“Farfall,” Harlea pondered out loud and moved around the corner to find Fiona waiting for them. She held out her hand and he slapped it for a high five, “I am not sure if I have ever been there.”

Fiona chuckled, “We have definitely been to Farfall before. We had that contract up in a section of tunnels in Nohlan a couple years ago with the grix.” 

The memory of the dank halls of the ruins of Shi’Pilin came back to Harlea in a flash. “Three days in those ruins, waiting out the grix nest after blocking it off.”

“That’s the one, and nearly dying when we tried to heat up their nest with the campfire,” Fiona added, “I still don’t think Ollie ever came to terms with the fact that his plan didn’t work.”

Ollie. One of their former companions. Harlea felt his stomach drop at the thought, “That kid.” 

Fiona grabbed him by the shoulder, “Yeah.”

Ollie was one of the Red Damnables. Harlea had liked the kid. He was the sort that would run headlong into danger without a second thought. Then, probably trip. He was as gumby as they came and had almost no sense of self-preservation. 

He’d died in the northern plains, far from home and barely twenty years old. The night before he’d died, he'd been bragging at camp about his bright future of fame and fortune. Then, they lost him in a raid in the morning to an errant arrow in an ambush. And his dreams were added to the steaming pile of shit that was the Northern War.

Harlea walked up to a stone and booted it a good distance down the road. It bounced several times before disappearing into the foliage that hemmed the edge of the road. He didn’t look for it when he stomped further down the road. Fiona dropped in line next to them and they worked their way around the hill in silence. 

The road continued and Harlea rolled his sleeves up once more and adjusted his bag. The foothills were impossible for Harlea to pick for clothing in the rainy season. It would be windy one day, humid the next, and then blazing hot. And then the sky was always either threatening to rain, spitting, or absolutely pouring with rain.

The only way forward was through the mountain passes that connected the foothills to the Valleys of Sorrows. And then a few more hills to skirt in the morning to get across to get to Garrond’s Cross in the morning. By Harlea’s rough guestimation, they would be another day of hiking if they kept the same speed going which would be an if at best. If they got in by Saturday, they’d only be two days later than what he’d planned. But there was little they could do about it now.

Harlea had tried not to mention it but the others could sense his distress. Likely Areli or Fiona felt the same about their predicament, it was a common rule in contracts that it didn’t bode well to be tardy. 

Harlea started to move faster again and Fiona matched his pace easily. It was a silver contract at Garrond’s Cross to clear out a pack of gnolls from one of their silver mines. 

It was the first time Harlea had seen gnolls before but he’d heard plenty about them. They were meant to be horrid little beasties with enough intelligence to use weapons and a vicious nature that made them a menace to deal with.

Harlea adjusted the bag on his shoulder and cracked his neck. It was going to be a doozy of a contract was his bet. He pushed down the slope of the hill with an occasional glance across to Fiona and then back to Elayne and Areli.  

As much as the hiking could be arduous, it didn’t change the fact that the southern ranges were something beautiful to behold. They were walking along the trails cut into the mountain, now just above the top canopy of the dense southern forests that forced their way up into the Central Mountains valleys. Over the way, Harlea could see several of the trails that had been carved into the mountains around him. The paths were no doubt made by one of the higher species, both the faetyr and the Mahenians of the Central Mountains preferred to travel along the sides of the mountains than go anywhere near the jungles or forests of the hills and lowlands.

The hills they were in were just another dangerous area in Weidenland. With the rugged landscape and the rich subterranean tunnels of the Central Mountains, the hills held a lot of secrets off the beaten path and just as many creatures who would happily snatch a traveller up. Despite the risks, the Central hills were one of Os' favourite areas to travel. She’d loved the fact that it was a veritable gold mine for adventuring and contract work. She’d had the Red Damnables head up to the Nohlan lands every six months or so to clear out the North Rest Boards of the higher contracts that the Nohlan adventuring crews couldn’t deliver on.

Harlea had considered moving them to North Rest when they returned from the war. Being in North Rest, they might have been able to even ingratiate themselves with some of the Mahenian nobility that frequented the hills to see if they couldn’t get a golden pass into the  rich subterranean cities.

But both North Rest and Mahenia were a long way from home and home was something everyone in the crew needed after so long away. So Harlea had set up in the Silver Spoon and ignored the ghosts that haunted him in the tavern’s rafters.

“There it is! Town up ahead.” Fiona called out a good distance ahead of him again. 

“Good news.” Harlea called to her and jogged to where stood. She stood at an edge of a small cliff face and pointed down to the bottom. 

Below them was a small town at the base of a large waterfall. There was only a collection of fifty or so buildings and it was dwarfed by the river that cut the town into two. Fields of green spread out further along the river and advanced all the up to the forest line. The town was bustling with energy with groups of people hurrying to and fro from several makeshift structures at the edge of town. 

Harlea liked what he saw. There were enough buildings for there to be definitely a tavern and probably a physician. His stomach grumbled at the thought of a good hot meal and he started off towards down the hill again. If he used momentum to drive him down the hill, he’d hopefully arrive only slightly after Fiona. 

Fiona took off past him, walking at a speed that matched a good jogging pace more than a walk. She was deceptively strong. Harlea had known her for nearly a decade and her strength still caught him off-guard at times. It was the flowing robes and gentle facial features that misrepresented how hardy she was. She looked like the sort of mage you would find in a quaint herborium where she’d give advice on how to keep your garden alive more than a hardened battlemage. But battle-hardened she was. 

She was solid with a sword and could hit her shots with a hand crossbow, though she rarely brought her crossbow on contracts. When he had pressed her about it, she told him that if she was hoping to strike from afar, she’d be reaching for her bijous long before she went for her crossbow and bolts. 

 The town came in and out of view between the shallow treeline on the last part of the slope. The town was surrounded by predominantly cornfields with their heads already starting to grow up from their bright green stalks. 

Fiona waited for him at the bridge into town with a bandage ready in her hand. Harlea unwound his bandage on his way towards her and winced at the sight of the messy bloody wounds. 

He’d never liked having his wounds staying unmended long term like this. Being able to pay the physicians to clean and bind the wounds to help with healing was a no brainer for him with them being able to fix a lot fo the issues that came from cuts, scrapes, and even breaks if they were a good enough physician.

Back in the day, Walch and Eryn had both been able to bind wounds when they’d been part of the crew and Harlea had taken it for granted, for sure. He could ask them to mend him up as soon as he got hurt and then he was back to his nonsense. He shoved the dirty bandage into the side pocket of his backpack and held out his arm for Fiona without a word. 

She moved in and got to work immediately. She wrapped the bandage around his arm and tutted quietly while she worked, “It is dirty and looks like shit, Harlea. Physician time.”

Harlea waited for her to finish and tensed his arm a few times to make sure he still had feeling in his arm. He stepped up onto the bridge and tried to ignore the niggling feeling that Fiona wrapped the bandage too tightly.

There were many houses on the far side of the village, most of the town was set with its back against one side of the waterfall. Most of the buildings were mud brick but looked well made with solid thick thatching on the roofs. So not a rich town but not poor by any means was Harlea’s guess. Several old folk sat along the river’s edge, fishing poles in hand and openly stared at them entering town.

Harlea waved but got nothing in response. “Not mighty friendly in the highlands,” Harlea commented as Fiona caught up to him.

“Probably suspicious of the weapons. Or just standard old-people suspicious.” Fiona muttered while she fiddled with the side pockets of her bag. She produced her coin purse and gave it a shake, “Good. The tavern looks like it is the one with all the frilly stuff around its windows. First round is on me.”

“Love that plan,” Harlea agreed and turned back to the others, “First round is on Fiona, lads.”

“And next one on you!” Elayne returned to him as she bounded down the hill. 

Harlea scrunched his face up, “Fine but you pay for your own food. I’m no charity.”

“Boo.” Areli walked up to them and objected monotonously.

“If you want free food, I have plenty of rations in my bag for y’all.” Harlea cut in before the other two could join. 

“How much money do we even have in the Red funds?” Fiona asked casually.

“About one hundred silver, give or take,” Harlea replied before making off towards the tavern. 

He could hear Elayne whistle behind him and felt the three of them hurry to catch up to him. Elayne came up onto his side and grabbed him around the shoulder, “A hundred silver. Tell you what, that is a lot of lunches, right there.”

“Generations of crews. Red Damnables is a generational crew and I got to say, I’ve never heard of any of the captains in any of the generations giving out free lunches.” Harlea could hear himself beginning to rant like an old man but leant into it, “You wouldn’t catch a single coin coming out of the coffers without Osexi’s scrutiny, back in her day. And now it is old Harlea’s turn at the helm, we all want lunch at the expense of our tried traditions.”

“Oh just shut up and come on then.” Fiona wandered forward and pitched away from the tavern to list towards a nearby bench.

“I don’t care if it is just me that gets the free lunch,” Areli suggested while he wandered through the busy village centre. 

Harlea half-grumbled back and waved Areli on. Harlea looked up and found the spot from which they had spotted the town. He stood amongst the bustling fervour that had taken hold of the town. Many of the village folk were carrying assortments of large timber planks, colourful decorations, or a variety of furniture towards the clearing that had been created by the side of one of the closer cornfields. Inside the cornfield were several large straw edifices that had been built up around large sturdy wooden scaffolds. 

Harlea drifted lazily through the town. The houses had floral decorations for the High Good Gods just like the tavern and across several buildings, there were around a dozen motifs of important historical moments of the northern lands of Coia through the ages. Harlea ignored the prying eyes while he appreciated the lovely display they’d put up. 

He sidled over to Elayne at the fenceline near the straw statues with a look over to the nearby houses and those who watched them from their windows. 

“Such a grumpy old man,” Elayne commented when Harlea came in close. 

Harlea leant on the fencepost next to her and watched the villagers fussing over the construction of the statues, “Who’s grumpy?”

“Areli. He has quite a lot of opinions.” Elayne sidled up next to him and took off her bag and placed it on the ground, “He’s been sharing a few of them with me.”

“He’s all bark, no bite.” Harlea commented absentmindedly. Two men heaved up a large plank of timber to rest on the front of one of the straw statues. They balanced it to lean nicely onto the hand of the statue before they stepped back to admire their work. Harlea sucked air in through his teeth and cocked his head, “What do you think all this is then?”

Elayne let out an oh and tapped her hands on the wooden fence in rapid succession, “It’s the Autumn Fire Festival. We have this in the west too, don’t you have it in the Valleys?”

“Already? I mean, it rings a bell but I am a townie.” Harlea waved away the look she gave him. “I’ve been to festivals but country festivals are always kind of bonfires and ale and food.”

It had also been a few years since he’d been in the heartlands, Harlea supposed. He dropped his bag next to her and it hit the ground hard. He rubbed his shoulder and stretched his neck out, “I remember a while ago actually. We were up on the Haran Hill, Fiona and me, and we could see these little fires dotted out over the plains. It was very pretty.”

The memory resonated deep within him. It was a beautiful memory from a simpler time. He ran his fingers through his beard and prompted her with a question, “And so they burn these statues?”

“To reincarnate the Good Gods once more. Filienne, Daelos, and Telli.” Elayne pointed to each of the three statues as she named them, “They believe that they will return to the world in its time of greatest need to dole out their judgement.” 

Harlea cocked his head to his side, “in a relaxed, easygoing slap-on-the-wrist kind of way?”

Elayne guffawed, “In a every fire of every hell kind of way. How do you not know this?”

Harlea wrapped his hand around the top rail of the fence and leant far back, “Urgh, I don’t know. I kind of remember being told these things but I’m not religious and it feels kind of…” He stopped himself from saying irrelevant, “I understand why you would want to believe in Souls and Gods.” 

“Yeah. Honestly, it’s more of just a reflex for me these days,” Elayne responded absently, “I could recite a lot of the Great Tomes off the top of my head back in the day. I would sit in church all Sunday and read the stories of the Good God’s Ascension Tales.”

The idea of Elayne sitting in church, reading the old tales was a humourous image to Harlea, “A church girl? I can’t picture it. In a Sunday dress with ma and pa?”

Elayne looked out into the distance and then she pointed to the statues, “So they’ll burn them, one a day, with Telli, then Filienne, and then Daelos and each of them have a limestone statue in its centre. And they offer the ashes and the statue to Olliete, the god of agriculture. In the hopes of bringing the rains.”

“They give the Good God’s ashes to Oliette?” Harlea repeated, shocked.

“Yeah, you’re in the country now. I’m sure it is the same down here as in the west. The old gods are still worshipped quietly and traditions don’t die out easy in the backwaters.” Elayne clapped a layer of dirt and grime off her hands and took a step back from the fence, “This festival wasn’t really about the Good Gods in the Great Tomes times. Probably more about droughts or uncertain weather or something.”

“Makes sense.” Harlea nodded along. The Good Gods were eastern gods that the Kingdom of Weid had imposed on all House Provinces when they formed the new land of Weidenland. He couldn’t care less personally, so long as he was able to toast something alcoholic, “And they do three nights of partying?”

“With the last day being the biggest.” Elayne added, “But they’ll have music and food and dancing tonight to honour Telli and through the weekend.”

Harlea’s stomach gurgled at the mention of food, “It doesn’t sound so bad. Can’t stay though.”

Elayne took a step back towards the others and shrugged, “Pity. A good night in a soft bed with a full belly. We’d all be able to cover some serious distance the next day, I’d bet.”

Harlea let out a hearty laugh, “You’re subtle like a sledgehammer, you are.” Harlea replied tartly. The idea bounced around in his head and he crinkled his nose in frustration. 

She wasn’t wrong. They’d lose only a few hours of walking for the day after they had lunch and had a few drinks. Then, they’d need to set up the tents and dinner. So if they just got a good night of rest and woke up with packed bags early the next morning, they might even make up some time. Or probably not but Harlea kind of loved the idea anyway.  

Harlea pushed off the fence and left Elayne to make his way to a waiting Fiona and Areli who stood by the tavern door. When Elayne caught up with him, Harlea quietly replied to her, “We’ll read the room and see what opportunities arise.”

“Come on, you two. We were going to leave you to screw around out here.” Fiona called out when they started crossing the street.

“Ah, but you didn’t.” Harlea countered, “You sat out here, dick in hand, instead.”

Fiona gave him the evil eye and entered the tavern first.

Harlea jogged over to the door and caught the door before it closed. He held it open for Areli and then Elayne to go through before he went inside. 

The music greeted him in the doorwell. It was the rowdy and lively sort of atmosphere that Harlea liked and the music mixed in with the general hubbub of the busy tavern. There were thirty odd patrons in the tavern with most of them being villagers and all but Areli in town being human. 

Harlea stepped inside and closed the door. The dining room was nothing special but it didn’t need to be for the food to be wholesome and the ale to be sweet. The people all had a sour look on their faces but he didn’t really give two shits about any one of them anyway.

“Oh wow, it’s busy.” Elayne commented next to him, “What town was this again?”

“Oft, I couldn’t tell you. And I am not asking Areli again.” Harlea stepped up to the front and grabbed Areli by the shoulder, “Let’s get ourselves something to eat, shall we?”

“Hello. Four of you?” A healthy looking maid stepped up to them holding them in a stern glare and wiping her hands with a cloth. She had a nice looking haircut with half of her hair buzzed and the other half down to her shoulders. She looked like she was more cosmopolitan than Harlea would have guessed, with nice looking clothes under her apron and several colourful rings on her hands. She stared at him and had an air of disdain as she stood blocking their way in.

“Uh, yes. The four of us. We were looking for a table and some food.” Harlea held up four of his fingers to help and hovered impatiently. 

The maid pursed her lips thoughtfully, “The table by the window. I will get you four stews. And you will have four ales?”

Harlea shuffled further into the tavern and peaked around the maid to the table she pointed to. It was generous to call it by a window. The table sat in the back corner of the room with only the very edge peaking out from the back of the booths that sat along the long windows. The table was just big enough to sit three chairs. Harlea sucked in a breath and checked to see if the others cared before he responded, “Sounds great.”

“A silver each then.” The maid held out her hand and watched him impertently.

Harlea sighed and reached into his coin purse to produce four silver. He dropped them into her hand and led the way to the table, “Very well then.”

The booths were packed considering the time of the day. Only just after lunch and there were several groups of people well on their way to being drunk. 

Harlea tried to get any of their attention but they purposely paid him little mind. At the final empty table before their table, Harlea picked up a spare chair. 

He let the others past and dragged the seat around to the back of the table. He posted up next to Areli who had chosen the corner seat and sat down heavily. 

He leant back in the chair and gave a half-hearted smile to Elayne, “Not sure if we will get that bed, Elayne.”

Elayne wrinkled her nose, “Maybe they’ll warm up though? A bit of coin can open up doors sometimes.”

“Doubtful.” Areli muttered, his mood returning to dark and ominous now he was back in civilisation.

Areli wore a long cloak most of the time that hid all sorts of blades and weaponry. It was rare that he wouldn’t carry some form of weaponry around with him and Harlea was sure he had something on him in a tavern like this. 

He was rarely relaxed and certainly never carefree but it was what made him iconic in Harlea’s mind. He was their eyes and ears when they were on contract, sharp as a tack, and always consistent. Harlea hadn’t expected Areli to stay when everyone had started leaving the Red Damnables but he had surprised him. When Harlea had broached the topic with him one night, Areli had told him that he was an idiot for thinking he’d leave them in the lurch. 

“We can always head on out towards Garrond Cross.” Harlea raised preemptively, “If we hustle and get there earlier, we can rest up for a night before we get started potentially.”

A general hum worked its way around each of his crew at the table. A man brought drinks to them and gave Harlea a stern look before he wandered off back to the bar. Around them, the room was still bustling with patrons, chatter, and a general sense of levity but Harlea couldn’t shake the feeling they were being watched closely.

Fiona raised her cup to the middle of the table, “To another contract. Our fourth one this month.”

Harlea joined her to take a swig of ale from his own drink, “Yesterday was more of a side quest, I’d say. But three contracts is still pretty good.”

He got the reaction he was looking for. All three of them scoffed at him and complained in unison. 

Harlea kept drinking to take a longer draught of his ale and let the others run out of steam. He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve and continued, “Eh, differing opinions then. But it was some good coin and Garrond’s Cross will be another bag. Makes it easier to breathe when we’re home.”

“As soon as I get back, I am getting myself some new armour. Finally.” Elayne shared eagerly, “Mine is starting to smell.”

Harlea gave a hearty hum in agreement, he should buy new boots for the same reason but there was no way he wasn’t going to put his down payment on his new axes with Nicolas if he had the coin. That was if he could resupply his gear and get a good deal for his mending.

Fiona gave Elayne a curious look, “If it stinks, give it a wash out in the river, no?”

Elayne scratched her head and shook her hand out in front of her, “Kind of. But it is old and worn and a bit shit now. I think it is time for a new one. And I got the coin now; I saved up quicker than I thought.”

“We’ve been busier than usual.” Areli noted again while he glared at the room around them.

“Busier definitely. But it’ll slow down at some point.” Harlea followed Areli’s eyes. It wasn’t unusual for people to watch them in taverns but Harlea was used to more hospitality. The Red Damnables got a bit more love in the Valleys, he supposed.

Such a difference a neighbouring province could make. The name Red Damnables didn’t go far in the highlands. Harlea and his crew were like all the rest of the adventuring groups in Nohlan hills. 

Harlea took another sip and resigned himself to the fact that it was only going to be a brief visit in town. And no physician yet again. Only one person looked even happy to see them, with the maid giving him a wave as she headed out the front door. Harlea waved back and appreciated the friendly face.

“When we’ve got time, I would love to head into the Valleys for some dungeon diving. Maybe go and visit the Ancients.” Harlea proposed to the group. 

Elayne took the bait and leant onto the table, “Could we head to Light’s Cross?”

Fiona sucked in a breath, “Mmm, ghosts, I don’t know.”

“Could be a bit of fun though,” Harlea played with the idea in his head for a moment, “And it won’t be so cold on the coast by then.”

“Could do some of the Central Mountain ruins as well. Come back to enjoy the northerners’ famous hospitality.” Fiona pointed to the bar with her cup to the barman bringing over two of their meals. 

Harlea rotated in his chair and held out his hands. The bowls were deep and steam rose up from the deep brown liquid broth. Harlea's mouth started salivating at the sight and to his disappointment, the man walked to the other side of the table to place the stew in front of Elayne and Fiona. He gave Harlea a look and grumbled, “That’ll be four silver.” 

Harlea was taken aback and gave a look across at Fiona. She furrowed her eyebrows and then so did Harlea, “It is four silver. Or it was four silver.”

The man stood back up and kept hold of one of his stews above them, “It’ll be four silver at the front. And you’ll see no more bowls until you pay if you’re gonna be difficult.”

Harlea stared at the man blankly. He watched the stew hovering just out of his reach and frowned at the injustice of it all. Harlea responded sullenly, “We already paid your maid before. She was just up the front…” 

The man looked back at him, clearly unimpressed. He kept the stew far away from Harlea and said nothing. 

Harlea frowned as he remembered her giving him a final wave goodbye as she fled, “She told you our orders though.”

“I don’t have time to deal with you people.” The man snatched the bowl from Elayne and stepped away from the table, “Get out.”

“What?” Elayne reacted and tried to grab her bowl back, “You can’t be serious!”

“Elayne, wait.” Harlea began as he watched several large men stand up from a nearby booth. He turned to the barkeep and tried to force a friendly smile, “See, we already paid, man.”

“Get. Out.” The man pointed to the door fuming, “You outsiders come in here and act like proper shits. Get the fuck out of town if you know what’s good for you.”

The threat incited a flickering heat that stirred in Harlea’s chest. He felt it burn and ignite inside of himself, tempting him to take the bait. The men came up to stand by the barkeep, looking as intimidating as villagers could be.

Harlea ignored his fingers itching for his axe and responded through gritted teeth, “I was just saying we did pay. The woman told us to sit and she’d get us food and drink.”

The barkeep laughed bitterly, “You must think we are some easy Gods’-be-damned mark if you’re pulling this bullshit. Just take the fucking drink as a mercy and get out of my sight. You disgusting scalefuckers.”

Harlea slammed his hand on the table. He grabbed the hilt of his axe and took a step towards the barkeep but stopped when he saw the fear in the whites of the small man’s eyes. 

Areli grabbed his arm and spoke quietly next to him, “Leave it Harlea. Come on.”

Harlea choked down his rage and focussed on his breathing like Fiona taught him. He stood up and tapped his axe back down into its holster. The men stayed in front of them and Harlea met the barman face to face, “Well then, are you going to get the fuck out of my face then?” 

The barman grunted and stepped to the side. Harlea raised his hand to signal the others. Elayne pushed past him, then Fiona, and then Areli and they made off towards the door. Harlea waited until Areli was well past before he barged through the barman and the group of men. He grabbed the chair he’d taken from the table and dragged it along the ground as he moved in the small gap between all of the men. The barman hovered in the centre and Harlea shouldered through to get past him with the chair and felt the stew bowls flip up and tip onto the barman’s shirt. He sneered as he heard the man mutter darkly next to him before Harlea left the chair in the middle of the walkway behind him for good measure. 

No one moved after him and he walked out of the door to join the others. He shut the door firmly behind himself and took the lead again. No one said a word until they moved out to the fenceline again.

“To the bottom hell with this town.” Harlea muttered angrily while they walked, “Nohlanfolk, bunch of assholes.”

“Did you hear them? Scalefuckers? I thought you were going to put him in the grave then and there, Har.” Elayne came up next to him and spoke with hushed excitement.

Harlea let out a barking laugh, “His grave and then ours. It was the right call, Areli.” 

Areli walked quietly next to him and let out an affirming grumble. He spat on the ground, “Fucking inbreds.”

They walked back to the bridge in silence. Harlea could feel his heart beating in his ears, the anger still running like fire through his veins. Every fibre of his being wanted to go back and kick down the door and make a scene. If he did, there was a very high chance he’d get their heads kicked in but knowing that didn’t particularly dull his bloodlust.

“We’ll head out and see if we can’t find something to catch on the road. We could settle in early and go for a fish.” Fiona suggested next to him.

“I want the stew, Fiona. It’s bullshit.” Harlea grumbled back, lip snarling at the idea of the little barman standing there, bowl in hand.

“It looked pretty great.” Elayne hip and shouldered him, “When we get back, stew is on me, all the stew a silver coin can buy.”

Harlea put his arm around her shoulder and walked them both to the obelisk that signified the edge of town. Harlea gave one final look back as good riddance. 

His one final look back came with a shock. Leaving the tavern was the same group of five men who had joined the barman in the tavern and they were now storming in his direction. 

Harlea gently rolled Elayne’s arm off of him and turned to face them. They were stout looking lads with swords at their hips but they were dead wrong thinking they could come out of the tavern to catch them outside. Clad in nothing but simple armour and foolish arrogance, they walked up confidently to meet him.

Harlea opened his arms out towards them, “Well, I’m glad to see you mouth breathers are so fucking stupid to follow us.” 

None of them had bows or slings and they hadn’t touched their weapons. With any luck, it would be a good old fashioned fist fight. 

Harlea didn’t look back to the others and moved back towards the group. There were eight of them, fairly solid if not thick and overfed. With no guards or House officials, they were probably the five cockiest farmers around. And whatever mayor they had in Farfall had given them swords.

“You didn’t pay for your drinks. And we think you owe an apology to our friend, Maxime.” the one at the front called over.

Harlea smiled wide and felt a wave of exhilaration watching him come forward, “Oh well then, I’ll come on over, shall I?”

“Harlea…” Fiona called from several paces behind.

Harlea looked back eagerly and shrugged energetically, “It’s fine. He just wants us to apologise.” He let out another lilting laugh at the idea of it, “ And I love a chat.”

“Daelos’ Assflaps, unbelievable.” Areli muttered as he quickly stepped up to Harlea’s side. 

Harlea put his hand up to touch Areli’s arm and whispered, “Let’s avoid killing any if we can avoid it.”

“Fine.” Areli responded curtly and Harlea felt Areli put his dagger back under his cloak. He let Harlea go first and Harlea eagerly rushed towards the men. 

There was only five metres between him and the villagers. The front man stood with his hands on his hips with his chest puffed out. One of his friends said something that Harlea missed but they shared a booming laughter amongst themselves while Harlea closed the gap.

“You owe them four silver but I would hazard to say tipping a few extra coins would go down a treat if you wanted to come back to Farfall anytime soon.” The man began casually but stopped as Harlea stepped right to get in his face.

Harlea wasted no time, the thrill of the fight urging him to punch the big man right in the face. Harlea could almost smell the fear and relished the tension hovering in the centimetres between him and the frontman, “I want to punch you right in the face, big man.”

Harlea could see the man’s punch coming from a mile away. The man tried to step back and throw a right hook in a wide arc aimed at Harlea’s jaw. 

Harlea followed within the man’s reach to stay close so he could meet the man’s arm swing at his elbow. His fist swung useless around him to slap impotently on Harlea’s back before hanging on his shoulder. 

Harlea’s leg shifted between the man and he kneed him hard in the groin. The man crumpled down and Harlea met him with his shoulder and rammed his shoulder hard into his chin.

He heard the man’s teeth chatter from the impact and Harlea caught him before he could fall. He clasped both hands on the man’s shoulders and then headbutted him square in the face. The man’s head whipped back hung limply as tried to process what had happened. Before he could recuperate, Harlea shoved him backwards to collapse into his two friends.

Harlea moved to the right of the three of them and engaged a lankier boy to the side of them. He had long arms and a shitty looking dagger. He also had a look of confusion that meant he’d not be seeing Harlea coming.  

Harlea gut punched him hard and stepped in past the boy’s effective range. The lanky idiot folded over Harlea’s right hand and Harlea grabbed him by the back of the shirt. He forced him back quickly and then dragged him forward for his nose to meet his knee with a satisfying crunch. The boy’s head rocked back up and his arms swung madly around him. Harlea kept a fistful of his shirt and flung him in a half circle to join the first man and his two buddies who were still trying to untangle.

The lanky man’s hand tried to grip Harlea’s while he twisted and spun. He failed to get any purchase and slammed into the legs of his friends and bowled them over properly. The four of them crashed into the dirt and Harlea ducked back to get space from them and greet whoever stepped up to him next. 

Areli and Fiona had joined Harlea in the fray and had engaged with several of the others. One man broke out and moved in to catch Harlea. He was the sturdiest looking of the lot but Harlea hadn’t been overly impressed so far. 

Harlea took another step back and beckoned the man forwards gleefully. He watched the four men scramble to pick themselves back up and Harlea tried to figure out a way to throw this large gentleman into the pack of idiots. 

Then, the big man punched Harlea square in the nose. Harlea’s head whipped back and he stumbled back a few steps. Harlea threw out a wild jab in the man’s general direction and continued to get some space. He blinked impotently at the black spots that clouded his vision and made out the shape of the man coming in again. 

Harlea went to swing at him again but was instead pulled further back and a large form stepped in front of him. Elayne’s fuzzy outline intercepted the man, caught his fist, and punched him right in the face with a sickening crunch. 

Areli was on the other side of Harlea, fighting two men at the same time and he still managed to shift Harlea to the back of the group with a deft flick of his tail. 

Harlea stumbled back and covered his nose. Blood had immediately begun to piss out of his nostrils and his eyes watered almost immediately. 

Elayne had dropped the large man before Harlea could join in again. He looked over to Areli and looked for an opportunity to jump in and help.

Areli punched one of the men in the throat and spun on one leg to catch the other with the heel of his foot. The first man stopped in his tracks, clutching at his throat and the other man crumpled to the ground limply. 

Harlea moved through the fight to approach the four men that were still getting up, eager to get to them before any of his friends. He let out a roar and lifted his hands above his head, “Come on, then! Doesn’t Maxine want that fucking apology?”

The two men in the back faltered and bolted. The lead man came back to try Harlea again while the lanky boy just simply froze in place.

Harlea charged eagerly towards the front man again and slipped past two wild swings. Harlea used the momentum and ran headlong into the man’s chest. Harlea could feel the man try to brace for the impact but it did very little to stop Harlea from madly crashing into him and grabbing the man’s left arm as it flailed.

Harlea had an image in his mind of him flipping the man over his back and he was eager to give it a try. It was ridiculous and it was stupid but he didn’t live his life to be intelligent. He lived for dumb shit like this. 

He moved fast and ducked under the man’s armpit. The man panicked and tried to knee Harlea in the face with his knee. Harlea blocked it with his arm and propped his elbow on the man’s thigh so he wouldn’t try again. The man hopped backwards and Harlea surged up from the base of his feet to lift the man with as much force as he could muster.

The man flew up and over Harlea’s back. Harlea relished in how glorious it was. 

Harlea made a guess at the direction the man’s friends would be and tossed him, praying that he would be able to lob him into one of them. 

He swung around and watched in delight as the man sailed upside down and fell into the back of his friend. The other man was midway through standing up to have another run at Areli. 

Areli had spotted Harlea picking the man up and backed off several steps to watch him, unimpressed. 

The other man toppled over as his friend hit him right in the back, “Alix! Shit.” 

“Run, little man!” Harlea taunted them and wiped the blood from his nose. All but one of the other men had fallen back to the tavern and abandoned the two men next to Harlea. One of them remained next to Elayne but he was on the ground with Elayne standing over him. 

Harlea sighed and put his hands on his hips. He had really wanted to punch the first man in the face but he could feel the fight winding down already, whether he liked it or not.

“For shame, boys!” Harlea called out to the five men who stood ten metres away, “I was planning on beating you all black and fucking blue.”

“Harlea.” Fiona stated firmly behind him.

Harlea stood above the two men at his feet, both hardly older than twenty. He gave them some space and they scrambled back away from him on their hands and knees. 

He kicked a cloud of dust at them but let them get away, “Scram!”

The last of the eight lay face down with Elayne squatting over him. She had the back of her hand hovering over his mouth. She turned back to them non-plussed, “He’s fine, just passed out, poor kid.”

A crowd of interested villagers had started to form around the tavern and other buildings behind the group of battered young men. Harlea couldn’t see any of the other villagers coming to the men’s aid yet but they weren’t going to be winning any friends by hanging about.

“We had better go.” Harlea said quietly between them. 

“Yeah, I think our welcome has been worn out.” Elayne agreed and left the unconscious man on the side of the road to join Harlea and the rest of them.

Areli went first, moving down the road without a look back at Farfall. Harlea let Elayne and Fiona go next and took up the back of the pack. After they left, Harlea could see the men tentatively joined their unconscious friend to check on him.

“I think they’re letting us head out.” Harlea caught up with Fiona and Elayne and matched their speed.

“We’re always making friends wherever we go.” Fiona muttered darkly under her breath as she made space for him next to her.