Luke, and Dante rushed over to Liam.
"Get me something to wrap around this!" Dante ordered.
Luke rushed over to the nearest of the dead men, and ripped off his shirt, tearing in into strips.
Luke came back, and gave Dante the strips. Then Dante said,
"I need some water, to clean this out. He just had to get the injury in the dirt."
Liam had fallen backwards, and dropped the swords. He had fallen with his right hand palm landing in the dirt.
The cut on the hand now had dirt caked on it, and needed to be cleaned.
Luke sprinted to where their wagon was. They had left it at the entrance of the town, with Mark's men guarding it.
They had probably been in the group they had just finished off, because the wagon was unguarded.
Luke vaulted over the rail, of the wagon, and found what he was looking for.
He was back with the water skins quickly, and he handed them to Dante.
Dante rinsed off the dirt, and pulled a vial out of his cloak. The vial contained a muddy brown liquid, that Dante spread on the wound.
"He must have collapsed from exhaustion, combined with blood loss.
That cut is pretty deep, but he should be okay if he rests. Go check on Tomas, and David will you?"
Luke walked over to where David was, still unconscious, with Tomas near him.
He leaned down and felt David's neck for a pulse. There was one for sure, at a quick pace though.
Luke didn't care, David was alive, and that was enough. He turned to Tomas, "Are you okay? Must've taken some courage to kill that man."
Thomas nodded, shaking. "I've never killed another person. The short sword is for emergencies, but I never thought I would use it."
He stared at the blood covered blade, and dropped it, stepping backwards, horrified.
Luke stepped over to him, and put a hand on his shoulder,
"Calm down, here," Luke said, leading him away from the bodies.
When they were a little ways away Luke gestured for him to sit.
"Sit here and calm your nerves, I'm going to check on Liam's condition."
Thomas nodded, and sat.
Luke trotted over to Dante, "How's he doing? Did his hand stop bleeding?"
"Yes, it did, the salve I put on it is quite potent.
Luke," Dante said suddenly, "lift up your shirt."
Liam stared at him in disbelief, "This isn't a time for jokes Dante."
"Just do it." Dante snapped.
Luke lifted up his shirt, and Dante nodded his head.
"Just what I thought would happen, the hole in your chest, the edges around it have turned blue."
"What!? What do you mean?" Luke said in alarm.
"Just what I said," Dante replied "the skin around the hole is a fiery shade of blue. It happens when you first use your power, it marks you."
"How do you know?"
"Remember that friend I told you about?"
Luke nodded
When she first used her power, it marked her neck."
"So, there's nothing to be concerned about?" Luke asked.
"No, it's natural, if you have the ability. Put your shirt down already, that's disgusting, really"
Luke put his shirt down quickly, his face reddening,
"You're the one who asked me to lift it up!"
"I know, but you left it up longer than needed." Dante said dismissing him.
Luke scoffed, and turned away. He saw movement at the edge of the forest.
The tree line was close to the village, and Luke started running to where he saw the movement.
He was almost where he had seen the figure, when he saw movement to his left.
A lone, hooded figure stood about a hundred meters away, at the edge of the woods.
It motioned for him to follow it, and started walking slowly into the woods.
Luke ran after it, "Wait!" He called, but the figure went on, its back to him.
*******************************************************************************************************
He followed the figure farther into the woods, but it was always ahead of him.
The trees grew thicker, until he found it was hard to follow.
The green trees turned into dead ones, and they clawed at Luke, tearing his cloak, but he pressed on.
Finally the trees thinned, and he found himself in a small clearing.
On the edge of the clearing was a small cottage, and in the center was a wood platform with a singular rocking chair on it.
On the chair sat the figure, rocking back and forth, a large diamond war axe on its lap.
Luke drew his bow, and approached warily. The figure pushed back its hood, revealing a skeleton face.
Luke put an arrow on the string, the arrow instantly going ablaze with the eerie blue flame.
The skeleton spoke, "Luke," it said "please put down your bow."
Luke almost dropped the bow in surprise, "How do you know me?" He asked.
"I know all of you," the figure replied "You, the fire wielder, the half man, the bandit, the pretender, the traitor, and the shadow walker. I know your mission as well."
Luke kept the bow drawn, there are only five of us. Why did you name six?"
"One you do not know yet, but will reveal themselves in do time. As for you, I have one request."
"What does the dead wish for?" Luke asked.
"Deliver this to the bandit, also called Liam. Only he can wield it."
The skeleton held out the diamond war axe, and Luke lowered the bow.
"I'll deliver it, but why Liam?"
"The four most important people in your group, all have a special ability, except the bandit. This will, give it to him, when he wakes."
The figure stood up, and walked over to Luke, and holding the axe by the head, extended it to Luke.
Luke, put away the bow, and arrow. He accepted the weapon.
When his hand touched the blade, it sent a light shock through Luke.
The skeletal figure smiled,
"The shock identifies you, now that it know you aren't the bandit, it won't activate when you use it."
"Activate?" Luke asked
"You'll find out soon enough." The skeleton replied.
Then it walked back to the chair, sitting down, and it started to rock itself again
"How do I get back to the village?" Luke called
The skeleton gestured to where he had come from, and the branches retracted, leaving a clear path for Luke to go through.
"That path will take you to the village, goodbye Luke."
As soon as Luke stepped through the opening, it closed behind him.