Jon woke up twice again that night. Once, when he saw Lester back in his bed, asleep.

And a second time, when the sun was shining through the window.

Tallow’s arm had thrown itself around his neck. He tried to move it, but he failed.

He waited, awake in bed until Tallow finally yawned.

She sat up.

“Oh. Whoa.” She turned to Jon. “I feel like I barely got any sleep tonight.

Jon gave a tight smile.

“Did I wake you up?”

Jon started to shake his head, but then he decided to nod instead.

“Sorry about that.” She sat up. “You can go back to sleep if you want.”

Jon shook his head.

“No thanks,” he decided to say. He sat up.

He and Tallow came down to the tavern area. Ray was standing at the counter.

“Hey!” He said. “Your friends are outside!”

“Great,” Tallow said. “Let’s see what those assholes are up to.”

She and Jon walked out of the door.

Lester, Amalia, and Macy were standing in the front, but they were surrounded by several people on horses.

“What the hell?” Tallow asked.

Lester turned around.

“Hi!” He said. “What took you so long? Were you and Jon getting busy?”

“Shut up!” Tallow yelled. “What the hell is going on?”

“Oh, uh, this…” Lester pointed to the horses. “These are our reinforcements.”

Jon looked back to the people on the horses. There were about seven of them, and they all wore the most intense robes Jon had ever seen. They reminded Jon of the armor of the knights in Resden, in that they made Jon feel like they were organized and dangerous.

The horse that Lester pointed to in particular was a woman with shoulder-length hair. Where the others wore a black and green color scheme, she wore blue with a brown outline.

She also looked older than Jon. Probably Lana’s age.

She was looking down on Lester with disdain.

“I think we’re in it now…” Macy said. “What did you do to piss her off?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Lester explained.

“Oh!” Macy had a face of realization. “That’s what you did.”

Lester turned back to the woman.

“Come on, Liz,” Lester pleaded. “You know me.”

“Lester Mulch Gennington” she opened up a scroll of paper, “You owe the Guild of Enchanted Arms, Artifacts, and Antiques money for use of our facilities, damages-”

“I can’t do that now!” Lester said. “I haven’t even gotten paid for this job yet!”

He looked at Tallow. “Tell her!”

“Well…” Tallow shrugged. “Not my problem.”

She turned and went back to the inn.

“You can’t just leave him!” Amalia said.

“Not- my-” Tallow went through the door before finishing her thought.

“She’s right,” Macy said. “That’s a 'you' issue, Lester. I”m not in the mood to fight a whole bunch of spellcasters today just to save your sorry ass..”

She went back inside as well.

“Come on guys!” Lester said, desperately. He looked at Jon.

“Jon, you’ll help me, right?”

Jon looked at the woman.

Liz.

“I don’t know,” Jon answered. Stepping in front of Liz was like stepping in front of Lana, and he didn’t want to test that yet.

“Pay up, Lester,” Liz said. “Or you go to custody..”

“Can’t we take care of this later?” Lester asked. “After we-”

“3,” she started.

“Don’t be like that!” Lester gave a scared smile. “Didn’t we have fun that night?”

A fireball came down Lester's feet, and he had to step to the side.

“2,” she continued. “I won’t miss next time.”

“I don’t want to do this…” Lester reached for his sword.

“1.” Even Jon knew that it was half a second earlier.

One of the spellcasters stretched their hand. A dark blue mana whip came down and grabbed Lester’s hand.

“You’re gonna regret that!” Lester yelled. He brought his hand down.

The horse fell over while the horse rider was launched off of his horse and flew over Lester’s head.

“I’m sorry about the horse!” He said. “Not so sorry about-”

Another whip went around his neck.

“Hold, villain!” The energy whip went around Lester’s neck. It came from a man who also had dark hair.

Lester fought to take the whip off of his neck, but he was failing.

The other spellcasters went off his legs and other arms, and he was lifted upside down.

“Hi, Liston,” Lester spoke as he used his free arm to pull off the whip. “Still a tool like always?”

“A very useful tool!” Liston yelled, “and-”

“Shut up, Liston!” Liz said. “Don’t let him get in your head!

“You’re right, sister!” Liston said. “I should watch myself!”

He unwrapped his whip from Lester’s neck.

“Ah, finally!” Lester said. “Jon, help-”

The whip came back around his mouth.

“Thank you, brother,” Liz said.

Jon walked up to Liz.

She looked down, intrigued.

“You’re King’s Guard?” she asked.

“Lana sent us,” Jon said.

“Yes. Send Lana my regards. Everything seems to be fine around here. I-”

“We need help,” Jon added. He felt embarrassed. Was that what he was supposed to ask?

To let go of Lester? He didn’t want to get involved in something that didn’t involve him.

“You look mighty desperate…” Liz said upon observation. She sighed. “So, I will hear your case.”

Jon didn’t know what else to say.

“What do you need help with?” Liz asked directly.

“There’s an army… of people…”

“An army?” Liz had a worried look on his face. “Here?”

“Collecting tolls,” Jon said.

“That sounds serious," Liz said to herself. "Liston!”

“Yes, my sister?” Liston responded.

“Watch Lester,” she told him. “I’ll be back.”

Her horse turned around and she rode away.

Jon looked at Amalia. She seemed stuck in mind and place.

“They’re just…” Amalia’s hands trembled. “They’re just gonna take him away…”

She reached for the side of her hip, grabbing something, that Jon couldn't tell.

A long red staff suddenly grew within her grip.

“What are you doing?” Liston asked mockingly, looking down at Amalia and her newly brandished weapon. “You expect to stop us?”

“We need him!” Amalia said. “We need everyone to work together.”

“Oh, he’s gotten to you, too, hasn’t he?” Liston rolled his eyes. “Of course. He seems to poison women everywhere he-”

“I’m not poisoned!” Amalia responded.

“It’s quite fine. I’m sure he made you think he was special,” Liston said. “He does that with every woman he meets.”

Lester groaned through the whip and tried to reach out. Liston waved his hand nonchalantly, and the whip tightened. Jon felt his pain.

“He’s poisoned my sister,” Liston explained. “She plays it off, but ever since she came to that beady little village and found him, he’s been infecting her.”

He looked at Lester with great pity.

“Why do you think we’re even here in the first place?” Liston explained. “But now, he’ll get his just desserts.”

Jon could see Lester respond to Liston with a silent glare of his own.

“He’ll be put away for his crimes against the guild,” Liston added.

“I know Lester can seem bad,” Amalia said. “But he does more good than bad!”

“No matter how much good you do, you can’t erase the bad.” Liston shook his head in shame. “And Lester’s done a ton of bad things.”

Jon wondered what Liston meant by poison. What did Lester really do? Jon was starting to adjust to the large amount of metaphors used around him.

The door to the inn opened, grabbing everyone’s attention. Macy stepped out into the circle of horses.

“So, me and the Vindhazi, uh, Tallow, we’ve been talking, and we decided it’s best that Lester stays.”

Tallow came out as well. “Yeah. Sorry love, you’re gonna have to cut that bastard down. And listen to what we have to say.”

“No way!” Liston said. “Never!”

“I was hoping he’d say that!” Macy said.

“She was hoping you’d say that,” Tallow muttered.

“The Guild of Antiques, Artifacts, and An-”

Macy had already leaped high above Liston's horse with her fist drawn back.

“Oh god-”

Macy punched Liston hard in the face, a flash of fire erupting from her hands as he flew off the horse and very far away from it.

The whip around Lester's mouth is dissapated.

“Take these suckers out!” Lester yelled.

Before Jon could respond to anything, Tallow had already run into him with her shoulder.

Jon was picked up and carried away, feeling the wind pressing against his entire back.

Tallow dropped him off outside of the circle of horses and mages.

“You stay and help out from here,” Tallow said. “Well, uh, distract the magic users.”

She dashed back into the circle and jumped onto one of the horses.

She grabbed the robes of the rider and pulled it over his head before leaping off.

“Jon!” she called out.

Jon fired. The blind spellcaster was blown off his horse with a yell.

Jon's arm had barely recovered from the recoil as several dark blue tentacles wrapped around his arm.

Jon turned and saw that the tentacles had extended from Liston's arm. His hair was disheveled, and he hadn’t even gotten off the floor properly before casting his spell, reminding Jon much of his encounter with the wizard Castiel.

“You are all getting put away for your transgressions!” Liston yelled.

Jon couldn’t piece together why he and his friends were going to be put away. He just pulled at the trigger and shot away the bindings around his arm.

“That’s… not fair!” Liston cried. “You can dispel-”

Jon had fired again, knocking shooting Liston square in the face and knocking him over his own head.

Jon looked over his own shoulder to get a glimpse of the battle happening behind him.

“Don’t ignore me!” Jon only barely got to see what Amalia was doing before he was dragged down to the floor.

“How would you like some lighting!” Liston yelled.

Energy started charging in the air above Jon.

He realized that he might not be able to shoot whatever came down and hit him. If it was anything like the lighting he encountered before, it would be very hard to react properly.

After pondering his choices, Jon pointed at the ground and fired.

He was shot into the air, bypassing whatever lightning spell was gathering over him before it was fully realized.

Jon had already decided to aim himself to land on Liston, although he hadn't thought any further about it. Liston was still on the ground, so he couldn't avoid Jon's eventual plummet. planned to land on top of Liston, but he didn’t

“Oof!!” Jon had felt the wind knocked out of him, but hearing Liston’s pain groans assured him that he had made the right decision for now.

He rolled off of Liston, catching his breath.

Dispel… Jon ruminated over the word. His gun could dispel mana attacks, but not completely. The stronger the spell, the less effective it was. He would have to speak to Mallory more to get a deeper understanding.

He sat up and turned his attention back towards the circle of fighting. Lester was still tied by spellcasters holding each of his hands in a whip and restraining him from joining the battle.

Jon aimed at Lester's left hand and fired.

The blast disintegrated the whip.

“Finally!” Lester pulled at the right whip with both hands.

The spellcaster on the other end of it was easily pulled off of her horse before Lester swung her around and slammed her into the side of the barn.

“It’s showtime!” He yelled, picking up his sword and readying it in a dangerous flourish.

Lester's momentary display of showmanship was suddenly cut off when he had to dive out of the way of a large fireball flew that into the side of the inn and exploded on contact.

Jon was afraid that it would get damaged, but instead, it exploded without hurting anything else.

Liz had wandered back onto the scene, her horse in a steady trot, noticeably disconcerted about it all.

She held open a book in one hand.

She ignored Jon and looked down at Liston.

“I gave you one job,” she said. “Why did you ruin things?”

“You ruined things by leaving me in charge!” Liston yelled.

“He’s got a point!” Lester yelled at her. “Now can you-”

Liz waved her hand.

Energy tentacles shot from the side of the inn and grabbed Lester, bringing him to it before trapping him to the side of the building.

"I can get out of this one! I-" Another energy tendril wrapped around his mouth, stifling him once more.

Liz looked down at Jon.

“Your story corroborates,” she said. “You have my ear.”

She walked up to the circle of horses. Everyone had stopped to watch her, even the girls in Jon's group.

“Fan out,” she said. “Gather some information. There’s been a group of thieves traveling around. Find out what you can, and someone get my brother back on his horse, please?”

She waved her hand again, this time as a command to fan out.

“Yes, sir!” The other spellcasters weren't on their horses for back on and everyone else went without more comment.

Cool.

Jon reveled in his fascination with Liz's leadership as he approached her again.

She was climbing off her horse when he got near, noticing him.

“Can we talk inside?” She asked out loud, not to anyone in particular. She walked in before anyone could answer.

“Fine, Ms. Ball-buster,” Macy said. They followed her into the inn.

Ray was standing at the counter nervously.

“It’s fine,” Tallow said. “Friends.”

Ray breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, I heard horses and fighting, and-”

“You’re gonna have to man up if you’re gonna watch over that girl,” Macy said.

Ray frowned. “Oh… Yeah…”

Amalia had come over to the counter and looked underneath.

The girl climbed out from underneath. It was still somewhat unsettling to Jon, even if he knew it was coming. She was so quiet… more than he was.

“Want to come with me?” Amalia asked.

The girl didn’t respond. However, she followed Amalia out of the building. Ray reached out in concern but didn’t say anything.

Liz took a chair at the table and sat down, placing the book in front of her.

Macy, Tallow, and Jon sat as well.

“Weren’t you the people that sent us? Tallow asked. “The old artifacts guild or something?”

“No,” Liz answered. “You were on request from the Rare Artifacts guild.”

“But…” Tallow seemed confused. “I thought…”

“We… are the Guild of Enchanted Arms, Artifacts, and Antiques. There are several guilds that overlap in their purposes… if you understand.”

“Uh-huh.” Tallow didn’t seem convinced. “And you said big, dumb and ugly owed you money?”

“Yes… he does. But with the current situation, I have decided to adhere to Lana’s request first… and then we’ll take care of the rest after.”

She looked at Tallow curiously. “I thought I was being debriefed.”

“Oh, forgive our friend,” Macy said. “She’s a tad curious. She’s not from around here, as you can tell.”

“You want a real debrief, you should probably bring our friend back down,” Tallow said.

Liz sighed. She closed the book on the table.

There was a rush of footsteps before Lester burst in the door.

“I’m here!” he said, out of breath. “I, uh, the spell-”

“Take a seat, Lester,” Liz remarked.

“No, I’m alright.” Lester stood up and crossed his arms.

"Now where were we?" Tallow's tone raised to so her disbelief. “'Of course 'I’m curious?'" What the hell. I think I deserve to know if someone I’m working with is gonna get hit by debt collectors. Pretty important information, don’t ya think?”

This was directed towards Lester.

“Oh, you brought me in to say that?” he asked.

“This... is a relatively recent development,” Liz said. “Something that will be resolved. But for now, I think we have some other common goals in which we can help each other.”

“Of course!” Lester said. “We’re supposed to-”

“Shh!” Liz held her finger out to Lester.

“Yeah, let the grown-ups talk,” Macy said. “You’ve done enough.”

“You don’t even know… fine!” Lester threw his hands up in surrender and left the building.

“There’s a guy," Tallow explained, "named shoelace or whatever. He and his men have been hopping around, asking for a toll in order to pass through.”

“We had no such issue coming here from Valta,” Liz said.

“That’s ‘cause he’s been selective in who he’s extorting,” Macy explained. Tallow gave a dirty look, but let her continue. “He doesn't want to hit the wrong people.”

“Ah,” Liz nodded. “I see. That matches with the reports we’ve been getting of robberies coming through this area.”

“This area? Why here?” Macy asked. “This place is a dump, and so is Harris’s castle. There’s no reason to pass through if you don’t have a solid guard.”

“Yes, but this area isn’t too far from other paths,” Liz explained. “It’s easy to wait ‘til someone comes out of the way, then to trap them in between the borders.”

“That could explain the lack of customers,” Ray said, drawing attention to himself. “If it was just a toll, at least I would get broke customers.”

“Shouldn’t you be making lunch?” Macy asked him. “Chop, chop!”

“Oh… I… sure…” Ray turned away and went into the kitchen.

“From what it sounds, there’s a lot of them,” Liz said. “The bandits.”

“Yeah. A bit too much to handle.” Tallow said. “For us, anyway.”

Liz nodded. “Okay. I think we can work together. In exchange, I want access to whatever magical items we find. We can redistribute what’s there and keep the rest. I suppose it may be enough to pay off Lester’s debt. And you can hold on to the girl with the dagger. Is Lester okay with that?”

“Lester’s gonna have to be okay with that,” Tallow said. “I’m ready to finish this up and go home.”

Liz nodded and stood up. “Good. I’ll talk to my men. We’ll have to be careful, as not to draw too much attention. They must not fear us 'til the time is right.”

“Before you go,” Tallow said. “Is there any way to separate the dagger from that girl?”

Liz frowned. “Not without harm. Separating an item like that will cause tremendous pain to whoever tries to, but it’s also unusual for a girl that age to be in possession of such an item. Most people don’t even start mana until even reaching that age.”

“Yeah, alright.” Tallow shrugged. She turned to Ray. “You heard her, right?”

Ray grimaced.

“What you gonna do?” Tallow asked. “Are we taking her? Are you keeping her?”

“I… I…” he seemed stuck on answering.

“It is not my concern,” Liz said, standing up, “but you should think of what is best for the girl.”

She walked out of the inn.

“Yeah, stop being such a pussy,” Macy added.

She walked out as well.

Ray sighed. “I… I can’t decide… I’m not…”

Jon looked at Tallow.

“I’m gonna let you figure that out, boss,” she said to Ray. “Let’s get some fresh air, Jon.”

Jon took one last look at Ray, then followed Tallow out of the inn.