by Logan Jacobs
He was trampled beneath the hooves of my steed, so I turned my attention to the next bandit. My new target had a large two-handed sword he swirled around above his head like a whip, and I could only imagine how strong he had to be to manage such a move.
I wasn’t the best at fighting from horseback just yet, but I’d gotten the hang of it during my battle with the Loser Lord’s small army, so I pulled on the reins to charge toward the sword swinging dude, and Goliath responded immediately.
The warhorse was much more accustomed to this sort of thing than I was.
The longsword swinging motherfucker yelled out a battle cry as I drew near him, and he brought his sword down to aim at Goliath’s legs. My horse easily jumped over the blade and kicked out his back legs at the same time. His hooves slammed into the dude’s chest and knocked the wind out of him, which gave me the perfect opening to spin my horse around and slide my feather sword into the bandit’s throat.
He made a sickening gurgling sound as blood sprayed out from the wound and splattered across my face, and I swiped it away with the back of my hand as I scanned the battlefield for my next opponent.
Mahini had managed to take out three of the archers, but there were still two more, so I turned Goliath toward the remaining range attackers. They saw me coming, though, and an instant later I was riding through a cloud of arrows.
One struck me on the shoulder and managed to get between my armor pieces at the junction, and pain shot down my arm and up into my neck.
I was getting closer and closer to town, though, and I couldn’t wait to have all these fuckers bleeding in the dirt.
Chime.
“Take out the archers first,” I directed Mahini before I charged into battle. I beheaded the first guy I encountered, chased down the dagger throwing bandit and killed him, and then turned my attention to the longsword asshole. I didn’t pay attention to his fancy sword swinging technique, and Goliath once again jumped over the blade and kicked him in the chest.
Instead of going after the archers this time, I made my way toward the city walls. Hopefully, Mahini would keep the ranged attackers occupied so I could focus on the rest of the assholes.
Four of the men held a battering ram, and they pulled back and then slammed it into the wooden gate of the town with all their might. The wood on the gate creaked and splintered, so I knew it wouldn’t last for much longer.
I dropped the reins to free up my left hand, and then I pulled out one of the daggers Jax had made for me. They’d originally been intended for Loser Lord, but since I’d killed him and claimed Elissa for myself, the blades had been gifted to me instead. They were perfectly crafted and well balanced, so I flipped it in my hand until I was holding it by the tip, and then I flung it through the air and into the back of one of the battering ram men.
The blade landed deep into his spine, and the bandit arched his back, cried out in pain, and dropped the battering ram in the process. It was too heavy for the other three men to hold on their own, so the long tree stump fell to the ground, and they turned to me as they drew their swords.
I moved my leg over Goliath’s neck and slid down from his back to land on the ground a few paces away from them. Then I pulled the curved dagger I’d taken from the sorcerer Raijin Thornheart out from its sheath and grasped it in my left hand.
All three men charged toward me at once, and their angry cries filled my ears as I held my ready stance and waited. Then they were on me, and I parried a blow from a guy to my right with my sword before I struck the asshole to my left with my dagger. The blade sliced across his shoulder and cut through his fur armor to cleave his muscle in two.
The man yelled in pain and dropped his sword, which left him unarmed, so I spun in a circle and pulled my feather sword across his neck.
I finished my spin just in time to catch a blade with my sword, and while I held my enemy’s attack off with my right hand, I brought my dagger up into his gut with my left. Blood poured down my forearm as the man crumpled to the ground, but the last battering ram asshole turned tail and ran away.
I started to chase him down, but then I managed to snag my straight bladed dagger from the dead man’s back as I ran, so I tossed it end over end after the retreating asshole. My blade grazed his neck, and it left a small gash along his exposed throat, but it didn’t kill him. It slowed him down, though, so I quickly covered the distance between us and jammed my feather sword into his spine. He died soundlessly, and his body was already limp when I pulled my sword free.
Then I scanned the battlefield for another opponent, but there were only three men left. One archer and two axe wielders. Mahini was doing her part from her mule’s back on the edge of the field, and by the time I crossed the distance to the remaining bandits, the archer fell to the ground so full of arrows that he resembled a pin cushion.
That left two ax wielding assholes for me. Just the way I liked it.
I held the sorcerer’s dagger in my left hand, and my feather sword in my right as I squared up to the two men. They eyed me warily as they realized they were the only ones remaining, but they didn’t surrender. Instead, they raised their axes in unison, and they let out twin cries of bloodlust as they charged toward me.
Dumbasses. I’d just killed all their buddies, and they still attacked?
I ducked below the first strike, and the blade grazed against the armor on my shoulder. Then I spun and whipped out my feather sword in one fluid movement, which left deep gashes across both men’s abdomens. The fur armor did little to protect them, and soon the white fluff on their torsos was painted red with their own blood.
One of the axe men tried to attack me again, but his motions were much slower due to his injury. It was easy for me to parry the blow with my sword, and then I sent my dagger up into the exposed skin below his chin. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as his life force left him, and a spray of blood added another layer of decoration to my arms as I removed my blade from his skull.
The other axe man was keeled over with both arms wrapped around his bleeding gut, but I didn’t waste any time putting him out of his misery. I brought my feather sword down in a wide slash that severed his head from his shoulders, and then I turned to scan the battlefield once more.
They were all dead, and the fifteen bodies littered the field between the road and the small town. Six of them were stuck full of arrows, but I’d taken out the other nine on my own. My breaths came in heavy pants from the exertion of the fight, so I took a few deep breaths as I wiped my blades clean on the closest corpse’s fur armor.
“Amazing job, Great One!” Mahini congratulated as she trotted over on Warrior’s back.
“You did pretty good, too,” I replied with a grin. “I didn’t know you could shoot that fast.”
“I only did what any Golden Sword would have,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I’m sure the people of Ivywood will be grateful for your sudden appearance during the battle. I didn’t see any fighters from the town out on the field.”
I frowned as I realized she was right. Why hadn’t the town sent out people to defend themselves? Were they as bad off as Bastianville had been before my arrival?
If so, they were in desperate need of a god, and it just so happened today was their lucky day.
“Let’s see what we can find on these bodies, and then we will go meet the town,” I suggested as I scanned the corpses laying across the field.
“Yes, I need to try to salvage some of my arrows,” Mahini chuckled and then slid down from Warrior’s back to help me sort through the remains. “I’m sure many of them will be too damaged to use again, but waste not, want not.”
“Good idea.” I nodded.
“That was amazing!” Elissa exclaimed as she trotted Star over to where Mahini and I stood. “I was scared for a moment, but the two of you killed all of those men so quickly I barely had time to be afraid!”
“Nothing to fear, my love.” I reached up and patted her leg. “Just some assholes who
were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“I just love traveling with you, husband!” Elissa said with a grin. “I love watching you help all the people of the world and save them just like you saved Bastianville.”
“The best is yet to come,” I assured her. “We still have the Duke of Ballard to visit, after all.”
“I’m sure he will be just as amazed by you as we are,” Elissa replied. Then she giggled and pointed toward the city. “Looks like they are coming out to thank you.”
The town gates had opened so a small handful of people stood just on the edge of the village boundary, and they stared at the dead bodies littered across the field in abject terror.
I sighed, created a save point, and ran a hand through my hair. “Time to be diplomatic.”
“I will gather anything useful from the bodies,” Mahini said with a curt nod. “You go tend to the townspeople, Great One.”
“Thank you.” I gave her a grateful smile and then headed toward the small crowd of people at the town gates.
I put on my best smile and waved as I approached, but I didn’t even get a chance to open my mouth before a woman stepped forward and lifted her hand to stop me. Her long, unwoven silver hair gave her the look of an elder, but she had no wrinkles on her face to give away her age. Her eyes were a dull gray, like she was almost blind, and her slightly pointy ears stuck out through the metallic tendrils.
“I warn you, stranger,” the silver-haired woman said in a stern voice. “What you have done here today is only delaying the inevitable. All of these people will perish anyway, for the end of times have come upon us. The gods are displeased with us, and we must appease their wrath with our blood before it is too late!”
“Excuse me?” I lifted an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. “I am the God of Time. Who do you think you are, telling me I’m displeased?”
“Y-You’re the God of Time?” The woman faltered, and her head tilted slightly to the side as she processed my words. “How can that be? My master said nothing of your appearance in these lands…”
“You have yet to introduce yourself,” I reminded her in a steady voice.
“Forgive me, I forget myself.” The silver-haired woman straightened her shoulders and pulled on a regal expression. “I am called Sarosh, and I am a High Priestess of the Purge.”
“That’s a weird name for a religion,” I muttered under my breath as I considered how to handle this strange woman.
The townspeople seemed hesitant to interrupt our exchange, but I’d seen a few eyes glimmer with hope when I’d announced my godhood. If I could only get rid of this crazy zealot, then I could convince them to follow me.
“If you are indeed the Great One of prophecy,” Sarosh continued as her gray eyes adopted a fevered look, “then you understand the dire situation the world is in. Help me convince these plebeians to abandon their fruitless labors and follow me to the safety of eternity. Please! Before it’s too late!”
“How exactly do you propose to do that?” I asked.
“She calls for blood!” one of the townspeople interjected in a fearful tone. “Sarosh said we must sacrifice ourselves in order to be guaranteed our soul’s harbor in the next world.”
“She’s a heretic,” I argued with a shake of my head. “I am a god, I know all things.”
“How do we know you’re not the heretic?” another person questioned in a suspicious voice.
“There’s too many religious zealots around here for my tastes,” yet another townsperson grumbled.
I sighed. This was going to be tricky, but I didn’t want anyone to question my godhood, so I reset to my save point to give this strange woman a taste of her own medicine.
Chime.
“I will gather anything useful from the bodies,” Mahini said with a curt nod. “You go tend to the townspeople, Great One.”
“Thank you.” I flashed her another smile and headed toward the small crowd of people at the town gates again.
“Greetings!” I called before the woman could open her mouth. “I have come here to save you from the heretic Sarosh. Do not heed her evil words, for I am the God of Time, and I am here to save you all.”
A hushed whisper swept through the crowd of about twenty people, and the silver-haired woman’s mouth fell open in shock.
Perfect.
“If you are truly who you say you are,” Sarosh countered with an arched eyebrow, “then you know how dire the situation here really is. The people of Ivywood must abandon their fruitless endeavors and swear fealty to the gods in order to save their souls.”
“They will find no harbor for souls within the Purge,” I insisted, and whispers once again went through the gathered people in a wave.
“Lies!” Sarosh hissed, and she pointed an accusatory finger at my face. “You are a false god, my master warned me of your appearance.”
“No, he didn’t,” I argued. “You’re the one who is lying.”
“Perhaps we shouldn’t believe either one of you,” a townsperson observed in a thoughtful tone. “Two heretics arguing is nothing to raise a fuss over.”
“Who is the one who defended your town against these marauding bandits?” I asked as I gestured at the field of corpses behind me. “I did not need to save you, but I did. You saw me fight, and yet you still do not believe?”
“It is true,” someone whispered. “He killed almost ten of those men by himself, and look, he doesn’t have a single scratch on him!”
“I am the God of Time,” I insisted in my best god-like voice. “Whoever wishes to follow in the path of those men should feel free to follow Sarosh to your deaths. If you wish to live, follow me. It’s as simple as that.”
“I say neither!” someone shouted, and cries of affirmation reverberated throughout the small crowd. People began to splinter off and leave, and a moment later there were only five people standing around Sarosh and me.
I couldn’t let them leave without believing me, so I reset to my save point again.
Chime.
Mahini once again volunteered to loot the dead, and Elissa eyed the watching crowd with obvious trepidation.
“Have no fear, Elissa. These people will figure out we are here to help them, and then everything will be okay. I promise.” I gave her a reassuring smile before I turned to cross the distance to the townspeople.
This time I ignored the woman and went straight to the crowd of people. I walked straight up to a woman with brunette hair swept back into a braid, and I shook her hand.
“What’s your name?” I asked with my most friendly smile.
“B-Beth,” she replied with a blush. She was an older woman, probably mid-forties, but she’d aged gracefully, with only a few laugh lines decorating the skin around her hazel eyes.
I talked to Beth for a moment while Sarosh intoned about the end of the world behind me, but I continued to ignore her as I made my way through the crowd. I reset a dozen times until I’d gotten to know all the townspeople present, and I began to piece together a picture of Ivywood from the various encounters with the residents.
Sarosh had appeared about a week ago. Ivywood had faced back to back raids and attacks, but their protective cousin city, Lake Balerno, had been unable to send them aid. Many died defending the small woodland town, and their population had dwindled to a little over twenty. Every person in the village had shown up at the gates, which made the task of getting to know them easier.
Beth owned the small Ivywood Inn, and she was worried about the lack of visitors filling her rooms. She believed the end of times could be upon them, but she wasn’t ready to give up on life just yet.
The leader of Ivywood was also present at the gates. His name was Hacket, and he was a very old, quiet man who leaned heavily against a wooden cane as he spoke to me.
By the time I’d made my way through the small crowd, I knew everyone’s names and what they were most worried about. The main concern seemed to be the bandit situation, but I’d already decided to tr
y to help the people with that, so I moved on to other pressing issues. A lot of people were upset about the lack of money flowing through the town, and a small portion were fearful of the upcoming winter. Everyone had lost a loved one to a recent raid, so an air of grief clung to every face.
Once I was satisfied with my level of knowledge, I reset to my save point and considered the best way to approach the situation. I needed to convince the people I was a god and Sarosh was a heretic. I didn’t know the strange woman’s story, but she had an energy about her that was unsettling.
“I will gather anything useful from the bodies,” Mahini said with a curt nod, which brought me out of my thoughts. “You go tend to the townspeople, Great One.”
A thought suddenly struck me at her words, and I shook my head. “No, they can wait. I bet we can find some valuable things on those bodies to give them as a peace offering.”
“But, Great One,” Mahini argued in a shocked voice, “you earned the loot from the men you killed. Do you really wish to give it away?”
“These people need it more than I do,” I pointed out.
“You know best,” Mahini relented with a small shake of her head. “Your generosity and benevolence still surprises me.”
So, the two of us combed through the dead bodies while the people and Sarosh watched from the gates. No one made a move to stop us or to help, but they also didn’t leave to reenter the town, so I considered that a good sign.
Once we’d stripped the bandits of their weapons, armor, supplies, and gold, I piled my bounty up in front of the gates and then made a new save point. Looting the corpses had taken more time than I’d expected, and I really didn’t want to have to do it again.
Then I approached with my best smile and a friendly wave. The people seemed slightly less hesitant, and more faces were lit up with curiosity than in any other attempts I’d made. Yet another good sign.