Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Blood, Honor, and Time: Volume 2 Side Quests - Quest 4 – Close Calls

Lilia is my most trusted Sparrow when it comes to keeping an eye on the Blighted. Her skills in stealth allow her to get into places that I’m not usually allowed. If the task calls her to be more formal, then her status with me gives her access to places most can’t go to. I’m on my way to meet with her right now. She’s on a mission that she said needed my help with. I’m not exactly sure what I can do especially since I don’t use my time traveling blessing at all, but I go anyway.
When I meet up with her, she tells me, “I’m so grateful that you came.”
“So, what’s the mission?”
“Reconnaissance. I’m watching a target that could be a lot of trouble for us. I want you by my side in case anything major happens.”
“Alright, I’ll be here.”
“Good because I can’t do this without you.”
“Why is that?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“You know that we have more capable spies and fighters like Stella and Corso who can help you on missions like these. Why do you need me?”
“I just want you with me. We’re friends but we never spend any time with each other.”
“This couldn’t wait for later when you weren’t on a mission?”
“I couldn’t think of anything else that you would respond to. If I said anything else, you might’ve just said that you were busy.”
“When have I ever said that if you really wanted to spend time with me?”
“You say it to your family all the time. You always tell them that you’re doing your hero business and give them things to try to make up for it. The only person that gets to be close to you is Donna and that’s because that woman attaches herself to you so that you’re never apart for long.”
“…”
“I’m sorry I said that.”
“No, I understand. I wish I could prioritize things better. It’s just that I don’t know what will come back to bother us later and what I can ignore.”
“Benedetto…”
“It’s fine. Let’s just worry about the mission first and then the two of us can go somewhere peaceful. Thanks for reminding me to think about my own when I need to.”
“I-it’s no problem.”
Her face is turning all red. Even if she does want to hang out for other reasons, I think it would be a good change of pace so I can calm my mind, but for the time being, it’s time to work. Lilia leads me to a small hill that overlooks a campsite with four people gathered around a campfire. They appear to be Blighted judging by their armor though they could be from any culture since Blighted dragon armor is sold across the world nowadays. One of them starts putting ingredients into the pot over the fire. After putting in several ingredients, Lilia jumps up and uses the crossbows that are in the bracers of her arms to pin the bag of ingredients to a tree then takes out the four people with shots to the leg. She then quickly runs over and points her crossbows at them while telling them to stay down.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“These people were about to conduct a ritual which would have created a giant made of the earth beneath us.”
“Good thinking on your feet.”
“Thanks-ah!”
One of the people tries to stab themselves with a syringe, but I stop two before they can. Lilia handles the other two and we tie them up.
“Now, what was that about?”
“They were going to drink the blood of demons so that they couldn’t make them stronger by inhabiting their bodies.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“It's because of the intel I gathered. A lot of things are going off at once, which is one of the reasons why I wanted you to be here.”
“This isn’t going to help with my want to keep working to root out things like this.”
“It’s going to be fine. You shouldn’t have to worry about much more.”
We take the four to the Blighted authorities so they can await their trial. While in town, Lilia is told something by one of the guards.
“We have to go back out,” she tells me.
“What is it now?”
“Some guards that I have set in ambush at a nearby bridge has intercepted a carriage that I didn’t think would pass through today. We have to help them.”
“Let’s get going then.”
We come to the scene just in time it seems as the people we are after are trying to open their urns. Lilia and I stop them before they are able to open them. The guards thank us for our assistance, arrest the criminals, and carefully collect the urns with warrior priests taking care of them.
“What’s contained in these urns that they need warrior priests to carry them?” I ask.
“They supposedly contain powerful demons that the criminals were going to use to infect the bodies of powerful people in politics.”
“It’s a good thing we stopped them before they opened the urns then. Politics is already demonic as is.”
Before we can rest, the guards inform us of another happening in the area. There’s a coup happening in a nearby town where the poor are taking up arms against those who have more than them. I could’ve sworn that I expanded an organization that helps the poor and jobless as long as they help in the community. When I arrive in the town, I get into the action, which silences everyone and calms the fighting for a minute before they begin attacking me. The guards that are with me aid me in my defense until all of my attackers are rounded up and put in chains.
One of the prisoners says, “First, you made us work and now you’re putting us in jail? Is this how you treat the poor at the end of the world?”
“No, this is how I treat the lazy. You’re supposed to do your part however small it is to help. At least you’ll be doing community service while in jail,” I say.
Before I even exhale, I hear an explosion and the sounds of dragons roaring.
“What now?” I ask not expecting a good answer.
“It can’t be…” Lilia says in disbelief.
“Just say it and we’ll take care of it.”
“I didn’t think people were mad enough to try to make demons possess the bodies of dragons, but it looks like they have. We’ll have to call reinforcements for this.”
We call our forces through a communication spell and get them to teleport to our location. Once our forces are all together, we clash with the demon-possessed dragons. Fortunately, we get to the battle just in time so that we stop the other dragons in the area from being possessed. The other dragons help as fight as well, so the battle isn’t too difficult. We do have Sparrows injured as a result of the battle, but at least we don’t suffer any casualties. After the battle, I sit near a tree and wait for more bad news to come my way before getting up.
“Benedetto!” Lilia says as I shoot up ready for another fight.
“What is it now? Tell me where we need to go next.”
“There’s nothing else that we need to do. I was just seeing if you were okay.”
“Oh, I’m alright but are we done for today?”
“We should be.”
“Good, let’s go into town and relax.”
“Okay, where do you want to go?”
“Anyplace quiet. You wanted to be with me for a while, right? Let’s just spend the rest of the day like that.”
“O-okay!”
Lilia and I go into town and find a nice place to rest. There’s a restaurant in a park that we sit and eat dinner in while talking and enjoying each other’s company. It’s been so long since I was last able to do this. I’ve forgotten how nice it was just to be with a friend and enjoy being with them in public like this.
After a little while, a Sparrow comes up to me and says, “Benedetto, sir, your wife Donna is on her way. She was told where you were and what you were doing.”
“What?”
“She should be here soo-”
I see Donna behind us through a teleporting spell. She looks really mad. I can’t get a break, can I?
“Benedetto!” she screams out.
“It’s not what you’re thinking I swear!”

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