Mina’s back hit the ground and her breath left her in a whoosh. She winced and stared up at William. He stood over her, his legs bent slightly and his hands held up in fists in front of his face. Bruises and shallow cuts covered her entire body and she ached everywhere. 

These sparring matches she’d started with William and Renault were no joke. They didn’t go easy on her and they’d both forbidden her from using her Spirit’s power because she may not always be able to rely on them. 

She knew that was true, but there wouldn’t be that many cases that it would happen. In the two years she’d only not been able to use her fire three times. She’d managed to survive all three encounters. Albeit, through sheer luck, but that wasn’t the point. 

William held his hand out towards her and she took it. He pulled her to her feet, grabbed her arm, and then in one smooth motion he kicked her feet out from under her and she was on her back again with his heavy foot on her chest.

“The spar wasn’t over. You shouldn’t trust who you’re fighting against, even if you consider them a friend or companion.” William removed his foot from her chest. “We’ll call the spar over here.”

He held his hand out again and Mina stared at it warily before she got up by herself. Her muscles screamed in pain at her. Between the walking all day and then the hour or two of sparring afterwards, she was exhausted. This had been going on for two days, she needed a break.

“We will pause sparring tomorrow. We’re almost at the next village, and if there are orcs there then you’ll need to be rested.” Renault lounged against a tree, a long piece of grass sticking out of his mouth as he chewed on the stalk. The plain that they were making their way through was slowly becoming more and more populated by trees.

She nodded to Renault. Thank the gods a break. Sort of. There would still be a lot of walking to be done. She held her hands above her head as she got her breathing back under control, as William had taught her to do. 

She walked over to a tree that was a few feet from the one that Renault was at and sank down against it; she barely noticed the scape of the bark against her skin. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the trunk.

She opened her eyes when she heard William walk over and he handed her and Renault both a ration bar. She still hadn’t seen him without his helmet off, and he always seemed to inhale his food if he ate in front of them before they could even look at him. It was impressive, and slightly concerning. 

“I’ll secure the area and make sure there aren’t any signs of orcs,” the large man said. He walked off after taking the resinous coating off his own. 

Mina watched him walk off and turned to look at Renault. His hat sat on the ground next to him and his eyes were closed. He seemed to be enjoying the sun. 

He had small wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, a think scar intersected the end of his eyebrow and trailed off towards his ear. His lips were narrow and he had a sharp, narrow jaw-line with high cheek bones and a decently sized nose. It didn’t detract from his face though. 

Her eyes trailed down to his neck, following the line of his tunic. From what she could see of his chest, he had a light spattering of dark hair and he was toned. It was difficult to tell with how loose-fitting his clothes were, but she’d seen the way he could move; he was as fluid as water and precise as a viper. Only someone that was in shape and confident of their abilities could do that. 

His hands had long, calloused fingers. More think scars covered each of the individual digits and the larger part of his hands and wrists.

“Like what you see, wench?”

Her gaze shot back up to his face. His eyes were open and he stared at her. She scowled at him, her face turned slightly red at being caught.

“I wasn’t admiring you, I was simply observing.” Her words sounded false and hollow, even to her own ears.

“Is that so?” He smirked and those grey eyes filled with mischief. “That’s why your eyes lingered on my chest and then ventured down further?” 

“I was looking at your hands!” she protested, her face heating up even more at the implication. 

“Sure you were.” He started to laugh and winked at her. Mina just glared at him. She picked up a small stick from the ground and threw it at him. He didn’t move as it hit him in the middle of the forehead.

That fucking smirk never left his mouth as he picked the stick up from his lap where it had fell and casually flicked it back at her. It hit her in the middle of the throat before she even realized what he was doing. Her hand went up to her throat and she blinked at him. 

“That was good aim, if it had been a dagger, I’d be dead. You project you intention far to blatantly though. You didn’t need to move your whole arm like that.”

Mina scowled and crossed her arms. “I thought we were done with training? I don’t want anymore lessons today.”

“Not a lesson, just some friendly advice. Not my fault if you don’t want to hear it. It could save your fine ass someday.”

“My what?”

“Your life?”

“That is not what you said.”

“Aye, I said your fine ass. It is a nice ass too, all things considered. It’s just too bad that the wench it’s attached to is a wee bit of a cunt.”

Mina’s mouth gaped open. He did not just call her that. The nerve! “Excuse me? A cunt? Who the fuck gave you the right to call me that?”

“The fact that I can beat your ass and you can’t touch mine?” The smirk turned into a full-blown grin. “Though, if you ask nicely, I might let you touch it.”

“I would never touch you in anyway except to strangle you as you sleep,” she snarled. 

“Feisty, feisty,” he chuckled and then glanced up as William approached them. 

“Didn’t find any signs of orcs, so we should be good,” he said as he walked up to them. He looked between the two of them and tilted his head. “The two of you okay?”

“Fine,” she bit out between clenched teeth. 

“Aye, we’re quite alright, aren’t we wench?” there was that fucking smirk again.

“Go fuck yourself.”

“That’s not a bad idea, I’ve not been able to do that since we left, care to help?”

Mina’s lips curled back into a snarl of disgust. 

“Alright, alright, I’ll go do it meself then.” He stood and walked off in the opposite direction that William had come from.” 

There was a metallic thud next to her as William sat down against the tree Renault had been leaning against moments before. 

“Are you okay Miss Mina?” he asked her. 

“Fine.” she frowned and glanced at him, guilt gnawing at her stomach from the short, curt response. He hadn’t deserved that. William hadn’t been anything except polite and kind to her. “Sorry, that wasn’t fair of me. You didn’t do anything. He just…He just fucking irritates me so much.”

William was silent for a moment and then nodded. “I can see that, and understand why. You two are very similar, I think. It’s why you butt heads. I can’t say much more than though, I don’t know either of you well enough to really comment.”

She snorted, “Similar? Hardly. He’s crass and rough and doesn’t give a fuck about other people.”

William didn’t say anything, just stared at her. She could see the glint of green eyes through the helmet. “If you say so, Miss Mina.” He stood with a grunt and walked over to the middle of the camp and started to dig a hole for the fire. 

She frowned. What was that supposed to mean? She was nothing like Renault. How could William even compare the two of them?

They didn’t speak any further and Renault walked back with an armful of branches, twigs, and dead leaves. “I got kindling,” he called out. He dropped the armful of debris into the hole that William had dug. He barely stepped out of the way before Mina lit it on fire. 

 

The next day found the three of them packing up the camp quietly. Mina’s muscles ached and it hurt to walk, but it wasn’t horrible. She’d be able to do travelling today without too much of an issue. 

Birds chirped cheerfully as they walked and a rabbit ran into the grass in alarm when they got too close. They sky was a dreary, miserable grey. She glanced up at it as something cold landed on her nose. Small, white flecks descended from the sky. She looked around, it landed on the ground and then disappeared. She pulled William’s coat even tighter around her body as she shivered. 

“Are you okay?” William asked. He and William had both stopped and looked back at her. 

“I’ve never seen snow before,” she said. She’d never had a reason to travel this far south. She’d planned on it eventually, but she’d been so busy taking care of the orcs further to the north she just hadn’t had the chance yet. The village she grew up in was too close to the desert of Bara for it to snow. She held her hand out and one of the white flakes landed on her skin and dissolved. 

“Really? You’ve never been this far south?” Renault turned so he was facing her completely.

“Never had a reason too. Was busy dealing with the orcs near the forest and plains. Hadn’t had a chance to come down this way yet.” she shrugged and tucked her hand back into the coat. “Don’t really do well with the cold either,” she muttered.

“I thought you didn’t feel the cold?” Renault asked.

She frowned and glared at him. There wasn’t a point in replying to him. It would just result in a repeat of the previous day and she didn’t have the energy to deal with him. She started to walk, ignoring him as she brushed by Renault. William fell into pace next to her. 

“Just ignoring me? That’s a wee bit rude.” Renault caught up and walked on her other side.  

Mina thinned her lips and refused to answer him. Why had she even invited this guy along? She’d known nothing about it him. What was wrong with her? She just saw how good he was with a sword and thought that they’d mesh? Yeah, that was fucking stupid of her. 

Could they just leave him at the village? They didn’t really need him. She had William, a third person wasn’t necessary. Helpful, sure, but necessary? Not really. 

He only cared for himself, refused to work with her at all. There was no way they’d ever get along. Yeah, leaving him at the village would be for the best. 

What even was his agenda? He’d refused to come with her initially just because she couldn’t pay him but suddenly changed his mind? Why? What was his goal? 

“Why did you even come with me?” she asked. It had been silent for a bit. 

“Oh, now you want to talk to me? Imagine that. She speaks!” Renault held his hand to his chest, as though his heart caused him great pain.

“Never fucking mind. Forget I asked,” she muttered.

William looked down at the two of them, “No fighting, please. We’re all friends here.”

“We are not friends,” she said immediately.

Renault looked taken aback by her words. “Aye, I could never be friends with a wench like her. I have dignity.”

Mina started to say something, but her eyes went wide as a large shadow fell over her from behind. William was still in front of her, as was Renault. 

She didn’t even have time to react before the swordsman darted past her, sword in hand. Hot liquid splattered across her back and on the ground in front of her. The black blood was a stark contrast against the snow that had begun to stick to the earth.

She whirled around, butterflies materializing all around her, steam coming from them as the snow hit them. 

A large orc lay at Renault’s feet, his throat split open and that same dark blood dripping from the swordsman’s blade. It wasn’t the only one there though. Six more spanned the area behind them.

Where the fuck had they even come from? There hadn’t been any sort of indication of their presence.

William didn’t hesitate and his warhammer that was usually strapped to his back was in one of his hands. He swung it towards the orc closest to him. The orc held its arm up to block the hammer, but was thrown several feet to the side. Mina didn’t have time to survey the scene any further as the smallest of the orcs charged at her, screaming as it advanced.

The butterflies acted on their own and swarmed the orc. Its battlecry devolved into screams of pain as its skin burned black and melted away.

Pain erupted across her back and she was thrown forward. The fuck hit her? She whirled around, more butterflies manifesting around her. There wasn’t anything there. 

The first orc that had charged at her did so again, swinging its club towards her head. She barely got out of the way before the weapon made contact. The force of impact leaving a small crater on the ground. 

Her eyes didn’t leave the orc as it circled her. She kept her front to it. She summoned more of her power and the fluttering insects converged on the beast. Its cries of agony stopped suddenly and the butterflies dissipated leaving nothing behind but a burnt corpse. 

She turned to find her next target and drew up short. The other five were already dead. Renault and William had taken out five orcs in the time it had taken her to take out one. What the fuck? How?

“Behind you!” A voice rang out in her hand. 

She started and whipped around, only to once again see nothing. That didn’t stop her from flying backwards and hitting a tree, though. Something slammed into her stomach and she doubled over in pain.

Renault and William rushed over to her.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Williamed asked, looking around. 

“I…I don’t know. I…I didn’t see anything.” Mina coughed and stared in shock at the stark crimson that had left her mouth. 

Pain erupted across her chest and a gash appeared there. Her hand went to the wound and she stared at the blood on her hand in shock. 

Renault froze and his eyes closed. He seemed so calm given the current situation. His eyes flew open and he moved faster than her eyes could follow. His sword striking out mere inches from William. The middle of his blade disappeared and black blood dripped from either side. 

The smallest orc she’d ever seen appeared out of thin air. Renault glanced around and closed his eyes again. He reopened them a moment later. 

“That was the last of them,” he muttered. He produced a cloth from the folds of his clothing and wiped the blood from his blade before he sheathed it.

How did you fi-” Mina took a step forward and then her entire world started to spin and she collapsed.