Righteous Rejects of Heaven: Chapter 2 – Berserk for Love

Chapter 2 – Berserk for Love

Since our first fight together that doubled as a bonding experience, the four of my companions have been riding closer together as if we were a real squad. David and Saanvi are closest to me while Hossam is slightly ahead of us. He’s a guy who reminds me so much of my husband, Marcel, a warrior on the outside and a kind-hearted man within. I didn’t think I’d come to respect these people so quickly, especially Hossam, but I guess it came as a result of what Marcel has done to me and how he opened my heart to loving and appreciating others. I’ll have to make him pay when I see him next.

As we ride through the wasteland of Eastern Europe, we try to follow the most direct path to Constantinople, which is where Vicar Sylvatic is and where Marcel and our allies should be heading. Along the way, we face ambushes from ratmen and find the remains of past battles such as the decayed bodies of soldiers mostly from Bernhard and Canis. Seeing the corpses of these brave soldiers lying here without a proper burial sickens me. It reminds me of the days when the Church didn’t take the threat of the Vicar and his ratmen seriously enough. At the same time, Bernhard and Canis knew the seriousness of the threat and sacrificed many soldiers to hold off the tide of vermin until the Church finally realized the magnitude of the threat and sent soldiers and resources to put an end to it.

Even still, in terms of soldiers, they could only send humans who can enter the wasteland without immediately getting sick and dying. It is up to the kingdoms of Corvus, Canis, Polypus, Bernhard, and elves of the Holy Land to end the tyrannical Vicar’s reign while the other kingdoms must hold the line where they can. The tenacity of the men of Serpentis, the sturdiness of the men of Equus, the pride of the men of Leo, and even the night magics of the men of Noctua mean nothing when they enter the wasteland. They don’t have my disdain, but they do have my indifference as this only shows that the new humanity is chosen by God to rule and live in this new world scarred by the wounds of the past. Not even the men of the Far East from Phasianus and Draco, the men of the Far West kingdoms of the Americas, or scheming elves of the Holy Land can accomplish the things that we have nor do I think they will be able to.

At this rate, the orcs of Bernhard and the fiery men of Canis will take Eastern Europe and become the dominant power in the world and leaders of humanity. When that day comes, the world will be at peace and I’ll finally get to live in the Heaven on Earth that Marcel introduced to me.

“Lieselotte, are you okay?” Hossam says.

“I’m fine,” I say while continuing to eat.

“You looked lost in thought,” Saanvi says.

“Don’t read my mind, half-breed. I know your type from Polypus can.”

“I don’t need to use any magic to see you were thinking about something and I can make a good guess you’re thinking about your husband. Could you tell us more about him?”

“Why would you want to know?”

“We’re going to be fighting with him and getting to know your thoughts on him will make us know more about him and you as well.”

“Fine, if you’re so curious.” Marcel also said to be more open to people. “Marcel is a white flame soldier so he’s able to blind and melt the unclean sinners of the world with his flames and if they don’t die that way, then his fighting skills with his axe and mace will finish them off.”

“I hear many tales of white flame knights that are like that. What makes Marcel so different?” David asks.

“He’s soft, in a good way. He takes it easy and sees the beauty in the world and the good in others. Even though we’re allowed to rest and see goodness in others in Bernhard and Canis, we are more encouraged to fight, and most spar, work on their weapons and armor, and partake in feasts with lots of drinking as our common form of rest. Marcel, on the other hand, brought me out to scenic views in Bernhard, Canis, and other kingdoms where we would just be together with very few words said between us.”

“He sounds like an honorable and pleasant man,” Hossam says.

“First, we have a knight from Corvus who uses a shield and now we have a knight from Canis who takes it easy in nature and in near total silence no less,” David says.

“Not everyone in a kingdom follows every tradition it seems,” Saanvi says.

“Obviously. Most women don’t stylize their hair the same way I do nor are they as nice,” I say.

I can tell David is about to give a snide remark, but stops himself, smiles, and keeps it to himself. It’s a good thing he did because I’d smack him across the face if he said what he had in mind. With our strength and stamina restored, we head back out and are met with trouble soon after. The group falls beneath us as we pass through a field of corpses and ratmen leap at us as they spring their ambush. Immediately, the four of us jump off our horses and get into the fight. With my two-handed axe, I cleave through the ratmen while pushing forward. I dodge very few times and bash with my weapon even fewer.

Offense has always been the best defense for most orc soldiers with prayer, armor, and shields attached to armor being the only real defense we employ in battle. This allows us to keep the pressure on the enemy, not giving them the opportunity to retaliate or formulate a plan. If my companions had the same idea, we’d be pushing back the ratmen faster, but since I need them, I aid them first by getting off the ratmen that are relentlessly stabbing Hossam who is unphased by their attacks, and I saving him from their assault.

“Thank you,” he says.

“Now, I don’t owe you for saving me,” I say before continuing to help Hossam and Saanvi, whose tactics of using magic and trickery don’t help them much in an all-out fight like this and are distasteful to me.

They thank me and we soon push back the enemy who are now retreating with our horses in tow. We chase them in and through their tunnels filled with smaller ratmen trying and failing to ambush us. The ratmen then resort to crawling through holes that appear too small to fit through, but they fit through nonetheless and escape us. At least they were decent enough to leave our horses mostly unharmed. While Saanvi heals them so they can carry us again, Hossam and I ensure the area is secure and that the ratmen here are all dead, which some aren’t, and spring to life for one last attack before being put down for good. I catch David examining the bodies in this tunnel in the corner of my eye and lose sight of him when I stop paying attention to him.

Hossam notices this too and doesn’t take too much convincing to search the tunnels for him. Saanvi tags along and we find David nearby heading back to us.

“Where did you go off to?” I ask.

“Besides going to the bathroom, I was investigating the bodies here. A lot of them are soldiers from Canis and Bernhard. I didn’t find your husband among them, so don’t worry about that, but it’s obvious to me that they’ve been killed recently.”

“Then we aren’t too far from Marcel and should hurry!”

I say while rushing back to our horses.

“We should, especially since they’ve been throwing ratmen children at us as well.”

“Why does that matter?”

“These scum have thrown worse at us.”

Getting back on our horses, we immediately head out of the tunnels and in the direction of Constantinople.

“It matters because they aren’t sparing their young. Ratmen can’t reproduce without forcing a woman to bear their children and be eaten alive by the ten or so that are born afterward and the fact that they’ve used up all their women and are throwing their children at us means they’re getting desperate,” David continues.

“They messed with God and are facing the consequences. This is only the last futile attempt by these scum to fight against our inevitable victory, so let’s deliver the killing blow!”

We make our horses run even faster ahead with me leading from the front. It isn’t long until we hear explosions in the distance and white flames being shot into the sky and in different directions.

“It’s Marcel!” I yell out.

I push my horse to keep going faster until we run head-first into the ratmen attacking him. With Marcel and my party, we quickly push back the ratmen and send them fleeing.

“Lieselotte! I am overjoyed to see you, my love,” Marcel says before I grab him by the neck.

I want to yell and hit him for leaving without me, but I kiss him instead. My life is complete at his side, a Heaven on Earth. Whether we live in the most peaceful lands together or spend it in war for the rest of our lives doesn't matter. As long as I’m with him, my life is complete.