The Red Sigil’s Price

After food and drink, Talos and Keith step from the Tidal Tavern into the cool field air. Talos still carries his father’s old blade. Status: Talos healthy, Keith healthy.

Near the leaning stones, Eric lies battered on his back but conscious. A young adult Red Ranger man, lean and sharp-faced beneath a close-cropped dark head, his scarlet armor marked by a black shoulder guard in scarlet armor pins him down, while another young adult Ranger, a human man with a sturdy build, cropped brown hair, and brown leather armor beneath a weathered green cloak raises a club over him.

Keith’s broad frame shifts forward, fists tightening beneath his green vest. Eric’s breathing is strained, his condition visibly grave but not yet at death’s door. Status: Eric badly wounded.

The raised weapon remains poised. The two Rangers appear injured only lightly, and their exact health is unknown to Talos. Combat begins, awaiting Talos’s turn.

The speaker is liable to be killed by the Red Rangers.

Talos surges across the field, drawing his father’s blade in one clean motion. The ranger holding Eric turns toward him too late.

Talos’s blade strikes the ranger in the torso, and the young man crumples away from Eric, his weapon falling into the grass. The attack lands decisively.

The second Red Ranger recoils, then points his club toward Eric with a shaking hand. Eric remains conscious but badly wounded, his breath shallow beneath the fallen restraint.

Keith steps between Eric and the remaining Ranger, fists raised. Talos stands over the fallen attacker with blade ready. Status: Talos healthy, Keith healthy, Eric badly wounded, one Ranger down, one Ranger lightly injured.

That fighter falls to death’s door and needs help quickly or will die.

Talos shifts his weight and lowers his blade, watching Second Red Ranger’s shoulders instead of the club. The field seems to narrow around that single threatening motion.

The second Red Ranger jolts awake beside the trampled grass, blinking through pain. He drags one knee beneath himself and swings his club toward Talos.

Talos twists aside, but not quickly enough. The club clips his shoulder and knocks him off balance, forcing him away from Eric and the fallen first Ranger.

The failed dodge reveals the Ranger’s weakness: his injured leg buckles after the swing, leaving his guard open and his club low.

Eric remains conscious but badly wounded. The first Ranger lies at death’s door, barely breathing, while the second Ranger is hurt and exposed. Keith is healthy; Talos is still standing.

Keith lunges past Talos, hooks an arm beneath Eric’s shoulders, and hauls him across the trampled grass toward the leaning stones. Eric clutches his side, conscious but badly wounded.

The stones break the field’s open line of sight. Keith lowers Eric into their shadow and shields him with his broad frame, while Second Red Ranger struggles to recover his stance.

The fallen first Ranger remains at death’s door, barely breathing and in urgent need of help. Second Red Ranger is injured and exposed; Keith is healthy, Eric badly wounded, and Talos hurt but standing.

Talos directs the plea toward the fallen Ranger at death’s door. Beyond the stones, Keith shields Eric, while the other Ranger keeps his club lowered but watches every movement.

The fallen Ranger’s fingers loosen around his weapon. His eyes shift from Talos to the distant Ranger, and the hard certainty in his face gives way to exhausted doubt.

His agreement costs Talos leverage: the Ranger now expects a debt, and his suspicion turns toward the strange power Talos claims. The immediate plea succeeds, but trust remains conditional.

The fallen Ranger is at death’s door and barely breathing; Eric is badly wounded, Keith healthy, the other Ranger injured, and Talos hurt but standing. Combat remains active.

The speaker is liable to be killed by the Red Rangers.

Talos closes the distance before the injured Ranger can raise his club. His father's blade drives into the Ranger's side, and the man collapses hard beside the trampled grass.

The strike succeeds, but the Ranger's falling weight twists Talos's shoulder and forces him to one knee. Pain flares through his already hurt arm as the club drops from numb fingers.

Talos directs the words toward the fallen Ranger at death's door. Behind the stones, Eric remains conscious but badly wounded, while Keith shields him, healthy and ready.

The newly struck Ranger lies motionless and barely breathing. The old blade remains lodged in his side, and no patrol has yet appeared from the eastern field.

His admission seals his danger under Red Ranger law. He is now liable to be killed by his own forces, while Talos stands hurt but upright, Keith healthy, and Eric badly wounded.

Talos summons the demon’s power through his injured shoulder and into the fallen Ranger. Dark warmth gathers, but the old blade’s presence disrupts the spell.

The Ranger’s breathing steadies for several heartbeats, and the worst of his fading slows. The wound does not close, leaving him conscious, weak, and still at death’s door.

A thin red sigil beneath Fallen Red Ranger’s collar catches the demon’s magic and drinks it away. Talos learns the mark binds him to the patrol post and can be broken only by its commanding seal.

Fallen Red Ranger remains unable to fight, but he can speak. Eric is conscious and badly wounded behind the stones; Keith is healthy and guarding him, while Talos’s shoulder pain limits his strength.

Talos kneels beside Eric behind the leaning stones and tears a clean strip from spare cloth. His hands work carefully, binding the worst of the rogue’s wounds without disturbing him.

The bandage holds firm around Eric’s side. His breathing remains shallow, but steadier, and the grayness in his face recedes. He is still badly wounded, though no longer fading as quickly.

Keith crosses to Marek and presses cloth around the marked wound, supporting the surrendered Ranger’s shoulders. Marek stays conscious and unable to fight, while the unconscious Ranger remains motionless nearby.