Kyra was feeling very tired as she walked through the rolling hills full of trees. She stayed on the path for now since she didn’t want to get lost. A few moments ago she was in Adeluna City pranking a well-known priest with a some art she had made. It was a pretty funny prank. She had made a lot of paintings, using somebody else’s easel and canvas, then went to the church in the middle of the night. The church was dedicated to the Goddess Angela and so Kyra had made many paintings of Angela getting bitch-slapped by her sister, Toya, with the eldest sister having her hand up to her head as though she had a headache thanks to these two. The background of the painting was a battle zone in Endapano. In the middle of the night Kyra had put up all these paintings that she had worked so hard on all over the inside of the church. She had placed them over the stain glass windows, replaced any tapestries with them, and even used her magic to be able to get to the ceiling of the church to hammer them into the ceiling. The paintings were big enough so that they would be seeable even from the distance.

Once people came in for worship they saw this and….the priest was not too happy with Kyra to say the least. Neither were the guards. Essentially Kyra had been chased around the city until she remembered she had gate travel magic and opened up a gate to the Highlands, where she would be safe from Adeluna guards. That was why she was so tired. But she felt extremely proud of herself. Not many could say that they did what she had just done. The news of what Kyra did would probably spread around Adeluna but would take a couple of days. Kyra would have to be careful whenever she went to Adeluna now since she was probably wanted by the guards for such an act. But for now she could enjoy just walking around the highlands. On her back was her backpack with all of her stuff in it. She looked around the area and headed off the path a bit. Kyra was able to find a clearing surrounded by forest that was perfect to set up camp. First she cleared out the leaves and most of the grass from a spot in the middle of the clearing. Then she made a circle out of stones and placed some twigs in the circle.

Kyra went in search of some large pieces of wood to burn then came back and finished making a campfire. Then she lit it with a match. The fire was warm and large enough. Not too large but not too small. Just right. Kyra took off her backpack and worked on setting up a tent. Once that was done she flung her backpack into the tent. Kyra then realized that she actually wanted to take some food and other stuff out of that bag. She crawled into the tent and took the stuff she wanted out of the bag. In her arms was some wrapped food, a beautiful blue violin made out of skyshards, her whip, and a medical kit. Kyra walked over to the fire and placed the stuff down, but far enough from the campfire where it would be safe. First, she attached the whip to her belt. She had a specialized belt that had a little leather strip on the belt that would wrap around the whip and clip onto her belt. It was like a sheath, only for her whip! A friend had given the specialized belt to her.

Then she sat down and picked up the medical kit. When she opened it, she was oblivious to what to do next. Kyra had no ability when it came to any sort of medicine. Except for the basic bandaid. Even then, she didn’t know why it helped. Perhaps she should have paid attention as a kid when her mother would bandage her up after her trouble making. But Kyra didn’t and now she would have to pay the consequences for that. Kyra went through the kit looking for some sort of instructions but there were none. So she closed it up and left it alone. She’d be fine for now. Kyra just had a few small scratches. Nothing that was lethal or anything. They weren’t even bleeding. Anymore. After putting that useless item away, she reached down and picked up the food. This was what she had bought before the whole incident in Adeluna. Most of the food was wrapped up bread, dried veggies, and dried meat. A healthy dry meal. It would be gross but it was better than going without anything.

Except for the carrots. They were fresh since she stole them as she was running away from the guards earlier. Kyra gnawed on the carrot happily and thought about what she should do next. Fun ideas and plans swarmed her mind. However, these ideas were either too dangerous to try or she simply didn’t have the resources to do them at the moment. Money wasn’t normally an issue since Kyra could play a song or act as a bard and get a lot of money that way. Except….now she had just made it very difficult to be able to perform in Adeluna for a long while. Especially since she was probably on the wanted list now. There were always consequences for harmless pranks, weren’t there? Kyra finished eating her carrot then let out a sigh. Why was life so difficult? Well…she knew why. But she still didn’t like it. All she ever wanted was to just have fun with no consequences at all for her reckless actions. Was that too much to ask for?

After moping for a bit, Kyra stood up again with her beautiful violin. It was a gorgeous blue violin that played perfectly and never went out of tune. She played her violin fast with an upbeat tune. It was the type of music that one got up and started dancing in joy to. This was merely to rise her own spirits. Of course, this could draw animals or unwanted company over but if it did, Kyra would deal with it. For now, she just wanted to have fun. Her feet raised up onto its tip toes as she began to spin around the campfire. Kyra was careful to not get too close to the fire but she still danced. She was playing a jig on her violin and dancing around the fire with a smile on her face. Her left leg kicked out then she hoped onto it. Her right leg did the same. Then she started to dance differently. It was mostly her feet doing all the dancing work as her hands and arms focused on playing the music. Her eyes had to keep watch of both her instrument and where she was going with her dancing. She spun, went high then went low. She leapt then she stayed. Her movements matched the music and were filled with passion and joy. Kyra wasn’t dancing or playing for anybody else. She was doing it all for herself which made it even better. A smile was on her lips as she did all of this. 

Hiro entered Adeluna City, looking for work, the young man, dressed in his shiny, fancy crimson armor, and his tall stature, he struck an imposing figure among the townspeople.  He walked towards the nearby tavern where people usually posted work for adventurers and sellswords.  That was what Hiro was there for, he needed a new adventure, some new work to make some coin with.  There was some flustered, old priest in the midst of placing a poster on the work board.  Hiro walked up to the priest and looked over his shoulder.

"Greetings, father, how fairs thee?" The Phoenix Knight asked.  The Priest turned around with a start.

"Oh, heavens above, my son!  Nearly scared the daylights out of me!"

"My apologies," Hiro bowed.  "My name is Hiro Kouen, Phoenix Knight.  I'm an adventurer looking for work,.  Something seems to be amiss, what's troubling you, a Priest of the Church of Lady Angela?"  Hiro knew this man was a Priest in the service of Lady Angela, though he knew the Goddess personally, having dated one of her daughters at one point.  Lady Angela was much more . . . casual than one would think a Goddess would be.  However, that didn't stop the zealots from acting all stuffy about it.

"Well, this is a surprise!  I wasn't expecting someone to show up to take on my request as I'm putting it up!  Anyway, I've been on edge lately, ever since this rascal of a woman showed up at the church, defaced our beautiful house of worship!  Then the guards chased her all over town until she escaped!  Now we have all these damages to the church we have to pay for, paintings to pay to remove, and so we're having a bounty put up for this wench, and have her put to justice with it!"  The priest huffed and puffed, trying to calm down.

"Oh my!  So if someone can track her down, and bring her back, you'll pay them?  Interesting, I'd be happy to help the Church of Angela.  Tell me what I need to know, and I'll see what I can do."  Hiro would help bring this "wench" to justice, or at least figure out what exactly happened at this Church.

The Priest thanked young Hiro, and showed him the "defacement" done to the church, a bunch of paintings showing Lady Angela getting slapped by her sister Toya (Hiro had to stifle laughter), and they were placed all over the Church, visible from some distance away.  It seemed like a prank, than a malicious defacement.  There was a lot of effort put into the paintings though, this person knew how to make art.

So, the Church provided him with a description of the woman, a half-elf girl with fair hair, handy at magic, and they were able to scry with their divination clerics a vague location of where she escaped to: the Highlands.  So Hiro traveled to the Highlands, and took to looking for this woman.

Hiro, with his black and red hair, trekked through the rolling hills and trees, saw the light of a camp fire, and the sound of music carrying through the wind.  Night was approaching,  Hiro made his way towards the sound of the music, finding a small clearing where the camp fire was built, and a young half-elf woman was dancing while playing on a violin.  She was really good at playing while dancing.  This had to be the "wench" he was after, but Hiro was a kind fellow, he was curious about her, and why she did what she did.  He also didn't want to resort to violence either, unless it was truly necessary.  Hiro walked into the light and started clapping along to the music.

"Impressive music, my good lass!  Very talented!  Greetings, I hope I'm not intruding, miss.  My name is Hiro Kouen, I was in the neighborhood when I heard your wonderful music."

Kyra soon stopped the music as she heard the sound of somebody speaking. Spinning around, she spotted a young man dressed in fancy armor with a tall stature. Her eyes recognized him. He was that young man that was present after Angela woke up in Endapano. Although he would not recognize Kyra. She wondered how she felt about the fact that she had put him in the paintings around the church in an over dramatic pose in the background.

The image of him panicking over the scene was humorous in Kyra's mind. But Kyra had changed his hair color so that he wouldn't get bullied by anybody. No doubt he did not realize that person was him. Oh well. This man also probably didn't realized that she was that little rabbit that had been hanging around Angela when she had fallen. He liked her music! A smile was on her lips in reaction to his words. 

"Why thank you!" Kyra said cheerfully, "What were you doing in the neighborhood? Fighting ogres?" 

Her curiosity got the better of her. Also the fact that a follower of Angela like him, appearing right after the whole church thing, had a small chance of being a coincidence. One of the priests from the church probably sent this follower. Her blue eyes were filled with delight. This delight hide her suspicion. Kyra put away her bow and violin into her bag again. She plopped onto the ground and sat there, looking up at Hiro. 

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Kyra. It's nice ta meet yah." She said with a silly attitude. 

It was clear that she was not taking him nor the possible danger he brought seriously. Fascination kept her here. Why wasn't this man doing something for the goddess Angela? Weren't followers basically just glorified servants with privileges for the gods? Her eyes suddenly widened in surprise. 

"I didn't know that mercenaries came around the Highlands." Kyra said, "I guess you learn something new everyday." 

She reached into her bag and took out her skyshard lyre. It was beautiful and made up of many different skyshards. She began to play it softly. 

He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with this lady that happened to fit the description of the girl that "terrorized" that town.  He was a follower of Lady Angela, but he didn't follow the church itself, he actually cared little about the church itself, other than that they tend to do good things.  However, he did want to get paid, and he was roped into this, but he wasn't as lawful as his father was in his heyday.  He wanted to know more about this woman, and what she was doing.

"I'm an adventurer, I accepted a job in Adeluna City, a . . . peacekeeping job, it lead me here.  I was told there was a threat to the town out here, and so here I am.  Just happened to stumble upon your camp, if you don't mind me keeping you company," Hiro explained, twisting the truth a bit, not exactly lying.  "Do you mind?"  He took a seat across from the young lady, who introduced herself as Kyra.  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kyra."

This woman seemed not to be a bad person so far, maybe a bit silly, and chaotic, but not evil.  Depending on the outcome of this meeting, it might present a moral choice for Hiro to make.

"I wouldn't call myself a mercenary.  Mercenaries might do anything for coin, morals be damned.  At least, that's the way I see it.  Me?  As I said before, I consider myself an adventurer; a hero.  I fight for what is right, I take into consideration the morals of the request.  A priest might put in a request for someone to defeat a terrible evil, like say, a demon that's been rampaging through the town, defacing and destroying churches.  But I wouldn't take something, like, say, an assassination, or kidnapping.  I call myself Hiro Kouen, the Phoenix Knight for a reason.  Like my father before me, he fought for what was right, but sometimes got stuck between a rock an a hard place, and making difficult moral decisions.  Everything isn't black and white, there's shades of gray involved in all things.  Maybe the so-called demon is scapegoat, and the church is corrupt, putting a contract to bring in a demon, who isn't really evil at all.  It's up to a hero to navigate these things, and come to the best conclusion for everyone."  He picked his words carefully.  He didn't want to outright say the exact reason he was hired by the church to come to the highlands, but he didn't want to lie to the girl either, or trick her.

She started to play a different instrument, a lyre, pulling it out of her bag and plucking the strings.  "Oooh, you can play multiple instruments?  What else are you good at?"

The young lady listened but she didn’t say much. Her fingers continued plucking lightly at the strings of her lyre as she listened. One, two, three, four. Kyra listened to the world around her intently. Five, six. Six. She plucked the string of the lyre six times.

“I like to pull tricks, perform magic, to dance, paint, and play instruments.” Her mind was elsewhere.

Deep in thought, Kyra stood up and slowly began to disassemble her tent. A tent would be a terrible thing to lose. Six.

“The church can be corrupt sometimes. But personally, I think that they take themselves way too seriously. Angela is much more relaxed than they ever are. If she is relaxed and the church is supposed to reflect her, then they should relax too. However, I don’t care much for politics. And believe me, the church and politics is one thing that cannot be separated. I wonder what would have happened if the gods setup and controlled the churches. That would be interesting.” She wondered out loud, “Anyway, it’s good to hear that you aren’t a mercenary.”

Her tent was packed up in her backpack again. The beautiful lyre was strapped on her belt, ready for use whenever. A magical instrument that could be used as a weapon. Why had nobody come up with this idea sooner? It was brilliant. Six mercenaries in the forest. What would be the best way to handle them? As soon as they realize that she intended to leave, they would rain down a fire of arrows. She had heard them shortly after she noticed Hiro. The poor guy might not have even realized that they were there.

“Thank you for telling me. But I wasn’t talking about you.” She said, “Get down!”

With a leap, she attempted to push Hiro behind a tree in order to escape the fire of arrows that would be overtaking them in seconds. The tree that she was attempting to push him behind was large and should be enough to cover them for a little bit. A mercenary covered in black was in the highest tree to the left. The second mercenary was deeper within the forest. It would be difficult to see that one. Third mercenary, in the bushes. Fourth mercenary, behind a tree. Fifth mercenary, backing up the second. Sixth mercenary, still unseen. All of them sounded as though they were coming up from the south. Where Hiro had been facing earlier. They were good with hiding their visibility but the sounds were loud enough for Kyra to pick up on them. 

Something was off.  Hiro didn't have super hearing, he had magical senses able to see and detect auras, and did realize something was off with the way Kyra was acting.  She was suddenly alert about something.

"Ah, a regular Renaissance woman, huh?"  He noticed she played the same note 6 times from her lyre.  She talked about the church being corrupt, and taking themselves too seriously.  It was true.  Angela was way more relaxed about things than those stuffy clerics would be.  Time to drop pretenses.

"I imagine, if Angela saw those paintings at the church, she would've laughed and dropped some kind of quip about it.  Something funny.  I heard she entertains a kobold or something that believes he's his own God.  The Church of Scrubble or something.  She finds him funny.  At least, that's a rumor,"  Hiro said with a laugh.  He extended his aura sense out around him.  He wasn't sure if they could use magic or not, but he sensed six of them.  Six enemies watching them.  They were mercenaries, possibly hired by the church after he left, or maybe in parallel, or who knows.  He wasn't going to stand by and let these mercenaries kill her.  She didn't seem like a bad person, and this cemented his feelings against the job he had agreed to take.  "Ya know what?  The money they were willing to pay me to bring in a certain 'heathen' isn't worth it.  I got ya back."

Hiro sensed movements, she screamed for him to get down.  Hiro quickly stamped the ground with his foot, releasing a burst of magical energy underneath his feet.  A rock wall erupted out of the ground, surrounding the area around the camp that she had started to pack away.  The wall was about waist high, Hiro took hold of Kyra who tried to push him out of the way, and brought them both behind the protection of the stone wall he had just created.  He heard the impact of arrows shattering against the wall.

"You've got keen senses.  You knew they were there way before I did.  Though your change in behavior allowed me to pick up that something was wrong."  Hiro peaked out from behind the wall, and pointed his finger at the enemy he knew was in a tree.  Likely a sniper.  Summoning magical energy into his hand, he released a barrage of small fireballs in that direction, into the tree the sniper was located in, and in the area around the tree, causing fire to break out from explosions.  Smoke and flames started to spread in the forest, with an aim to choke out the enemies.  Hiro then ducked back behind cover.  "How to handle this?  We're out numbered, but they can't be that strong.  That said, I don't want to underestimate an enemy we know nothing about, other than 6 mercenaries working together."

Although she did appreciate the stone wall and his support, it was slightly annoying how he explained to her how she was able to hear them.

“I know I’m awesome, sweetheart.” She said, “But you don’t need to explain to me about my senses are cool.”

She listened carefully. The barrage of arrows hitting the stone wall had stopped. Quickly, she plucked out a rose from her bag. With a flick of the wrist, the long stemmed rose transformed into a whip. A regular dagger was in her left hand. She ran over to the bottom of the wall and waited.

One of the mercenaries had climbed up the wall and was looking over at Hiro. Kyra was directly under him. The thorny green whip wrapped around the mercenary’s neck. Thorns pierced the neck and trickles of blood ran down the whip. She pulled him downwards and used her other hand to thrust the blade into his neck. Kyra went back to her position squatted on the ground and waited.

“We could wait for them to come to us. Or we could leave.” She suggested, “If we left we could prevent the rest of the forest going up in flames.”

Perhaps he didn’t realize it, but there were people who lived in the highland forests. By burning down the forces the animals would be driven away. Without animals or any trees whomever lived there would have difficulty surviving. She remembered her dagger and pulled it out of the dead mercenary’s neck. Cleaning the blade on the glass she peered over the wall to see three mercenaries out in the open now.

“Cover your ears.” Kyra said to Hira.

Hoping back onto the ground, she took a mandrake with a rope tying its mouth shut. Quickly she cut off the rope then threw it at the mercenaries as fast as she could. As soon as she let go of the mandrake, she covered her ears with her hands, doing her best to block out sound. The mandrake hit the ground then let out a piercing shriek. The mercenaries were focused on the mandrake now. She began to run away from the forest and further into the highlands. Perhaps they could have fought the mercenaries but with Hiro’s aim, they might have taken half the forest with them. 

Hiro thought about the situation they were in.  While mercenaries were originally being hired to take Kyra down, he was drawn into it, because was being hired to do the same.  But if he hadn't taken the job, would these other mercenaries still be there in the first place?  This woman could handle herself in a fight, but would she stand a chance against all of them alone?  He sympathized with her plight, since she didn't do anything worth being killed over.  She was willing to run away, and continue being hunted down, or maybe gain an advantage drawing them out of the forest.  But Hiro wasn't one to run away and continue to be hunted, and he did not want her to be hunted down until they either give up, or they catch up with her.  He wanted to end this senseless battle, all over a harmless prank she pulled on some stuffy priests.

She killed one of the mercenaries and three more were approaching them.  She used a mandrake to stun the approaching mercenaries, and she started to run.  Hiro covered his ears until it stopped shrieking.  She seemed averse to burning the forest, and Hiro had forgotten that she was a half-elf, and likely that elven half was a forest/wood elf.

"If you want to run, go ahead.  Escape.  I'll handle this.  But I will not stand by and let them hunt you down like some kind of animal.  I'll take this burden as my own.  Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.  I'll do this without damaging the forest any more than I have."  Hiro stepped out from behind the cover.  He waved his hands in front of himself, drawing upon the power of the Earthen elements to protect himself with a Stoneskin enchantment.  His armor and skin started to take an earthen hue, as rock formed around him.  He reached to the sheath at his belt, and drew his mighty elemental blade, Empyrean.  He marched out toward the mercenaries, pointing a pair of fingers at the first man.  A fire bolt: a fiery projectile like an arrow, pierced the man through the head, and stopped there, unleashed from his finger tips.  No splash damage.

The second and third mercenaries recovered from the stun, glared at their fallen companion, and charged at Hiro.  A number of arrows flew through the air from the distance.  Hiro ignored them as they struck Hiro through the chest, normally a potentially fatal blow, but his armor, and stoneskin protected him from the blows.  The arrows just stuck there, wedged into the rock that covered his skin.  Hiro channeled magic through his blade, the sword began to hum with a magical vibration.  Since he was going to refrain from something that would burn the forest down, he would go with the power of cutting wind.  He swung Empyrean at the first enemy holding the sword one handed.  The enemy parried the attack, but the vibrating blade knocked the sword straight out of the mercenary's hand, and despite the blade not touching him, the sword unleashed a carving arc of air from the swing, slicing the mercenary through the chest, sending a spray of blood flying.  The last mercenary out in the open had moved to Hiro's side, and thrust his short sword at Hiro in a kidney blow.  The blade sent bits of rock and debris flying, but it did not pierce his skin or armor due to the stoneskin.  Hiro winced, and swung his blade in a two handed grip in the other direction, at the enemy that just tried to stab him.  The mercenary leaped back, narrowly avoiding the blade and it's extended, cutting reach.  More arrows rained down upon Hiro, some of them striking Hiro, sticking out of his armor and stoneskin.

The mercenary moved quickly, darting in and out of Hiro's range with surprising grace, striking him with his blade, while arrows kept raining down upon Hiro.  They were attempting to break through his defenses and finally strike him down.  Hiro growled and swung his blade upward, a carving arc of wind being unleashed from the blade, carving through the ground and soil, though missing the enemy it was aimed at.

Which would fall first?  Hiro, or the enemies he was at somewhat of a disadvantage against?

Annoyance crossed her face when she realized that Hiro had not followed her. He was treating the situation as if it was any of his concern. Mercenaries were her problem. Not his. Although his elemental abilities were very impressive, he was fighting alone. Without anybody to help him. All so that she would not be hunted down. Perhaps she ought to have been appreciative of his desire to help her, but instead she found it incredibly annoying. This was her problem. Not anybody else's. She began to walk back, in a calm manner as she watched the fighting going on. Her original plan was to run away now, get this Hiro guy to safety, then hunt each of them down. Now she would have to waste her magic on a battle that had no reason to exist.

Reaching into her bag, she took a bottle with light blue liquid. A potion that would restore her mana. After drinking it all down, she dropped the bottle onto a rock, hearing the satisfying shattering of glass. Her right hand began to vanish as did her left arm. In a matter of seconds she was gone. Invisibility spells. They were so useful. Hiro was drawing all the arrows and attention to himself. Instead of fighting by his side, she went around the battle and headed towards the forest. Where the mercenaries with the bows would be hiding. Ignoring the noises from the battle, the forest was quiet. At this rate every animal and beast would be able to identify where they were thanks to all this fighting.

Spotting a cloaked mercenary in a tree, she began to climb up to him. The first, second, and fifth mercenaries were dead. The third was busy with battling Hiro while the fourth and sixth were still hiding in the burnt forest. The mercenary she found in the unburnt tree must have been the sixth one. Since the fourth smelled different. Climbing up the tree, she brought out her dagger and acted as quiet as possible. A branch broke underneath her right foot.

She leaned forwards and plunged her blade into the neck of the sixth mercenary. Before falling, Kyra managed to snatch a branch. The sixth mercenary fell to the forest floor with a blade stuck in his neck. Scanning the area for the fourth mercenary, she spotted the man running away into the forest. A smile appeared on her lips. Did he expect to be able to survive? Earlier she had tried to give him mercy. She'd tried to run away and lose them. Then they would have returned as failures but alive. Too bad.

Heavy breaths came out from the fourth man's mouth as he sprinted through the burning forest. All he wanted to do was live. This was far too crazy for him. Everybody else in the team was dead. There was no possibility of winning the battle now. Fear ran through his mind when he heard it. A happy giggle echoing around the forest.

"I'm annoyed sweetheart." The sugar sweet voice echoed, "Close your eyes. It'll be easier for yourself."

Pushing himself into a faster run, he tried to get away from the voice. It was too late. A dagger pierced his throat. He fell to the ground.

"I told you to close your eyes." Kyra said with a sigh, "Now you will look creepy in death."

Plucking the dagger from the dead body, she walked back over to where Hiro would be battling the last mercenary. She was ready to help out her new friend. 

Hiro continued his battle against the mercenary.  The Phoenix Knight looked somewhat ridiculous with a bunch of arrows sticking out of his armor and body, which was protected by stoneskin.  The sword wielding mercenary darted back and forth, in and out of Hiro's range, letting the arrows rain down upon the young lad.  Hiro's movements to this point were sluggish, slow.  Despite Hiro's extended range, due to his wind blade technique on his sword, this mercenary figured he had everything handled, he could just whittle down this overconfident knight with his pal's arrows and his blade, and either get him to surrender, or finish him off.

"You can't defeat us, you should have run away like your friend!  Your magic can't compare to a good couple mercenaries and their teamwork!"

"Teamwork, interesting choice of words.  How does that team work, when there's no team left?  The rain of arrows seem to have stopped," Hiro smirked, his aura senses expanding, and he could tell the mercenaries had each been killed, one by one.  He was the only one left.  "Maybe I've been just playing around with you, holding back, perhaps.  Your team is dead.  My companion is heading back here.  I've just been soaking up more arrows than any normal person could.  Now it's just me, you, and her, it's time to end this game."  The look on the mercenary's face was dismissive, he didn't believe it.

"A bluff, merely a bluff.  My companions are preparing for one more fatal rain of arrows and . . ."  He looked and saw the woman walking up toward them.  "Well shit."  In that moment, Hiro took advantage of his surprised, he moved forward in a flash, and slammed the pommel of his sword straight into the man's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.  He collapsed forward, enough for Hiro to slam his other fist into the man's face, knocking him through the air and onto the ground.  "You call yourself a mercenary, maybe you should've reconsidered that career choice.  A hired sword arm cannot stand a chance against a true hero, with values, and righteousness on his side.  I'll show you mercy, but my friend here may not."  Hiro let the stoneskin protecting his body break apart, arrows dropping to the ground, along with the stone shards.  "Do what you want to the man, I do not feel like bloodying my blade any further, Kyria."  He sheathed his blade, but kept his eye on the man, who seemed to be knocked out cold.