A wet gurgle. The thud of a body falling in front of me.

It was all so distant in this world turned black.

A familiar voice cut through the darkness, and my conscious mind crawled to the light.

Wake up!

My eyes fluttered open.

Van Lagos stood with a confused expression on his face. I followed his gaze to the ground and grimaced.

Lira lay at his feet, the butt of my dagger sticking out of her throat. She stared up at him, her eyes bulging as she tried to speak. Blood poured from her wound, making her voice come out in chokes and gasps.

Van Lagos threw down his weapon and knelt over the dying woman. With delicate hands, he pulled the dagger out of her throat and pressed his palm to her neck.

"Why? Why would you do that?"

His voice was soft. His face was caught between anger and disbelief.

I understood why.

He was foulborn. For a noble to sacrifice herself for someone like him… It was unthinkable.

Lira's bloodied lips twitched into a smile. She raised a trembling hand to cup the side of his face.

"Now… Now, you see me," she said with a rasp.

Her hand went limp. Her head lolled to the side. Van Lagos caught her hand as it fell, resting it against her chest. He closed his eyes, observing a moment of silence.

I watched.

I would not run away from the horrors I caused, and I couldn't even if I wanted to. I used most of my remaining will in that last attack. Now, my arms and legs were as dead as any corpse that littered the battlefield. And soon, the rest of me might follow.

"That was the second person you've stolen from me, Jacob," Van Lagos said.

His eyes were still closed, and his voice was raw with new and old grief. I glanced from the bloody dagger gripped in his fist to the neutral mask of his face. He was going to kill me, but maybe there was still a chance.

"I didn't want this, Van. You should have let us go."

Van Lagos opened his eyes to glare at me. They were flat and hard. The eyes of a wild animal about to attack.

"I was raised among criminals, scoundrels, and black hearted beasts of every stripe. Those that survive do not let betrayal go freely, and you, Jacob, have betrayed me more times than I can count."

"Four times... that I remember…"

"You condemn yourself?"

"No, I'm making a point."

I jerked my chin over my shoulder. Van Lagos' eyes flicked to the battlefield.

"Is this worth fourth betrayals, Van? How much are you willing to pay?"

His eyes widened.

The battle was over. What was left of the Lagos cartel was fleeing Southsun on their remaining horses. Castille, Isla and the mercenaries were marching to our position.

Van Lagos bared his teeth.

"I will pay what is required of me because I am already dead. You killed my heart, Jacob. The people who loved me when I don't even love myself. All that is left is a husk of man… and vengeance."

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He threw my dagger. It carved through the air, flying at my face.

I willed it back into my left hand, almost blacking out from the effort.

Van Lagos let out a frustrated roar and lunged at me. As he stepped over Lira's body, a wall of earth erupted between us.

The force sent me rolling on the ground until I bumped into familiar feet.

"You're late," I said, looking up at Castille.

She shrugged, her eyes focused on the wall in front of us.

"I was busy. We came as soon as we could."

A moment later, Isla walked up next to Castille with the mercenaries a few steps behind them. A flood of conflicting emotions washed over me: relief that she was unharmed and unease at her being so close.

"Jacob, are you OK?!" She asked.

"Never better."

THUD!

A fist punched through Isla's wall. It withdrew, leaving a darkened hole and two red eyes staring at us. They caught in the moonlight, giving them an otherworldly gleam.

"This isn't over!" Van Lagos screamed.

"Isla!"

"Right!"

Isla reached out and balled her right hand into a fist.

The wall melted. Its texture shifted from dry earth to mud. It fell over the Dahlgeshi like a wave.

Incredible.

Her hands weren't even touching the ground.

How much better had she gotten?

"ARGH!!!"

Van Lagos' muffled yell snapped me out of my admiration. The mud wrapping around him lightened from brown to beige.

He was heating the mud like clay over a fire!

Jagged cracks spiderwebbed across the hardening surface. Isla narrowed her eyes. She thrust her left hand forward seconds before Van Lagos' earthen cocoon exploded.

"BOOM!!!"

A hail of flaming debris met a wave of Isla's water. I raised a dirty sleeve to my face as steam filled the night air. Over the hiss of cooling rocks, Van Lagos' voice rang out.

"Jacob, can you hear me?! I will cremate Lira's body as my honour demands, and then the hunt begins. I will find you and I will kill you."

Isla cleared the mist, leaving an empty road with scattered rocks. Van Lagos' scimitar and Lira's body were gone. I followed the voice to its source, the entrance of the house Lira punched me through.

In the darkened door, two red eyes glared at me.

"I'll be ready," I said.

"No… You won't."

Isla shot a stream of water through the entrance, and the red eyes vanished.

"There's a hole in the back of the house," I said to Castille.

She nodded and looked over her shoulder.

"You three, track him down. If he engages, keep your distance."

The archers who ambushed me in the house with Took nodded their heads and stalked forward to investigate the home.

"What about me?" Isla asked.

"You start healing. Beginning with this one."

She nudged me with her boot.

"The rest of you gather the wounded."

"But what if the Dahlgeshi comes back?" A young mercenary asked.

Castille shook her head.

"You heard the man. He'll burn his dead first, as should we."

There were grunts and nods of agreement from the mercenaries. Castille furrowed her brows.

"While you're at it, set up lookouts and patrols at the edge of the village. Van Lagos may have run, but the others may come back."

More nods of agreement. Castille looked at the mercenaries and frowned.

"What are you standing around for? You know what to do. Now go."

A small crowd of mostly old men dispersed to go about their tasks. Isla knelt over me. She reached out her hand, and I recoiled.

"Wait!"

She stopped.

"What?"

"I-I'm fine, just tired… and dirty. They need it more," I said, pointing my chin at the mercenaries."

Isla gave me a strange look before she nodded and walked away. Castille raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She stood next to me like a silent guard, watching the doorway as the three mercenaries disappeared through the entrance. After a long moment of silence, I spoke.

"What happened after I left?"

Castille jerked to the side, as if she forgot I was there.

"Oh! Yeah… We were a few minutes behind you when we heard the explosion. Isla made a quiet corner to tuck away Dugan and Thor while we looked for you. When you led Ruga's mercenaries to the edge of the village…"

She smirked.

"I got the gist of your plan."

"How did you get the mercenaries on your side?"

Castille scoffed.

"Old men, old habits. Obey the commander. Protect the noble. Most of these men fought on the border. When Took vanished, they fell back to what's comfortable."

"Like muscle memory."

Castille grunted in agreement. Less than an hour around these mercenaries, and the Northern woman was acting like them.

Old habits...

"Do you trust them?"

"Spirits no. So, the more we keep them worried about Dahlgeshi and bandits lurking around, the less likely they'll get any ideas about us."

"The enemy of my enemy…"

She snorted.

"Rugar may pay them, but his word and gold carry little weight this far from the capital. We're here. We saved them, and we're healing their wounds. They owe us a debt, let's see how far they go to pay it back."

I winced.

"I don't know. I did kill a lot of them."

Castille crossed her arms.

"They're mercenaries, they'll get over it."

She smirked.

"But stay away from them… Just in case"

I tried to laugh. It came out as a dry wheeze that ended with a cough.

"That won't be a problem."

I reassembled my weapon and leaned back to stare up at the night sky. The moon was bright, surrounded by dozens of winking stars. I exhaled, and my body relaxed like an unclenched fist. A wide smile split my face.

"We did it... We survived, and we still have all that gold."

"Aye…"

I furrowed my brows.

"Something wrong?"

Castille huffed, putting her hands on her hips.

"Jacob… Am I a bad person?"

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