A fresh pink and blue sky watches over a pair of gravediggers, and their tall shadows. Barbara brushes off sweat from her brow, looking over at the carriage, the sound of a spade slashing earth behind her, she wonders if Lupe has finished healing everyone.

“Hey, look at that.” Points Demitrio.

A few yards away, a lizard zigzags from one rock to another.

“You never seen a lizard before?” Responds Barbara.

“Look at his tail.” He responds, still pointing.

Barbara rolls her eyes before squinting, looking over at the lizard, noticing a long spike at the end of a tail as thick as its torso.

“In the old lady’s tongue, that’s a Kelak. A desert lizard.” The twin chortles.

A weak chuckle is heard from the carriage. Celso had lost consciousness due to the blood loss from his wound. Demitrio and Barbara had carried him over to the carriage, getting to know each other as they began to dig holes to bury the dead, allowing her to finally get a grasp on their names.

When Demitrio had asked how many graves were needed, Lupe said “A few will probably be saved, but dig four anyway.”

“Why do you think Lupe left your brother for last?” Asks Barbara, looking over at the carriage.

“Doesn’t matter who goes first or last, fate has already been decided.”

“How good of a shaman is Lupe, anyway?” She asks.

“The best back in our home region. She comes from a long line of spirit speakers, a lot of rumors come about, but not much truth in most of them. We owe her our lives thirty times over, each. That’s why we do her these favors.” He gets back to shoveling.

“Favors? I thought you guys were mercenaries.” States Barbara.

“No mercenary worth a damn would do a job like this. As you can see, it’s dangerous these times to travel on your own.” He sticks the shovel in the earth, making his way to the carriage for a drink of water. Barbara follows. “Farmers usually don’t offer much, other than whatever they’re trading, even then, coin is always preferable.” He takes a few chugs of water. A satisfying belch as he wipes water from his mouth. “People like Lupe aren’t taken care of despite taking care of those around them, she asked for a favor and we’re happy to help.”

Celso nods lightly at Barbara as she approaches the wagon, trying not to move too much, already pale in the face.

“Hey Celso, did you shoot first, or second?” Asks Barbara.

“First.” He says behind hazy eyes.

“Then you’re the one that apologized, the one that said me swatting the bolt away was amazing.”

He breathes out a laugh. “Yeah. That was me too.”

Demitrio laughs, mocking his brother for his choice of words.

“This morning I woke up and did my daily warm up routine, did a few extra stretches. I never would have imagined how much could change in a day.” She stares out at the sunset, a pulling sensation in her stomach.

“A lot of sacrifices were made today.” Affirms Celso.

“You think Lupe will be able to heal you?” Asks Barbara.

Celso smiles. “It’s not up to me or Lupe. She just asks a spirit to heal me, it’s the spirit that decides what to do with me.”

“Yeah, but, do you think you’ll get healed?” Concern in her voice.

“Don’t worry, kid. Lupe’s healed me tons of times before.”

The pulling sensation in Barbara’s stomach gets stronger. Above them, the night’s first stars make an appearance. Barbara and Demitrio collect wood, waiting for Lupe’s return. The graves dug, fire lit, the three sat on the carriage, staring at the fire in silence.

Lupe interrupts their moment of introspection, appearing from the narrow stone alley. She takes a seat on the floor near them, releasing a deep sigh.

“How’d it go?” Asks Barbara.

“Everyone is going to be alright. Well, all except one, obviously, nothing much can be done there.” Silence, only the crackling wood is heard. Lupe releases another sigh. “You ready there, slick?” She asks, looking up over her shoulder.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Replies Celso.

“Why don’t you two go pick up both ends of our deceased friend and bury him?”

Barbara and Demitrio agree, readying a torch, they make their way near the stone alley entrance where the fight took place. Barbara looks up at the star lit sky, entranced by its depth. A cool breeze brushes her hair, for reasons she’ll never be able to explain: she turns her head in the direction the wind blew, she sees a girl in white observing them. She blinks then the girl disappears, convinced that at that moment the temperature dropped to zero, not even able to feel the warmth of the torch in her hand. Barbara keeps this to herself, not mentioning anything.

They find three bandits lying asleep in a neat row next to each other. Neatly wrapped tightly in white cloth, stiff as planks, they find both halves of the fallen bandit. Demitrio stares down in wonder.

“That was one hell of a swing. Whoever taught you to fight did a good job.”

She holds her sword in front of her. “He told me it was a tool, a means to an end. He said to never get comfortable with taking lives, that it poisons the soul.”

“Maybe he’s right.” Admits Demitrio, picking up the fallen bandit by himself, half under each arm. “Then again, why teach you to take lives so easy?”

Barbara stares down at her feet, raising her head again to lose herself in the starry abyss.

Demitrio laughs. “You’re a weird kid.”

Barbara kicks the dirt, spinning around in the direction they came from without saying a word.

They approach their camp, Lupe and Celso seem to be chatting, perhaps she finished healing him. Barbara leads Demitrio to the holes they dug earlier, gently lying down both halves of the fallen bandit into a single grave. Barbara and Demitrio finish the burial, joined by Lupe as they finish filling up the hole, and placing a circular rock for the tombstone.

“Demitrio, take your brother and ride ahead of us. Find a medic and tell them your brother needs treatment for an infection.”

Without a word, Demitrio does as he’s told.

“You couldn’t heal Celso?” Ask Barbara.

“The spirit I speak to, the one that helps me heal, it would not respond when I asked to heal Celso.” She kneels down in front of the grave. “Join me. Let’s pray for the life you have taken.”

The tightness in her stomach, seemingly at its peak, eases as Barbara joins the woman, kneeling down next to her.

“Do you think Celso is going to make it?”

Lupe, eyes still closed in prayer, laughs.

“What’s so funny?”

“A few hours ago, Celso tried to kill you while you were crawling about in the desert looking for a drink of water.”

Barbara furrows her brow, wanting to respond but coming up with nothing.

“This man before us was sliced in half.” Opening her eyes, she turns to Barbara. “Did he not deserve to live?”

“Enough, already.” Spits Barbara, she gets up, pacing back and forth. “You’re just like my master, always trying to make me feel guilty.”

Another, louder, laugh. “I definitely should have let you learn your lesson in that desert.” Lupe smirks.

“Why are you mocking me? I don’t feel proud of myself for killing this person, I just reacted. You and the twins helped me out of the desert, I owe you guys, sure they shot at me, but even if they did and they would have killed me back then, there would probably be just as many dead people today anyway.”

Barbara can feel her face going red, she crosses her arms, turning away from Lupe to hide the tears swelling in her eyes.

“The evils done to these men do not outweigh the possible evils that could have befallen us, just because you favor one side above the other. I would have gladly given these men a few cows to survive, they have families too.”

“Ugh!” She kicks the dirt, again. “You’re just like my master. Always preaching about the moral relativism of the universe, while never taking action.”

“Good thing that preaching didn’t fall on deaf ears.” Chuckles Lupe. “Don’t mind me, I obviously just like winding you up.” She pats the floor next to her, and Barbara accepts the invitation. “Your spirit is noble, like that of a child, but your eyes are distant, like that of a disillusioned old fart, like me.” Lupe laughs, giving Barbara the chance to lighten up a bit. “Your master taught you all of the theories, now you have to go out and apply them yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems you know how to handle yourself. That has given you a level of confidence that is tough to shake out of, despite that, you also seem to have been instructed in the ways of humility, but it does not seem that you have mastered humility the way you have mastered slicing and slashing.”

Barbara remains silent, waiting for Lupe to continue speaking.

“Even now, you sit and listen, knowing I could insult you, or demean you at any moment. You might think your dexterity, or technique will be what will take you furthest on this death wish of a journey you’re embarking on, but it is this.” She puts her hand on Barbara’s shoulder, as she kneels before the grave of her victim, Barbara gives her a look of utter confusion. “Your ability to sit down, and think about your actions. If you ever lose a grip on yourself, I hope you look back on today, and are reminded of who you are, and what you are genuinely capable of.”