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"Here. See?" Isla brushed her hand over the remains of charred wood. A grin crossed her face. "Yeah, this was them alright. I can feel it."

Godrick stroked his beard, contemplative. His fingers played with the metal braiding entwined within. "Hrm. Leave it to Isla. How long ago?"

"My guess? A day and a half."

A snort escaped Godrick, and he looked to the other two, the ever silent Old Tomm and the freak of nature, Suen. "Hear that lads? We're getting close."

Suen seemed befuddled. "How on earth did we catch up?"

"Magic, m'boy. I told you, I'm a mage. Distance flew out from under us while you all slept."

"That does explain why I didn't wake up in my bed, I suppose. Why while we were asleep?"

Godrick stared at Suen, and grinned. "Didn't want you seeing it."

Suen smiled, and nodded. "I see."

Isla slapped Godrick on the back. "Don't hassle him, it's his first outing. Special orders of the boss, right? Get his beak wet and all that."

Godrick forced a smile. That's right, Isla and the others didn't know. About Suen. He suppressed a shiver. "Yeah, that's right."

Isla frowned, but decided to ignore it. If Godrick was trying to hide something, it wasn't her place to question him. She turned to Old Tomm. "Alright, we'll keep going. My guess is they followed the main road, since they clearly didn't cover for themselves properly. I doubt they expected us to be following them. So, let's head out!"



Scipio shivered. "Agh, that damn feeling again!"

Konstantin nodded. "I know, right? It keeps happening! Like that time-"

"Like that time we got out of the sewer, yeah. What do you think it means?"

A shrug. "Trouble. Eva, are you ready?"

The small girl yawned, and stretched. "Ya! Tin, where are we going?"

Konstantin hesitated, and exchanged glances with Scipio.

"We're going to Delci, like you were supposed to. I have a friend there who can help us." Scipio smiled, and picked up the girl. "Alright, I'm going to carry you for now, alright?"

Eva nodded, and hugged Scipio tightly.

"You're adorable." Konstantin grinned.

"Who, Eva?"

"You."

"I hate you."

"Doesn't stop me from being right."

"I said shut it."

"You said I hate you."

"So shut it!"

They grinned, and began the slow march out of Eshtan. All the while, Konstantin practiced focusing on a number of runes carved into a wooden stick. It seemed to him that he was only proficient with two of them, Isatum, which meant fire, and Enu, which was change. When he questioned Eva about it, she informed him that makes sense. She wouldn't, or rather, could not remember, why. She did, however, remember that she had been eating cake that day. Konstantin could only sigh.



The three companions stopped for the evening, as Scipio's arms began to tire. Eva was put at a safe distance, as four figures approached.

"Caught them already! I can't believe they were moving so slowly!" A woman's voice proclaimed, which was met with laughter from one of her companions.

Scipio drew his sword. "And who might you be?"

The man who laughed raised his hand, and began stroking his beard. "Look, it's best you just come along quietly. You can't win, Scipio."

A shiver ran up Scipio's spine. "How do you know my name?"

"Scipio Marcellus, former general of the fifth legion, and former prisoner of the Empire." A younger man intoned, sounding nervous and preoccupied. Scipio made note of this. Someone new to the trade?

"You're mercenaries, then?"

"Correct. We're-"

"The Rabbits?" Konstantin piped up. Everyone turned towards him. "I spoiled the mood, didn't I."

Scipio grinned. "Yeah, a little." He paused. "Wait, the 'Rabbits'?" A grin split his face. "That's a stupid name."

"I suppose you've been in jail for three years, so I can forgive your ignorance." The man with the beard said, "My name is Godrick, my companions, Isla, Suen, and Old Tomm."

"I know Old Tomm."

"Perfect, then he'll be your opponent, Isla, you take care of the green kid from... Let me guess, the north?"

"It's the accent, isn't it." Konstantin frowned.

"Yeah. So, Isla, you kill him, and I guess I'll take care of the kid."

Scipio frowned. "You're very polite about this."

Godrick shrugged. "Your fate has been decided, you can't beat us, so we can at the very least be sportsmanlike about this."

"I've met a lot of people who played by the rules, you know. You may have heard of them. They're listed in the history books under 'Enemies crushed by Scipio Marcellus'."

"Old Tomm, could you?"

The old man nodded slowly, and drew his sword.

Suen smiled, and clapped. "Lets start!"



"Alright boy, looks like you're mine to play with." Isla smiled, pulling out a knife from her belt with her left hand, a shortsword at her hip with her right. Konstantin swallowed hard, and drew his own sword, gripping it tightly. His lessons with Scipio had been but brief, mostly consisting of 'how to swing the damned thing without hurting himself'. He was, in no way, prepared for a real fight.

"Could we talk about this?"

"We are. Soon we'll stop talking, though." Isla grinned, and dashed forward, blades dancing. Konstantin parried the first blow of the shortsword, but took a cut along his rib from the dagger. He shifted his weight, and swung out, but his blades were deflected easily. "Come now kid, at least put a bit of effort into it!" Isla jeered, eyes filled with laughter.

Konstantin jumped away from the twin blades as they danced and slashed, taking several more minor wounds, and a much more serious one along his thigh. He fell to the ground, dropping his sword. "You disappoint me, boy." She turned her head, to examine the fight between Old Tomm and Scipio. Konstantin stared at his hands, noting that they shook, and were covered in blood. With unsteady hand he began to draw a symbol on the blade.



Scipio and Old Tomm squared off against one another, ignoring the fight that Isla had rushed in to.

"I saw you fight once, you know. Back in Artesia. You were incredible." Scipio commented, steadying his grip, trying to keep Eva behind him, noting Godrick's movements. Old Tomm simply stared, and raised his blade. "Not much of a talker? Eva, stay behind me."

Old Tomm lunged forward, but was parried away. "You're slower than I remember. Then again it's been, what, ten, fifteen years since you were a fighter? I'd imagine you spent your time training new recruits for your boss, eh?" Scipio replied to the lunge with a series of jabs and quick slashes, drawing blood early. "You're not going to win this, you know."

If Old Tomm was paying any attention to what Scipio was saying, he didn't let on. He returned the attack, though he found his sword unable to hit it's mark. Scipio swept his sword up, bringing a deep slash up Old Tomm's stomach and chest. The old man fell forward. Scipio walked forward and kicked the man's sword away, and turned to see Isla staring at him in disbelief.



The woman roared in fury, and dived in at Scipio, but quickly stopped before stepping more than ten feet. She frowned, feeling an odd weight on her leg. She looked down, and saw a single line of blood dribbling down her flesh. She turned, and saw Konstantin holding his sword, a single rune drawn on it's blade, his face contorted in pain and concentration. She turned to put an end to him, then stumbled, her leg giving out from under her. She returned her attention to it, and found that her flesh had begun to turn to stone, and crumble. She screamed, grasping at her skin, but when she touched her decaying leg with her hands, the curse spread to her fingers.

Isla crumbled into dust.

Konstantin stared at her empty clothes, eyes blank.

Scipio heard a scream, and saw Godrick had grabbed Eva.

"Eva!"

"Now now, put down your swords, or this little girly will get hers!" He pulled a knife from his belt, and held it to her neck. The girl squirmed and cried out, and suddenly became very still. "That's a good girl, no sense in struggling. You two, you'll pay for what you've done, to Old Tomm and Isl... Isla." Godrick stammered over the name, and shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. "No, you'll worse than pay. The boy? I'll kill him, a thousand times worse than what he did to my friend. You, Scipio? I'll make sure you suffer dearly. And you, girly, I'll-"

"You'll what?" A small voice asked. Scipio and Konstantin blanched. The lines on Eva's skin had begun to glow. Godrick stared at her, dumbfounded. "I ask again." The man's hands suddenly stung as if burnt, and he released the girl, and he staggered backwards. "You'll do what to me?" She tilted her head, and smiled, taking a few steps forward.

"I- you- stay back!" Godrick's voice seemed very small compared to the girl's, as he fell and tried to scuttle back. He brought his hand to the metal braiding in his beard, and the hair suddenly extended outwards and grappled Eva's limbs.

She stared at the hair. "Amusing." Her limbs burst into flames, and the hair blackened and crumbled. Godrick screamed as the fire began to take on shapes, those of snakes, braiding and curling up his beard, scorching the earth below with their heat.

Scipio and Konstantin looked away, hearing only screams.

"Now. You two." The girl smiled and approached the companions, skin still glowing, the air crackling with energy. "I can't wait t-"

She stared at Konstantin for a moment, and hesitated. The runes ceased their glowing, and she collapsed.

Scipio and Konstantin exchanged a glance, a shrug, and rushed to the girl's body as she stirred. She looked at them. "Did you win?"

Another glance. "Uh, yeah. We did."

"Well, mostly." A voice piped up.

They turned and saw Suen watching them, calmly peeling an apple. He popped a piece into his mouth. "Oh, don't worry about me, I'm not fighting. I will, however, be taking Old Tomm with me. I'm sure you won't object." He stepped over to the man's body, and brought him to his feet. The bleeding seemed to have slowed. "Ah, as tough as the rumors say. You know, I remember hearing you were invincible, back in the day." He grinned, and examined the wound closing up before his very eyes. "My my, isn't that interesting..."

Scipio stared at the man, confused. "Uh, yeah, so, we're going to fight you now?"

Suen waved the suggestion away. "I already told you, I'm not here to fight you. Stanislav told me not to."

Konstantin froze. "Stanislav?"

Suen glanced at Konstantin. "You know him? Hm. I'll bring you up when I speak with him." He stared hard at Konstantin, and smiled. "You, are very interesting." The smile faded, and Suen drew a rune in the dirt. He looked to Old Tomm, "Now I told Godrick that I didn't know he had done it, but he's dead now so it won't hurt him any. I'll be seeing you three around. Toodles." He focused for a moment, and then faded away.

"Do you ever get the feeling that our lives are filled with weird people?"

Scipio stared at Konstantin, and gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Yeah, you could say that. Will you be OK?"

"What, the cuts? I've had worse. Bind me up and we can get out of here. Can you walk, Eva?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah!"

Scipio drew Konstantin in close. "We need to talk about this." He whispered, and gave Eva a meaningful look. Konstantin nodded.

"I know."

Scipio held him there for a moment.

"Can you let go now?"