The farther and farther they went the more obvious it was that she was uncomfortable with something. The night came and went, camping out next to the cart slightly off the road. When Rose woke up he went out scouting, and found Serah throwing up in the woods.
He tuned in to what she was muttering, “It’s fine, it’s fine. No one thinks anything of it. You’re just doing your job. This is what your dad prepared you for,” she smacked herself on her face, “You got this, let’s go.” Rose dashed back to camp quickly, both worried for Serah, but also the safety of the group.
‘It’s a job, outside of the mission she is working. She seems to get progressively more nervous as we make it further out, meaning something with a destination. Ahh.’ It clicked in Rose’s head. An ambush. She wasn’t happy about it, but that was the mission.
Rose expanded his sensor range in preparation. He didn’t want to spook Serah either, and have her run off and alert the group waiting, nor get her in trouble with whatever shady shit she was involved in.
He was going to use her face as a tell to prepare for the ambush, maybe bring up alternate paths, and such, and watch her sweat. Then he’ll ambush the ambushers. ‘Yea, that’s perfect. I can even solidify my reputation with this, it’s perfect.’
The trip continued, and Rose set his plan in motion. It was obvious today was the day, and he saw a point of interest coming up, and the Serah couldn’t hide it anymore. The look of pure anxiety and anguish was written across her face.
Rose nodded to her, and hopped off with the excuse of having to take a piss. Fernando was a bit worried, as his deadlines and whatnot, but Rose assured him he would be quick.
Rose expanded his search once again, further than he would normally use, and quickly he found them. What he felt was a sea of people shaped mana, around fifty. Far more than he could comfortably confront without taking lives. His hands began to shake, as he approached silently, as to get a visual. The rustling of the bushes and trees were silented as he passed, as if he was a stern librarian.
‘Shit, I was right.’ A group of fifty six people stood, preparing for an ambush. A large man, with a facial scar barking orders, as he sharpened his blade. He had magicians prepare for their incantations, and even had a sound magician to silent the shouting of the chants prepared. This was really bad.
Rose decided to head back to the group when he heard one of them say, “Wagon approaching!” What Rose didn’t know is that because he was so quick, they decided he could catch up, and just roll through the valley. Before he could react, the chanting began. They were simple spells, but a lot of twenty magicians more than made up for their lackluster power.
Rose was frozen, he thought he could handle this, but he didn’t steel himself for murder. He believed not only could he do it by himself, but that he could do it without wounding anyone severely. But that was before the numbers, and because of his decision to not warn the group, they were in danger. He wanted to go, to cut down the magicians casting their spells. He wanted to stop the slowly advancing swordsmen, and he wanted to protect that overworked merchant, but…
The ringing filled his ears. He looked down, and he saw the man from the church, with the wound through his head. He was staring into Chris, his macho facade of Rose shattered. “Haha, you can’t even do it can you? You thought that you could protect everyone without hurting the bad guys, that you would become a star to help your friend. With all that power, what’s the point if you won’t use it.”
The vision faded, and when Chris snapped out of it, he heard the explosion. The cart was hit, and he heard a scream, it was Fernando, “Someone, please get the horses,” he began coughing. Chris decided that maybe, he could take their leader captive.
‘Yea, wouldn’t want the leader to lose their lives, that should work.’ So he dashed down silently, suddenly appearing with his blade to the man’s throat. “Order your men to stop, or you lose your life.” Chris tried sounding firm and strong.
The man simply laughed, “You think these bastards give a damn about me? Tell em boys.” “A weak captain is a dead captain!” The shout rang out, and suddenly Chris was looking at the sky. His legs were swept out from under him by the captive. He moved his blade to avoid hitting the man in a vital spot.
Chris quickly caught his balance and slid back, getting some distance. The scarred man waved his troops forward, as if shoeing some bothersome flies. “It seems you were bluffing about killing me, you easily could have,” he winked. He knew Chris didn’t have it in him.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Chris glanced down towards the cart, the horses were freed, a wheel was broken, and Tarles was standing firm, taking blow after blow. Serah was on the ground, away from the wreckage, it seems she had an injured leg, and the red headed magician was knocked unconscious. Fernando too, was completely out of commission.
Suddenly the man lunged at Chris, aiming to take his life, each strike going for vitals. A stab to the heart, slash to the neck, and shank towards his mana heart. Devastating strike after devastating strike blocked and parried, but that didn’t change the fact that Chris didn’t see openings. At least not ones that would be easy to reach without risking killing the man.
Tarles was on one knee, being battered violently. The magician girl was being dragged away by some guys with a disgusting look in their eye, and they entirely ignored Serah. The last of the men went to slay the runaway horses, so Fernando and the goods definitely couldn’t run.
Tarles roared out, firmly standing and charging through a group of men, a one man stampede, before collapsing on top of one. He stopped moving, Chris couldn’t hear his breathing no matter how hard he checked. Blood pooled underneath him, leaking from his head onto the ground.
He stood across from the man attempting to take his life, “You can’t do anything can you,” the man mocked, the image of his first kill swapping between the real man standing there, back and forth, “You are strong, but there’s nothing a little brat like you can do anything. You’re weak in your resolve, and honestly, wouldn’t it be more fun to let loose?”
The man stabbed towards Chris, and his blade stopped right at his heart. A swirling mess of mana and air stopped it entirely. Chris’ eyes shone through his mask, his emerald eyes looking as if they could swallow the world. The man across backed away, feeling the pressure shake him to his core.
Chris disappeared, and the man began to look around, only to feel his inability to move. He looked down, and felt the sharp pain of a sword through his entire body, piercing out the front of his body. He looked down, and placed his hands over the sword. It was yanked out of him, and he clasped his hands to his wound, “Hahahaha, I guess I shouldn’t’ve taunted you so much. It’s my-” The sentence was cut off by the sound of his disembodied head hitting the ground.
Chris screamed out, as loud as he could. The entire valley began to shake at his roar, trembling as it knew Chris was its one true predator. Chris dashed down, approaching the now confused men kicking and prodding at Tarles’ corpse. With one swift motion, he dashed by, splitting every man in half.
The men dragging the magician looked towards their fallen comrades, only to feel a presence behind them. They turned and they too were split, some gurgling blood on the ground as they slowly bled out. No mercy. Chris turned towards the magicians up on the valley crest, and saw the spells being launched. He put up a shield to block it, the spells were weak, almost harmless to him, and suddenly he swung his sword upwards towards the crest. A rush of wind flew by, not hitting anyone.
But that wasn’t the goal. Suddenly the split in the earth appeared, and ground underneath the magicians collapsed. Chris yanked his hand downwards, and the earth swallowed them. The screams suddenly muffled.
Chris saw Serah staring in shock at the carnage that lay at his feet, but he felt almost refreshed. It felt like he made up for his mistake, at least until he looked down at Tarles. The lifeless corpse of someone who stood his ground for the sake of his mission was at Chris’ feet, and Chris knew it was his fault.
The guilt swam through his head, slippery and hard to grasp. He closed Tarles' eyes, pulled out the drawing pad he still carried with him, and cremated Tarles. They couldn’t bring him anywhere else, and Chris didn’t want him to be looted or eaten.
Chris screamed out to those corralling the horses, that if they bring him the horses he will spare their lives. They were going to mock him until he appeared right next to one of them one hundred meters away from where he was. He smacked the man across the face, and almost warping back near the cart.
With that, the few men left alive were spared and ran off. “You better tell your buddies about this!” Chris roared out. Chris began healing Fernando and the Water Mage. He then walked towards the injured Serah, bent down, and as she flinched until the healing magic covered her entire leg.
“I can see why you would have issues refusing a job from them. I knew and didn’t tell the group either, thinking I could take care of it, but I…” Tears began pouring out from underneath his mask, and he choked up, “I messed up, and now Tarles is dead.” The sobs ripped from his throat, distorted by the voice changing mask.
Chris took the mask off, revealing how young he actually was. Tears still streaming down his face, “I can forgive you, but can you forgive me. I coul-d’ve sav-ed them. I could’ve he-lped us sooner.” His vision blurred, and he saw Serah shift a little.
Serah grabbed the young boy standing in front of her and held him. ‘This kid killed forty people, and now he’s sobbing in my arms. I guess that makes sense.’ She sighed, and held him close, “I can forgive you, I can’t imagine how hard that must’ve been for you.” She felt the young blonde nod as he was pressed into her shoulder.
Chris took a deep breath, pulled away, and rubbed his eyes. “Please don’t tell them how old I really am. I can’t be treated like a child to get what I need done.” Serah smiled, “You let me treat you like a child, is that alright?”
Chris turned away, and quietly said, “If it’s you then it's fine.” She laughed a little, and grabbed his shoulders from behind. “Whenever you need to be a kid, just let me know okay?” Chris nodded, “Then I’ll be in your care,” and put the mask back on.