An elbow to the ribs startled Reud from his thoughts. Bo sat motionless as always, a large hooded cloak hiding him completely. Lilia, on the other hand, seemed fixated on something at the other side of the tavern.

“Reud, over there.” Lilia gestured with her chin.

Reud looked in the direction she was so focused on. On the other side of the tavern sat a band of what could only be described as thugs, surrounding a blonde haired girl. Beside the girl sat a muscled man, his hair and beard greying, his mouth twisted into a perpetual snarl. The man’s purple eyes were fixed on Lilia.

A mage.

Reud grimaced. “Band of thugs led by a noble. That makes them unlikely to be local, or we would have encountered then when we arrived yesterday. I’d say provincial tax collector.”

“Well, what are you going to do about it?” Lilia said, not breaking her gaze.

“Only the mayor will be paying taxes to him, which the mayor will recoup by taxing everyone who lives on his land. Given we don’t live on this land, he’ll have no business with us.” Reud said with a shrug. “Just ignore him, he’ll leave when he has his money.”

Another elbow in the ribs followed that.

“I mean the girl, what are we going to do about her?” Lilia said, frowning at Reud. “The way that man is pawing at her, and the look on her face, she’s obviously too scared to get away. Come on, Reud, we have to do something.”

Reud shrugged. “This is how things work here, sadly. People like him have all the power. He’ll be some fifth son of a noble house who bought the rights to tax this province with his dad's money.”

Lilia stared at him, her eyes hard, before giving him a sharp kick in the shin.

“Ow! What was that for?” Reud yelped.

“You’ve changed, Reud. The man I married wouldn’t have let his people be treated like this.”

“My people?” Reud asked, eyebrows raising in surprise. “Where did that come from?”

“Yes, your people! Your brothers are dead, Reud, that makes you the next in line. Just because you swore it off for a life of adventuring doesn’t make you any less an Ashmark, doesn’t make these people any less your responsibility.”

Lilia punctuated each sentence with a poke to Reud’s arm. “Protecting people is why we both became adventurers, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, but…” Reud began, before stopping.

It wasn’t like she was wrong. Back before Rudase had lost the war with Lightire, his family had been the first among the noble houses, ruling Rudase in all but name. Reud’s brothers had been trained in statecraft, but Reud had been far enough down the succession that he was allowed to focus on his passions instead. Magic, in his case. Still, he’d had the responsibility of their position drilled into him from a young age.

A responsibility he’d forgotten over the long centuries.

“Not a single member of my family remains, except me, and no one even remembers we existed.” Reud said, the words sounding hollow even to him.

Old pain blossomed in his heart at the memory of his lost family. Forgetting it all, turning his back on these people, on his history, it would be easier. That route had served him well in the long centuries of his solitude. Looking at Lilia, seeing her expectant expression, Reud knew that was no longer an option. If he took that route, he’d lose her, and that was something he would never again be able to bear.

Lilia’s frown deepened, and she opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped by Reud’s raised hand.

“But I admit, just because no one remembers me doesn’t mean I don’t still have a duty to these people.” With a sigh, Reud pushed his chair back and stood up. “Come on, Bo. You just follow and stand behind me. Lilia… just try to keep your temper under control. The last thing we want is to cause an incident on our first day here.”

“Now that's up to him now, isn't it.” Lilia said, standing too, a hard glint in her eyes. "I have no patience for rapists, or those who work for them. They're like an infection. If left alone, they spread. Best to cut it out at the source and heal the wound after."

Reud stopped, putting a hand on her arm, giving her a look. “Lilia, if he’s a tax collector he’s been officially appointed. Let's at least try to resolve this without needing to kill him.”

She stared back for a moment before glancing away.

"Fine, we’ll try things your way. But if he throws the first punch, well, the world would be better off without them."

Which was probably the best he was going to get out of her.

Together, they picked their way across the tavern, Lilia unblinkingly staring at the man they were heading towards. Her hand patted her side, where her sword would normally be buckled. An empty spot, given they’d left the weapons in their room.

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It wasn’t like they’d expected to get into a fight during their supper.

Eventually, they came to a stop, the six thugs and the mage craning their necks to look up at them. The mage sneered as he looked Lilia up and down.

“Your girl has been staring for a while. She getting jealous that Rachel here,” He slapped the woman’s thigh hard, “has a real man to satisfy her? Not some pale, white-haired freak.”

Turning his head, he spat on the ground. Looking at Lilia, he continued. “I’m Telac. Why don’t you come sit on my knee, girl.”

The thugs laughed and made lewd gestures towards Lilia as their boss talked. Lilia’s face darkened with each word, her jaw going tight as she clenched her teeth.

Then, with a flash, her eyes blazed with purple light. A white glow traced her muscles, shining through her clothing.

Telac’s smile vanished. “A mage. You’re nobles? What the hell are you doing in my province?”

Reud called some mana into him too, an act he knew would make his eyes glow with the same purple light.

“It would be best if you left, immediately.” He said, his voice quiet, yet filled with the coldness of the grave. “You are a tax collector, you are not above the law.”

“The hell are you talking about, fucking freak.” Telac sneered.

Reud pointed at the woman. “Let her go, she's obviously not willing.”

“I can do what I want here. You don’t like that? Go lodge a petition with Duke Hosta.” Telac said, waving a hand dismissively. “Now piss off.”

"You really want to make an issue of this? With us? Over her?"

"You? Who even are you?" Telac growled. Grabbing his collar, he pulled it to one side to reveal his shoulder. On it was an ugly, misshapen brand of something that looked like a cage wrapped in a chain with a trio of dashes beneath.

"You see this?" He jabbed his finger at it. "I'm certified as a rank three, and I have the rights to this province, which makes my word worth more than yours. You're what, rank ones at best if you're out wandering the land instead of doing something of value. What was it, you couldn't get your daddies to get you a real position after the academy, so you’ve come to bother your betters?"

Telac grabbed the woman's arm and yanked her forward, making her cry out. "I could slit her throat right here and no one would do a thing. Out here, I am the law. So piss. Off."

Reud let out a sigh. It'd been a long time since he'd dealt with people, and it sucked just as much now as it always had. He'd tried to do this the peaceful way, but it was going nowhere. Granted, he hadn't tried that hard, but he'd tried.

And now his patience was spent.

"Actually, you know what, I'll let Rachel here go for today." Telac continued. "If your companion can satisfy me. And my men."

And there went any chance of this man walking out of here alive.

Lilia stepped forward, pushing between the thugs to reach the table. “You know, I hate people like you, scum who feed on the weak, traitors to your own kind. If you ask me, there is only one thing someone like you deserves.” Reaching out, she grabbed one of the tankards on the table.

Telac sneered. “Oh yeah, and what would that be, little girl?”

“A shallow grave.” She snarled. Her hands shone with white light as she squeezed the tankard. Unable to withstand the force, the tankard exploded, sending wooden shards and ale spraying over Telac.

With a shout of fury, Telac sprung up, shielding his face with one hand and pushing the woman to one side with the other. “Get them! Kill them all!”

The thug to Reud’s left stood, grabbing at a club on his belt, only to be knocked flying as Lilia smashed her glowing fist into his head. She blurred, and the two thugs beside her sprawled to the floor with a great crash. The other three stood and freed their weapons, short daggers that glinted in the light. With a roar, they sprung forward, two towards Lilia and one towards Reud.

Once again, Lilia blurred, the light that enveloped her enhancing her movements to superhuman levels. Her foot lashed out at one onrushing thug, and the man immediately shot back in the other direction to slam into the wall with the wet crack of breaking ribs.

Not slowing, Lilia span and delivered a sweeping kick to the other thug’s knee, snapping it the wrong way and sending him tumbling with a scream. Another blur, and she followed it up with a strike that sent the man’s head crunching sickeningly into the ground.

His screams silenced instantly.

Reud looked at the last thug rushing towards him, observing him calmly. His teeth were bared and his eyes were wide, full of an intent to kill, an intent as sharp and deadly as the knife clenched in his fist. This man had gone from tormenting a woman to attempting murder in seconds, without even the slightest hint of hesitation.

Reud had no mercy for monsters like that.

With a thought, Reud called Bo forward, stepping to one side to let the skeleton enter the fray. In a single deft movement, the skeleton darted past him and grabbed the man’s hand, slamming his shoulder into the man's chest, stopping him dead. Before he could do anything but grunt, Bo ripped the knife from his grip and slammed it hilt deep through the man’s throat.

A fountain of blood sprayed out, spattering across the table and up the wall. The man went down to the floor with a gurgle, his fingers clawing at the handle of the weapon impaling his neck.

Telac roared as he cleared the ale from his eyes, finally taking in the state of his band of men.

What remained of them, anyway.

“You’ll burn for this.” He growled, and raised his hand to the hooded figure of Bo.

His eyes flashed with purple light, and a gout of flame speared out from his palm to engulf Bo. Telac laughed as the flames surged, an acrid stench filling the room, the blazing figure filling the room with sweltering heat.

Then his laughter died.

The gout of flame ceased, revealing the figure beneath. Bo stood unharmed, the remains of his robe falling away in burning chunks, exposing his skeletal body in all its sigil-covered glory.

“What in Vistol’s name is that!?” Telac gasped as he stumbled backwards, his eyes wide with fear, one shaking finger pointing at the skeleton.

Bo sprang forward before the man could react, smashing a boney fist into the side of his head. The pair tumbled to the floor, Bo staying on top of the large man. Bo wrapped his hands around the mage’s head, before slamming it into the ground.

The dull thud of flesh on wood sounded through the tavern as Bo raised the man’s head and slammed it down again.

And again.

The man flailed at the skeleton, but his grip caught nothing but air, completely unable to dislodge the skeleton pounding him into the floor.

Another slam turned the man’s screams into groans, his arms going limp. Another slam and even that faded, the man’s body going still.

And then the only sound was that of a man’s skull being crushed by a skeleton.

Then finally, there was silence.