Chapter
1 – First Encounters
Ahead of me is Lieselotte who is
riding her muscly horse that seems to be doing just fine despite how she’s
pushing it to go as fast as it can. Behind me are David and Saanvi who are
riding horses from their kingdoms and seem to be talking about something.
Meanwhile, I’m riding on my skeletal horse in the middle of them all taking my
time on this journey with my mind only on the task and nothing else. So far,
we’ve traveled outside of Noctua and made it to the kingdom of Bernhard whose
trees seemingly reach the sky and its wildlife is double the size of what is
found in other regions of the world. Eventually, David and Saanvi come up to me
and Lieselotte and suggest taking a break and we do.
Lieselotte immediately starts a
fire, cooking a meal, and eating while the rest of us set up the tents. Not
much has been said between us and we’ve hardly stopped to eat or rest for long
so I don’t expect this rest to last long either. Resting and eating don’t
concern me much being that I’m partly skeletal, but I do hope that my
companions aren’t pushing themselves over their limits.
Walking over to Lieselotte, I ask,
“Are you well?”
She gives me a strange look as she
stops eating with her food still in her mouth.
“Huh? I’m fine. Why are you asking?”
she says.
“Because you’ve been really pushing
yourself and I wanted to make conversation. We haven’t had any proper
introductions with one another or anyone else in the party.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but
I don’t care about knowing about any of you. Once we’re done with this mission,
we’ll probably never see one another again. Also, I’m an orc which means I
don’t tire easily and need to eat so I can be at two hundred percent ready to
go again, so please, leave me alone.”
I nod and walk over to David and
Saanvi whose conversation I seem to have interrupted. They look at me as if
studying my appearance so they can be ready for anything I may do or say.
“Are you two well? I’m sure
Lieselotte will let you sit with her and share her fire if you ask,” I say.
“She didn’t seem to want your
company, so we’ll pass. Besides, we have vegetables and fruits with us that
don’t need to be cooked and I’m sure Lieselotte wants to get moving as soon as
possible,” David says.
“But you must learn to get along
with her. We are a team after all.”
“Is that really why you want us to
sit together?”
I nod and David laughs.
“You look scary, but you’re a good
man, Hossam. We’ll give it a shot. What do you say, Saanvi?”
“I don’t think anything bad can
come of it. Let’s try,” she says.
For the next ten minutes, I sit by
the fire with my companions as they make small talk.
“Hey, you, skeleton man. You wanted
this conversation to happen, so why don’t you say something?” Lieselotte says.
“I’m happy to stay silent as long
as you are enjoying your conversation with one another. I’ll speak if I need
to,” I say.
“Then speak because we’ve run out
of things to talk about already. Tell us about your adventures, reaper knight.”
“There’s not much to talk about.
I’ve wandered the lands from the wastelands of Eastern Europe to the frozen
crumbling lands of Polypus helping people wherever I can. There were a couple
of times I’ve battled with the bleeding men of Onocrotalus and wandered the
nearly impossible-to-reach lands of the Far East.”
“So, you’ve been all over the
world, huh?”
“Not exactly. I haven’t been to the
Far West across the ocean yet.”
“Could you tell us about your
adventures in Equus? I haven’t heard of a single warrior from Corvus who has
ever used a shield,” Saanvi asks.
“I don’t use it for defensive
measures at all unless you consider a good offense to be the best defense.”
“I do,” Lieselotte says.
“I use it as a close-ranged blunt
weapon that’s useful when an enemy gets too close for my slow great sword to
deal with, but more importantly, it’s a gift from my friend Louis whom I spent
much time with helping to defend his kingdom from bandits and ratmen.”
“What are your plans after this?”
David asks. “You don’t seem like the kind of man who settles down.”
“Continue wherever God leads me.
Warriors and knights like me from Corvus hardly rest until our final death
after we’ve killed every weakness within ourselves. Even then, we may rise from
our rest to help defend the kingdom or aid in battles.”
“I could always use your help with
the contracts I have to deal with, so you can come back to meet my friends,”
David says.
“I’d also appreciate your help. We
could use a guard for the work that the high elves do,” Saanvi says.
“Thank you, but again, I go
wherever God leads me.”
“Don’t think of giving me that
offer because all I’m interested in is straightforward combat, none of that
working for a secretive organization nonsense,” Lieselotte says.
David and Saanvi go on to ask
Lieselotte about her many adventures and deployments to which Lieselotte goes
on and on about the many infamous foes she’s faced and the hordes of orc
traitors, ratmen, bandits, and beastmen she’s slaughtered, however, she slows
down when she talks about her husband, Marcel, and seems to contemplate her
next words before speaking.
“He’s…he’s everything to me, so we
can’t stick around here much longer. I don’t want to rest here for my sake if
it means that his life is still in danger,” she says.
“I understand. Let’s get moving
then,” David says to which Saanvi and I nod in agreement.
The four of us continue riding our
horses for miles, taking it slower for moments before again continuing on. We
come to a small town on the border between Bernhard and Eastern Europe. The
wall here reminds me of the Great Wall that stretched across the lands in the
Far East and seems to be built and defended just as heavily. Men from all
armies across the world are here such as knights from Noctua, Leo, and
Serpentis to the native orcs, their friends from Canis, and some warriors from
Corvus and Polypus. The soldiers are playing card and board games with one
another and sparring to see which soldiers from certain kingdoms are strongest.
We find the captains that command the troops here and request to be let through.
“A walking corpse, an orc, a dark
elf, and a half-breed. Yup. A conjured messenger pigeon told us to expect you,”
a commander says.
“Your friends passed by here not
too long ago. They have quite the head start on you,” another commander says.
“We know and they weren’t supposed
to,” Saanvi says.
“Well, you better catch up then. You
have our permission to pass through-”
Horns blare out throughout the town
signaling to us about an incoming attack. Before we and the soldiers can take
our defensive positions, ratmen start coming out of the ground that I could’ve sworn
was solid to kill and kidnap whoever they come across. Seeing this, I leap into
action using my body as a shield to protect people and my shield and great
sword to kill whatever ratmen I come across. The knights from Canis use their
fire magic to fill the holes that the ratmen are coming out of with fire while
the mages from Polypus conjure animals made of ice to help them. My three
companions are doing their part as well with Lieselotte carving her way through
the ratmen, David stealthily taking them out from the shadows, and Saanvi using
her high elf and Polypus magic to heal the wounded and attack our enemies.
One of the soldiers on the walls
informs us of a tide of ratmen coming from the other side. Those who can enter
the poisonous lands of Eastern Europe such as my party, the knights of Canis,
Corvus, Polypus, and Bernhard make their way past the walls while the normal
humans from Noctua, Serpentis, and Leo stay and clean up the town and help the
wounded. Charging from the very front, I cleave my way through the ratmen killing
dozens at a time with a single swing while their attacks do not affect me
despite the many times I am stabbed in the head and chest. I focus my attention
on the ratmen trying to slip past me and attack my allies.
“I can handle myself!” Lieselotte
says.
“I know, but you still need help.
We’re in this together,” I say.
I carve my way through the enemy
until reaching David and Saanvi who help get the ratmen off my back.
“Are you okay, Hossam?” David asks.
“I was just about to ask you that,
David and Saanvi. I came here to help you. Lieselotte needs our help as well,”
I say.
“You looked like you need more help
than she does, but okay, let’s go help her,” Saanvi says.
The four of us are now fighting
together pushing back the ratmen as their forces are now thinned out and being
overwhelmed by our own. It’s at a time like this that I remember the words of my
friend, Louis.
“Don’t push yourself too hard,” Louis
once said to me.
“You don’t have to do everything by
yourself.”
“You have friends you can rely on.”
“You don’t always have to be
fighting.”
Now, I am remembering the voices of
the people that I’ve helped too.
“I want to be like you when I grow
up.”
“You don’t always have to be so
scary and quiet. I can see you’re a kind man underneath those dirty rags and reaper
appearance.”
“I can see great things in store
for you and you’ll find your place in life at the side of friends.”
“You’ll meet your family again
someday and they’ll be proud of what you’ve done.”
“Remember the Church is a family
and you never truly fight alone.”
By the time the voices end, I see
that the ratmen are in full retreat and the battle is won. It’s then that I seemingly
pass out for a second and wake up to see that Saanvi is using her high elf
magic to heal me. I’m lying down in a tent along with others who are wounded.
“Huh? Why are you healing me? I’m
fine,” I say.
“You didn’t seem that way after you
passed out, big guy,” David says.
“It was a pain to get you back
here. We needed multiple men to get you on a cart so we could transport you,”
Lieselotte says before adding, “Oh, and thanks for saving my life.”
“I’m just doing my job as your companion
and a friend. There’s no need to thank me,” I say.
“Don’t make me retract my thanks.”
“You deserve all the thanks you get.
Without you throwing yourself into danger the way you did, many more would’ve
died and we would’ve been in some big trouble,” David says.
“We want you to be at full strength
and in the best condition possible. You’re an integral part of our team,”
Saanvi adds.
“Thank you, all of you. I’m beyond
thankful to have friends like you,” I say.
David, Saanvi, and Lieselotte rest and
eat for a time with me in this tent before we head out again. For all my years
of wandering, I think I’ve found a place where I belong and friends that I’ll
see for the rest of my life even if we get separated after this mission.
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