“What are you doing, Hakimi?”

Vardan was the first to notice Hakimi’s odd behavior. The rest of the boys stopped in their tracks and turned back to look.

Hakimi continued walking forward, away from their intended destination and towards the captured bandits. He stopped in front of the first bandit, an unconscious man lying on the ground, bleeding from where he had been struck with a wooden post. His limbs had been securely fastened with multiple layers of rope and whatever other pieces of scrap the children had managed to salvage. It wasn’t neat but it did the job.

The teenager leading the band of urchins looked at Hakimi with a puzzled expression on his face as the young boy examined their captive. The other children paused in the middle of tying up the bandits and looked over, equally unsure of what was happening.

“Come on, Hakimi, let’s go. Ying Jie will deal with the bandits for us.”

The teenager nodded at Hakimi silently. Hakimi looked up at him but did not return the courtesy. He looked down at the bandit and reached for something on his waist with his left hand.

Vardan’s eyes grew wide.

“Hakimi, no!” he shouted as he lunged forward.

Blood spattered across Ying Jie’s face. The teenager quickly grabbed one of the younger children and covered her eyes. The rest of the urchins shrieked and recoiled in horror as the crimson puddle on the ground slowly spread towards them. The unconscious bandit gurgled faintly, his fingers twitching uncontrollably as life slowly slipped from his grasp.

Hakimi wiped the dagger on his shirt. Before he could move on to his next target, Vardan grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him firmly as he said, “What are you doing?”

“Dealing with the bandits,” Hakimi replied as he forcefully pried Vardan’s fingers away from him.

“I told you Ying Jie would deal with them. You didn’t have to…” said Vardan, his voice a mixture of shock and worry.

“And how would he have dealt with them? Knowing you, they were probably going to leave the bandits tied up somewhere after stripping them of their valuables.”

“And? What's wrong with that? Why do we have to kill them?”

Hakimi looked at Vardan closely before he said, “You didn’t seem to have a problem with that when we did it to Rayyan and his men.”

Vardan looked down and sighed, "It's different, ok? We had to do it. It was either us or them.”

“And how is that different now?” Hakimi's voice was cool as ice, “What do you think happens if you let them live? They’ve seen all of our faces and they know you’re working with the urchins, the orphans and the slaves. You think that once they break free of their constraints, they’re not gonna tell the other bandits what happened here? Who do you think they're gonna deal with first when they realized they failed to get us? Blood will run in the streets, Vardan. Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t think of this.”

Vardan replied calmly, “The urchins are more resourceful than you think. They’ve survived so long in the Nameless Town after all. They are prepared for the possibility that the bandits might go after them. We have a choice now, Hakimi. We don't have to stoop to their level. We can do better.”

“Why should we do better? Why show kindness to the dregs of humanity; the same filth that is the source of all suffering in the Nameless Town? These murderers, robbers and burglars? Let them go and another mother is stabbed to death in the slums, another kid made to slave away in the mines, another parent loses a child. This is exactly what they deserve.”

“You’re right. They don't deserve compassion. But we deserve it. We never asked for any of this. We should be able to sleep at night without thinking about all the blood on our hands. And make no mistake, there is blood on our hands.

You remember. You were there when we killed Rayyan. He was not innocent, but his son was. Did he not deserve compassion, Hakimi? Three lives are more than enough in my book.”

Hakimi was silent for a moment.

“Then keep it that way,” he said bluntly as he approached his next victim.

Vardan tightened his grip on Hakimi’s arm as he said, “I won’t let you do this.”

“Let go, Vardan.”

The two boys locked eyes, both unwavering in their determination. Seconds ticked by without a single word between them. Han Yang, Hafiz and Osman looked at each other worriedly, but didn't know how to intervene. Everyone was keenly aware that precious time was slipping through their fingers. Every second wasted meant another second for another band of bandits to catch up with them.

“Let go, Vardan,” Hakimi said again.

The boy’s eyes had no hesitation in them. Vardan knew how stubborn and reckless he could be. In that regard, he was very similar to Ru Meng. Both of them were willing to put themselves through unimaginable risk and danger to get what they want, but where Ru Meng was like a vulnerable flicker that threatened to burn itself out, Hakimi was like a cold, calculating blizzard, an unrelenting menace of nature.

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Truthfully, Vardan was worried for both of them. They were so young compared to himself, even if both of them were just as smart and capable as he was. He knew time was running out, but part of him feared what would happen if he let Hakimi continue down this path he had chosen.

Hakimi had always kept up a stoic front, even before they became allies. Vardan thought he had warmed up a little after spending time with everyone after they defeated Rayyan, but it was clear that the cold and cruel side to him still remained.

Hakimi almost seemed to sense Vardan's turbulent thoughts.

“Everything I do, I do to protect everyone,” he said.

Vardan was still extremely reluctant, but this time, he didn't hold on to his grip like he did before. He watched as Hakimi wrestled free of his hand and walked towards another bandit.

Hakimi kneeled down and clumsily turned the bandit over with his one hand to expose his throat. Quickly, if messily, he sliced the bandit’s throat and went to the next bandit. One by one, he killed them without any emotion on his face.

The urchins could only watch on in horror as the young boy, about the same age as themselves, executed the bandits in cold blood.

Vardan sighed as he placed his hands over a bandit's eyes and closed them for him. Then, with a grim expression plastered on his face, he picked up one of the bandit’s swords and thrust it into the hearts of the two remaining bandits.

When all was said and done, he cast the sword aside and walked back to where the rest of the party was, his back still as straight as ever, but heavier somehow, as if weighed down by an invisible burden.

Hakimi didn't seem to be finished, however. He dipped his dagger in the blood of his victim and started writing something on the walls in large, red letters.

Vardan was horrified. He asked angrily, “What is this, Hakimi?”

“I told you, didn't I? It's about sending a message.”

Hakimi finished the word he was writing. He wiped his dagger and sheathed it. He turned around and walked away without looking back.

“Now everyone is going to think twice about crossing us.”

Vardan clenched his fist tightly. He wanted to say something, scream, yell, but nothing came out of his mouth. Hakimi was right. This was deterrence. Bloody deterrence for all the bandits to see with their own eyes. It would protect them. Hakimi was right.

But this wasn’t right. He nodded apologetically at Ying Jie and signed ‘sorry’ at him. The teenager seemed at a loss at what just happened. He shook his head absentmindedly and quickly led the urchins away.

The five boys, now left alone again, marched into the tunnel in front of them.

In a matter of seconds, the cave had returned to the desolate, abandoned ruin it was.

Only nine bodies were left behind. The bloody message scrawled into the walls dripped onto the rocks below, rich with malice.

ANJING

‘Dogs’.

——————————————————————————————

The giant gate guardians were as grand as ever, looming tall and peeking over the fifteen-meter-tall main gates. However, the vast majority of the sculptures, other than their fearsome heads, were obscured from view. The main gates were shut tight.

Two guards stood watch in front of the entrance, though ‘standing watch’ was probably exaggerating how seriously they were taking their jobs. They were sitting on chairs, playing cards and taking swigs from a large glass bottle, laughing and swearing amongst themselves.

Fang Chen Yu’s men were always more suited as bandits and ruffians than gatekeepers and soldiers. The only reason they fell in line was because of his overwhelming strength and power.

While these guards seemed horribly incompetent, Vardan and Hakimi knew they were anything but. They had witnessed a small demonstration of their power that day when they were escorted here. Those who were handpicked to be part of Fang Chen Yu’s personal forces were amongst the most capable fighters and sorcerers there were in the Nameless Town. A single one of them could easily fend off several of the bandits chasing them earlier.

One of the guards spotted the boys from a distance. A scowl overtook his face. He grumpily stood up and shoved a pouch of coins into the hands of his delighted partner.

He waved at the boys and motioned for them to come over.

Vardan approached the guard and said stiffly, “We’re here to deliver magistones to Lord Fang.”

“The goods,” said the guard impatiently.

Vardan and the boys removed the bags and handed them over to the guard, who started sifting through their contents.

“You'll have to forgive my partner. You see, we had a little bet on the fate of your crew and he was a little more pessimistic than I was,” the other guard, who was in a much more jolly and agreeable mood, stood up and greeted the boys.

“I suppose that makes the both of us lucky winners,” Vardan smiled as he replied, earning a little chuckle from the guard.

The first guard took out a scale and weighed the magistones. He whispered something to his companion. He then walked away and came back with a fairly large bag.

Vardan and the boys gulped audibly when they saw the guard return with the bag. They all knew what its contents were.

Grudgingly, the guard handed it over to the boys, his gaze lingering on the bounty for a few seconds as it left his hands.

“Do you mind if we weighed this?” asked Vardan.

The grumpy guard opened his mouth, as if to say something snarky, but his partner interrupted before he could do so, “Go ahead, be our guest. I don’t think Lord Fang's the kind to stiff you though.”

He laughed out loud at his own joke and slapped his round belly. Vardan thanked him. He confirmed that the bag contained exactly five kilograms of rice with the scales. The boys then split up the rice in the bag into five smaller bags for each of them to conceal and carry.

Vardan took a small handful of rice and poured it into two smaller pouches. He gave one each to the guards and thanked them with a wide smile.The grumpy guard was caught off guard by this and accepted the gift a little awkwardly. The jolly guard simply chuckled and said, “You’re a smart kid. Know how to make friends, don't you?”

“I try,” said Vardan, “On another note, you don't think you can put in a good word for us with Lord Fang? Perhaps tell him to not make it so difficult on us the next time round; make it so that we don’t have to deal with a hundred bandits at once?”

“You’re dreaming if you think the boss gives a shit what any of us thinks,” the grumpy guard finally spoke up, "You should be glad. He’s made it fair enough for you lot. None of the bandits were allowed to loiter within a kilometer of the palace. You would have been stopped right before you could get here otherwise.”

Vardan nodded and thanked the guards again, before the five boys left for home.

The journey back was relatively uneventful. Most of the bandits had given up at this point; the lack of organization made it difficult for them to rally or even to communicate effectively. They hardly knew if their target had slipped past them. Or perhaps Hakimi’s bloody display had been enough to intimidate them.

Either way, the five boys managed to travel through the Nameless Town without drawing any attention or being hounded by any bandits. Vardan led them through a few hidden passages and they were out of the town in under an hour.

However, the uneventfulness of the trip belied the tension within the group. Despite their success at overcoming the odds, not a single word was shared between Vardan and Hakimi as they traveled home.

The three other boys, still a little shocked by Hakimi’s actions, didn't know what to say either. It was quiet and lonely.

They had won, but it didn’t feel like it at all.