Myra’s eyes opened slowly, seeing dimly the orange glow of candles. She felt energy surge within her, but her limbs were numb, as if they had never been used before. Squinting against the light, she forced herself to roll over on to her side. She began to realise that she was lying on a bundle of animal skins, old and musty. Memory was slowly returning to her. There was Talon, his bright eyes smiling. Pain, horrible pain. Then blackness. And then after that…

“Myra… are you awake?”

She turned her head to look at the speaker. Ruadh was sitting there crosslegged beside her makeshift bed, looking down at her with eyes that spoke of relief, and deepest sadness.

“Ruadh?” Myra forced her mouth to speak the word.

“Thank the Singer,” said Ruadh. “It was not it vain at least.”

“Where…” Myra muttered. She looked around. Yes, she was still in the hollowed out cave which Talon’s band had taken for their own. The cave carved into the hillside upon which the town of Hargrave sat. It was a tent last chapter, but we’ll just ignore that for now.

Myra tried to force herself up, but Ruadh placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and bade her lie still.

“Better rest for now,” the old ranger said. “The flesh has been sealed back together, but the wounds might reopen if you start moving around too soon.”

She pondered his words for a moment, but the fog was lifting from her mind. She let her hand search her chest, were she had felt the terrible pain, but there was no sign of any violence.

“Talon…” she muttered. “What happened? I was stabbed, I know it. But…”

Ruadh nodded solemnly. “No healing arts could have saved you, I had to use this…” he held up the flask that Talon had shown off like a trophy. “This is the great secret that lies at the heart of my order. I’m sorry you got involved in this, so you deserve to know at least a part of the story. Inside this flask is what we call “the Blood of the Sun”. It is a potion with the power to heal any disease, mend fatal wounds, some even say that enough of it can revive the dead. Even the smallest drop is without value, for it carries life itself.

“Is that…” Myra gazed at it the flask, there was only a small amount of the liquid left. “Is that how Pike recovered from his wounds, way back in chapter nine?”

“Yes. We do not possess very much of the Blood at any one time. Thus we can only use it sparingly, but Erda, as the mother of our order, has the right to make that decision. Our plan was to take some of the Blood and use it to buy the help of the Paladins for our fight against the King Gram and his goblin-folk, but Erda used it on that vagabond instead. I only hope that something good will have come of that.”

Myra clenched her teeth together. “I’m sorry Ruadh. But Pike is dead. I watched him fall in a deep ravine back in the dwarf mountain. Not even he could have survived that.” She could not bring herself to say that she had let it happen.

“A shame. But I never expected him to make much of a difference. We Rangers were outnumbered already, but now I know that they have an army of mercenaries with them as well. There is no hope for us now. The Rangers are doomed, but there is still one thing I must do.”

He looked at Myra with a feverish gaze. “Myra, I do not hold you to any debt. But I must beg that you help me kill that man named Talon!”

“Kill Talon…” said Myra.

“Yes! Even if the rangers are to be destroyed, even if the power of the Potion is to be lost forever, we better that than let that man anywhere near Rangerhome.”

“What are you saying, Ruadh?”

Ruadh forced himself to calm down. “It pained me, but I could not bring myself to let you die. So I gave in and told him everything about the Potion. But he pressed me, and you had little time left. Myra, I broke the one iron rule of my order, and told him of that thing which gives birth to these potions, which I dare not repeat.

“Trust me, he is no ordinary thug. Talon is dangerous, and now he is armed with a great secret. Only the Great Song can tell what might happen to the world if that man is allowed to live…”

“You know, if you’re going to plot a murder, you should really be a little more discrete.”

Ruadh turned in surprise. Standing over him was Thorn, that feral warrior-woman looming like an ominous shadow in the dim lamp light. Her teeth, sharpened into knife like points, flashed with a murderous sneer. “Talking smack about the boss is dangerous for your tongue, old man. Especially now that we’ve heard all we need from you.” She slowly drew her dagger and ran her thumb along its keen edge.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Enough of that, Thorn my love.” There at the caverns entrance stood Talon, with the towering warrior Fang by his side, a shit-eating grin on his face. “The poor sod has suffered enough. Let him be for now.”

“But chief,” Thorn protested. “If we at least take out his tongue, he can’t give us away to the goblins. The bastard wants to die and take us all down with him.”

Talon shook his head. “All that blood and screaming, it just won’t do. Just bind and gag him for now, until an opportunity pops up.”

“Aw but chief…” Thorn whined, like a puppy being teased with its favourite toy. “That’s just no fun.”

An idea flashed across Talon’s face. “Why don’t you just pass the time with sewing. That’ll calm your nerves, won’t it.”

Thorn chuckled. “Yes chief, that’ll do me just fine…”

Talon looked to where Myra lay, a soft smile on his lips. “Ah, Myra my dear. Glad to see you’re awake. Hungry?”

Myra only stared in uncertainty, as Talon came to her side. He threw of her blanket and stared at her body. She couldn’t help but feel a hot flush on her cheeks.

“My my… Good as new. So it’s true then… it really is the stuff of miracles.” He walked over to a bundle of cloth and gave them to Myra.

“Sorry but your old clothes got a bit… stained. Had to burn on them. Get yourself dressed, then we’ll go get some breakfast. What do you say?”

Myra gulped, longing for the feel of a dagger in her hand. She looked over to Ruadh, who only nodded slightly. Whatever she must do, for now she would have to play along. Hurriedly she donned her fresh woollen shirt and breeches, terribly aware of Talon and his two henchmen watching her the whole time.

Anyways, soon she was at Talon’s side, quietly strolling through the mercenary camp.

“Well then, this is a little awkward, isn’t it?” Talon said, looking wistfully up at the gloomy, cloud filled sky, filling with the smoke that spewed forth from the busy town.

“Awkward?” Myra said quietly, her anger bubbling to the surface. “You… tried to kill me.”

“No I didn’t. Well, not technically… but you’re fine now anyway,” said Talon. “So no harm done in the end. Let’s just move on and put that behind us.” He reached out to hold her hand, but she recoiled from his touch. “What? You don’t trust me anymore?”

“Trust you? How can I?” Myra clenched her hands in rage.

Talon shrugged. “I was never going to let you just die. I just needed something to give the old man a little push to get him talking, that’s all. A very distrustful lot, these…” Talon looked about him and led Myra away from listening ears.

“They have been nothing but good to me, the Rangers,” said Myra. “I don’t know them very well, but they’re good folk. What that wretched old goblin king thinks of them is rubbish. Ruadh has given up everything precious to him, for my sake. They’re all like that in the end. The world doesn’t deserve them…”

“No doubt,” said Talon. “But in the end, carrying such burdens will only grind you into the dust. That’s just how the world works. No need to get so emotional about it. The Rangers are done, finished. It was inevitable. At the very least, if they are all going to die, there’s no need to let their secrets die with them.

“Don’t you understand how big this is, Myra? You were at death’s door, by all rights you should be dead and buried. But now look at you, good as new. This is the kind of power that the Rangers are holding onto, one that will be lost forever unless we salvage this situation.”

“To plunder from their corpses, you mean,” Myra said pointedly.

“I prefer to think of it as inheritance,” Talon smirked. “Just think about it, having the power to rescue people from death. Why keep such a thing a secret from the world? Why not let it pass on? This is a gift we could share with the world, don’t you agree?”

Myra was at a loss for words. That was difficult to argue with.

“But… Ruadh…”

“Oh forget about the old fool. The Rangers are just a cult anyway, jealous of their secrets and obsessed with traditions. Of course they’d be willing to throw their lives away for stupid reasons. But no need to worry over him, I can keep him from harm. But just imagine, if we had more of these potions, we’d have little reason to worry for our friends, right? Just imagine, to never have to lose a loved one again…”

Myra paused a long while, then she sighed. “You say that, but it’s all just a trap…”

“Pardon?” said Talon, raising an eyebrow.

“There’s always someone stronger,” Myra continued. “Treasures, power, love, life… all of it will be taken from you in the end. I’ve had enough of it…”

Talon chuckled. “Sad… but very true.”

“I know the Rangers are doomed,” said Myra. “Its my own fault that I started to like them. But why fight to obtain their treasure. It will just be bait for all the damn predators in this world. You might have the power to keep your friends from dying, but will that last when you have wolves at your door?”

Talon laid a hand on her shoulder. “I understand that all too well… too well indeed. But don’t mistake me for some romantic fool. I intend to be the biggest, baddest wolf there is.”

“A man I loved once thought the same thing,” said Myra, “until the day he met someone stronger than him…”

“Talon! There you are,” came a voice suddenly. Myra turned to see the finely dressed mercenary captain, Calico Flagg approaching. “Didn’t care to join the man-hunt?”

Talon smiled and shook his head. “Sounds like fun, but I’ve my new recruits I had to ingratiate myself with.”

Calico nodded. “Indeed, must be a bit of a shock to go from twelve men to a hundred in a single night.”

Talon laughed, “What can I say? I’m an opportunist. But it’s a bit worrisome isn’t it, that the rangers stole a prisoner from us right under our noses.”

“More concerning was that several of Gram’s men were massacred along the way. Seems to me like the war will be harder fought than I figured. At the very least the march will be delayed a little until Gram recalls the search parties.”

“I don’t suppose they’ve turned anything in, have they?”

Flagg shrugged his shoulders. “No tracks to follow, or so I’ve heard. But one party did send word back. Found two strange men they said, and are returning promptly.”

Talon raised an eyebrow. “Really? Are they rangers?”

“Don’t know. Apparently they seem like foreigners, and one is wounded. That’s all the messengers said.” Flagg stroked his moustache. “Although, the messengers did say that the men were swordsman. One man had a black blade, the other a white blade…”

Myra’s eyes went wide, and Talon’s grin broadened. “A black blade? It couldn’t possibly be…”