Blood, Honor, and Time: Volume 1 - Side Quests - Quest 2 - A Former Flame

Quest 2 – A Former Flame

On the board of requests is an easy one with decent pay. My Sparrows and I receive these job requests since I’m the new hero and the Sparrows have proven to be effective in keeping the peace. Sometimes, I take these requests myself with some help. This time I ask Stella to come with me.

“What’s this request want us to do?”

“Just ordinary pests in the deep wilderness have popped up again. It shouldn’t be much trouble.”

“Is it just going to be the two of us?”

“Yeah. Donna is passed out drunk because she out drank several people back at home with some of my Sparrows and Corso.”

“Corso joined her stupid game? I’m not sure if I should feel bad for him or not.”

“I don’t think either of them with wake up until later today. The request shouldn’t be too hard for us to fulfill anyway.”

“Alright. I’ll go out with you.”

“Thank you.”

Stella and I ride out to the deep wilderness on my personal horse.

On the way to our destination, Stella asks me, “How are things going?”

“Boring. I’ve been doing nothing besides keeping up my public image with meetings. What about you?”

“The same except I just train my skills to avoid getting rusty.”

“I keep forgetting to do that.”

“I can help you train after this if you’d like. It’ll probably be our only opportunity since Donna likes keeping you to herself.”

“That’s true. We’ll train after this.”

“So you do admit that Donna is controlling of you.”

I stop the horse in a clearing where the forest isn’t too thick.

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Well, she separates you from people who you know and only trusts you to be with the Sparrows and your family. I’m willing to be that she’s always nice around your family is because she’s trying to impress them and solidify her place in your family.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, but she keeps separating you from me.”

“And fangirls too. I wouldn’t think that fangirls would be more aggressive than your average bandit.”

“Benedetto!”

“What? Do you really have to bring this up now?”

“Yes! If I said this when Donna was around, then she’d probably beat me up.”

“Good point, but I’m sure if enough time passes, she’ll like you.”

“How can you be sure? You’ve only known her for a month.”

“Can we talk about this later? I see the monster’s lair up ahead.”

“Fine.”

The monsters we are facing are just simple four-legged man-beetles or at least, that’s what I call them. Experiments from the Cuchillos can get out of hand and escape their clutches and end up in different places to cause trouble. In some cases, other cultures cause these mutated creatures to spawn through demonic rituals or by playing with magic they don’t have permission to use. We find some of these man-beetles come out to ambush us from the trees, but we’re able to shrug it off and kill the incoming assault.

We then make our way to their nest and cut our way through their numbers. In their sticky nest, we find the bodies and bones of wildlife and some people. It appears that this nest is made from their bodies. Some of the bodies that aren’t completely ripped apart appear to be somewhat alive. They’re breathing though they don’t seem conscious. On closer inspection, their bodies have weird egg-like things in them. The bodies are being used as nests for their eggs in more than one way. Despite this disturbing revelation, we press on and destroy the nest. I’ll have to get a clean-up crew here so that this place doesn’t infect the forest.

Stella and I leave the nest once it’s taken down.

“Now where was I.”

Here we go again.

“How can you stand the fact that Donna is separating you from your friends? Don’t you care about us?”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have asked you to be part of my Sparrows. If I didn’t, then I wouldn’t try to be with you without her knowing. I know that ever since I became a hero I’ve changed, but I still care for my friends.”

“Then show me. Spar with me. Right here.”

“What? Having your back in that disgusting bug hive wasn’t enough-hey!”

She’s already slashing her knives at me.

“You weren’t the best fighter back in the day. Let’s see if you’ve improved.”

“Alright then.”

I block her attacks and evade them then counter one of her attacks by pulling her to me with her momentum then tripping her.

“I’ve learned a couple of tricks from my Sparrows.”

“I don’t doubt it coming from those ex-bandits.”

Stella continues to attack me, and I go with the same strategy except I find different ways to trip her so she falls.

“Are you done yet, Stella? I’m sure you’ve lost several times because of how many times you’ve fallen on your face. Woah!”

She almost hits my face with a throwing knife, but I manage to deflect it in time.

“What’s your problem?!”

Stella looks like she’s about to cry.

“Is something the matter?”

“Just…I’m just checking your reflexes. You’re a better fighter now than you were before. You’ve definitely changed.”

“If you think that being with Donna has made me stop caring for you, then you’re wrong. I-”

“Then why haven’t you reset time so you can make it so we can be married instead?”

“Because it’s better this way. If I had chosen differently, then we wouldn’t have achieved peace so quickly. I mean can you imagine a way of taking down the Socia Agmina without Donna’s help?”

“No. God did bring you two together, so I shouldn’t be holding onto the past. I’m sorry for thinking of myself.”

Dang it. I didn’t want to bring her down like this. Me choosing Donna is still affecting her and it’s going to take her a while to get over it. I’m still trying to get used to it as well.

Blood, Honor, and Time: Volume 1 Side Quests - Quest 1 – Non-blood Brothers

“Corso, Corso! Wake up,” I say as I wake him up at night.

“What-what is it, Benedetto? What’s going on?”

“I’ve got an important mission I’ve got to accomplish, and we have to go now.”

“You got it.”

Corso gets his armor on and his equipment with him in no time and heads out the barracks with me. We head out on foot to the location of the mission.

“Benedetto, why didn’t you wake up anyone else?” Corso says in a whisper.

“You’re the only one I need for this mission. At least I think we can complete this together. What do you think? I’m sorry that I didn’t ask first.”

“No, it’s fine. You can trust your brother on this. Let’s complete this mission.”

“Thank you, brother.”

We enter the forest around us and find the lake that has our enemy in it. There is a demon possessing the lake here that turns the water into a three-headed serpent once people get close enough to it. We try cutting the heads off because they appear solid enough, but after several cuts, the head just splits into two heads. This triggers the other heads to split so now we’re facing a six-headed serpent.

“You don’t happen to have any tricks up your sleeves, do you?” Corso asks me.

“I do have rose prayer beads with me. You think we can use it on the demon?”

“I think I see a core in the center of the serpent. Let’s try using it on there.”

Corso protects me as I run for the serpent’s core. Since it’s made of water, it’s not too hard to dive into the creature and eventually wrap the beads on the core. I have to hold my breath while the beads make break the core as the serpent writhes in agony. It’s like I’m strangling it to death. The core then breaks and the water in the lake goes back to normal. I get out of the water and rest on the grass with my brother.

“Mission accomplished,” Corso says as we bump fists.

“I knew we could do it.”

“So now that the mission is over, can you tell me why you chose me in particular?”

“The truth is that I didn’t know about the demon possessing the lake. If you remember, it’s where we used to play in when we were kids.”

“Oh, yeah that’s right. Why didn’t you just say so to begin with?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise. Plus, I wasn’t sure what to say.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m a hero now. I didn’t know if you still viewed me as the same brother you knew especially after I conquered the Socia Agmina.”

Corso puts his hand on my shoulder.

“Of course you’re still my brother and you being a hero hasn’t changed that one bit. Now, you ready to go for a morning swim?”

“I’m ready.”

Corso and I enjoy the lake like how we used to when we were kids. It’s a moment that makes me feel like a kid again and lifts a heavy weight from my shoulders. I couldn’t have asked for a better brother.

A Brief Passage about Magic - Blood, Honor, and Time Lore

Magic is only used by mages since it takes many years of practice and dedication to learn without any interruptions. Some priests also use magic since strong faith in God is a factor in a person’s ability to use it. There are some heroes who have been able to use magic along with their other abilities because of their time alteration blessing or if God so wills it. Here is a list of magic and some of its uses.

Fire – Used for lighting, combat, cooking

Ice – Preserving food, combat, sealing cracks in buildings, retraining criminals

Nature – Help grow and heal crops, retraining criminals, some combat

Miracles/healing – Healing wounds and disease, but can’t bring the dead back to life unless God wills it

Shielding – Defense in combat, can be used to shield single fighters or entire buildings

Construct – Used to make simple things like building materials and to make and repair buildings

Silence – Quiets a person’s speech, used in questioning, and stealth missions

Petrify – Can make almost anything but the tallest and biggest objects and beings stiffen and stay in place, used in the care of dead bodies and construction

Infusion – infuses weapons and armor with special attributes such as fire resist, demon resist, and sturdiness (used in armor to prevent a person from being crushed)

This is just a short list of magic that can be currently used; however, it is subject to change. God will take or give magic based on humanity’s use of them.

A Misguided Cause - Blood, Honor, and Time Lore Story

An officer found a diary from a notorious group of criminals that detailed their tragic end. One of them planned to come out of retirement in order to pull off the heist of their dreams. The hero of the time was known for her less than heroic ways and was rumored to be working with criminals to achieve their ends. This was a righteous mission for this retired criminal who wanted to do one last anti-heroic thing to place his name and the names of his friends in the history books. The first person the writer of the diary went to was their former lover, who worked in a secluded brothel outside of society. After a brief scuffle because of the prostitute’s unpaid debts, she joined him.

The next person who the writer went to was a less than sane inventor who was kicked out of academia and the inner circles of inventors and alchemists because of his less than ethical ideas and practices. After evading authorities which resulted in the scorching of about five miles of land, the inventor joined their party.

In need of a person in power, they recruited another one of their friends who once was a king. This recently dethroned king had just given his throne to his son and was bored of his current life. He hadn’t done much of note in his time of power. His son, on the other hand, had done much in his short time and would later become a saint. It didn’t take much to recruit this man, however, they had to fake his death then escape the country as the king’s son attempted to get revenge on his father’s “killers”.

Last but not least is the person the writer tried to recruit is the most infamous of them who is known for his lethal fighting style and effective ways of torture. Unfortunately for him, this criminal was rehabilitated and was living a peaceful life with his wife and kids. The repentant killer liked his new life as a farmer and a member of his church community and dreaded going back to the life he once lived. The writer tried to make the killer join him, however, the killer was stern in his decision and fought everyone back single handily and forced them to leave as he threatened to kill them.

With the members they had, they used their previous reputation to recruit others for their heist and they got a sizable crew. After they executed their plans, the only members of the crew who survived were the previously mentioned people that being the writer, prostitute, alchemist, and king. There was major damage done to the city where the heist took place along with a significant amount of death, but they were satisfied with the results for a short time as they enjoyed their riches and the drama that was the result of the released information that criminalized the hero.

After a week, the criminals the hero was working with invaded the shared house of the heisters, killed them, and took everything they stole. What was unknown to them was the fact that the criminals and hero were trying to change their ways and trying to keep the secrets things they did in the past a secret. Even though the hero could’ve changed those things in their past, the group decided not to and decided instead to pay the price fair and square to show God how sorry they were. Before they were executed, the ex-criminals gave the heisters one last chance to repent and they did.

The writer then wrote his confession in this diary along with one last note that says, “We were the most wicked out of everyone we fought against. Despite our intentions, we did the most damage to the earth, we hurt the most people, and did the most damage to their lives. The man who was the most wicked of us did the right thing by not joining us. If we had just done what he did, then everyone would be happier. This diary is my confession. I’m sorry for everyone that I hurt. I’m sorry God, who I hurt the most. I hope my confession is perfect enough to gain God’s forgiveness so I can burn in Purgatory so I can make up for the atrocities that I have committed.”

The Rebel with Fractured Integrity - Blood, Honor, and Time Lore Story

There was a righteous rebel who wanted to fight against a corrupt society. The rebel would go out every day in the town square and preach the truth. They had crowds of people listening with bystanders stopping or kept pieces of what they said in their thoughts. This rebel had the right motivations and did the best they could in informing capable people in what they should do, however, when their life was threatened, they changed their message or took their message to a more secluded place for a time. The rebel’s followers dwindled while few stayed loyal to them.

Once the rebel felt safe, they went back to preaching the truth. Unfortunately for them, people stopped listening to them after a while. The rebel was thought to be a coward and a fraud for always shrinking when their way of life was threatened or taking the bribe and selling out to the society they said they were fighting against. Eventually, actual brave people with integrity rose up individually and through their sacrifice, inspired others to rise up and overthrow the oppressive society and make it into a better one.

The original rebel, who flipped and flopped in their message, was nearly forgotten about. No one is sure whether the rebel was a man or a woman, but everyone knows about their cowardice. On the other hand, everyone knows the names and deeds of those who died and gave everything they had in changing the society they lived hand and are considered to be saints.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Blood, Honor, and Time Volume 4 is completed and free to download!

Download for free on Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/947108

The ending test for humanity is here
The final battle that Benedetto has been preparing for is here and the devil is throwing all of Hell at him and the faithful in a last-ditch effort to send them all to Hell. They will be tested to their limits as temptations and armies test their physical and mental strength along with their faith and hope in God.
Will everything that Benedetto has done been for nothing or has he fulfilled his duty as a hero?
*the last chapter is included in this download like the last story since it was short and combined with another chapter