[center][h3][color=6B8E23]Malboro, Hero turned Highwayman[/color][/h3][/center]

When Dylan and Syrena entered the top of the guard tower, they found the bandit leader waiting.  The man looked suddenly older than he had when he'd been at the bottom; he bore the sagging visage of a man who knew he was about to die.  However, his black eyes glittered fiercely, and they held no trace of mercy in them.  When cornered, a beast would fight to its final breath.

He upturned his sword and jammed it into the wooden floor before removing his axe, evidently knowing enough about weapons to prefer a hatchet against a lance-user.  This iron weapon he leveled at the pair, and spoke in a strange, toneless voice, “I knew death would come for me sooner or later.  But if you think I'm going to let you take me easy, you're wrong—dead wrong.  I'll show you how a former Hero fights.”

Snarling, he rushed at Syrena, swinging his axe in from the side.  With a weapon advantage over Dylan, it seemed, he wanted to eliminate the potential problem first.

[center][h3][color=DC143C]Sanguin, Westroad Village[/color][/h3][/center]

After an exchange of blows, the masked woman had the advantage.  Her adversary, obviously intimidated not only by her opponent but by the whole situation itself, was unable to properly leverage the advantage given to her by her weapon.  As she stumbled back after delivering a glancing blow, Sanguin charged forward.  A surge of adrenaline pumped through her veins, and she yelled, [color=DC143C]“You're out of time!”[/color]  The myrmidon leaped into the air and with her scimitar cleaved through her opponent's shoulder, finishing her in one shot.

She hadn't time to celebrate her victory, however.  Sanguin felt a hard jab in her hip, and a moment later after she'd recoiled, the familiar trickle of blood across her skin.  She whirled to face the soldier who'd attacked her and backed up out of the reach of his spear, nearly backing into Thunderclap as she did.  A glance at the cavalier astride her convinced her that his help for the moment would be appreciated given her diminished vitality.  “Yakob!  Help me a second?”