The sun rose lazily as Bevis stood in the doorway of the tent-like structure she shared with Sabra. The camp seemed to be unaware they had arrived. It wouldn't be a surprise at all if no one knew. Jake had sent them through a route they had walked, taking them for a beautiful scenic walk along the river until they came to a cave. Both women spent time doubting the route, but the GPS said to go through the mountain. Finally, they followed the path through the mountain, finding the river ran beside them for most of their journey. Arriving here surprised them both, and Bevis had seen that from the outside, it looked like a regular tent, but it only covered the entrance to the cave Sabra was using to prepare for whatever was about to happen.

"What does it look like?" she called from the round stone table near the side of the oval cave.

"Chaos," Bevis called, scanning the area, locking onto and following a tall, athletic woman striding through the camp, "what is she doing here?"

"Who?" Sabra asked, looking over Bevis' shoulder.

"Someone I grew up with," Bevis whispered, "it's never good news when a regulator is present."

"What is a regulator?" Sabra asked, "It sounds terrible."

"It depends on which side she's working for," Bevis said, her gaze narrowing as the woman ducked into a tent on the edge of the camp, "what is that tent?"

"According to the map Jake supplied," Sabra said, glancing at the paper in her hand, "arms and ammunition."

"Interesting," Bevis said, "I wonder if she's supposed to be in there."

"Is this her?" Sabra asked, showing Bevis a photo of a beautiful, dark woman.

"Yes," Bevis sighed, nodding, "she's supposed to be there?"

Sabra nodded, "Apparently so. You said it depended on which side she was on ... isn't it good she is on our side."

"Well, you would think so ..." Bevis said, sighing, "... having a regulator present doesn't mean anything to the side they are on. I wonder if Chelsea knows she is here?"

"Let's hope she decides to be on our side," Sabra said. Are you ready for this?"

Bevis sighed and cleared her throat. "You're worried because I haven't engaged this part of me for a long time," she said, meeting Sabra's worried gaze. I've been following my instinct so far. I'll be okay. This has to end, and if ..." she cleared her throat and swallowed hard, looking out the tent entrance again, "...if I lose everything I've gained to end this ... I have faith life will work out the way it should."

Sabra moved around Bevis smiling, "Speaking like a true warrior."

"Oh, I'm no warrior," Bevis said, shaking her hand, "but I am someone who mysteriously can protect others and have been trained in secret-keeping and various versions of warfare. After my parents' apparent death, I did everything I could to assimilate and forget where I came from and what I was meant to be. I had to reach beyond myself to be what everyone called "normal," ... and today, I feel I will be doing it again to be what I was meant to be."

"Your father never trained you in warfare," Sabra said, "that I know. He told me he was training you to be a secret keeper."

"He was, and he did," Bevis said, shaking her head. "Okay... if they look at my history, they'll find three years missing."

"Three years," Sabra whispered, frowning. "Isn't that how long ... no, oh Bevis, no ..." she gasped, "...you defied your mother's wishes."

Bevis nodded, "No one knows. Not even Chelsea."

Sabra rested her hand on Bevis' shoulder, "Bev, today is about being what you're supposed to be. You were prepared for a time like this. Everything that has happened in your life is for this moment. Right now. Forget about who knows or who doesn't know. You're assigned to be my bodyguard for a reason. You have something no one else has to do this job. So please, stop thinking about the fallout and let's do what we're supposed to do."

Bevis squeezed Sabra's hand. "Thank you for accepting me. Even though you're probably terrified right now, you're right. I'm here for a reason. So ... what's your plan?"

Across the camp, the athletic woman stood just inside the shadows of the doorway, watching Bevis and Sabra. A frown pulled between her eyebrows. The man accompanying her stopped behind her, watching the scene.

"You know them?" he asked.

"Yes, the one dripping in weapons and ammunition is Bevis," she whispered, "I don't know the woman talking to her, but it would seem Bevis is guarding her."

"Let's make introductions," the man said, moving to pass her but stopping short as he collided with her outstretched arm. "... or not. Why don't you want to greet her?"

"The last time Bevis was on a campaign ... no on a mission ... it was to eliminate particular targets," the woman said, quietly sifting her weight.

"She's an assassin?" the man asked.

"No, much worse," the woman said, shaking her head. "What's going on here?"

"You're not really explaining, but my question is - does it change anything we're supposed to do here?" the man asked.

"It just may," the woman whispered, shaking her head as Bevis and Sabra disappeared into the tent, "it may change everything."

"How come? So far, we have us—the regulators, two extractors, and the target is inbound," the man said. "How does the presence of that woman change anything?"

The woman sighed, shaking her head. "Oh ... wait." She turned to the table they were working on, sifting through the papers and photos; finally, she pulled out a photo of Sabra and turned it over. "It changes everything."

"Explain," the man said, taking the offered photo from the woman and reading it, "I'm still not seeing your point."

"It's as you said: We have two regulators, two extractors amongst all these warriors," she said, sinking into a nearby chair. If that were all, our objectives would not need alterations. But if you take everything I said and add The Nissim and a Death Dealer to the mix, we need to change our objectives."

"A ... a death dealer," the man spluttered, "that slip of a woman is a death dealer?"

The woman nodded, "I've seen her in action, and she is ..."

"Ruthless? Brutal? What?" the man prompted.

"Focused, precise and unmoving," the woman whispered.

"Oh, so if we try to regulate The Calderone ..." the man said, letting his words trail off.

"She will take us as being on that side," the woman said, "and we will be dead before we can explain."

"How important is this ... Nisim?" the man asked.

"The only reason The Nisim is here is to end this once and for all," the woman said. "She must have loads of proof against The Calderone; if she didn't, she wouldn't be here."

"What is this woman really, The Nisim?" the man asked. "Isn't that whole thing urban legend?"

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

The woman laughed and shook her head, "Yeah, I guess many people, including The Calderone, would say she is an urban legend. But she's real — as real as you and me, with a potent ability for justice."

"You mean revenge," the man said, meeting the steady gaze of his partner.

"No, justice," the woman said.

"So what is our objective?" the man asked, sighing.

"We're regulators," the woman said, pushing to her feet, "our core objective is always to ensure that everything that happens is just and within the law."

"Whose law?" the man asked.

"The law of 8200, of course," she said. "Our family is all over this camp; therefore, we stay within our boundaries."

"What about the Death Dealer?" the man asked, frowning.

"She is not for us to regulate," the woman said, "so we don't regulate her or her actions ... besides, no one has advised that there is a Death Dealer in the camp."

"Fair enough," the man said, nodding, "we go back to basics."

"Yeah," the woman sighed, "back to basics."

Staring out at the gathering forces on the other side of what had become no man's land, Josiah sighed as the words of the nearby conversation drifted to a halt. He didn't know if he should be worried or glad that Bevis was on their side. But then again, what would happen to his family if she perceived a change in loyalty?

Texting a quick message to Jake and Chelsea about the movements in the other camp, he strode across the camp and through the tent entrance into the cave, halting as he came face to face with a serious Bevis aiming a gun in his direction.

"It's just me," he said, not backing down or wavering in his intent gaze on this woman, "I overheard something, and I need to know if it's true and if my land and people are in danger."

Sabra stepped around Bevis as the gun lowered, "What is it you want to know, Josiah?"

"Not from you ... from her," he said, still glaring at Bevis, whose steady gaze met his, neither person looking away. "Is it true?"

Bevis holstered her weapon and came toward him but stopped when he stepped back, her gaze narrowed on him, "Whose conversation did you overhear?"

"The man and woman in the weapons tent," he said, "is it true?"

"It depends on what you heard," Bevis said. "Tell me, and I can confirm or deny."

Josiah inhaled deeply, narrowing his eyes on the woman before him, "Your sentence structure tells me you're of that world."

"Which world?" Sabra asked, her gaze moving back and forth between the pair, "Josiah, you're not making sense. Spit it out."

"Apparently, Bevis is a Death Dealer," Josiah said, tearing his gaze from the steady, unwavering one to meet Sabra's unsurprised expression. "You knew."

"Of course, I knew," Sabra said. "She hasn't been active for decades but is always what she was trained to be. Plus, having her beside me, guarding me ... is my honour."

"Is that all she's supposed to be doing?" Josiah asked, looking between the two women.

"That is my only assigned objective," Bevis said quietly as she returned to the table. "If my being here bothers you that much, I'll ensure I don't impose my presence on your lands or people you protect after this is finished."

Josiah turned angrily toward the entrance, but her words stopped him. They were spoken with understanding and resignation. Understanding ... she knew she may be alone for the rest of her life because of what she was trained to do. Turning, he looked at her, serenely looking over maps and making strategies.

"Why did you become ... a ...." his words stuttered to a halt.

"Death Dealer?" Bevis finished his question, straightening where she stood. "it was never an intention of mine. I just wanted justice for my parents to get back at those who had taken them from me."

"Let me guess: You were pushed into that kind of training," Josiah said, "or did you have an aptitude for it?"

"Neither," Bevis said, "I finished the usual training quicker than the others, and this was all that was left to do. It turned out that this world was and apparently still is in my blood more than I wanted it to be. Yes ... I was given assignments and carried them out, but never with relish or enjoyment. I never followed through without a history of my target and an excellent reason."

"If you were assigned The Calderone as a target, would you take her out?" Josiah asked.

"If it was authorised and with everything I've seen ..." Bevis sighed, "yes."

"But you're not here to do that, right?" Josiah asked.

"No, I'm here as Sabra's bodyguard." Bevis said, "She is leaving this event alive and unharmed."

"Or ... what?" Josiah asked.

"Or I die making sure it happens," Bevis said quietly, "anything else?"

Josiah stared at her determined, unblinking gaze and shook his head. "I understand. Thank you for your sacrifice."

Bevis nodded, continuing to watch him as he left. She released a breath she had been holding. Loosening her tight neck, she bent over the table again as Sabra silently joined her.

"Are you going to stay on their lands?" Sabra whispered.

"I have nowhere else to go, but if they demand I leave ..." her words trailed off as she sighed and glanced at Sabra; Bevis shrugged, "What else can I do? It's not like I haven't been through this before, and I'm sure it won't be the last time either."

"Huh, that sounds like your father speaking right there," Sabra chuckled. "Let's get back to our strategy. Where is that information Jake sent through?"

"Here," Bevis said, "as far as I can make out, the usual forces are gathering along this far end of the border, and there is an anomaly across the way."

"What kind of anomaly?" Sabra asked.

"No one knows," Bevis said, smiling at Sabra, "but we know these tactics well."

"Yes, we do," Sabra said, "where do we hit first?"

"I think we do a broadcast first," Bevis said, "welcoming them to their death as The Calderone has sent them to fight an unnecessary war."

"But they still believe their families are being held," Sabra said, "how do we let them know they aren't."

"Jake said he and Chelsea are working on something to cover that," Bevis said. "In the meantime, we need to make sure The Calderone is isolated by the time she loses her temper and starts to take it out on our families and forces."

Sabra suddenly stood looking around, "I've got it."

"Got what?" Bevis asked, leaning on the table.

"Use me to isolate The Calderone," Sabra said, "before you start telling me it's an unacceptable risk, hear me out. We do the populace dispertion so those that don't want any part of her evil world can become "prisoners of war" for want of a better expression," Sabra said, her gazed focused somewhere in the future looking at the possibilities of events, "then with smaller forces, she will be forced to engage to get her point across and get the river system," Bevis straightened cross her arms at her waist and listened, "if we know about this entrance chances are she will as well."

"You want to draw her in here," Bevis said, her mind moving through scenarios, "you know she doesn't go anywhere without bloodthirsty attachments of hers."

"We'll cut them off somehow," Sabra said, "with it just being herself and me ... and you, my bodyguard, will naturally be beside me. Then we can give her a chance to surrender or die."

"Will that be before or after she hacks you to death?" Bevis asked. "This woman is ruthless, Sabra. She won't stop for a conversation. She will see you and kill you. Everything about her is dishonourable and evil."

"I know," Sabra sighed, "but how else do I end this?"

Bevis sighed, "Not in an enclosed area as this," wandering to the entrance and taking in the clearing outside, "but it could work out there. My one issue is that while I destroy her, who will guard you?"

"I shall," Chelsea's voice said from the tunnel entrance. I've always had your back, and I'll have it now."

Spinning around, Bevis' gaze widening in surprise, "Chels, what are you doing here?"

"Jake has everything under control, and that broadcast you suggested is about to go out in a bit," Chelsea said, walking into the cave and looking around it before her gaze moved over Sabra and Bevis, "I thought I would come and see where our Death Dealer was hiding."

Chelsea and Bevis's gazes locked, and they stared at each other. Sabra sifted a little in the uncomfortable silence. Bevis closed her eyes, swallowed hard, and nodded.

"How long have you known?" she asked.

"Well, since there are two extractors in camp, intelligence officers and two regulators, I guessed a death dealer needed to be around somewhere," Chelsea said, looking at Bevis curiously, "Bev, how did you become a death dealer?"

"I went looking for justice," Bevis whispered, "and I finished my training weeks before everyone else. They told me the only training left was for a Death Dealer, but hardly anyone ever did it."

"Yeah, that's because the training is insane and boarding on inhumane," Chelsea said, "but you did it and got through it."

Bevis nodded, "It was a rough three weeks."

"Three ...three weeks," Chelsea spluttered, "that training is usually six months."

"Huh, maybe that's why I found it tough," Bevis said, frowning.

"What was your mark?" Chelsea asked.

"Oh ... I never asked," Bevis said, "and was never told."

Shaking her head, Chelsea sighed, "My best friend is a death dealer."

"And mine is an extractor ... I'm guessing," Bevis said, smiling as Chelsea nodded.

"There is the broadcast," Chelsea said, moving toward the entrance as words boomed over the silent arena. Let's hope this works. I'm not in the mood to go through more fighting."

"Whatever happens," Sabra said, "it finishes here. Today."