The third day started off smooth and they were making good time. They expected to arrive at Yeofer around midday. The landscape in all directions was now a vibrant green. Most of the color was the grass that took the place of the desert but in front of them, they could see small farmsteads cropping up along the road and off to the sides.

About an hour outside of the small town, a woman came running up to the road in tears. Her clothes were ripped and bloodied, and tears had streaked down her face clearing small paths through the dirt that covered her. She explained that her husband was injured, and they had been attacked by bandits. Between sobs, she begged them to follow her and help. They dismounted and she led them across an empty farm toward a collection of small buildings a few hundred yards away. Their approach led them to the back of a farmhouse. It was a smaller one-story structure. The back had a few windows along a plain wooden wall. As they drew near, the woman sped up her pace appearing to become somewhat hysterical. She moved around the right side of the building disappearing from site. The team moved around the right side of the building as well leaving their mounts in a shaded area against the house. Fields pushed away to the right and in front of them.

They turned the corner of the house to find the woman missing but they could hear her calling out from inside the house. Across from them was a stable with no animals and to the left of the stable was another barn, likely for storage. The front door to the farmhouse was open and the group started moving that direction. They approached the house but before they could enter, a large man suddenly filled the doorway. The group’s mood changed in an instant, understanding dawning on them that this was a trap. They were instantly armed backing away from the house. The man moved out of the door followed by two other men of equal size. Each one was wearing a rag tag collection of armor and holding a sword. The woman then moved out of the house, her demeanor changing from the hysterical wife to the cunning thief. She had a smile spread across her face that conveyed how cunning she thought she was.

“Hand over everything and we might let you live.” She said, her tone menacing. Azuriel moved to the front of the small group making the three men that flanked the bandit hesitate as they moved nearer.

“You do not want to do this. There are more of us, and I don’t think you appreciate your situation.” Azuriel said with confidence.

His comment was met with a maniacal laugh from the woman as she raised her arms out around the area. “More of you? I don’t think YOU appreciate YOUR situation,” she said. The team glanced around the area to find six more men exiting the other buildings. Two had moved from the storage barn and four had edged out of the shadows of the stables. All six were holding bows aimed toward the group. The woman laughed again but stopped as she noticed a still confident Azuriel standing and staring back at her.

“This does not have to end in bloodshed. You can still walk away.” Azuriel said with a hesitantly hopeful tone, knowing what would happen next. His confidence caused the men in front of the house to go from hesitation to a complete halt in their slow advance. They turned to await orders from their boss.

She paused a moment as she looked at the team in front of her and then called out, “Angel first, then the rest will fall.” This comment was meant as the order for her team to attack, but every one of the companions were preparing for this inevitability. Luckily, the past week of practicing different scenarios had synchronized their strategy and how to utilize their newfound skills. Hearing the woman call for Azuriel’s death first, Sam new who the archers would target. He placed his protection ability over Azuriel before phasing away to the two furthest archers. Bard activated his living armor and placed himself between the set of four archers and Alannah knowing she would be the most exposed as she activated her abilities. Lucas exchanged his sword for his bow as he turned toward the group of four archers near the stables. Time slowed around Sanders, and he seemed to simultaneously throw his poisonous dagger at one of the four archers and then start moving toward the men at the house. All of this happened in the first few seconds of the battle, but the ambushers were not sitting idly by while the team put their attack in motion. Of the four archers, the two by the barn and two by the stables had released their arrows at Azuriel as expected. Sam’s protective spell blocked three of the arrows but one tore through Azuriel’s right wing. The other two archers had aimed at the rest of the group. One was directed at Alannah but ended up thudding off Bard’s armor. The other caught Lucas in his left leg dropping him to one knee. The three men near the house started to rush the group while the woman pulled out a crossbow leveling it at Azuriel. She released the bolt, but Azuriel was facing this attacker and was able to deflect the bolt enough that it skidded off the side of his leather chest piece.

Azuriel started moving toward the three incoming attackers knowing the archers behind him would be taken care of. One of the three attackers in front was interrupted before he could even get two feet forward. Sanders had used the rest of his ability to clear the few feet to the house and plant his axe in the man’s side. The axe sunk a few inches deep just above the man’s hip causing him to collapse onto that side dropping to his left knee. This action pinched the axe in place and pulled Sanders off balance. Despite the severe blow, the attacker was able to grit through the injury and pulled Sanders to the ground after seeing he was off balance. Sanders let go of the blade and rolled with the fall trying to separate himself from the larger man. The roll worked but the man was able to catch Sanders upper thigh with a sword swing as he rolled away. Sanders preferred his axe, but he always kept spare weapons in his spatial pouch just in case and he removed a spear as he finished his roll. The man had regained his feet and pulled the axe out of his side tossing it to the ground. He took a few unbelievable steps towards Sanders before the severity of the wound caught up with him and he realized his mistake in removing the weapon. Blood had started to flow in waves from his wound, and he became dizzy stumbling forward, dropping to his hands and knees. Sanders thrust forward with the spear sinking the spear through the man’s shoulder into his chest. As he thrust forward, he felt a bolt find an opening in his armor. It connected just under his outstretched spear arm breaking a rib and puncturing a lung.

Azuriel squared off against the other two attackers, waiting for them to make the first move. One held a spear and the other a war hammer. Despite their large size, they were still a foot shorter than Azuriel. The man with the war hammer was of the same muscular build, however. They attempted to take advantage of their two on one fight and sent opposing strikes at Azuriel. One sent a spear thrust toward Azuriel’s abdomen while the other swung the war hammer in a sweeping arc aimed at his upper torso. Azuriel deflected the spear thrust with his left hand while sending the swinging hammer high with his sword. As he deflected the spear, he grabbed the shaft and pulled the first man closer to him. He turned the blade into a downward slice after connecting with the war hammer and sliced clean through the man’s arm. The second ambusher had reversed the war hammer and it came back colliding with Azuriel’s chest. Since the war hammer’s momentum was reversed, it did not have the same power behind it but was still enough to stagger Azuriel backward. The enemy spear Azuriel still held came with him. He regained his footing and moved back toward the lone warrior. The one-armed spearman was clutching his bleeding stump running toward the side of the farmhouse. Azuriel feinted with a spear thrust causing the man to attempt a block with the war hammer. This exposed his left side to Azuriel’s sword which found its mark in the man’s chest. The leather armor was not strong enough to stop a strike from the angel and the sword slid easily into the chest piece piercing the man’s heart. He collapsed to the ground. Another bolt shot toward Azuriel before he could turn his attention to the bandit leader. He had time to move one of his large wings in front of his face and the bolt thudded into the thicker skin of his wing. He knew the bolt had a poison on it as soon as it hit but he didn’t need much time to finish off the woman. She was reloading the crossbow for a fourth shot when Azuriel’s newly acquired spear shot through her abdomen pinning her body to the wall of the farmhouse.

It took Sam two phase movements to clear the distance to the pair of archers. It allowed him to arrive in front of the archers as they were preparing a second shot. He sent a swing of his axe toward the archer on his right while thrusting at the archer on the left. The first archer was able to react and move his bow in front of the axe swing. It caused the swing to hit low and caught the man in his kneecap making him drop the bow. The axe thudded into the man’s knee getting stuck between the leg bones as the man collapsed to the ground. The sword thrust was also intercepted by the other man’s bow causing it to miss completely. Sam let go of the trapped axe and turned his attention to the other attacker. He still held the bow in one hand but had drawn a short sword with the other. He swung out with the shaft of the bow followed closely by an angled swing of the short sword. Sam side-stepped the bow and blocked the short sword with his own. He used his free hand to punch the man in the throat causing him to stagger backward slightly. Sam didn’t relent and mirrored the man’s movements keeping him within striking distance. A second punch followed the first causing the man to drop the bow and swing wildly with the sword. Sam ducked under the swing catching the man’s wrist after it had passed. He was too close to angle his blade toward the man, so he pulled the arm straight and drove the hilt of his sword into the back of the man’s elbow. A loud crunch resounded causing a hoarse scream from the man as he dropped the sword. Still holding the wrist, he pulled the man off balance to the right and drew the sword back before plunging it into the man’s side straight through both lungs. He pulled the sword free to find the other attacker had removed the axe and had positioned himself on one knee while loading an arrow pointed at Sam. Sam phased as his attacker’s bow twanged with the release of the arrow. The movement placed Sam to the man’s side and a quick stab through the man’s neck ended his life as well.

Bard’s protective stance gave Alannah the time she needed as she sent her vines at the four archers. It could not stop the initial volley of arrows, but the vines quickly jumped from the earth wrapping around their legs and even pulling two bows out of their hands. She followed up her ability by pulling out her bow and sending blue streaks of death toward the foursome. She hit the leftmost archer first, sinking an arrow into his shoulder and then into the center of his chest. Lucas’s first shot at the archers was off because he was releasing his arrow as he was hit in the leg. It still caught one of the archers in the arm. He followed with another shot as the archers tried to pull free of the vines. His second shot was true and caught one of the middle archers in the face. Sanders’ dagger had sunk into the rightmost archer’s abdomen. The leather armor had stopped most of the force, but the poison on the dagger only needed a small nick in the skin to take effect. He had pulled the vines off his upper body quickly, intending to fire another shot at the team. As he laid the arrow on his bow, the poison announced itself in his body with his arms growing weak and drooping down. Next his legs weakened followed by a slow shut down of his body causing him to slump. The multitude of vines around his lower half held him up in an unnatural position. The last archer struggled violently against the onslaught of vines. His bow had been wrenched from his hands and he had watched the three other bandits close to him drop within moments. He finally pulled his arms free of the vines and started to unsheathe his sword. He was hoping he could cut the vines loose and make a run for it, knowing his group had chosen the wrong people to ambush. As he raised his sword a second time to clear off the last remaining vines, he felt two arrows thud into his body. Both arrows landed in his chest with enough power to penetrate the leather armor and puncture his heart and lungs. He stared down at the arrows a moment before collapsing into a heap on the ground.

Sam turned back toward the four archers after finishing off his two. He watched the last archer fall with two arrows in his chest. He turned toward Azuriel and the group closer to the house. Azuriel had just launched a spear at the woman. Two of the warriors were down and from his position, Sam could see the last warrior in a full sprint along the side of the house back toward the road, blood spurting from a severed arm. He started moving that direction with the first phase bringing him close to the front of the house. Before he could phase a second time after the runaway, he noticed Sanders collapsed on the other side of Azuriel. He didn’t hesitate to adjust his destination and phased twice more in quick succession appearing close to the fallen Sanders. He was alive but was struggling to breath and had a bolt protruding from under his right arm. He grabbed the bolt slowly, pulling it free as he focused his healing energy on the wound. He was using the energy to help force the arrow out from the inside to avoid breaking off the arrow in Sanders’ lung. Sanders was doing his best to be tough, but a short profanity filled scream emerged as the arrow was pulled back across his ribs. Azuriel had stepped up behind Sam as he pulled the arrow free and told him about the poison. Sam focused his healing on the lung first closing the puncture until Sanders breathing became less ragged. He then focused on Sanders’ blood slowing purifying the poison that was already circulating in it. This poison was not as severe as the death snake poison, and it took Sam another few minutes to fully cleanse. He left Sanders with the broken rib and puncture wound for now and turned his attention to Azuriel. Azuriel was holding the poisoned bolt in one hand and nodded to his wing as the point of entry. Sam cleansed the angel’s blood as well. Lucas had taken an arrow in the leg but had been able to remove it himself and limp over to the group. Sam turned back to Sanders, healing him up the rest of the way. He then fixed up Lucas, and Azuriel went last with the bolt and arrow wounds in his wings. Bard and Alannah had moved toward the woman that was still pinned to the house. She had dropped the crossbow when she was hit and no longer posed a threat.

“We told you how this was going to end.” Bard said with a mix of condescension and superiority.

“This isn’t … over. He won’t let … you get away with …” She sputtered out between coughs of blood.

“Who won’t?” Alannah asked but was greeted with a large sputter of blood from the woman as she fell across the shaft of the spear, unmoving. Bard and Alannah searched the house and found two bodies in the bedroom. They assumed it was the farmer and his wife. Luckily, there were no children in the house. As Sanders slowly recovered his stamina, Sam helped Lucas loot the bodies. There wasn’t really any amazing gear amongst the dead except for the crossbow the leader had used. The crossbow itself wasn’t magical but what impressed Sam was its size. It was less than half the size of a normal crossbow. The bolts were not about damage but more of a delivery option for poison. He put the crossbow into his pouch as they collected the rest of the items. They collected the money from the ambushers and would sell the basic gear in the village. They did take time to bury the farmers and left the other bodies in a pile by the stables. They didn’t want to take the chance of burning the bodies and leave the fire unattended.

It was less than an hour after setting off from the farm that they rode into the village. The edge of the village was really just an increase in the concentration of farmhouses. This gave way to two rows of houses on either side of the main street. At the far end of the street was the town inn which was their destination for the night. The houses they passed were a single story of simple wooden construction. The group trotted through the small town passing a general store on the right. This abutted the inn, so they dismounted and tied up the horses on a post between the two. The team split up with Azuriel, Bard, and Sanders heading toward the inn to reserve a few rooms. Lucas, Alannah, and Sam moved toward the general store. The general store was also a one-story building that was the equivalent size of two of the earlier houses. The outside of the store was barren, lacking even a name over the entrance. Inside, there were several display tables set up amongst the room as well as shelves of items against the walls. There was a loose organization with most of the items up front pertaining to everyday living such as foods and other essentials. To the right were seeds and other farming supplies. Further back in the store on the right was farming equipment. An open door in the back showed a small smithy where an older man was inspecting a horseshoe he had just made. The back wall had a wooden display case with an older woman standing behind it. She was a short woman with frazzled grey hair and a face full of freckles that filled out at the cheeks. She wore a plain brown tunic and pants over her girthy midsection. She stared at the group with a disapproving look as they entered. They moved past the middle tables and noted some gear such as swords and spears leaning against the back left wall.

“Good afternoon, ma’am. We were hoping to sell some items and see what you had in stock.” Lucas said as they approached. At his respectful greeting, her posture relaxed slightly but her face remained stern.

“We don’t have much these days but everything we do have is out on these shelves. Not sure we can really buy what you’re selling anyways.” The lady said curtly. Sam started to unload the leather armors and weapons they had pulled off the bandits earlier. At this, the lady’s eyes widened slightly, her posture hardening once again. She called toward the door, “Shamus!”. She then turned back to the group as the larger blacksmith moved to the entrance of the door. “You think you can kill our boys and then sell their stuff back to us.” She accused, her voice rising to a yell. At this accusation, Shamus started moving toward Sam with his smithing hammer cocked threateningly.

“Ma’am. We got these from some bandits that ambushed us just outside town.” Lucas shot out before the situation got out of hand. This made the blacksmith stop and lower his hammer. The shop keep seemed flustered upon hearing this and she started shaking her head, stammering, “I’m sorry.” The three companions just looked awkwardly to each other not really understanding what just happened. Shamus moved over to her and pulled her into his chest wrapping her in a hug. He explained that one of the young men from town that they had unofficially adopted had disappeared recently. He had started out as the blacksmith’s apprentice, but the couple had soon fallen into more of a parental role toward the younger man. Although most adults enter this world around their mid-twenties, if you were younger than that when you passed, you would enter Eternity’s Gate with a younger avatar. Apparently, the young man had joined several other men from the small village to try and run off a group of bandits that had set up camp about a day from here. The group left home a week ago and never returned. They had assumed them all dead but didn’t have enough people to form another party to go looking. Their town had been harassed by these bandits for close to three weeks. It had started as raids on outlying farmsteads but had progressed to ambushing travelers. There was even a raid on the town itself which led to the formation of a search party to find the bandits. They had tried to get word to the military camp to ask for help. Lucas had not heard of any needs like this but would ask Azuriel when they met back up. They apologized for upsetting the couple and left the basic gear on the table.

“If this gear belonged to the town before, then it still belongs to your people,” Lucas said.

“Thank you for understanding and for this gift. You should speak with Jasper. He acts as the unofficial town mayor. You can usually find him next door at the inn.” The blacksmith said in his gruff voice as the woman continued to sob into his leather apron. The team thanked them and left the store.

They moved next door to the inn which was the only two-story structure in town. It was also built of wood but seemed to be a sturdier construction than the rest of the town. Still, the only name given was the word Lodging painted above the entrance. They moved through the double doors and into the interior of the building. The bottom floor of the inn consisted of a large open area filled with several long tables, chairs or benches positioned on either side. To the left were a few smaller tables that had two to four chairs stationed around them. An unlit fireplace sat against the right wall surrounded by an orange brick chimney. Beyond the fireplace was a long countertop with several patrons sitting along it, drinking from oversized mugs. A younger man and a younger woman were behind the bar serving drinks and talking with the guests. The longer tables had several people along them and it seemed that a good portion of the town was likely in this very inn. The air was a combination of cooked stew with a hint of mold. Their three teammates were at the end of the leftmost long table and had already picked up a fourth person. For the second time in ten minutes, the room had gone quiet as the strangers entered. It reminded Sam of a scene from an old western. Conversation resumed as they moved to join their team.

Azuriel introduced them to Jasper as they sat down. Jasper was an older man, likely in his fifties. He had almost no hair on his head but made up for it with bushy black eyebrows and a thick mustache. He talked in a quick manner and his accent reminded Sam of a New Yorker. He was a bigger man in both height and around his belly which pushed against the table they were sitting at. Azuriel started to rehash the current bandit issue, but Lucas gave a quick summary of their conversation next door. Jasper was able to provide a few more details, to include the direction in which the bandits seemed to have set up camp. Azuriel silently surveyed the group as Jasper continued talking. Each member giving a nonverbal consent to helping the town before moving on to New Alexandria. Azuriel informed Jasper that they would help and planned to investigate the bandit’s camp in the morning. This led to an excited proclamation from Jasper followed by a cheer from the inn’s patrons. Jasper left the group in peace after this and joined his fellow townspeople at the bar. The team had a serving of the stew as well as a mug of ale to go with it. The food and drink had been complimentary from the inn after their vow to stop the bandits. Sam and his companions had remained around the table talking amongst themselves as the inn continued to grow more crowded as it moved from afternoon toward evening.

Sam was mainly talking with Alannah while the rest of the group discussed other things and had a few more rounds of ale. He was regaling Alannah with a story from college when the world suddenly fell out from beneath him. He had frozen mid-sentence and was staring with a look of pure hatred on his face.

“Sam? Sam?” Alannah asked with concern building in her voice. This drew Sanders’ attention to his friends change in demeanor as well. Before anyone else could speak, Sam had jumped up from the table and phased across to the entrance of the inn. He had grabbed a man by his shirt collar, lifting him slightly off the ground so that his toes scraped against the wooden floor.

“You!” Sam accused, rage practically oozing out of him. The inn quieted again as they watched the scene unfold. Before anyone could react, Sam punched the man in the face. He had let go with his left hand and his punch sent the man a few feet back through the open doors of the inn. Sam leaped after him landing with his feet on either side of the man’s hips. He dropped to his knees pinning the man to the ground and threw another punch across his face. The man tried desperately to block the incoming punches, but Sam’s increased strength was too much for him. The man was trying to speak but only slurred pleas were coming out, the man’s jaw likely broken. Each plea was accompanied by a spittle of blood. Sam reeled his right hand back preparing to land another punch when suddenly his axe appeared in his hand from his storage ring. He grabbed the man’s flailing arms with his left hand and pinned them on the man’s chest. “You don’t deserve a second chance,” was all Sam could say as he lifted the axe higher preparing to strike. Sanders got to Sam first using his time manipulation. He caught the shaft of his axe in his hands before it could descend on the confused man. Azuriel and Bard were close behind sliding their arms under Sam’s armpits and pulling him off. Lucas helped the man into a sitting position and turned him around so he could lean against the outside wall of the inn. The man tried to get up and run away but Lucas kept him on the ground, still unsure of why Sam had attacked. Sanders pried the axe from Sam’s hands as the other two moved him away from the entrance back toward their horses. Sam was screaming incoherently at the man as they pulled him around the corner to the alley between the general store and the inn. Sam even tried to phase but found that if someone was physically restraining him, he was unable to make it work. It took several minutes for Sam to even calm down enough for his angry screams and mutterings to become understandable. Alannah had come to the alleyway as well and the sight of her took the anger out of Sam causing his body to go slack. Azuriel lowered Sam to the ground and he and Bard retreated back to the corner so they could see both Sam and the man he assaulted. Alannah moved to Sam and wrapped her arms around him while he sat holding his head between his knees, tears streaming from his eyes.

“Sam,” she said with a mix of compassion and firmness. “You need to tell me what’s going on.”

“It was him,” was the only response for a few moments as the tears slowed and Sam regained some of his composure. She waited patiently, still embracing him and feeling his body calm. He looked up at her with blood shot eyes and a look of exhaustion and defeat. “That’s the man that killed my family.”