Lyn kept a close eye on Toby to make sure her new companion didn't wander off lost into the streets of Bulgar. The slender tactician, for his part, stayed close to Lyn, content to look at the market wares from a distance. Every so often he would glance up at the sky, as if searching for something. When Lyn would try to ask him about it, he would be annoyingly evasive.

"I'm just watching for birds," he would say with a shrug. "Say, are those meat pies? I do like meat pies." Then, before she knew it, she would be buying two steaming meat pies and Toby would be standing off to the side, watching the crowds with those bright, deceptively childlike green eyes.

He was infuriating, Lyn decided as she watched him dig into the pie. She hadn't known what to make of him since she'd found him lying unconscious on the plains. He claimed he was nineteen, but he was shorter and slighter than she was—possibly even smaller than little Florina, but Lyn hadn't seen her in so long it was hard to say—and his voice was far from deep enough to be a grown man's. He couldn't be more than fourteen, but he acted so much older than that. He was used to battle; that much was clear from his help with the bandits the other day, but who had ever heard of a traveling strategist? She had imagined strategists to be lean, narrow-eyed men with graying goatees that sat in lords' war halls and pored over maps all day. Toby, small and quick and enigmatic as he was, just didn't fit the bill.

"Hey, Lyn, look at the size of those parsnips!"

And he seemed to have a bottomless pit for a stomach. Lyn was beginning to wonder if this training she had so hastily asked for was going to be worth the expense of feeding him.

"Toby, we must spend our money wisely. We should purchase supplies for our journey."

Toby began to say something, but someone else interrupted him.

"Oh, my heart! What a dazzling vision of loveliness!"

An armored cavalier appeared, and everything went to pieces from there.

"Men!" Lyn stormed through Bulgar's gates, not noticing that Toby had to trot to keep up with her. "They disgust me!"

"Come on, Lyn, I'm sure they didn't mean any harm," Toby replied, a bit out of breath as he tried to keep up. "The redhead didn't, at least. Can't say the same for the other, but they both seemed honest enough."

"If by honest you mean inconceivably rude—what's that?" Lyn grabbed for her sword as a dark shape swooped toward them from the sky.

"Hobby!" Toby's eyes lit up as he moved past Lyn and lifted one arm. The small falcon banked before it crashed into Toby and landed meekly on his arm. "I was wondering where you'd gotten to, little fellow," he said softly, gently rubbing the bird's head.

"Is that…a hunting falcon?" Lyn asked doubtfully. It was much too small, and Toby certainly didn't look wealthy enough for a hunting falcon. Still…

"All falcons are hunters, Lyn," said Toby, "but no, Hobby's too small to hunt for people food. He's just a good friend. And a good ally."

Lyn frowned and was about to ask, but movement from behind caught her eye. She glanced back, then grabbed Toby's free hand and tugged him nearly off his feet, startling the falcon into flight. "Run! We're being pursued!" She looked back again as Toby regained his balance. "Could it be those knights from town? No…It's not them. These men are out for blood!"

She stopped quickly as another bandit stepped into her path, rubbing the blade of his axe as if it were a beloved pet. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Toby give a signal to the falcon, who circled out of sight. The bandit drew her attention again as he spoke.

"Heh heh hehhh," he laughed mirthlessly. "Aren't you the pretty one! Your name is Lyndis, is it not?"

The name froze her breath in her lungs. She hadn't heard that name in six months. "What did you call me?" she asked, but snapped back to herself when she heard the childish pleading in her voice. "Who are you?" she demanded, more herself—strong, proud, and unyielding.

"Such a waste," the bandit sighed as he looked at her face, but his sickly grin returned as his eyes traveled lower. Lyn felt unclean as he laughed again. "An absolute waste. The things I'll do for gold—ah, well. Time to die, darlin'!" he roared, hefting his axe over his shoulder. "C'mon out, boys!"

Lyn's heart quailed as more bandits slinked roach-like from their hiding places. "Oh, no...there are more than I can handle." She glanced at Toby, but the boy's eyes were unfocused and far away. She paused, uncertain, but then realized that he must be scared out of his mind and spoke quickly to comfort him. "But I'll not give up!"

"Hey, there she is!"

"Huh?" She turned to the sound of hoof-beats. "What—"

The green-armored one reached them first, reigning in his horse with a breathless grin. "Whew, finally caught up." He paused to catch his breath, then drew himself up tall, pointing to a man with his lance. "Hold!" he cried, his voice ringing clearly across the distance. "You there! What is your business?" His eyes swept across the plains, flashing indignantly. "Such numbers against a girl? Cowards, every one of you!"

Lyn's expression had darkened from surprise to aggravated recognition. "You! You're from—"

"We can discuss that later," interjected the redheaded knight calmly as he came upon them. "It appears this ruffians mean to do you harm."

Lyn began to tell them not to interfere, but Toby was saying something, almost too softly to hear. She frowned and half-turned towards him in time to hear him murmur, "Five, iron axes all, no other weapons…"

"If it's a fight they want, let them look to me!" declared the redhead, drawing his sword and moving his horse between the nearest bandit and Lyn. "Stand back," he said to her quietly, "I'll take care of this."

His protectiveness only reignited her will to fight, to prove her strength. "No!" she returned, moving in front of his horse and throwing one arm out in front of him. "This is my fight! Stay out of my way!" She glared at him, daring him to challenge her.

"Well, I can't just stand here and do nothing," the other one pointed out, spinning his lance casually as he eyed the bandits.

"I have a solution." The redhead looked levelly at Toby, who snapped out of his trance in time to blink at the knight. "You there, command us."

"Huh?"

He continued before Lyn could protest. "I am Kent, a knight of Lycia. My companion is Sain. We will follow your orders in battle." Sain looked over, his surprise as plain as Toby's, but Kent turned quickly to Lyn. "Is this acceptable, milady?"

Lyn suspected that Kent had only assumed that Toby was in charge because he was a man, but she relented. She really couldn't fight so many on her own. "Yes, it is. Toby and I will lead," she asserted, glaring first at Kent, then at Sain. She then turned to the battle. "Let's go!"