Xander and Gwendolyn return to the inn with Kali. Drakthar hears knocking on his door and opens it to see Kali with the other two standing behind her.

“Hey,” Kali greets him timidly.

“I’m glad you are safe,” Drakthar tells her.

Before Kali can feel good about Drakthar’s concern over her he asks, “Where are Kayde and Fore?” His concern not reserved for just her.

“South of the city, in a forest with this crazy scientist lady. They are spending time talking to wolves... they are honestly both too weird for me,” Kali informs them.

“She is willing to help us out though so she can’t be so bad,” she adds, thinking it over.

“Why would some random person in the forest want to help us?” Drakthar is skeptical about this, given that they are now within the Empire.

“I don’t know, they both like wolves and started flirting or something… I wasn’t paying much attention, but I trust her. I don’t think she is the type of person to rat us out,” Kali advocates for Lunette.

“Anyway we will be going with Kali there to hide out after a meeting tomorrow,” Xander informs Drakthar of their plans.

“So you found someone to help you?” Drakthar asks, knowing that is what they set out to do.

“Yeah, she is going to give us some documents when we meet tomorrow,” Xander tells him what they found.

Drakthar turns to Gwendolyn, “This girl you saw, can we trust her, or are we walking into a trap?”

“I don’t know… I want to say everything is fine, but I keep getting this nagging feeling that something isn’t right,” Gwendolyn gives him her honest opinion on the matter.

“Doesn’t seem like a good plan to me,” Drakthar grumbles, also feeling on edge and itching to start a random fight with whoever glances at him sideways next.

“Look, I know I can trust her. You guys don’t have to come with me, if anything goes wrong you know I’ll be able to get out okay,” Xander insists on going tomorrow.

Gwendolyn grabs his hand, “You won’t have to, I’ll go with you. It’s your mission… if you think we can trust her, I’ll ignore what my gut is telling me and go with you”.

“Thank you Gwendolyn, it will be fine,” Xander tries to assure her.

“We’ll watch from the crowd in case anything happens,” Drakthar declares, wanting to be there as backup, in the back of his mind hoping a fight will break out.

“No, you should stay hidden,” Xander disagrees, not wanting Drakthar to draw attention.

“We are going to have to leave the city at some point anyway, you can’t keep me in this room forever. We can just leave right after the meeting, so I only have to be out in public one time,” Drakthar reasons, trying to convince Xander to let him be there.

“Alright, fine, but be careful,” Xander agrees, reluctantly. Drakthar lets out a grunt in affirmation in response.

“Here,” Drakthar throws Kali some gold.

“What is this?” Kali asks, confused as to why he gave her gold.

“To buy a room at this inn,” he explains, thinking maybe she lost her bag too.

Kali grabs his hand pushing the gold into his palm, “I have gold, I can pay myself”.

“Sure,” Drakthar responds, closing the door in front of them.

Kali goes down to the front to purchase a room, before going back to knocking on Drakthar’s door again. A few seconds later Drakthar opens up the door, Kali sees him standing there in a towel tightly wrapped around his waist, barely able to fit.

"What?” Drakthar asks, not expecting to see anyone later on into the night. Kali is slow to answer, too preoccupied peering at the sheen the water created over his hard abs.

“What?” Drakthar repeats again, his temper getting short with her silence.

“Can I come in?” Kali pulls herself together in order to ask. He pushes the door open wider, welcoming her inside.

Kali takes a seat in a chair at the table in the corner of the room near the single window.

“What do you want?” Drakthar asks for a third time, still having no idea what she is doing here.

Kali starts to explain, “I’ve come here to say a lot of things, so just hear me out…” She trails off watching as Drakthar finishes drying himself off and putting on his clothes as if she wasn’t even there.

“Go on,” Drakthar urges Kali to continue, now having his pants on. He sits down across from her waiting for her to finally spit it out.

“This is really hard to say,” she comments, trying to build up the courage to tell him.

“Look, I really like you and whatever we have that is going on between us. I want it to be more official,” Kali finally comes out and says it. Drakthar was dreading having this conversation.

After taking a moment to think on it, he responds, “I like you too, but that comes from my respect for you as a warrior. As for what is going on between us, I am fine with how things are now”.

“Well I’m not! It hurts to go from these passionate moments to nothing every day. I can’t keep doing this if it doesn’t mean anything,” Kali disagrees, fervently trying to convey her feelings to him.

Drakthar looks directly at Kali’s dark brown eyes, currently on the verge of tears, and tells her, “I understand, we can stop”. Kali’s face cracks, realizing he is agreeing to the last thing she would have wanted to come from this conversation.

Drakthar gets up, starting to go about his nightly ritual of sharpening his axe in case something happens tomorrow.

“Wait… I mean… we can continue how we are now, I just want to label it,” Kali desperately tries to salvage whatever there is between them.

“I don’t get it,” Drakthar is confused, taking a break from sharpening his axe.

Kali attempts to elaborate, “It’s like I just want us to be considered a couple, nothing has to change, that is all I want”.

“I don’t see how this is important,” Drakthar comments, both tired of and confused by this exchange.

“It is important to me! Anyway, it's not like you are interested in women, so labeling ourselves as a couple shouldn’t be a problem,” Kali reasons, trying to put it in a way he will agree with her.

“Fine, but this doesn’t change anything, I still only acknowledge you as a warrior. That is it,” Drakthar agrees, and makes it clear what exactly he means by that.

“Thanks, that’s all I wanted,” Kali lies, quickly leaving the room before the disappointment can manifest itself on her face.

Xander who is heading down the hall sees Kali coming out of Drakthar’s room.

“Nice,” he comments initially, before seeing that Kali’s expression is one of sadness.

“Wait, what happened?” He asks her, wanting to know what went wrong.

“I confessed to him, but he said he only valued me as a warrior,” Kali tells him immediately, not trying to retain her pride anymore.

“You know... maybe that’s enough,” Xander comments, after taking a few seconds to think about it.

“What? What do you mean by enough,” Kali doesn’t get it, and whatever Drakthar is feeling towards her it is definitely not enough in her eyes.

Xander knowing Drakthar fairly well starts to elaborate, “For someone like Drakthar, maybe valuing you as a warrior is the closest thing to love he can feel for others. I mean, him acknowledging me as a warrior is how we became friends”.

Kali starts to laugh, a reaction Xander did not predict.

“He definitely doesn’t acknowledge you as a warrior, have you seen yourself?” Kali’s laughing intensifies, angering Xander a little.

“Sure go ahead and look at all the silly things I do and say and think I’m weak, but if we were to fight seriously right here, right now, I would win,” Xander warns her, self-assured in his own abilities.

“You seem confident for someone who lacks the slightest muscle definition,” Kali continues to belittle him, not believing his claims for a second.

“I do have some muscle definition, but whatever, that isn’t the point. Just remember he isn’t going to feel towards you what you feel towards him. If you can accept that, maybe you can keep on going like this,” Xander gets back on focus.

“I don’t know if that will be good enough… What would you do if you were me?” Kali asks earnestly for his advice. This catches Xander by surprise; he doesn’t have an immediate answer, so it takes a couple of seconds for him to think of what he would actually do.

“I’d teach him how, I would make it so he had to love me,” Xander finally comes to the conclusion. It was at this moment that Gwendolyn entered the hall overhearing Xander’s words of advice for Kali.

“Wow, I didn’t know you felt that way about Drakthar,” Gwendolyn jokes convincingly so Xander cannot tell she is being facetious.

Xander quickly tries to explain himself, “No, wait, we were talkin…”

Gwendolyn doesn’t let him finish, continuing her line of teasing, “It’s okay Xander, I understand… he does have those nice big muscles, how could anyone not be attracted to him?”

Xander is very perturbed despite knowing that Gwendolyn is messing with him. He watches as she struggles to hold it together, eventually bursting out into full-on laughter.

“Fine, I get it. I’m never having a serious conversation again,” Xander starts to walk off, tired of everything he says being turned into a joke.

Kali joins Gwendolyn in laughing as Xander disappears into his room.

“You okay?” Gwendolyn asks Kali once the giggling dies down.

“Yeah, Xander’s advice was actually good, I feel kind of bad about you making fun of him like that,” Kali responds, guilty about laughing so much.

“Eh, don’t worry about him, I’ll make it up to him later,” Gwendolyn waves it off.

Gwendolyn bids Kali goodnight before going back into her room. She finds Xander on the bed, his head covered with a pillow.

“I was just messing with you, don’t take it so seriously,” she snuggles up behind him.

“I’m not worried about it, I’m used to it at this point. Nobody takes me seriously anymore. I remember when I first met Kayde and Drakthar in Melusarej I was this silent badass, but now everyone just sees me as a love-struck puppy,” Xander vents, aware of how others perceive him.

Gwendolyn can’t help but say, “Awe, did I make you a puppy?” She starts to stroke his hair to really running home the point.

“You know, if you would stop stuff like that maybe people would take me seriously,” Xander smacks her hand away.

“What was that?” Gwendolyn asks, in response to her hand being hit away.

“Maybe if you didn’t tease me all the time in front of the others they wouldn’t have this perception of me,” Xander lays it out.

“Are you serious right now?” Gwendolyn can’t believe they are having this conversation and also she thinks his statement is incorrect.

“Yeah I’m serious,” Xander confirms for her.

“They would look at you that way even if I didn’t tease you, trust me,” Gwendolyn is having none of it.

“Whatever, you can’t even give me this one. You have to be in control of everything,” Xander blurts out, almost immediately regretting it.

He sees the rage build up in Gwendolyn as she fires back, “You know you are lucky I control everything, you wouldn’t get anywhere without me”.

“Yes I would, you think I was just out there just being helpless before I met you?” Xander continues to fight despite knowing better.

“No... but I definitely helped,” Gwendolyn concedes that point.

“You did, but you could be a little less pushy,” Xander agrees, thinking this will be the end of the fight.

“You think I’m pushy?” Gwendolyn picks out that particular word.

“Yes, you are very pushy,” Xander reiterates.

“You’re lucky I’m pushy, you indecisive little…” Gwendolyn stops herself knowing she wouldn’t want to call him that.

“Whatever just sleep on that side of the bed,” she orders flipping around and hugging the edge of the bed as best she can.

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Xander grumbles inaudibly.

“What was that?” Gwendolyn asks irritably.

“Nothing,” Xander responds, not willing to give her a compliment seeing it as losing the argument.

“That’s what I thought,” Gwendolyn scoffs at him, knowing he is too scared to go head to head with her again.

The next morning they all meet up outside the inn with their things packed and prepared to head to the forest where they will meet up with Kayde and Lunette. Xander and Gwendolyn don’t talk to each other all morning, animosity in the air between them over the argument the previous night.

“We ready to go?” Kali asks the other three.

“Yes,” Drakthar responds, the other two just mumble something incoherently as they begin to walk towards the specified city square.

Xander solidifies the plan as they get closer, “You two blend into the crowd while Gwendolyn and I get the documents from Juliana. She hasn’t seen you guys yet, and it’s probably best that we only let her know about the two of us in case she is double-crossing us here”.

They enter the city square; Drakthar and Kali standing at opposite ends of the square among the most crowded parts near popular shopping spots that have gathered masses of people. Xander and Gwendolyn spot Juliana on a bench near the fountain that marks the center of the square.

“It’s good to see you again,” Xander greets her with a smile, bringing a scowl to Gwendolyn’s face.

Juliana responds nervously, “Yeah, you too… uh, I have the files you wanted”. She hands Xander a folder.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it. You have been a big help,” Xander thanks her, and tries to leave.

“Wait!” Juliana turns them back around with her tone.

“Yeah?” Xander, not wanting to be rude asks.

“I wanted to know more about what you did in the five years since you left,” Juliana thought there would be more conversation involved in this meetup.

“Oh, I already told you, I was over in the desert,” Xander responds, thinking that is what she wanted.

“No, like, what did you do there?” Juliana continues.

“I mainly worked as a bounty hunter, taking on odd jobs to get by; not everyone can do the things we can, so it paid well most of the time,” Xander laughs nervously trying to get out of there.

No matter how Xander tries to politely end the conversation, Juliana is always able to come up with something else to prevent them from leaving.

Finally, Xander tells her, “We have to go now, see you later, and thanks again”.

“Wait, one last question. It’s been nagging me, are you two together?” Juliana inquires, uncharacteristically boldly.

“Yeah, one of the benefits of no longer being a priest I guess,” Xander responds with a grin. He and Gwendolyn turn around and start to walk away towards the Southern exit.

As they get ten feet from Juliana Xander hears a gunshot ring out from behind him. Before he can take another step her hears a faint thud next to him.

Xander looks down in horror noticing blood flowing out of Gwendolyn’s head onto the cobblestone. He falls to his knees, turning over Gwendolyn’s body so she is face up. His heart shatters at the mere sight of her lifeless eyes staring back up at him, a single bullet hole just above her nose, causing a trail of blood to start to trickle down the ridge of it.

Xander turns his head back towards Juliana, he sees her standing there pistol still raised through the tears. “No, I won't let this be how it ends!” He screams out before reversing time.

Xander is back; he and Gwendolyn are in front of Juliana.

“I wanted to know more about what you did in the five years since you left,” he hears Juliana asks again.

“Sorry, we really need to leave,” Xander tells her; he grabs Gwendolyn’s arm and walks away, making sure to position himself between Juliana and Gwendolyn the entire way.

A group of men in shiny white armor start to, one by one come out into the square blocking them from running forward. Out of the corner of his eye Xander notices two men in blue robes. He immediately lets go of Gwendolyn’s hand, making it so they can’t switch both him and Gwendolyn in one go.

Suddenly Xander and Gwendolyn both find themselves restrained, warped into the arms of soldiers wearing the same shiny white armor that stood out so much before. The two men in blue robes approach them, one is the man they ran into a few days ago outside a tavern, the other is quite a bit older, with grey hair and a face so sour it seems like he never stops sucking lemons.

“Oh, Xander, did you think I wouldn’t recognize your smug face when I ran into you earlier?” The sleazy guy from the tavern asks him.

“Sorry, I don’t remember you... but then again, why would I remember some insignificant toady?” Xander retorts, taking the chance to insult him.

Xander finds Drakthar out of the corner of his eye and teleports to him. He immediately switches Gwendolyn with a bell in his hand as well.

While this is going on, Drakthar is assessing the situation. He looks around at what seems like fifty men adorned in armor within the plaza. He decides retreat is his only option, despite his urge for combat.

Now that Xander warped out, Drakthar prepares to run, assuming that is what the others are going to do, but he stops when he notices Xander doing something peculiar. Xander quickly grabs something from his pocket and slips it on Gwendolyn’s finger; he whispers something into Gwendolyn’s ear before making sure to back off.

Suddenly Xander disappears. Drakthar frantically looks around, his eyes finally focusing on Xander, who is back in the arms of a knight in white armor. Drakthar is confused, how did Xander end up back there if there were only two priests in the vicinity? It suddenly dawns on him that the one who put Xander back there was Juliana.

“Fuck!” Drakthar curses silently, not able to think of what he should do in this dire situation, his first inclination is to fight, but he knows there is little chance they win against the sheer numbers, especially with this many other people mixed in. He doesn’t have time to sit back and think over it, he watches as a sobbing Gwendolyn runs directly towards the group of knights and the three priests that are holding Xander.

Drakthar is snapped back into action as he hears his friend yell out one last request, “DRAKTHAR GET HER OUT OF HERE!” In one move Drakthar sweeps up the resistant Gwendolyn into his arms and starts to sprint the opposite way out of the plaza.

“NO! Stop! Put me down! XANDER DON’T LEAVE ME!” Gwendolyn screams while struggling to get free of Drakthar’s arms.

Her protests are stopped when she hears Xander shout back at her one last time, “I love you!”

Gwendolyn starts to shriek again, prompting Drakthar to cover her mouth with his free hand.

“I can’t get away with you yelling like this,” Drakthar tells her, frustrated with the current situation.

“But Xander!” Gwendolyn responds through his hand.

“I know, we lost this round, but we will get him back. We need to regroup with the others and figure this out,” Drakthar tries his best to stay cool, while also keeping her calm in this situation. He is angrier than anyone about what just transpired.

Gwendolyn looks at Drakthar’s face for the first time since he started carrying her, it's covered in tears, shed for his best friend who has just been torn away from him.

“You can put me down now,” Gwendolyn tells him. Drakthar isn’t sure if he can trust her, but he puts her down anyway, getting ready to chase after her if she runs off.

But instead of running off, Gwendolyn walks side by side, with Drakthar making it out of the city before any sort of official at the gate could have been notified about their presence or what happened in the square.

“Are you guys okay?” Kali asks, having found them waiting for her at the tree line of the Southern forest.

Drakthar takes this as a moment to wipe the wetness from his face and respond, “Yes, we are fine”.

Kali goes over to Gwendolyn and gives her a hug, “I’m so sorry”.

“He is going to be okay, we are going to get him back,” Kali assures her just like Drakthar did. Gwendolyn hears their words but doesn’t respond. She can’t ignore the shadow of a thought whispering in the back of her mind that Xander is already dead.