In the room full of hot-blooded heroes, everyone started talking over each other. Disagreements lead to discord, and discord quickly transformed into disputes. In just under a minute, the initial calm atmosphere turned into a chaotic mess.

Boom! A table cracked in half. Surprised by the sound, they turned to look at Vidi, who was holding his staff, and stuck on it were fragments of the table. Silence returned to the room. “Thank you,” he said. “Enn, lead the heroes to the exit. Wait until everyone’s in a good position to engage. We’ll attempt a breakthrough.”

Enn nodded.

“Wren, go to the upper floor and tend to the wounded. When we lured most of the enemy to the inside, jump out.”

“Alrighty.” Enn started helping Ruu to the upper floor.

“Wait,” Ruu let out her weak voice. “Those sisters… They’re orphans without a home to go… Please… take care of them…”

Vidi held Ruu’s hands tight and nodded firmly.

“Heads of all faction, please take your disciples along with you to one of these areas.” Vidi pointed at several locations. Now that someone was giving out commands, there wasn’t a hint of chaos anymore. Everyone complied and went into position.

“Master Sinless and Mr Pen, can you prepare for a surprise attack?” Sinless and Og agreed without hesitation. Sinless was swift with his Eight Point Strike and Snake’s Rattle, and Og’s unorthodox weapon could easily confuse the soldiers, making them the perfect candidates for a surprise attack. Did Vidi think of all of that through? Needless to say, people were amazed by Vidi.

Vidi kneeled and smiled at Tar. It was very warm. Vidi spoke under his breath, “Tar. Thank you for saving us; we all owe you our lives. How did you get in here?”

Tar told Vidi he climbed in from a canal. There was a hint of relief in Vidi’s expression. “Can you take the two girls to safety for me through the canal?”

When Tar saw the way Vidi commanded others, heat rushed to his chest. Tar wondered if one day he would be like that. Leading heroes and driving away Tzappians from Eustacia. The heat within his chest compelled Tar to reply, “Yes.”

The first sword strike was heard, and Vidi immediately rushed to help. Tar watched as Vidi’s back slowly shrank, but was still bigger than anyone else’s.

Tar took a deep breath. “I won’t disappoint Mr Vidi,” he thought, as he ran to Loch and said something to her. Tar then ran to the sisters and said, “I know a way out.”

The four of them including Loch entered the alcohol storage room. One by one, Loch tossed the children upward so they could reach the canal. The sisters already crawled into the canal, and when it was Tar’s turn, he heard a scream. “Don’t let those children get away!”

Tar looked back and saw a soldier pointing at him. Hearing their comrade’s cry, several soldiers rushed to the alcohol storage room. Without any hesitation, Loch pulled her sword from her scabbard and used her specialty, Endless River Tides, onto the soldiers. The soldiers lost their footing from what felt like a surging tidal wave. Loch grabbed Tar by his waist and pushed him upward, sending him flying straight into the canal.

After the children crawled out of the canal Tar shouted, “Ms Broom. Come with us!”

“Hngh. Don’t command me, brat. I can’t get into the canal. And even if I can, I won’t…” What followed was sword clattering sounds, and Loch’s battle cry.

“Ms Broom! Ms Broom!” But Loch did not reply.

“The Tzappians are penetrating our defence too quickly. Is she alright? Is Mr Urn…?” Tar thought about going back to the Barn and help them, but he caught a glimpse of the sisters. “No… I’ve got responsibility now. Mr Urn trusted me, and I’ll trust Mr Urn he’ll return triumphant.”

“I know a place. Stay low and follow me.” The older sister nodded and took the younger sister by her hand. The three of them used the tall dead grass to cover their body and slowly crawled out of the field.

It was already night-time, and since the soldiers were concentrated on raiding the Barn, the three children escaped without too much issue. After more hiding and running, they were out of the danger zone, and they leaned on a wall to catch their breath. It was dark so Tar couldn’t see the sisters’ faces clearly but he heard a high-pitched voice clearly. “Hey, you. Tell me where we’re going.”

That was rude, Tar thought, but he answered anyway. “To my ho-” Home? Was the Compass’ ever his home? “To where I’m living currently.”

“And? Where is this place?”

He was annoyed, but there was no need to express it. After all, he was used to suppressing his emotions. “Just follow me, okay?”

“Someone’s getting snippy!” The same voice whispered.

“Lya! He’s helping us. Just follow him. Or do you want to be left on the streets again?”

“Whatever you say, big sis.”

Tar sighed and started walking again. After forty or so minutes, the children stopped in front of the Compass’ house, but Tar was far from delighted.

“Little guy. Is your home supposed to be this shabby?” Lya asked.

The house Tar saw could barely be called a house. The roof had collapsed, and the inner walls were torn apart by sharp objects. Furnitures were all over the place as well.

“Mr and Mrs Compass!” Tar exclaimed as he sprinted to the living room, only to see a big board lying on the floor. “Loyalty to Eustacia”, with a streak of still-red blood painted over it.

The older sister patted his back and comforted him. “Sorry.”

But there were no bodies here. Maybe they got out alive? Tar could only hope so.

“Yay! An addition to the ‘orphan group’!” Lya clapped cheerfully.

“Lya!!”

“Kyu!!” Lya mockingly imitated her sister Kyu.

Tar gritted his teeth and burned the image into his memory. He wouldn’t complain and he wouldn’t cry. He would take everything in and not show any weakness.

“Let’s go. It’s dangerous here.” Tar only knew of two other places in West Frey. One was the Amber Mansion, which had since been demolished, and the other was the temple the Compass’ often visited. He concluded that the temple made a good temporary shelter, and he might find some clues as to where Bern and Ev were. And thus, they departed for the temple.

Along the way, they saw abnormally many soldiers patrolling. They seemed to be searching for rebels who managed to escape. One particular soldier knocked on someone’s door and a man came out. The soldier proceeded to ask the man something, but Tar was too far to hear anything. Tar told the sisters to hide and wait for him.

Tar tiptoed to the house and he saw the soldier holding a piece of paper.

“Have you seen this person?”

“Not that I recall, sir.”

“How about this one?” The soldier pulled out another piece of paper.

“Hmm… I’m not sure.”

“Really? I’ll skin you alive if I find out you’re lying to me.”

“I-I’m really telling the truth! I don’t remember seeing them.”

“I see. If you see them later, tell the soldiers immediately. Don’t even think of helping them. Or else…”

“Yes, yes! I’ll do that!”

The soldier gave a small stack of paper to the man.

“Have a good day – I mean – good night, sir.” The man kept bowing to the soldier even after the soldier was already off. As the man was flipping through the stack paper, Tar sneaked in closer to see what was on them. They were drawn pictures of Bern, Ev, Vidi, Loch…

“Wanted posters! They’re being chased after! Wait, does that mean they got out alive? Thank God…” Relieved and worried at the same time, Tar headed back to the sisters, only to see them restrained by two soldiers, one fat and one skinny.