What did I get myself into? Luce thought internally.

The Watcher stood stunned before them, the body of Kathleen unmoving on the streets. She noticed the man balling up his fists, arms shaking. Luce saw a muzzle flash in the distance. The Watcher raised his hand forward, palms opened. The gunshot reached their ears. The Watcher lowered his hand and reopened his palm. The lead bullet clunked to the ground.

Catching bullets. Great.

From her side, Miguel exclaimed, “Hilde!”

“Yes, Grandmaster.” The female Enhancer rushed forward, sabre blade flashing out of its sheathe.

Hildergard stopped between Kathleen and The Watcher, and The Long Arm, stabbing her sabre straight into the ground. Her two hands glowed yellow, lines of magic circuits shining. She thrust her arms out together and arcs of electricity danced from the tips of her fingers towards the two ends of the coil. Another muzzle flash. Another ring of gunshot. From the sabres' copper hand-guard, an arc of lightning shot out to seemingly thin air. The lead round combusted upon impact.

Lightning Coil magic. Wonderful. Luce was internally chiding. It seemed she had somehow gotten herself involved with a group of powerful, dangerous, and incredible people. She was starting to miss her hut.

Miguel said, “Lady Ranger.” She turned to him. The man continued, “As powerful as my apprentice is, we do not have much time.” He tilted his head in gesture to Kathleen.

She nodded back in understanding, “Right.”

They rushed to The Watcher who knelt beside his fallen companion.

Miguel instructed, “Let's move her round the corner.”

The trio worked quickly. Luce carried Kathleen by the legs while the men held under each arm. They shuffled their way back into town, turning the corner and gently laying Kathleen onto the ground beside the inn. Once behind the cover of the walls, Hildergard ran back to the group as two more shots rang out behind with bullets whizzing by.

Kathleen's body was riddled with half a dozen bullet wounds with one in the thigh. Blood drenched her shirt and their hands. Miguel set his hands over the two wounds that looked the most crucial, over her left lung and stomach. His circuits glowed, sending a pulse of blue light to his hands that resonated softly.

Miguel worriedly explained, “She's still alive. Barely. I'll try to stabilize her but I'm not great with healing magic.”

The Watcher asked, “Will she make it?” His face creased into the most devastated frown Luce had ever seen. Guilt, sadness, anger, all mixed into a single pained expression.

Miguel did not look up to him, focusing his gaze on Kathleen instead. “If we don't get professional medical help soon, she might not make it.”

Hildergard exclaimed, “The town's doctor should be in the park.” Without another word, she took off without anyone's complain from the group.

“Luce,” Miguel began. “I need you to take a perch in the inn and give us some covering fire with you rifle.”

“I can't hit anything from this range,” she explained, hugging her gun closer to her chest. Despite the firearm, she had never actually killed a human being, and the only life she had ever took had already been on the verge of death.

“I don't need you to hit anything. I just need you to make sure they don't come near us.” He finally looked up to The Watcher. “I believe someone is going to take care of them up front.”

She looked to the traveller. The Watcher had his back turned to them, standing straight and tall. The man looked larger than she remembered, his presence seemingly tripling and emanating from him in spades.

Miguel said, “Watcher.” The Watcher half-turned back. With his hand still bloodied, Miguel reached into his pocket and took out a small crystal. “It's ready. Just feel for the power and cast as you normally would.”

The Watcher took the crystal and Luce watched as the man's eyes light up from feeling the extra energy for the first time. Her late fiancée, a terramancer, had the same expression when she first held a tuned crystal.

“Thank you,” The Watcher mouthed.

“Don't thank me yet,” Miguel replied. “The way I calculate it, that crystal only has about five percent of the power you're used to, so don't overdo it. Madness, I'm telling you. A tier seven crystal not even halving up to a body's circuits is unheard of,” he ended in a rant.

Luce got to her feet and her eyes met The Watcher's. “I'll cover you,” she said.

The Watcher nodded and turned to leave.

“Watcher...” A voiced croaked out. All three turned to the woman lying on the ground. Kathleen's eyes flickered open slightly, enough for her to look to the man she followed, her ember iris seemingly burning. “Don't... change. No... killing.”

Her eyelids lowered shut again, her peace said.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

The three left standing exchanged glances. Miguel then promised him, “I'll do my best.”

The Watcher nodded one last time before he turned out the corner.

***

He could barely hear anything. Half his face was pressed against the ground, Nadier struggled to breathe under the lock of Nora's right boot, which was gripped around his neck. The only consolation he had was having his injured arm pinned under him, which slowed his bleeding considerably. He did not like having his hands and feet tied though, but the situation did not seem to be open to other possibilities.

To their south was the town of Ra'Kalen, while the Long Arm lined themselves neatly apart westward. The Long Arm wore bandoleers of ammunitions over leather vests and black shirts. Navy blue pants were held up by pouch filled belts, each containing a fair amount of reserve gunpowder. Some wore brown greatcoats over everything else. The group was Everwind's greatest military strength. Firearms and, more specifically, gunpowder, were rare in Eltar, and the Long Arm had the largest stock in the land. Though small, they were able to overwhelm most of their bows and swords wielding counterparts with sheer range and accuracy.

“This concoction of yours,” Nora began, twirling a vial of his Neverite on her finger before his face, the rest of his vials and daggers unceremoniously thrown on the floor. “It's really amazing, negating seither and magic. Why do you only have one vial though?”

He coughed out, “It's not easy to make.” He resisted the urge to add an insult.

“Pity it's not enough to coat our bullets in,” she noted.

“Lady Nora!” one of the snipers shouted. “We've spotted The Watcher. Awaiting firing ord–!”

In less than the blink of an eye, the time mage appeared before them within talking distance, a crystal glowing purple in his right hand. “No need,” The Watcher announced after his teleportation.

The snipers all turned to aim their rifles at him and he raised and opened his left hand to meet them. He had tried the same thing with Akaras Spaedruiner when they met. The result of freezing the dark elf in time had sent the late Lord flying to near fatal injuries. But that was when The Watcher had yet to orientate himself to the spin of the planet. It was different now. He could feel Tearha's rotation beneath his feet. He could see the stars in the sky and the slow movements they made across space. He could feel the planet hurtling through space at 86 miles per second.

“Fi–!” Silence fell.

With their rifles still pointed at him, the snipers froze. Not a breath nor a blink came from them. Every strand of their hair stood unmoving despite the night breeze. The platoon had been completely stopped within the confines of time itself.

He shot a glare at Nora, “I heard you were looking for me.” He stretched out his right hand in a gesture of welcome, making sure to keep his left and power on the snipers. “Here I am.”

Nora dug in her heels and dragged Nadier forward by the neck. He held onto the hook of her boots, choking as he was pushed and forcefully rolled to face up, his back scraping against the ground. She presented the dark elf as if he was a prized animal. He wondered how a woman as slender as Nora could have as much leg strength as that. Eyes to the night sky, coughing, he could now see the situation around him. The female assassin kept a playful smile on her face, not at all unnerved by The Watcher's display of power.

“It's good to see you again, Watcher,” she greeted with a toothy grin.

“Have we met before?”

“No, I suppose you wouldn't know who I am.” She bowed him a curtsy, digging in her heels and pushing Nadier's neck down further. “I am Lady Nora Phemtelle. Master assassin and spy of Everwind. Right hand of Lord Light.”

“Do you help him masturbate?” he snarked back.

“Sometimes,” she replied matter-of-factly. “If he asks for it, of course.”

Nadier coughed, “Highlight of your life, I bet.” She pivoted her heels, catching his jaw with the toe of her boots. With a slight, manipulative turn, she pushed his neck out and pulled his head inwards into an odd angle, causing him to groan in pain.

Still with her cheery smile, she commented, “Quiet you. Mommy's talking with daddy.”

“Daddy's not really that interested though,” Watcher replied. “But tell me, Lady Nora, what would it take for you to release Nadier and lift the siege off the town?”

“You let me kill you and I'll lift the siege.”

The Watcher let out a derisive laugh. “I'm sorry, but you're far too weak to kill me. I'm not saying you can't try, but if you did, my body would just repair itself again. You don't have the firepower to do the deed. There's no bullets in your gun. No water in the straw. No gas in the tank. No–”

Nora stopped his rambling with a raised hand. “I-I get it. You can stop now.” She crossed her arms in contemplation. “Well, I guess you could always come with me to Everwind and have Lord Light kill you there,” she spoke of the act of murder as casually as one would ask for the time.

“And Nadier?”

“He dies here,” she said again with the same creeping calm and smile. “I have orders for his life too.”

“No deal,” The Watcher replied. “Everyone lives, and I die. That's the only way out of this.”

“That's not a deal I can take either. I guess the only way out is for you to kill me then.” Her smile grew wider and impossibly more innocent looking despite the sinister undertone. “Should be easy for you, since you'll hate me after knowing I ordered them to shoot that girl you tried to save.”

The Watcher raised his right hand at her to do the deed. The glow of the crystal dimmed, and a bullet slammed into his shoulder. A second hit his chest. The third and forth made contact with his head. But each ammunition plopped to the grassy earth soundlessly, the impact absorbed by the natural magic shield of a mage. Nadier could see the look of surprise on the snipers' face. One of them had his eyes and brows scrunched, assessing the situation. She turned her gun to Nadier.

Switching targets, The Watcher returned focus to the snipers and once again, froze them in place before a shot could be fired at the dark elf.

“Hahahaha!” Nora laughed, clapping at the spectacle. “Impressive try. Though I'm guessing this is your first time using a magic crystal?” she asked The Watcher.

He dared not take his eyes or concentration off the snipers again. “What's happening?”

“Magic crystals have limits. Seems like yours only have enough power to create a single time bubble.”

Nadier was sure that even without his darkvision, he would be able to see the whites of The Watcher's eyes widen in surprise.

The Watcher asked, “How did you know how my power works?”

“The Lord Light told me. He even told me not to be afraid of your threats of killing, as you've got a strict 'no killing' policy, do you not?” She took a step forward with her left leg, her right eating into the nape of Nadier's neck, causing him another grunt in pain.

In a tone of seriousness Nadier had thought impossible for a man as easy going as The Watcher, the time traveller growled, “Who is this Lord Light?”

“He's the hero of the world.” Nora replied. She spoke softly of that belief, as if asked about a crush. Returning to the situation, she explained, “You don't have much of a choice now. You either kill me, and the snipers kill Nadier, or hold on to the snipers while I kill Nadier. Or, better yet, you follow your rule and don't kill anyone. Keep your hands clean and surrender yourself to your execution. Of course, Nadier will still die, but the casualty would be much lower, would it not?”

Nadier could see the pained expression on The Watcher's face. The man must have had all the solutions to the world before that moment. Over a thousand years of living is twice more than the average elf. All those cycles spent, all the knowledge and powers gathered, to not be able to do anything in the time needed most of him must be devastating.

“Just as Lord Light said,” Nora continued, her tone a sickened glee. “You are a coward, Watcher. No, Pausa of the Alvet. The one who ran. The man who have no blood on his hands for fear of killing, but still manages to be the bloodiest of us all. If only you had the guts to kill.”

“Don't worry.” They turned to the sound of the voice which was also the source of a cloud of rust brown smoke. Behind Nora, the green haired elven girl stood, her clothes still bearing the two charred holes that Light had shot at, underneath which were blood stained bandages. A bow in her hand, arrow notched, weapon fully drawn, aimed as Nora's head, she declared, “I have plenty of guts to spare.”

“Adelle!” Nadier exclaimed, unable to keep in his joy at seeing her alive.

Nora however, was less thrilled, “Demon Eyes...” she said, sounding defeated. “That's not fair.”

Adelaide smiled, “I know.”

The arrow blasted through Lady Fatal.