My Love, My Sweet Burden (Text Only): Chapter 2 –Bearing One Another

Chapter 2 –Bearing One Another

I feel like we’re lost. We’ve been wandering around for what feels like hours and I’m sure we’ve lost our pursuers by now. “Are we any closer to the town yet?”

“Uh, yes! We’re almost there. It’s just a bit further!” I don’t trust that, ‘uh’, part of what she said, and sure enough, it feels like it takes us another thirty minutes before we actually reach a town. “Ta-da! I told you I’d get you here.” Sure, sure. I just want to rest now, so we head through the town’s gates and go into an inn where we take a seat and look at the menu before a waitress comes to us.

“Hiya! It’s good to see new faces in town.”

“We just got married! My name is Persephone.”

“We aren’t officially married yet.”

“But you said that God told you that I’m your wife-to-be, so we basically are married.”

“Regardless, I’ll give you two the newlywed’s discount. What would you two like to eat and drink?” After giving the waitress our order, I look around the inn to see the many kinds of people here. It still astounds me to see both normal humans and beastmen together in the same room as if nothing is strange. Men with the heads of elephants, bodies of minotaurs, legs of kangaroos, and so on are just some of the varieties of beastmen in this room besides the bunny woman who took our order. It’s said that people being born as beastmen is a result of the war that ended the future. The few who come from the East say that this is the only place in the world that has beastmen and that some of them mysteriously make their way from here to the East without a boat by traversing a fog.

An archer approaches us and says, “Excuse me. You wouldn’t happen to be Dominic, would you?”

“Yes, I am.”

“It’s an honor to meet you. Your unit passed by about three hours ago. They gave us a description of what you look like and told us that God told you what to do to obtain victory for them in their battle against that beastmen stronghold that was just down the road.”

“They passed by here three hours ago?”

“Yeah. They immediately began the attack after you lured away the wall’s defenses, won the battle in roughly twenty minutes, and came back here to get help in trying to find you. I’m glad to see you’re okay.”

We really were lost in the forest for hours then. “Thanks. I’ll be sure to get back to them and back home as soon as I can.”

As the rabbit woman comes back with our meal, she suggests, “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation because of my big ears. Why don’t you stay a bit? You two look exhausted.”

“She’s right, Dominic. I could just have one of the mages conjure and send a messenger pigeon so that Priscilla and command know that you’re alive.”

“Yeah, I think we should take their advice and get some rest before heading out again. I’m exhausted.”

“I guess you guys are right.” The thought of going back home and impressing Priscilla is still a priority in my mind when it shouldn’t be. I did what God asked and now my new task is to be with Persephone. “We’ll take a room for the night, please.”

“Dinner, the room, and tomorrow’s breakfast will be on us because of your recent victory, Mr. Famous.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Is this what feeling important is like? Is this what Priscilla experienced after all her notable victories and accomplishments? I sure could get used to it, but knowing this is just my fifteen minutes of fame, I enjoy it while it lasts. When I head into the room given to us, I hardly take note of what’s in it and what Persephone is saying to me before I just drop down in bed and fall asleep seconds later.

I wake up feeling well-rested and Persephone lying on top of me. She looks at me, smiles, and then gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Good morning!”

Again, with all the kisses. “You couldn’t sleep anywhere else on the bed or in the room?”

“There’s nowhere else to and isn’t sleeping on top of each other something that married people do?”

“Again, we’re not officially married yet. Save sleeping together until after that.”

“Okay. Let’s go get our free breakfast. I’m starving!”

Going downstairs, the rabbit woman from last night comes to our table. “Good morning. Did you two lovebirds get a good night's sleep?”

“We did! It was an especially nice night because we cuddled together.”

“Persephone, you’re not just supposed to tell people stuff like that.”

“Haha, well I’m glad you’ve enjoyed your night together. Now, what would you like to eat?” After giving our order, I see that the woman’s husband, who is half cat, complains to her that they haven’t cuddled up like we did in a while to which she says that they’ll cuddle tonight. We get our food soon after and start eating.

“So, how did you get that scar over your right eye?”

“I got it during an intense battle. Why?”

“It just bothers me seeing you have it for some reason. Does it bother you?”

“No, not at all. It hasn’t affected how I aim my bow either. In fact, I’m more used to focusing on single targets now and can do so pretty well.”

“Okay, but I still feel like I should do something to make it better.”

“It’s fine. You don’t have to kiss it or anything to make it better.”

“Drat! How did you know that’s what I was thinking about doing?”

“Because that’s what you’ve been doing when you feel like it’s appropriate.” Persephone and I finish our breakfast, thank the innkeepers for their hospitality, and walk outside.

“Okay. Where to now?”

“I’d like to head back home-”

“Sir Dominic! We could use your help! The beastmen and bandits that were chasing you yesterday are out for revenge and are taking it out on travelers along the road.”

“Really?! We better help them out, Dominic! They’re after us after all.”

Seeing as how it would be selfish to say no, I agree to help and conjure my crossbow. I also tell the other guards that we won’t need their help, especially since I’m sure that Persephone would accidentally hurt them. They tell us where the last attack was and investigate the site. The bodies lay in body bags and there are dentations in the ground that indicate the heaviness of the weapons of the beastmen. I also see obvious tracks in the ground, which means the assailants could want us to follow it and there’s a trap waiting for us. Following the trail, we find a group of about ten beastmen gathered together dividing their spoils and preparing to eat their captives and do things I’d rather not think about.

The head of the group seems to be a pigman because of how he’s commanding each and every one of them. “Enjoy yourselves, but don’t rest for too long. That trail we left and the trouble we’ve caused so far should bring our prey to us soon enough, and we will soon get our revenge!” The beastmen cheer at the pigman’s words as he holds a bottle of whiskey and then downs in it a single glub. “The men of the Church will learn of the strength of the beastmen and our gods while our brethren will learn of the foolishness of their decision to serve them.”

“Alright, I’m ready! Let’s get to blasting!”

“Wait, hold on!” Before I can stop Persephone, she fires several explosive arrows into the crowd of beastmen killing a couple, injuring a few, and taking them all by surprise.

“Pick yourselves up, fools! You should’ve known better than to bunch up because of that idiot with the explosive bow!”

“I’ll show you who’s an idiot!” Persephone continues to wildly fire at the beastmen managing to kill another three and injuring five. I’ve been finishing off the injured, so this group of beastmen is quickly defeated even when their scouts and nearby help come by as Persephone and I use the same tactic of focusing on one at a time and scattering them with her explosive arrows.

“We did it! How did I do, Dominic?” As I survey the carnage we caused, I look for the hostages and am both relieved and mortified to see that they’re injured and not dead.

“Help me with the captives! They must’ve gotten hurt during the fight.” Checking on their injuries, I do my best to administer first aid to them to give them temporary relief.

“Wait, was this my fault?”

“Who else could have been when the beastmen were focusing on us? Now, help me heal these people and get them up.” Persephone does as I saw and at least she’s able to clean and wrap wounds properly. Once we get everyone back to town, the guards and townspeople thank us and the innkeepers from before inviting us for a free meal and another free night at their inn. While we eat, I see that Persephone is still demoralized as she tepidly eats and hasn’t looked at me in a while.

There’s no use being mad at her so I try to put on my best smile as I say, “Are you okay?”

“No, not at all because of what I did. I was reckless like always and got innocent people hurt again.”

“What do you mean again?”

“While training to be an archer, I got people hurt and my parents sent me to the stronghold we met at. I was there to train to be an archer and even there, people got hurt and I was so afraid of hurting other people that I didn’t fight back when the beastmen attacked us. I’m worse than useless!”

“No, you’re not. Without your help, I wouldn’t have survived the last couple of battles. You just need more training. I’ll help you with that tomorrow.”

“Really?! You’re going to help me become a better archer?”

“Yes, I am going to be your husband after all, which means I’m going to help you with all your needs and be here for you whenever you need me.” Why do I feel like I’m going to regret saying that?

“Yay!” Persephone says before leaning over the table to kiss me on the cheek during which she knocks over our drinks and plates onto the floor. “Ah! I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t worry about it! It’s a free meal anyway and it was worth seeing you two act cute together.”

I can already tell that the rest of my life is going to involve me having to be really patient with Persephone. I know for a fact it’s going to be painful and I pray to God that he gives me the strength to deal with this woman He’s entrusted to me.