Mayor Thorpe of Eastthorpe Village had invited Yiannis and Kail to his office in the guild hall to talk about the attacks.  

“They only sent in ten people, which is a bit strange…” Kail started. “They have a bigger force than that. If they wanted to kill you all they would’ve sent everyone. It would make it easier to take back anything they loot from you too. What were the attacks like before we got here?” he asked.

“It was the same last time… Yes… T-they only sent a small group. They didn’t take that much back with them. They also only killed the guards that stood in their way. Is that strange?” Thorpe replied.

“Yes.” Kail answered, looking to Yiannis who nodded in agreement. “They also knew that you would all be in chapel… defenceless. And they knew their way around the village. Is there anyone that could be leaking information to them?”

“What!? No! We’re a very close knit community. When you’re only a small village like us… near the country border too, when the… K-kingdom authorities don’t want to bother with you, you learn to rely on each other. There’s no way we have anyone that would want to harm the village!” He seemed pretty certain, but Kail had his doubts.

“Is there anyone that wasn’t at the chapel?” he asked.

The Mayor’s eye’s widened. “Now that you mention it…” he started. “H-him! The other priest! He came here a few months ago to try to convert us to the Order of the Eight.” He shook his head angrily. “No one paid him any attention though. The One True God has looked after us well.”

“Evidently not” Yiannis interjected with a mocking laugh.

The mayor glared at him, about to say something, but seemed to think better of it and simply looked at the floor sadly. Then it all made sense to Kail.

“Do you think it could be him?” the Mayor asked quietly.

“No, no, I doubt it.” Kail said, trying to dispel any suspicions. “Even if he’s of a different faith to yours, he’s still a priest. We’ll find out though. I think it’s time to question our hostages.” he said, awkwardly patting the Mayor on the shoulder. He had never patted anyone on the shoulder before. It was strange. He motioned to Yiannis and they left, leaving the village’s guild hall and making their way to the Blacksmith’s, which is where they had decided to tie up the hostages.

“You know,” Yiannis said, “that priest does sound suspicious. Makes sense, too, if there’s an insider giving them information, that he’d stay away from the church while they attack.”

Kail nodded in agreement. “It’s almost certainly him.” he said, surprising Yiannis. “But until we’re completely sure, it’s best not to let anyone here think it. Somewhere small like this… away from any real authorities… they’d immediately lynch the man, even without evidence. We find out if it’s true or not, with evidence, then we’ll tie him up too and take him to Francorum or somewhere where he can be put on trial and put in jail.”

Yiannis sighed, shaking his head, then laughed. “You’re really ‘by the book’, you know that? Sure, putting him in jail would solve the problem. But you know what else would? Killing him.” he said coldly.

Kail glared at him. “You’re pretty murderous, you know that? I don’t think it’s normal. I want to help these people with as little death as possible. Besides, if you… or they… did kill him, then we’d never find out if it actually was him or not.”

“Don’t shackle me with your morals.” Yiannis responded. “I actually think your concern for life is what isn’t normal. In our line of work, we have to kill. Unless you want to live out your life taking small, safe jobs. You know, searching for missing pets and the like.” Kail was about to angrily object but Yiannis held up his hand to stop him. “In this case, though, I agree, your way is better, so don’t worry. I wouldn’t want to accidently kill an innocent man. Besides, if it really is him, the Lord of Francorum might give us a reward for handing him in.” Kail could see the greedy glint in his eyes.

“Well… hopefully we’ll learn something from the bandits we captured.” Kail said.

“Bandit.” Yiannis corrected.

“What? I tied up four of them….” Kail frowned in confusion. Then realisation dawned on him. “No way.” He looked to Yiannis for confirmation, but his face was unreadable.  “Surely you didn’t?” He was shocked and horrified.

“Look, death is just a natural part of life. Besides, four bandits tied up together? That would be too risky. Better keep it to one. Did you know the blacksmith has an apprentice working for him? A young kid. It’d be downright irresponsible to leave four very dangerous bandits near him.” Yiannis said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He enjoyed watching Kail’s expression as he confused his morals. “Hell, if I believed your whole ‘speaking to the dead’ thing I’d have killed all of them and you could just speak to their ghosts.” he said with a bitter laugh.

“I can speak to the dead…” Kail replied quietly and dejectedly.

 “Well then we make a good team, don’t we? I’ll kill them, and you can talk to them.” Yiannis said dryly. He didn’t want to be there, and he held Kail responsible for keeping him there. Although he was starting to have fun at Kail’s expense.

“Killing is wrong.” Kail said with conviction.

“Then that means our country’s noble knights who go around killing villains are in the wrong. Theirs’ and the King’s armies are wrong when they kill people to defend the country from invasion. I guess I’m definitely in the wrong for killing these bandits that have been terrorising the village. The Mayor said they even killed some of the village’s guards.” Yiannis replied. He didn’t really want to defend his actions, so why was he? He wanted Kail to understand. Then he realised the reason. What if Kail couldn’t bring himself to kill someone when it was needed?

Kail wore a frown, deep in concentration, trying to think of a rebuttal. He sighed in annoyance.

“Well maybe it’s not as simple as ‘killing is wrong’ then.” Kail admitted. “Maybe in some situations… people have to kill people. If their life is at risk, or if someone else’s is. If there’s no other way.”

Yiannis nodded approvingly. “Are you going to be able to kill someone to protect the people here?” he asked.

Kail glanced at him. “I’m not going to just agree right here that I'll murder someone.” he answered. “If it’s the only way… then maybe… but I’ll try everything else first. If I can just immobilise them, tie them up, and hand them in to the city guard of Francorum then I will…”

Yiannis shook his head in frustration but decided to let the issue rest. Did it really matter anyway? They had arrived at Brom the village blacksmith’s smithy, and were greeted with the clang of hammer on heated metal. Yiannis waved at the man to get his attention, while Kail greeted him with a polite smile.

“We’re here to see the bandit.” Kail said.

“Right, right. Go ahead, ye’re welcome to the bastard.” Brom said.

“Thank you.” Kail answered. He had been surprised at how welcoming the villagers had been once they knew he was there to help them. The innkeeper had even given him his money back and insisted that the room, and any meals and drinks he wanted, would be free.

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“Are you a knight?” came a young and innocent voice. Kail saw the boy who must had been Brom’s apprentice staring at the sword on his back. Kail couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oiy!” Brom shouted, giving the boy a shock. “Back to work!” he said angrily. The boy dejectedly turned his attention back to what he was doing, while Kail and Yiannis made their way into the house.

The bandit was sat against the wall, not that he had any choice. His wrists and his legs were tied up so he couldn’t move.

“Going to kill me yet?” he asked bitterly, glaring at Yiannis.

"You should be so lucky.” Yiannis retorted, smiling gleefully. “We’re here to get information out of you… one way or another. But if you really do want to die…”

Kail looked between them, not liking where it was going.

“Calm down” he said to Yiannis.

“Answer our questions and we’ll let you go.” Kail said. The bandit scoffed. Yiannis looked at him incredulously. Kail continued. “Who’s your leader?” Kail asked. The bandit laughed.

“Ulric.” The bandit said. “Didn’t he tell you that?” he said, motioning with his chin to Yiannis.

Yiannis laughed. “We don’t mean your dead leader. Who’s pulling the strings? Who asked you to attack this village?” The bandit stayed silent.

“When’s your next attack?” Kail asked. Still no answer. Kail sighed.

“Leave me alone with him.” Yiannis said, taking a step forward. Kail reached and grabbed him.

“No way.” Kail said. Yiannis turned towards him in annoyance. Kail smiled, thinking of an idea.

“Look, we already know who’s pulling the strings anyway. It’s that priest from the order. We don’t need to get a second opinion.” Kail said, causing Yiannis to stare at him in confusion.

“W-what?” the bandit said, speaking out in fear. “Err, what makes you think that?”

It was Kail’s turn to take a step forward, moving past Yiannis. He crouched down next to the bandit.

“We know he hired you to scare these people into abandoning their God to turn to his religion.” he said, taking a risk. If his hunch was wrong, then they wouldn’t be any worse off. “And we know what they’ll do when they realise ten of their men haven’t returned.”

The bandit looked between Kail and Yiannis. “So that’s why you’re keeping me alive? Using me to lure in the priest? You think he might come and free me? I doubt it. How do you know all this?” He asked.

“Your leader told me.” Kail said, causing more confusion. “I can speak to the dead, you see. I asked his spirit and he told me.”

The bandit laughed nervously. “Yeah right.” He said. “You’re… a shaman?” he asked.

“Shaman?” Kail repeated. “Is that what people call us? I haven’t met anyone else who can do it, to be honest. Think about it though, how else would I know so much?”

The bandit nodded. “That’s what some people call you. But… even if he’s dead, there’s no way boss Ulric would tell you all about us!” he said angrily. Then he calmed down with a thoughtful expression on his face. “And shouldn’t you be keeping an eye on the priest rather than me?”

“And why would we do that?” Kail asked with a smile.

“Well… When our scout arrives to find out what happened they’ll go to ask him what’s going on first… they might not even come for me.” He said sadly, looking down to the floor, a defeated look on his face. Kail sighed in satisfaction and looked to Yiannis, who couldn’t contain his laughter. The bandit glared at him.

“Don’t worry, your boss didn’t betray you.” Kail explained. “Even in death he is stubborn. And he was proud of his bandit group. I did find out from him about today’s attack, but that was all. I only found out about that because he was as stupid as you are.” The bandit was still confused. Kail rose back to his feet and addressed Yiannis. “Alright, now we know that the priest is guilty. And we know that a scout will be coming to visit him tonight… well, hopefully. It makes sense.”

“First their leader was killed, then the ten people they sent here didn’t return. I’d send someone trustworthy to find out what was going on.” Yiannis said in agreement.

“If the priest is working with them then they’d need stay in contact with each other. One of them must be sneaking in here to talk to him. It certainly wouldn’t be difficult. I wonder how much the he’s paying them?”

Yiannis patted Kail on the shoulder in admiration.

“Well done.” He said. “Although I could’ve gotten just as much information with torture. Leave the priest to me. I’ll break into his home and spy on him. It’s something I happen to be very good at. If there is a scout, then I’ll find out. Besides, we can’t really decide on our next move until we know theirs. When they find out that nine of their people are dead, they might attack in force.”

Then bandit realised what had happened.

“Hey!” he shouted at them angrily. “You tricked me!” He started yelling profanities at them. Kail and Yiannis left the room and made their way outside.

“Alright. I’ll see if I can get more information out of the spirit of their leader, and… I guess I’ll talk to the other ones you’ve killed.” Kail said.

“Right…” Yiannis said sarcastically, giving him a knowing wink.

“I’m not making it up.” Kail said with a sigh. “Look, you do what you’re gonna do and I’ll go do what I’m gonna do.”

“Sure” Yiannis said. Kail closed his eyes in concentration. Yiannis watched with amusement. Kail opened his eyes and looked beyond Yiannis, as if he was looking at something else. Yiannis gasped as he saw what appeared to be glowing symbols within Kail’s eyes.

“See you later.” Kail said, walking off.

----------------------------------------

Yiannis had been staying in his position for hours, watching as the priest went about normal activities in his home. The most suspicious thing he had been doing was writing letters. It was easy work for Yiannis, however. He had stayed on one position, pushing his body to his limits as his limbs went stiff and ached in pain, when he had been spying on the bandits at their camp, working out who their leader was and learning their routines, before moving in and assassinating him. If I had known I was going to get so invested I would’ve found out more about them. Damnit Kail, I should be getting drunk in Francorum by now with my bounty reward. I could… just leave. Right now. Who cares what happens to this village? Then a knock awoke him from his thoughts. The priest yelled out in surprise. It was night, so Kail wouldn’t have been able to see who it was even if he chanced peering out from his hiding place, but his suspicions were confirmed anyway.

“Is it safe to come in?” came a quiet voice.

“Of course.” The priest said.

Yiannis heard the window close, although he noted that it was done quietly and carefully.

“Ten came here this morning.” The voice said, still quiet. Yiannis really had to concentrate to hear him. “No one came back. What happened?”

“T-the village managed to enlist some mercenaries…” the priest admitted.

“The same ones who killed Ulric?” the voice asked.

“W-what?” the priest asked in shock.

“That’s right.” came the response, slightly louder and angry. “We awoke the other morning to find our leader missing his head. He has a high bounty, and he’s garnered quite a reputation around the country, so it could’ve been an assassin, but if the village has managed to find help then it adds up. I thought they didn’t have enough money. In fact... you told us they wouldn't be able to enlist any real help. And here we are; Ulric dead and ten of our men and woman killed. How many people have they got? Did Francorum send help? You assured Ulric that that wouldn’t happen.”

“No… None of the country’s guard or army are here.” the priest protested. “The Order have made sure of that. I’ve been told the Mayor managed to send a request for help to some mercenary guild, but it was such a low price that I didn’t think anyone would show up. But… This morning there were two of them outside the church when your men attacked.”

“Two!?” came the voice, outraged and even louder. “You expect me to believe they killed ten of us with two people?”

“S-stop” the priest pleaded. Yiannis heard a scuffle and could imagine what was going on.

“I’ll tell you what happens next” came the reply. “When I go back we’re going to mobilize everyone and raze this village to the ground.” he promised.

“Please, don’t! The plan is working! They’re… losing faith in their god. I swear I can get them all under my thumb, and then we’ll hand you the two that killed your friends!” the priest said, his voice laden with panic.

“And the money you owe us.” the voice said calmly.

“O-of course! Just a bit more time, and it’ll be done.” The priest assured.

“Two weeks.” The voice said. “In two weeks we’ll be here, in force. If you’ve completed your job then we’ll take the mercenaries and the money and leave this village in peace. If you’ve failed, however, we’ll kill everyone here, including you, and take your money for ourselves.”

“Two weeks?” the priest asked. “Y-yes, of course! I’ll be ready! You’ll get everything I promised you.” He said.

“Yes I will. Tell me, did any of our men survive?” the voice asked.

The priest hesitated before replying. “No, the two here managed to kill them all.” He said with certainty.

The voice of the bandit sighed. “Even James? A shame. Well then, we’ll see you in two weeks. We’ll be here when your villagers are meant to be in their chapel, just like today.”

Yiannis could just about make out the sound of the window opening and closing again. Silence followed, and then...

“Fool.” came the priest’s voice, accompanied by the sound of him sitting down on a chair. “Threaten me? Why would I tell you they have a hostage then? Two weeks? No…. there’s no chance. You can have this village, then, but you won’t be getting me or my money.” He said spitefully.