We entered the warehouse and looked around. It was relatively empty other than some shelves filled with miscellaneous items. There were no people inside the building and the cobwebs decorating the place suggested there hadn't been any for a long time. It was the perfect place to hide out for a bit while avoiding the guards.

I took a seat on a stool next to one of the shelves that on after cleaning off the dust and webbing. Claris glared at me when I wound the nearby webbing around Adrian's staff. I was injured and it's part of their beliefs to help those injured so my use of the staff was aligned with their thinking. It was just a glorified club so I didn't see why it bothered her so much. Her face was completely red and it seemed like she would explode at any second. And then she did.

Not literally, but that was the best way to describe it. She suddenly lifted up her head and hand then jerked back down with a colossal sneeze, sending dust everywhere. I was a part of that everywhere and it was unpleasant. I closed my eyes and started wiping the dust off my face with my shirt. I heard a gasp while doing so, it was Claris reacting to the stab wound in my gut that was still gushing blood. Chad and Foa were less bothered by it and started searching the shelves, both of them had been behind Claris and avoided her explosion.

I needed to stem the flow of blood before I bled out. Either that or convince the healer in the group to stop gawking and do something. I tried talking to her, but she just kept staring with no reaction. So, I tore a piece of my clothes off and used the non-dusty side to put pressure on the wound. It hurt, but it didn't hit vitals nor was it done by a rusty goblin blade. I leaned back and let my body relax as much as it could in this state.

Soon enough, Chad returned with a bunch of old clothes and blankets. He set them down on the ground then began rifling through them. It was a good idea to have these. It was cold and as we were currently fugitives here; we couldn't start a fire for warmth. An extra layer of clothes or a blanket would go a long way in this environment. Claris finally stopped staring at me to look at the pile of clothes and blankets with longing. Her current outfit was—

"Claris, why are you only wearing a light robe and shoes? This is the middle of winter. No wonder you're sneezing with an outfit like that," I said to her.

Claris picked up a shirt and pulled it over her robes before saying, "When I left to join the group it was summertime. I couldn't afford better clothes as all of my money was used to buy food and places to rest. My funds ran out mid-fall and I had to offer my healing services for cheap just to survive."

That made me feel like shit. I didn't even consider how the others felt as I ran away from them. I could've at least met up with them to let them know I didn't want to get involved before running off on my own. Then again, something like this could've happened, forcing me to stay with the group. Chad could've had it even worse for all I knew.

"Luckily for me, I wear this heavy cloak year-round. Not that temperature really affects me, at least not natural temperature. As for traveling supplies, I easily found food and money by asking the dead," said Chad, shattering my previous conclusion.

Noticing the bow on Chad's back, I said, "Chad. Where did you get the bow on your back? It looks exactly like—"

"—Geld's bow," interrupted Chad.

"How do you know that name?"

"He told me when I channeled his strength. As I said before, I can use the strength of the dead as my own. Unfortunately, I need some sort of vessel to channel and my own strength is weak. The dead rely on me to influence the mortal world and I rely on them to influence anything. Geld was one of your companions that died and you had his bow on your back. I just happened to 'borrow' it as the situation called for it."

I wasn't too happy about this. We had a companion that was good at stealing. I suppose it's not that bad since he came clean about it and tried to use it to help us before. At the same time, if his power is legit, then he got Geld's permission to use the bow. Which was more of an excuse to carry it around than I had.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Claris flinch. She was probably conflicted as his power goes against her views. If he wasn't a member of our group, she'd call him a heretic. Either that or she just held in a sneeze. Not that there was much of a difference between those two actions.

I felt a stab of pain in my gut and asked, "Can someone please heal me? It'd be nice if I had something more effective than a rag and some pressure on a stab wound."

"I'm sorry. I was a bit out of it a second ago. I'll do it," said Claris while walking towards me.

"Wait one second. I want to test something out," said Chad while eyeing Adrian's staff.

I could let the incompetent priestess finally patch me up or see if the person that claims to channel dead peoples' powers can use Adrian's staff to heal me. It seemed like a no-brainer. I chose Chad. If it didn't work, I could always get Claris to heal me. If it did work, then we knew that our group had two potential healers. Besides, I felt like Adrian could've saved my leg that day so here's the chance to test that theory out even after his death. I waved my hand towards Chad and passed the staff over to him.

"Adrian," said Chad as he began treating my wound.

He started by moving the rag out of the way. By this time, the bleeding had been stemmed. He pointed the tip of the staff towards the wound and it began to close up at a visible rate. Chad's power was the real deal; he knew the names of and could use the strength of the dead. Or he was simply talented and whatever the gods did to lead him to this group also told him the names of my previous companions. The latter seemed pointless so I went with the former.

"That's wasteful. You need to sew the wound shut first so the treatment is faster and takes less effort," said Claris while watching over my treatment.

"I don't have a sewing kit or anything else like that. Besides, I'm just doing this as a test to see if it works. I don't need to do the best or most efficient job, but simply do the job at my leisure," responded Chad.

Suddenly, the sounds of loud and rapid footsteps passed by the warehouse. We all went silent and stared at the entrance. Chad stopped healing me and grabbed Geld's bow, nocking an arrow and preparing for a fight. Claris backed away towards the shelves, looking around. If we went to battle now, I wouldn't be surprised if she ran and tried to find a back exit without us. It was understandable; we could fight one or two guards, but any more and we'd be in trouble.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Thankfully, no one entered the warehouse. The sound of footsteps faded away in the distance. Claris sat down and let out a deep breathe. Chad kept the arrow nocked and aimed towards the door, not believing that we were in the clear. While I just sat there, doing nothing the entire time. We got lucky this time but as time passes the guards will start to search more thoroughly. We couldn't stay here; it was just a temporary respite.

What came next was how to deal with this situation. How to defeat this so-called tyrant. If he was a tyrant, then there must have been people opposing him that we should find and team up with. After that, whether we team up or not, we need to find out his weaknesses and exploit them. A head-on fight, while the most honorable choice, is equally suicidal with the guards defending the town and him. Maybe I could challenge him to a duel and fight him one on one. Nobles seemed to like duels like that and I was confident in a one on one fight.

At the same time, if he was willing to do such a duel, wouldn't that make him an honorable lord rather than a tyrant. The only thing telling us that he was a tyrant was the so-called message from the gods. Then again, people trying to kill us as soon as the topic was brought up brings doubt upon that theory. It was better to assume he was a tyrant until proven otherwise. If it turned out he wasn't, then we became the bad guys in the equation.

Why did I even bother? Why couldn't I just find a way to escape town and run off on my own? It wasn't like my presence here changed much. The group had a high chance of dying off on this mission. With my leg, I was actually slowing them down. It was probably best if I went away. Leave them to their fates while I reclaimed my old fate. If they survived I'd congratulate them; if not, it wasn't my problem.

Even if it wasn't my problem, I'd never live it down. The guilt from the deaths in the last group would multiply and fester in my dreams. Maybe a new group would form and haunt my nights, slowing getting closer just to have another suicide mission. Then, I would leave them again and gain another weight on my mind. All that lied ahead was pain and misery.

"Claris, come over here and finish healing me. Chad, open the door and check if the coast is clear. We have a mission to accomplish," I said.

As per my orders, Claris came over and finished healing my wound while Chad cracked the door and peeked out. He looked back and lifted one finger. I waited until my wound closed up and stopped hurting before picking up Adrian's staff and my axe and walking to the door. Claris and Foa followed close behind.

"Should I try to take him out with Geld's bow or should we all rush him?" asked Chad with a low voice. It seemed like the guard was close to the door so being loud wasn't a good idea.

"Let me take a peek first so I can take stock of the situation," I said while cracking the door open, only to see the guard right in front of the door.

"Open the door right now. I hear you whispering you squatters," said the guard.

He heard us. Squatters? He mistook our identities and that means we could take him by surprise. I tightened my grip on my axe then glanced at my companions to see them somewhat battle ready and swung the door open. The guard was surprised and jumped back a bit. That saved his life as my axe followed behind the door and knicked the tip of his nose. Instead of feeling down about it, I moved aside to give my companions a chance to make their move.

Chad took this opening to fire off an arrow that flew true. It pierced the guard in his heart and knocked him off his feet. He fell to the ground and began clawing at his clothes and the arrow desperately. All the while, his mouth was open and his face was twisted with a silent scream. And then, he stopped to take a rest, eternally. A clean yet dirty kill.

Claris fell to her knees and began praying. I walked over and kicked him slightly to make sure he was dead, a nasty smell and lack of response confirmed it. This mission was worse than the previous as we had to deal with human opponents. Ones that were more or less innocent and just following orders. In that way, we were the same.

"Wirn. Another spirit to curse my every breathe," said Chad while picking up the guard's sword. Saying the name of the person we just killed wasn't helping the situation much.

Claris stopped praying and dragged a blanket from the pile over. She placed it over his body and gave him his last rites. It was a nice gesture, but nice gestures wouldn't make up for murder. We had to move on, bloody snow and a dead body was more incriminating than treasonous words could ever be.

"Follow me. Wirn is willing to help us if we take care of his last wish and doesn't blame us for his death," said Chad conveniently.

Trusting the spirit of the guy we just killed. It didn't sound right nor did it make sense. However, I didn't have any better plans and Chad was running ahead. If we run into an ambush willingly, then he would take full responsibility and I wouldn't save him. Or so I'd like to say, but I would try to save him anyways. I followed and so did Claris and Foa.

A house. Chad—no, Wirn brought us to a nondescript house. It was surrounded by other houses that were almost the same in appearance. Chad walked up the steps and knocked on the front door. I decided not to get involved and stood off to the side with the others. A woman answered the door and soon enough she was crying. It seemed like Wirn kept his word even though he had every justification to against it.

This meeting went on for a little bit before ending with a bang. Chad came back downstairs with a handprint on the left side of his face. He said a little too much and was too honest. However, he smiled and didn't seem to mind it too much. In his hands was Wirn's sword; it seemed like his family didn't take it or he forgot to pass it over. This could be for the best since Chad could use it to channel Wirn's strength.

"Good news and bad news," said Chad.

Claris stepped forward and used healing magic to make the handprint fade away while saying, "Was the bad news that you got slapped?"

"No. The good news is that there's a resistance and I know where they're meeting tonight. The bad news is that it's not very big and the lord of the town knows where they're meeting tonight as well. So, by going to this meeting we'll also be walking right into an ambush."

Honestly, that wouldn't be much more of a risk than the one we just took. This so-called resistance was our only allies and biggest hope. We had to find a way to warn them of this ambush and then join forces. Either that, or come at the time of the ambush and rescue them. The issue was timing. What was the best timing for all of this?

"We should find a spot nearby this meeting and wait. The resistance would be a great help but not something worth losing our lives over. We'll bide our time and take action only if it's to our advantage. Who knows if the tyrant will even attack them this meeting. Warning them of an ambush that doesn't happen will make them suspicious of us," I said, possibly sealing our fates or saving them.

"Well, they will know about us since Wirn's family plans to attend the meeting. They won't be too pleased about us killing off one of their members, even if it was by accident," said Chad.

"No worries. All we have to do is tell them about our mission from the gods and Chad's power and their suspicion will be blown away. We have a common enemy so they should be understanding," said Claris naively.

"Unfortunately, that would just make us look even more suspicious. Let's just find a place near the meeting to hunker down at and then wait and see. Agreed," I said.

"Works for me," replied Chad.

"I don't agree with it making us more suspicious, but I like the idea of checking things out first. Maybe I'll get some info from the gods in the meantime to help us out," replied Claris.

I had a feeling that whatever info she got would do just the opposite. I did nothing but let out a tired sigh and followed Chad as he guided us towards the meeting spot. This mission was going better than the last as we were all okay and there were no traitors, but I had a bad feeling.