Mother stood, looking off into the distance while the priestess quietly began to pack up. I dont get it, why are they so quiet? I just got Named! And got 2 names! I bet that's rare. Or weird... hopefully just rare. Anyway, let's see what my superpower is! I looked within myself, and saw my core, which was brimming full of mana, and felt the thing in the base of my head, which I shall name... eventually. But there wasn't anything new, no new orbs, no colour changes, no menu screen shouting 'Congratulations!', nothing.
As I was beginning to pry deeper, the door to the church swung open and revealed a man clad full in armour, I recognised him as the one from a few months ago. He was matted in sweat, his hair glistening and his breathing ragged.
"Priestess!" he shouted.
"Y-yes?!"
"We require another healer! West flank has been hit!"
The priestess immediately hurried outside, and the man turned to us.
"Quick, I'll guide you back! Hurry!".
Mother tightened her hold on me and ran outside, the man following. We headed straight home. As we were about to reach the front door, we heard it. An awful scratching sound. Mother stopped dead in her tracks, and my heart seemed to as well. Around the corner popped a head, green and with pointy ears, around half of Mother's height. A goblin. In its hand it held an axe made of flint, crude rope and a sturdy stick. It scanned us then shouted, or screamed, or bellowed or whatever, releasing an ungodly sound, like a cat getting ran over turned down a few octaves before it charged us. A sword stabbed it through, dark blood splashing, and it being lifted off its feet. It seemed to not realise what happened before it thrashed around wildly, slowly losing its life. The light inside its eyes perished as the man swung his sword and the body plopped to the ground.
I felt the bile rise in my throat, the image getting imprinted in my mind, and tears flowed down my face. I choked back a cry and vomit, while Mother quickly opened the door to the house, revealing no one there. Where was Otto and Olivia? My vision swam. Mother put me down onto the chair and went to enter the hallway before we both heard crinkling sounds. As if someone was stepping on broken pottery. Glass. Mother quickly grabbed a metal pot from the kitchen area, right before the door to my room swung open, and a green head popped out, mirrored on a glassy flint blade, the sword being half its size. It turned and saw us, sending a shiver down my spine, and something else entirely into my diaper. Mother, however, wasn't frightened.
She lifted her left hand, and a magic spell appeared on her hand, pointed at the goblin. It was drawn quickly, almost so fast I couldn't see it, but Mother's fingers didn't as much as tremble. The spell was light blue in colour, not like any element I knew of, and it activated. Something flashed, blurred and buried itself into the thigh of the goblin, ripping it almost clean off. The goblin tripped due to the ice pseudo-dismembering it, and light seemed to bend a little as Mother swung the pot down onto its head. There was an almighty crunch, as blood splattered and floor shattered. Mother lifted the pot, liquid dripping off from where it bent in.
My vision turned into two, my stomach turned, and something ejected itself out of my body. It burnt but thats not why I cried. It was fear and panic and death and all of this! The way the head was caved in, like bits of biscuit in a soup, and noodles poking out. Thinking of food made me throw up again, only ejecting bile. I closed my eyes and rocked backwards and forwards. Even with them closed I swear my vision was blurry. Mother eventually returned and picked me up, rocking me to the sides, behind her I heard light footsteps, Otto and Olivia. I took a breath from crying, and felt the stone weighing on me fly away, and continued to cry. I couldn't stop it. Why? Its not like I am unfamiliar with death, I experienced grief over a pet, saw roadkill everytime we went on a trip, saw some videos of people being killed to satisfy some mornid curiosity but then why, why was this making my brain just cloud over and become incoherent?
Because it was real. I... I don't want to die.
Mother put my head to her shoulder and I opened my eyes, everything being blurry, tears blocking my sight. But only the sound of my family's breaths and footsteps, along with my heart beating stopped the sounds of the guttural screaming behind us. I shook my head, and looked over Mother's shoulder. My heart fell. Our house was being ravaged, tens of the small green pests scratched and clawed at it, breaking glass, doors, the chairs. One lifted up Otto's figure and snapped it in half, before chewing on it. It devoured the cherished memories I had. The guard that came with us slashed away at them, and killed a few but then arrows stabbed into him. I closed my eyes again, and ignored it. I tightened my hold on Mother, ignoring the brightness coming through my eyelids, the sounds of screaming anguish. Probably the goblins burning it down and the guard dying. Something shook Mother, and she moved to hold onto Otto and Olivia, tightening her hand around me. I tightened my hold back. I tried to mana breathe, but it didn't work, I tried to look within myself but there was only turmoil, a maelstrom of thoughts and feelings. Any excitement, or curiosity, about my name was gone, like our house.
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Many people were congealed around the market, as we reached it. Knights in plate and leather armour held a perimeter, allowing us to enter. I realised why there were so many people: wagons were being used to evacuate us. People trampled others for a chance to get on, eventough half the village has already been evacuated. The wagons seemed to be endless though, quickly rolling in and out, taking people, food, weapons, everything. We waited in the queue, though it resembled a poorly drawn elephant than a line. Everything seemed to slow down, and I managed to stop crying.
Arret Sibro. Terra Orbis. How did I know that? I never took Latin, or managed to learn it. So how was I able to translate it? Maybe this was my ability? I can just translate stuff? That seems mildly useful, but kind of useless. I can learn a language by myself, a translator only makes it quicker, and when would I even use it? It's not like I would travel to different countries or that. Speaking of which, I wonder where we were being evacuated to? I searched with my ears and heard the shouts of the soldiers, names flying around. Stonehill, Jopli, Tragoc and Yallis City, those seemed to be the destinations of the wagons.
Suddenly the crowd opened up, taking us with them like a wave, and in between walked a person, clad in gold plate armour (though I was sure it wasn't actually gold), covering their entire body, a sword at their waist in a beautifully decorated scabbard, with drawings or imprints of waves and what I think is a dragon onto it. I watched them go forth, and then I saw it. A line of men, 50 men wide and 2 rows long, holding back at least 200 goblins. My diaper sagged heavily.
The gold Knight arrived and unsheathed his sword. I couldn't see much from here, not until it began to shine white, the same colour as ambient mana. Then I saw them, drawings or writing sculpted onto the blade. I was far away but I could tell that it wasn't written in the same language as the one I learnt, looking completely different. They lifted it upwards, like a beacon, and people in front of them parted. The sword swung down and the light converged in front of them, creating a bending piece of light which flew forwards at blurring speeds and sliced the goblins down the middle with no resistance, not stopping and flying into the horde. My eyes widened. Then they put the sword to their side, and the light came back, though it seemed a little different, and they slashed horizontally. 20 goblins fell at once, cut at the hip, though only from the first row of them. The Knight stepped back, men flwing back in and fighting the goblins away.
Then they readied their sword, and it began to shine. They began to have a glow as well, as if mana surrounded them before slashing the sword horizontally, but no attack came out. Because they spun around. Like a blenders their sword sliced the air with light.Once, twice, thrice.
"Blade Storm!" they shouted, with so much force and power the buildings shook, and I couldn't hear whether they were a man or woman.
But I wasn't focusing on that anyway. The light condensed into a slash, then another. and another. Hundreds of slashes flew out of the swords final swing, each cutting a goblin or 2. 10 seconds it lasted, and blood reached the crowd, dark and dirty., mixed with an occasional pm body part.The goblins were all dead.
"HEY, YOU! GET ON! TAKE YOUR CHILDREN AND HOP IN, QUICKLY!" A woman in leather armour shouted at Mother, and we turned away from the display of power, jumping into a wagon. 5 other people were inside, and moved along to make space for us. Me and mother sat on the bench-like seat on either side of the wagon, whole Otto and Olivia joined the other children on the floor. We began to move.
We passed more guards and knights, people frantically trying to get to the evacuation point, some even trying to grab on before guards took them. I felt more than saw the gate as we passed under it and into the outside world. There seemed to be combatants everywhere, and I tried to ignore the smell of blood. The outside was lightly forested for a long while, as it seemed to be mainly agricultural land. As we got further and the trip got rougher and the trees grew more frequent, I relaxed. I was tired, more tired than in the morning, my head hurting a lot. But now we were safe.
Something hit the wagon. Then it did again. Then a third this time ripping through the tarp covering us. A flint arrow thudded into the floor, right in between someone's leg and a child's head. We stopped and heard shouting from the driver, before a sickening splat. Footsteps echoed around the wagons and then the tarp at the end of the wagon moved aside. The goblin kicked its lips seeing us in there and took out its sword. Which fell to the ground along with its hand. It looked down confused, and then its head joined its limb. A gold Knight looked within, and saluted, before talking to the man closest to him.
"You, go drive, quick." he said. The man complied and quickly went to the front of the wagon, the horses neighing as he grabbed the reins. The gold Knight moved the tarp back into place, cutting off our view, but I saw the light as he gathered mana into his weapon.
"Now run! Run! All the way to Yallis!"
There was a sound of his armour jingling, then a last breath, accompanied by a branch falling down as he killed a goblin.
"Run."
The horses sped away, and the ride became much bumpier. I tightly held onto Mother, ignoring the uncomfortability of whatever was in my diaper, and prayed to whoever or whatever reincarnated me that my story better not end anticlimactically, dying as a baby to a goblin. Olivia and Otto walked up to us, and gave us anm hug, Mother and I hugging them back.This was my family. For 2 years I have known them and I... love them. Otto is friendly and caring, Olivia is energetic and ambitious, and Mother is kind, caring and ambitious. I got comfortable in between them.
Sleep overwhelmed me, tiredness choking me. I closed my eyes and buried them into Mother's shoulder. I... never want to go through that again. I read stories of this kind of thing, and the main character always fought monsters as an adventurer. And I believed that I could do that as well, killing monsters, making the world better but... I don't think I can. I don't have anything special, I'm not an overpowered main character that can control all 4 elements (I'm sure everyone can) or have the ability and luck to make me be able to eventually fight people who can wipe out continents. No, I only have one advantage and that is my knowledge from Earth. Terra. And with it I might just change the world, Orbis. The world is my name. Terra Orbis. Arret Sibro Ouned. So what is my ability?
I went to sleep.