Argo walked back through towards the gate. Following their breakfast he had gone to the markets to purchase a blade. His combat knife was fine and all, but in nearly every fight he had found himself wanting a longer weapon. Now, as he walked, strapped to his hip, just above his knife, was a shortsword. Beyond that, his visit to the market had been one of collecting information. If Ryle were going to be coming with them, whoever this man going by Knowledge was could be sending more people after them. Throughout the entire visit to the market, however, he had only managed to find one piece of information. It had cost him a whole talent and at the end of the day, it had hardly been useful. A man, calling himself Knowledge, had been buying out noble family's entire libraries within the Central province. Either a complete fabrication done to scam Argo out of his money or a lie intentionally spread by Knowledge to hide his true motivations from the public.

“Took you long enough,” Nyx said, initiating the conversation. She truly did seem to be warming up, if only slightly. She stood next to Winston and Argo’s horse, both were saddled and ready to get going. She wore two parted belt, strapped consistently with weapons. “You ready to leave?”

“Let’s go.” 

“Okay,” Ryle said, stepping towards the gate. He wore the same lute on his back, Argo didn’t even bother to try to get him to leave it behind. The way he held the thing was more precious than a mother with her newborn. On his hip was a book holster, it held two books now, the music one that Knowledge seemed to be after and another, labelled Truth and Lies. 

The group moved out of the city, Argo and Nyx having mounted their horses and Ryle having amplified his speed with his knowledge of wind. Slowly they made their way around the tiers of the mountain, growing ever closer to the base. The wind whipped around them, though it seemed to still by Ryle, parting in front of him to reduce drag whilst pushing him from behind. He truly was well versed in his knowledge, though far from one of the best. His master had been capable of leaping up castle walls and had told him stories of men who could even fly, though a part of Argo doubted the truth of that. 

Rocks shifted underneath horsefoot. Birds flew overhead. The river ran downstream. They reached the base of the hill.

“ATTACK!” A scream came from the distance.

“Now Ryle!” Argo screamed, the attack was coming and without some form of enhancement, he would not be able to help Nyx in what would be a six on one fight. Possible if they weren’t well trained or well geared, but from Argo’s experience neither was true. He waited, looking at Ryle, expecting the wind to come to his aid. And the man pulled out his lute. “Ryle! Now is not the time.”

The man seemed oddly serious as he took the neck of the instrument and twisted its tuning pegs ever so slightly. Why had they brought the insane man with them, why couldn’t he have just listened to Nyx and let him die? He struck a chord. The wind came to Argo’s aid.

Nyx had been at the front of the line that the three travellers had formed on their way down and when the order to attack them was given she knew she would need to react. She reached towards her chest and pulled out two separate throwing knives. She stood up on top of Winston’s back and pelted the knives towards the throats of two approaching horses. Six people total, three horses. She thought back to the one which Argo had killed the day before, the poor steed. One of the knives nailed the horse in the throat, it threw its rider back into the air, leaving them to fall to the floor, hopefully stunned. The other however seemed to have been predicted and the rider swiftly manoeuvred the horse to dodge the brunt of the strike, its tail being grazed. A third horse, one which she had not targeted began rushing towards Winston. This was the man who Argo had fought the day before, the leader of these bandits. He held a long spear, a different weapon than he had used the day before, having lost it when it got stuck within Argo’s arm. She pulled on Winston’s reins, but it wasn’t fast enough, he charged, thrusting his blade forward. Her panic skyrocketed, not like this, she couldn’t lose him. And like a rocket Argo charged into the bandit's horse, sending it tumbling back. A smile split across her face and Argo returned it with a grin of his own.

He looked towards the captain of the bandits who slowly stood up. His wounds had all reopened in that burst of movement. Was this what Ryle considered not a huge boost in speed? Argo felt unparalleled. Music flooded the battlefield as Ryles's fingers danced between the twelve strings of his lute, and with even note, each chord, each bar of music Argo could feel the wind flock to his aid. He gripped tightly with his right hand onto the hilt of the short sword he had purchased earlier in the day, in his left, held in a reverse grip was his combat knife. He rushed towards the captain, each step carrying him further than what three normal ones would raising his sword above his head before slashing down towards the bandit's neck. He raised his blade, just barely deflecting Argo’s strike, the sudden stop of momentum sent the blood which was leaking out of his reopened wounds forward, painting the grass red. Argo brought his knife round in a follow up strike to the bandit's neck which was just barely dodged, knicking the neck of the bandit but failing to cut deeply. As he attacked the bandit, Nyx fought the remaining five, she would need to make do for now. But in the few glances he managed to sneak during the flurrying clash of blades he was engaged within she seemed to be holding up. A knife to the kneck dropping one, a cut along the thigh wounding another, a pommel to the temple dropping another. Four active combatants were left.

The captains blade cut through the air towards Argo’s head, he raised his knife, using it to hold off the incoming blade as he slipped in through his defences. His heart beat rapidly within his chest, his nerves, like the wind, building his speed, building his strength. He took the sword and thrust towards the captains gut, it found its mark, splitting through leather, then cloth and finally stabbing deep into the captains flesh. He seemed shocked, his sword dropping to his side. Argo was too confident, he moved to pull the sword free and was quickly struck by a two handed smash to the top of the head. The world span around him, and he struggled to stay upright as the captain picked up his blade. Blood dropped from both of them in large quantites, forming puddles beneath them on the floor. The two unique shades of red mixing together. Argo struggled to his feet, his head splitting with pain. He could no longer feel the wind with him, he could no longer hear the music. His heart was thrust into the battle.

A strike aimed at his skull, was blocked with a knife. He aimed a strike towards the mans heart with that same knife but it was quickly dodged. Argo’s eyes, mind and ears were engulfed within the battle as he himself became the blade. Sparks flew as his vision grew more and more blurry. His movements slowed, yet so did the captains. He could feel the chains which bound his feet, scars which he had thought had long since healed. Days spent trapped within a carriage being fed slop once a day and drinking dirty water. He felt like he was being watched, hoards of people casting righteous judgement down upon him. He struck forward.

His blade pierced through the heart of the captain who went limp against his blade. Blood creeped down the side of his lip. Argo ripped his knife free and stumbled back before planting his sword in the floor to rest upon. He fell to one knee, and Ryle was quickly by his side, helping him to his feet and wrapping his wounds in new bandages, he knew Nyx would have to handle them later. He looked up, and saw her standing around five corpses. One man was left standing and she was unarmed. He brought his sword down towards her neck and she didn’t move. Why wasn’t she moving. His heart hammered, blood continued ot flow from his body. She clasped her hands together and caught the blade. A skill he had never seen in action. She ripped the blade from his hands and rushed towards him, grabbing him by the neck and smashing his head against the cliff face. His eyes rolled back into his head.

She dusted herself off before looking towards Argo and Ryle. She quickly ran to their side. “Let me do this.” She spoke with a soft, exhausted tone and despite just having finished fighting five people began to bandage Argo’s wounds. He looked her over, she had a few minor cuts and scratches, a bruise was forming just below her shoulder that would be painful in the days to come.

“Thank you.” Argo smiled at her.

“No worries.” She smiled back.