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Chapter One

Priam and Lina looked out at the field, where ten freshly mutilated Risen lay in a heap, courtesy of the two mercenaries.

"Now that that's done," Lina said, putting away her Arcwind tome and brushed off dust from her simple navy blue dress, "let's go back to that village and grab the money. I'm done fighting for the day."

"Yeah. Ready to kick back and get something spicy," Priam agreed, shouldering Ragnell, his big, golden sword.

Lina scoffed and rolled her eyes, already turning to the village. "You and your spicy food. Actually, you and your meat in general."

"What? It's good. Really good. Actually, you should--"

"Shut up and let's go. You and I are hungry, exhausted, and freaking hungry."

***

Priam threw up his hands in exasperation. "We get rid of ten Risen for you lot, and we only get four hundred gold? Unbelievable!"

The guild office clerk raised an eyebrow, annoyance clearly evident on his face. "It's generous enough. We'll give you more tomorrow, if you get rid of all the Risen."

Lina sighed. "Why you guys still have Risen, I have no idea. I mean, isn't Validar already gone for good? He died, like, two months ago. They should be gone by now."

"And getting rid of all the Risen here is impossible!" Priam set down Ragnell with a thunk on the wood floor.

"Hey, watch what you're doing with that sword."

"Yeah, whatever..." Priam continued, "There are hundreds of Risen out there, and it'll take weeks, if not months, to clear them out!"

The clerk grit his teeth. "You know, we can replace you two exterminators very easily. We've got lots of eager mercenaries lined up to get rid of the Risen you complain about. And don't forget that your payment also includes free nights at the inn."

"Which is freaking useless since everyone hates Priam," Lina muttered.

"Hey!" Priam stared down Lina. "People like me! Even though sometimes we have to camp out a bit."

"So?" The clerk pressed. "Take the money, and either leave or stay the night."

Priam took the pitiful sack, grabbed Ragnell, and strode out the door with Lina.

Once the door was slammed shut, the clerk let out a huge sigh of annoyance.

"Mercenaries. Filthy, disgusting lot..." He muttered, then grabbed a pile of paper requests to tack on the cork board. "... I have to admit, though, those two really get the job done..."

***

Lina sipped her mug of ale quietly. Three empty plates sat in front of the seat in front of her. She looked up to see Priam arguing with another man, the topic undoubtedly about Priam's ancestor Ike. It always happens: if it wasn't a good day, someone would go and try to challenge the Hero, and Priam, being an idiot from all the alcohol (He gets drunk very easily. Lina learned that the hard way.), goes and accepts it. Sometimes he's so intoxicated he even brings Ragnell with him.

And Naga forbid, were those bad days.

The sun had set about half an hour ago, and it was now time for everyone to either go home or go to the bar. The bar was part of the inn, so Lina and Priam always stopped there for dinner. This was, truly, the most peaceful part of the day.

Lina glanced up again to see someone sneaking up to Priam with an empty beer bottle.

"Priam, behind you!" Lina yelled, standing up so fast the chair she was sitting in tipped over.

Priam turned around only to get the bottle smashed on his forehead. Brown glass shards spilled down his face, along with blood.

"What do you think of that!" The man who broke the bottle sneered. "You don't even deserve to be like your grandpappy!"

"I don't have grand puppies..!" Priam growled, his speech slightly slurred. He tried lunging for the guy, but instead fell on his face. The men around him laughed.

Lina set down her mug. "Naga help us..." She muttered as she grabbed Priam by the shoulder and tried lifting it up, ignoring the ale-induced headache. "Get up, moron. Enough drinking for you."

Priam shakily got to his feet, and grabbed Ragnell on the second try. He leaned on Lina, who almost fell from the sudden weight. They both slowly approached the stairs, and before Lina could shrug Priam to the stairs, a man approached the two.

"Hey... Let's hang out some more, Leen..." The man said, resting on the stair wall.

Lina glared back. "Go back to your wife, if you even have one." She then pushed him away with a free hand and helped Priam up the stairs.

***

Gonna tell you right now, I'm not that good with Author's Notes. But, hey, let's do them for this story.

Anyway, thanks for reading! Don't forget to vote, comment, and fangirl. Or fanboy. Whatever. I'm out!

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