Upon their return, the men go to wash off the blood and maintain their equipment while Landyn goes alone to report to Vulpes.

  She is sitting on the windowsill of her office on the top floor of the castle keep, half welcoming the tired knight and half lost in thought and looking far off into the horizon. She is staring at a stack of blue smoke rising from the enemy camp.

  “Blue smoke. They made a pyre to burn a noble. Who did you kill this time, Tanner?”

  “Didn’t get his name, but he wore full plate. Couldn’t be nothing too expensive since it bent like cheap tin when Viper hit him with a light mace.”

  “Impressive, sellsword. No casualties this time, I take it?” She is still staring a thousand yards into the distance, but a smile escapes her.

  “One of your horses broke his leg… I’m sorry. But we’ve replaced it with the one used by that knight we killed.”

  “So no casualties. Good.” Suddenly she gasps and turns to him as she remembers something rather important. “Ah! Do pass by the infirmary either way. You’ll have a pleasant surprise waiting for you there.”

  “Yes… I will.” He feels she is not quite alright. He can’t just go. “...Are you alright?”

  She sighs deep like she is too full of so much life and death. “Yes… I just… I remembered burning my brother the same way they are burning that man right now. The blue smoke and green flame at the bottom are supposed to be holy symbols of reincarnation and righteousness… but they seem like spectacle to me. It feels… prophane.”

  “...I believe spectacle is better than bawling your eyes out. At least, that’s what I want when I die. I want everyone drinking and having a good time in my honor. Pouring me one last drink on the dirt under which they bury me.”

  “Us crying won’t bother you, sellsword. You’ll be dead.”

  “But I believe I’ll be watching, either from above, or more likely from below. And I wouldn’t want you to ruin your pretty face with tears for me, even though I’d feel honored to have you mourn me, a simple sellsword.”

  “You are more than a sellsword…” She gets up from the windowsill and takes a step towards Landyn before a sudden realisation stops her in her tracks with a chuckle. “Pfft! Hahaha! You’re good. You know that?” Landyn doesn’t know how to respond and just tilts his head in confusion. “Anyway, my Sir Tanner, you really do have a big surprise waiting at the infirmary for you. Get going, will you? Before I do something I might regret.”

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  “I have a feeling I might not regret whatever you might do… But I’ll go. See you’.” He waves goodbye and turns toward the door with a grin.

  —Last night, at the cemetery—

  The priest is tired and weary. He has been administering last rites and blessing burials nonstop since the fighting started. Every spare second he had he spent comforting one of his parishioners or another. Even now, well after the sun has fallen, he is walking through the graveyard and blessing the overcrowded graves.

  He comes upon a grave which he looks at with disdain. It is the grave of a sellsword. He was forced at the end of the sword to bury him among his parishioners, but he could not be forced to give a blessing from the heart. A sellsword who lived for battle and coin, buried among his pious flock… it sickens him.

  While he avoids stepping on the soft dirt of other graves, while passing over this one he tramples.

  “Ack!”

  He suddenly yelps out as something grabs his foot.

  He looks down at the ground and he sees a hand wrapped around his ankle.

  “WAAAAHH!!!!! BEGONE! FOUL DEMON!! BEGONEEEEE!!!! AAAAAH!!!”

  —

  Landyn arrives at the infirmary and before he can close the door behind him, Thorvald wraps him up in a bear hug that deflates his lungs like balloons popped.

  “He’s alive! Rabbit’s alive!” Thorvald exclaims as he picks Tanner up and waves him around.

  “Gah- Bah- Uhh-” Noises meant to be pleas of mercy escape Tanner’s lips just barely, but the giant does not relent.

  “Stop it, Thorvald! We don’t want Sir Tanner spending the night in the infirmary here with me!” Rabbit interjects and Thorvald embarrassedly puts Tanner down.

  Landyn regains his breath and asks: “Huff. Huff. How?”

  “You motherfuckers buried me alive! I should crack your skulls right now! But… It’s been a while since I heard a priest scream like a little girl so I’ll let this one go.”

  “Hah! You can barely move, you zombie! As if you could even touch me in your state!” Viper is teasing a muribund man… naughty, naughty.

  “As if someone who can’t even take someone’s pulse right could see me coming!” Rabbit shouts and pinches Viper’s side with surprising levels of strength.

  “WaAaAaAaUgh!” His voice quivers like Goofy getting stabbed in a New Orleans alleyway. The other wounded and the nurses can’t help but stifle their laughs.

  Viper cocks his fist back, but Thorvald suddenly gives him a bear hug too. “Viper! How could you try to hit our friend when he is in this state!?”

  They will keep fooling around for a while. Laughing and celebrating. Their comrade has risen from the dead, and Vulpes has risen from her depressive state. Sir Tanner is quite proud of himself.