Sacrifice

by Underwood, Patrick

  “Oy, don't touch her till we get the collar on, Nate.” Asshole said before bolo… or Nate I guessed, reached her.

  The other two big ogre looking guys just stood there and leered, a small chuckle escaping their lips at their companion’s byplay. They looked like bodybuilders, and I couldn't tell if they were twins or just brothers. They might be a legitimate threat, given their size.

  “Well hurry then and get it on her then, Og.” Nate said.

  The stupidly named Og moved up to her, reached down to put the collar around her neck. “Don't you do nuthin’ stupid girl.”

  Just as he reached her neck with the collar, she came alive, reaching up and grabbed the man around the face. “Die!” she yelled. Her face streaked with tears, and her eyes opened in rage.

  “Arrghghhhhhhh,” Og screamed when she touched him.

  I used the distraction to move around to an opening in the clearing.

  Just as I rounded the bushes, Nate came up to the girl and hit her in the head with the club. “Stupid Bitch!”

  Og fell backwards on the ground after she let go.

  My emotions spiked and rage filled me. Time did that thing where it slowed down to a crawl. Rather than question it, I came in behind the largest of the ogre twins with my knife drawn as fast as I could.

  I leaped on to the man's back, the knife in my hand piercing the vertebrae in his neck, and I rode his body down as it crashed. All the while, I felt as if moving in slow motion. I pulled at the knife, but it had wedged in his neck and was not coming free, even with all my strength behind the pull.

  I quickly let go of it and rolled to where he had dropped his club, right towards his ugly twin. The man was just registering that his brother had hit the ground and was turning towards me, his own club coming up.

  “What the hell did you do to Blotter?” he said. His voice was distorted through whatever was causing my senses to move so fast. I finished my roll and popped up to my feet, the club of my enemy now in my hand. I ran straight at ogre number two as fast as I could manage and ducked under the slow blow of his sideways swing.

  I nailed him in the balls with the club as I passed, causing him to drop his club and bend over. A high pitch scream, even through the distortion, slowly bled out of his lips.

  Before he could finish cupping his family jewels, I turned and jumped on to his back like I did for his brother. This time bringing my arm underneath his throat.

  This was a mistake on my part, looking at it in hindsight. Since I did not have the mass that I had in my earlier life, the chances of me being able to pull off a move like this was low, especially with two other men in the clearing. A tactically unsound move, to say the least, and something old colonel Trino would have kicked my ass for if he saw me do it.

  But I was angry.

  They hurt this girl right in front of me, and my sole purpose in life right now was to make them die.

  So, I finished reaching under the guy's jaw, dropping the club like a complete idiot while I did so. I used my other arm for leverage around the top of his head and used the motion of my whole body to twist and break his neck. Given the size disparity, and my lack of muscle, it should never have worked.

  But his neck cracked and his head almost went backwards. He died instantly and I was truly shocked when we came down to the ground together.

  I stood while I let him slump to the ground. Confidence in my newfound abilities flowed through me like water.

  I faced the last man standing, the one who kicked the girl. He was looking at me with shock on his face at what I had just done to two of his crew. I smiled at him, letting him revel in the fact that I was going to kill him next.

  Then the flow of power, or whatever you want to call it, stopped. I suddenly felt weak and exhausted, dropping to one knee, barely holding myself upright as the sweat poured out of me from all the effort.

  Nate got his confidence back when he saw me drop to the ground. “Imma gonna kill you for that fucker!” He raised his club and started towards me.

  I pushed up, back to my feet and held my hands up in a defensive posture, no longer riding the high of superpower anymore. That did not, however, make me defenseless against this guy.

  He moved forward and swung the baton wide. I backed up just enough for it to miss my nose and rushed in with a right hook in its wake, connecting my fist to the man's jaw. He grunted in response to the hit.

  I shifted the hand that punched him around his neck and moved to his side like I was giving him a hug. I put my right leg behind his and used my arm to leverage him over and down onto the ground with a thump.

  He cried out when he landed, his breath going out of him. I followed that up with an elbow to his nose, breaking it instantly. I stood up and picked up his dropped club and hit him one more time in the head, hearing a deep and meaty crack as it landed.

  A killing blow.

  I kept the club in my hand this time as I moved over to Og to finish him. I would not have a survivor hunting me down later. Especially since I already killed three of these clowns.

  When I approached, he looked sick. Discoloration, pustules, and sores marked his face. He was breathing rapidly, and his eyes were open in pain.

  “P..please don't kill me,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and pain coming through.

  “Why were you chasing the girl?

  “Bo… bounty.” He coughed and continued. “She is worth a lot of money being a witch and all.” His voice was already improving. Maybe he will recover after all.

  “Witch?”

  “She's the daughter of the matriarch of Blackrun, worth a bloody fortune. We were lucky to catch up to her. I'll split it with you, and we can live like kings.”

  I paused, as if considering his offer. “What was the collar for?”

  He looked at me as if confused. “It's a control collar, you ain't never heard of one of them before? It's the only way to take away a witch's power. The only way we can ever be on equal footing with those controlling bitches.”

  “I am new here,” was my only reply.

  “Help me up and we can collar her and take her to Seir for a reward.”

  “Seir?”

  “He is the new overlord… Demigod actually. You ain’t heard of him neither? Where did you come from? Uh… He is the one who can take the power of the Chosen women who treat us like shit. Just like what happened with the other races on Timeria.”

  His health was returning, the sores on his face disappearing much too quickly now, and I did not want to risk fighting someone until I recovered a bit.

  I leaned forward like I was going to give him my hand, giving him a slight nod and what I hoped was a friendly smile. Just as he reached up to take it, he put his head in a perfect position.

  I took one step to the side and swung like I was going for a one-handed home run. The blood splattered throughout the forest.

  “I'm not a slaver, you fat fucking pig.” I sat down on the ground with my head bowed. Utter exhaustion taking over.

  “Hopefully, I can get more information when she wakes up,” I said to myself as I took several deep breaths.

  A noise came from behind me.

  Before I could turn around, I had two hands grab each side of the head, a tingling sensation going through my body.

  “Make one move and I will poison you.” A young woman's voice came from behind me.

  Ah, fuck.

  4

  First Impressions

  “Look Miss… I don't know what's going on. I have no idea what you mean by that, but I promise you I am not here to hurt you… I was only trying to help.”

  “Oh… thank the gods.” She said and collapsed back on the ground.

  I turned to face her, slowly getting up, the pains and bruises I had somehow given myself protesting in the absolute strongest means. I stood over her as I stretched them out, trying to keep them from getting worse.

  She had passed out, eyes closed, in a fetal position where she landed. Now that I could see her
calmly, I noticed she was quite beautiful. Her messy brown hair faded into a lighter color as the hair approached the tips, obviously well-kept before her current predicament. Her face and shoulders were tanned and flawless in their complexion. I did not see a single birth mark or blemish at all, which was kind of weird to me.

  Her eyes were closed, but her nose was rounded and pert with lips that stuck out. Her neckline was regal and long. She could definitely be a model back home…

  Let's not think about home right now. Focus on the problems at hand and all that.

  I adjusted her position, as lightly as I could, to not disturb her sleep. I figured I would give her a few minutes to recover before I moved her.

  I proceeded to each of the men in turn, checking them for anything of use. Besides the clubs, they each had a dagger and a coin pouch. Opening each pouch, they had a few copper coins with a picture of a woman on them with a name of whoever she was underneath.

  As I looked at the writing of one of the larger copper coins, I decided it was a language I had not seen before. The letters looked like one of the ancient scripts I had seen in history books about ancient Greece. I shrugged and moved on.

  Moving on to the last body, Og had one small silver one in addition, and I put them all in the best-looking leather pouch of the bunch and tied it to my belt.

  “Who are you?” The woman said from behind me.

  I turned and saw she had lifted her head a bit but still laid on the ground. Her brown eyes were lovely now that I could see them.

  “Derrick, but my friends call me Derk.”

  “May I call you Derk then?” She asked.

  I nodded. “Sure, I have water up the rocks with my gear. Not sure I would trust the pouches these guys have on them until we clean them out. Let me finish going through their stuff and we can head up there.”

  “That would be… acceptable.”

  She seemed a little proper. Well, if she was one of these matriarchs, that meant she came from a ruling class or something. So, it made sense.

  “What's your name?” I asked.

  “Tyla-Rose... Russel. Daughter of the Matriarch of Blackrun, Patricia Gerund. You may call me Tyla.”

  “Ok Tyla. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am going to finish up here.”

  I finished going through each of the four men, then dragged their bodies over to the bushes while she sat up and watched me. Not a proper burial or hiding spot, but I didn't much care either way about these guys either.

  “Have you killed men before?” She asked.

  “Once. While saving a life.”

  “How noble for one so young.”

  I stopped and gazed at her, confused for a second. “Young?”

  “Um, yes… you could not be much older than me, if at all.”

  Right, I'm a kid again.

  “Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I feel older sometimes,” I lied… horribly, I might add.

  If she sensed something, she did not say it and instead asked, “What are you doing in these woods?”

  “Funny, I was going to ask you the same question, but I'll go first,” I said, making up a story on the spot. “I wanted to get away from people and live off the land for a while. Been out here for a bit too, so I don't know what is going on out in the world.”

  I hoped that might explain my lack of knowledge and earlier remarks, at least enough to get by.

  She nodded. “I would rather not say any more about where I am from. I think that Og character said more than enough already.” She pointed to the body.

  “You heard that?”

  She nodded. “That was why I had to be sure of your intentions.”

  “No offense lady, how can you tell my intentions by grabbing my head?”

  “I am Chosen and have a water affinity.” She said, as though that explained everything.

  I debated on what questions to ask, do I risk sounding like an outsider or not? “Not familiar with whatever that is. I was a nobody from a backwards place before I came here. So you will have to explain what that means, as I am ignorant of the world.”

  She looked at me oddly, a single eyebrow raised. It was then that I finished with the last of the bodies and stopped to study her again.

  The clothes she was wearing were not something I would think of as proper attire. The blouse was a mesh material that allowed for airflow but was a little revealing. Then the leather corset went over the shirt at her midsection, giving her ample breasts support. But it honestly looked like it was supposed to be part of something else, like half her outfit was missing. She also wore leather shorts that cut off below her hips, and leather boots that went up to her knees. They looked of high quality at least.

  As much as I tried to keep my thoughts in check, the hormones of the twenty something I now inhabited took over. My eyes drifted to her chest and hips. Both were what most men say they desire in life. Her breasts were not overly large, but they were of significant size and perky. It would attract my attention in any bar setting in Boston. Her wide hips emphasized her narrow waist, which was helped by the leather corset she wore. She was absolutely stunning in that girl next door sort of way.

  I quickly averted my eyes back to our surrounding area. She had not spoken at all during my observations. Her eyes locked to the ground as she continued to sit up with her legs crossed over each other. Kind of like we did in kindergarten back on Earth.

  “My mother is… was… the Matriarch of Blackrun,” she said as several tears leaked from her eyes. “Though I had siblings, I was her only Chosen daughter and was the one that would have succeeded her in time. My water affinity allows me some control over the fluids in your body. I can do minor healing and cause the opposite, if only temporarily. I can feel your emotions when we touch, so I knew you felt you were telling me the truth when you said it. Given the circumstances, that was good enough for me.”

  “Hey, I don't know your past any more than you know mine, but I meant that. I… kind of have a soft spot for women in distress. If you want to run on without me, I won't stop you, but I… don't really have anywhere else to go right now. So, if you want me to help you get away, I can do that too. I'll let you make the call.”

  Tears started streaming down her face in full force now. “Th… thank you. I will accept your generous offer of aid.”

  “Alright,” I said, moving on. “These guys had almost nothing on them. They were traveling too light to be in these woods.”

  “They…” She sniffed and wiped the tears away. “Chased me on horseback on the road. I ran into the forest to get away from them. They left their horses behind.”

  “Hmm, I might be able to use that. Let's go get my stuff and get you cleaned up. Then we will check on these horses.”

  She nodded. I reached over and held out my hand to help her up. She took it and stood. I felt a tingling sensation again in my arm.

  “Did you just use your water magic on me?” I said since it was the second time, I felt that sensation now.

  She pulled her arm and looked at me in shock. “You felt that?”

  “Uh, I did. Why?”

  “You should not be able to feel that kind of magic. Only the Chosen should be able to pick it up at all. But Chosen are all women. Except… for what I have heard of Seir, of course.”

  “I am not sure what you are talking about. I only felt a tingling up my arm, and I don't have any magic that I know about. Here, test me with... whatever it is.”

  The tingling resumed after she grabbed my hand, but went throughout my body this time. I stared straight into her eyes and repeated myself word for word.

  “You believe what you are saying,” she said, but still unsure in her voice. “But they say that the Demigods can fool even a matriarch of the elves.”

  “There are elves too? Wait, don't answer that. Okay, I do not know what else to say to make you believe me. If you want to run off by yourself rather than take the risk, I understand. I will walk— “

  “No,” she interrupted. “I… bel
ieve you. I'll take the risk. I just need… help.” Her shoulders drooped, and she sobbed again. The stress seemed to be getting to her.

  Without thinking, I grabbed her in a hug. “Shhh, I know it sucks right now, but we will make it alright… somehow.”

  She gripped me tight, her head coming just to my jawline, now crying uncontrollably into my shoulder. The floodgates had opened, and I could feel the wetness soaking through my shirt as she cried.

  I put my hand on the back of her head, stroking the back of her hair, taking a few twigs out with my repeated motions.

  We stood like that for several minutes, just standing there as she came to grips with her situation. My emotions were mixed, the feelings of lost love and this girl to protect mixing in and making my own emotions swirl inside me. A tear dropped down my own cheek as I consoled this lovely young woman in front of me. I pushed back against my pain to keep from breaking the dam that I had built to keep back all the trauma.

  There would be time for that later.

  5

  A Nice Jog

  We ended the hug and made our way around the rocks to where I had placed my supplies. Taking the coins and the water pouches with us. I also tied a baton to my back with twine and the daggers with their sheaths to my belt. Even if it weighed me down, they could all come in handy later.

  “Here, take this,” I said, handing her two of the three empty water bladders, their contents dumped onto the ground. I knew I should get used to the lack of sanitary conditions in this medieval, at best, looking world, but I would not swap spit with those guys.

  She looked at me in surprise for a moment but relented. “Umm… Yes, sure.”

  I wondered what that was about but said nothing. “Let's get to my stuff, get you some clean water and we can make a move for those horses.”

  She nodded and followed me around the rock formation. A few minutes later, I gave her my water bladder. She drained it dry in a minute.

  “We can get more at the brook over there, clean out these three, and fill up. You know how to use a dagger or staff?”