They departed before sunrise the next morning, leaving the castle behind in the dark. The torrential rains had finally slowed to a drizzle and, for the first time in nearly a week, the clouds were banished when the sun rose.

The world was awash in color as the sunlight danced off the beads of water that still clung to every blade of grass and quivering leaf, while a warm breeze from the south began the arduous task of drying the earth.

It was a gorgeous spring day filled with the promise of imminent summer, yet Jasper did not get to enjoy it as much as he would have wished. The group was on a narrow time limit as they galloped through the muddy roads to the four locations they had chosen, on high alert lest the Zalancthians ambush them.

The first location, a small orchard an hour's ride outside the castle's wall, was the one Nissilât had given to the men under Tōrîl's command. Jasper was unsurprised that the place was empty. Although he had originally suspected the man of working with the bandits, after they'd found him a prisoner in the bandits' mine, Jasper had mostly written him off as a suspect, although the absence of bandits at the site was a welcome confirmation. They stopped long enough to chat with the farmers and confirm that the bandits hadn't bothered them recently before continuing to the second location.

The hamlet of Ṣarṣartu was only a short ride away. Nestled deep in the wooded foothills surrounding the mountains, thin pillars of smoke betrayed its position long before they arrived, and the party hastened their pace, afraid they'd arrive too late. But when they finally reached the small hamlet, they saw their worry had been for naught.

The fields around the hamlet bustled with life as teams of men dragged fallen logs from the nearby forest into a clearing where rows of furnaces waited to transform the timber into charcoal. As before, no bandits had been seen, and they pressed on to the next location, a small tavern along the main road that catered to merchants, or at least had catered to them before the bandit attacks had largely ceased travel on the route.

Set in the middle of freshly planted fields, the tavern was visible from a long distance, standing out sharply against the lust environment thanks to the fresh coat of bright blue paint that covered its weathered planks. They kept a sharp eye out for bandits as they reached its little courtyard, but with the wide open fields surrounding the inn, there seemed to be little place for them to hide.

The paranoia that had been eating away at Jasper since the previous day eased away as he rode into the courtyard. This was the location he'd given to Damqa, and as much as he'd wanted to trust her, he'd been unable to shake the feeling that he shouldn't. Glad as I was just being paranoid.

But as Jasper started to slip off Dapplegrim's back, Ihra hissed at him to stop. "Wait."

He froze with one leg off, and shot her a questioning look. "What?"

"I heard voices in the tavern, quite a few of them," she whispered back as the others nudged their mounts closer.

"So? It's a tavern," Tsia spoke up, but Jasper understood the problem immediately. There were no other horses in the stable, no one in the courtyard at all save for themselves. Perhaps there were a few local farmers who had walked to the tavern, but it was hardly the right time of day for that.

"How many?" he asked quietly.

"Six or seven? It's hard to say."

Damn it, Damqa. Why? There would be time for questions later, but for now, Jasper knew they needed a plan. The number of bandits, assuming that's what they were, was too small to take on their part on its own, unless, of course, they had some of those damnable potions. Our best chance would be to blitz them before they can attack…or just burn down the tavern and lock them inside, a small voice inside him suggested. The problem was, though, that, unlikely though it was, they couldn't be absolutely certain that there wasn't a group of farmers inside getting day drunk. Killing bandits didn't bother him, but he didn't want innocent blood on his hands.

Before he could answer Ihra, the tavern door swung open. A portly old man limped out, favoring his left leg and hailed them. "Don't get many travelers these days - can I help you with your mounts?"

Jasper thought he detected a hint of a waver in the man's voice, though he couldn't be sure he wasn't imagining it. "Do you have anything prepared yet? I know it's still early in the day, and it looks like we're the first to arrive."

The man's eyes darted to the tavern as Jasper spoke, and he fumbled the hem of his shirt as he wiped perspiration off his forehead. "No worries," he chuckled weakly. "You'll have the tavern to yourself, but I can always whip up some stew if you're willing to wait."

There was no reason for the man to lie if there were simple farmers inside, so Jasper accepted the man's offer with a smile. "Stew sounds fine, but we'll take care of our horses; no need to put yourself out."

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"Of-f course," he stuttered out. "Would the ladies like to wait inside? I have cold ales waiting."

"Oh, that won't be necessary," Ihra rejected him as she slipped off the back of her stag. "We'll be in in just a minute."

Jasper held his breath as the man nodded, hoping he'd return inside and give them time to seize the initiative, but it was not to be. The door hit the wall with a thud as a tall man dressed in black armor and a grotesque mask stepped out. "I warned you what would happen if you tipped them off," he snarled.

"I- I didn't."

A spell bloomed on the tip of Jasper's finger as the bandit ripped a knife out of his belt and slammed it into the old innkeeper's chest. A second too late, the silvery fire streaked toward him, but with eerie calmness, the bandit spun behind the innkeeper's and flung it toward them. The orbs exploded prematurely as the dead body intersected them, and with a swift motion, the bandit downed a green vial hanging from his waist. "Attack!"

As the stoneflesh's command, the windows and doors of the tavern exploded as a small horde of bandits hurtled through them. There were only seven, a more than manageable number, if not for a few small details - the ripped armor, hulking frame, and the second set of glowing amber eyes filled with rage. Damn it.

Jasper was nearly flung from Dapplegrim's back as the monstrous horse reared up and drove its iron hooves into the nearest stoneflesh. The bandit's chest caved in as it was flung back against the wall, but the hatred in its eyes didn't dim. With an angry growl, it grabbed the horse's forelocks, and Jasper went spilling to the ground as both of them were flung backward. He twisted himself to the side, narrowly avoiding being pinned beneath Dapplegrim's weight and flicked his hand forward. A crack filled the air as a glowing spectral whip manifested in his palm, and its barbed teeth wrapped around the bandit's crushed chest. The whip lapped up the blood hungrily, specters screaming as its silver glow turned red, but Jasper didn't have time to revel in his success.

He went flying across the courtyard as a super-charged punch cut him from behind. Dust and dung filled his mouth as he slammed into the side of the stable, but he kept his focus on a spell. Fiery Shackles. The stoneflesh charging at him was abruptly stopped as a pair of burning manacles clamped around his ankles and the loud pop of broken bones filled the air as the bandit's momentum and massive hulk drove him into the ground.

The stoneflesh's legs were bent at unnatural angles as its shattered fibula burst through its flesh, but it barely seemed to notice the pain as it struggled to its knees with a guttural roar. Jasper rolled to his feet, essence surging as he prepared another spell, but before Jasper could release it, a shadow blurred in front of him. Blood spurted as a long, serrated dagger sliced through the creature's throat, and Nissilât flickered into place beside the man, punching the dagger through his eyes with a well-honed motion.

"Watch out-"

Seeing the warning in his eyes, Nissilât spun to the side as a sword angled toward her neck. Her dagger flickered up, trying to parry the blow, but it was barely nudged to the side as the hulk's sheer strength overpowered her.

Seraph Burst. The bandit's blade went flying as Jasper hit from the side, and the two went careening to the ground. The hulk landed on top of him, furious fists pounding on Jasper's chest, but only for a moment before the spell's momentum twisted them again. The man roared as the iron wings shredded his flesh and Jasper managed to fire off another spell. Scourge of Despair.

He rolled out of the way as the hungry specters manifested above the bandit and, leaving them to their feast, swept a hasty gaze across the tavern courtyard. The scene had dissolved into chaos.

Lightning flashed in the corner of his vision as Tsia barbecued one of the hulks from the relative safety of the air, while in another corner, Ihra ducked and dodged the frenzied blows of a bandit before one of her arrows splintered into a dozen caltrops and sent it sprawling to the ground. In the background, the tavern burned, a pillar of smoke rising into the sky as the cheery blue paint turned black.

He jerked to the side as a shadow flickered across the ground in front of him, and a sword swished through the air where he'd been standing. Fiery Shackles.

The hulk standing behind him was barely recognizable as the man who'd killed the innkeeper, but the rage in his yellowed eyes was more subdued than the rest. He broke the burning shackles with a contemptuous kick of his leg, but surprisingly he didn't press the attack. As the man's four eyes swept across the burning courtyard, something like resignation flickered through his face as he saw all but one of his compatriots splayed across the ground, with the last fending off the rest of Jasper's party. "If sunder, vill yukalni?"

His speech was a low rumble and so distorted by the unnatural size and shape of his jaws that Jasper couldn't understand him. "Did you...say something?"

"If I lay down my sword, will you let me surrender, or will you kill me?" This time, the hulk enunciated his words slowly and distinctly, and Jasper nodded his head in agreement as he finished.

"As long as you'll answer some questions, I'm willing to let you live." Still expecting a trick, Jasper took the opportunity to move back a few spaces, prepping another spell, but the hulk tossed the sword down with a weary sigh.

"I'm not looking to die today, not for the Ammatu, and definitely not for Lord Inūs̆ar." The glowing eyes seemed to disagree with his words, shaking in rage as the man dropped to his knees and placed his hands behind his head. "This is going to hurt," he mumbled.

He fell to the ground a moment later, convulsing as his distended limbs and engorged muscles shrank back to their original size. It was several minutes before the man's spasms ceased, leaving him drenched in sweat and limp with exhaustion, but he forced himself to his knees and cast Jasper a questioning look. "Got to be honest," he grunted, "I half-expected you to stab me."

"Didn't know you could come back from that," Jasper nodded at the other corpses, who remained transformed.

"There's a lot of things you don't know, a lot of answers I can give you, but first," the man's legs shook as he stood up, but he met Jasper's eyes with a surprising calmness. "I want a deal."

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