Sam continued to lie on the ground, the only thought he had was, he was going to die here.

  As both his thighs continued pouring blood from where his legs had been, Buldursmith opened Sam's mouth and grabbed his tongue.

  Buldursmith effortlessly ripped his tongue out of his mouth as blood sprayed everywhere inside Sam's mouth.

  Lying down, the blood began building up at the back of his throat, forcing him to choke on his own blood.

  As he did, Buldursmith punched the side of his jaw, breaking it instantly.

  He then ripped his jaw off, and using the bone from his jaw, proceeded to amputate both his arms.

  Loud choking occurred. Sam was too scared to move, so he lay there, tears rolling down his cheek, his pants getting soaked as he pissed himself.

  So much blood built up, Sam began gargling some of it up. From there, the healer couldn't take it anymore.

  As Sam's eyes lost life as he became dead silent, the healer could be heard screaming and running over to a fountain with a cross in it.

  She got on her knees and began praying to the cross, bowing her head repeatedly.

  As she did, she heard the foot steps of Buldursmith behind her.

  She turned around, looked toward the window where Claire and Jacob had witnessed the event to seeing no one there, and looked back at Buldursmith,

  "NO, PLEASE NO!"

  Buldursmith stood eerily still in front of her. He then looked around and proceeded to walk toward one of the soldier's dead bodies and picked up a sword.

  He walked back to the healer.

  "Stand up."

  As the healer's jaw shook with fear, she slowly stood up.

  As she did, Buldursmith looked at her leg and pushed the sword through it and out her ankle.

  As the blood sprayed everywhere while the healer screamed her guts out, he stood there,

  "I'll make you a deal: if you go back to your city in this state, I will spare your life."

  With that, Buldursmith walked past the healer and into the distance.

  Jacob slowly opened the door of the building. After verifying Buldursmith wasn't there anymore, he signalled Claire to go out and help the healer.

  Despite being just as shaken up as Jacob, she ran out the door to help the healer.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Upon reaching her, she froze in place. Goosebumps scattered around her arms and legs as her breathing became constant and heavy.

  In the distance, she could still see Buldursmith walking away. Seeing him out in the open shook her up even more.

  She snapped out of it before long, picking the healer up. Too shocked to use her magic on anyone, her breathing suspiciously normal, but tears ran down her face. Her hood was still on, covering her face.

  Putting her arm around the healer, Claire then began walking with her outside of the city.

  Reaching the outskirts, they began to calm down a bit more before Claire's leg was grabbed by one of the still-alive bandits lying on the floor.

  She uncontrollably dropped the healer, quickly grabbed her sword, and while screaming, consistently stabbed the bandit in the skull, not stopping until she could see bone.

  Jacob quickly caught up to them both and as he approached, Claire fainted on the spot.

  All the overwhelming emotions she had let out all on the bandit caused her to lose all her energy and collapse.

  Jacob was able to carry Claire on her back, put his arm around the healer, and walk them both out of the city.

  A trip from Cecilum to this 'abandoned' city was a six-hour trip; however, thanks to the unpredictable circumstances, the return trip took four days.

  Cecilum was now in sight and Claire finally woke up.

  "Are you finally awake, do you think you can walk?"

  Claire was met with the calming voice of Jacob, who verified they were out of danger for a now,

  "Sorry, my legs are completely gone."

  A couple moments went by, and as the memories of what happened at the city came flooding back, Claire tightly grabbed Jacobs shirt and hugged him tightly, sobbing but relieved he was able to get them far away.

  "There you are. What happened? I thought there was like eight of you. You've been missing for like four days now."

  The three of them were met with the Mage's voice which, to them, confirmed they were officially safe.

  Jacob told the Mage everything that happened, and the second he mentioned the name Buldursmith, he froze.

  A moment later, he snapped out of it and quickly healed the healer.

  "You two are probably tired. Sarah was able to lend us a couple rooms so get some rest."

  With that, the healer walked off while Jacob and Claire followed him.

  Reaching Sarah's house, they saw Sarah opening the door with two kids.

  "What's happening? I thought we took care of all the kids?"

  Sarah looked at the Mage in utter guilt.

  "I'm sorry. I couldn't afford to continue living here. These kids aren't being trafficked; they are my kids."

  A young boy and girl appeared. Sarah introduced the girl as Anna and the boy as Henry.

  "Alright, I saw a house for sale down the road there. If you don't mind living together for a bit, I'd happily bring you all in."

  Sarah and her kids smiled happily and accepted, following him with Jacob down the road,

  "I'm gonna go back to my house and get some rest."

  Claire then walked back to her house.

  As evening approached, Jacob had woken up from his nap and saw Henry and Anna playing together while Sarah lay asleep on a couch next to the Mage.

  "Hey Jacob, I was thinking of creating a tournament of fighters. The winner would be my apprentice."

  Jacob looked toward the Mage.

  "What brought this on?"

  "I just felt like helping other people out."

  Jacob sat on another chair next to the Mage.

  "I think you're skipping too many steps here. Where were you planning on doing this tournament? Who were you planning on letting join? You do know this'll make you known?"

  The Mage faced away from Jacob.

  "I mean I haven't exactly been very discrete with my identity in every city and town I've been in so far, but its just a concept, nothing's been planned yet."

  The two sat there in silence for five minutes, enjoying the peace and quiet while they still could.

  "Hey, I noticed you froze up when I mentioned Buldursmith earlier. Do you have history with him?"

  The Mage froze again before responding to him.

  "Yeah, I think it's about time I tell you about my past with Buldursmith."

  Before the Mage could say a thing, a soldier who looked affiliated with the Lord of the city came bashing through the door.

  "Mage! I've got a message straight from Bruce, the man you caught out for trafficking."