Ulsper let out an impatient breath. "There's no time—"

"I cannot let time pressure me into making rash decisions," Enji interrupted, his left hand tightening its grip around Nem Koel's shoulder. "Just because you, a Sylterran, come here with a seemingly helpless girl from Montmyth and a soldier from my own country does not mean that you are not scheming to get your own way. There are few who would be so selfless."

"More desperate than selfless, I'd say," Nem Koel muttered despite herself. For once, Enji did not cut deeper into her wound.

"From the way I see it," Enji continued, "Sylterra could have just selected a few talented actors and, through bribery or blackmail, convinced you to find me. Or, you're acting on your own as you say, but as a band of misfits, intent on claiming the power of the swords for yourselves. For what purpose? To be the next ones to usurp the Andilirish throne, and start a reign of your own? Or perhaps you just enjoy throwing people's lives into chaos?"

"Like we'd even have time to draw up a scheme like that! Ulsper's wanted by his own people, and she can't go home!" Nem Koel growled, squirming against the smuggler's merciless grip, despite the renewed rivulets of blood trickling down her skin at the motion. "That's all she wants to do, and that's all I'm trying to help her do by finding these stupid swords. Her country tried to take her, but she ran away. I don't really understand it but she just shows up places, and she's been all over this continent trying to help. We have enough chaos already—we're just trying to get things back to normal!"

"Ulsper, what's going on?" Suthe called from the side, unable to stay silent any longer. "Can't you ask him to stop hurting Nem Koel?"

"Suthe, stay where you are," he warned, trying to keep his tone steady, and painfully aware of how quickly the situation was deteriorating.

"I can't! My leg is cramping!" she shot back. "You three have just been shouting at each other this whole time, and we're getting nowhere closer to any answers, I can tell!"

She straightened up, and Enji took a step back, moving Nem Koel with him.

"I said don't move," the smuggler repeated.

"I told you," Ulsper began, "she doesn't understand—"

He broke off at the sound of shouts and marching feet outside the warehouse door.

"You've led them here," Enji said, his expression grim as his gaze darted between Ulsper and Suthe.

"It was an accident," Nem Koel said.

One of Enji's brows quirked in disbelief. "With a Sylterran among you, you'll forgive me if I can't quite believe that."

"We're trying to prevent a war," Ulsper said. His explanation was rushed over the shouted orders coming from outside. "I was here in Sang Bur when the Lanfu family was killed and Yun Sao took over. All of Andilir was thrown into a chaos that hurt many innocent people, and Montmyth and Sylterra were looking for any weakness to exploit and gain the upper hand. I don't want something like that to happen again. Now that there's proof of the Twin Blades' existence beyond legend, I don't doubt that the three countries would look to exploit each other's weaknesses again. The Twin Blades bring victory, but they also come at a high price, and Pretia was no exception to those repercussions."

Enji's eyes were dark and serious as he thought over Ulsper's words. "If you're truly concerned about the welfare of my country, then it's not the swords you should be going after."

Ulsper shook his head. "I don't understand." Outside, he could hear more footsteps and shouting, but there was no attempt to open the door of the warehouse just yet. They still had a little time.

"The sword fragments are already well-protected by those they were entrusted to – it's the reason that up until now, Montmyth has found only a piece. But the true concern is: who has the ability to put the pieces back together? A handful of sword parts are only useful in their assembled form. If you prevent the swords from being forged again, you'll keep the them out of the hands of people who would abuse their power."

"And who has that knowledge on how to forge the swords?"

Enji paused, a metal dragon ring on his finger glinting as he tightened his grip on Nem Koel's shoulder. "The original swordsmiths and their descendants were from the workshops in Fai, but fled after the Pretian Split. From what it sounds like, Montmyth might have already found one of them."

"And why do you think that?"

"They shouldn't have been able to recognize the sword fragment as belonging to one of the Twin Blades unless they were told by someone entrusted with keeping it a secret."

"Ulsper," Suthe interrupted, her voice barely more than a frightened whisper as more feet stormed outside the warehouse. "They're here..."

He recognized the look in her eyes—frightened, ready to flee. Ready to disappear.

"Suthe, stay calm," he said, willing his voice to sound steady and reassuring. "Saer Lon is still out there, and she'll be able to hold them off for a bit longer." Now that Enji was finally, finally starting to talk, he just needed a little more time.

"But we don't know for sure—and he keeps hurting her!"

"She's right, Ulsper. We're out of time," Nem Koel said in Montese, wincing as Enji moved the blade against her neck again.

"Quiet," Enji ordered.

"Stop hurting her!" Suthe shouted. She took a step towards Enji, and it was the final thread that snapped their frayed semblance of a discussion.

The smuggler moved without hesitation, pushing Nem Koel forward so that she stumbled towards Ulsper. After standing still for so long, Nem Koel's movements were stiff, and she crashed into Ulsper helplessly, dropping her last knife.

Ulsper stumbled back to catch her, swiftly turning her to check her injury.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Nem Koel managed hoarsely, pushing away his hand.

"He's getting away!" Suthe cried, just as someone pounded on the door to the warehouse. In the next moment, Ulsper caught the scent of smoke, and turned to see it rising up from beneath the doors. It was a tactic used by more than just Sylterran soldiers—to force out an enemy with fire, rather than enter a building and risk ambush.

Ulsper looked up to see Enji jump from the railing of some nearby stairs to the very same walkway he had jumped from minutes earlier. The man must have entered through an opening in the roof, and was trying to escape the same way.

Ulsper's lips thinned. Of course, the one time he didn't check for a rooftop entrance, his opponent had one.

There was no time. In a final desperate attempt, Ulsper flung his dagger with all the force he had, aiming for the smuggler's arm. His intent was to wound the man and slow him down, but the glint of silver gave away his attack. Enji turned, blocking the weapon with his own and casting it back down, but his aim was wide, and it flew towards Suthe instead.

A heartbeat passed.

Suthe was frozen in place, staring at the blade as it spun towards her. Nem Koel was shouting her name, pleading with her to get out of the way, but Ulsper was already moving. The pain in his leg was just a dull burn as he rammed into Suthe with enough force to send them both flying, and they would hit the ground at any moment now—

His world turned black.

.

.

.

"Ulsper," a voice called, sounding just like Suthe's had the night she had drunk too much scorpion wine. It was a distant sound that echoed in his mind, almost like ripples in a pool of water. "I'm so sorry."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Oh what a chaotic mess.  I definitely think that meeting could have gone a bit better, but then, I guess things don't always work out the way we want them to (or want to write them to, for that matter).  Anyway, we're almost done!  Sorry for the delay in posting, this weekend was a bit too busy and I wanted to give this the read-through it deserved.  As always, thank you for reading, and I'd love to hear your thoughts!