Salvation Through Death: Chapter 3 – A Hero Even in Horror

Chapter 3 – A Hero Even in Horror

I come across a band of orcs along the way to my next destination. They ask me if I know about a group of rogue orcs and I tell them about the one that I took out with Fadil. The orcs moan, yell out, stomp, and hit the ground in frustration at this until their superiors calm them down.

“This is our just punishment for not keeping those people in line,” an orc commander says before turning to me. “Thank you for putting down our lost and delivering justice to them. What is your name?”

“Dunmire,” I say.

“Thank you, Dumire. Even though it is our tradition to take care of our own mess, we thank you again and again for your help and will reward you for your help.”

I agree to take their offer and head with them back to their camp. The camp has walls of stone that protect it and buildings made of both stone and wood. Its inhabitants are mostly sparring, tending to their equipment. When I walk into the camp, I hardly attract any attention other than just a passing glance to acknowledge my being here. The orc commander gets me a plate full of meats, vegetables, and a side of large fruit and then asks if I would like whiskey, vodka, wine, beer, or just plain water.

“Just water. I’m not in the mood to drink since I have to be on my way. Oh, and I’m sorry that I won’t be able to finish eating all of this. I only have the stomach to eat the plate of fruit,” I say as I sit down at a table with the orcs.

“Huh,” the orc commander says while the other orcs around me look confused. “To us, this is considered a meal that will carry you through long battles. Does being part corpse mean that you have a small stomach?”

“Yes, it does.” The orcs look even more confused at me as if they’re trying to see if I’m being serious or not and whispering about if I’m being offensive. “These are some pretty large fruits.”

“Everything in Bernhard is larger than what you can find here. Its people, food, churches, armies, and so on. I can see that both our peoples have a common love of large weapons.”

“Yes, but the quality varies.”

“Excuse me?”

“A weapon like mine could kill me if you cut me enough times with it. Yours? I’m not too sure. Simply hit my fleshy left arm to see.”

“My pleasure,” an orc says as she picks up an axe.

I hold out my left arm and the orc strikes it. The iron from the axe bends but doesn’t break and I exhale from the impact. Looking at my arm, I see a visible cut, which will heal in an hour.

“Impressive. The weapons I’ve been hit with since coming here haven’t had the slightest effect on me until now,” I say.

“That goes to show the quality of orc weapons,” the orc commander says.

The orcs have always been an aggressive people who would go to war at the slightest provocation even before they were transformed into the muscular green people with jagged teeth they are now. Seeing them now makes me wonder as to what they would do in times of relative peace where there are hardly any battles to fight.

“What is the purpose of this camp?” I ask.

“To eliminate rogue bands of orcs, to aid nearby human and elven settlements, and whatever else our general commanders ask us to do,” the orc commander explains. “What about you? What’s a corpse like you wandering around these woods?”

“I’m on a path of death that will kill part of me that is weak to sin,” I say.

“But why specifically out here?”

“God only knows. I follow in the vague direction that I can interpret from the silent voice of God.”

“I don’t think I would be able to go on a quest like yours. I don’t think any of us could. Orcs like us need certain objectives and goals rather than something vague.”

“It also has to include fighting!” another orc interjects.”

“Yes, and it has to include fighting. God blessed us in particular above all other human races to be tougher for the war we are fighting against the forces of evil whether they’d be traitors, beastmen, ratmen, humans, or elven. It doesn’t matter who the foe is. If we are commanded to fight it, then we will for God and country.”

The words of the commander excite the orcs who chant about fighting for their honorable cause and appear to be fighting better in their training and are getting their weapons and armor ready faster. Even the commander is getting involved in the chanting while I continue to sit and finish the plate of fruit and drink my water. Looking back at me, the commander settles things down as much as possible before sitting back down.

“I’m sorry about that. We can easily get excited,” the orc commander says.

“I don’t mind. I’ll be on my way now anyways,” I say as I get up.

“Is there anything else we could do for you? Since you didn’t finish your meal, we have to give you something else.”

“I don’t have anything in mind nor do I have a destination that I feel that I’m being pulled towards. Perhaps you could bring me on your next mission. I typically find my purpose during and after a battle.”

“As do we. Very well, you can join us in our next battle. Given these times, you won’t have to wait long. My name is Hedwig by the way. Commander Hedwig.”

Sure enough, Hedwig is right as we only had to wait for a few hours for a messenger to come with an urgent mission for us, a mission that the orcs, unfortunately, don’t like, an escort one.

When I’m told about this and if I want to go, I say, “I’ll go. I have recent experience in escorting. Who are we meeting anyway?”

“Nobles. We’ll escort them from the town, take them to the nearby capital, wait for hours on guard, and then take them back home. You might as well take a pillow and blanket instead of that sword for this mission. It’s going to be all politics.”

“I hope someone causes trouble to make things interesting,” another orc soldier says.

Hedwig hits the soldier upside the head and then says that we shouldn’t wish for that no matter how much we would like some action or something interesting to happen, which I have to agree with. Going along with Hedwig and a portion of his troops, we make it to the nobles and bring them to the capital city. On the way to the capital, the nobles are confused as to why I’m here among the orcs and Hedwig explains why. Later, I hear them whispering that they’d rather have more of me than orcs because of their temper. Looking at the other orcs, they seem to have ignored what was said or didn’t care for it. I’m sure they’ve heard it said about them before and it’s probably one of the reasons why they don’t like escort jobs like this.

When we make it to the capital, I see that it’s one of the few cities from the past that was refurbished for the most part. The buildings reach up to the sky almost block out with their tall heights the sun and their designs are unlike any I’ve seen. They all look as if they could be clock towers, churches, castles, or places where nobles live and do business and decide on common laws. The people in the city dress like they are all going to fancy dinners or important ceremonies, even the orcs and men of Canis who are known to mostly dress in battle attire. I even see people from Corvus, my home, who bow their heads in traditional acknowledgment of the quest I’m on.

Even after we escort the nobles to their meeting, I wander the halls of the building that I’m guarding and drink in the luxury and wonder of it all. People must think I’m strange walking through these halls with the orcs, especially since I’m a light-armored normal human with a large sword whereas they are medium to heavily armored and armed orcs. After some time passes and the sights and sounds begin to lose their luster from seeing them for so long, I stop by Hedwig who is guarding the place where kings, queens, bishops, cardinals, and other people of notable status are meeting.

“You look like you’re going to fall asleep standing up. Do you want to guard the hallways while I guard the door?” I ask.

“As much as I want to, I can’t. Us commanders need to be nearest to our leaders behind this door. You can listen in if you want. It doesn’t matter to me since we can’t argue with anything said in there,” Hedwig says.

Curious, I take Hedwig’s offer and stand by the door to listen in to the meeting and hear different people going back and forth.

“Now, with that done, let us talk about the threat of the ratmen and other rogue bandits.”

“What of them? Haven’t we gone over this topic enough? We have bands of orcs, soldiers, and guards who can take care of the traitors and rogues while the same can be said of the ratmen.”

“But we don’t have any forces to specifically face the ratmen threat.”

“We do. Both Bernhard and Canis are sending their best to face them and have had great success. The last thing I heard from the frontlines was that the orcs had retaken Constantinople. Oh, and speaking of the ratmen threat, do you mean the ratmen among us in this meeting or that of Pope Sylvatic?”

“You know what I mean. I have no problem with the honorable ratmen here.”

“We can speak for ourselves,” a raspy voice says who I presume is a ratman representative. I’ve heard of honorable ratmen, but never thought I’d be near them since their number is said to be so small. “And we agree with the sentiment that Pope Sylvatic’s forces must be dealt with, which is why we’ve come up with a plan. The people of Corvus, Canis, Polypus, Bernhard, and elves of the Holy Land can walk in the poisonous wasteland of Eastern Europe and face the threat head-on.”

“Then you should talk to them since they don’t involve the rest of the West.”

“The concerns of one side of the Church are the concerns of all of it. What of the Eastern kingdoms? Phasianus and Draco? They aren’t even able to be represented in these meetings because of the divide that Sylvatic has caused between the West and East.”

“How about we all come to a compromise then? Let’s strengthen our own forces, take care of the beastmen, ratmen, and bandits in our own kingdoms, and then face Sylvatic’s forces.”

“But what of the forces building up in the wasteland?”

“What of them? Like you said, the southern, elven, and orc kingdoms are the only ones who can face them there, so let them. As for us normal humans, we could have ratmen living beneath our feet or did you forget the day that Sylvatic reintroduced himself to the world when hundreds of thousands of ratmen spewed from the ground and killed men, women, and children alike and took who knows how many people to places unknown for horrible experimentation and torture. Is it not important to protect our own homes first? Is it wrong?”

“No, it isn’t.”

The room goes completely silent for what feels like minutes as if the meeting has concluded. I hear someone about to speak until I begin to hear the sounds of multiple people choking and dying. Hedwig, the other orc at the door, and I barge into the room to see some of the representatives bleeding from their eyes, nose, and mouth.

“They’ve been poisoned!” the ratman representative says.

“How could this happen?” a high elf representative asks. “Our security is second to none, which must mean we have a traitor in our mist.”

Panic begins to settle into the room as we try to get everyone to safety, but no one wants to move since they don’t trust one another.

“Get away from me! I won’t leave without my personal escort!”

“Maybe this panic was part of their plan?”

“Maybe they’ll kill us all in this room!”

“Calm down, everyone!”

“This is what I was talking about! We need to think of our own safety first!”

“That ratman probably has something to do with it!”

“Me? What about you? I’ve seen you go into the kitchen before the meeting!”

Having had enough of this, I raise my fleshy left arm and say, “Let the blessing of decay decide who is worthy to die and should die an agonizing death.”

Flies, hornets, and all matter of flying insects begin to come out of my arm, fill the room we’re in, and eat those they know are guilty from the inside out. Now with something to truly fear, the representatives and guards run out of the room as the insects also fly out of the room and into the city. Everyone has run away except for my fellow countrymen from Corvus who bow their heads as I pass by them and Hedwig.

“Dumire, what is this? Explain yourself!” Hedwig says with his two axes drawn, which are both as big as me.

“This is a magic power accessible only to my people and me. It releases a swarm of various insects that can judge between innocent and guilty and rightly execute those that deserve it,” I say.

“It’s already killed many people. Can’t you stop it? It’s spilling out all over the city!”

“It stops when it wants to, or rather when God allows.”

“You really can’t stop it?”

“No, he can’t,” one of my people says as they stand behind me.

Hedwig is unsure of what to do at this point and just looks at me.

“You’re a good man, Dumire. I guess I’ll trust you on this and that there’s no ill intent with this plague that you’ve unleashed,” Hedwig says before putting his axes behind his back.

“Thank you, Hedwig. You’ll see that this plague will bear good fruit.”

With my people and Hedwig behind me, we walk through the halls of the building seeing people praying or cowering in fear while others are eaten from the inside out by the insects. When we get outside, we see that the insects have uprooted a small group of ratmen that were under the city and various kinds of beastmen both flying and agile on their feet, both of which lay dying on the floor in agonizing pain. The once clear sky is now brown and black as the swarm of insects blocks it out and moves to feed on the infrastructure of the city taking away its beauty, monuments of art, and whatever other physical possessions they can find. Some time passes until the swarm dissipates into nothing now that their God-given purpose is done. My left arm has also dissipated along with it as part of the cost of using such a great power.

“Remind me never to mess with you,” Hedwig says.

“Ha, I will,” I say.

“Are you okay?”

“I am. My arm will regrow in time. Thank you for bringing me here today.”

“Do you think the insects ate the people that poisoned the representatives? Do you think we’ll find out?”

“All I know is that God has brought justice to this city. That’s all that matters, right?”

“You’re right. Still, I wish I had some reassurance that this was the right thing to do besides the ratmen and beastmen being flushed out of the city’s depths. I can’t imagine that your people will be viewed any more favorably because you executed without proof of guilt.”

“We are used to being viewed negatively. It hasn’t stopped us from doing what needs to be done,” a Corvus representative says.

“My people and I can relate to that.”

“Dunmire, is it?” a representative says. “We see that you’re on the path of your death. Since there’s no reason to keep you around here, we can transport you to your next destination. We know of a special place for our people in these lands that will help you execute a weakness for evil in yourself.”

“I gratefully accept your offer.”

“Let us be on our way then.”

After saying goodbye to Hedwig, the representatives of Corvus take me to their carriage that is being pulled by two skeletal horses. They drive the carriage with me in the passenger seat and begin to take us out of the city. As I take in the destruction and decay that I helped cause, the sights remind me of my homeland. I hope that the people here will one day realize the blessing that this is in the same way that my people do.

“Glory be to God,” I say to myself.

The representatives say the same and look back to nod at me before taking us out of the city’s walls.