Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Eight: What A Stupid Man

Christina's Arc: Bend or Break

Pain radiated down my left arm from blocking the raider’s club. I held it close to my body.

Knox radiated pulses of warm, holy-looking light.

I've never seen anything like this in all my travels. What is he if not just a sharp-tongued Bloomwarden?

His skin and robes gradually turned white. His eyes changed from green to blue, and his hair turned blond, though the roots remained black.

The pain in my arm dulled, then faded. I wiggled my fingers and flexed my left arm.

That wretched club-wielding raider is distracted.

…

I gripped the hilt with both hands, judged the distance, and lunged.

My blade pierced the center of her back.

Her arms fell to her sides, letting the club slip free.

She dropped to her knees. I pulled my blade free as she pitched forward onto her face.

She screamed.

I drove the blade into the base of her neck.

She stopped moving.

A raider ran toward Knox with an axe raised high.

I withdrew my sword and stepped over the corpse.

Passing Knox, I placed myself between him and the approaching raider.

She slowed to a stop.

“You can die in your own time, road bitch. I want him; I want his head!”

I glanced back at Knox, then locked eyes with her.

“Your friends are all dead. Ain’t you gonna run while you still got life in your lungs?”

I extended my blade toward her.

The raider dragged her fingers across the flat of her axe. Fire blossomed on its conversational end.

“Oh no. No, no, no. I’m gonna kill ya both. That boy may not look the same, but he killed my closest friend. You killed some of my crew, but I didn’t know them like I knew Ellie, my sweet sister.”

She stepped forward, spinning her flaming axe.

I matched her strides.

“Should’ve considered the risk before raiding this town.”

We stopped within reach of my blade.

I could use my abyssal sight, find the Mother’s minions, and slip into the void, but I might not find an exit in time to save the boy.

Her fist tightened around the handle. The flames grew larger.

I could tease a few of her servants over, but the goddess only knows if they’re gonna come before this fight is over.

The axe wielder gritted her teeth.

O servants of the Abyssal Mother, I beckon you! Lend me your blades, and I’ll give you this poor fool’s life!

Game Master: Persuasion roll—10/15 + 5 modifier. Persuasion successful. Abyssal servants are being drawn to the promise of death. Fail them, and they will take your life instead.

The raider shouted. Her skin turned bright red.

A Berserker!

She swung horizontally at my face.

Game Master: Raider attack—10 + 5 Strength modifier. Armor Class—7 + 9 Abyssal influence. Dodge successful through the Abyssal Mother’s grace.

I leaned backward, dodging the axe.

The trailing flames scorched my eyes.

I stumbled back, swinging my sword frantically.

“Too easy!” she shouted.

Rapid footsteps approached.

Game Master: The Mother of the Abyss is disappointed by your performance. Mother’s Embrace activated. A Mother’s Scorn activated. An abyssal fiend is draping you in its cloak.

I felt myself being pulled into the abyss.

The Abyssal Mother’s touch began slipping away.

I’ll win your favor; I just need time!

Knox’s warmth reached me. The pain in my eyes vanished.

When I opened them, the raider was swinging her axe at me. It passed through me.

I stood beneath an abyssal fiend’s cloak. The creature wore heavy black armor like an Ashguard, but its head, feet, and claws belonged to a beast.

“Keep fucking hiding, cunt,” the raider shouted.

Then she charged at Knox.

The abyssal knights had already gathered around him. She ran toward them without a glance.

I pushed the cloak aside.

“Too easy,” I said.

The raider stopped and turned, leaving Knox behind her.

“Ha. Hahaha. You’re more stupid than I thought. I’m gonna kill him, but don’t you worry—you’re gonna join him.”

She shifted to the side and raised her axe over Knox.

I gripped my sword’s hilt. Black flames erupted along the blade.

She swung down.

I swung up.

The abyssal fiend closest to Knox mirrored me, parrying her axe.

She staggered.

I cut diagonally downward, reversed into a rising slash, then spun into another cut from the opposite side.

With each step, I closed the distance.

With each swing, an abyssal fiend copied me, its blade bathed in black flames.

Each cut drew blood.

Each flame cauterized the wound.

By the time I reached her, both her arms were gone. Her body smoldered.

I gently touched the side of her neck.

There was life in her yet.

I drew her closer.

“Give Ellie my regards,” I whispered.

I stepped back and swept my blade across her neck, then pushed her aside.

She crashed to the ground. Her head rolled away.

I stepped toward Knox, but an abyssal knight blocked my path. It seized my shoulder and drew its blade back.

“Was I not—ugh!”

It ran me through the stomach.

I dared not touch its blade, even as pain tore through me.

“Mother, why?”

It withdrew the sword. My knees buckled, and I fell.

I still clung to my sword’s handle.

The knight grabbed my cloak and dragged me toward Knox, who was still pulsing light.

I felt my wound begin to close.

The knights looked at each other.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

One by one, they ignited their blades.

The pulsing waves of light vanished.

The knights extinguished their flames and slipped so far into the abyss that I could no longer see them.

I touched my wound. It had partly closed, but fresh blood still seeped between my fingers.

“Umm, that was a great nap,” Knox said, stretching. “Shadow Song?”

The fool looked around.

“Open your damn eyes, youngling,” I groaned.

“Damn, you don’t have to be so freaking… Oh, shit, you were stabbed! We need to find help!”

…

“Kid, shut up and heal me already.”

Knox scratched his head.

“How the hell do I do that?”

“The same way you healed me last time, damn it!”

His eyes widened.

”What are you talking about? I-I’m going to find help, so hang on, okay?”

Just like that, the kid ran off.

I stared at the sky.

I never expected my death to be spectacular or nothin. It’d be foolish of me to think I could die in the arms of a man when I lived by the blade.

I groaned.

But why did he stop healing all sudden like? I ain’t never seen a bloomwarden heal with bright lights either. It’s always been leafy and green.

My eyes started to close.

Welp, I reckon it’s time I paid my dues to the Abyssal Mother. I just hope she takes away who I am before she breaks my oath.

***

“Shadow… Shadow Song… If she doesn’t wake up, can I keep the sword?”

My eyes sprang open.

I turned my head. Knox was trying to pry my sword from my hand, and behind him, guild banners were draped on the wall.

May as well be dead if I ain’t.

”Good morning, sleepyhead,” a strange voice said.

Knox dropped my right hand.

“Oh, you’re awake… that’s good, real good.”

Then he looked at the floor.

“What’s down there, kid?” I groaned.

“Nothing much, just my pride.”

“Well, Mr. Bloomwarden, you should be bristling with pride. No more than fourteen people lost loved ones. If not for you two and the giant flower grabbing the raiders’ attention, it could have been worse,” she said, tipping her hat.

I sighed.

“Which guild?” I said, voice void of life.

“Oh, the boy said you swore the Road Oath, but I’d never imagine you were this jaded to the warmth of others.”

I checked for the wound. It was gone.

I started to sit up, but pain put me back down.

She stepped closer to Knox.

She gently touched his shoulders.

”Sugar, why don’t you fetch some water for your friend?”

”Sure,” Knox said.

”Grab a bite while you’re at it, okay?”

”I don’t have the coin—“

”It’s on me.”

Knox smiled, then went off.

She took her hat off and fiery-red hair unfurled behind her.

She touched the back of my sword hand and laid it across my chest. Then she rested both hands on the table beside my right shoulder.

”So, you gonna put a ribbon on him?” I asked.

”Did you already have eyes on him?”

I sighed.

”No, but the waiter boy did.”

She pushed hair from her face.

She looks like a moonbinder, but she’s too muscular to be a spell slinger.

”A boy who fancies boys? Sounds like a keeper if I can convince him to like me. But that’s neither here nor there. What I want to know is what happened here. I’ve already taken the other villagers’ statements—“

”What about Knox’s?”

”Knox… so that’s his name. Well, I thought he was yours, so I waited until you woke up to show good faith.”

My head thumped as my neck gave out.

”And what made you think he was mine?”

She pushed off the table and circled the table to where my head was.

“He wouldn’t leave your side. For three days, he waited for you to wake up. Oh, and the Thornkin boy with him.”

What a stupid man.

”So, I reckon you heard the boy calling my name. It ain’t fair unless I know yours. It’s like a sword hilt without a matching sheath.”

…

”Nonsense. The hilt doesn’t have to match the sheath as long as the sheath can house the blade. But I do think a proper introduction is in order. I am Justicia True Strike of the Iron Cinders Guild, but you can call me Madam, for I run this outpost.”

No one’s going to call you that…

”Madam, I’m back with food and drink,” Knox shouted.

I sighed.

The Ronan Came at Sundown