A tense atmosphere fills the room. All the patrons are staring at a young, mysterious woman. She just entered the bar and stands out like a sore thumb. She walks through the room towards the bar. Her gaze roams the room. Scanning the Therians present. She appears to be relaxed. When she reaches the bar, she brings out a folded piece of paper from her purse and unfolds it. It is a wanted poster.

"I heard you know this face. And the man it belongs to," she says to the Barkeeper and places the poster on the bar. Pointing at it.

"Never seen him," he retorts.

"You didn't even look at the picture!" the woman says with faked indignation. She takes a deep breath, attempting to calm down.

"Well, it doesn't matter. I know you guys know him. After all, he runs in your pack. Must have pissed off some powerful people. One million Velarian Krona is a lot of money."

The Therians in the room all want to get up and tear this woman apart. How dare she come into their home and threaten one of their own? They all are trained fighters, but she shows no fear at all. They do not act on their emotions because of their instincts. Every fibre of their being tells them that this woman is dangerous.

Suddenly the woman springs into action. The Therians could barely follow her movements. She quickly moves towards a young female Therian sitting in the room's corner. She pushed away several of the Therians standing in the way before they could even react. Once she reaches her target, she grabs the phone out of the woman's hand and jumps back. 

"Someone was trying to warn him. Lucky me."

She immediately presses the call button and raises the phone to her ear. All the Therians in the room jump up from their seats. But none of them act. After only two rings, someone picks the phone up and a deep voice asks:

"Sandra?"

"Sandra. Hm. Nice name," replies the intruder.

"Who are you? Why do you have her phone!?" the voice growls.

"Nothing yet. But I will kill your girl if you don't show up here."

"What do you want?"

"You know what. Be here in the next hour. Otherwise, all your friends here will die."

With that, she hangs up and throws the phone on the floor. She takes the foot off Sandra's neck and walks back to the bar.

"I'll have a beer," she says, facing the barkeeper behind the bar. The man just ignores her request.

"Well? We're probably gonna be here for a while." She looks around the room and asks: "Or does anyone of you wanna fight me?" She gestures towards the present Therians. "No?" she asks rhetorically.

Satisfied, she sits down on a barstool. The barkeeper finally bulks and pours her a beer. She slowly sips the beer, savouring each sip. The Therians help Sandra get up. She pushes them away angrily and rubs her bruised neck. With a few steps, she stands behind the woman sipping her beer without a care in the world.

"Why is someone like you after him?" She asks the mysterious woman. She had never encountered someone as powerful.

"Do you like him?"

"I ... yes." Sandra looks down. Trying to hide her fear and pain. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Hunting people."

"I'll have another," she says with a smile, pointing the glass at the barkeeper. "Haven't you met any bounty hunters before?"

"Sure. But you are powerful. You could do anything. Why would you do this? He doesn't deserve to die!"

"Someone thinks he does," says the strange woman. Sandra screams in anger and takes out a hunting knife. She throws it at the woman's back and to everyone's surprise, it penetrates the skin up to the hilt. The woman does not seem to be bothered by it. Feeling no pain. She finally turns around, grabs the knife from her shoulder and pulls it out.

"Rude," she remarks, and drops the knife to the ground. The wound already closing.

At this moment, a man walks into the barroom from the back. Sandra immediately runs towards him. "Babe!" she throws herself at him and gives him a deep kiss. She realizes she has already given up. This woman's strength was simply too overwhelming. Any moment they would die together.

But the moment passed, and nothing happened. Confused, Sandra frees herself from her boyfriend and turns around. The mysterious woman is still sipping on her second beer. Once she feels the gaze of the two lovebirds on her, she takes out another piece of paper and points at the barstool next to her:

"Come sit."

Hesitating at first, he overcomes his fear and makes his way to the stool. He sits down and grabs the paper in front of him. While reading, his facial expression becomes more and more confused.

"This is a contract? What is the Legion of Glory?"

"You don't know about the Legion? How did you survive so long?"

"Well, I ..."

"I recruit for the Legion. The contract is for 10-year military service. Your kin is under the protection of the Legion while you are on the frontline."

"Frontline?" he asks, confused.

"You really know nothing, do you?" she sighs. "It doesn't really matter. If you sign, you and your pack will survive today. And you might even survive the service. The offer stands until I finish my beer. After that, I will collect the bounty on your head for the war effort."

She speaks matter-of-factly. But the message is quite dire. Close to tears, he turns to Sandra. She just walks to him and takes his hands in hers. After a moment, she whispers: "I love you."

He presses her hands. Then wiggles his hands free and picks up the pencil lying on the contract and signs with a determined demeanour. "I will survive," he announces. "I will come back."