"You couldn't wait until we reached the village?" I shot back at him.

They gave me bad vibes. I didn't like that they were waiting for us by the bushes. I didn't like that they surrounded us. I also didn't like the way they slowly approached us.

"You can get back to the village," the tanner said. "But he won't." He pointed at Nag.

"Those Song-folk, as you call them, would be still alive if it weren't for him," I said. "What do you have against him anyway?"

"We don't like his kind," the tanner said.

His voice was raspy, vulgar. He had a pretty big scar by his right cheek. One he poorly covered by patches of facial hair. The beard, of course, wouldn't grow on top of the scarred area. It just made him look like a bandit who didn't have the time, or the tools, to shave.

Nag advanced toward them, chest puffed out, his staff pointed at the tanner.

"Do you think you can beat me?" he asked.

He made sure his fangs were showing. He growled at them, actually growled. The others started retreating. Some whispered some insults. Others just muttered "Tsk!" as the moved back.

"N-no," the tanner stammered. "B-b-but they can!" he pointed behind us.

I turned to see Lord Bodrick's men. I recognized one of them, brown hair, a haughty att.i.tude. He was the one by the name of Johann. The black haired guard wasn't among them. They were acting on their own, I suspected.

"I don't think your Lord would like this," I told them.

"Lucky he's not here," Johann replied. "You don't look too good," he went on as he approached me.

The condescending look, and smile, he gave me served only to irritate me. I wanted nothing more than to cut him a new smile across his face. But I couldn't move properly, let alone wield a sword.

"Nag," I hissed at my friend. "Get the h.e.l.l out of here!"

Nag hesitated though. He gave the others enough time to completely surround us. There were at least fifteen of them, well-armed and protected. They drew their swords and pointed them at us.

"Going somewhere, friend?" Johann asked Nag.

He was standing next to me then. He shot me a mocking glance. His eyes travelled from my feet to my only remaining eye.

"Did you lose that eye fighting monsters?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

The guard smiled, revealing perfect, white teeth. Everything about that man annoyed me. From his perfect jaw to his ruffled hair, he had the looks to attract every woman's eyes. I was the complete opposite, and he made sure to remind me of that in his jeers.

"What kind of hideous monster would pull your eye out I wonder?" Johann asked. "I bet you wanted to f.u.c.k it. Only a beat would accept your ugly face!"

The other guards chuckled.

"It was a crone actually," I said. "She'd appear as a beautiful woman at first, unless you unmask her, and reveal her hideous face."

Johann looked at me and guffawed. I shot a side glance at Nag, urging him to move on, get away from this.

"Look who's talking!" Johann screamed. "You're uglier than any crone I've ever laid eyes on!"

The others roared in laughter.

"No surprise," I said, struggling to remain calm, "you're used to seeing crones. Did you inherit your hideous looks from your mother?"

A heavy silence fell. I didn't know how to get back at this perfect representation of a man in s.h.i.+ning armor. I went for the lowest blow of them all, insult his mother.

Johann kicked the crutch I used to keep my balance. My head heavily fell on the ground. My ears started ringing again. My vision became blurred.

"How about I make you pay first, for insulting my n.o.ble mother?" he whispered to my ringing ear.

He inserted his forefinger in the sport the monster had pierced me. Pain soared through me again. I struggled not to scream. I huffed and puffed, trying to regulate my breathing, trying to remain silent.

"I'll make you scream," the guard said. "I'll make you suffer, then take care of your friend there."

Johann took the crutch I used and broke it in half. He then inserted the broken tip into my injured leg. I screamed. My muscles tore. Blood flowed out and pain blinded me.

"That's more like it!" he said, satisfied. The manic look in his eyes irritated me. I wished I could wipe that smug smile off his face.

"Your mother would be proud…" I said in between wheezes. "You picked up her fingering skills quite nicely…"

Some guards snorted. Johan screamed in rage. He put his heavy boots to my stomach, then my injured shoulder, then my face. The world went dark. I was drifting in and out of consciousness.

"Johann," I heard one of the guards call out. "The tavern owner would expect one of them to come back. He'll report them missing, and the monsters are dead."

I blacked out after that. I opened my eyes later to find myself lying on the same floor. The guards were screaming. I couldn't see Nag anywhere. In fact, I couldn't see anything at all. It was dark, too dark to make out the slightest shape. I would've thought I went blind, but I could see my hands push against the ground as I tried to get up.

I felt gentle hands wrap themselves around me and heave me up. I screamed in pain. Some voice beside me hissed at me to stay quiet. Swords clashed and people kept screaming around me. I didn't know what was happening.

"Nag…" I weakly whispered.

"Your friend's fine," a murmur reached my ear again. "You gotta get out of here."

"Who… are… you?" I asked.

"Reach the village," the other voice whispered to me. I couldn't tell if it was male or female, but its owner had a peculiar way or rolling the "r". "Report them."

The darkness suddenly dissipated. I found myself lying at the village's entrance, bloodied and at the verge of pa.s.sing out. I fought the pain and used my sword as support to drag myself on the ground. I crawled until I reached the guards by the circular arch.

They came running, pointing their spears at me.

"Who goes there?" they asked.

"Morrison..." I said. "Take me to… Morris…"

I blacked out again.

Man… along with putting in people around me in danger, blacking out has become another one of my habits.

When I came to, I was lying on a comfortable bed. I heard people talking so I didn't open my eye.

"We can't be sure it's him," I heard Morrison say.

"You heard what the guards reported," someone with a grave voice replied. "Lord Bodrick requires a meeting! You can't refuse him Morrison."

"They have no proof," Morrison said. His voice sounded a little too stressed. "We have to wait for him to get up at least, hear his story."

"He might never open his eye again," the other one said. "Did you see his injuries? It's mercy, if you ask me."

"Well, I'm not asking you!" Morrison snapped. "He's my guest. No one's taking him away unless he gives us his own account."

"I'm awake!" I interrupted. I've heard enough. I was too late to reach the village I guess. Or, well, I arrived before the others but blacked out as soon as I did.

Morrison and the other man turned to look at me. I opened my eye. I was in a s.p.a.cious room, laid down on a four poster bed. I tried to get up but Wanda, who was sitting next to me, urged me to stay put.

Seeing her there almost gave me a heart attack. I didn't even sense her next to me. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I was using my senses then. I was too focused on eavesdropping on the two men.

"You're awake," the man beside Morrison said. "That would save us some trouble."

He turned to look at the tavern owner then. "Shall we get Lord Bodrick?" he asked.

Morrison nodded weakly. He shot me a miserable look then followed the man outside.

As soon as both of them left, I turned to look at Wanda. She was wearing a white ap.r.o.n on top of a brown s.h.i.+rt. Her simplicity made her all the more beautiful. I wished I could wake up to such a sight every day.

"Where's Nag?" I asked.

At the mention of his name, Wanda winced. Her small nose wrinkled, and thin creases formed between her minutely arched eyebrows.

"No one's seen him since he left with you," she replied. "People say you and Nag killed some of Lord Bodrick's men."

"What?" I said, incredulous. "They're dead?!"

I tried to get up but Wanda stopped me once more.

"Not all of them," she said. "Two died, others were heavily injured. Nag disappeared."

I straightened in bed, despite Wanda's protests. "I'm fine," I told her. "My injuries heal quite fast."

"Can your head st.i.tch itself back?" she asked. "Lord Bodrick wants retribution for the lives you took."

"I didn't take any lives," I said. "They attacked us. One of them tortured me, and I lost consciousness."

"You'll have a bad time convincing the mayor and Lord Bodrick," Wanda said. "They have witnesses, villagers who said they saw you attack them."

"f.u.c.k me sideways!" I swore. "Let me guess, it was that tanner and his gang, right?"

The door to the room sprung open. A tall man with light brown hair came rus.h.i.+ng into the room. His long black cape followed as his armor clanged against the wooden floor. Johann and the black haired guard followed closely behind him. I noticed that Johann wasn't wearing any armor.

"Is that him?" Bodrick asked. His voice was deep, threatening, inspiring command and order.

"Yes, my lord," Johann replied. His head was bowed down. His right arm was bandaged, as well as his right ear.

Lord Bodrick was about to speak. His mouth opened but no voice came out of it. In fact, the air itself grew still.

"It seems you found yourself in quite the pickle," Dif's voice resonated around me.

"Dif! You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Where have you been?" I asked.

"Watching you, of course," the old man said, calm as always.

"You're almost done a.s.similating that woman's Fragment," Dif went on. "I'm inclined to help you this time. I'll let you use your time stop spell. You can only use it three times per day now, lest the Fragment attacks you. Are we clear?"

"Why now?" I asked.

"I've grown to like you, Myles Stalwart," Dif said. "Misfortune seems to follow every one of your steps. I'm quite curious to see how you'll get out of this one."

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"Ha…ha…" I said, annoyed. "Thanks for the gift anyway."

"Don't mention it," the old man said. "We're out of time now. Fare thee well."