Welnar awakens to a light shove from Kali. “Yo, sleepyhead. Wake up.” She says.

  Welnar groggily mumbles something incomprehensible as he slowly sits up, rubbing his eyes. “You know anybody with the initial D?” She says.

  “Huh? D… W-why are you asking?” Welnar says, stretching and getting up. Then he notices something on the table of the room. It’s a rather well made, large plate of breakfast food… The kind of food Welnar hasn’t ever laid his eyes on before. “Am I still dreaming?” Welnar is very awake now as the delicious smell hits his nose.

  “Nope… It had a note that seemed addressed to us.” Kali’s mom says. Welnar walks over, taking a look at it.

  “You’ll need your energy to win. Enjoy.” -D

  Welnar taps his chin, trying to look deep in thought. Really though, he knows who it is… Derlock. But why? Or, even when did Derlock make this? How did he even get in?!

  “Uh… Nah, nobody that comes to mind.” Welnar shrugs. No point trying to explain everything…

  “Well whoever they are, they seem to know we’ve got it out for the Phoenix.” Kali says. “And they’re on our side! So fuck it, let’s dig in!”

  And in no time flat, they all begin to gorge themselves upon the delicious breakfast… Welnar pokes and prods at a strange strip of cooked meat on his plate. It looks kind of like jerky, but bigger and not as dry…

  {“Bacon! Do you really not know what bacon is?”} Monarch says. {“Nope… Never heard of it.”} Welnar responds.

  {“Goodness… You know, when we get the time we’re going to find a good food place and you’re gonna try all sorts.”}

  {“You talk like it wouldn’t be taking from my coins!”} Welnar protests.

  {“And you’re not exactly poor anymore after all that bounty hunting.”} Monarch points out. Welnar has no rebuttal for that… Regardless, Welnar decides to give this “bacon” a try at Monarch’s behest. And is totally caught off guard by the taste… It’s good. Really good.

  Welnar scarfs down the rest of his bacon as quick as he can, earning a chuckle from Kali. “Sheesh dude, don’t forget to breathe!” Welnar can’t help but laugh as well, only to end up having a coughing fit for a moment as he almost chokes on his food… But that just makes everybody start laughing more, and Welnar can’t help but laugh too.

  {“Incoming!”} Monarch says, surprising Welnar. “Huh-”

  The warning is a little too late though, as a small explosion sends the door flying past Welnar and into the wall opposite to it. Welnar scrambles to his feet along with Kali, her parents both still in shock. Through the dust, two burning wings are visible… The Phoenix. But as it clears, two other figures are seen. Two men clutching a dagger tightly with shaky hands. They look unwell, almost starved.

  The Phoenix glares at Welnar, before unexpectedly charging at him! He grabs Welnar by the throat, slamming him into the wall. He’s not choking him though. “You two, get the fucking parents.” The two men jump slightly and give weak nods, starting to move towards Kali’s parents who have now stood up, and are backing away… Kali steps in front, unsheathing her sword. “The hell is this?!” She yells.

  “Your FRIEND here, thought he could be slick and do some last minute training in the middle of the night!” Welnar’s eyes widen momentarily. “And that’s reason to barge in here to you?” Kali argues, keeping her eyes on the two men. They’ve stopped though, afraid of Kali.

  “Of course it is! This is MY town, I make the rules! And I say you’re not allowed to do some bullshit last minute training!” The Phoenix yells, his flaming wings flaring brighter as his rage grows. {“This guy is a fucking joke…”} Welnar thinks… He could use his scarlet knife to crack his skull open right now. He wouldn’t even see it coming. But Welnar doesn’t… He wants to beat him at his own game. And if he killed him like that, then he wouldn’t be able to claim his heart.

  “So, as of right now as payment I’m upping the stakes! Firstly, we fight NOW. Not tonight. And, I won’t just stop at killing you two… Your family is next if you lose, girl.” The Phoenix sneers.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Like hell I’m letting you even take them!” Kali shoots back.

  “You either let them come with us, or I kill this Sorcerer here and now and then you!”

  Kali clenches her shortsword tighter… Welnar gives her a subtle thumbs up though.

  “F-fine…” Kali says, slowly lowering her sword. The two men give her a look of confusion…

  “That’s better.” The Phoenix says, grinning ear to ear as he drops Welnar. “Come on, let’s get moving. Don’t waste my time if you know what’s good for you.” He steps outside, and the two men lead Kali’s parents out just after… Kali looks at Welnar. “You better know what you’re doing. I’m… I’m putting it all on the line here…” Kali looks nervous. Scared, even. Welnar doesn’t blame her… He just told her to put not only her life, but her family at stake.

  Welnar stands up, walking over and putting a hand on Kali’s shoulder. “Thank you for trusting me… Don’t worry. I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t certain of winning this.” He smiles.

  Kali looks to the floor for a moment, before looking back at Welnar… She musters a smile too. “Alright then hero. Let’s see what you’re made of.”

  The two walk through the broken door frame, the Phoenix looking with crossed arms. He scoffs, then turns and begins walking. They all follow, the two men with daggers trailing at the back. Eventually, after a bit they come to a clearing where tiki torches sit unlit, scattered about. Townsfolk have also gathered around to see the Phoenix and his new prey, willingly or not. At least, they believe they are prey…

  They are wrong.

  “Stay there.” The Phoenix orders, Kali and Welnar reluctantly listening as he keeps walking a short distance before turning to face them.

  Two of the townsfolk walk in front of the Phoenix, the two each holding an end of something wrapped in cloth. They kneel and unwrap the cloth, revealing the Phoenix’s weapon of choice… A Partisan. The two people who brought him the spear swiftly return to the crowds after as he sweeps it along the ground, then points it at Kali and Welnar. “Let’s begin.”

  Kali immediately charges forward, Welnar following suit! They keep themselves mostly spread out, forcing the Phoenix to choose who to use the spear on. He focuses on Kali, thrusting forward with the spear but it’s blocked with the flat of her sword. This gives the opportunity to close in from the opposite side, throwing a punch that the Phoenix blocks with his forearm. {“Duck!”} Monarch calls out, Welnar doing so as the Phoenix swipes outwards with the same arm, a wave of flame being released that just barely misses Welnar. He comes back up with an uppercut that strikes the Phoenix cleanly, Kali near immediately following up with a downwards slash. It’s blocked using the pole of the partisan, and Welnar follows up on the follow up with a gut punch! The Phoenix skids back a short distance.

  Kali and Welnar share a small fistbump as the Phoenix grumbles…

  “Insolent BASTARDS!!” He yells, stabbing his partisan into the ground. Cracks form in the ground all around, orange glow seeping through the cracks… “Watch out!” Welnar says, yanking Kali out of the path of a pillar of flame as dozens erupt all around the clearing.

  “Damn it’s getting toasty…” Kali says as she looks over at the Phoenix as he rips the partisan out of the ground… Noticing that the spear head is now also coated in flames.

  “I’ll take on the spear this time.” Welnar says, Kali nodding in response. Then, they charge once more as the Phoenix meets them halfway!

  This time Welnar has put himself on the side of the spear… “Better not half ass this or I’ll get bored!” And he throws out a taunt for good measure. This certainly gets the Phoenix’s attention, and he immediately stabs towards Welnar. He ducks to the side, and the Phoenix immediately sweeps the spear towards him. Welnar catches the spear head using a hand covered in mana, but those flames still kinda burn! He yanks the spear back to pull the Phoenix in, but he unexpectedly let’s go of the spear as Kali is upon him, forcing him backwards with a flurry of slashes. Welnar throws the spear to the side and begins to charge for the Phoenix…

  But as he dodges one of Kali’s slashes, a ball of flame forms in his hand that he flings toward her. She only barely reacts in time, swerving her body to the side yet even so, the flames lick at her face. She winces in pain, and in that moment the Phoenix gives himself a sudden burst of forward momentum with a flap of his wings, shoulderchecking Kali and sending her to the floor! Welnar thrusts his hand forward, the scarlet knife flying towards the Phoenix but even that is too slow as he flaps his wings again, flying up and over Welnar… Landing right next to his spear, which he kicks up off the ground and catches mid-air. Welnar tries to run over to Kali and help her up…

  “Not this time!” The Phoenix yells, dashing towards him and not giving an inch of breathing room. He sweeps the spear for Welnar’s legs, but he narrowly steps back from the spear… Only to then lift his foot and plant it firmly on it, momentarily pinning it! He pushes off of it, leaping towards the Phoenix with a flying knee that strikes cleanly, sending teeth flying. The Phoenix staggers back, throwing a stab with his spear to ward off another assault from Welnar…

  The Phoenix then notices that Kali is no longer on the ground. Where did she-

  A sword comes down along his back, cutting deep into his flesh and making him yell in pain. When did she get behind him!? “Pay attention asshole!” Kali says as she tries to slash again, but the Phoenix whips around, using his flaming wings to strike her and leave a nasty burn mark on her cheek. Then, he plunges the partisan in the ground once more, causing pillars of flame to erupt once more… Welnar gets ready to attack, but then the Phoenix disappears in a burst of flame. Where did he go?!

  Welnar whips his head around all over, trying to find him. Nowhere to be seen… He moves towards Kali, going back to back with her to cover each other's blind spots. There’s a few seconds of dead silence, the pillars of flame still burning brightly…

  Until suddenly, the Phoenix flies out of one towards Welnar, with a new weapon in tow! Instead of a spear, it’s some sort of long, curved sword with a circular cross guard. He uses it to slash across Welnar’s chest, having caught him off guard. Welnar defended as best he could, but it still left a surface wound and messed up his shirt.

  The Phoenix lands, skidding to a stop as the pillars of flame die down… “You alright Welnar?” Kali says. “Yeah, nothing I can’t handle… He says, and without thinking rips his cut shirt off. He doesn’t need it getting in the way.

  The Phoenix takes a stance with his new weapon, clutching it with both hands. The entire blade is wreathed in flame just like the partisan… {“An odachi.”} Monarch says. {“What?”} Welnar responds in confusion.

  {“The weapon he wields is an odachi. It’s from the continent to the east, basically their version of a greatsword.”}

  {“Continent to the east- Huh?”} Welnar says, sounding even more confused than before. {“...Focus. I’ll tell you later.”} Monarch sighs.

  Welnar and Kali ready themselves, The Phoenix’s wings seemingly burning brighter than ever. All around, it looks like the townsfolk are growing ever so slightly more hopeful… They’ve never seen the Phoenix pushed this hard before. Maybe, just maybe… There’s a chance…

  A chance they could win.