Waking up, I found myself on the floor in the tent next to May’s dead body. Blood had pooled all around her cooling corpse. Standing up I shook my head and regretted a little bit of what I had done. As my mind wandered back to my boys, I knew I had no choice.

Bob. His name flooded my mind for a moment. Part of me wanted to believe it was just a dream, but I knew it was real. I knew it had been real because what he had said about the power of the heart was evident in how I felt.

There was a pulsating feeling to the power I could feel inside, waiting to escape. Walking over to the chains that held May’s lifeless body, I grabbed the piece next to her wrist and the spot closest to the pole. When I gave them a yank, they snapped like paper chains made for a Christmas tree.

“Oh Bob, this is going to be fun," I said aloud with a giggle, unfitting for a goblin of my stature.

Leaving the tent, I was smiling bigger than I ever had. Tonight I would take the real first step in keeping my boys safe.

The moon was halfway up, and I was glad it was only a half-moon tonight. Standing there along the fields, I could make out all of the goblins and orcs waiting for the call to attack. I was grateful for the enhanced vision at night Bob must have felt we would need in this world. Unlike the weaker orcs or goblins who sometimes suffered vision problems during bright days, I could see perfectly in any light.

Vreek was giving orders to the group behind us, and I could see Turk struggling to spot Dirk, who had gone ahead to scout out.

“I really cannot see him. It is like he disappeared after a few feet. I wish I could do that,” bemoaned Turk.

“And I am sure that Dirk wishes he could cast magic like you and kill people from a distance, but we all can’t be Gandolf now, can we?"

Turk chuckled and shook his head.

“First, Gandalf was not a goblin, and second I don’t think Gandalf was ever this ripped,” Turk replied as held out his arms and did the gun show flex and just smiled.

Grabbing him around the head, I brought him close and whispered in his ear.

“Love you, son. Now let's go kick some ass.”

Turk nodded and pulled his bow off his back once I let go of him.

Another twenty minutes or so passed, and suddenly Dirk was standing next to me.

“What the hell!” I screamed louder than I intended.

Laughing, Dirk poked me in the side.

“Sorry, but I wanted to see if I could sneak up on you.”

Shaking my head, I just chuckled.

“Glad you are on our side," I chuckled. "Is everything ready?”

“Yup. There are just a few guards in town, and almost everyone is asleep. Approaching will be easy. Once Turk gives the signal, I expect the real action to occur within a minute or two.”

Nodding, I knew Dirk had done a great job scouting and an even better job sharing the intel he gathered. It was hard to believe both of them were only seventeen and were now about to help lead a massive attack on a town. All those times I felt guilty spending so much time playing games with them instead of being out in the real world were gone. They had taken all the tactics we repeatedly practiced in games and applied them here.

“What was funny?”

I looked at Turk and smiled.

“Who knew video games would help with this?”

Turk and Dirk laughed while Vreek stared at us, wondering what we were discussing.

“Enough,” I said as I raised my hand for them to get serious. “Tonight, we announce our presence to this world.”

Turning to Vreek, I nodded, and he sent off two runners, one in each direction.

“Three minutes, and then we can go,” he informed me.

Nodding, I turned and faced the orcs and goblins standing behind us.

“Brothers, tonight we will burn this town to the ground. I give you free rein to slaughter every person you encounter. Hear me, though, on this one thing! Do not engage any hero! It would be best if you let us kill them so that the one we leave alive in this town will fear the black death. That way, others will tremble when they hear we are in their land.”

I paused and watched their faces. I could see they were all ready to shout and roar. I held up my hand to silence them.

“Now be quiet and save the burning fire inside you, ready to come out! When the signal is given, shout and roar as loud as you want and bring death to those who stand in our way!”

They growled low and nodded. I could see their fingers flexing as they gripped and regripped their weapons. They were ready to do anything we asked of them at this moment.

“It’s time,” I said as I looked at my boys. “Let's go.”

The moment had finally arrived.

I nodded, and Turk shot an arrow high into the sky. As it streaked through the night sky, it glowed with a green light. Magic. He had given the signal. Counting, I waited and watched as I looked off in the distance. Torches started to pop up in the fields, and the light of them grew as they started spreading fire through the crops.

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“For the brotherhood!” I shouted.

The roar that arose from behind me washed over me like water from a waterfall. It felt perfect and powerful. Those raging green creatures were ready to slaughter men, women, and children. For some reason, I was ready to lead them to it.

Striding forward, we charged the gate of the town. We had walked here quietly and no one had yet realized we were there. No one expected an attack on the city. Two guards looked over the wooden walls on both sides of the gate to see what the commotion was. Turk’s arrows streaked across the distance and killed both the men who made that mistake.

Shouting was coming from the other side of the wooden gate as we arrived at it. I pulled my sword from its scabbard and strode to the gate. The rage and desire of that sword wanting to take and end life flowed through me. It cleaved the drawbar with one swing, and a follow-up kick blew the gate open.

Soldiers had started to come around the wall, and most had not even fastened their belts or pulled out a sword yet.

“Kill them!” I ordered.

I watched as Dirk dashed forward and tossed a dagger from each hand, striking two different men in the chest. An arrow struck the third man in the chest, and a flaming bolt took down the fourth one who had appeared a moment later from around the wall.

Six down and at least forty more to go I thought to myself.

“Stay tight and kill the guards when you see them. Any hero or adventurer you see is mine!”

As we walked through the gate, the goblins and orcs started gathering torches and running up to houses and tossing them on the roofs and in the windows. For a brief second, I noticed how much these houses looked like so many of the ones I had seen in those anime shows. Brick and wooden sides. Amazingly detailed windows and doors. Everything I would have imagined them looking like, they did. And now we burned them to the ground. Occasionally Turk would blast a fireball into a house and speed up the process of razing the town.

The guards who came running towards us died long before they got close. Turk was taking them out with ease. His bow skill had improved by leaps and bounds since the last time we had fought. I almost felt sorry for the townspeople. No one was safe as we made our way toward the center of town.

"Zolb," Turk called out after I finished dispatching a guard who came running towards us from between a few buildings. He pointed down the street that led to the town center. "Three people are standing by the fountain up there. It appears they are waiting for us."

Looking intently, my eyes finally adjusted, and I could see what he was looking at. I was impressed that Turk had so easily seen them, but then again, it was his specialty. Mine was to be killing heroes.

“Finally. Someone to fight. You two stay out of this unless I call for help. Dirk, find any guards or heroes that you can. The guild master is still missing.”

Dirk nodded, ran off to the left, and disappeared when he stepped into the shadows. I could sense Turk back up behind me.

“On second thought, stay close, Turk. I want you to talk to them for me.”

“You want to talk to them?”

“I have a question I want to be answered. After that, I’ll kill them.”

As we got closer to them, I recognized that this was the party we had seen on the road the other day. The man's red hair was noticeable in the light of the fires behind me. He held his sword in his hand, the tip resting in the dirt. His two healers were behind him by about ten yards and standing close to the fountain. When we got within thirty yards of him, we stopped. It was time to get some answers.

“Tell him I want to talk for a moment.”

Turk shouted we wanted to talk, and I could see all three of their faces react in surprise. They obviously had not expected that at all.

The man with the sword yelled back, and Turk replied.

“What did he say?”

“He asked how we knew his language. I told him one of his kind taught it to us.”

“Let’s skip all this. Ask him how many of his kind must die before the orcs and goblins can live in peace.”

Turk paused, and I knew he was weighing what I had told him to say.

“Ask it.”

Turk yelled, and the man yelled back quickly. Turk yelled again, and the man lifted his sword at us and shouted.

“I’m guessing that he said they would never stop hunting us?”

“Basically but with a lot of cursing and him telling us what he would do to us.”

I smiled and just nodded.

“Tell him after you finish talking, I will count to five and then come for him. Let him know I will kill him and one of his healers. The other I will maim and leave to tell others of what is coming for them if they do not heed the warning of the black death.”

A moment after Turk started yelling, one of the men started casting spells or enchantments on the man with the sword. I could see him glowing. When Turk stopped talking, the warrior was already running toward me.

Before I had managed to count to two, he was on me. That sword of his looked like a katana if I was right. He came in low and slid along the ground, swinging for my legs. His speed was faster than anything Vreek or any other captain could manage. Still, at this moment, it reminded me of when I practiced soccer with the boys when they were young. Slow and easy to dodge. Ever since I had woken up from my time with Bob, the world seemed to be moving slower. The movements of others felt so clunky.

Moving to the side, my sword blocked the strike and he turned and twisted, trying to use the momentum to attack again. It felt unfair as I just held my sword out to block his second swing and suddenly, his blade snapped in half when it hit mine.

His eyes went wide and he dashed backward towards his healers.

I saw the slightest tremor of his hand holding his broken sword. He realized he was about to die.

Drawing a deep breath, the power I felt inside me built up and I dashed forward. My sword sliced through his neck like a knife through butter that had sat on a counter for days. I did not stop and continued towards the two healers in the back. Time felt like it was slowing down to the point where I could see the individual drops of water from the fountain falling ever so slowly.

I had reached the healers in less than a heartbeat, and their faces were frozen as I dismembered the man on the right. His legs and arms both cut off at the knees and elbows. When I had finished dissecting him, I let my breath go and the world seemed to catch up.

Blood suddenly gushed from all four appendages as he fell to the ground, screaming.

The healer next to me was frozen, unable to react or move as he stared past me. My hearing allowed me to hear the head and the man's body behind me fall to the ground.

“Turk! Come tell this man to heal his friend!” I bellowed out as I grabbed the healer’s chest piece and pulled him to me. I gazed into those terror-filled eyes. Growling, I pointed at his friend while Turk shouted and ran toward us.

He would not move and the blood that was flowing from the man would soon cost him his life if nothing were done.

“Tell him to heal his friend now, or I will do the same to him!”

Turk arrived and continued screaming at the man, who suddenly snapped out of the fear that had overwhelmed him. Tears were forming as he started chanting, and his hands glowed. I let go of his armor and he fell down and the healer scrambled to his companion. He put his hands on him and chanted over and over.

“Turk, help him bind those wounds.”

Turning, I left Turk to that task while I gazed at the destruction unfolding behind me. Vreek was staring at me, and I could see his eyes. They were shimmering in the light of the fires. He realized what I had become. I was the black death.