Sabez stared the large man down.

“Winner gains authority and gets to walk away with their life,” he said. "Loser must give up pursuit of the girl. Do you accept those conditions?”

“Yes,” the large man answered. He moved back and prepared his blade close to his body.

Sabez stepped away, keeping his blade at his side.

“What is he doing? Going for a walk?” Hector asked. “This is the guy whose hands we’re putting our lives in?”

“I’m ignoring you…” Mallory said out loud. He turned Tallow on her back.

“I… don’t have anything on hand to treat this,” he said. “I could try to use my mana, but-”

“Stop talking and let me watch the fight…” Tallow said.

Mallory nodded quickly.

Jon too was curious. He knew that he should have been scared, but instead, he felt a rush of excitement. It was warrior vs. warrior, each with their own support system behind them. For the first time, Jon felt like he was a true warrior. He just wished that no one had to die to prove a point.

He then felt Mercy’s hand crawl onto his. He held on to it.

He was also worried. He didn’t want anyone to die.

A female Vindazi member stepped up in between the two men and raised her hand.

“Hah!” She yelled, swinging her open hand down before backing away quickly.

Jon was astonished by the speed of the large man. He moved more swiftly than Jon could have imagined, even comparable to Mercy. Even Bal looked like he always had a head start on things before he started making a move.

This didn’t compare anything to what Sabez did. All it took was three movements.

The first was a quick weave directly towards the large man, deflecting his blade.

The second was Sabez grabbing the man’s arm and tossing him away so that the man’s entire back was exposed.

The third was a large strike down the man’s back. His cape split in half and blood quickly sprayed from the wound, just enough to mark the area around the man. Nothing more.

He crumpled to his knees before falling over.

“...I believe this battle is over,” Sabez said. “I claim your life for my own. And as it is mine, I have chosen to spare you, but I have given you a scar on your back to remind you of the pain you’ve given to my pupil, and by extent, your own clan.”

Sabez swung his blade towards the floor, clearing it of the last of the blood still hanging on to it.

“It is done,” he said afterward.

With that, the rest of the Vindazi knelt down to him.

They then sprinted off into two groups. The first group ran to the large man’s side.

The second group made their way towards Tallow.

Hector stood quickly and drew his sword, ready to fend them off. They stopped in range of the blade.

“Hector… I think they’re here to help…” Mallory said.

“Yeah, dummy… let’em through…” Tallow’s eyes were barely open.

“Hector…” Mercy said. “Let ‘em through…”

“It’s your funeral,” Hector said under his breath as he straightened up and put his sword back in its sheathe. He then crossed his arms and observed the scene.

The Vindazi went to work. One of them knelt next to Mallory, taking out a case attached to her waist.

Another man knelt down next to Mallory and nodded. Mallory struggled to pass Tallow’s body to them as they attended to her.

“Brother!” The large man had gained consciousness, drawing Sabez’s attention.

“To whom do I have the honor… to hand my life over.”

“...Sabez Sa-Alum,...of the interior fifth circle ”

There was a gasp from some of the Vindazi, even just at the mention of his name. Many of them stopped what they were doing to look at him. Others who hadn’t realized the first time slowly started turning to him as he listed his titles.

“And special point reconnaissance lead,” Sabez finished.

Hector rolled his eyes. “I’m surprised he doesn't fall over from the weight…”

The man had a look of pitiful astonishment on his face “Oh, I am a fool.”

“Yes, brother, you are,” Sabez responded. “But I forgive you. Now all of you get back to work! Make sure my pupil and this man are taken care of.”

“He’s so awesome…” Mercy whispered to Jon.

He nodded in agreement.

Sabez then walked over to Jon’s group.

“...My apologies. We may have to spend the night, but then, we shall be able to depart first thing to-”

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Hector shook his head in belief. “Who died and made you leader? That guy doesn’t count.”

“...You’re right,” Sabez said. “We are meant to act as a group. I may have come on too strongly.”

Hector realized he was receiving dirty looks from both Mallory and Mercy.

“Fool, we were gonna do that anyway,” Mallory said.

“Yeah, but context is everything,” Hector started to explain.

“Yeah, and in this context, you’re an asshole.” Mercy turned away and went back inside of the inn.

“Leadership can be a heavy strain on the head,” Sabez said. “I suppose you could go inside and reserve some rooms for us. I will take care of everything else.”

“...Yeah whatever… this blows...” Hector turned and went back to the inn.

“...I’m gonna go back in and make sure he doesn’t stab- err… break something,” Mallory said, right before he went inside himself.

“...Jon, your name was?” Sabez asked.

It took Jon a moment to realize that Sabez was talking to him.

“Yeah.” He nodded.

“Can you stay with my pupil?” Sabez asked. “As I attend to business out here. I believe they are ready to bring her inside.”

“Okay,” Jon said.

He went towards Tallow’s limp body and watched the Vindazi carry her to the inn. He held the door open for them and followed them until they carried her to the back.

Hector was already asking for a room, and told Jon and the others which way to go, much to his chagrin.

Once in a room, the Vindazi put Tallow onto one of the two beds.

“She will be okay to move by tomorrow,” one of them said. “She may need a few days to completely recover, but she’ll be okay.”

Jon nodded. “Thanks.” He didn’t know why he said it, but it felt right.

The Vindazi nodded and they all left the room silently. They were all pretty nice when they weren’t trying to hurt anybody.

Other than a large number of bandages on her body, Tallow seemed to be okay. She was sleeping peacefully.

Jon decided that he should just lay down as well, tired from everything that happened. Had it been that long of a day?

It would be the first time sleeping without any of the other farmers.

Jon couldn’t dwell on it for too long. He was asleep before then.

When he awoke, he heard a loud noise.

He looked over to the other bed. Tallow was still laying on her back, except now, her mouth was open, and she was snoring loudly.

...Like Ben… Jon thought, remembering his older brother making noise from the top bunk. It took a while to get used to, as his sister had just moved into her own room and switched with Ben.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too long until Jason left the house and Ben took that room over.

He sat up, realizing that he had gone to sleep holding on to his blunderbuss.

He thought about how tired he must have been when the snoring had suddenly stopped.

“Sabez… is that you?” Tallow tried to sit up but suddenly screamed.

“Ow….” She laid back down. “I thought these dimwits would do a better job! Being they opened up my stinkin' back in the first place!”

She then noticed Jon sitting at the end.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“...I’m -Jon-”

“You’re that farmer! With the shooting and spraying everywhere. Right…” She fell back onto the bed. “Right…”

The door opened. It was Mercy.

“Jon! I heard screaming and-” she stopped at the sight of Tallow.

“Oh, it’s you,” Mercy said.

“It’s you.” Tallow responded back.

“...Why do you hate me so much?” Mercy asked immediately.

“It’s not that I hate you, darling, I just hate princesses in general.” Tallow seemed to shrug, even from her position of lying on her back.

“I’m not a princess!” Mercy said. “How many times do I have to say it!”

“Yeah, cause princesses don’t have a bunch of soldiers come out of their way to make sure her pretty princess face can get home without getting hurt.”

“I didn’t ask for this!” Mercy said.

“Well, no, you didn’t ask to be a princess, did you?” Tallows said. “But guess what, as much as you want to deny it, how do you explain the giant hole in my back.”

Mercy looked like she was going to explode. Jon sat up in anticipation.

Instead, she inhaled and exhaled, her face becoming less red.

“Come on, Jon,” she said. “Let’s get outta here.”

“I’m supposed to watch her,” Jon said.

Mercy’s face suddenly became red again, making Jon shake.

“...Fine… she said. She left and slammed the door closed.

“...You can go with her if you want,” Tallow said. “Door’s open. I mean not, literally, but…”

Jon didn’t move. He turned his attention from the door to Tallow.

“...You’re doing that staring thing again,” she said.

“...No thanks,” Jon finally answered.

“I mean, shouldn’t you like, go check on your girlfriend or something. No need for you to be on her bad side on the basis of you babysitting me.”

Girlfriend?

“I’m supposed to watch you,” Jon said.

“...Okay…” Tallow shrugged again. “Do that then.”

They sat in silence.

Tallow began to fidget. “Okay, fine. You’re a farmer, right?”

Jon nodded.

“Which farm are you from?” she asked.

Farm? Did Jon remember?”

“...I don’t remember,” Jon said.

“You don’t remember?” Tallow sighed. “Okay then. Tell me, why’d you leave?”

“...I wanted to bring Mercy home,” Jon said.

“That’s it?” Tallow asked. “Bring the princess home?”

Jon nodded.

“..And then be on your merry way.”

“...Probably,” Jon said. He didn’t know what answer would be satisfactory. He didn’t have an answer for himself.

Jon expected Tallow to talk about herself, as most people had done after asking a ton of questions.

“Alright then.” Instead, she stood up from the bed.

Jon got ready to stand up as well, wanting to help her. Instead, she stretched towards the air. There was a large racking sound.

“So, that’s what it was. It wasn’t the wound. Those bastards just placed me on the bed all crooked. They can swing a sword but they can’t carry a body... That’s what happens when you get used to sleeping on hay… you forget how to put someone on a bed properly…”

She stretched her neck, then began to work on the rest of her body, talking to herself under her breath as she did so.

Jon hadn’t seen anything like this outside of Graves. He was excited to stay and watch.

Eventually, she turned towards him.

"Are you gonna just watch, or are you gonna join?" She asked.

on stood up to join with her.