Continued from here part 3

Vargas sat by a fire as Angus boiled something he'd bought at the outpost. He looked up to Vargas, "I assumed your girl would be joining us."

Vargas grinned, "I'll see her again. She goes where ever the wind blows her."

His eye then moved left, "You notice our tag along?"

Angus nodded, "He still there, figured he would have wandered off by now."

Vargas shrugged, "Wake me up if he decides to rob us or kill us."

Angus nodded, "Will do."

***

After he finished eating Angus seemed to nod off as Vargas snored away. What appeared to be a boy, thinking he'd remained unnoticed crept to their camp site and attempted to grab Vargas' bag. Suddenly the blade of the Wolf was resting on his shoulder as Vargas stared down at him, "Why don't you head back home. I don't relish the idea of beating on a twelve year old, but I won't let you rob me."

The boy's eyes went wide. Suddenly he rolled away and hurled a shuriken at Vargas. He struck it away but it multiplied. He then went on the defensive as the began chaotically flying at him. He managed to dodge them effectively but the boy grabbed his bag and tried to run.

Angus locked a hand around his ankle causing him to slam into the ground. The boy raised a hand and the shuriken flew toward Angus. The Changeling grew into a large shield that blocked them. Vargas snatched the bag away from the boy and grabbed the shuriken out of the air with a gauntlet covered hand, "The Starburst, I've heard of this. Too bad you haven't mastered it, they say it can multiply a thousand times and appear as a rain of steel."

The boy yelled, "Give it back."

"This isn't a toy, kid."

"I'm not a kid! I'm 16."

Angus patted him on the head as he stood, "That's still a kid."

Vargas looked him over and noticed his tattered cloths, "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm hunting a bandit named Bedo. He killed my family and burned my village to the ground. I'm gonna find him and kill him."

Angus chuckled, "You're a little late kid, we collected his bounty a couple days ago."

He glared up, "He's in jail."

Vargas shook his head, "By now he's probably in an ash pile somewhere. Marshals don't waste good land burying bandits."

"So he's dead? Who killed him?"

Angus pointed, "The guy you just tried to rob."

"I was just looking for food."

Vargas sighed and looked to Angus. Angus nodded and pulled a loaf of bread from his pack, "Have a seat kid. You got a name?"

"Hana."

Vargas looked confused, "That's a girls name."

"I am a girl."

The two men looked surprised as Angus replied, "Its hard to tell with the baggy cloths and dirt."

She got a stern look, "If you killed Bedo, I owe you a debt."

Vargas shook his head, "The bounty covered it."

"No, I am in your debt and I will stay with you until its repaid."

Vargas shrugged as he tossed the Starburst to her, "Go where ever you want kid. We're heading for the Capitol, you could find some work there if you like, but get that debt nonsense out of your head."

***

Belial stood with Harris and Paimon in front of several dozen men. The crowd was mostly bandits and wanderers. Paimon looked on the crowd, "There are a few blades of minor power among them, most are just rabble with common steel."

Belial shrugged as he used a small stick to clean dirt from under his nails, "They'll serve their purpose."

Harris crouched down as he looked on them, "Pitiful, the lot of them. If this is the caliber of men you seek, we'll need a lot more of them before we can take on the Capitol."

Paimon looked over, "I heard Bedo was killed, we could move to recruit his men. Rumor says he had numbers in the thousands. I doubt that's exactly true but he's sure to have had at least this many given his reputation."

***

Victor sat on a porch at his outpost beginning to nod off as a rider approached. He looked up as the man jumped down, "This better be important."

The man nodded nervously, "Scouts spotted a large gathering, mostly bandits. Paimon and the Traitor Harris were among them and he swears he saw a man holding the Reaper's Arm."

Victor picked up Big Bear, "Gather the men. Looks like we're gonna have a fight on our hands."

***

The Capitol

Gunnar stood next to Ian as they looked down on the city from the balcony of the Marshal's head quarters, "Been having a bad feeling lately."

Ian nodded, "I'd say it started about the time you picked up the Wrath. Magnus used to say the ax carried a hint of prophecy in it."

Gunnar leaned on the ledge, "It be nice if it was more specific."

Ian nodded in agreement, "I'll put the royal guard on alert."

Gunnar chuckled, "Oh, that eases my mind."

Ian gave a shrug, "At the very least they make an effective alarm until we get the Marshals rallied."

An aide came up, "We've received a message from the Twain outpost."

Gunnar took the small scroll from the aide and opened. He grinned a bit, "Vargas killed Bedo. Apparently he's also got a few more additions to Marcus' collection."

Ian seemed to have a thought, "When he arrives, try to get him to stick around for a few days."

"Why?"

The counselor shrugged again, "Couldn't hurt to have the Wolf and Coyote around, just in case."

***

Vargas stretched as he woke and looked around, "Where's the girl?"

Angus took a break from breakfast, "I bought some soap at the outpost, I sent her down to the stream with it."

Vargas reached over and grabbed a few slices of bacon, "Figured she'd have taken off by now."

At he took a bite Hana returned and sat on a nearby log. She stared at the food but didn't take any. Angus rolled his eyes, "Just get a damn plate. Them sad dog eyes are annoying."

Vargas laughed a bit as she quickly gathered up a mass of bacon and eggs and began wolfing it down, "Ease up there, girl. It ain't gonna run away."

She had a sheepish look as she wiped a bit of egg from her mouth. As she swallowed she asked, "What is our business in the Capitol?"

"Well my business is making a delivery. Angus here, just wants to see the place. Also I just gotta see how Gunnar acts with all those priests and royals fluttering about. I'll be shocked if he hasn't knocked someone out yet."

She had her serious look again, "You shouldn't speak of priests and Royalty in such a manner. They hold the honor of our world."

Angus and Vargas burst into laughter. After a couple minutes Vargas finally settled a bit, "You really are a child."

She gritted her teeth at that and turned away from them, "You are awful men."

Angus nodded, "You got us there, girl."

***

Belial and his men stopped their march as they noticed men on horses ahead. Across the field Victor stared on the enemy as he pulled Big Bear from his back. He pulled out a spyglass and looked to Harris, "I'll personally see to it that the man who brings me that traitor's head will be a colonel by the end of the week."

Paimon looked on, "I wish to see the Big Bear in combat."

Harris had a hateful glare, "That man is mine."

He already had the Dragon's Tail bared with blue flame sparking around it. Paimon nodded, "As you wish."

(To be continued)