Remnants

Fresh Wounds

"Yeah, Jack, what was that?" Brian asked as he shook Evan's hand and gave a nod of greeting.

"I honestly don't know. I mean, you know what happened in the fall. She has been acting fine though. I check in on her and she always tells me that she's okay," Jack said with a sigh of exasperation.

"Well it would appear as though she is not actually okay," Henry said as he joined the group.

"I think I have to agree with that," Evan said with shrug of his shoulders. He looked up at the three Cooper brothers who now stood around him.

"You know, you guys really know how to make a guy feel small," he said with a lopsided smile.

"That we do," Henry said, offering the shorter man a handshake. "I'm Henry, Jack's younger, smarter, and better looking brother," he explained with an immodest grin.

Evan began to reply but not before Jack nudged Henry with his elbow. He only replied with a groan of pain.

"You still sore from that big leap you took?" Brian asked, a smile stretching across his salt and pepper-bearded face.

"Maybe, but you know it looked awesome and it was to save you, anyway," Henry said, holding his back. "I'll be fine, I just need a good night's sleep."

"You're getting old, Henry. Old guys like us can't do stuff like that anymore," Brian said, rubbing his forehead that was already red from the punch he took.

"Wait until you're my age," Evan said. "It's nice to meet you Henry. I've heard a lot about you, and most of it's actually good."

Henry beamed as Jack returned to the original conversation, "Anyway, I thought something might have been off. When I got back to the village to bring everybody over for this, she looked like she had been crying with Aly. And her magic has seemed to be kind of stunted. Like she is holding back from her memory and her feelings."

Evan nodded thoughtfully, "I hate to hear that. We're going to need her back on track. She'll be important for what's coming."

Jack squinted at his fellow master, "You're here for a mission aren't you?"

"Later," Evan said, holding up an open hand. "For now, we need to work out things around here."

The Coopers and Evan turned to look at the now bound prisoners. They all were rested on their knees with their hands behind their backs. Except the one who had clearly injured his hand on Brian's forehead. One of Liza's bodyguards held him at gunpoint while Liza worked to heal the injury. The other three stood a few feet away away from them, holding their shotguns and rifles at the low ready, carefully watching the group of dirty men.

The young man named Jase approached the men who were standing, "Ok, dad, they're all cuffed and after Liza finishes with that guy's hand, they'll all be healed."

Jack raised an eyebrow and looked back and forth between the two men, now fully recognizing the familial resemblance. Jase stood about two inches taller than his father and was by no means a big person but he was significantly bulkier and more muscular than the elder Haldane. He had the same reddish skin tone that looked like it was always sunburned, the same light brown hair, and the same red-brown beard. They differed in a few ways. Jase's face looked wider and every part of him seemed less weathered, almost fresher. Jack also noticed he did not have the piercing green eyes that his father had. The ones that matched Anya's new eyes. Jase's, instead were a hazel color.

"So this is your son then? And from the looks of things, your apprentice too," Jack said, crossing his arms over is chest.

Evan smiled up at the taller man, "That he is. Jase, this is master Journeyman Jack Cooper and his brothers, Brian and Henry."

Jase shook the hands of the three Cooper men, "It's nice to meet you guys. I've heard stories about you, Jack. I'm sorry about Chuck."

Jack solemnly nodded his head, "Thank you, it's nice to meet you too."

"Alright, son, go ahead and see if you can help Anya out. Her face looked pretty banged up. We'll take care of things in here," Evan said, patting Jase's shoulder.

"Check out her wrist, too. I think she hurt it punching that guy. And take her hoodie and rifle. And her boot, I think she lost her boot too," Jack said, scanning across the room and pointing at the lone combat boot that lay on its side on the floor.

"Yes sir, I'll see what I can do," the apprentice Journeyman said, slipping the sling of his shotgun over his shoulder and gathering Anya's fallen items.

As Jase followed his fellow apprentice out into the darkness, the four men were joined by Mateo and Isabella. "So what are we going to do with them?" Isabella asked.

Jack scratched his beard for a moment, pondering the situation. "I have an idea. This isn't my village so it's up to you two and whoever else is in charge. I'm thinking about offering them a job."

"What?" Isabella asked at a near shout. "Unless it's digging latrines or being field hands, I can't see what kind of job they would do around here!"

Jack stepped back slightly and held up his hands, palms facing the innkeeper, "Hear me out for a second. Where was your village watch when all of this was happening?"

"I don't know, none of them answered the door when I came knocking," Isabella said, now more calm.

"Exactly. They weren't doing anything to protect the only business in the village. I think your village should take these guys on as guards. Clearly they know how to fight and aren't afraid to do it. They're armed too so you wouldn't even have to worry about equipping them," Jack said as he proposed what he knew was probably the most outlandish idea that Mateo and Isabella had ever heard.

Their looks of bewildered confusion told him that it was, in fact, the most outlandish idea they had ever heard. Mateo opened his mouth and took a breath as he likely was about to call Jack a fool or at the very least negligent when Isabella tapped him on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Mateo silently considered her words and held up his index finger before turning to his wife. The two had a hurried and hushed conversation before Mateo turned back to face Jack, hands on his hips, head cocked to the side as he looked up at the taller man.

"How would we pay them? And we don't have anywhere to house that many people?" Mateo questioned suspiciously.

"Just keep them fed and help them stay outfitted. That's how you pay them. As for housing them, just give them some open, flat ground inside your fence to set up camp. You don't have to give them much, I believe their leader when he said they were looking for somewhere safe to call home."

Mateo furrowed his brow for a moment and glanced at his wife. She nodded her approval and answered for the both of them, "Fine. We don't have to ask anybody, we'll just tell everybody else. We're both on the village council and we have all been looking for something to fix the village watch. What better to fix them than to replace them entirely. But since it's your idea, you offer them the job."

Brian nodded in approval, "I think Jack is right, this is a good idea. They're all pretty skinny. And the ones that I was close to smelled pretty bad. It's pretty clear they've been struggling. If they hadn't been, I don't think we could have beaten them so easily."

Evan let a snort of laughter slip out, "It didn't look like you guys were beating them. I'd call it a stalemate at best."

Brian shot the smaller man a dirty look and shrugged his broad shoulders, "Semantics."

Jack smirked at his older brother before nodding at the innkeepers, "Alright, let's see what these guys have to say."

Now facing the kneeling, bound men, the Journeyman for the region raised his voice to a level that everybody in the inn could hear. "Well, well, well. What are we going to do with this pitiful bunch?"