Kaisel and Ginzari were talking to each other when I ran into the tent. Both of them looked up, evidently annoyed, and the leader asked me what was wrong.

“It’s the same thing again. Hess is out for revenge, and...that doesn’t always end well. I am still worried for her.” I panted, managing to speak the words in between.

“Ugh, alright. Kaisel, switch the plans accordingly. Let’s see what we can do about this.” Ginzari pushed me on the back once before leaving the tent.

I looked at Kaisel, worried. He gestured for me to follow after him. I nodded the ran out behind the man.

Everyone in the camp was getting ready for the fight. Some were practicing with each other, while some were sitting down and talking about what they planned on doing to get the best results. Some people were still sleeping and trying to save their energy for when it really mattered. The two of us made our way through the camp. For the first time, I had had so many of the mercenaries looking towards my direction.

Hess’ tent was not very far, but it felt like forever. Everything that Ginzari could possibly tell her to make sure that she did not go for this battle made its way through my head. But not a single idea that I came up with, was convincing enough to make me believe that she would accept it. He would have to make up a really good reason, and use all the persuasion he could, to stop her. It felt wrong to do, even to me, but I knew that her life was more important right now.

When we got to the tent, Hess was speaking to one of the mercenaries. She smiled as she gave him advice, holding his sword in her hand and swinging it up and down to test it. Once she saw us coming, she handed the sword back to the mercenary and gave him a thumbs up. He bent down and thanked her for the help before running back to his own group. The two of us went and stood in front of her. We all looked at each other for a while, until she herself understood that we weren’t here to tell her anything nice.

“You can’t go, Hess.” Ginzari decided to settle with the plainest argument.

“I thought so. Another hunch, huh?” She looked at me. I nodded.

She went to the sword rack in front of her and picked one up. Its handle was embroidered with a beautiful red and black pattern. I felt like touching it once to just see how it felt. Maybe I could get one of that done to my swords.

“Do you recognize this sword, Ginzari?” She asked.

Ginzari grabbed it from her hands and kept it back in the rack, “We don’t have time for this, Hess. I have already told you that you aren’t coming, and nothing will change my mind.”

“Whose sword is that, Ginzari?”

“Will you agree not to go if I play along with your game?” He asked.

“I might.” She answered.

Ginzari frowned and replied, “It’s Hike’s. Your brother’s. He liked to do embroidery. He told us that.”

“That’s the one I planned on using to kill Jillesha. That’s exactly what I was thinking about until this morning. It would have been the most perfect irony, considering that he always thought that my brother was weak. But no matter what happens, I can’t use it as the final weapon, can I?”

“I’m guessing not.”

“Why’s that, Ginzari?”

He sighed, “Because you’re better with daggers, and if you don’t fight at your best, then he will kill you in a matter of seconds. You might go for a minute if you push yourself, and are lucky enough.”

“And that’s why the drama of it wouldn’t work. Hilarious, isn’t it? At the end, the reason I can’t use that sword is because of weakness.” She gave me a glance before walking to the sword rack.

She pushed past Ginzari, who stepped aside, keeping his eyes on her. She grabbed the embroidered sword once more and pulled it out. The sun shone on the blade and blinded my eyes for a second. I tried to move, but there was nowhere I could go to get the same view of the two of them. I stayed there for a second, waiting for her to move the sword.

But when she did, her and Ginzari were jumping out of the tent. The two of them whizzed past me, and I buckled, almost falling down. I pulled my own sword out and got it ready. Then, the dust settled and my eyes cleared. Ginzari was on the ground, holding his axe in his hands, and using it to block the sword, which Hess was pushing against his body. The leader brought his leg up to kick her in the stomach, but she jumped back herself. Ginzari stood up and readied his axe.

“But this works to the same effect, doesn’t it?” Hess asked.

“If you lose, then you stay here.” Ginzari declared.

She smiled, “Yeah, but the part I’m thinking about is the winning. I guess if that happens then you’ll stop whining about my life, and what I do with it.”

Ginzari whirled his mouth around before spitting some blood on the ground, “The aftershock is good, Hess. Come on. I accept.”

“Thanks.”

I put my sword in its sheath and walked as far back as possible. The two fighters slowly made their way to the training grounds, with their weapons still drawn and in-position. Along with them and me, a bunch of mercenaries followed them to the grounds. By the time they got there and took their proper positions, almost the entire camp had gathered there to spectate their match.

I saw Typhen standing beside his sister, and ran to them. They asked me what was going on, and I explained the situation in short to them.

“Oh no.” Sylvia murmured.

“The last time, they destroyed half the camp. And that was supposed to be a friendly competition.” Typhen bit his lips.

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“Oh.”

That was a bit shocking. I knew that this battle wasn’t going to be something to scoff at, or ignore, but I didn’t know that they could get that blind while fighting. Logically, this meant that all the people spectating them from the edges of the training grounds weren’t safe either. All of us where in the danger range if these two started to go all-out and jump around like wild beasts. Judging by what this fight was for, that was very possible. That’s probably what had gotten the siblings so worried.

The two rushed towards each other with their weapons raised. Right as they were running, people began to step back and brace for impact. Sylvia put on her gloves and created a simple circle of the base magic around us. The experience last time must have been almost traumatic for her to be this cautious. I looked back at the grounds as the fight began, but after a loud clang, the place was covered in dust.

Hess came flying towards us. Sylvia raised the barrier, but Hess had already touched the ground, and was leaving behind a trail of dust as she gained balance. Right as she was about to fall on us, she stopped. The three of us ran away to the left. Ginzari jumped out towards her with his axe raised and brought it down on her head. She parried once with her sword, and bent her whole body to go below his shoulders.

Then, she attacked him from below, trying to hit his hands. Ginzari got ready to block it, but at the same time, her left leg went straight for his legs. Before she could hit either, the sword was blocked, and Ginzari twisted his entire body to bring his right leg up. Hess did not react in time, and the leg came down on her face. Her whole body fell to the ground, paired with a sound which was reminiscent of an explosion.

She lay on the ground for some time, twitching. Ginzari stood right where he was, waiting for her to move. She gripped her sword tighter, and rolled away from him before pushing herself up and standing up. Her forehead had a streak of blood on it. She raised her sword once more, and invited Ginzari to attack.

He ran forward, ready to attack in the same way as before. This time, she did not try to use any underhanded techniques. Quick as lightning, the two of them shared a total of eight blows. I wouldn’t know the exact number if not for the very loud sound that they made. While they did that, my eyes wandered over to the place Hess had been pushed to the ground. There was a relatively sizeable crater where her face had been.

After exchanging those blows. Ginzari tried to change his positioning to quickly switch to her torso. Instead of blocking it, Hess kept her sword up and went straight for his neck. He panicked and stopped his axe before moving back. But, while keeping her momentum alive, Hess jumped along with him, bringing the sword closer. Right as it was about to reach his neck, her hand shook for a moment. She turned the sword to its flat side, and bashed it into his head instead.

Ginzari’s hand went to his head, trying to orient himself. Hess took the chance to kick him in the stomach and send him into the hay bale behind him. The bale broke the speed, and rested his head for a second. Hess rushed forward to keep the advantage up, but the recovery she had unintentionally given him worked wonders. By the time she got there, he raised his axe and hit her the stomach with the rounded tip on the top of it. She coughed blood before he put his hand over her head, and threw her to his right. She went flying to the other side of the ground. The people over there made way for her, as she went and hit a tree in the forest.

He held his axe the right way again and rose up from the hay bale. Checking all over his body for any major injuries, and still holding his head to get rid of the nausea, he slowly walked over to her. But he had no reason to get to the forest. Hess had already pushed herself off the tree and was limping towards him. Behind her, the bent tree slowly began to crack until it fell to the ground. Her face was covered in blood, but she just wiped the parts under her mouth, and kept going.

Both of them readied their weapons. Hess held it in a manner that I hadn’t seen her use before. I turned to Typhen to about it, but he and Sylvia seemed a bit too shocked.

“We should get out of here before those two start this fight for real.” Typhen said.

“For real?” I asked him.

He turned and nodded, “That was just them gauging strength. Hess only uses that stance when she intends to win the fight without any bars.”

“Let’s move back.” Sylvia suggested.

All three of us agreed and slowly moved back while looking at the two of them. The other mercenaries also started doing the same. Nobody was within a large radius of those two. Even Kaisel, who had gotten out of the tent, was using his magic to protect a very large group from the potential consequences.

Ginzari and Hess shouted as they ran towards each other, ready for the first actual strike of the battle. Both of them looked tough, motivated. I’d probably run if I was against either. But they clearly wouldn’t stop until this all ended. Hess in particular, seemed almost blinded by the fight. Her eyes went to her sword, probably trying to change its angle down to the most perfect one it could be.

The two reached each other, and Ginzari swung his axe at a speed he hadn’t used before. Hess did the same with her sword, and the two weapons got closer and closer. But right when they were about to connect, Hess’ eyes landed on her sword again. Her body slowed down, and she bent and rolled away from the man, whose axe hit thin air, causing him to stumble. Hess, away from him, took long breaths as more blood fell out of her mouth.

“I yield.” Hess whispered.

Ginzari turned to her with confusion, “What?”

Hess kept the sword on the ground and sighed. She wiped the blood off once more, and along with it, the few tears which had started to flow. By the time Ginzari came to her, she stood up, taking the sword with her.

“It would chip it.” She said, staring at the sword as she left the area. The mercenaries moved aside. If they didn’t she just pushed them aside before quickly leaving the view of the entire band.

Ginzari kept standing where he was, heaving.

“Leave her alone.” He commanded the entire camp, “She’ll be fine.”

He looked around the entire ground, probably surveying the damage, before leaving it and returning to his tent. Kaisel dropped the barrier and followed after him. Sylvia dropped our barrier too, and sighed with relief. She looked at the two of us.

“What sword was that?”

“It’s her brother’s.” I answered.

“Ah,” Typhen exclaimed, “That’s why she didn’t get any blood on it, huh?”

That was probably it. In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to damage or sully the blade in any manner. If she had some random sword, then this fight would have played out very differently. I wanted to go and apologize to her for letting Ginzari know about my directions, but it probably wasn’t a good idea, like he had said. I also did not really feel that sad about it. It was fine if I made her feel miserable for a week or two. I would take that blame. But she wasn’t going to die as long as I could do something about it.

Later in the day, when the mood had calmed down a bit, Ginzari announced everyone’s positions.

I was going to work with Sylvia to clear the bandits present close to the entrance of the cave. Along with us would be three other mercenaries. Sylvia was the group’s leader, obviously, and the rest of us were there to support her in case of extremely close-quarter combat that she couldn’t handle.

I didn’t pay much attention to the other information, but I did catch the information that Kaisel’s group would eventually merge with Ginzari’s, and they would take on Jillesha together. It seemed like a pretty surefire team to win. Once all of those matters were settled, Ginzari asked for us to get ready to move out.

Everyone wore armor, and I got some too. It was heavy, but did not feel that bad right then. I could still move my arm around how I pleased. I took my sword and put it in position before meeting up with Sylvia, who was already waiting with two of the other mercenaries. Spirits were mostly high, with people nervously excited to take the fight to Jillesha and end this whole debacle once and for all.

Hess never got out of her tent, though a few people did confirm that she was still in there. Ginzari went and talked to her for a minute or two, returning with a small smile on his face. Then, he led the band out of the camp.

In a few hours, we would be at the bandit hideout, ready for battle.