by Logan Jacobs
Chapter 4
The stares of the townsfolk cut right through me. I figured that walking in and announcing I was the God of Time would make them all laugh at me. The sorcerer hadn’t been all that impressed the first time he had summoned me. Then again, these people had just watched me annihilate an entire horde of vicious kobolds as easily as if I was taking a stroll through a quiet forest.
I was so glad they didn’t remember all the times I had been killed.
“Th-The God of Time?” Elrin stammered, and his drawn face was now completely drained of blood. “You’re the God of Time?”
If he fainted, I was going to have to figure out another way to spill the beans. These people would never let me stay if my first act as God was to make their leader pass out.
Or maybe that would just add to my awesomeness as a God. I didn’t really know what was going to happen, but if I didn’t like the results, I could just do it over.
And over. And over. Until I got what I wanted out of everything.
“Uhh, yeah, that’s me,” I said with a grin. He swayed like a tree in a hurricane, so I sprang forward and grabbed his elbow. “Look, why don’t you sit down and take a few breaths. I didn’t mean to freak you out or anything.”
“No, no, I’m… I can’t believe this is real.” His voice was barely above a whisper.
“Yeah, me, either,” I snickered under my breath so that no one could hear me.
A burly man with part of his eyebrow missing came forward with a log that had been stripped of its bark. He rested the makeshift stool on the ground and helped me lower Elrin to sit. Then the burly man gave me a small bow before stepping back into the crowd.
Oh shit, I wasn’t going to have people being all formal with me now, was I? Manners and niceties were one thing, but if people were going to start bowing and calling me “Great One” as I walked past them in the street, I was going to lose my mind.
“My name is Sebastian.” I turned and smiled at everyone, but then I realized that I might actually be covered in gore. I looked down, and saw that my work dress shirt just had a few angry red splotches, probably because I’d gotten so good at murdering these kobolds. “You don’t have to call me the God of Time or anything like that. I actually prefer to be called Bash.”
The townsfolk muttered amongst themselves again. It might have been a bit much asking them to call me by a nickname straight out of the gate. If some badass god came up to me and said the same thing, I probably would have given him the same look they were giving me. A few of them even shook their heads.
Maybe I should start this over? I considered it, but then I decided to just ride this life out for a few more minutes and see how it went.
“If that is what you wish, then that is what we shall do. Welcome, Sebastian.” Elrin was still looking like a man half-dead, but his handshake was as firm as it had been before. “Will somebody please fetch my daughter?”
“I’m here, Daddy,” came an immediate response.
The young woman that came dancing out of the crowd made me do a double-take. She wasn’t short, exactly, but her petite frame made her look like she was less than half my size. Her hair was a fiery shade of red, and it cascaded down her back in natural waves. The dress she wore was a sunny-yellow color and complimented her hair very well. She locked her stunning green eyes on mine and gave me a to-die-for smile that made the smattering of freckles on her face dance.
“Sebastian, God of Time, I would like you to meet my daughter, Elissa.” There was a stubborn frown on Elrin’s face as he regarded the girl. “Elissa, this is--”
“I know, Daddy,” Elissa interrupted, and she stepped forward and offered her hand. “I am Elissa Addington, daughter of Elrin Addington. It is a pleasure to meet you, Sebastian, God of Time.”
I grinned and fought back the urge to properly drink in the rest of her appearance. With her father standing right there, I probably couldn’t get away with it, so I just took the hand Elissa offered and shook it.
“The pleasure is all mine, Elissa,” I said.
The young woman arched one of her perfect eyebrows and glanced down at our joined hands before piercing me with a long look.
Oh shit, I guessed that people didn’t shake hands? Or maybe I was reading the situation wrong. It probably didn’t matter much, since I could just restart the whole thing.
Maybe I could get a bit risky then.
I carefully twisted her hand around so the back faced upward, brought the hand up to my lips, and then locked eyes with her as I placed a soft kiss to the back of it.
The giggle that earned me was as sweet as honey, and I felt no urge to retry this attempt.
“I saw you fighting out there,” Elissa cooed, and she slid her fingers along mine at an agonizing pace as she held my gaze. “I’ve never seen anything so incredible in my entire life. You easily slayed all of those beasts!”
“You shouldn’t have been here at all,” Elrin growled at her. “I told you to stay in the house.”
He was one of those fathers, and I was definitely glad I hadn’t checked Elissa out too thoroughly.
“I waited until the bell stopped ringing,” she replied with a shrug. Her father’s ire didn’t seem to faze her one bit. “I figured it was safe, and I wanted to make sure nothing happened to you.”
Whatever anger Elrin had felt up until that point drained from the man’s face, and he looked at his daughter with absolute adoration.
Elissa winked at me when she caught me staring. She totally had him wrapped around her finger.
Oh boy, I was in for it with this one.
“I still wish you had waited,” Elrin said as he reached up to brush Elissa’s cheek like she was a porcelain doll. “I can’t stand the thought of anything happening to you.”
Elissa rolled her eyes. This was clearly a conversation that happened all the time.
“I don’t mean to interrupt, but I could really use a hot bath.” I gestured to my white button-up shirt that looked like a botched attempt at tie-dye.
An uneasy wave of laughter rolled through the crowd. They didn’t expect the God of Time to enjoy being covered in blood, did they? This world was even crazier than I had thought if so.
“Alright, let’s get back to work, everyone!” A short, plump woman cut through the crowd like Moses splitting the sea, and she clapped her hands with every other step. “Sebastian doesn’t need us all gawking at him like this! We have to clean up his handiwork and return order to the town.”
The crowd slowly dissipated, and anyone that grumbled for too long was practically chased away by the plump woman. She was so much shorter than most of the people that it was comical when the burly men rushed off with fear in their eyes. Only a few people were brave enough to linger, but they kept their distance from the mama bear.
“I am Torya Szandor,” the plump woman said as she stepped forward. She offered her hand in the “handshake” pose, so I knew she wasn’t expecting the royal treatment like Elissa. “I’m the innkeeper, and I would be honored to have you stay in one of my rooms.”
She could have told me she was the Queen of the World, and I wouldn’t have been surprised.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Torya--” I said.
“Nope! None of that ‘Miss’ nonsense! You are a god, after all! Just call me Torya, and we’ll get along just fine.” She crossed her arms as if daring me to contradict her.
I wasn’t gonna take the bait. “Torya, got it.”
She grinned and stepped back, and the burly man who had brought Elrin the stool took her place. He wore a shirt that either had the sleeves rolled up all the way or just didn’t have sleeves at all, but it was hard to tell. A long black apron covered him all the way down to his knees where a pair of very worn trousers took over. They were only visible for an inch or so before disappearing into a pair of heavy leather boots.
The burly man nearly broke my hand when we shook, and I did my best not to let any discomfort show on my face. His palm was s
limy with sweat and soot, and he reeked of smoke and forged metal.
“Th’name’s Jaxtom, but you can call me Jax, God of Time.” His voice was deep and growly like two rocks being rubbed together. “Can I see your sword?”
There was no arguing with a man like Jax. I handed the blade over, and he ran his hand down the length of the steel. The blood didn’t seem to bother him, and he didn’t even wipe it off after he finished touching it. He then placed a finger where the hilt met the steel and tried to keep the sword balanced. It swayed slightly back and forth, and the man clicked his tongue.
“This is terrible,” he growled as he handed the sword back to me. “I’ll be gettin’ you a blade you can be proud of.”
“You’re a weapon-smith?” I asked. If I could get a sword like the woman’s, I would jump at the chance.
“Blacksmith,” he corrected. “Swords, shields, farm tools, horseshoes. You name it, I can make it.”
My heart soared at the opportunity that was thrown into my lap. Not only could I get a better sword than the terrible sixty-two-percent durability, I could deck myself out in a full suit of armor and a full-body shield that would make me even more of a badass.
I almost asked him if he would make a custom chestplate, but I held onto that thought for now. This wasn’t the time and place to try bartering for fancy gear.
But I added it to my growing mental list of things I wanted before I faced my next foe.
“C’mon now, Caelia, don’t be shy!” Torya dragged a diminutive woman to stand before me. “Go on, dearest, introduce yourself!”
The woman looked to be about my age, but she couldn’t look me in the eye for too long. Her brown hair was worn in a long braid, and when the sun hit it just right, there seemed to be streaks of blonde weaving through it. She had a much darker complexion than most of the other people here, and her cheeks turned even darker with what I assumed was a blush. The pale green dress she wore was modest compared to the other women, with a high-collared neck and long sleeves, even in the heat.
“H-Hello, Sebastian,” she stammered as she smiled at me. I smiled back, and she let out a little squeak. “I-I-It’s nice to meet you.”
I reached for her hand and kissed the back of it as I had with Elissa’s. Her eyes finally met mine, and her face turned even darker. “The pleasure is all mine, Caelia.”
Her lips quivered with some unsaid words as she stared at me for a moment. She then pulled her hand gracefully out from mine, and she ducked back behind Torya again.
She was fucking adorable.
My shirt jerked as someone tugged on it, and I turned my attention to my torn sleeve. A blonde woman in a very fashionable lavender dress was standing there with my arm up to her eye level. I thought she was inspecting my wound, but when her fingers tugged at the cuff on my wrist, I knew she was more interested in the actual shirt than the bloody scrape.
“Well, no wonder you got injured, Great One,” she said as she shook her head. Her dark eyes met mine, and she smirked. “This flimsy thing could be ripped to shreds by a toddler and a rock.”
“You don’t happen to have a toddler and a rock, do you?” I laughed.
“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t,” she replied with a mischievous look in her eyes. “Doubt you’d want to find out, though.”
“Not really, no,” I answered.
She inspected the shirt and my trousers for a few more seconds before snapping her fingers at me. “Take it off and I’ll make you something befitting one of your title.”
I blinked at her. “Take it off? All of it?”
“Just the shirt for now,” she replied as she glanced in Caelia’s direction. “It’s hardly appropriate to have you walking around in your undergarments.”
“I don’t really mind,” I said with a shrug. Torya and the shirt-woman both chuckled as I carefully slipped out of the garment. I hissed as it dragged across the wound on my arm but handed it over without a fuss. “Thank you for this, Miss…”
“Bellona Uriel at your service, Great One.” She gave a very ladylike curtsey and then smirked up at me. “But not all of your services. I am happily married, I’ll have you know.”
I laughed along with nearly everyone in the crowd. She was certainly an attractive woman, and her forward personality was easy to get along with. Her hair was a golden-blonde color, and she had very pale skin that brought to mind the Snow White fairytale my mother used to read to me when I was little. If she had fallen under a sleeping spell, I totally would have given her true love’s kiss to wake her.
“How do we even know if this guy is who he says he is?” a loud voice cut across the laughter. We all turned toward a muscular dude with his arms crossed and a dark scowl aimed at me. “He could just be playing us for a bunch of idiots.”
“Oh, shut up, Stryker,” Jax growled as he rounded on the other man. “You saw him out there! He’s nothin’ short of a miracle, and if he says he’s the God o’ Time, I believe him!”
The others nodded in agreement which only seemed to make Stryker angrier than he already was. He didn’t have any sort of comeback and just spat on the ground before stomping off.
“Ehh, don’t mind Stryker, Sebastian,” Jax said as he laid a heavy hand on my shoulder.
“Someone must have peed in his ale,” Torya said, and then she shook her head. “Again.”
I choked on my laughter and did my best to play it off as a cough. From the smirks on Torya’s and Bellona’s faces, I did a poor job of it.
“Right!” Torya exclaimed with another loud clap of her hands. “Why don’t you get to measuring Sebastian’s shirt, Bellona, while I draw the Great One a nice hot bath. And Jax? Could you see if Dora is available to take a look at his cut?”
Bellona and the blacksmith nodded at their orders before heading off in opposite directions. Caelia muttered some kind of dismissal and took off after Bellona, but Caelia only made it a few steps before she glanced back at me, and I smiled and waved at her. She rewarded me with another adorably wide-eyed expression and a deep blush.
“All the girls are gonna be sweet on ya,” Torya snickered and shoved me further into the town. “The inn’s this way.”
“Sebastian!” Elrin called after us. He rose to his feet as I turned around, and Elissa grabbed his elbow to steady him. “I would like to invite you to dinner tonight.”
“Oh, yes! You must come!” Elissa’s vibrant eyes met mine, and she lowered her eyelids with a sultry smile. “You will come, won’t you?”
Was that a double-entendre I heard, or was I just hoping it was there?
“Uhh, yeah, sure, I’ll be there,” I blurted out. My brain was a puddle of goo from the pheromones Elissa was hurling my way. “Which house is yours?”
“I’ll send for you at the inn,” Elrin answered with a wave of his hand. “Come, Elissa. We have much to prepare.”
The young woman curled her fingers around her father’s arm and shot me another dazzling smile. “I can’t wait to see you again, Sebastian.”
That made two of us.
The town had more buildings than people, and as I walked through with Torya, I discovered why there were so few defenders protecting everyone against the kobolds. For every building that was bustling with activity, there were three that were either completely boarded up or damaged beyond repair. Near the western exit of the town, one of the homes was just a pile of charred rubble.
If the buildings told their sad story with their broken windows, it was nothing compared to the people. Nearly everyone we passed had the same haggard expression that Elrin had when I first stood before him. Their eyes would light up when they saw me, but the flickering hope was just moments away from being snuffed out entirely.
When Jax had called me a miracle, he wasn’t kidding.
“What happened here?” I asked Torya as we passed another dilapidated building. “Did the kobolds do this?”
“Some.” She spat the word like it was a vile taste in her mouth. “Them and worse started showing u
p about a month ago. We were caught unawares during the first attack and lost over a dozen good men.”
There was a haunted look in her eyes, and I had to wonder if she was reliving that first attack all over again. I couldn’t think of anything to say that might comfort her, and even if with my power of infinite reboots and all the time in the world, I don’t think I could have come up with anything that wouldn’t sound completely shallow.
“You have come at the best time, Great One,” she continued before I could come up with anything. She glanced at me out from the corner of her eye, and her lips quirked up and helped wash away the haunted look. “We needed a healthy dose of hope, and you’re a whole year’s supply worth.”
“That’s me,” I said as I scratched the back of my head. If I wasn’t careful, my ego was going to make my head explode. “I know I can’t change the past, but if I can keep anything else from happening, I will.”
Torya reached up and patted my cheek. “That’s all we could ever ask for. Thank you.”
The inn was less than a five-minute walk from where Elrin had gathered the townsfolk to greet me, but it felt like every step lasted a lifetime. Each destroyed building I saw placed a heaviness on my shoulders that only added to the weight of the two epic battles I had just fought. I had been summoned to this world to protect these people and others like them. If I was supposed to fix every town I came across and return them to their former glory, while also destroying every bad guy I came across, I was going to be making mistakes at every turn.
Good thing I could just rewrite my own history until I got it right.
“Here we are,” the brunette innkeeper announced as we reached her inn. She threw her arms out toward the building with pride on her face. “Home sweet home for the foreseeable future.”
The two-story building was easily one of the oldest buildings I had seen so far. The wood was darkened by weather and yet looked like it could have withstood a tornado trying to rip it from the ground. The inn was like a physical representation of its master. Both were a great comfort to those around them, and only the most extreme circumstances could shake them to their core.