She gasped, but refrained from moving away from him. "And why would you be stealing jewels?" she demanded.

Rall smiled and dug into the pouch and pulled out one gem in particular - a deep red ruby. He held it up for examination. "Ah, yes, this is what I wanted."
He then looked at Julianna. "This is a special jewel. This jewel has more power than you can imagine. With this jewel, I can -"

But he was cut short. A black metal spike shot out of the darkness and embedded itself in Rall's shoulder. Two men stepped out of the darkness. One was dressed head-to-toe in black, with a black fur coat, a black hat, and black clothing. He wore a sword over one shoulder, and he carried what looked like a chain whip in his left hand. The other man wore only black pants and shoes, and he carried a long spear in one hand. His hair was short and black, and strangest of all, he had wings like those of a bat. The man with the spear spoke.

"We can't have you hurting the girl, at least not now. The Danes are paying us way too much money for her."

Rall narrowed his eyes and yanked the spike out of his shoulder. "Are you going to stop me?" He drew his sword. Julianna had not even noticed he carried a blade. The winged man hefted his own spear.

"You can fight us if you want, but there's a reason we're one of the most sought-after groups of assassins in the world. I am Kekkio the Horse Killer, and I've never lost a fight. This here is my friend Qiu. He doesn't speak our language, but considering he's the one that spiked you, I don't think he needs to. Now, will you come quietly, or will I have to gut you like a fish?"

Beads of sweat form on Rall's head as Qiu snaped the chain whip at him, and it wraped around his sword. While Kekkio raised his spear and charged, Qiu yanked the sword out of his opponent's hand. Rall watched his sword be dragged away, and then his eyes went cold as Kekkio's Horse Cutter spear lodged itself in his chest, directly through his heart. Kekkio put his hand on Rall's face and yanked it out. The dragon fell to the ground.

Julianna stared at the scene for a moment. Both men were absorbed with some ceremony over the dead body. Qiu pulls a bottle out, and sprinkles it over Rall's body. She saw her chance - she could make a run for it. On the other hand, they might see her, and they rescued her from Rall. Julianna looked at the exit, then at the two men, and made her choice...