A month later, the brisk morning air nipped at Kahiri and her father James as they busied themselves with removing unwanted plants from their flourishing garden. With careful movements, they snipped away at a vine-like weed that wrapped tightly around the young flowers and constricted their growth. 

James swatted a fly off of his sweaty forearm and smirked at Kahiri while he stretched his back. "So, what was it that Swedo character told you about eggs, again?" 

Kahiri giggled. "He was claiming that the eggs of the Logolian killer duck are more nutritious than chicken eggs!" 

James threw his head back in hearty laughter. "Good luck stealing anything from those devils. What an idiot." 

Kahiri snickered for a few seconds before she got back to jabbing her trowel into the soil and uprooting weeds. 

"By the way," James began, "your big brother came by while you were gone. He says hi." 

Kahiri's face sombered. "He did? I wish I could've seen him! How is he?" 

James nodded. "Doin' good. His farm's thriving, his wife conceived, and so did his new cow." 

"Wow, that's great! I'm so glad to hear it!" 

James' eyes sparkled with mischief and his lips twitched upward. "Yeah, I told Parken that if he keeps visiting so sporadically, he'll miss your wedding, Kahiri." 

Kahiri rolled her eyes. "He'll be old and gray when that day comes." 

"Don't say that, Darling! Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, I'm surprised we don't have the neighborhood boys knockin' our door down already." 

Kahiri merely rolled her eyes again. 

"I suppose it's 'cause they're all about as sharp as mallets." James chuckled as he threw his arms lovingly around his daughter. Then he noticed movement in his peripheral vision, so he turned his head, as did Kahiri. 

Three horse riders trotted up to the brawny farmer and his daughter, finally stopping a few yards away. They dismounted gracefully, and a dark-skinned man wearing a black leather jacket stepped up to the pair. 

"Hello, sir," the man began as he reached out to shake James' hand, "I'm Major Qwarten Rakon of the Kaborian Army, former leader of the Tereslars." 

James smiled and shook Qwarten's hand vigorously. "It's nice to meet you, sir. My daughter's told me lots about ya." 

Qwarten nodded. "In that case, I assume you're aware why we're here now." 

James frowned. "No, I don't have the slightest clue." 

"Really?" Kahiri questioned, "I thought I told you." 

"No, you didn't." 

Qwarten coughed. "Well, the gist of it is this: Though we destroyed the Yugdabs' hideout in Haspodia last month, it turns out they have many more men and bases of operation than we originally thought. For our mission to truly be accomplished, we'll have to continue this fight until no Yugdabs remain in the entire Republic." 

James scratched his chin. "I see. But Kahiri told me that the Senate disbanded the Tereslars. So in that case—" 

"We're gonna be working under their noses." Qwarten completed. "The Senate's way of doing things is slow and inefficient. What we need to win is the opposite." 

"So that's your justification for taking the law into your own hands?" James turned to Kahiri before the major could respond. "Do you really want to be pulled into an enterprise that borders on criminal activity?" 

Kahiri stuttered for a few moments. "Well, the way I look at it, this violence has to end, and the sooner, the better. If this is the way we have to do it, then so be it." 

James grunted and turned to Qwarten again. He pointed at the two people standing behind him. "Who might those fellers be?" 

Qwarten motioned to a redheaded woman who chewed a toothpick and leaned against her jet-black horse with crossed arms. "This is Meg Lanton. She was hired to bring the Yugdab leader before the Senate for questioning, but in the turmoil of their hideout collapsing, she failed to capture him." 

"And they haven't paid me even one credit yet." Meg added with downturned lips. 

Qwarten nodded and pointed to a brawny man who sat on a boulder and balanced a battle axe on his knees. "And this is Jeng Korgo. Kahiri, I don't think you've met him before." 

Kahiri shook her head and stepped up to the man. "No, I haven't." Then she made eye contact with Jeng and smiled. "I'm Kahiri. It's a pleasure to meet you." 

Jeng grinned back. "Pleasure's all mine." 

Now Qwarten turned to Kahiri. "How soon can you be ready for departure?" 

Kahiri grinned. "Give me an hour, and I'll be ready, I promise." 

With that, Kahiri raced into the house, ignoring her father's judgmental stare as she went.

******************** 

Exactly an hour later, Qwarten guzzled one last gulp of water from a glass. He nodded at Kahiri as she emerged from her bedroom with a bag slung over her shoulder. 

James cleared his throat and stepped up to the major. "Now, sir, where are you going, exactly?" 

"We'll travel to Logolia. A decennial festival to Anjaflic is being held there five days from now. I figure that most of the Yugdabs will be present, and instead of us running around and taking out each of their dozens of bases individually, we can take out a large chunk of their numbers all at once." 

James nodded slowly. "I see. I still question the legality of all this, though." 

Qwarten shrugged. "I've learned long ago to stop caring about whether others agree with me or not. It's fruitless." 

James smirked. "On that, you and I are in agreement." Then he embraced Kahiri. "Stay safe, Darling." 

"I will, Dad. If Parken shows up again while I'm gone, punch him for me." 

James chuckled. "Will do." 

With that, Qwarten, Kahiri, Meg, and Jeng exited the house and strolled up to their horses. Once they mounted them, they rode off westward into the horizon. 

******************** 

Meanwhile, Erok and Chris wiped their sweaty heads as they sheathed their swords and entered a small inn on the outskirts of a little village a day's journey north of Costera City. They ascended a stairwell and entered their room. Erok frowned as he noticed Dr. Swedo pressing salt crystals into slices of bread. 

"Swedo, what on earth are you doing?" Erok demanded. "Why are you getting your dirty hands on every bloody piece of bread we have?" 

Swedo grinned. "I washed my hands, I assure you. I figured that since we'll soon find ourselves in the humidity of Defloria's swamps, I had better salt the bread so as to keep it from molding." 

Chris glared at the doctor. "But Swedo, you already did that yesterday! Are you trying to kill us?" 

"Absolutely not! My job is to preserve your lives, not destroy them!" 

"You say that," Chris retorted, "but your actions speak otherwise." 

"You are quite mistaken. Unfortunately, I know of no remedy for a lack of common sense." 

Chris growled, but no comeback came to his mind. 

Erok sighed. "Swedo, we're going to meet the queen of Defloria herself in a couple days. I think she'll have no lack of fresh food for us, and I assure you it won't be moldy. Please, take it easy on the salt, for our taste buds' sake, at least." 

Swedo huffed. "Very well, then. I'm unsure what I will occupy my time with in the meantime." 

Chris smirked. "You could shave. Your face looks like a scraggly mess." 

"It looks absolutely fine! Erok's the one with a bush growing on his face." 

Erok frowned and stroked his beard. "Hey, it may be a bush, but it's a very well-trimmed one. Yours looks like an unkept field." 

"Like a field of dandelions." Chris added. 

Swedo glared. "You shouldn't be participating in this conversation, Chris. You can hardly even grow a mustache, so you have no idea what you're talking about." 

Chris smirked. "Hey, Erok's teaching me a lot of things, not just swordsmanship." 

Swedo huffed and snatched a razor from his supply bag. 

******************** 

Kahiri and Meg sat beside one another in the supply wagon while Qwarten and Jeng rode their horses freely in the front. Kahiri snacked on a fresh orange while Meg gnawed on a piece of Qwarten's flavorless beef jerky. 

Kahiri grinned at Meg. "It feels odd travelling without Erok, Swedo, and Chris, doesn't it?" 

Meg shrugged and threw the rest of her meat to the ground. "Those goody-two-shoes can have the Senate's favor beaming down on them all they want. I don't really miss them, to be honest." 

"What do you mean by that?" 

"One of the main things I hate about the Kaborian Senate. They care more about niceties and politeness than things that actually matter. As long as you can kiss up to them and be really friendly, then they'll love you and give you endless assignments and money. That's why Erok is doing so well, and also why I'm not." 

Kahiri sighed. "That sounds unfair." 

"It is. It really is." 

After the two sat in silence for a while, Kahiri cleared her throat. "Excuse my asking, but there's one thing that's been bothering me for a while." 

"What's that?" 

"You and Erok have this ... weird dynamic, and I was just curious—"

 "Oh, about that." Meg closed her eyes and sighed. "It's complicated." 

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." 

Meg gave Kahiri a small grin. "Yeah, let's not open that can of worms." 

Kahiri smirked. "Speaking of worms, did you hear Swedo say it's best to fry worms with the mud and dirt still on them?" 

Meg wrinkled her nose in disgust. "He did? That's disgusting!" 

Kahiri giggled. "Yeah, he said it adds a pleasant, earthy flavor to the meal." 

"Sure it does." Meg replied sarcastically. "To be honest, I never really liked fried worms anyway. They never agreed with my stomach or my palate." 

Kahiri grinned. "We're certainly in agreement on that, Meg." 

With that, the two women continued on incheerful conversation while Qwarten and Jeng remained silent in the front. 

******************** 

A/N: Well, there goes chapter 14! If you enjoyed it, please remember to vote and comment. And if you didn't, I guess I understand why. This one is mostly just a setup for the many chapters that follow, which explains why it isn't all that exciting. (We did laugh at Dr. Swedo in the middle of the chapter though, didn't we?)

*coughs and glances over notes*

Anyhow, maybe we haven't had enough time to make a decision yet, but what are our thoughts on Jeng?

How about the dynamic between Erok, Chris, and Swedo?

And most importantly, what's one thing about you that nobody else could've known without you telling them?

I hope you have a great day! If my wish comes true, I'll see you in the next update, bearing comments and votes in your arms as you arrive. XD