Hokron held his head high as he and Virgil walked through the halls of Alcoz. A witch initiate was quickly sent to guide them after Hokron started to punch his way through the locked doors. A cold silence filled Alcoz. The sounds of steps drowned out by the misty liquid nitrogen that covered every surface. Virgil’s torch was long since extinguished and a healthy coat of frost covered his armor. Virgil’s patience was near at an end when the initiate came to a stop and pointed at a clear crystal door.

“Wait…. he.. here.” The words stuttered out. “T…he, the witc..Witch, will see you…. soon.”

Hokron simply walked through the initiate before disappearing in a flash of light. Shards of ice flew as the waiting room was destroyed in an instant. The initiate fell in panic.

“Have you no patience, lord of man? Not only do you interrupt me during important business, but you do so in such a destructive way. Never in my wildest dreams would I consider the divine stooping to petty vandalism. No wonder the Gods have abandoned us. The child of divinity they left us turned out to be a mindless brute.”

The cool soprano voice came from deep within the throne room. The frost Witch sat alone atop a marble throne decorated in ice. Her entire body was left completely bare. The only coverage coming from the three young naked witches that sat upon her lap. The frost Witch was a beautiful woman whose body was forever frozen in its prime. She was the very image of beauty with pristine skin and voluptuous curves. The only sign of her age the pure white hair that reached down to the center of her back.

“Such a pity that so much arcane knowledge was wasted on a repulsive whore. One can barely imagine the lapse in judgement necessary for the Gods to permit such a mistake as yourself.” Hokron’s reply was swift and without hesitation.

A single moment. In a single moment all of Virgil’s hope that they might reach an agreement vanished.

“How odd. I almost felt pity for you Lord. I can only imagine all the stress that has bottled up since the Queen died. I almost sent for one of my servants to relieve you. Thankfully with the last of their kindness the Gods struck me out from my stupor. After all, how humiliating would it be to send a servant to try and please someone who has long since become impotent.”

“These are truly the darkest of times. To even have to consider entering into an alliance with a group of devil worshiping prostitutes. I say when was the last time you or your coven have done anything other than stick frost up your cunts?”

As if to answer his question the frost Witch pushed the head of one of her lovers down in between her legs. She let out a soft moan before pulling another of the three into her breasts. With their positions rearranged the frost witch and her lovers all looked back at Hokron making sure to maintain eye contact. Hokron began a slow clap letting out a reply oozing with sarcasm.

“I shall gather all the kingdoms at once. We shall commemorate this sacred occasion as it is the beginning of a new age! Finally, the whores of the Alcoz have discovered their tongues! I can barely contain what discoveries they may uncover next!”

Virgil let out another signature sigh before firmly planting his face in his palm. This would take quite a while.

***

“Do you need something?” The Seamstress repeated.

“I-uh I was told to give you my old clothes.” It took me a few moments, but I was able to get the words out.

“Do you mean the bloody rags you’re currently wearing?” Her head tilted ever so slightly as she asked.

“Oh um, yeah.” Was all I could manage in a reply. I was barely even conscious of the conversation. I was entranced by her beauty and all of my thinking seemed to come to a halt.

“Well come on up into the wagon.” She motioned with her hand and I soon followed. The wagon was surprisingly spacious on the inside. Despite the shelves of fabric and needles and what might be passed off as an old spinning machine the room was rather empty. “Well, let’s see what we’re working with. Go ahead and strip.”

“Wha-“ I was catapulted out of my day dreaming and could feel the heat of embarrassment overwhelm me. I could only imagine how red my gray complexion appeared as the Seamstress nearly barreled over in laughter.

“Pssssh! I didn’t think anyone could get so red nowadays! Ha ha ha! Oh, I’m sorry for making fun. There’s a changing room in the back of the wagon.”

I waddled in shame back to the changing room and worked my bloody rags off. It took a while since some of the cloth had gotten stuck in my skin during my constant regenerations, but I was able to get it off and change into my gambeson armor. I took a few steps out of the changing room and was greeted by a heavenly scent. I nearly fell backwards in surprise as the Seamstress stepped straight into me and began to check my clothing. She was so close. She made sure to take her time inspecting every edge of my clothing occasionally touching the gambeson and slowly running her hands across it.

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“Hm, not bad. Your no soldier type, and you don’t exactly fill the gambeson but its not exactly unattractive. It’s kind of cute.” Her voice trailed off as she circled behind me and picked up the remainder of my old woolen clothing. “This on the other hand is long done for. Your better off getting a new set.”

“Alright!” The Seamstress said with a clap. “Give me a bit and I’ll make you something good to wear. OK?”

I barely heard her still fixated on being called cute. She must have noticed as she began to push me towards the exit of the wagon.

“Go check in with the guards I’m sure they’ll have something for you to do in the meantime.” Then she pressed her entire body against my back and leaned forward to whisper into my ear. “Don’t be a stranger. Keep me waiting to long and I’ll get lonely.”

In one smooth motion she twirled me around and her lips met mine.

What?

Then she pushed me from the wagon. I fell backwards and landed on my ass. I got up just in time to see her giggle and wink before heading back into the wagon.

What was that all about?

I had no idea what that was about. Why did she kiss me? I mean she called me cute and she was really close that whole time. Is this what all the girls in Utradem are like? I mean she was probably just joking around. I did kind of paint myself as an easy target after blushing.

That was my first kiss. It felt good.

Really good.

I looked down and only now noticed the bulge in my padded pants. Seriously, to get a boner off of just a light kiss, I'm pathetic. I slowly stood and rearranged my clothing.

With thoughts of the Seamstress plaguing my head I made my way back to the front of the caravan. I must have spent more time in the wagon than I thought as the surroundings were beginning to change. Now instead of black dead withered trees it was black withered tropical trees with dead red leaves hanging from the branches. Truly the diversity in this world never disappoints. I was also able to make out a landmass in the distance. It wasn’t a mountain, at least I don’t think it was. It looked as if I was staring at a great spiked canyon one that seemed to directly press up and challenge the dark night sky.

It didn’t take me long to reach the front of the caravan. I was getting better at navigating my way through the pilgrims with every passing moment. I noticed a small commotion up at the lead wagon and picked up the pace. There I saw the Poet standing above a deflated Cardinal and head Guardsman. All of the other guards appeared to be in poor spirits as well.

“What’s wrong? Why does everyone look so defeated?” I asked between gasps for air as I came out of my sprint.

“It would appear none hear have an appreciation for true literature is all.” The Poet quietly remarked. The Cardinal nearly erupted at the response.

“Fair Poet the moment you took up poetry was the second time the Gods abandoned us. I truly do not understand why you must submit us to such horrors of speech.” The Cardinal quickly covered his mouth in realization of what he had said. “To think all it would take for me to speak the taboo of abandonment was but three lines of foul poetry.”

“Even my best warriors fell from just a few of your words. Your definitely as powerful as the rumors say.” The head Guardsman added.

The Cardinal jumped back to life to add more fuel to the fire. “I swear your poetry has only gotten worse with time. If I were not trained to spot the dark arts, I would think your words carried some curse. After all, it’s not every-“

A sharp whistle interrupted the Cardinal’s speech. A glimmer of metal followed by a gust of wind. A soft gurgle began to erupt from the Cardinal’s throat. I looked on in horror as he touched the crossbow bolt that pierced his throat. Watery blood gushed from the wound and the cardinal fell. The sound of fire igniting a hundred fuses filled the trial. A deafening roar shook he valley. I turned in the direction of the sound and felt my stomach drop.

Oh Shit.

A wall of arrows fell down upon the caravan. I put my hands up to cover my face but it hardly mattered. Hundreds of arrows pierced my skin. The arrows tore through skin and bone alike. The crisscrossed and locked up making it near impossible to move. As much as I wanted to scream out in pain the three arrows in my cheek and jaw kept me silent.

I fell to my knees. Surrounded by arrows and the bodies of pilgrims and guards. Each reduced to no more than a pin cushion. I was barely able to look around with all the arrows lodged in my body. That said it wasn’t hard to see the angry mob that came barreling out of the woods. Forty lightly armored men and women came out of the front of the woods and took their position fortifying the end of the trail. In a few moments they were able to create a full shield wall and began to brace. An insignia of two swords dripping with blood over a broken skull sat upon every shield.

Two hundred additional troops stood up from their ambush site and readied their weapons. Most stood strong with shields and spears but the occasional axe, sword, and bow also made their appearance. Although they appeared jittery and ready for action none charged the caravan. Instead they all stood still.

“Only two hundred? They must have fired thousands of arrows so how?” The questions of the master Guardsman fell upon deaf ears.

None could respond even if they had an answer. All but five of the guard were incapacitated and none of the pilgrims were spared. Funnily enough the one best suited for this sort of situation, the Poet, had disappeared. Soon the sound of fuses lighting again filled the valley. I made one last turn and was able to barely make out a cart filled with hindreds of arrows all pointed at the caravan.

Hwacha.

I am no expert in ancient weaponry but from the few historical video games I have played I know that thing is definitely a Hwacha. Why the FUCK do they have a rocket powered arrow launcher? Again a deafening roar shook the valley as the gunpowder was ignited and thousands of arrows went flying.

Once again, a wall of arrows fell down upon us.