Cormac breathed heavily as he leaned against a tree. He considered himself far enough to be safe and hurriedly took off his armour. By the time he had reached his chest plate, he had buckled under the weight of it and fell to the floor. He had a cloth wrapped around his severed wrist and had managed to stop the bleeding.

"Damnit!" He muttered as he slowly felt himself blacking out. As he did so he couldn't help but remember the story his father had told him about finding the armour as he faded away.

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Two men sat in the back of a carriage and were on their way to a massive estate several hundred meters away.

The carriage stopped and the coach turned around to the men.

"Well, here's your stop lads."

The man turned back to the other and slapped him in the back of the head. He jolted up and fell off the seat while staring around dazed. He rubbed his head and slowly got up.

"Your a real piece a shit, you know that Fionn?"

The coach sighed as he watched them.

"Stop the hell up you old dog, we have to pay the good man, now take out your fare."

"You fecking bastard, is that really the reason you did that to me?"

He walked up to the other man and grabbed his collar.

"I'll give you a right bashing if that's the case but… I'll look the other way if you pay for me."

"You little bastard, are you threatening me?"

The coach was beginning to lose interest and tried to stop the men.

"Listen fellas-"

"Threaten you? I'm seeking due compensation for what you did to me."

"Compensation? And you haven't even paid me back for the beer we had yesterday?"

"You penny-pinching bastard, do you think one drink is worth so mu-"

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The two men walked towards the top of the hill where the estate was located. They were both bruised and looked almost embarrassed.

"That coach fella… he's an alright bloke."

"His name's Cillian. How can you not remember his name when he's the only person that brings his carriage around these parts."

"... I could have sworn he looked older the other day."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"That he was his pa."

The two men continued walking in silence until they reached the estate's front gate. They seemed confused by something and looked around.

"They don't tell me those bastard guards are taking a nap somewhere?"

"Why's it matter? We can just stay out here until they finish, I could use the spare time. If the lord wants to complain then we just point to his guards."

The other man leaned against the gate to get a better look inside.

"You idiot. You think the Lord would trust the words of a gardener and a handyman over his guards?"

"More reason to appreciate this extra time we've been blessed with."

The other man clicked his tongue before falling down as the gate moved inward. Fionn started laughing at him and the other man scrambled to get up.

"I told you we should have appreciated the extra time we got. Even the gods think you're ungrateful."

He patted the dust off very aggressively and started walking forward. As he did so he noticed something strange.

"Why are the lights on?"

Fionn turned his head to the buildings and sure most of them looked to be illuminated.

"Ah, maybe that's why the guards aren't here. Think someone fucked up?" Fionn causally as he walked beside Kylian.

"For the whole place to be awake?"

"Don't you remember how much of a pain the lord was when he found the chefs were sneaking with some of his vintage wine?"

"You know what, maybe we should go back outside and appreciate th-"

Kylian fell silent.

"What's the matter?" Fionn asked.

It looked like Kylian pointed to one of the houses in the distance.

"I think my vision's going but does that look like someone lying on the ground there?"

Fionn looked more closely at where he was pointing and saw the shiny outline against the dark ground.

"Let's go a bit closer, Kylian." Fionn said as he slowed down his movements.

The two moved slower and slower until they reached their destination. They could now clearly see the man on the floor. He was lying down on his stomach so they couldn't quite get a good look at his face.

"Is he alright?" Kylian asked.

Fionn walked closer and Kylian could feel his heart rate increasing.

"Hold on, Fionn, why don't we call the lord or one of the guards first?" He asked with unease in his voice.

"There's a guard right there, and I'm going to wake the lazy bastard up. (If I play my cards right, I can replace him too.)"

Fionn continued walking, until crouching down and poking him.

"Oi. Oi. OI!" Fionn shouted.

"Lower your voice, you know the lord doesn't like a ruckus."

"I don't mind if the man himself decides to show up."

He kept shouting at the guard while shaking him but he seemed insistent on staying in dreamland.

"You useless bastard, wake the hell up!"

He turned the guard around and soon saw the reason he was in dreamland. He wasn't. He was dead. There was a large fist-shaped dent in his chest plate and he had blood running from his mouth.

Kylian backed away and fell to the floor.

"Christ almighty, what happened to the man!? Fionn, get up, we have to leave!"

He quickly got himself up and ran over to Fionn, grabbing his hand. Unlike the cold sweats, heavy breathing and twitchy eyes Kylian was experiencing, Fionn looked at the body and started stroking his chin.

He got up and placed his hand around Kylian's mouth.

"Shh, you dumb bastard, you don't want whoever did this to him coming back."

Kylian's muffled protests soon stopped.

Fionn closed his eyes and started listening the best he could, around the property.

He released Kylian's mouth.

He crouched down and got back in the face of the guard.

"Based on the colour of our friend here I'd say he's been dead for some time now. Looks like we couldn't have come at a better time."

"Fionn, let's leave. If we report that we found thi-"

Fionn picked up the guard's sword.

"Walk with me Kylian, I think we have something special here."

"Oi, who decided you could pick that, you idiot."

"Sorry Kylian but only one of us can use this sword and it ain't you."

He started walking closer to the property and Kylian muttered curses under his breath before following him.