"What the hell did you do?" Charles shouted as Roland's charred skin slowly returned to normal.
"Well…"
"It's because that holy-sword-or-whatnot is just good for a single slash." Melvin interrupted Roland. He then poked his cheek and followed, "Our boy here likes the idea of powerups so he had that idea in his not-so-bright head that what if I used electricity to buff my muscles and heighten my reaction. Now, what did we get?"
"A-"
"A set of fried nerves inside a tired body, good job…"
"Ca-can't help it…" Roland said with a pained smile. "I can't protect everyone as myself. It's the least I could do for the people that I needed to save."
"Well." Melvin puffed his chest and rested his hands on his hips. He then laughed and said, "Aren't you our little hero?"
"And are you my mom in this scenario?" Roland raised his brow and shouted back with a smug tone.
"Dammit, keep it down," Charles said as he turned his head to face the man sitting on top of the tower. "Sir, do we have any other noctems coming?"
"None at the moment, I'll keep looking but I hope that I don't see any," he replied.
"Yes, yes I am," Melvin replied, raising his chin as well as the pitch of his voice. "Now, momma is angry and wanna tell you to go to your room but too bad we're homeless right now."
"I said shut up you two! Keep it down and I think I'm done." Charles lifted his hands from Roland's arm to wipe the tired sweat off of his face with a relieved smile. "Try to move your arm Sir Roland and let's see…"
Roland mirrored his expression as he stood from the ground, pressing the damp cold grass with his palms to carry himself up with a single heavy breath. He rolled both of his shoulders and worked out his fingers until he found himself stretching his neck and legs. His body would feel like its good as new if not for the weariness that the two could sense every time he decides to let out some air. Even so, Roland looked at Charles and thanked him by giving him a thoughtful nod, and this sight brought a sense of warmth in Melvin's eyes.
"So, how are you guys doing?" Maya walked in with a pained smile as she squinted her tired eyes. She had one of her lifeless hands dangling from her shoulders and the other one was clutching onto her bloodied side. The others looked at her as she sat down without a word and rested her head on Melvin's arm who had his eyes bulging out of wonder.
"Who the-"
"Maya, I'm so sorry for what happened to the others and Neil…" Roland said with grief behind his words as Charles lowered his head.
"This i-"
"Don't worry… death comes in with our paycheck after all and besides, it's our bad for getting ourselves piss drunk," she said without opening her eyes and with her voice sounding as if it's breaking, she continued, "Still, still… that many… it doesn't even make sense. We've been dealing with strays or lone predators these past months or even years… it doesn't make sense."
"This is Maya?" Melvin whispered to Charles and he replied with a nod.
"Which means…" Roland looked into the direction of the vanguard in silence. He widened his eyes as his face froze in the grim cold breeze brushing through his face and with a sense of urgency, he looked at Melvin and said, "Shit… do we have any horses left?!"
"Relax, you've asked me to check earlier remember?" Melvin raised his hand as he stole a glance at the lady next to her. "Some must've run away from the commotion earlier but we about six left that we could borrow for our ride at dawn. Why?"
"No," Roland replied with his face fearful and stern. "Scratch that idea, we're leaving as soon as we're ready."
"What? Why?" Charles asked. "Did something happen? You're supposed to rest until morning!"
"Got it…" Melvin replied with a serious tone as he nudged the lady at his side. "Give me a few minutes to get the horses ready."
"You're now agreeing to it? You just told me about his hands!" Charles shouted at him before he turned his head to Roland. "Sir, you're not gonna last if you were to ride at this state!"
"The kid doesn't want to say it but from his looks, yeah… You don't need to come with us if you don't want to. You need plenty of rest too," Melvin said as he walked away.
"No, I- I'm coming with you guys… I can still heal a person or two. I can-"
"Which is why…." Maya took a break to breathe. She pulled out four small glass bottles filled with a brown foggy liquid from her back and followed, "I-We've decided... to give you this…"
"Stamina potions?" Roland furrowed his brows.
"Take it… please…"
"I can't take this," he replied. "You guys should use it on yourselves and you guys need it more than I do."
"It's… no use giving it to me now… or to anyone else…" She let out a laugh that sounded more of a whisper as she carried her back to the ground. With the moon peering into her eyes through the starless sky, she clenched her jaws and smiled. "We don't even know if we would live long enough to see the sunrise."
"I see…" Roland then replied as he walked to his side to take the potions from her hands. "Thank you very much for your help, Miss Maya."
She let out a soft chuckle once again. "Maya is just fine Sir Roland and no, you've helped us. All I ever did was cast an illumination spell in that battle..."
"Say what?" Charles replied with his eyebrows twitching as he stood there, unmoving as if his body was turned to stone.
"I mean…. Who knows, maybe it was my terrible music that attracted those monsters-"
"What did you say just now?" Charles asked once more while gritting his teeth.
"I said I cast-"
Her mouth froze at the wave of comfort at the moment Charles raised his hand. She met his eyes that looked as if he was one step short of murdering someone but instead of feeling more pain, the burning sensation in her wounds started to disappear.
"What the hell did you do?!" Confused and exhausted, she shared the same expression as Roland when she shouted as the last bit of discomfort left her body.
"You're coming with us," Charles replied without removing his petrifying gaze. "This is payback?"
"What the- I can't believe you used-" She picked herself up from the ground and after a moment, she glared at her and followed, "for what?"
"Fo-"
"For making him piss his pants maybe?" Melvin laughed as he walked in with the horses.