Chapter 2

It felt absurd, as if the world conspired to make every single day excessively eventful. *I'm so damn tired,* Larkin thought to himself with a sigh as he observed the gang of thieves or bandits, whichever label suited them, standing in their way, blocking the road with a barricade.

"Nice ride you got there, looks expensive," remarked one of the bandits, presumably their leader. He sported spiky black hair, brown eyes, and wore a smug grin while casually slinging a rifle over his shoulder. "It is, but it's not for sale," Xain replied with a touch of sarcasm. *Maybe I can talk our way out of this; these are my people, after all,* Xain pondered. The leader and the remaining seven bandits exchanged glances before erupting into laughter.

"Ha, funny, you're funny," the leader chuckled, and playfully started tapping his own head as if deep in thought. Meanwhile, Zee observed the rest of the bandits, weighing her options. *Should I call him? They're all armed, and some have guns.* The leader then spoke up, "You know what? Go away. I won't rob you," he declared, motioning for them to leave.

As the bandit leader made his declaration, a perplexed silence fell upon Xain, Zee, and Larkin. Their collective "Eh?" echoed the disbelief in their minds.

"That worked?" Xain muttered aloud, a genuine surprise on his face. *Since when did talking it out work?* he thought to himself.

*Are we actually going to have a normal day?* Larkin wondered, though by now, not getting attacked seemed to be the abnormality for them.

Zee, however, noticed that the bandits weren't clearing the way. "Um, are you guys not going to move? We have to go that way," she pointed out.

The bandit leader shook his head, a smirk playing on his lips. "No, no, no. I'm letting you guys go, not letting you through. So, get your asses back the way you came, 'cause this place is quarantined," he declared, leaving the trio with more questions than answers.

"Quarantined? For what?" Larkin asked, his tone reflecting the frustration that seemed to accompany every step of their journey. The bandit leader, after a moment of contemplation, waved his hand dismissively. "Screw it, might as well tell you. It's not like I'm going to let you through," he declared, adjusting his rifle on his shoulder as an unmistakable threat.

"A guy called Verandez Rasanto paid me, my boys, and a bunch of other mercs to make sure nobody comes near the village of Wolfdale. Some weird shit is going down over there," the bandit leader, or perhaps mercenary leader, explained.

"Wait, don't ya know the reason for the quarantine?" Larkin probed further. The leader shook his head. "Nope, and I don't care. I'm just in it for the coin, so I didn't ask," he said before adding, "Well, now you know. So, come back a week later or some shit. I doubt wherever you're going is worth risking your lives over."

Xain was about to speak out, but before he could, Larkin intervened, "Well, that's a shame. Wanted to visit someone over yonder, but whatever, you boys just keep doin' your jobs," he said, swiftly dragging both Xain and Zee back into the steamstrider, leaving the leader and his men watching.

Inside the steamstrider, Larkin let out a sigh, massaging his temples. "Why did you bring us back in, old man? I was going to reason with them," Xain protested. Larkin shook his head, "There ain't no reasonin' with mercs, Xain. They have a job, they get paid for it, and most of them make sure that they do it properly," he explained.

"Don't they just care about coin? Like, we might be able to bribe our way through?" Xain asked, drawing from his knowledge of mercenaries from books and bits of information about the Lorenz Company. "That only happens in stories, Xain. If mercs were like that in real life, people wouldn't hire them. And if those guys blocking the road do that, then they're not gettin' hired again," Larkin clarified. He understood how mercenary companies operated, and he knew that the ones blocking the road wouldn't be easily swayed by coin. Whoever this Verandez Rasanto was, he wouldn't hire undisciplined people for a task like quarantining a village.

Xain scratched his head, acknowledging that he still had much to learn about how things operated outside Ironhelm. "So what should we do? We can't just turn back," he asked.

Larkin raised his hand, signaling for a moment to think. "Just wait a sec; I'm tryin' to figure it out."

"I think we might have to fight our way through," Zee suggested, but Xain shook his head. "Against eight armed guys, four of whom have guns? No, we'd most likely die," he reasoned. Drawing on his experience fighting groups, Xain knew that even with magic by their side, the chances of winning were slim. Moreover, some of the mercenaries might possess magic too.

Suddenly, Larkin snapped his fingers. "Wait, can't ya just tell Cain to take care of this?" he suggested, turning to Xain. "Yeah, ask him. I'm sure one single look from him would be enough to scare them off," Zee added, also turning to Xain, who looked sheepish as a bead of sweat trickled down his brow. "I'm sure we can do this without him," Xain insisted nervously.

"Xain, come on, just ask your brother to lend us a ha—" Before Larkin could finish his sentence, Xain interjected, exclaiming, "I have an idea!" Before either of them could inquire about his plan, Xain exited the cabin, advising, "I recommend sitting down." Without further explanation, he closed the door behind him.

The leader of the mercs and his team observed Xain emerging from the cabin and taking control of the steamstrider's driver cockpit. "Looks like they're finally leaving," the leader remarked, seeing Xain start up the vehicle. Steam released from the vents on top of the steamstrider, and it began moving towards them. It made sense; the road was narrow, so he must be planning to execute a turn.

However, as the vehicle drew closer, doubts crept into the leader's mind. *He is doing a turn... right?* The vehicle came even closer. *Right?* It drew nearer. *Right!?* Panic set in as the mercs and their leader scrambled out of the way just in time. Xain tore through their makeshift barricade, shattering the wooden structure into pieces, leaving them in the dust as they fell to the ground.

"Shoot the flare! Shoot them! Do something!" the leader yelled, desperately aiming his rifle at the speeding steamstrider. He fired, but the bullet bounced off the steamstrider's armor, leaving it unscathed as Xain drove away and into the quarantined area.