Argus looked at the mark she had received from her king. She didn’t want to do what she said, but she had to follow her orders nonetheless. If nothing else at least it was a contingency plan in case Samael failed in his endeavor. In the end she supposed it didn’t matter in the long run anyways if they were successful or not.

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

“He looks like he’s about to fall over!”

“Put me down for thirty umbarans on the big guy!”

The crowd cheered as two men engaged in their drinking game. Ryder saw that there were only three shots left, and he already felt like he was about to fall over. Ryder picked up another shot glass, and drank it. The other man picked up a shot glass, and drank it as well. Ryder looked at the final shot glass, and the huge pile of money sitting on the table. There were at least four hundred umbarans. Ryder grabbed onto the table for dear life as he tried to get his bearings.

The man finished the last shot, and set the glass on the table. “Looks like I win.”

Just as the man was about to put his hands on the huge pile of money Ryder barfed all over it.

“Agh what the fuck!?”

“Yep... definitely should’ve cut back.” Said Ryder as he tried to get up from his seat.

“Where do you think you’re going bud?” Asked the man as he drew a knife. “You’re gonna pay me back every single umbaran.”

“First of all... Blergh.” Ryder barfed on the floor again. “Ugh why did I taste it? Blech.”

“Listen here pal I...” Just as the man was about to grab Ryder someone grabbed his arm.

“Next time Warden I’ll let you handle the drinking games.”

The Silent Warden twisted the man’s arm, and yanked it from its socket dislocating the arm. The man cried in pain as the pair exited the pub. Ryder was grabbing onto his stomach as he found a bench outside the pub where he could sit down. When he sat down he pulled out his wallet, and counted the remaining umbarans they had.

“Only two hundred umbarans. This’ll barely last us a few days. We need to find some work, or we’ll probably end up tightening the old belt. Although given our present situation we might just about end up eating our belts.”

The Silent Warden grunted.

“I taught you sign language for a reason. Now use it for the Sovereigns’ sake.”

“Extra! Extra! Ulammar plunged into chaos as King Ishara holds the clan representatives hostage. Read all about it.” Screamed a man as he handed out newspapers.

“Damn! And I was just starting to like it here too. Well no point sticking around, but it’s not like we have the money to just pick up and leave. Sovereigns! If only we had a job.”

Ryder saw a woman wearing a cloak approach them.

“The Black Rider? The Silent Warden?”

Ryder and the Warden looked around to see if the woman had brought any backup with her. Ryder knew there were legionnaire safe houses in Ulammar he just didn’t know where.

“What’s it to you?”

“I have a job for the both of you.”

“What’s the job?”

“We can discuss that in a more private setting.”

“Sorry lady, but I’m not...” Ryder then saw the woman pull out a king’s mark.

“Sovereigns fuck me! Okay... Yeah um... We have a place not far from here let’s go.”

The trio made it to an inn where they were staying.

“What does King Ishara want from us?” Asked Ryder.

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“An assassination job. Two Karashian Legionnaires by the name of Onyx Albion and Embry Essar. Though you might also know them as the Heroes of Tofar. You are to find them, and either bring them back here...” Argus held onto the hope that Samael was right. “Or eliminate them, and bring us their remains.”

“And these legionnaires... Do they have something to do with what’s going on here?” Asked Ryder unsure of how two measly kids fit into Ulammar’s recent hurdle. Although seeing as how they were legionnaires it would make sense. Director Kilbourne was always a conniving bastard.

“Yes.” He was not entirely wrong, but he did not need to know the full picture. “Needless to say that King Ishara has deemed you and your companion’s qualifications as acceptable for the mission.”

“Damn that old man. Just give us a moment will you?”

“Take your time.”

Argus left the room, and Ryder glanced at the Warden. “If we pull this off we could be set.”

The Warden grunted.

“Use sign... You know what never mind.”

Ryder tried to think of how best to pull off the mission. Since sellswords were illegal in Karash they would have to find some way to sneak in. Not only that, but tracking down two legionnaires would be difficult. They would definitely need help for this one. He would have to bring in another pair of hands for the job, and he knew exactly who to call. Just as Ryder was about to call the woman over the Warden stopped him.

“What is it?”

The Warden then used sign language. “I’ve killed enough legionnaires for one lifetime.”

“What’s two more? Besides we can’t turn this down. Dol-Sur won’t take me and they’ll definitely kill you for desertion, Zul-Aman has us burned, and Aephon made sellswords illegal. We do this job then… I dunno… But we have nowhere else to go. Besides if they’re in Karash I’ll have the home field advantage.”

“Will you?”

“Yeah… I’ve only been gone for ten… eleven years? How much can change? Besides I know a place we can stay, and lay low just in case.”

The Silent Warden grunted.

“You can come back now.”

“So does this mean you’ll accept?”

“Yes, but first I need a registry of all sellswords in the area… Actually I just need two more.”

The Silent Warden grunted.

“They’re good people, and besides we need the extra sword hands for the job. Well… sword hand and gun hand.” Added Ryder.

“Whom?”

“Double Barrel Luger and Teranas. We’ll also need transportation. Don’t suppose you have anything that can get us there?”

“Show the mark to Ocean Master Vaatu in the Island of Leykuhm. Tell him Argus sends his regards. He’ll know what it means.”

“Ocean Master eh… Well then in that case there’s no time to waste. Let’s find the others and go.”

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“Then the fucker’s brains blow out through the fucking window! Was the funniest shit I’ve ever seen!”

Teranas looked at Luger with disinterest and boredom. “I know Luger. I was there remember?”

Luger took another sip from his beer mug. “It’s still the funniest shit ever. Never seen someone’s brains go splat before.”

“Whatever you say Luger.” Teranas took another sip from her beer mug and let out an exhausting sigh.

“Something troubling you?”

“I’m tired of taking a break. We should go to Dol-Sur or Zul-Aman. The last job was just killing a bunch of fucking Yanesi.”

“Easy fucking money.”

“It’s just not the same.”

“Well it ain’t like…” Luger was suddenly cut off when something hit his face. “FUCK! That really fucking hurt!”

Teranas looked around the bar to see where the object came from, and saw Ryder and the Warden standing just a few feet away.

“Shit! I didn’t time it right. Hi!” Said Ryder as Luger was recovering from the sudden hit.

Luger grabbed the object and recognized it immediately. “Well… shit. You wanted fun and exciting Tera… Here you go.” Luger then tossed the mark at Teranas.

“Whoa… Where did you get this?” Asked Teranas as she inspected the mark.

“From King Ishara herself. Guessing she figured since we helped her dad once we would do it again.”

“Will you?” Asked Teranas.

“Honestly if we had the money I would say no, but… Well ain’t like we have a choice in the matter. Besides I was looking for an extra pair of hands. Assuming you’ll take the job.”

“What is it?” Asked Luger.

“Two legionnaires in Karash… Probably. They’re probably also in Dol-Sur if the war is in Karash’s favor.”

“Do we even know what their names are? What they look like?” Asked Teranas.

“The Heroes of Tofar, Onyx Albion and Embry Essar, those are the targets. From the looks of it those two may… or are responsible for the way things are here. So I’m guessing they need us to go find them and kill them. Also to bring their bodies back as proof.”

“Karash eh… That’s a big job. Literally. That’s quite the amount of land to cover. How do you suppose we find them?” Asked Luger.

“The frontlines. Where else could they be? We head there and…”

“And what? Kill legionnaires until we get lucky? Nah fuck that.” Replied Luger.

“Well what’s your plan?”

“We use the Dolsurians ask them to track them for us then… BAM! We nail the fuckers. Tera and I did some favors for an intelligence officer a few years back. I’m guessing they want payback for such a humiliating defeat eh… No offense Warden.”

The Warden grunted.

“Right… So I guess you guys are in then?”

“Fuck yeah! Anything to get out of here.” Replied Teranas with excitement.

“I have a place in Karash we can lay low. You can message your contact, and we can wait there until we receive word. I have a favor with an Ocean Master that can arrange transport.”

“Best if we split up. Tera and I’ll head to Dol-Sur. You two head to your couple’s retreat.”

“Why?”

“Better chance of finding them. Besides if we meet my contact we can message you about their whereabouts. Cut them off, and bring in the bounty.”

“Works for me.”

Luger and Teranas slammed their beer mugs on the table and set off with Ryder and the Warden.

“Now let’s catch us that bounty.” Said Ryder as the group left the tavern.