Love Found Amidst Violence: Chapter 2 – In Over Our Heads

Chapter 2 – In Over Our Heads

The region of the world we find ourselves in is Eastern Europe or Unser Sieg, as we call it now. Once controlled by a corrupted Vicar and his legions of ratmen, it’s a toxic region of the world where no normal human can survive save for elves, men of the southern kingdom, Far East, and, of course, us orcs. Despite it appearing to be desolate, it’s a great place to mine ores to create weapons and armor from, and its poisonous vegetation is good for making cures and medicines. Matilda and I pass by one of the villages that was tasked with doing this, however, this village of orcs has long been slaughtered and is in the process of being cleaned up and repaired with the stench of death still in the air and bodies being buried or sent off to their families.

Questioning the guards and civilians to see if our prey has passed by here, they mention a group of people that passed by the town that match the description we gave them. Matilda and I thank them before immediately heading in the direction they are said to have gone. Along the way, we find fresh corpses of orcs and fiery knights of our brother kingdom, Canis, who seem to have been transporting goods, weapons, and armor at the wrong place and time. This scene only incentivizes us to move faster and catch up with our prey so they can’t hurt anyone else. Continuing on, we manage to catch up to our prey who have stopped by the ruins of another town that was recently destroyed.

Matilda and I don’t stop to come up with a strategy to fight them and just jump off our horses and start cutting and slashing. While the vermin we are killing call out for help, we see two people transform into serpentine dragons who start spewing fire at us. We cut our way to take cover behind a broken building as we tactically retreat to get some distance from the dragons.

“If I’m not mistaken, the Asians from Draco who can turn into dragons are royalty, which means these are no ordinary bandits,” Matilda points out.

“I figured. There’s something else going on here, but I’m not sure we’ll live to see it through,” I admit as jokingly as I can.

“If anything, we’ll die honorably doing our duty. Also,” Matilda says before kissing me on the cheek. “That’s for fighting with me until now and just in case we don’t make it out of this.”

An explosion of light hits the building we are hiding in forcing us to face down our enemies.

“We won’t know until it’s over, so let’s show them the might of Bernhard and the wrath of God,” I say.

Matilda nods. We then yell out as we charge at the enemy. Before our blades can clash with theirs, a hail of fire and ice spears rains down from the sky killing most of them. Out of the smoke and mist created by the spells, a single person can be made out of it who uses their spells to fight our foes. As we cautiously approach our savior, we see that this person is tough and resorts to using their fists to punch out our enemies when they get too close and uses their feet to crush the heads of those who are on the ground. The chaos of the scene dissipates revealing that our savior is not only an orc, but a half-breed orc at that.

The woman has light blonde hair, light blue eyes, and light green skin that’s lighter than Matilda’s with a hint of beige in it. From what I see, her lineage is a messy one with bits of Polypus and Canis in it because of her ice and fire magic respectively, and bits of either Leo, Serpentis, or Equus in her because of her skin, eyes, and body shape that is indicative of a “normal” human. Matilda and I keep our weapons up just in case this woman is trouble, though she seems to lower her guard.

“Thanks for the help. Who are you?” I ask.

“I can only tell you my name is Grimgothica,” she says.

“What kind of orc name is that?” Matilda says.

“It’s a code name, so I don’t reveal my real one.”

“A code name? What are you some kind of special agent or soldier?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Who are you loyal to?”

“God and my country of Bernhard, same as you. You can lower your weapons. I’ll answer every question you have and hide nothing.”

Matilda and I nod at each other and then slowly lower and sheathe our weapons since the woman seems honest and she’s been straightforward in answering our questions so far.

“What are you doing out here?” Matilda asks.

“I’m out here investigating the increasing attacks on towns and cities in the Unser Sieg region and what the foreigners from Asia and the Holy Land have to do with it. Might I ask the same of you?” Grimgothica says.

“We were chasing the traitors and their allies that our unit was sent out to eliminate. Unfortunately, we’re the only survivors.”

“That was reckless of you, but I understand why you would want to avenge your friends and finish your job. Your names?” We give our names and Grimgothica nods. “Gunther, Matilda, can I ask you to please go and report your success to your superiors? I’ll handle the rest from here.”

“No, you can’t,” Matilda and I almost say in unison.

“Heh, I thought you two would say that.”

“Our job is not done yet,” Matilda says.

“We want to get to the bottom of why there have been so many bandit attacks and what the foreigners have to do with them,” I add.

“Follow me then and keep an eye out for any stranglers and places they could hide. I’ll catch you both up on what I know.”

Matilda and I do as she says, follow her, and listen.

“Given how we’re not on the best terms with both Western and Eastern kingdoms, they’ve been disputing with us about whether or not we should have most of the land of Unser Sieg.”

“But we won it fairly during the war with Vicar Sylvatic! We sent out and sacrificed the most troops during it!” Matilda says.

“That’s right, but the other kingdoms think they should have a piece of the land as well and its resources and the sacrifices that happened a few generations ago mean nothing to the current one.”

“We’ve allowed Canis to have land here and we trade the materials to the other kingdoms, so it’s not like we’re hoarding it to ourselves.”

“Giving territory to our closest allies and trading the materials to others doesn’t mean anything to them.”

“What about having our knights act as guards in all kingdoms?” I ask.

“It irritates them more than gives them comfort because it gives the impression we want to have soldiers stationed everywhere so we can take over the world similarly to the tyrannical Vicar.”

“Comparing us to those ratmen is worse than an insult,” Matilda says.

“We’re exactly like that to some because of how much we fight.”

“But we don’t rape, indulge ourselves in drugs, kidnap, and experiment on innocent people as the ratmen did!”

“It doesn’t make a difference to them. What makes it worse for them is all these attacks by bandits and traitors. With every settlement destroyed, caravan slaughtered, and travelers robbed and killed within the territory, our kingdom looks less and less worthy of holding the territory. If this increase in destruction, thievery, and murder doesn’t stop soon, the other kingdoms will have a strong case to present to the Vatican to divide our territory between themselves.”

“So, they have something to do with these attacks?” I ask.

“Our superiors have considered it and now it seems to be confirmed because of the bodies here. Take a look at this.” Grimgothica picks up a piece of the Asian armor that was worn by the dragon. “The men of Draco who can turn into dragons are royals or come from a royal lineage. This armor is hard to get and even harder to steal, so it’s positive proof that some royals in Draco are conspiring against us and actively taking part in the atrocities done in this land.”

I punch the side of a nearby wall to relieve myself of my anger.

“We’re being betrayed by those who claim to be our allies and worship the same God,” I say.

“We have our proof then to go after them and eliminate the conspirators in their kingdom,” Matilda adds.

“We have almost everything,” Grimgothica says as she pockets the pieces of Asian armor. “The elves have also fought against us so we must find proof that these elves are not just mere bandits or at the very least have no connection with the elves in the Holy Land.”

Matilda and I agree with Grimgothica and help her search the ruined town and bodies of the deceased for the proof we’re looking for. While looking around, I find various pictures and notes in the pockets of the dead men that have faces and names on them. Many of the notes are reminders of the loved ones, kingdom, and God they’re fighting for and the letters are from loved ones wishing them well and hoping for their safe return. Misguided fools, the lot of them. I pity them and pray a short prayer for their souls. Once we’ve swept the entire area, we regroup and see that we’ve all found much of the same things.

“Is this enough proof to go after the elves?” Matilda asks.

“It’s enough to link them to certain people, but not enough to show whether or not they acted on direct orders from the rulers of their kingdoms. Nevertheless, we should bring it back home for safekeeping and report it to our superiors so they can decide our next course of action,” Grimgothica says.

“Our next course of action would be to bring their co-conspirators to justice by force, if necessary,” Matilda says.

“Force is probably going to be the best course of action for quick justice given how many royals are involved, but we must avoid force unless absolutely necessary. Thank you for your help, Gunther and Matilda. I’ll make sure you are handsomely rewarded for your help and dedication to Bernhard.”

“It’s our honor to help,” I say to which Matilda agrees. As we head back to our horses to go back home, I ask Matilda, “It looks like we will get that day together.”

“Then we were meant to be together,” Matilda says. “Honestly, this time we’ve spent together is better than any date I could imagine. So, given both facts, I’d say I’ll be expecting a ring soon after we get back home.”

Orcs like the men of Canis are quick to show the contents of their hearts to the people they have feelings for. We’re probably the most honest people in the world in our opinion, which should be obvious given how quick we are to fight for who and what we love, speak our minds, and quickest to create families with many children.

Smiling at Matilda, I return the kiss she gave me on the cheek and then say, “You’ll get it soon enough.”

She smiles at me with a blush on her face. We then head out with Grimgothica back home with our minds back on the task at hand and the hopes of getting justice for the people we’ve fought to avenge.

Love Found Amidst Violence: Chapter 1 – A Life of Bloodshed

Chapter 1 – A Life of Bloodshed

More traitors have been spotted within our kingdom of Bernhard, and I’ve been deployed with my friends to eliminate them. While hunting for our prey, I see the knights around me fiddling with their weapons and armor muttering to ourselves. Most of us are geared in leather armor like me while a few wear heavy black armor with spikes on the shoulders and arms. We’re all armed with axes, maces, and swords with no shield in sight save for those who have their small shields on their armor. As for me, I’m one of the few carrying around a two-handed weapon, a zweihander, to be specific, and a favorite of mine as it is effective at killing more than one foe in a single swing.

“I can’t wait to kill these scum,” one knight says.

“The one who least kills has to pay for our celebration dinner,” a commander suggests.

This gets us to move a bit faster to the location as we make our way through the dense forest of our kingdom. Here, the trees block most of the sunlight and most of its bugs and animals are the size of a child, at the very least while most are the size of elephants, bears, and lions. This makes it a difficult land to traverse, so very few of us are on horseback and we had to dismount our horse-drawn carriages a way back to make our way through this part of the forest that is denser than usual. Even so, we’re all skilled hunters and should be able to find our prey, and sure enough, we find them taking shelter in makeshift tents made from huge tree leaves.

Immediately leaping into action, we pounce on the traitors to not give them a second to react. These scum don’t deserve it anyway nor do they deserve the quick deaths that they get. We cut them down as they scatter and struggle to pick up their weapons and muster some kind of defense, but hardly any of them can do anything or run far enough before they are killed. As we cut down the last of them, I notice that their numbers are fewer than I expected. Before I can voice this aloud, more traitors come out of the tall grass to ambush us. They are aided by ratmen, dark elves, beastmen, and man-sized birds and dogs that they tamed. Many die in the cowardly ambush and it takes a significant counterattack for us to push back against them. Leading the counter is me and a few other fellow knights one of which is a female that catches my eye for some reason.

The woman also looks at me in the eyes, and in this moment, it seems as if time is moving slower. She wears body chainmail armor with light gold and red metal pieces on it. In her hands, she wields a long sword and axe that she is using to deflect an arrow coming her way and cut the arms off an enemy at the same time. If I recall correctly, her name is Matilda and we’ve been serving together for quite some time but never got the chance to really talk to one another. Together, we push back against our attackers, however, our fellow knights who fought with us didn’t survive as we did. Still, quite a few of our allies remain though there are many enemies left to punish.

“We’re outnumbered, it seems,” I say.

“So, it’s a fair fight now,” Matilda says with a smile.

I smile back and laugh.

“So it is.”

Matilda and I rush back into the battle, however, another surprise hits us as light magic blows up our allies, and wind magic cuts apart others and sweeps them away.

“High and wood elf magic,” Matilda says in shock.

If that wasn’t enough, man-sized monkeys, tigers, snakes, and oxen wearing Asian armor and wielding foreign spears and blades aid the elves as well.

“There are men from Draco here too,” I add.

“Regardless of who they are, if they’re aiding the traitors, their fate is death,” Matilda says.

I agree and leap into the fighting with Matilda. Many more of our allies die in this battle though they go down bravely taking down many enemies as they die. The enemy fiercely fights against us, however, we eventually drive them back. They retreat on horses and the backs of their beastmen and Asian allies. At the end of it, Matilda and I see that we’re the last knights remaining in our squad.

“Regroup and let’s finish off the fleeing bastards!” Matilda calls out in the hopes of seeing one of our allies answering her call.

After waiting a few seconds, the reality that we’re the only survivors begins to sink deeper than before.

“It’s just us now,” I say.

“And? We still have a job to do, and now, we have friends to avenge!” Matilda says with fire in her eyes.

Agreeing with her, we quickly go back to where our commanders left their horses, get on them, and pursue the retreating traitors and their allies. We follow their trail for some time with our horses running at full speed. Their trial leads us to a small town on the border between Bernhard and Eastern Europe, or Unser Sieg as we call it today. The town is burning and under attack with its defenders struggling to fight back especially since ratmen are popping out of the ground and taking people away. We try to save as many as possible, but we’re too late, and our enemies bust their way through the gates of the town and leave it behind. The bodies of dead civilians lay around us while the guards struggle to pick themselves up from the attack. Looking over to Matilda, I see that her hands are shaking with rage and she’s grinding her teeth.

“Not another town…again this has happened,” Matilda says to herself before turning to me and saying. “They won’t get away with this! We won’t rest until they’re all dead!”

“Are you two crazy?” a guard asks us as he approaches us. “You can’t go after them alone. Look at what they did to the town!”

“To punish and hunt down traitors and unrepentant sinners is the duty of knights like us. Those scum won’t escape our wrath and the justice of God,” I say.

“I get it, but still, it’s too dangerous to chase after them as you are.”

“You dare call yourself an orc and a faithful servant of God? It doesn’t matter if you’re one against a hundred. You do your duty till your death.”

Matilda looks at me in a peculiar way.

“Okay, okay. I’ll stay here and do my duty, help the people, and send messengers out to get help for the people who were kidnapped. You two go and do whatever you think God wants you to do.”

I nod and Matilda and I head on our way on our horses.

Along the way, she says, “I like you, even though we never formally introduced ourselves to one another. My name is Matilda.”

“My name is Gunther,” I say.

“Gunther, let’s spend some time together if we survive this and I’ll consider marrying you.”

“I hope to be worthy of having you.”

We smile and laugh at one another before pushing our horses to sprint faster after our prey.

My latest book is done and out today!

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Vicar Sylvatic wages war against humanity with his legions of ratmen and threatens to take over the world with them. The Church employs four outcasts of society to take him down; a dark paladin, a berserker orc, a dark elf thief, and a half-breed high elf mage. Together, these four, aided by each other and the allies they find along the way, must overcome the tides of vermin to save humanity.

Righteous Rejects of Heaven: Chapter 5 – End of the Journey

Chapter 5 – End of the Journey

Evander always told me to make time for rest and not be all about business despite the importance of my job like how many politicians, bishops, and businessmen are. He said it would spoil my soul and upset God since He taught us to rest and not rush things. Perhaps, my time with David will be full of rest, and if he does try getting secrets out of me, I’ll make sure his efforts are in vain. I do hope it will go well since I have particular feelings for him. Will he like me back in the same way that I like him?

My high elf father from Oron and my mother from Polypus loved each other despite being from different races and the stigma of half-breeds in certain cultures, especially that of the high elves. Evander and his allies didn’t mind me being of mixed race. In fact, it was one of the reasons why he welcomed me into his ranks. Only those of mixed race can use the magic and abilities of both races, so I guess it was obvious that he would be interested in my abilities. Part of me also wondered if it was part of his plan since my father and mother were already his allies. Nevertheless, his kindness and vision to help the world is what keeps me fighting for him and I hope that David will return my feelings to him when I reveal them on our date.

For now, I should focus on business as we overlook Constantinople from a vantage point with our allies in the St. Dismas group and legions of orcs and knights of Canis. Ahead of us is an army that seems to be twice our number with ratmen, beastmen, and traitors from other races that stand between us and the gates of the city. On the various skyscrapers and tall churches are the abominations with tree-like bodies with more ratmen being formed from them and on the largest church is Vicar Sylvatic. He obviously wants us to attack first so he can show off the strength of his army, but his pride and confidence in this army of scum and abominations will fail him.

“It looks like we won’t be able to strike in the shadows much during this battle,” David says to Rota.

“That’s fine with me. I’ll fight with my bare teeth if it means that the Vicar dies today,” he says.

The rest of the St. Dismas group agree to fight with us though they will all be in the back and mostly fight in the city. Our party gathers together to formulate a plan for ourselves while the orcs and knights of Canis prepare themselves to act as our distraction.

“Marcel will form their white sun fireball with the rest of the white flame knights to thin out the army before we attack. From there, Saanvi will conjure an ice elephant to act as our battering ram and then the big guy, Hossam, and Lieselotte will be our next battering ram as we make our way through the church the Vicar is in,” David says.

“And where will you be?” Lieselotte asks.

“I’ll mask our advance with dark fog and spew acid from my hands to take care of long-ranged targets you and Hossam can’t along with Saanvi who will be doing the same with her magic. What do you think?”

“I think it’s a good plan,” Hossam says.

“It’s simple but effective. I like it,” Marcel says.

“Well, if you think so, then I guess I have to agree,” Lieselotte admits.

“I’d like to add that I can teleport us just in case we get overwhelmed though I will need to catch my breath for a minute or two before I can be of use again,” Saanvi says.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Now, are we ready to bring God’s justice to this corrupted vicar?”

We all yell in agreement and then act in accordance with our plan. The white flame knights of Canis create their huge fireball and melt a majority of our enemies defending the gates of Constantinople even as the enemy fires its canons at us. While this is happening the orcs and knights of Canis charge at the city’s gates and we charge on an icy elephant I’ve conjured. David uses his dark fog to mask our advance, which throws off the aim of the canons that nearly hit us. Thankfully, we can make it to the gates and bust through them as we charge through the city.

Above us, we see that the abominations are quickly creating more ratmen much to their detriment as their bodies begin falling apart since they can’t regenerate fast enough to keep up with the rate at which they are reproducing soldiers. Seeing that we are going to be overwhelmed, I use my high elf magic to blind the ratmen before teleporting us close to the church the Vicar is at with my magic from Polypus. This causes the icy elephant to slowly begin to fall apart, but it manages to stay together until it breaks apart as we bust through the doors of the church. David carries me in his arms as he and the rest of the party leap from the broken elephant. He smiles and winks at me as he does so much like a storybook hero. I could’ve leaped by myself but wanted this to happen because I need to conserve my strength for more important matters.

David defends me while I catch my breath and the other three clear the enemies around us. Once I do, I use my high elf magic to melt the ratmen with beams of light and impale and freeze them with Polypus ice magic. David conjures more dark fog to mask our movements so he can enter it to dodge attacks and quickly traverse to places to get rid of ranged foes. Hossam, Lieselotte, and Marcel carve through the many ratmen around them and despite appearing to wade through tides of enemies, they manage to dispel them as they charge up the steps of the church as we all make it to the very top where Vicar Sylvatic continues to create ratmen.

“My reign will not end here! Tremble in fear for you face God’s chosen one!” the Vicar says.

Using all of our abilities and skills together, we begin our final attack against the Vicar. Marcel, Hossam, and Lieselotte carve through the ratmen around him and those that he produces while David and I attack him from a distance. David melts him and his spawn with his acids while I use the magic from both of my bloodlines to wear him down. By the end of our assault, the Vicar is unable to produce any more ratmen and is nothing more than a blob of flesh clothed in his tattered papal clothing. Even so, he lives on and tries to fight us with his papal scythe that he can barely swing. Each one of us then attacks him with our own attacks to finally finish him off and bring an end to his miserable life.

“You can’t…you can’t kill God’s chosen…I…I…St. Peter, intercede for me…” Vicar Sylvatic says in his final words.

“Was he asking for St. Peter to help save his soul or to help him continue fighting?” Marcel asks.

“Regardless, we must pray for his soul,” Hossam says as he clasps his hands together.

“Pray? For trash like him?” Lieselotte says.

“Sin makes us trash like him and he is a Pope, so we must pray for his soul,” David says as he prays.

“Tch. Fine.”

We all pray for the Vicar’s soul and those who died today. After we’re done, we look at what’s happening below us. From this height, I see the armies of orcs and knights of Canis finishing off the Vicar’s forces and chasing them away from the city. While my friends catch their breaths and congratulate one another on a job well done, I charge my teleportation spell and then cast it, which saps most of my strength. Evander, several mages from Polypus and Ordon, and a seemingly normal human woman with red and black hair appear on the roof. Everyone in my party is surprised to see this except for David. The mages and high elves use their magic to teleport the Vicar’s body away before teleporting to the other abominations and teleporting them away as well.

“Well done, all of you,” Evander says. “You’ve secured a future for the Church and humanity through your heroic deeds. I hope the bishops reward you enough so that you can live in peace for the rest of your lives.”

“What are you planning to do with the Vicar’s body and the bodies of the abominations, Evander?” David asks.

“It’s just research to create medicine, to repair tissue at a rapid rate, I assure you. Is this the man you are so fond of, Saanvi?”

“He is,” I admit.

“David, I know you wish to learn more, so you will in your future work with Saanvi. I’ll contact you when that day happens.”

“I look forward to it.”

“I’ve…we’ve also arranged a day to be together. Just the two of us,” I say.

“Ah, so you’re an even better man than it seems, David. Do ensure you don’t break Saanvi’s heart like you did with Viktoria’s?”

“I’ll try not to,” David says with a cocky smile.

After the battle and we head back to the Vatican to report our success, we are celebrated as heroes along with those in the St. Dismas group and the orcs and knights of Canis. Bernhard begins to colonize Eastern Europe claiming Constantinople and giving its brother nation, Canis, some of the land as well much to the dismay of the Church and other kingdoms. Hossam is now a guard at the Vatican while Marcel and Lieselotte have settled down for a bit to raise a family. Meanwhile, David and I are on our first date, or at least what I want to be a date. He offers me his hand with a smile that I take with a smile of my own as we begin our day together, the first of many more to come.

The End

Righteous Rejects of Heaven: Chapter 4 – Blade of the Dark used for the Light

Chapter 4 – Blade of the Dark used for the Light

I already had a backup plan before even knowing that Marcel’s squad was wiped out. You must, as a member of the St. Dismas group. After explaining to the other four of my contacts within Eastern Europe that aren’t too far from Constantinople, I tell them that they’re our current best shot at getting rid of Vicar Sylvatic.

“Why am I not surprised that the thieves guild have people here?” Lieselotte says.

“I, for one, am glad that David’s friends are so resourceful,” Hossam says.

“Thanks, big guy. Now, we should head out to meet them unless someone else has any better alternatives. Saanvi?” I say while turning to her.

“Nope. Nothing. My friends aren’t in the area and are unable to help at the moment,” she says.

‘At the moment’ she says. I know that the most skilled mages in Polypus can teleport themselves and others around though they typically are only able to teleport within a small area rather than being able to teleport long distances. Still, I know she must have her plans and backup plans as an agent of Evander and the high elves. I just haven’t figured out if those plans completely align with the Church’s, as a whole, so for now, I’ll trust her. She doesn’t seem like a bad person, but her kind demeanor may be a ruse and I know all about them.

While heading to the hidden location of the St. Dismas group with everyone, I remember all the thefts and tricks I’ve pulled up to this point. Stealing from cardinals and archbishops who stole treasures and gold from the spoils of conflicts, pretending to be a guard in a cabal to expose corrupt generals, running across rooftops while being shot at by guards, and sneaking through an undercity of ratmen to rescue the women kept there are just a few of the things I remember from my decades of service to the good thieves of the St. Dismas group. One memory always pops up no matter how much I try to repress it and that’s the memory of the affair I had with a friend’s wife. I don’t think I’ve ever stopped saying sorry in prayers to him despite feeling he’s forgiven me somehow. I’ve distanced myself from Viktoria so she could find a better man and have been trying to distance myself from my past self ever since the day of that great shame and I hope that I never do such a thing again.

We’re close now to the hidden location where my contacts are hiding. Heading into a trench that’s covered by decaying leaves and branches, we find a stone door that hardly stands out from the rock surrounding it. I knock seven times and wait seven seconds for someone to answer the door as is customary for members of the group. A ratman cloaked in rags moves aside the stone door to which Lieselotte immediately unsheathes her axe.

“Hold up there. This one is a friend and member of my group,” I say.

“Is it now?” she asks, wary of the ratman.

Orcs and their brothers in Canis always attack ratmen on sight unless it’s obvious they’re friendly such as those within cities and towns or when they’ve laid down their weapons and are kneeling on the ground. I can’t blame them since ratmen are mostly hostile towards people who aren’t them and have a history of pretending to be innocent only to kill, steal, or kidnap when the opportunity arises.

“He is. Do you see him or the others in there swarming to attack us?”

“You have some strange friends in your group, David.”

“Obviously. It’s a strange group for strange men such as myself.”

“With those pleasantries aside, let us go inside before someone sees us,” the ratman says as we do what he says.

Most of the people inside this hideout are ratmen along with some dark elves, high elves, orcs, and even a few men from Corvus who act as soldiers and guards rather than the typical thief found in our guild.

“Rota, is it?” I ask.

“It is, and you would be David, am I correct?” the ratman asks.

“You are. I assume you’ve been expecting me?”

“Yes, we have. You know you were supposed to come here regardless of the status of your allies. It was part of the Pope’s plan, after all. Speaking of friends, I assume they were wiped out?”

“Yes. It’s a tragedy.”

“Yes, but there’s nothing to worry about. The leaders of Bernhard and Canis are sure to throw more troops at the Vicar’s forces since victory is near. In terms of your other friends, how are they?”

“They’re a trustworthy bunch. I can even see us working together in the future if we can arrange it.”

“Even this other friend of yours,” Rota says while pointing at Saanvi.

“Yes, if our interests align,” Saanvi says.

“Of course, of course.”

“Can we stop it with the talking and get to enact whatever secret plans you have?” Lieselotte says.

“Yes. Come this way. I’m just as anxious to see the Vicar dead as much as you are, especially after what he’s done to me.”

All ratmen are men, however, they have experimented on their bodies to make them appear and sound female in an attempt to make them bear children with Rota being one of them, so I’m assuming that’s the reason why Rota wants him dead. I can’t imagine all the torture and failed attempts that he had to suffer through, so I won’t bother asking about it or pointing it out to anyone. He leads us to a supply room where people are gearing up with the many weapons and armor pieces that could supply a legion of troops.

“As you can see, we have been preparing to move and haven’t just been sitting here waiting for you,” Rota says.

“Look at all of this. Hey, I recognize some of this stuff as being specialized gear and weapons forged by famous blacksmiths from Canis, Bernhard, and Leo. Did you people steal these because I recall them disappearing without a trace?” Lieselotte says.

“We stole it from those who tried to steal it and kept it with the permission of our superiors in the Vatican. We were meant to get a share of them anyway for this exact moment.”

“We steal from those who have stolen and kill only when absolutely necessary. That is the way of our guild,” I add.

“It’s kind of like how we take what we want after our battles without giving much back to the Church,” Marcel says.

“But we aren’t so secretive about it and the Vatican gets their tithe eventually,” Lieselotte says.

“And Bernhard and Canis take land without letting the Church know,” Rota comments. “We know that both kingdoms want to take over the territory held by the ratmen and are already colonizing it as if it were already yours.”

“Yeah, and? We’ve earned it fair and square through blood, sweat, and tears.”

“I know that you have influence with your superiors because of your reputation and will listen to even more after you kill the Vicar. The Church simply wants your people to hold off claiming land and the spoils until things settle down and everything can be distributed properly and would like you to let your leaders know this.”

“Tch. They can tell them that themselves and they probably won’t listen.”

“That’s why we’re asking you to tell them.”

“Yeah, asking me to tell them rather than asking me to ask if they’re fine with giving up on rewards we fought to obtain and fighting a war that the Church didn’t give their full support in until years of bloodshed passed and ratman undercities were discovered under the Vatican. Shouldn’t you be telling this to someone else as well or do the elves get special treatment?” Lieselotte says while gesturing over to Saanvi.

“No, they don’t get any special treatment. In fact, we’re not sure who to keep more of an eye on.”

“You have no reason to be concerned about us. We’re willing to negotiate and compromise where necessary,” Saanvi says.

“And where would you compromise? Evander and the high elves rather agree to deals that aren’t heavily weighted in their favor,” I ask.

“Friends, let us not argue about this. Let us fight our common foe and leave the politicking to our leaders,” Hossam says.

“The big guy is right. Let’s save this for when we’re not pressed for time and have a bigger fish to fry.”

“I’m with them. My God-given duty is to be a husband and a knight, not a politician, king, or bishop,” Marcel adds.

Lieselotte and Saanvi agree to stop the argument and we start going over the plan we have. Rota takes out a map that is marked with descriptions detailing who goes where and what role they have to play. Our target is an outpost and an undercity below it that lies outside of Constantinople. Getting rid of this will allow whatever supposed army Bernhard will send an easier time to assault the city. The knights, soldiers, and guards in our group will attack the outpost on the surface while the thieves and assassins will take the tunnels to attack the undercity, which includes most people here though we will be divided and on our own to begin with and then meet up at certain points.

Everyone agrees with the plan, since there is no better alternative, and we head out. Being on my own in these tunnels feels lonely for some reason. I guess it’s a result of being with a group for so many days that I’m used to having someone watch my back. When I first started with the St. Dismas group, I had someone watching my back so that the guild knew they could trust me. After that, I was on my own for most assignments since doing them alone was optimal. Now, I understand why people prefer adventuring in groups while taking certain roles in it. Still, it is better that I be alone for now for this task so that it will be completed properly.

I traverse the dimply lit tunnels by using my dark elf magic to become one with the shadows so that none of the guards in the tunnel can see or run into me since I am little more than a thin surface traveling along wherever the darkness is deepest on the wall, floor, and ceiling. These tunnels are kept as dark as possible since the ratmen can see in them as clearly as day, but dark elves and even men from Noctua can do the same, so it’s no issue for me. After slipping through the guards, I enter the undercity, a place of violence, debauchery, and horrific human experiments. The screams of people being tortured seem to be this place’s background music because of how often I hear it in every undercity I’ve been in, but what’s different about this one is that it’s not on high alert despite it being one of the last bastions of defense of Constantinople.

“You’d think it’d be better guarded,” I whisper to myself knowing that Saanvi is behind me.

“I’m glad that it isn’t,” she says. “I’m impressed that you knew I was behind you, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised given your reputation.”

“I aim to impress. After this, I could help you on your next assignment.”

“Only if Evander allows it.”

“I meant it as more of a friendly hang-out rather than being on one of your secret missions.”

“Of course you did.”

Well, I tried to shoot my shot. I guess I’ve never been that good at hiding my true motives from operatives like Saanvi.

“You ready to head into the lowest area of the undercity?”

“I am.”

“Would you want to head down there together? I could get rid of guards along the way to make it easier for you.”

“I’d appreciate it. Thank you.”

Going back into the shadows, I make sure Saanvi is safe by eliminating guards that may see her. It doesn’t matter if the bodies are seen down here since ratmen typically kill each other, even the guards, and the people down here seem to be celebrating something. I don’t even think Saanvi needs my help that much anyway since she teleports from hiding place to hiding place, and she tricks the minds of the ratmen she comes across to act as if they didn’t she her and start trouble for her away from where we’re heading. By the time we make it to the lowest area, we hardly have to take care of any guards and can go into the space where the undercity is being supported without issue. Even though the large steel buildings in this undercity reach the very top of the cave that is hard to see and seem indestructible, taking down the supports here will make everything crumble in on itself.

While melting the supports with the acid that spews from my hands, I ask Saanvi, “You haven’t used those mind spells on any of us, have you?”

“No, I haven’t. I only used them on the ratmen because they are easily manipulated by their desires to kill and rape,” she says. “If I needed to know something, I would’ve asked. Everyone in the party is honest and would’ve told me the honest truth.”

“Even our deepest secrets?”

“Maybe not that, especially from you, but I think I know enough. There’s no need to be suspicious of me. Aren’t we friends?”

“We’re friends?”

“Yes, friends that fight alongside one another. I’m sure Evander will allow us to go out on certain assignments together, which is what you really want and have been incessantly asking for.”

“So, we’re just business friends rather than real friends that will grab dinner with one another and talk about more casual things together?”

“I’ll think about your offer to ‘hang out’ after this.”

Soon, the supports of the undercity start to break apart and Saanvi and I begin our escape. In their panic, the ratmen push each other aside, trampling, and killing one another to get to the exits, however, because of the damage we’ve done, most of the exits collapse in on themselves leaving only one. As we race through the exit, we come across our allies who help cover our escape and help us kill the surviving ratmen on the surface. Once the exit collapses, the last of the ratmen lay dead, and we see the ground collapsing confirming the collapse of the undercity, we regroup with Rota and the rest of my guild.

“With most or all of the ratman dead, our allies should have no trouble reaching Constantinople,” Rota says. “I have heard news of a force comprised mostly of orcs aided by the knights of Canis coming this way so we should wait for their-”

The ground suddenly shakes before several large abominations pop out of them. These abominations are different than the usual kind that are as large as elephants or lions with multiple ratmen and human heads and limbs. Instead, these ones are more tree-like and have more bodies and faces of various sizes writhing in them trying to get out. The ones that do get out are hardly alive and try to attack us. The larger abominations move in the same way a ‘normal’ one would, which catches some of us off guard. Even Saanvi underestimates them leading to me tackling her to save her from one of their attacks. Once the shock of seeing them and getting used to their movements wears off, we kill them and the things they spawn.

“So, how does that hang-out sound now?” I ask Saanvi.

She smiles and says, “I’ll consider it more honestly now. Thanks for saving me.”

“Enough flirting. David, have you seen these things before?” Rota asks.

“I haven’t. Saanvi and I didn’t even come across them in the undercity.”

“So, they were hidden enough to be out of sight, but not in public to deploy them like the other abominations.”

“They’re the secret weapon that the Vicar has been hiding from us then. I thought that their exhausting their supply of mothers was suspicious but didn’t think the result would be something like this.”

“How could you not? The Vicar and his men are sicker than you can imagine.”

“Well, I can at least imagine that they have tougher forms of these abominations in Constantinople, which is why it’s been so relatively easy to get this close to them.”

“Exactly, so we should definitely wait for reinforcements to arrive.”

“Right.” Turning back to Saanvi, I ask, “Did you happen to know anything about these things?”

“Nothing more than you do,” she says.

“Does Evander’s plans have anything to do with them?”

“He does plan on experimenting on them.”

“Really? I’m more surprised that you told me than Evander’s plans to experiment on them.”

“What’s the harm in telling you? We’re friends and if I thought you’d be a threat to Evander’s plans…”

“I know what would happen to me if you thought that. I’ve been on the other end of the blade who have threats to the Church.”

“Will our day together come with our weapons being at each other’s throats?”

“I hope not. I’m sure both of us could go a day without secrecy and mistrust, so I’ll try to make it as relaxing and casual as possible.”

“Heh, I look forward to it.”

I guess our little date is confirmed. Here’s hoping my half-truth comes to be the whole truth for our day together.

Righteous Rejects of Heaven: Interlude – A Tyrant’s Desires

Interlude – A Tyrant’s Desires

As I look from my balcony on Constantinople and the wasteland ahead of me, I reflect on the fruits of my work. I, Vicar Sylvatic, was crowned Pope of God’s Holy Church, given supreme authority over the Earth, and now the champion of the new humanity. After the event of Divine Providence that blew up the technology of the past and mutated the men of Eastern Europe into ratmen, I knew beyond any doubt that we are blessed by God. We are many and our bodies allow us to be more intelligent and stronger than the orcs, men of the southern kingdoms, elves, beastmen of the Far West, and men of the Asian regions. It is said that our greatest weakness is our inability to have females and reproduce without forcing other women to die to bear our children. This is nonsense.

Soon, we will be able to reproduce without the use of women and the world will rightfully be mine and under the control of ratmen. Afterward, the world will only be ratmen. It doesn’t matter if the savages of Bernhard send their armies aided by their hot-headed brothers in Canis nor does it matter that the men of the Far East have broken through the barriers we used to keep them from the rest of the world. Above all, it doesn’t matter that they all are closing in here because God is with me. He has approved of every action I’ve taken from birth until this moment and made what others called sins into my virtues.

My forces move to place the final pieces of my plan into place. Ascariasis, my head researcher, and Ischemic, my general and experimenter, have sacrificed themselves for my plans and are now bearing fruits that come alive from their tree-like bodies. From them and many others, the new humanity will have an endless supply of soldiers and citizens. Looking up at the barely visible sun in the sky, I pray that God will accomplish my plans and that the next generation will flourish with me leading it. It is my divine right after all as Vicar of my church.

Righteous Rejects of Heaven: Chapter 3 – The Fifth Party Member

Chapter 3 – The Fifth Party Member

Knights and soldiers of all kinds in Canis were taking trips out to different kingdoms and places with more scenic views to rest and recuperate. I was averse to doing this at first, but after being convinced by fellow white flame knights, I gave it a chance, especially since they said it would help me fight better. Even though I went to places that required me to wear heavy clothes and get used to using my flame magic more effectively for long periods so I wouldn’t exhaust myself while trying to stay warm in what was called pleasantly cool by the natives, I found the experience life-changing. In the battles I fought afterward, I was better than I ever was before and beat my superiors in sparing matches.

It was then that I became an advocate for taking the same kinds of rests I did and would try to take as many trips as I could to experience them as many times as possible. This ended up backfiring a bit when I was caught off guard by orc bandits and was almost killed by them if it weren’t for Lieselotte who saved me. She was hunting for them in this area with a squad of other orcs but went out on her own to find them herself. I fell in love with her at first sight and managed to convince her to rest with me, which was easy to do since she was injured. While we spent time together, she developed the same love that I have for her along with the want to take breaks like this.

Lieselotte and I got married shortly after, which was not short enough for Lieselotte who expected me to ask her for marriage a month after we met. We fought together in every battle we faced after marriage and promised our families that we would settle down and have children after the major ratmen threat to the world was dealt with. In the present day, the only reason why I went with my teammates to face the ratmen without Lieselotte and her party is because we didn’t want to wait for the archbishops to officially sanction their group and knew that Vicar Sylvatic could be enacting his plans while nothing was being done. I also wanted to save Lieselotte from the horrors found deeper in the wastelands of Eastern Europe, so that she wouldn’t have to experience them. No one should experience the horrors of war and that’s why I fight as much as I can so that peace may reign in this world scarred by constant wars. I’ve tried explaining all this to Lieselotte and her party after I introduced myself to the other three only for her to slap me in the face.

“I don’t care what lies ahead of us. As long as we’re together, we can overcome it. Remember that you’re with me until death and even then, we’ll never be separated from one another,” Lieselotte says while holding my hands.

Heh, I always did it when she showed both her rough and soft sides.

“I’m sorry, my love. Now that we’re together, nothing that the Vicar throws at us can stop us from delivering God’s justice to him,” I say.

“What about the rest of the orcs and knights of Canis? Will they help us or are they already all dead?” David asks.

“They should still be alive. We’ve faced no end of ambushes by the ratmen, the traitors, and beastmen who ally themselves with the Vicar, so I along with several other knights decided to hold off this latest ambush while they went ahead to an outpost to get help.”

“They aren’t back yet and the rest of your fellow knights are dead. That can’t be a good sign,” Hossam says.

“The big guy is right. We should go meet up with them to make sure they’re all right.”

“I wasn’t going to argue with you. I’m anxious to see if they’re okay and haven’t run into any more trouble along the way.”

“Let’s go then. We don’t have a moment to waste,” Lieselotte says.

I get on Lieselotte’s horse and ride with her to the outpost that I’ve marked on our maps. Being with her like this reminds me of the days we wandered the lands on horseback with no destination in mind while only wanting to spend as much time together as possible to keep the good times going forever. Remembering those times keeps me concentrated and motivated to see them again. My daydreaming is cut short as another ambush lies in our path. This time, beastmen and traitors from Bernhard and Canis lie ahead of us and come out from the dead trees behind us.

Immediately leaping into action and sprouting wings of white flame from my back, I use my white flame magic to blind and melt the enemies behind us. This same magic that turned my skin white and black is born of a true hatred for sin and evil and love for God and neighbor, and as such, doesn’t harm my allies even if it touches them. Many of our attackers die instantly screaming in pain as they go down. They try using ranged magic and arrows and attacking me from below the ground but I quickly dodge them and am aided by Lieselotte who pushes me out of the way of their attacks and kills them shortly after. She then quickly runs to aid her party once she sees that I’m safe.

Seeing her fight so effectively with others shows me how much she’s grown and it’s a pleasure to see. She was once a loner who pushed herself away from others. Now, she’s putting herself in danger for others and saving them. Before I can even join the fight, it's over and all our ambushers lie dead.

“There seems to be no end to the ambushes,” Saanvi says.

“And they’re employing other races,” Hossam adds.

“It’s just a sign of desperation. The Vicar knows he will meet his end soon and is in denial by delaying the inevitable,” Lieselotte says, a view that I echo.

“I don’t think they would just throw away their lives even if they were threatened,” David suggests. “The Vicar may have some bigger plans that gave them the confidence to fight for him.”

“Whatever the case is, we should hurry and bring an end to him,” I say to which the party agrees.

After we head out, we’re relieved to not be accosted by any more ambushes though at the same time, it’s worrying. Surely, my fellow knights are holding them off with the help of the orc and Canis knights from the outpost. We haven’t come across any bodies along the way to the outpost nor any signs of a struggle, only footprints and horse prints. It isn’t until the outpost is in sight do we begin to start worrying again as we see that it’s on fire with severe damage done to its walls and buildings. David advises us to be careful because of how quiet it is and we follow his advice. Going into the outpost that looks like a pseudo-town combined with a military camp, we’re ambushed by injured ratmen and find allied soldiers who are mostly dead or on the verge of death.

Thanks to David’s advice, we manage to clear out the outpost and find more allies who are hold up in some of the buildings. Saanvi doesn’t have time to heal all of the wounded and we don’t have much time to catch our breaths as a horde of ratmen, beastmen, and bandits approach from the distance. They make their arrival known by hailing down cannonballs that explode into acid, fire magic, ice magic, and arrows on us killing most who were outside and happened to be in the buildings that the attacks landed on. Those who can fight and even those who are injured take up their arms and immediately rush into battle. I along with Hossam and Lieselotte head into battle with them while David and Saanvi aid us from a distance with their magic.

To start the fight, I hang back before conjuring a large ball of white fire that lights up the gloomy dark sky as if it were a sun. I then throw it up into the sky where it rains down fire that targets our enemies. With that to aid us, I throw myself into the fray with my mace and axe raised high with the memories of my fellow soldiers giving me strength. I remember who I’m fighting for and push myself harder. I remember the precious moments with Lieselotte and go even further. Looking around me, I see the dead bodies of friends who I’ve shared laughs and fought in many battles with, and push myself beyond my limits.

It's then that I remember the many bastard children born because of the ratmen’s experiments and the mothers that were eaten alive by their children. I remember all the losses, those who valiantly sacrificed themselves to halt the tide of vermin, and who have been tortured by the ratmen for their pleasure and experiments. My flames burn even brighter and more intense now lighting up the entire area and depriving me of my stamina faster. Still, I fight on and keep pushing myself until the last of our enemies lay dead. Lieselotte then holds me from behind as I fall to my knees in exhaustion.

“It’s over, Marcel. You can stop pushing yourself so hard,” she says.

“But…all our allies are dead. We can’t stop moving now. We can’t let this tragedy impede God’s justice on the scum of this land,” I say.

“We’ll find a way to avenge them after we rest and come up with a plan.”

I reluctantly agree as Lieselotte helps me up and brings me back to the outpost. Now, it’s just the five of us against the remainder of the Vicar Sylvatic’s forces. I don’t know of any nearby reinforcements or outposts this close to Constantinople, but still, we can’t back down now. Not after so many lives have been lost. The Vicar may have bought himself some time before his execution, but that time is measured in seconds. He will face justice for what he’s done. The world will become a more peaceful one even if it costs me my life. I only hope and pray Lieselotte and my friends won’t die with me so they can enjoy it.