They were standing in the shadow of one of the colorful client tents, their eyes fixed on a large, grey linen construction bolstered by wooden pillars. Hidden enough so no one from the grey tent would see them at a glance, but casually enough that if someone saw them from a distance it wouldn’t arouse curiosity.
The tent's boxy shape and dirty, patched-up fabric made it stand out starkly against the vibrant hues around it.

After waiting for some time Harek saw a man approach the tent, and talk with someone in an elevated voice, although what about, he couldn’t tell.

• "There’s at least two of them…"

He said in a whisper, his eyes never leaving the tent.

• "You don’t have your sling with you by any chance, do you?"
• "Sorry I wasn’t dressing for murder this morning."

She replied, her voice tinged with dry humor.

• "That’s okay. Do you have your stones?"
• "I do."

She confirmed, reaching into her satchel.

• "How many do you have of the shooting ones?"

Harek’s voice was low but urgent.

• "Not a lot, Erick has most of them and the rest is in camp, but I should have about half a dozen on me."

Agnes answered, feeling around in her bag and counting.

• "More than enough, can you give me two?"
• "Sure, but if you’re going to do what I think you are, then be very careful."

Agnes cautioned, her eyes meeting his with a mix of concern and seriousness.

• "I’m serious Harek you could lose a finger if your timing is even slightly off."
• "I’ll be careful don’t worry."

He assured her with a smile that only the movement of his beard showed.

• "I always worry."

She murmured, watching him closely.

• "I know." –He replied, his gaze is now back on the grey tent again.– "How long?"
• "5 seconds"

Agnes said as she pulled out two metal balls covered in a thin leather wrap for her bag and handed them to Harek.

• "Wish me luck."

He nodded to Agnes and then started casually walking towards the tent.

Harek deftly unwrapped one of the balls, swiftly switching it to his other hand, careful to keep it hidden from the sky. The other he pocketed. His footsteps must have alerted the men, as one of them emerged from the tent. lad in a cuirass over a gambeson and with a sword at his side, the man fixed a metal helmet onto his head, the metallic pieces clanging softly. In a raspy voice and strange harsh accent, the man called out to him:

• "You’re trouble. I can tell. What do you want?"
• "I’m looking for a friend of mine."
• "Well, he’s not here." -The soldier replied dismissively- "I’m sure he’ll find his way back to you soon enough."

A tense silence fell as they measured each other up. puffed up his chest, making the pistols on his chest slightly cling against each other, and rotated his left shoulder subtly, revealing a sword under his furs. After a moment, he decided to take a gamble.

• "Look, Lord Frederick was asking about his associate."

At the mention of Frederick, the man's gaze sharpened, his focus intensifying.

“Oh, Adrien you idiot.” Harek thought and subtly opened his palm behind him, revealing the ball, then closed it.

• "His name is Adrian, medium height, blonde, shaved face. I just need to talk to him and then I’ll be off."

Harek said, with a forced casualness in his voice. The man hesitated for a second, then turned his head towards the inside of the tent, which was all Harek was waiting for. With a swift motion, he threw the ball toward the man. Almost immediately after leaving his hand, it sped up from the speed of a thrown projectile to a freshly fired bullet. The man snapped his head back but had no time to react. The ball ripped through his cuirass and on the way out dented the back plate outwards. The man staggered two steps back before falling against a wooden pole and to his side.

Quickly, Harek grabbed the other metal ball and exposed it to the sky. He then snatched his shield from his back just as two more armored men rushed out of the tent towards him. He threw the ball again, but it whizzed past between the soldiers. Still, it gave them pause for a moment as they pulled their heads down flinching.

• "Fuck…" -He bit his breath.

They were only a couple of steps from him now. He rushed to the one on the right, crashing into him fast and hard. The impact sent him airborne before tumbling him on the ground for a clumsy roll. The other closed in on him, sword and shield in hand. He was about to strike when with momentum, he feigned rushing him as well, before stepping back. The man hunkered down for a second awaiting the impact, which gave him just enough time to get his sword out. They exchanged some testing blows, before Harek struck with force, his blade curving and glancing off the shield. The tip whizzed past the soldier's eye. As he huddled down to deflect Harek's strike, he briefly lost sight of him. It was only a split second, but it was enough. Harek let go of his sword and closed in. He let go of his sword, pulled out a dagger from under his left, and stabbed him through the neck as he reached behind the shield in a quick motion. The soldier fell to his side as dark blood gurgled from his neck and mouth. Harek faced the other man, who was standing up now, and began to run towards him. In motion, while picking up his sword, he saw the man pulling a pistol on him. He pulled his metal shield in front of him while rushing towards the man. A loud crack rang out, splitting the air and echoing sharply, the shield waved like water in a pond disturbed by a pebble, and then a loud thud followed with a crack. The man was on his back again. Harek stepped on his sword-wielding hand, forcing him to let go with a pained grin.

• "Agnes!"

Harek boomed. His voice soaked in adrenalin, panting for air. She ran to his side in a second. He pulled out one of his pistols and gave it to her.

• "Watch him."

He breathed rapidly. She nodded when the familiar voice of Adrien called out.

• "Harek? Is that you?" –He shouted from the tent.

 

Harek turned to walk to the tent and saw that a few women were peeking out and cautiously emerging from their wagons to look at the commotion, which he acknowledged with a small bow in their direction. He then walked to the tent, sword and shield in hand. Inside he saw Adrian, bound to a pillar and – until recently – gagged, with Patrick tied to the other side, incoherently crying.

Adrien was a handsome man, with rugged features that betrayed his personality. A chiseled chin, hawked nose and stern brow with a face as smooth as a woman’s.
His Long blond locks gave him an almost regal aura and his newly acquired scars and bruises only added to his looks.

• "Oh, my friend, it is So good to see you!"

He said with a smile and a voice befitting a brass orchestra.

• "So…"

Harek turned around cautiously looking around for any danger, while not paying attention to Adrien.

• "What have you got yourself into now?"
• "This was not my fault! I swear. Harek these men are up to something big."

Harek satisfied with his inspection, cut Adrien’s rope while asking:

• "Have you seen the fourth?"

Adrien stood up, with a pained expression rubbing his hands and rotating his shoulders.

• "No, but he’s their leader, I think. At least that’s what they told me."

Harek gave a knife to Adrien, who then began to ungag and unbound Patrick.

• "Thank you, sir! Thank you!"–He sobbed.
• "Oh, don’t be so dramatic, we were going to be fine!" –Adrien snapped at him while cutting his ropes.

Patrick was a young, more boy than man, with short messy brown hair, slightly tilted black eyes, and a few dark hairs on his chin.

Harek walked to the mouth of the tent and gave Agnes a thumbs up which she cheerfully mirrored in return, pistol still trained on the man on the ground. He saw that by now a proper audience had gathered around the wagons. To which Agnes meekly waved at. Which in turn prompted some cheers and clapping from the girls.

Returning to the task at hand, Harek retrieved a roll of rope, approaching the captured man. With a stern kick, he got him to turn around and began to tie his hands.

• "Looks like we have a crowd. Was hoping to keep things quiet by not shooting first."

He murmured to Agnes.

• "I don’t know, I kind of like it. "

She said as she smiled and waved again.

• "Also, what do you mean by 'Not shooting first'"

She said with an exaggerated deepened voice.

• "You literally started by shooting the first man you saw."
• "Only after I was sure Adrien was fine and was here. I assumed he made himself out to be a friend of Frederick or something like that, couldn’t see any reason why else they would keep him around unless he seemed useful for something."

He pulled the man up to his feet, with very little effort.

• "Plus, your balls are much quieter than a pistol, that doesn’t count. Would have been fine if this fellow hadn’t fired."

He pushed the man to get him to start walking. Agnes sighed, rolled her eyes and said:

• "Please stop calling them my balls."

Then continued with a relieved smile:

• "I’m just glad you’re okay."
• "Me too." – He nodded.