New plan

The Hunter holds Guy down against the bar top, and has a magic spike against his neck. Guy desperately reaching for the broken dagger, stabbed into the bar top next to him, but he can't reach it.

The Hunter smiles and raises the magic spike high in the air, but before he drives the spike into Guy's neck, Lane runs up from behind and hits the Hunter with a huge piece of wood.

The Hunter turns around unharmed, "Wait your turn to please."

He lets go of Guy's collar and pushes Lane away, sending her flying into a table across the pub.

The Hunter turns back to Guy, "Now where were we?"

Suddenly, the Hunter's magic spike disappears from his hand along with the spikes in Guy's shoulders.

The Hunter looks confused, "what is happening?"

Guy smiles, he shows the Hunter the broken dagger in his hand. The Hunter looks down at his magic page, it's been sliced down the middle.

"Now it's an even fight," says Guy.

He kicks the Hunter off of him, Guy cracks his neck and rolls his shoulder to get warmed up.

"You will regret destroying that!" The Hunter loses his cool and charges at Guy.

Guy ducks under the Hunter's jab and then stabs the Hunter in the side with the dagger. He screams in pain and pulls the dagger out of his side.

"You may have destroyed my magic, but you're still weak!" the Hunter shouts.

He lunges at Guy with a fury of punches. Guy is too exhausted to dodge, but he holds his arms over his face to block any direct hits. Guy sees an opening and catches one of the punches. The Hunter tries to swing with his free hand, but Guy head butts the Hunter in the face.

Guy then pulls the Hunter's whole arm toward him and breaks it. The Hunter yells and falls to his knees. The Hunter stumbles back to his feet and runs out of the pub towards the woods in fear of his life.

The sun is beginning to rise, and outside the pub we see the Hunter running to the tree line. On his way into the woods, he passes Guy's sword stuck in a tree. Guy is not far behind, he retrieves his sword and continues pursuing the Hunter.

The Hunter stumbles into the woods about 100 yards before stopping, he does not know which direction to go. He hears a stick break and turns around to see Guy behind him.

The Hunter tries to back away, but stumbles over himself and falls down. Guy puts his foot on the Hunter's chest.

"No no, please!" begs the Hunter.

Guy puts the tip of his sword on the Hunter's neck, "Who sent you? Who is leading the army?"

"I can't tell you that!" he replies.

Guy stabs the Hunter in the leg, he screams in pain. The Hunter begins to breathe rapidly and shake uncontrollably.

"Get a hold of yourself, I have questions!" says Guy.

"I can't breathe!" the Hunter squeals.

"It's called fear you idiot!"

"I've never felt this before! I've only been alive a few months! Hardly a few months and I've already failed!"

"What are you taking about? Calm down or I'll give you a reason to panic!"

The Hunter tries to calm down.

"Who sent you?" Guy repeats.

"The Captain!" the Hunter replies

"Captain? Give me a name!"

"That is his name!"

"Why'd he send you?"

"The key! He wanted to be sure no one took it, and after I killed the girl, I was supposed to find anyone else hiding in the town! No survivors!"

"What is the key, what does it open?"

"I don't know, I swear! I've told you everything I know!"

Guy takes his foot off the Hunter's chest, "I believe you."

Guy raises his sword and cuts the Hunter in half. He turns to dust, leaving only the magic page behind. Guy picks up the torn page and puts it in his pocket.

Guy walks back to the pub, Robert and Sarah are cleaning the up, and Lane is waiting for him.

Lane sees Guy and runs over to help him into a chair.

"Can you ask Robert if he's got any cloth?" ask Guy.

Lane rolls her eyes, "You know I have healing magic right?"

"I'm fine." he replies.

Lane pulls out her magic book, "Don't be ridiculous."

Lane begins to heal Guy's wounds.

"So healing magic works on you, but other magic doesn't? I still want to know about your powers, but I'm honestly more concerned about the current mystery, who are these Elves?"

Guy sighs, "He was sent by the Captain."

"No name, just a rank?" asks Lane.

"That is his name, I guess. The Hunter came to make sure none of the townspeople ran off with the key."

Guy pauses.

"He also said his next job was to hunt down any survivors hiding in town."

"Survivors?" Lane never considered anyone would still be alive in town alive.

Guy reassures her, "I'll find out when I get to Sansen, if you'll hire me."

Lane thinks to herself for a moment.

"I'll hire you, but I'm going too."

"No, I can't baby sit and save your town at the same time."

"If the Hunter is correct and there are survivors in Sansen, I have to make sure they're safe, especially if you're planning to confront the leader of this army and likely cause all kinds of damage!"

"It's not happening!"

"If I don't go, you don't have the job!"

"I'll just go anyways!"

"Go ahead, and I'll tell everyone, including the King, that the person who saved me and the town was a mysterious noble warrior, and it couldn't possibly be that rude, unclean and reckless man named Guy!"

Guy and Lane stare each other down in a momentary stand-off, finally Guy crosses his arms in defeat.

"Fine, we'll leave at noon."

"Why not now?"

Guy lays his head in the table, "because I need to rest."

A couple hours later, Lane and Guy have packed and are standing on the road with Robert and Sarah. Lane hands Sarah an envelope, "I've written a message for the Warden of Lockten. Hopefully he'll believe us."

"Please my lady, you must come with me," says Sarah.

"No, Sansen is my responsibility, I have to make sure my people are safe,"

Sarah hugs Lane

"Thank you for saving me."

Guy and Robert are waiting for them to finish talking. "So you're going to take Sarah to Locktin?" asks Guy.

"Well, it's not like I can stay here, you wrecked my pub-" There is an awkward silence as they both look at the destroyed pub.

"I mean, I can probably fix it," shrugs Guy.

Robert shakes his head and walks away.

Guy and Lane watch as Sarah and Robert begin their trip down the road to Locktin.

Guy turns and starts walking the other way, "Come on, we need to cover as much ground as possible while we have daylight."

In a dark, unknown place, there is an Elf watering strange flowers. Everything is dark and has a strange red hue. We can't see this Elf's face, only his back.

Footsteps approach and then stop. A second Elf marches in and takes a knee.

"You summoned me, my Lord?" says the Elf on one knee.

"I experienced something this morning that worries me," says the Elf Lord.

"Is it about the mission, my Lord?" asks the kneeling Elf.

The Elf Lord continues to water his plants, "Yes, four thrall returned to me."

The kneeling Elf isn't surprised, "I would expect the humans to be capable of killing a handful of the lower level soldiers, my Lord."

The Elf lord stops watering his plants, "A Hunter has returned as well."

The kneeling Elf looks up in disbelief, "That can't be possible! There must have been a feud inside the ranks. Would you like me to interject?" asks the kneeling Elf.

"No, we'll let Capatain handle it for now, but if I feel another return to me, I'll send you Colonel," says the Elf Lord. The Colonel stands up, "Yes, my Lord."