There was a collective gasp in the audience and a murmur. Some sounded scared, but most became smug and arrogant with a possible reward enticing their minds. One merchant grabbed a machete mounted to the wall with a grin on his face.

Daryl's eyes shifted to his right and left. Some of the people looked apprehensive about attacking, but others started to step towards him. He knew that he was probably going to end up hurting people that had no intentions of hurting him but knowing that he could not take any chances given the lack of space, Daryl raised his left foot to kick someone in the side. With the top of his foot still pressed against the man, he forced the kick forward so that he ended up making a half-circular swing with his leg, bringing about eight other people in the man's path down with him. The people he brought down with that kick ended up causing a domino effect, knocking back a hoard of other bystanders. Out of the corner of his eye, Daryl noticed a man coming at him with a knife to his right. With a single motion of drawing his sword, he swung it at the man's wrist, chopping off the hand that carried the knife. The man's wailing in agony and the horror of watching dark red fluid spew from his stub and witnessing his severed hand fall to the floor caused many to squeal and start running back towards the first room. Daryl raised his left arm to elbow the screaming man in the face and sent him into the crowd behind him, knocking the man out and causing others to fall.

Madison and Liam watched in terror at the sudden outbreak. Madison looked back to where they came from and nudged Liam. "C'mon!" he shouted, running down the hall.

Liam clenched his teeth, wanting to run, too, but something told him to stay to make sure Daryl did not get killed. At the same time, though, if Daryl survived, it was likely that Madison would not. He looked back and forth between Madison running away and Daryl fending off his pursuers. The sorcerer squeezed his eyes shut and pulled at his hair in frustration. Curse this conscience of mine! He opened his eyes and dropped his bag to the floor, unfastening his staff to and holding it with a firm grip.

Richter noticed Liam's indecision and narrowed his eyes at him, as if he was wondering whether or not he was going to attack Daryl along with the others.

Out from the crowd that Daryl threw the handless man into came another man with a shiv charging at the swordsman with alarming speed. Daryl was ready for him, though, but what he did not know was that there was another in the far-left corner in the room behind him readying a crossbow.

Liam ran out from behind the counter and noticed the crossbow wielder cocking it in Daryl's direction. He gasped and yelled, "Daryl! Behind you!"

The swordsman's eyes widened and rethought how he would take out the one in front of him instantly. Right before the man could stab him in the abdomen, he turned his body ninety degrees to dodge it and grabbed the man's arm. In the same motion, he impaled the man through his appendix and grabbed the man's shiv. He whipped himself around to face the one with the crossbow and hurled the shiv into the side of his head, chopping off a chunk of his earlobe. The man yelped and brought a hand to the wound, the shiv still lodged into the side of his skull.

The sorcerer watched in awe at Daryl's quick action. The man's decision-making skills and reflexes were unlike anything he had ever seen before. For a moment, Liam just stood there gawking at Daryl's performance. That. Was so. Cool!

Richter shot a furious look at Liam and asked, "You're with him?"

Liam snapped out of his amazement and looked back at him with nervous eyes. His mouth was open to speak, but he could not think of anything to say.

The old man snarled at him and started to half run, half limp his way down the hallway. As he was going, he announced to the pursuers, "I'll throw in another thousand for the redhead with the staff!"

Liam scowled at him and yelled back as he scurried away, "You, crazy old coot!"

Some of the people who had fallen from Daryl's first attack were starting to get back up, and their attention was turned towards Liam. They were grinning and saying things like, "The swordsman's insanely tough, but that kid will be easy," and, "I'll settle for the thousand!"

Meanwhile, Daryl removed his sword from the man who came at him with a shiv while slicing slightly upward through his midsection with the blade exiting at his side, causing him to fall on his back with stunned eyes and a gasping mouth. In the right corner of the room in front of him, a man took a javelin that was mounted to the wall and tossed it at Daryl, and at the same time, the merchant who took the machete came charging at him to his right. Daryl raised his sword to the machete to make a loud clang. Daryl ducked his head, wary of the javelin heading his way, but the tip of it ended up grazing the top of his head slightly. Wincing at the pain in his scalp, he managed to catch the javelin at its center, and he used it to jab the flat end of it onto the merchant's forehead. The merch stumbled backwards, and Daryl took advantage by kicking him in the stomach, sending him flying into more potential pursuers. He had no time to decipher between those who were just bystanders and those who were out for his blood. All he could do was assume everyone besides Liam was an enemy. With the room feeling a lot more spacious than before, the swordsman figured that his best be would be to make a break for the exit, the only problem being that the pursuers seemed to have caught on to him thinking of escaping and started to crowd around the entrance to the other room. Daryl growled under his breath, and something else crossed his mind. He looked to his right where the explosives were. There were encased sticks of dynamite and black bombs with burning wicks. They're not crazy enough to break that stuff out, right? No, I can't take any chances!That is when he turned around to see how Liam was faring.

After the sorcerer received the threatening looks from five of his own pursuers, he raised an eyebrow at the relentlessly cocky men and smirked. He extended a hand to his side and wiggled his fingers, saying, "Ohoho, you guys reallydon't wanna mess with me!"

They laughed at the motion he did with his fingers as they pulled daggers from their garments. "What're ya gonna do? Tickle us to death?" one of them taunted. The men cackled at the joke for a while as they closed in, until they noticed the sparks and stopped their collective prowl.

Liam beamed with devilish delight seeing their haughty expressions drop to gasps of terror. He flexed the muscles in his palm to send more sparks out and emitted a yellow glow in the shape of a sphere in his hand. The ends of his hair started to raise as he felt the static begin to course from his left palm all the way up his arm. "What's the matter?" Liam mocked back. "Don't ya wanna see how much this tickles?"

"A wizard!" one of them screamed, and the rest followed suit by running away from the sorcerer toward the first room.

Scaring them off instead of attacking... Not a bad move. Just after Daryl witnessed Liam's magic display, he caught eye of the man from earlier who threw the javelin at him trying to remove a spear that was mounted to the wall. Daryl twirled the javelin in his left hand so that the metal head faced ahead of him, and he aimed for the man's hand. He tossed the weapon so hard that it was like a lightning bolt had passed over the bystanders' heads. It impaled the man through the back of his right hand and went all the way through the wall of the room, sticking his hand right under the spear he was reaching for earlier. The sound of the man's screaming as well as witnessing the unnatural speed Daryl was able to throw the javelin caused more people to run. The ones that were forming a human blockade for the exit were getting pushed away by the frantic customers. Not only was Daryl getting more space to fight back, but his escape was becoming more feasible.

Amidst the fleeing, however, some were starting to go for more weapons on display, possibly thinking that they might have a better chance with there being more space in the room. That was when Daryl noticed someone trying to get through the protective casing around some of the explosives. With an inward gasp, he looked around for something to throw at the man. One of Liam's former pursuers ran by him, trying to escape, but Daryl grabbed the back of his shirt collar and disarmed him of the dagger he held. Someone came at Daryl with a steel rod and the swordsman yanked the man he had captured in front of himself as a shield. His captive took the full force of the steel rod to his torso, and Daryl tossed him to the ground. The assailant looked down at his accidental victim flabbergasted, and Daryl raised his fist to strike the assailant in the side of his head. The man went out cold and came down right by his victim. With those two out of the way, Daryl tossed the stolen dagger at the crazed man fiddling with a box of dynamite. The weapon sunk into his shoulder with a sickening squish, yet somehow the man's clouded mind kept him focused on unpackaging the explosives. Daryl's eyes widened in shock. He's gone insane... He might even be on something to have no reaction to a dagger in his shoulder! Using that stuff will cave the whole market in. I have to stop him and anyone else who might use the explosives!

Before Liam could take heed to the fact that people were starting to go for the explosives, he noticed that the man who grabbed the crossbow in the back right corner was not out of commission just yet. It seemed he had just pulled the shiv out of the side of his head along with a chunk of his skin. His entire face was quivering with fury and agony, but he appeared to be aiming his weapon at Daryl once again with his finger on the trigger. Liam gasped and raised his left hand at the man. He flexed his fingers forward and fired a whitish yellow, electric orb at the weapon, knocking it out of the man's grasp and sending him backward into the corner of the room. The man slid against the corner and landed on his backside, unconscious.

While Liam took care of the crossbow wielder, Daryl plowed through the crowd toward the soon-to-be bomber, shoving, punching, elbowing, and kicking them out of the way to clear a path. The bomber was on his knees once he got to him, blood flowing profusely from his wound, all the while he had a delirious grin on his face. The swordsman ran up and punt kicked him in the face, feeling his front teeth getting knocked in upon doing so, and the man fell back with the case of dynamite falling out of his grasp and sliding ahead of him. Even then, the man was still smiling, his eyes completely bloodshot and his breathing erratic. It had been a long time since Daryl had seen someone in such a state of euphoria that pain had no real effect on the person, but he was sure he had him in a position in which he would not be able to cause any major damage. That was when he heard the loud bang from Liam's attack. The swordsman shielded himself from wooden debris with his free arm, thinking that someone had already set off an explosion. Once the debris cleared, he looked and realized that Liam had blasted the crossbow from earlier to bits. Unsure whether to be disturbed or relieved by Liam's demonstration of power, seeing what he was capable of gave Daryl an idea. There was a cabinet to the right of the display case for the explosives that consisted of match boxes. There was the possibility that they may have already had matches on them, but without the ones in the cabinet, the pursuers would not be able to get anymore to light the wicks on the bombs. "Liam!" Daryl called to the sorcerer before elbowing a pursuer rushing up behind him.

Liam looked in Daryl's direction. "Yeah?" he called back.

Daryl pointed at the cabinet of matches and ordered, "Destroy the matches! Now!"

Liam spotted his next target and tried to decide whether to use his arm again or his staff for the next shot. Using his arm again would have probably ended up draining his energy but using the staff might have ended up being too powerful, causing destruction comparable to what one of the bombs would have done. Taking a sharp breath and clenching his teeth, he raised his left arm for another blast and shot a bolt of lightning at the cabinet full of matches, sending wood and splinters all around the area. There was the distinct smell of charred lumber filling the room after the blast. Some people trying to get to the matches ended up feeling a literal aftershock from Liam's attack and were knocked unconscious. Liam's arm stung sharply from the aftermath of using two strong attacks without much time to rest in between and he pulled his arm back wincing in pain. Before he knew it, there were three people coming after him from his left, seeming to have taken notice of his frail state.

Daryl fought off some more of his pursuers, who all seemed to be getting more desperate and less practical about their approaches to kill him. He picked up one of them by his neck and hurled him at the two that were rushing in behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed there were some rushing towards Liam, who was holding his left arm closely to his body as if he got hurt, even though Daryl did not see anyone strike him. He turned over to him and yelled, "Look alive you idiot!"

Liam raised his head in his pursuers' direction and lifted his staff. He shoved the blunt end of it into the first pursuer's ribs and then hit the top of his head with the same end, sending him to the ground. He grimaced and swung the star end of the staff at the second one's face, hitting him in the cheekbone and sending him down with the other. To his surprise, the third one ran past him, along with a few others, and went behind the counter, where he left his bag.

Daryl's eyes got big seeing them go after the bag, knowing that there was definitely something in there that they could use against them, despite Liam's claims. "Liam!" he yelled, dodging someone's lunge at him from behind and impaling him in the abdomen. "They're after your stuff!" He yanked his sword out of his attacker, and he dropped to his knees. Despite his warning, though, Liam had a wide grin on his face, to which Daryl raised an eyebrow.

Liam chuckled and responded, "Let them have it then!"

Daryl narrowed his eyes and observed the men behind the counter, all bending over getting to Liam's bag. Then, there was a loud, high-pitched crackling noise, followed by all four men getting thrown backwards by something and being knocked unconscious. One went completely over the counter and fell on the back of his head with his legs falling over in front of him, his feet on either side of his head. Daryl jerked his head back with astonishment, having no idea what just happened. He looked at Liam for confirmation.

Liam smirked and said, "See? I told ya it'd be more fun to show you!"

Daryl jerked his head back with bewilderment and disgust. What is in that bag?

Liam noticed the appalled look on the swordsman's face and shrugged it off. "I'll explain later," he called. "Let's just get outta here while we can!" The sorcerer hopped over the counter and worked to fasten his staff back to his side. He slung his bag over his shoulder and grabbed the turquoise necklace from the counter. "I got the necklace! Let's go this way!" He ran as fast as he could with his limp left arm, the necklace swinging wildly in his grasp.

Daryl watched where he was going and had not even noticed that there was a hallway in that corner because of how crowded the room was. He made a beeline towards the hallway and ended up crossing paths with an assailant with a sword. The assailant yelled and raised the blade in the air, to which Daryl simply slashed his arm off at the shoulder, sending the man falling over in shock. Daryl grabbed the blade flying in the air and flung it back at someone who was tailing him. The blade went through the man's knee and into the floor, pinning him there. While Daryl was turned in that moment, he saw the crazed man he had knocked out earlier getting back to his feet with that intoxicated, toothless grin still on his face. Daryl kept running, though, taking the chance he had to get out of the once cramped market.

Making his way around the counter and down the narrow hallway that he could hardly even fit through, he was still able to catch up with Liam in the room at the end, since Liam was hurt somehow. "What happened to you?" he asked.

"You should worry about yourself!" Liam suggested, looking at the blood dripping down from Daryl's scalp down to his jawline.

Daryl took out his hand towel and wiped his face, heading toward the stairs and nudging Liam to continue as well. "It's nothing," he dismissed, shoving the towel back in his garment, "let's just get out of here!" The two of them started to make their way up the stairs, Daryl moving much faster skipping steps, while Liam trudged behind having to deal with the extra weight of his bag. Daryl slowed down and turned back to shoot him a glare. "Hurry up!"

"I'm trying!" Liam whined, grimacing as he tried to quicken his pace. Not only was his arm still sore, but his soles were blistering from being on his feet all day long.

Daryl rolled his eyes and went down the steps to Liam's side. "Give me the bag," he ordered.

Liam gave him a shocked look for a couple of reasons. He was surprised that Daryl was willing to help him and the fact that Daryl just saw four men get knocked unconscious for fiddling with the sack. His eyes shifted back and forth between the swordsman and his sack, and then he nodded and said, "Alright, but just be sure to keep it closed! I don't want you to get hurt!"

Right as Daryl grabbed the bag, he heard the door to the room burst open, followed by some psychotic cackling. Coming at them with a speed comparable to Grace's and a mouth dripping red and white, the intoxicated man ran up the stairs with a lit stick of dynamite.

"By the gods!" Liam yelped, thinking they were all about to die right there.

"You fool!" Daryl shouted at the man. He raised his sword with more conviction than what he had before.

There was a stoic, yet vicious look in the swordsman's expression. Liam's eyes bulged out of his head, knowing full well what Daryl was about to do. It would have saved them, but he still felt the urge to stop it. "Daryl, wait!"

With a mighty, downward swing, Daryl used his sword to slice off the wick of the dynamite, while simultaneously getting the end of the blade through his neck. After slicing all the way through his throat and reaching the opposite end of his neck, his head flew free from the rest of his body. The headless figure collapsed and slid to the end of the stairs, the head itself rolling all the way to the center of the room. Some more pursuers had just entered the room and saw the smiling, toothless head, disconnected from its lanky body. They looked on with utter shock, the color completely drained from their faces. Daryl took heed of their terror and yelled, "For anyone of you who would like to meet the same fate, keep following us!"

They all looked at Daryl and gasped, turning around and nearly stumbling over each other to get out of his sight.

"Come on, now!" Daryl ordered, taking Liam's bag and slinging it over his own shoulder, careful not to let it open. He started skipping up the stairs again, until he realized that Liam was not following. He stopped and turned around. "Liam! It's time to go!"

Liam stared down at the lifeless body and the severed head, his chest heavy and sweat dripping from his forehead. His heart was pounding like a cheetah on the move. With unblinking eyes fixated on the trail of drying crimson on the stone stairs, he felt his stomach churn.

Given his paralyzed stance, Daryl figured that the man was in shock. He understood the feeling, but with all the mayhem that had just occurred, he knew that they had to leave the area immediately. He had no time to let Liam process the murder. "Snap out of it!" he barked. "He was gonna kill all of us! I had to do it! Now quit your staring and get moving!"

Daryl's words did not have much effect on him, but what did break his paralysis was the feeling of his stomach acid rushing up through his insides and through his throat. He slapped a hand on his mouth and turned to run up the stairs.

Daryl ran forward after the sorcerer started to move, and they reached a hatch at the top of the stairs. The swordsman tried to push it open, but it was locked, likely a parting gift from Richter. He gripped his sword firmly and penetrated the wood with his blade, slashing across diagonally and making his own opening. He pulled his sword back to his side and, with his hands being full, headbutted one side of the hatch to knock the hunk of wood upward, making an opening for them to get out of. Daryl maneuvered his way out of the opening and made it to the outside, stepping onto a dirt road right by the back of a house. He took a huge breath, realizing how much he missed the fresh air after being cooped up in that underground space. After taking some time to breathe, his face wrenched from the pain he caused himself after headbutting the hatch, the blow inflicting the wound on his head further.

Liam came through behind the swordsman, dropping the necklace on the ground and hunching over to vomit. He expelled more than the time he was drunk, but it still was not much since he had not eaten much beforehand. His knees shook, breathing heavily from the exhaustion and the shock. He looked back at the necklace, thankful that none of the bumpy, brownish green liquid had reached the accessory. He wiped some tainted drool stuck to his bottom lip with the back of his hand and picked up the necklace, his hands still shaking from thinking of that horrific image. He squeezed his eyes shut and mumbled, "You shouldn't have killed him..."

Daryl dropped Liam's bag and pulled out his hand towel to wipe down his blade with one side of it. With the other side, he wiped his face and patted his wound, wincing at the stinging sensation. He sheathed his sword and put away his hand towel. He could not make out what Liam said, so he asked, "What did you say?"

Liam turned to face him and stammered, "You...you didn't have to kill him!"

"He was drugged," Daryl explained, looking Liam in his stony eyes. "He wasn't going down easily, you understand? I tried to take him out without killing him earlier, but it barely fazed him. He wouldn't have stopped until we were both dead. It had to be done." Something about what he told Liam reminded him of a time in his past, explaining a similar situation to Rod. A lump formed in his throat and he turned away from Liam. "Now get your stupid bag and let's go."

Liam frowned at the cold swordsman walking away from him, but he knew the man had a point. He noticed there was something wrong about the man trying to kill them, too, but he did not want to write off his humanity. Liam witnessed Daryl sever a man's hand and another's earlobe, but he knew those were not mortal wounds. It was true that those men could have ended up dying later on from blood loss, but seeing the beheading, the murderous intent in Daryl's eyes, felt completely different. Daryl's resolve in that moment was frightening, something that Liam would not allow himself to feel. I can't control what you do, Daryl, but I don't care how desperate my situation becomes. I'll never kill anyone! In any case, the man was dead and there was nothing else Liam could have done about it. He swallowed back his sympathy and terror, gathered his bag, stuffed the necklace in his pocket, and followed the murderer he had chosen to ally himself with.

They went around the corner of a house, heading back towards the entrance that they originally took into the black market, until they heard a whispering voice call, "Hey!"

The two had been walking side by side, and Daryl whipped himself around and grabbed the hilt of his sword, ready to take down another assailant. Liam jumped in surprise at both Daryl's quick action and the sound of the voice. The voice sounded somewhat familiar to Liam.

"It's okay!" the voice whispered back upon seeing Daryl's defensive stance. Through the shadows of the night, the figure stepped closer towards the two and came into view thanks to the moonlight. The person was revealed to be Madison, Daryl's target.

The swordsman's eyes widened at the sight of him. Looks like there's an upside to this night after all.

Contrary to what the swordsman was thinking, Liam gasped in fear at the kid revealing himself. "You again?" he asked, hardly able to catch his breath. "What are you still doing here? It's dangerous!"

"I know, but..." the unsuspecting teenager protested, "I just wanted to stay back to make sure you two came out alright."

"Well, we're fine now," Liam declared, his eyes shifting back and forth between Madison and Daryl, "so go! Get outta here!"

Madison stepped back, seeming a bit confused by Liam's behavior. "But, where will you two go? You both seem hurt, and you might run into people from the black market."

Daryl had no interest in the kid's concern, just his head. He subtly began to slide his weapon out of its scabbard.

Liam's eyes moved between the two men like a pendulum, frantic to find a way to keep Daryl from killing Madison.Think, think, think! Why is this kid checking up on us? Is he just stupid? No, there's something else! Maybe...he's offering to help us! Daryl won't refuse that! "W-what are you suggesting?" he managed to stammer out.

"You guys can stay at my place for the night!" Madison suggested with a concerned smile.

Daryl stopped sliding his sword out.

Liam looked up at him and noticed the look in his eyes had softened. With an inward sigh of relief, Liam further inquired, "Are you sure? You don't even know us."

"Yeah, but..." Madison started. "I just...wouldn't feel right knowing you guys weren't safe from the men trying to kill you." He scratched the back of his head. "I dunno. That old guy was just really crazy for doing that. Who was he to you anyway?"

Daryl thought about whether or not he should answer, and then he came up with, "Someone I wronged in the past."

The boy looked up at Daryl, giving him a serious, yet sympathetic look. It was like he could tell that Daryl felt sorry for whatever it was he did to the old man. "Sir, I don't know who you are or why that guy wanted you dead, but please allow me to help you."

Liam inhaled sharply hearing that offer. This kid is stupid! Isn't he wondering how we got out alive? It's because Daryl's a freak of nature! Well, I guess I am, too... But he's a murderer! Can he not tell that much? Even though Liam wanted to scream for the kid to run, that Daryl was secretly out for his blood, he, too, could not pass up the opportunity for a free place to rest after the amount of strain the night had taken on his body. In addition to that, it was possible that Daryl might have ended up changing his mind since the kid decided to be so selfless towards him. He looked to Daryl for his response and hoped he was right.

Daryl pushed his sword back in silently and put his arms at his sides. "I'll accept your offer, so long as it's not a trick."

"It's no trick, sir!" the boy assured, waving his hands in the air. "Trust me, I'm just trying to help. My sister's pretty good at treating wounds, since I used to get scraped up all the time, so she might be able to do something about your scalp!"

At first, Daryl felt a bit skeptical about the boy's generosity. After all, Madison was also another criminal at the black market. For all he knew, the boy might be after his life, too, yet there was a genuine concern in those hazel eyes of his that told the swordsman he was telling the truth. That, along with a much-needed place to rest and possible treatment for his head made for a proposal he could not pass up. The swordsman nodded and said, "That's very kind of you. Thank you."

Madison nodded and turned around and motioned for them to follow. "C'mon, our hut is this way."

The two men followed the boy down the dirt road, Liam not taking his eyes off of Daryl. He was trying to figure out what the swordsman was thinking by taking up the boy's offer. Daryl...are you really grateful for this? Or are you just using him until your chance to kill him comes?

Daryl followed closely behind with his hand on the hilt of his sword, in case Madison tried turning on them or if some stragglers from the market attempted an ambush. Even though Daryl knew it was an awful thing to do to someone, he had already made up his mind. All this was to him was another job. Liam's being there was only for the added assistance, so he did not need him to try and stop him from doing what he had already decided on. I'll stay the night. In the morning, I'll finish the job. That's that.

***