Both of the guard's arms split apart like rotten wood as I brought my sword down, splattering both myself and the other guards with his blood. I sensed something, perhaps through sound or perhaps through pure intuition, moving to my right. At the same time, I saw the nearest guard to my left thrusting his spear in my direction. Knowing I couldn’t dodge attacks from two directions at once when I couldn’t see one of them, I dashed forwards into the spearhead, grabbing it with force magic before it could dig into my chest and using my weight as leverage to force the guard backwards. At the same time, I chopped my sword down towards his face, only to have it intercepted by the other left guard’s spear.

The force of my blow still managed to carry through the spear’s hilt and smash the other guard’s face, however, knocking him to the ground and stunning him briefly. Footstep noises behind me alerted me to more attacks, and I quickly jumped into a forward dive over the stunned guard and rolled back to my feet, getting my opponents all on one side of me. The armless guard began to scream, the pain from his injury only now hitting his mind, and I used the distraction to jump upwards with force magic, plant my feet on the wall behind me, then push myself off it into a dive toward the guard who had been second on my left. He was too stunned to react as I tackled him to the ground, planting my sword cleanly through his chest.

“Stop!” Dkehpmz yelled, but the two guards who were still standing had no intention of listening to him. I took a spearhead to my left kidney and was forced to relinquish my grip on my sword in order to dodge a stab that would have pierced my lung by jumping forward once more. Pushing their advantage now that I was unarmed, the two guards aggressively pushed forward, stabbing quickly in my direction to force my back to the wall and watching my footwork so I couldn’t surprise them with a tackle again. I tried to grab their spearheads using force magic, but like how Yaavtey had failed to grip my sword fully during our fight at points, they were able to yank them back quickly enough that I couldn’t grip them.

Let's try a different approach, I thought, holding my left fist closed around a ball of air and preparing to energize it to create light. As one of the guards stepped in to stab at me again, I avoided his stab and moved toward him, then quickly shoved my hand near the eyes of the second guard who was preparing to punish my movement, making the brightest light I could. Stinging pain exploded from my torso, went up my arm, and then a tremendously powerful flash of light seared the man’s retinas, sending him stumbling back. With one more punch, I broke the other guard’s nose, then saw that the guard I had tackled was back on his feet and pulling my sword out of the one I had stabbed.

“I SAID STOP!” Dkehpmz exploded, “That means you Tawpv, Zrahl, Zhehpzh, and Yawpt! Boy, you stop too, there is no need for this!” At his command, the guards froze. Not one to leave an opportunity wasted, I grabbed the face of the nearest guard and prepared to cook his brain.

“Yuwniht,” Koyl said sharply, “don’t.” His eyes communicated a number of emotions rapidly, telling me he was serious. At the last possible moment, I called off the magic and let go of the man’s face. His terrified eyes met with mine, then turned angry as he stepped backwards. There was an awkward silence, broken only by groaning from the armless guard and the blinded one, as the men started to collect themselves. I looked over to Koyl, who still had his sword to the grounded Dkehpmz, and frowned.

“Any tricks, even a hint of movement, and you all die,” I growled, still full of adrenaline. My head snapped to the sound of metal on stone, only to see that one of the guards had slid my sword across the ground in my direction. All eyes were on me as I squatted down to pick it up, then re-sheathed it after a moment of consideration. Idiots, I thought, you had the element of surprise, but now I know how you-

“So you’re the one,” Dkehpmz said, drawing my attention back to him. Violent impulses still bubbled in me, but curiosity pushed its way to the forefront when I saw his expression. “Oh yes, I heard about you from a friend of mine,” he continued. “You’re the giant Gwahlaob who chartered that boat with cash from Vehrehr, which means that you-” he turned back to Koyl, “-are the crippled man he brought aboard with him. The one with the wooden legs.” Koyl pressed his sword closer to Dkehpmz’s throat, and the guards tensed.

“I changed my mind,” Koyl said coldly, “I might just want you dead after all.” Another moment of silence passed, then Dkehpmz cackled out a harsh laugh.

“You know boy, I thought your friend was the scary one, but that look you’ve got could freeze blood solid in someone’s veins,” he remarked. “Do you mind letting me up?” Koyl laughed in response, then stepped onto Dkehpmz’s hand.

“Tell the guards to get out, then you can stand up,” he demanded. Good choice Koyl, I thought, I would have said that if you didn’t. Dkehpmz grinned through gritted teeth, then looked over to the guards.

“Zrahl, you stay,” he said, and the guard who had been stunned by the spear shaft looked over. “The rest of you, go to the door, leave once I get up.”

“But-” the one who had been blinded began, only to stop abruptly.

“It’s fine,” Dkehpmz said, “you’ll get your pay either way.” Reluctantly, the remaining three able-bodied guards helped the armless guard to the door, then waited. Koyl stepped back, keeping his sword towards Dkehpmz, but allowing him to stand. With a look, Dkehpmz dismissed the guards at the door, who exited and closed it behind them. They’re just going to wait outside, I thought, still, this is a risk on his part. A gesture of trust. “You prefer Koyl then?” Dkehpmz asked, his tone friendly. “Koyl, if you could put the sword away, that would be very kind of you.”

“I think I’ll keep it out,” Koyl retorted.

“Oh come now, your friend… Yuwneht?” Dkehpmz began, turning his head to face me.

“Yuwniht,” I corrected.

“Yuwniht,” Dkehpmz repeated, “isn’t keeping his weapon drawn.” Koyl snorted, then glanced over to me.

“If I hadn’t told him to let your guard go, you’d know why he doesn’t need his sword drawn right now,” Koyl replied. The remaining guard, Zrahl, met my eyes, then looked away.

After a brief standoff, Dkehpmz led us out of the storage room and into a small office. The guard named Zrahl stood in the corner watching while Koyl and I stood near the central desk with Dkehpmz across from us. The room was highly decorated with ornate wooden sculptures and metal statuettes placed on rows of shelves along the walls. The back wall held a massive self-portrait of Dkehpmz, or someone who was related to him. I wasn’t sure if it was meant to be him, because around half of the facial features didn’t match and the man in the picture looked less fat. Both Koyl and I removed the crude masks we were wearing, the pretense of anonymity having long since been broken.

“So,” Dkehpmz started, “had you just told me who you were today I might have given you a bit more of my time. I hope there aren’t any hard feelings about me kicking you out, it was nothing personal.” Koyl silently bristled in his seat. Medication must be wearing off, I thought. “Beyond the obvious, of course,” Dkehpmz smiled. “Being the target of a robbery is somewhat of a compliment in my line of work, and knowing that you aren’t with my competitors makes this a lot easier to forgive.”

“Why are we here?” I asked. Dkehpmz raised his eyebrows, then exhaled.

“I have some… unconfirmed reports about the goings on in Vehrehr,” he explained. “News travels fast, you see, but you two also travel quite fast. It seems to me that someone in that city bit off more than they could chew and messed with the wrong person, and that same someone's entire organization was burned to the ground. Then, someone else who may or may not have hired the one who did the burning was stabbed in the back, causing quite the uproar.” Koyl looked at me, and I looked back with a blank expression. “Figuratively speaking of course,” Dkehpmz added, then he looked at me.

“Why are we here?” I repeated. Sounds like the outside guards are gone, I thought.

“Tell me, why do you want to leave the city?” Dkehpmz asked. Koyl opened his mouth to speak, but I gestured to stop him.

“I need to travel east, and Koyl is also going the same way,” I said.

“You must know it's dangerous during bear season, and moreso than usual this year,” Dkehpmz pressed, leaning forwards slightly. “Normally, the city guards might have just let you out if you made a fuss about it, but I assume you already did and they told you to stay inside. For good reason, I might add. So I ask you again, why?”

“Does it matter?” Koyl asked him. “We both have different reasons. I’ll speak for myself by saying I’m heading to Kahvahrniydah. Yuwniht is going further.” That’s the first I’m hearing of this, I thought, he’s probably just improvising something.

“Are you the two I heard about?” Dkehpmz asked, giving little indication of whether or not he was pleased with the previous answer. Koyl said nothing for a second, so I stepped in.

“I burned the Hatchet Crew’s guild hall,” I said. “Does that answer your question?” Dkehpmz smiled, then sighed and rubbed his chin.

“To admit that so openly, I really hope you aren’t lying,” he said. “On the one hand, you’ve really teytjh me good because Yaavtey was good for business. More money flowing around, fake or not, means more purchases, and as long as I’m not left holding the hot coins it doesn’t matter. On the other hand, he was getting a bit too confident, and I know my name was on at least a few ledgers in that building. So I suppose it evens out.” I said nothing, waiting for Dkehpmz to get to the point. “That light thing you were doing, the purple one, show me,” he commanded. I suppose even if he didn’t see the first orb, he definitely saw the second, I thought.

“How bright?” I asked. Dkehpmz reached up and turned off the lantern’s oil, which was enough of an answer for me. I quickly summoned a ball of light to illuminate the room above my right hand, then placed my hand on the desk, palm up.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” he grunted. Before I could stop him, Dkehpmz put his finger into the ball of light, then withdrew it. “It isn’t even hot, but does cause a strange sensation,” he remarked. “Very interesting indeed. I saw you using force magic as well, so you must be quite skilled. Served in the military, did you?”

“Of course,” I lied.

“Which one?” Dkehpmz asked.

“Yahn Gwah,” I continued to lie, and Koyl let out a quiet grunt. Dkehpmz smiled and chuckled. Wrong answer, I noted, does that country not have a military, or would something disqualify me?

“It’s alright if you don’t want to tell me which one,” Dkehpmz said gently. “I can tell you’re military from the way you act, regardless. You-” he turned to Koyl, “-on the other hand, you’ve been getting twitchier since we entered the office. Znahdeyvtih is responsible, I’m guessing, considering how cool-headed you were earlier.” Koyl grimaced, then sighed. “Well, you can keep the pouch of it, consider it payment. I’ll need the other one back though.”

“Payment for what?” Koyl asked. Dkehpmz beckoned with his hand, and a reluctant Koyl placed a pouch of medicine in his hand.

“The other two pouches as well,” Dkehpmz said, in a tone like a parent chastising a child. Koyl sighed again and remove two more pouches from his tunic, putting them on the desk. “I don’t fault you for trying, these are worth a lot of money,” Dkehpmz laughed. He has a bit of an accent, I realized, his hard consonants are much sharper than the average speaker.

“Payment for what?” I echoed, tapping the desk with my left hand.

“I told you, my caravan guards ran off because they're more scared of bears than they are of me,” Dkehpmz said, reaching up to turn the lantern back on. Once the room was filled with soft orange light again, I let the light ball dissipate. “No offense, Yuwniht, but that light hurts my eyes.”

“So you want us to guard your caravan in their place,” I said.

“Not alone,” Dkehpmz said, “but if you’re willing, yes. It's the only way you're getting out of Pehrink anytime soon, being freelancers and all. Did you really fight a bear, or was that just banter?” Koyl glanced at me as if he wanted to know the answer as well.

“I’ve encountered three,” I said. “The first one I managed to injure and escape from, the second I led into the third as a distraction in order to survive. I don’t intend to encounter a fourth if I can avoid it, but if I do, I'm fairly confident about my chances of survival.” Dkehpmz laughed again, much louder than before.

“You know, I can believe you,” he chortled. “If you want to leave this city any time soon, that fourth bear might be coming sooner than you think.”

“Or we could just walk out of here,” Koyl suggested. “This whole thing is very suspicious, and we're under no obligation to do any work for you.”

“Oh I won’t be having that,” Dkehpmz replied with a menacing grin. “I’m sure the Steelheart Company would love to know I had a visit from the man who robbed one of their offices and stuffed Dawpvaol Eyyng'pey bound and gagged into a locked box. I'm pretty sure the report I read said the only thing they found of her was her teeth, at least until they broke the box open three days later when searching for the missing money. Things like that tend to piss them off a bit.” Koyl’s jaw nearly dropped, and he looked at me wide-eyed. I took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, suddenly feeling tired. Maybe I can still just kill him, I thought, I'd probably have to kill everyone in the building, but how hard can hiding seven or eight bodies really be?