Something in the atmosphere of the cobbled street and the surrounding buildings must ’ve changed as everything went still for a blessed moment.

It was as if the entire world was holding its breath.

Even Tan-bei ’s fight paused for a heartbeat.

Then everything started back up again.

The rush of the miasma of the stench of the humanity and this poor mockery of civilisation rocked me for a fatal moment.

Soldier took advantage of my moment of hesitation. Stabbing her sword at me.

Combat reflexes took over, making me to move.

Still, it wasn ’t enough.

The blade punctured my left bicep. I had avoided a fatal blow. So I guessed. I wasn ’t sure what could’ve happened if that sword had penetrated the left side of my chest.

Though her full-face covered leather helmet masked her face, and the sun-like glow of her blessing blinded me, I could imagine her mocking victorious grin fade into a scowl of annoyance.

It was a familiar look I ’d seen on more than one of my victims throughout my life.

The burning smell of wet wood, along with its popping and cracking, helped focus me back into my body.

Back into this fight.

My left arm hurt, probably more than any other single wound I had suffered. Maybe even more than the axe blow, which still caused me issues from time to time.

Pain wasn ’t something to be feared.

Pain meant I was still alive.

I lashed out with my right fist and smacked Soldier in the head. Beneath my fist, her head felt somewhat strange, more solid stone than skull and flesh. Her head jerked to the side slightly.

Her leather helmet came flying off. Through my connection with the breeze, I felt her long hair flutter down after being released from its hiding place within the helmet.

This time it was she who was shaken. She who failed to move.

The blade in my arm disappeared.

My left arm slumped listlessly to my side. Still, my right arm was capable.

Now I had more options available. All I needed was a moment to let my brain figure out what to do next.

The best way to do that was to separate us.

I grabbed her by her arm.

She resisted and tried to pull her arm away from me. My grip almost broke. Unfortunately for her, her limbs were narrow and my hands large, so I managed to hold on. With an awkward twisting motion, I threw her towards her other two companions.

It wasn ’t a clean throw. My limp arm and her resistance disrupted my body's positioning, just enough that I messed things up.

Tan-bei must ’ve seen something as she jumped backwards.

Despite the bad throw, Soldier ’s flailing limbs smacked into Jester’s torso. He spun, then fell over, knocked against Raider. Those two collapsed in a pile. Soldier carried on tumbling until she tumbled into a building.

It was a hard hit. But not hard enough for her to smash fully through the wattle and daub wall.

Using the moment of confusion, Tan-bei threw two blades at Jester. Raider managed to get his barriers up, deflecting her blades.

Mercifully, the pain in my left arm had numbed.

Without my arm, I was unsure of how well I could continue the fight. Normally I wouldn ’t worry so much. But against a warrior who could stand up to me, and wound me, I felt a bit worried and mentally at a disadvantage.

Still, I had gained a precious few moments. It was all I needed to come up with some new tactic.

Soldier climbed out of the wall. In a moment of rage, she hit the corner wooden post. The post cracked loudly, like a tree branch snapping during a storm.

I couldn ’t fully see inside the building, but enough that my wind sense indicated it was an empty building. If that was true, I didn’t need to worry about hurting innocent bystanders.

Still, I would feel sorry about collateral damage. But this next move could be the thing which ended the fight.

Using the slick and bumpy cobbles as semi-secure footing, I launched myself towards Soldier, leading with my wounded and numb left arm and shoulder.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Despite her abnormal, divine-gifted stability, there was no way she could stand against me. Especially not when I launched myself with such a ferocious force. And especially as I was larger, bulkier, and heavier than my already normal body.

I hit her.

For a moment, I believed her abnormal divine gift would withstand. Then it failed. Together, we smashed through the wall. Beyond, we smashed into the thick and tough benches within the abandoned workshop. We shattered more than one table as the two of us tumbled together in a single combined mass.

Still, that did not stop us.

We smashed through another wall. Slowing enough that our tumbling came to a stop in a large empty store room. The floor here was compacted dirt. Our tumbling had disrupted some of it. The dirt hung in the air before settling down to the ground and coating us.

I stiffly clambered up.

Ready.

Willing.

Able to continue the fight.

Soldier didn ’t move. She was unable to continue the fight.

Her legs and arms lay in unnatural positions. Her slender and delicate feminine face scrunched up with pain. A painful looking bruise started to grow on one of her delicate cheeks. Her painfully blinding bright blessing faded away, leaving a knot of absence within her.

It would be easy for me to end her now.

End her pain.

End her suffering.

I wasn ’t sure if it would be more merciful to allow her to live or to kill her. Even if I asked her, I wasn’t sure if I would get a proper answer.

Not being able to come up with an answer, I let her be.

Right now, I was thankful I was my Treeman form.

My body was stiff, but at least annoying bruises were not covering my body. I would hate to know the feeling of how many bruises I had taken with that flight and tumble through the building. Especially shattering so many of those solid worktables as we tumbled through the building.

I could tell the building had been quickly and efficiently abandoned now that I was inside.

Stiff, yet with a strange lightness inside, I followed the path of destruction through the building. My Treeman form was so large I had to duck through the building so to avoid the celling. The shattered tables were further crushed under my feet, as if they were mere twigs.

As I was making my way through the building, I used my wind sense to feel what was going on outside.

The fighting had stopped.

Jester was straddling Tan-bei. He was rocking his head from side to side, the small copper bells in his hat ringing with a faint tinny sound. Tan-bei was staring sightlessly up at him. He wasn ’t looking at her; he was looking towards Raider. In Tan-bei’s hand, forgotten but not gone, one of her blades was ready to strike Jester.

Their respective positions might make it look like a stalemate, but there was only so long that Jester could keep up his power. Especially as he was distracted by the stationary form of Raider.

Once he wavered, Tan-bei would be able to strike.

It wasn ’t even as if he could count on having an ally to aid him. Soldier had fallen unconscious moments ago. Raider lay mortally wounded on the cobbled street, near to where Jester was straddling Tan-bei.

Raider was clutching at a long and deep wound in his upper thigh. It was a desperate and vain attempt to keep in the blood, which unceasingly seeped through his bloody fingers.

I felt his breathing with my wind sense: it was rapid, shallow, and uneven. He was looking across at Jester, meeting his eyes.

I easily transformed back into my human form. There was none of the confusion or disruption I usually experienced.

‘It’s over.’ I informed Jester.

It was over in more ways than one.

Tomorrow I would come back here and make sure the place remained clear of the gangs. I would find a place to stay and build a home here with Tan-bei. And I would help the area reclaim its once vibrant hope, allowing it to become a beacon of how Three Bridge could change for the better in the future.

Finally, the reign of terror of Three Jobs was also over.

Jester carried on, looking at Raider, his small, tinny bells ringing forlornly. ‘It can’t be. He can’t die. Just this afternoon he promised me.’

‘Go see him before he dies.’ I told Jester. Raider didn’t look like he had long left.

‘No. It cannot be. He promised me we could go somewhere where we could be together openly.’

I knew that Tan-bei might be able to save him. Being selfish, I didn ’t want her to use any more of her energy on the two of them. Especially after all the damage and pain the three of them had caused the citizens of Three Bridge.

Yet I wasn ’t mean enough to just leave them be.

‘Say bye to him.’ Then, forcing myself to say more, I carried on. ‘It’s painful when they go. When you cannot be with them in their final moments. Even as you hear them die.’

The tinny ringing of the bells on his jester hat stopped. He scrambled across the cobbles, uncaring about the dirt, shit, and blood that gathered between the cobbles, clambering towards Raider, who was lying on the road.

I carefully crouched down and picked up Tan-bei in my right arm.

With tired and painfully stiff legs, I stood up. A quick glance showed the two of them in a private embrace. I allowed them to have their final moments together in private.

It was a bitter gift.

Tan-bei stirred slightly, worrying me in case she slipped out of my arms. Instead, she nestled closer against me. She opened her eyes and smiled up at me. With that, she collapsed into a deep sleep. Her sleeping face was so calm and peaceful I felt blessed to see it.

Leaving behind this chaotic havoc of Winster Reach behind for now, I headed towards Brook Bridge. In my arms, I was carrying my precious cargo. More precious to me than almost everything, other than maybe my dream of being a hero. Tan-bei weighed almost nothing to me, but at the same time, she weighed more than almost anything I had ever carried before.

But it was a comfortable weight, one I was proud and happy to bear.