Chapter 78: Let the Bodies Hit the Shore! Let the Bodies Hit the Shore!

The blade slipped into his neck surprisingly easily. I could tell the orc had thick skin—thicker than mine, for sure. Yet I'd been training against trees. It wasn't much of a surprise that a jugular provided less resistance than old growth forest.

"Hungh."

Not the most eloquent last words. The orc continued moving forward, this time at a topple instead of a menacing charge.

I let go of the handle and jumped out of the way, careful not to get crushed under his bulk. Blood spurted everywhere in a way I hadn't expected. It wasn't like a cut on the finger or the arm where a little liquid beads up and dribbles out. This was notably more intense, like I'd just stabbed a garden hose.

Everything else felt like it happened in slow motion. The other orc looked at us with confusion. His face worked through several iterations before settling on something weird. It looked like he was reconciling with the realization that not only did his parents have sex to conceive him, but that somehow, they did it anally.

And involved a pig or two.

Horrified disgust, I think is how I’d describe his expression. Fortunately, he still looked a little spaced out from whatever effect Shivai had subjected him to. Purple light faded from behind his irises. His thoughts appeared to be swimming through fog denser than molasses.

I didn’t have much time before he shook off her charm completely.

Fortunately, he'd stowed his blade. His stance was still wide—which Lady Talia had pointed out meant he wasn't nimble or quick. His brain, which I'd never credited with much power, appeared to still be on a loading screen.

"I'm fine!"

Shivai's voice came as an airy whimper. I looked over to see her knees shaking. Her eyes were fully closed. She crumpled to the ground slowly in a barely controlled manner. She splayed out, limp and awkward.

"I'm... fine."

Well, weren't we just full of lies this evening. I wanted to rush to her side and help her back up. She clearly needed the support, and I was worried about her safety.

But the biggest threat to her at the moment was the orc. He blinked away confusion and set his jaw.

Like an idiot, I reached for the knife I'd stashed on my forearm. It was already gone, of course. I'd just stabbed a guy in the neck with it.

My next closest one was sheathed at the small of my back underneath my tucked-in tunic. Immediately, I grasped for it, trying to untuck and unsheathe at the same time.

This time, I wasn't as fast as the first. I was stumbling my way through this combat encounter like a first-timer trying to find the clitoris.

The big guy pulled his blade out and stood wide, rearing back to swing at me.

Finally, my hand clasped around the handle. Nothing I needed to do was fluent for me. Every step required careful though. I couldn't just act on instinct, and every instinct I had told me to run. To back up and get as far away as possible.

Fortunately, my training with Lady Talia had primed me with a few basics. And her warnings about range were good, but fighting at a distance could also be a weakness. Practicing with knives helped me realize that. Range was only an advantage if you let it be one. All I had was a knife against a long, curved sword.

It was time to turn his range advantage against him. Screw instincts. It was time to fight like a level one NPC trying to get a surprise round against a CR 1/2 bandit.

As the orc's swing began, I lunged at him. 

The move caught him off guard. Instead of hitting me with his blade, he hit me with his arm. That's not a good thing, by the way. The dude was huge. Strong. It felt like getting hit by a club. I'm pretty sure his meaty fist cracked a bone.

Didn't matter. My shoulder crashed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

Both his blow and my tackle hurt, sending painful vibrations through my body. Yet practicing against trees had made my hands strong. I maintained my grip on my knife despite suffering two serious blows that would have sent it flying otherwise.

Adrenaline took over. I stabbed three, four, maybe a dozen times.

The heavy thuds of his fists got weaker as his cries of pain increased. He dropped his sword, pushing me away with a blood-smeared hand.

I was in the zone. I stabbed his hand, making it even bloodier. He wasn't able to keep me away much longer. Even in the darkness of the night, I could see his gray complexion get even grayer as blood left his body and shock settled in. I went back in, stabbing more.

By the time I finished, my fingers and hands had gone almost numb from repeated blows and a tight grip. Unfortunately for my opponent, he'd probably gone numb too—from being dead. Which, at that point, was probably a mercy. He had to have a few dozen brand-new holes in him.

Before I could let the shock of what I'd done settle in, I dropped my knife and scrambled over to where Shivai lay. Her breathing was shallow, and her eyes fluttered. Even in the suffocating dark, I could see a thin layer of sweat on her brow.

She lifted a clammy hand and curled her soft fingers weakly around my wrist, as though she needed to hang on. Usually warm, her temperature had cooled just like the night air.

"Drew? Drew, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." That wasn't exactly true, and I knew I'd feel worse when the full weight of the moment caught up to me. But I couldn't let that happen until everything was taken care of. "How are you? You don't look so well."

"It's not a big deal. I just... pushed myself a little too far, is all. Using that much mana really takes it out of me."

"Thank goodness. For a minute, I thought something bad had happened. I was worried you'd gotten hurt!"

She forced a half-hearted laugh that quickly turned into a wheezing cough. "Oh, I was definitely in trouble. You can get really messed up from using too much mana at once, you know." Her eyes fluttered open and met mine. Her usually bright purple irises had gone dull and dusty. "People have died from it."

“... Really?”

“Really.”

So, my stupid, unthinking mouth had endangered her life.

As if I needed more weight on me in this moment. Already, the crushing reality of what I’d done was setting in. If Shivai didn’t look like she were on death’s door, I’d be focused entirely on myself.

I put my hand on hers. "Well, don't do that again. I'm not ready to lose you."

A smile crossed her lips, and her grip on my arm tightened even as the rest of her body relaxed. She rolled her head against the ground so she could see me better. In a way, she reminded me of a Victorian painting. Just a woman near to fainting—all voluptuous and sweet.

Except instead of angelic, she was a bit more devilish.

No matter.

I had a lot to learn about magic, I realized. I'd already seen Wynnie get tired after using too much of hers. And I felt a tingle of it coursing through me, too. It had to be like a finite resource of some sort. Sort of like money—normally you could only spend as much as you had, but if you spent more than was available, the debt could quickly become ruinous.

Was this some kind of mana burn? Is that what happened? She'd put her mana on credit and her body was now paying back the interest?

I was just happy she appeared to be recovering. What I'd said was true. I really couldn't lose her. She’d allowed her emotions to carry her from place to place like a stay cat looking for a home. We’d just been the first folks to offer her a meal, a roof, and an ounce of compassion. No wonder she’d bonded with us so quickly. We’d rescued her.

Or did she rescue us, like that saccharine cliche?

Whatever. I was so happy she was safe that I could just kiss her.

So I did. Soft and tender, almost chaste, right on the lips.

A little color spread through Shivai’s cheeks. Her eyes blinked back to some semblance of clarity. The slim purple arm that once held weakly to my wrist found enough strength to clap onto the back of my head and pull it back to hers. Her lips pressed against mine, and she deepened our embrace.

A soft whimper escaped her, breath coming hot through her nose. It was followed by a moan, and a second groping hand that felt up my body.

I was just about to appreciate it when everything else came rushing back to me.

The spurting blood from the first orc's neck. The thirty-something holes jabbed into the second. My hands, running with blood. More bodies weighing on my tarnished conscience. My history, my self-image, my values—all colored by the crimson of murder.

Maybe the first time was self defense, but this was different, right?

I pulled back.

Color bloomed back into Shivai’s cheeks as she studied me. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I did it again. I killed. Two men this time."

"You saved me. You saved us."

I nodded dumbly. That was true, and logically I understood I'd had little choice. Yet logic on its own didn't feel like it could explain everything.

Back on Earth, I never cared about being successful. I just wanted to be good—someone I could be proud of.

Yet as a bartender, it was harder than expected to live up to the standards I usually set for myself. I drank too much and encouraged others to do the same. I slept around and probably hurt people while I did. As a lifestyle, I stayed up late, ate rich foods, and didn't treat my body with the respect it deserved.

Still, I’d done my best. In thirty-something years of adult life, I'd never physically hurt someone, let alone ended their life. Just a couple months of living in this new world, and I'd crossed that threshold twice. I could already tell I was going to need to work through this emotionally. And it wasn't going to be easy.

Shivai swept a lock of inky black from her eyes. "You're freaking out, aren't you?"

I nodded again. It wasn't really the shock of doing the deed this time. Rather, it was the question of what it meant. The first time—a fluke. The second time—a pattern. And yet, even the pattern could be explained away if it weren't for what I was about to do next.

After all, I was a consummate RPG gamer. There’s one time-honored thing to do after you kill a bad guy.

Or two, I guess, if you’re worried about other bad guys finding the dead ones. Which was definitely a possibility here.

So, yeah, two things came next.

I cleared my throat. "I'm going to need a hand. Are you strong enough to stand?"

"After that kiss? I think so, yeah."

Carefully, I helped Shivai up to her feet. She wobbled briefly but caught herself on me. Her tail wrapped loosely around my thigh. This time it seemed less like an intimate gesture and more like she needed to borrow some strength.

That was fine. We were almost through with this.

I moved back over to where the second orc had fallen. Channeling every TTRPG and MMO looter-shooter I'd ever played, I searched his body. It felt awful. He was going cold as my hands roamed over him. With every pat or brush, I became even more keenly aware that the last remnants of heat were leaving his body long after his soul already had.

The other thing I hadn't been expecting, though I should have, was how long it took. Automatic looting in games was so much faster and more convenient. Rifling through their pockets had none of the same intuitive, one-click UX.

One more mark against killing people for their stuff, I guess.

In one pocket, I turned out a small pouch of coins. In another, a few pieces of jewelry and a small, pristine seashell. Stashed on his waist and ankle were a knife, a dagger, and a second sword, smaller and less shiny than the one clasped tightly in his callused hand.

Upon closer inspection, he also wore gold hoop earrings. Two gold rings adorned one hand, and his left pinky featured a sloppily cut ruby. At least, I think it was a ruby. My knowledge of precious stones came entirely from fantasy games.

“What are you doing?” Shivai asked.

I froze, still in the process of slipping off the ruby. “I’m, uh, looting the corpse?”

“And they call me a thief.”

“I’m just looking for, um.” I paused, barely keeping myself from saying something valuable. “Something useful.”

“Like what?”

“I’m leaving the earrings. Even if I’m a murderer, I don’t have to be a monster.” I forced a chuckle and shrugged. “Just looking for clues here.” 

I really, really hoped she didn’t ask me what we needed clues for. It wasn’t like we were solving some grand mystery. All I could do was hope that there were enough unknowns left for my explanation to sound plausible.

After a beat, she nodded.

“Good idea.” 

Without another word, she moved to where the second pirate lay sprawled. Her nimble fingers ran his pockets like a pro. Shivai was proving to be a real ride-or-die. If the mood had been different, I could've kissed her right then.

Somehow, her practiced digits finished faster than I did, even with my head start. She set her haul to the side and stood with a hip thrown out, arms akimbo. “You done yet?”

“Almost,” I grunted. My index looped around a strand of twine hung loosely around the pirate’s neck. I pulled out a shark-tooth necklace with a radiant blue metal pendant. It looked like a sun with wavy rays. I held it out to Shivai. “Think this is worth anything?”

“Looks like Deep metal. Don’t see it topside much. We could ask the merfolk.”

“Just a trinket, then?”

“They don’t make trinkets with Deep metal.”

I held the spiny blue pendant up to the distant starlight, hoping to see it better. As far as I could tell, it was an inky indigo, mottled with reflective teal. The metal felt cool to the touch, despite having set on the dead orc’s still-warm chest.

Without too much thought, I shoved it in my pocket. Further inspection could come later. For now, we had one more questionable task.

“Why are you frowning like that?” Shivai asked.

"Because we have to make sure the other Black Ship Raiders don't find these guys." I looked over at the cliffs that disappeared into darkness below. "Or at least we gotta make it hard for them."

Shivai's eyebrows rose in surprise. Maybe she was impressed, or maybe I was starting to take things a bit far, even for a career criminal. Killing in self-defense was one thing, but hiding the bodies? Removing all their earthly possessions first? I was starting to scare myself with my own ruthless efficiency.

Nevertheless, she dusted off her pants and tried. Her slender arms revealed corded muscle as she strained to pull the orc nearest her. He budged, but only barely.

She heaved an exhausted breath, sitting next to him on the path.

“I tried. Really, I did.”

“I know.”

“Just, after using all that mana? You’d probably have to do a lot more than kiss me to get me back to normal,” she said. “And these dead guys really killed the mood.”

I left her to recover by the side of the path as I did our dirty work. Both pirates were exceptionally heavy. Each ankle was so thick I had to use two hands to pull a single leg. Their bodies dragged deep grooves in the path, flattening short grasses and wildflowers beneath them. 

After a couple of minutes, Shivai picked herself up. Breaking off a leafy branch from a nearby sapling, she swept over their tracks. It was a hasty cover job—one that I’d seen before. And though she wasn't able to completely disguise the long scar where I'd hauled the bodies, but at least she made it way less obvious.

I kicked them over the ledge and didn’t watch as they plummeted below. Finally, our job complete, we snagged the pirates' loot and walked furtively back to our place.

As we shuffled our way through the small seaside town, Shivai slowed. She looked panicked, continuously looking over her shoulder.

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. “Worried we’re being followed?”

“No. I’m just… I’m so fucked.” She looked back again. “Maybe I should go back. Cover the tracks more. For the rest of the night. I’m so fucked.”

“You want to go back?”

"Yes. I am so fucked. I am so fucked. Oh, my gods, I am so fucked." Shivai was muttering her fears like a mantra. “I should just run.”

"Just you?"

"Oh yeah. You're gonna be fine. She'll believe the self-defense angle from you. But from me? After that stunt I pulled with my charm? She'll nab me for aiding and enabling a violent crime. She'll kick me out of town so fast it'll make my tail spin."

I wondered if that was an expression. And if it was, was it any weirder than making your head spin?

“You think Lady Talia will use your getting attacked by pirates as an excuse to send you off for good?” I asked.

“Of course she will.”

"Well, let's find out. You're about to get your chance. I wonder if it'll mean anything to her if I vouch for you."

Call me cocky, but something told me it would. Or, call me a hopeful judge of character, because I didn’t think Lady Talia was quite so petty at heart. Most of her displeasure with the succubus had to do with jealousy, from what I could tell.

In the distance, the muted glow of the inn's candle lanterns came into view. Relief felt like a cool shower after the pressure cooker of the last several days. It wasn't that everything was fixed yet, but I was just glad to be home. I couldn't wait to see Wynnie, and Lady Talia made me feel safe and protected.

There was only one problem. I was covered in blood. Both of us were carrying the looted items of two ex-pirates. Oh, and Shivai was pretty sure she was going to be kicked out for any number of infractions.

It was time to see what kind of welcome home we would get.