Gadgeran's eyes popped open. The memories of events transpired streamed through his mind as he collected his own bearing. He clasped the ground, feeling the soft, woolen blanket stretched on the ground beneath him. A familiar voice could be heard relatively close by.

"It doesn't matter," the familiar voice said.

A faint, but consistent throb within his own head could be felt as he began to push on his shoulders, slowly bringing himself to a sitting position.

"It definitely matters," a toneless voice spoke.

Gadgeran, still drowsy, turned his head, observing his surroundings. There was just enough visibility to tell that the sun was soon to rise from the horizon. A serene, cool breeze donned him like an airy coat. Looking up, he noticed that the only tree in the vicinity stood over him, vigilant, like how his watchful mother would in his youthful childhood days.

"How about we agree to disagree?" It was the girl from earlier, seemingly in an argument with her sword.

"Absolutely not. There's only yes... or no. 'Doesn't matter' doesn't exist."

"Hmph."

Gadge turned his gaze towards his other side. The young woman, Sofia, sat on another blanket, eyes transfixed on the campfire, rapidly crackling and shooting bits of ash into the morning air. Her sword, with its silver hilt and blade as black as the night, lay up against a small pole that Sofia had previously planted into the earth. Connected to the pole was a rope, tied to a loopy-eyed paint horse eating a pile of hay left on the ground beneath it.

"A...ah." Gadgeran tried to speak. His pain was still upon him, though, and it proved to be difficult to formulate words. He brought his hand to his head as the throbbing, while miniscule, was still quite present.

Sofia turned her own head towards Gadgeran as her kind-hearted eyes widened.

"Woah, woah! Easy there!" she exclaimed as she scrambled towards a case full of materials. The girl reached with gentle arms for her water flask, then made a quick stride towards Gadge's resting place. After a pluck of the cap, she plopped the container straight into Gadge's shaking hands. Without a thought, Gadge let the water rush down his throat.

"You should drink that slower," Sofia said, somewhat concerned.

Not even a second passed before Gadgeran began gagging as some of the liquid traveled down the wrong pipe.

"The lady warned you," the sword spoke.

Gadge slowly turned his attention to the sword. Its black blade was decorated with lines that shone a brilliant blue whenever its voice was heard.

"Talking... sword... huh? Gadge calmly said as to not continue coughing.

"Well aren't you delirious?" The sword responded in a playful manner. "Sofia, do you think our patient has been hit a little too hard on the head?"

"In this day and age," Gadge slowly brought his head to his face, "I'd think there's a higher chance seeing a herd of cows playing cards together, so yeah, I'm not entirely surprised by the existence of a talking sword."

"Well you're not too shaken up, are ya?" Sofia began examining Gadge like how doctors would examine their patients, "A few scratches here, and, woah. Wow, that's a nasty bruise you've got on your face, there.

"It's... it's fine... ow."

"Explains why there's blood on Dizzy's saddle though." With a deft movement, she gently pinched Gadge's nose.

"Yow!" Gadgeran cried as he pulled his face away to prevent the pain.

"Yup, nasal fracture and periorbital hematoma by the looks of it. I'll probably pay the inkeep to fix that up when I drop you off at Morning Star."

Morning Star? Gadgeran thought to himself, That small border town wouldn't be able to keep me safe from the Gold Swords once they find out I'm not exactly tied down anymore.

"But you should be fine for the time being," Sofia said as she walked back towards her spot by the fire.

"My." The sword's toneless voice chimed in, "What a generous one you are, miss."

"Zip it, Lotis," she snapped back, "Or I'm getting you a thicker sheath."

"And what a shame it would be if your hand suddenly burned up during your next practice session, hmm?"

"At least I can come up with original burns."

Gadgeran then remembered the name that Sofia gave to him before he passed out. It was a fleeting thought, like remembering a past event that occurred within a dream.

"Litello," he said to her from his resting place, "You... you're... Litello... right?"

Sofia looked back to Gadge from her seat, seemingly happy that someone gave her recognition for her affiliation.

"Yup! I'm a Litello!" She smiled.

The Litello, Gadgeran continued to ramble in his mind, the army of knights founded by Lady Cometarias two hundred years ago to save the world from the Shadow Curses. Without them, Ludien, and possibly all Light-blooded people, would probably not even exist now.

Sofia then gestured to her resting blade. "And this is my fourth-best friend, Lotis!"

The sword lay still, seemingly inanimate with no ability to perform physical action on its own. The light from the fire revealed that the blade was colored black with blue lines decorating itself, shining the color whenever it formed words.

"Fourth-best friend?" Lotis inquired.

"You drop down a rank whenever you make a stupid sword pun."

"Well. Then I have to say you're fine with me giving our friend here a brief on what we were chatting about before he woke up."

"Um... second best?"

"A blunt offer, but it'll have to do."

"Ugh."

Gadgeran gently rubbed his nose, hoping that the pain would vanish. "Well..." he said, it's a good thing... that you showed up when you did... It's actually pretty convenient thinking on it."

"Less convenient than one would imagine," Lotis explained. "After a Litello completes training, they are sent to the Darkened Forest to kill a cursed monster."

Gadgeran took another gulp of water from the flask.

"So you've just finished training then?" Gadgeran asked.

"Wait a minute!" Sofia, deftly raising her hand, exclaimed as if to change the subject. "I don't know your name yet! You sort of passed out before I could gather that itsy bit of intel."

"Leon Albor." He stated without a second beat. This was the thirty-seventh name that Gadge had come up with for situations such as these. Of course, Viker and the Gold Swords were a bit smarter than to immediately trust his word.

"Leon... Albor." Sofia repeated to herself. "I like it!" She then paused for a moment.

Gadgeran's vision started becoming hazy. Dizziness started overcoming him, and his ability to hear became quite faint. He laid back against his tree. The desire to sleep fell upon him, and within moments, he was out like a fading light.

"How much of that medicine did you put in the water again?" Lotis asked.

"Okay Mister Talksbackalot, look here!" Sofia, in a fit of frustration, shoved a small booklet in front of her sword, pointing to the number in the fine print. "It says three spoonfuls of the pain reliever, so you can shut it."

"Sofie... there's no easy way to explain this..."

"Explain what?"

"That's... that's a two."

"Oh." Sofia took a second look at the booklet. "Whoops..."

The leaves on the trees of Kastor's villa had just changed their coats of colors to orange and red. The summer heat was dying down, and a cool, gentle breeze shaped up throughout. Wearing a black cloak, the young prince, Chael had assembled an entourage of knights in front of the villa. The knights were all mounted and were geared with weapons and traveler's attire. Gadgeran looked onward from his room's window.

"To Garth?" Gadgeran asked in reply without looking back towards his informat. "Phil, do you know why they're going there? That far to the southeast? He continued writing down an invoice for a shipment of Sanerian swords.

"Dunno about that. All I figure'd out is that they're goin' to Garth and won't be back for over three months."

"It's surely interesting though. Garth seceded from Ludien after the Dark Sun Invasion."

"You mean after Skylos the Shadowstrider murdered the Royal Family? Aw crap, I almost forgot. Murderer of a thousand men, cold hearted destroyer of the Second Line, may you ever rot..."

"No, no, there's no need for that." Gadgeran shook his hand in front of his face. "We're not in public, and I don't give two solid shits about that chant."

"Uh... ah... okay, my lord." Phil looked around as if he were afraid of some divine presence.

"Anywho," Gadgeran looked back at his invoice. "There have been no ties between Ludien and Garth for nearly two hundred years now besides through trade, which makes me wonder what Chael's up to." Gadgeran stopped writing and placed his pen on the desk. "It doesn't matter, though, it just means he can't stop me from selling fake swords. You said that you hired guards for the caravan?"

A loud knock came from the door.

"Open up!" A commanding voice boomed through the room. Without another second passing, several armed and armored soldiers broke down the door and filled in every space of the room. Gadgeran look on, suddenly paralyzed with fear. One of the soldiers removed his helmet. Viker of the gold swords signaled his troops to point crossbows at Gadgeran.

"In the name of Chael Kastor," he lifted his fingers. "You are to be executed where you stand for the murder of Duke Kastor. What say you in your defense?"

Gadgeran could say nothing.

"Fire on him." Viker ordered.

As the crossbow bolts flew towards him, Gadgeran woke up in fear.