Bandits

The memorial for Percival wasn't a huge deal. Only a select group of people came to the graveyard, mainly to watch King Erasmus chuck his body into the rotting dirt with the other corpses.

The sky wasn't upset. It remained warm and sunny.

"What a shame it is, to lose one of our noble soldiers this way," Erasmus said, although it was pretty clear he was holding back a grin. He picked up his wooden shovel and tossed dirt into the hole, accidentally getting some on the tombstone.

A soldier was the only thing written on it.

Eva, Axis, and Gawain weren't even there.

The remaining soldiers took their horses into the clustered woods outside the village. They went for a dip in a pond, the next place where the shapeshifter had been spotted. A small, misty waterfall fed into it.

Gawain stared hungrily at Eva, but she did not take off her puffy-sleeved shirt and brown pants that she hid under her armor.

"Nice try, Gawain," she laughed. Her eyes landed on Axis, who waded half naked in the pond. Whoa, could those abs be even more charming? They looked like the abs of a man who worked out. Eva tried not to lose herself to his perfect body. "So, Axis," she asked, "where were you when the shapeshifter attacked?"

Axis splashed cool water onto his beardless face. "Oh, you know–"

Gawain interrupted him through sign language. He hopped down from his rock and cupped his hand, dipping it into the pond. He pretended to chug a whole mug of beer.

"All right, Gawain, you got me," Axis said. "I was at the tavern. Not the one you burned down, of course, Eva."

"Don't remind me." Eva narrowed her bushy, red eyebrows. "And excuse me! I thought the rule was for you guys to call me 'Evangeline'. Now, chop, chop!" She clapped her hands together.

"Chop, chop, what?" Axis questioned.

Eva pulled her sword out of the pond's dirt-filled bank. She held the dirty tip up to Axis. "Training! You're training me!"

"Yeah, about that…" Axis crawled out of the pond. "It's been called off." He flopped down on his bare back and placed his hands behind his neck.

Gawain mumbled, "Awkward," in a small voice.

"What?" Eva nearly screamed. She swiped her sword over Axis's body. "You were the one who stood up for me in Erasmus's throne room. For your information, bub, I'm going to be the one to win that lifetime supply of gold coins."

"Yeah, sure," Axis sarcastically said. "I'm just not interested in training someone who has flames in her hair."

Eva lowered her sword. She looked like she was thinking. "What? Are you scared of a little fire?"

"No-No! Of course not!" Nevertheless, Axis shivered.

Eva's curiosity grew. "Then surely you won't mind if I do this?" To Axis's horror, Eva shook her head like a dog. Small embers bounced off her hair.

"Ahh! Stop! Stop that!" Axis yelled. He tossed his own puffy-sleeved shirt over his head and quickly crawled away from Eva. Axis dove behind a log, rudely interrupting two squirrels who were on a date.

They chattered at him.

Eva cupped her hand around her mouth. "You know what's funny?" she called to Axis. "The shapeshifter's weakness is fire, and this is the other place villagers have seen him."

"So?" Axis peered over the log with only half his face. "Maybe he just likes to migrate. What's your point?"

"My point is–"

Swoosh! A sudden arrow emerged from the woods. It flew right through Axis's left arm, skewering it almost to the muscle. "Argh!" he yelled, falling onto his side.

The squirrels sighed breaths of relief, but then they took off.

"Yahhh!" To the hunting party's surprise, a clan of bandits, all handling crossbows, leaped out of the woods. They wore animal skin tops, gauntlets, and boots sewn from alligator scales. Red and white paint covered their faces.

Gawain instantly surrendered. Three people could not take on a clan of bandits. He held up his hands.

A young bandit, who had red hair like Eva, leaped in front of her.

Eva drunkenly waved her sword, only to have it knocked out of her hand by the girl's crossbow.

The girl's mother, who was the leader of the party, tossed a whole bucket of water on Eva's head.

The weakness seeped in like the pain from Axis's skewered arm. Eva's hair steamed and cackled. She fell to her hands and knees.

The girl bandit kneed her back and knocked her onto her front. She tied Eva's wrists behind her.

Gawain let the bandits tie him up. He did not fight them at all.

The clan leader stopped next to Eva's head.

Eva glared at her. Her hair continued to sizzle.

The leader smiled at her daughter. "Well done, Elaine." She put her feet together and lifted her hand into the sky. "Attention, Meraki Clan! We have found our dinner!"

"Yeah!" the bandits cheered.

Crap, Eva thought in her head.