might shatter. I spring up and rush towards Demmins unconscious body. Thane sees me, and he already knows what I’m planning. I can’t hide my emotion. I want him dead and no one is going to stop me. He tries to stand in my way but I push him aside. He stumbles backwards while trying to reach for my arm. I sidestep him and keep moving.

My anger channels through my arm and into my sword. It aches for his death as badly as I do. He deserves to pay for what he did. I reach over and grab on with both hands. I’m going to need all my strength for this. I lift my sword high above my head and slam it down with every ounce of force I can muster. The blade rips through his armor and bursts past his ribs and into the heart. The pain snaps him awake. For a few moments he stares up at me. His eyes glazed over in a mixture of fear and confusion. I stare back at him. All of my anger pools into my eyes and sets them on fire. I don’t allow myself to blink a single time as my gaze rips past his eyes and into the very essence of this sick, sick man. His head slowly turns over, eyelids close, and the life spills out of him. The man who was once called Demmin is no more.

I can feel every muscle in my shoulders and arms clenched from the killing blow. My breathing is agitated, and my heart is pounding. Demmins’ life may be gone, but my anger lingers behind. My hands tremble as I pull the blade from his body. I take a deep breath. One long inhale, and exhale. I can feel the anger leaving me. It feels stronger than the emotion i’m used to, almost like some entity inside me. Anger has never controlled me like that before. I’m not quite sure why it did now.

Thane shouts to me from behind. It’s not a shout that would normally be associated with anger, I sense more of a ‘disappointment’ in his tone. I’m not sure what the problem is. Thane knows just as well as I do, this man was no better than the dirt he walked on. “Why did you do that?” “He could have been of some use to us. I purposefully chose not to kill him. The same goes for everyone else here.”

“Because he deserved it.” I bark back at him not trying to hide my agitation at the question.

“He could have been of some use to us. I purposefully chose not to kill him. The same goes for everyone else here.”

In the heat of battle I overlooked it. Taking a moment to get a clear look over all the bodies I see it now. Thane didn’t kill a single one of them. Should I feel shame for this? I did what I believed needed to be done. Or at least I think I did. I sort of, lost myself for a moment…

It doesn’t matter, sometimes you have to take a life to save another. That’s what I keep telling myself.

“Do you have nothing else to say?” Thane asks. I’ve been quietly thinking to myself for a while now and haven’t replied to him yet.

I turn around and walk away from Demmins’ body and reach for his sword. “Look” I say to Thane as I hand him the sword facing the hilt towards him.

“What- What am I looking at?”

“Take a closer look at the hilt. Do you see anything missing?”

Thane squints slightly and examines the hilt for a brief moment. I see the expression on his face change the second it hits him. His eyes open back up and his head leans back slightly. He reaches down into his pocket and pulls out the blue crescent gem. It gives off a faint glow. It’s dim but just barely noticeable in the tiny slivers of light we have left. He slides the gem over the empty socket and it falls perfectly into place. Thane closes his eyes and lets a powerful exhale leave his lungs. He looks over at Demmins body, then back to the gem. “This used to be his.” His attention now turns to me “That’s why you killed him.”

“He’s taken enough lives. It was about time someone ended it.” I confidently tell him.

“Right- Look, I’m just as angry about all this as you are, but we still don’t have any answers and this man may have been able to change that. We won’t know now. The rest of these men don’t have the clearance to even possess any answers we want, you know that.”

“How about next time you fight with this-” He points his finger at my head.

“Instead of this.” now pointing down at my heart. He tosses the sword and it lands in some nearby bushes.

He can lecture me all he wants, but I stand by what I did. I don’t say anything to him. Instead I just turn and look away.

My attention is suddenly grasped by an odd sound coming from behind us. I quickly look and see the woman still sitting on the ground. I nearly forgot about her. She's turned over to the side and makes the sound again. I recognize it now. She’s vomiting. I walk over to her and stop a couple steps in front of her. Thane stays where he is at. I stand and watch for a bit, just long enough for her to gather her composure. When she does I ask “Are you alright?” not even sure if she speaks common tongue.

Still turned over to the side with she spits out the last few drops. Once she is completely done she sits up, while still keeping her head down. She then replies to me “Thank you, yes, I’m alright.” in a strange accent. It’s odd, and very different from anything I’ve ever heard before. I put one foot forward and reach my hand down towards her. She brushes off a light coating of dust from her legs before grabbing my hand.

I pull her up off the ground and say to her “I’m sorry about your friend over there”.

She stands up on both feet just in front of me. She’s tall, I find myself to usually be taller than most people--excluding Thane of course--but my eyes can barely see over the top of her head. She lifts her head up slightly to look at me. Tears still continue to drop from her eyes at a slow, but steady rate. She’s not sobbing anymore, instead she’s quietly crying to herself.

Our eyes meet and my curiosity is instantly peaked. Her eyes, they’re purple.

Who is this woman? Out of all the time I’ve spent outside of Lunis on missions I’ve never seen an eye color quite like that. It’s hard not to examine them for a while. The deeper I look I notice not one, but two shades of purple. The inner part of her iris is a deep, but bright violet, while the outer part fades into a softer orchid like color. She doesn’t give me much more time to look at them before she turns them away. Soon after that she steps to the side of me and runs towards the man she was with.

“Is everyone alright?” a voice calls out from atop the slope.

I look up and see Erik watching cautiously. “No, not quite.” I call back. I don’t elaborate on that any further. I am not very happy with him at the moment. He’s not someone I can count on to have my back in a fight. I know he’s just a fisherman, but I find this hard to forgive.

“Why don’t you go back and watch the patrol horses. We might as well salvage what we can from this.” Eriks eyes drift downwards and he gives a nod without saying anything. He spins around and walks off towards the path.

Time is slipping past us and the little sunlight that we had is almost gone. We find ourselves in the brief moments of twilight before the darkness of night sets in. We should get moving soon.

The woman kneels down beside her friend's dead body. It lays there motionless as all life has completely escaped. She reaches down and picks up his hand holding it gently between hers. She bows her head and begins mumbling something in that same strange language. Though I don’t know exactly what she is saying, I can only guess she is saying good bye.

Thane walks over and kneels down beside her. He waits patiently and gives her the time she needs. Eventually she has nothing left to say to her friend and lets go of his hand. Thane reaches over and puts his hand on her shoulder “I am deeply sorry for your loss. I know you need time to grieve, but we can’t stay here.”

He looks behind him at the three unconscious guards “They’ll wake up after a while, and we’ll want to be far away from here when they do. Come one, you’ll be safe with us.”

She looks up at Thane then back down to her friend “What about Roland? I can’t just leave him here like this.”

Thane shakes his head “No, of course not.”. He leans down, picks Roland up and throws the body over his shoulder. “We’ll give him a proper burial in the morning, don’t worry.”

“Thank you, I appreciate everything you’re doing for me.”

I look around at my feet and find the woman's belongings. I slide my sword back in my scabbard and proceed to pick up everything on the ground. First I grab the bow and quiver of arrows. Then I grab the bag nearby. It has a fair amount of weight to it and the contents inside clank together. It makes the sound of glass bottles banging into each other.

The woman quickly looks over at me and sees the bag in my hand “I’ll carry those.” She quickly exclaims.

She walks over, takes it from my hand and slides the strap over her shoulder. I then give her the quiver and bow. She then proceeds to strap the quiver to her back and slings the bow over her other shoulder. “I know I already said it earlier, but thank you for saving me.”

“No need for that, we weren't about to just leave you with them.” I take a look at the bow hanging off her shoulder. “Besides, you were a pretty good shot with that bow of yours. It’s not like you were completely helpless.”

She starts to reply to me “I-” but is interrupted. Her hand quickly flies up and covers her mouth.

“I-” she tries to say again. She’s not looking too good. She looks like she is going to vomit again. She takes a deep breath and waits a moment before speaking “I don’t really want to think about that too much right now.”

“What do you mean by that?” I say with a little confusion.

“It was her first kill.” Thane jumps in before she has a chance to answer my question. “Taking a life isn’t easy. It puts a lot of stress on the body.” He looks up the slope and begins walking up it. “Come on, we need to get going.”

The woman follows closely behind Thane and the two of them make it up to the top of the slope. I call out to them just as they reach the top “I’ll catch up to you two in just a moment. I wanted to search these guys for anything that could be of use to us.” The two of them look back at me and Thane says “Alright, meet us at the horses.” He turns around and walks off with the woman close behind.

I wait for a moment and listen to make sure they are gone. Once the crunching sound of leaves and twigs can no longer be heard I walk over to the three unconscious guards. I stand over them and watch their still bodies for a moment. They are all out cold. I know Thane didn’t want to kill them. Killing is not something I find enjoyable either. If I need to do it though, I won’t hesitate.

I reach over, pull my sword back out and clench it tightly. We risk too much by leaving them here. Lunis is searching for us, and these men were the last to know where we were. I close my eyes and take a single deep breath. I don’t have a choice, this needs to be done. I take the final steps and stand directly over one of them. It’ll be over with soon.

Don’t worry, you won’t feel a thing.