Stories you often hear are all about acts of heroism - but not this one. Consider this story a warning. Mercenaries are common in Brexon, so the fact that this story includes a group of mercenaries shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but mercenaries also come in many shapes and sizes. This particular band of money hungry mercs involves three key players and if you’ve lived in Brexon or you’re just passing through you know of them.

Firstly, there’s Zayla. Don’t tell me how a run of the mill sorceress specializing in teleportation magic and having a knack for sweets is the most normal of the bunch, but somehow… she is. I wouldn’t underestimate her though, if she turned you into a toad you could consider yourself lucky. I once bore witness to a job that they were involved in and she seared a Demonic Melanchlin right down to its bones and then froze the bones and stepped on em’. Don’t know what a Demonic Melanchlin is? Well, that’s a story for another day, I suppose.

Next up we have Luxie. Don’t let her pretty, cutesy name fool you. While Zayla turns the demons to dust, a lot of us here in Brexon think Luxie is a demon herself. Pale skin, so pale it’s like she’s been coated in white paint. At least that’s what the few people who have seen the skin under her hood say. If you see these mercs and Luxie is with them you should be scared, but not as scared as you should be when you see them without her. That means she’s in the shadows somewhere and your throat is as good as slit. She’ll flay you if the price is right and from what I hear the asking price is usually not as high as you would think.

Just the thought of Luxie gives me the chills, but there is still one more in the group we didn’t mention yet. Burch. They call him the Brexon Butcher and for good reason. Before he met Zayla and Luxie he would only take jobs that were located in Brexon. He felt it was the best way to build his reputation, but the next thing you know he’s terrorizing the people of this town day in and day out. Let’s face it, a town which most mercenaries call home isn’t going to have a lot of rules, so terrorizing people didn’t stop at getting money or ruining someone’s business. No, if you wanted someone in Brexon dead - you called Burch.

That’s not to say the killing didn’t stop when he met Zayla and Luxie - if anything it got worse, but the girls helped Burch expand his horizons and these three menaces started finding work elsewhere. Yet… There isn’t a soul in Brexon still breathing that has forgotten a day three years ago. The day these three mercs found each other.

Not to sound cliche, but it was a day like any other. Burch often spent his mornings taking jobs in local Brexon bars, his afternoons executing the job and gods knows what at night. After he woke he made his way down to one of those bars, the most popular among mercs in Brexon, “The Tooth Sweetener,” and approached a board set up for work. Weirdly enough the board only had one piece of paper on it when normally it’s full to the brim. Burch looked around the bar, curious, before walking over to the piece of paper. When he read it he was surprised to only see his name on it.

He stared at the piece of paper for a moment, knowing what this entailed, and turned around slowly. Everyone else in the bar was now standing and their weapons were drawn. The other mercs in Brexon did not respect Burch or his actions and this seemed like the best way to deal with their problem. Needless to say, no one in Brexon thought this through. Burch was not your typical fighter nor your typical mercenary. He was a monster of a man, both in height and mass. Unlike other mercenaries, he didn’t fight with a sword or a spear… He just used his bare hands.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The ensuing fight was a long one and a few of the mercenaries landed an attack or two on the hulking merc, but majority of the damage was done by Burch himself. I remember it clear as day, as I was also in attendance. Picked a weird day for a morning drink, I did, but at least I lived to tell this story. I cowered in a corner of the bar and watched as Burch received very little punishment and dealt a ton of it out. A cut here and a slash there, Burch took the attacks with a smile on his face. When it was his turn to dish some damage of his own, he made sure he returned the sentiment tenfold.

I remember catching a glimpse of the barkeep as he ducked behind his counter to avoid a body thrown his way. I recall the rest of the workers in the bar that morning running out the front door as soon as they could the moment they saw Burch’s reaction to the paper. I also remember thinking that this had to be the end of the Brexon Butcher no matter what the outcome. There was no way one man could take on an entire town’s worth of mercenaries alone. Not even a man as monstrous as Burch.

Then I felt something brush against my sleeve that nearly caused me to wet my breeches. Luxie was there and somehow hiding beside me or behind me even though I was hiding in a corner! She slithered her way to one of Burch’s adversaries and cut him down. As Burch wound up a punch his target in front of him turned to ice and exploded on impact as Zayla teleported into the bar from my right and assisted Burch.

Burch alone was proving to be a handful for these mercs, but with Zayla and Luxie helping him the rest of the confrontation was over in mere seconds. Burch still stood on the defensive, blood coating his knuckles, as the two women approached him. He looked at the carnage around him.

“... Why did you help?” he asked.

Zayla grabbed a complimentary snack left on the counter that somehow survived the ruckus and took a bite, I don’t think she liked it because she quickly put it back down and pushed it away. “Didn’t seem like much of a fair fight. That’s all.”

“And you?” Burch turned his attention to the cloaked Luxie.

“Personally, I’m just tired of Brexon mercenaries,” Luxie turned around and made her way for the door.

“Tired of Brexon in general,” added Burch. “What do you say the three of us find work elsewhere?”

Zayla simply tipped her hat, then made her way toward the door as well. Burch wiped some blood from his mouth and laughed as he followed the two women out, but not before stopping and locking eyes with me. I was a bit surprised to say the least. I chose to hide too close to Luxie and Zayla teleported beside me. I lucked out twice already and I wasn’t sure a third time was going to happen, but Burch pointed to me and said words I will never forget.

“Thank the gods for this day. The day Burch spared you. The day you were blessed with the honor of telling our story. And pray… Pray every night of your life to whatever you believe in, that you never cross paths with us again.”