Nightfall felt years away but when it finally came, all the complaints about fatigue and joint pain disappeared and just about everyone hung around joking and laughing like they were at a large gathering.

The Aiges congregated to watch fistfights, shouting and beaming potatoes at contenders to disorient them.

Maz had been eager to get in a fight himself but everyone kept shooing him off and telling him to go make sandcastles.

They seemed to underestimate him just because he was probably the youngest in the compound and wasn’t built like most of the ruffians.

The unfair treatment pissed him off a little, even as he watched the riveting brawls take place.

He damn well knew what he was capable of.

His friends also knew this and that was the very reason they discouraged him from getting in any battles.

Despite his aloof exterior, Maz was a borderline psychopath with an insatiable thrill for violence. A wild dog, he was.

Back home, he was known for thrashing bandits to the point they were beyond recognition or just flat out dead. It was hilarious until he did something stupid that put everyone’s lives at stake including his own.

Killer could recall a time when Maz went off into the woods and stole dragon eggs to make bombs out of them.

Whatever his plan was, getting chased by a massive wyvern all the way back to the village was not a part of it. Or maybe it was. After all, few people could run from sixty feet of scorching flames with an achieved smile on their face.

Killer had to admit his own taste for thrill in remembering those times but he never overlooked possible repercussions.

The dinner bell suddenly rang when the last fight was just about to start.

All scattered away from the site to the kitchen where Barbara the chef had been hacking up some taters for the last couple of hours.

She was a real treat for the men to see after being huddled around each other for so long.

Her eyes were dark and sparkly, her hair black with a blazing reddish hue, tamed by a drab soldier’s bandanna and a ponytail. On her waist was what looked like a holster for the kitchen swords she used to slice up ingredients.

Kaisse strained his neck to get a good look at the girl and was surprised that she wasn’t some overweight, unsightly woman with an attitude.

Kaisse was of course, a special kind of stupid in his own genius kind of way.

With the thought of battle having subsided, Maz was hungry for that sweet potato casserole even though the only thing being served were fries. And her fries were nothing to laugh at.

Her culinary arts were astonishing to the point she could make the strips of potato almost taste like chicken.

This made the diggers fall in love with her even more. She would make the perfect wife.

Sadly, she was not interested in any proposals.

She was in fact around the same age as Killer and the gang.

With her work done for the night, Barbara put up her apron and stored her chrome blades in a long case.

A soldier escorted her back to the vehicle she came in, forced to overhear the god awful pickup lines the Aiges made up.

“Hey, babe.” A digger named Billo came up and posed by the office building, winking at the silent young woman. “You wanna show me some real sword skills? I bet I could take you on bare handed.”

One of the soldiers on the deck approached and cracked Billo in the head with the butt of his rifle.

“Get your ass back to work, boy. You can’t even wash your hands...got ketchup all over the damn porch.”

Bystanders howled with laughter at the humiliated numbskull staggering back on site.

Barbara remained expressionless.

She climbed into the humvee and reached over to pull the door shut but Maz jammed himself between, pushing it open.

The girl was a bit startled. She didn’t even see him coming. Lifting his curly head he gazed at her intensely.

“Hold up, I have a confession to make.” He huffed.

Barbara’s eyes widened slightly.

“I am in love…” he continued.

Barbara felt her face go warm for some reason.

“I am in love with that sweet potato casserole you made last year.”

“Wha..?” The girl blinked, loosening her grip on the door.

“Name’s Maz Gryder from Blackleaf. Last year, you were the cook for somebody’s wedding and I was there. I remember the taste of that mean dish you made and I’ve been craving it ever since.”

“A..wedding…” Barbara traced her memory, “Sweet potato casserole?”

“Yea…” Maz’s eyes sparked like flint stone. “I want you to make it again and bring it to me and me alone.”

The chef’s bewilderment started to subside and she gave him a slight smile.

“Maz...Gryder…?

“Yeah.”

“And you’re from Blackleaf, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Well…” the girl said observantly, “I’ll see what I can do.”

The digger stepped back, allowing her to shut the door and watched the humvee rumble to life then back out of the entrance, turning off into the starry desert plains.

“So Maz…” a voice came from behind a stack of crates adjacent to the office and Maz found a stranger crouched in the shadows. It was Benny, the Aige that almost everyone despised for being a conniving, backstabbing chump.

His eyes bulged with nosy, detestable interest.

“You gonna share that hamburger casserole with me, right? If you don’t, I’m gonna’ tell the supervisors you’ve been smuggling illegal food.”

Maz stared at him.

Benny simply stared back, stuffing his mouth with oily fries.

Suddenly, Maz tackled him in a flash, and started punching him in the mouth. Fries drizzled all over the sand.

The Aige clenched his jaw and grabbed Maz’s collar, flipping him over his head.

The boy landed on his back, jumped up and collided with Benny again.

They tussled violently, kicking up clouds of dust.

Benny dipped two haymakers and thrust some heavy uppercuts into Maz’s ribs.

Maz gripped the Aige’s jacket, hopped onto his chest and started head butting him relentlessly.

Benny stumbled around like a drunkard trying to toss the kid off. He latched onto Maz’s arms, leaned forward and rammed him into the office wall with enough force to shake it.

The wild dog took the impact, slamming his elbows down onto Benny’s spine.

The digger pushed back, throwing a frenzy of haymakers until Maz rocked him with seven blows to the face.

Roaring, Benny rushed in again but Maz front flipped over him and the Aige ran head first into the wall.

Maz whirled around, throwing his arms around his waist and bent over backward.

Benny wailed as the world turned upside down and his head hit the ground with a sickening thud.

Completing a full backbend, Maz flipped back onto his feet with the Aige still in his grasp and dumped him on his head again.

The boy flipped over a second time, dumping him thrice.

Whence upon the third flip, he catapulted Benny into the wooden crates behind him. His body hit the stack with a rattling crash and potatoes spilled all over the ground.

“What the hell is going on back there?!”

Confused voices called out.

A.I.G.E. Alex was standing nearby eating fries when he heard all the racket. He gulped his food down and went to go check to see what it was. Before he could even crane his neck around the corner, a limp besmirched corpse came flying out of the shadows like a rag doll and tumbled idiotically in the dirt.

A few soldiers were already on their way to investigate when Alex started shrieking that somebody had died.

Killer, Kaisse and Yurzif heard and saw Alex jumping around with ketchup smeared all over his face. At first they thought he’d been mauled by a bobcat by the way he was freaking out.

All the others were equally as confused and a small crowd started to gather at the corner of the office.

Captain Charole shoved his way through the mass.

“What in God’s name is going on over here??” He demanded.

“Some dude just died.” An Aige informed.

“Well?? Who is it?? Who’s responsible?? Wipe the blood off his face!!”

A soldier stepped forward, flapping a handkerchief and got down on one knee to wipe the corpse’s face clear.

Everyone let out gasps of surprise when they recognized Benny.

“Benny’s dead!!” They exclaimed. “Finally!!”

Satisfaction rippled amongst the growing crowd upon learning that the little shrimp had finally kicked the bucket.

Smiling, Captain Charole’s mood mellowed out as he turned to address his men.

“Well, boys!!” He shouted. “As the saying goes; One, Two, Three, Four, We dig, We die, and We obey the law!”

The Aiges chanted along in unison, pumping their fists proudly.

At that moment, Maz stepped into view with blood on his knuckles and a harmless gaze despite himself.

Hundreds of eyeballs honed in on him silently.

“What..?” He blinked.

Yurzif slapped himself, shaking his head.

Should’ve known.

Captain Charole’s mouth was agape. “You did this??”

He squealed.

“Did what?” Maz cracked his knuckles.

“You did this to Benny?? A scrawny pip squeak like you??”

“I beat him up, yes.”

“Beat him?! You killed him!!”

Maz looked at the wrung out corpse covered in blood and shrugged his shoulders. “I guess.”

“This boy’s crazy!!” Charole said.

People laughed at the youngster’s nonchalance and lauded his unexpected savagery.

He didn’t find anything to laugh at though. In fact, he was already bored out of his mind.

At least now everyone knew who he was. His feat was the topic of discussion for the rest of the night, mainly because he’d thrashed Benny so badly they didn’t recognize him.

Of course, exaggerations were added to the tale because no one had actually seen it.

The next morning all talk of the event was history.

The Aiges were summoned forth from their slumbers at five in the morning to stand in formation and listen to a load of drivel.

“Yesterday,” Captain Charole announces. “A young man rose to new levels of respect among us. Maz Gryder, please step to the front.”

Maz’s eyes opened through slits and fell shut again. He wasn’t going anywhere. It was too early in the morning for this.

“Maz Gryder?” The Captain cleared his throat. “C’mon now, don’t be shy!”

“Go up there, Maz.” Someone behind him shook his shoulder.

The boy growled in defiance and tried to go back to sleep.

Captain Charole was a bit underwhelmed, continuing his speech regardless.

“Anyway, y’all know who he is. Maz Gryder is the little lugnut that defeated our good friend Benny in a death match. Unfortunately, Benny lost his life by the hands of this young man but he will be remembered. I’m sure his family and friends will be sad to hear the news but we can tell them that he went out like a true soldier.”

The captain lowered his head as if standing vigil for the fallen Aige.

“But as the saying goes,” he exclaimed suddenly.

“One, Two, Three, Four, We Dig, We Die, We Obey The Law!”

This time the formation did not join in on the slogan.

Half of the platoon was still snoozing anyway.

Embarrassed, Charole cleared his throat and decided to broach a different subject when he saw a humongous sandstorm headed toward the plantation.

“Oh no!!!” He cried. “A sandstorm’s coming!!! Everyone—take cover!!! Guards! Secure the perimeter!!”

Formation dissolved like a swarm of flies.

Maz was rung awake by the emergency and rushed back on site and dived back into his hole. He yeeted his boots off, zipped up his sleeping bag and went right back to sleep.