For as small as Ashlet was, the barren region was perfect in its placement between the kingdoms of Sageryn and Mor'Nair, and just far enough as to not be in or near the center of Vastilence. The smell of the Zanthic Sea was close enough to waft its essence to the region, providing more of what scant freshness was left, and Reed Riddance adored much of that.

His home.

"The Riddance we accept," they called him. The shy population made him one of the heroes that drove such outlaws away, and the occasional Reavers that wandered too deep into the land. Others such as him earned their right of high praise, decent friends of his, Linette Fermoor, a hero longer than he was, but not as competent as Geraint had always been, the dark horse of the trio, the one the young ones look up to more than the truth the adults see.

Two of them being Reavers, a name they despised, but a name the world assigned to the users of such medallions. The scholars of young Ashlet based their knowledge of the world they knew more than anyone and plastered that name to them, and eventually, it caught on, and to some, it slipped. 

Morden, the 18th day of Sylburn of the year 2318 AR, marked Reed's hundredth good deed of Jaddis, a neighboring western town in Ashlet, two leagues from his hometown of Yodurhn. Not more than an hour until the caravan was escorted safely, Ashlet Super Visionary soldiers had been stationed close on this one. Even his supported mercenary duties must've not been enough to ease Baron Leudast Siggasts' worries. Geraint had been stationed a thousand strides past the caravan troupe with a dozen of the region's soldiers. Linette was lying down on a pouch filled with some unusually soft material, dozing off, Reed only noticed he'd been talking to himself the whole trip because of the snort she'd emitted. Her brown bangs covered a part of her eyes just enough to sneak the rest in. 

"You dozing off isn't going to give us a better image, you know," He told her. The soldier to the left of her on his horse glared at him after her ignorance. He shrugged and continued looking forth. Reed tapped the blue medallion embedded in her grey armor a few times before she tussled awake. Removing strands of bangs from one eye across to the other, her puffed-up eyes looked past him, calculating the distance to the Glamryl River docks.

"Awake are we?" Reed said, raising one brow.

"Don't tap my medallion." She muttered, still collecting herself. "I'd like to keep it blue as the sky, not stained dirty by your fingers."

"Dirty fingers are a sign of strength, you know?" 

"Whoever made that up hasn't had the chance of meeting you." She teased, a little rough for Reed, but what hero bore a weak heart? "Not too far now, are we?" She looked passed the two horsemen ahead of them and back to the large wooden domicile behind them. It was guarded from every direction, and they'd been on the only carriage other than the one carrying whatever they were escorting.

"Not far it seems," Reed replied, "you could smell the river from here, incredible. Usually, I don't venture off this far northwest, and you can only smell the blue ever so slightly at times of the night from Jaddis."

"Poor Geraint." Linette ignored, "Horse duty isn't his thing, he must be miserable ahead of us."

"Miserable or not, sitting on a horse provides no effort."

"I guess so." She muttered, her attention veering off back to the strange product behind them. 

"Aren't you interested?" She asked. Reed gave it a thought, tracing her gaze before realizing it.

"That?" 

"Mhm." She nodded. "We've never had such a duty like this. Well, it's simple and all, but all this?" And she gestured to the two dozen soldiers on horses around them. "And us? You think they'd tell us if we asked?"

Reed had not the simplest idea of what was in the large wooden box. Not a thought came about of such a thing until she had mentioned it.

"Ow!" He jumped, placing his hand over his forehead after Linette smacked the side of his temple. "Dusted hells Linette!" 

"A Scuttler landed on the side of your head, Reed?" She told him, abashed by his reaction.

"And you nearly blinding me was the solution?" 

"Well, if you keep 'em long enough, they'll infest an egg in your head." She raised a brow, proud of her non-sensible knowledge he assumed she had made up. He felt the crack of something. At least the creature was off him and somewhere in the dirt, probably being crushed by the wheels of the escort. 

Not long before, the scent of the river was stronger. They were close, but time was dragging now, unusual to them. The horses trotted slower, and the scenic hills and yellow grass passed leisurely until they stayed in their place. Reed stood from his side of the bench and looked around before Linette did the same. Some voices were heard ahead, they could see eight horsemen conversing with one another in an oblong circle formation, with the occasional glances back to the escorted box. They gave each other a look of no worry. Nothing seemed of the unordinary, a rock in the road perhaps, Reed thought. 

"A rock in the road?" Linette muttered, assuming similarly. 

"Not sure?" He responded. 

"I wonder what's going on?" The horsemen on Linette's side muffled through a metal helmet. 

A few moments passed by before a sound too familiar to everyone in the security business came aloud, the shout of pain. From behind them, Reed and Linette, along with every soldier on a horse around them, immediately turned their attention to what now looked like four black horses approaching from the east. One of them already making contact with the caravan as an unfamiliar large man in gleaming white armor had his hand held high, with a disgustingly large sword held tight. Red washed cleanly the blade that held the body of one of the Super Visionary Soldiers through thick armor, in and out of the body, impaled and held superiorly high with one of the man's arms. 

Every pair of eyes that gazed at this sin, could not do anything but look as the remaining three horses circled the rest of the large wooden box.

Each horse held a person of black armor, different day and night compared to that large one. One by one in the moment of a few thoughts, six soldiers had perished to bloody onslaughts. A head rolled down the slight downhill ten strides away from where Reed and Linette had been watching. 

"Do something!" A soldier near them shouted, bracing for impact from an incoming black horse carrying a readied strike of the blade wielded by the black-armored individual. Unfortunately for the man, neither Linette nor Reed was quick enough to beckon their blades as blood spattered quicker on their expressions than their blades had been forming.

The soldier's shield was to no avail against a devilish attack as the masked individual hooked him clean by their sword and dragged him off his horse and down the road before making a wide berth back to the two of them.

"Shit!" Linette heaved. She panicked unnaturally, as Reed had never seen her like that before.

By now, their blades had been beckoned. Linette jumped from the carriage landing on dry grass, silver thin sword pierced tightly into the soil before she held it in front of her. "They're coming back!" 

Reed gripped tightly on his dark rustic blade as he jumped and braced for the landing, looking forward to the incoming attacker. His blade held toughly ahead of him just as Linette did with hers. Both of them heard each other's breath and within each, they heard a form of unease. 

Linette was struck hard against the carriage doors behind her as she protected herself from the attacker's assault. The individual quickly turned their horse as Reed struck the side and slathered blood across the tendon of its legs. The masked person jumped off landing dexterously as Linette recovered from her efforts.

"They hit hard," she warned and heaved, "watch out."

Reed had no time to care for words, he had no time to look at her, he could only witness the greatness in the speed of the attacker's strikes. Blurred images before landing on the one receiving such strikes. The hand of the attacker moved upwards as they removed the metallic mask from their face, showing themselves.

Black hair fell below the shoulders, thick lashes and stark white skin showed the cheeks as the face of a one-eyed lady observed them. No expression showed from her except when she leaped forward and gritted teeth showed. 

Reed knew such speed existed. He aimed to be what he read in tales; he aimed to be as strong and brutal as the heroes of the ink. Reed had never imagined he'd witness an even greater speed than the one so fictionalized, but witnessing such greatness only came at a cost, and with everything he'd come to know, nothing was shown freely. Linette's blade was no more, dissipating from reality and back to where it came from. Instead, she gripped another, the sharp end of the attacker's blade beside him as it dug through her chest. 

"Ugh... Agh." She groaned in pain, eyes half shut as they had not the time to react to the speed that this villain that stood before Reed carried. Her hands went limp. Reed was star-struck and frozen in place. The cold black eyes of this person shifted from Linette's fleeting soul to Reed's astonished fear.

"You should attack." The woman said with a cold, gravelly voice. And he did just that before his blade was stuck mid-air, locked in place as he was washed over by a large shadow. Turning his head, he could see the larger man he'd witnessed earlier, his stark armor blinding him, and his voided eyes barely visible from the silver four-horned helmet encasing his face. 

"Taking your time, Silke?" Deep was his voice, nasally thick that vibrated down his thin grey armor. He snatched the blade from Reed and tore something in his shoulder as he tossed it behind him, dissipating before landing into nothing, blowing away yellow grass from the point of disappearing. "Everyone's dead. The Xalidus has been secured, finish him off and take both their medallions."

The lady nodded as the large figure turned his horse and trotted away. Reed felt something warm, a tinge of hot pain as he watched the man trot away, looking back at the woman. He could see her blade plunged cleanly through his armor. She peeled bits of skin and innards back out as she wiped the blood off Linette's lifeless body. She gripped the medallion from his broken chest armor and did the same with Linette. Dropping to the floor, the distant groans of half-dead soldiers began dying out as his eyes dimly lit his vision. His face lay close to Linette's own, his eyes half open yet unreactive. Reed reached into his hands and mustered the last bit of strength he had wrapped his fingers around hers, before giving out with one thought. The women disappeared with both their medallions and a dark vision overtook him.

A silver ring fell and rolled down from Reed's pouch, landing in the grass, hidden and lost.