"I don't like any of this Mac." Ramon mutters, staring at the words scratched into the leather of the Order satchel, "We should just get out of Springvale, while we still can."
"Agreed." I grunt, gripping the satchel tightly and marching straight to the door of the church, "I've had enough of Springvale to last several lifetimes. This place is welcome to keep its mysteries."
Ramon pushes the doors open, blasting both of us with cool air, a stark contrast to the stifling heat inside the church. The streets of Springvale remain deserted, no one having noticed the break in both of us conducted just yet. We hurry to the horses and mount up, before proceeding to make haste along the quiet village streets.
"Everything seems quiet." I remark while stuffing the Order satchel into one of Loaner's saddlebags, "Whatever the message left behind by the Order was referring to, it hasn't caught wind of us yet."
"You're taking the satchel with us?" Ramon stares wide eyed at me, "Isn't that dangerous?"
"How so?" I question as both of us urge our horses to go faster.
"The satchel might be cursed?" Ramon suggests, licking his lips nervously, "We don't know what happened to the Order knights posted in Springvale."
"Its not cursed." I dismiss with confident gesture of my hand, "I might not be able to unravel the magic protecting the satchel, but I can identify it just fine. Its a vanilla protective enchantment. Nothing more."
"Why would you want to bring the satchel with us anyway?" Ramon insists, "Haven't we decided to make a break for it?"
"There might be something useful inside, something that could tell us what happened here." I answer in an irritated tone, "There's no reason not to bring the satchel along."
"But -" Ramon tries to dissuade me again, before I interrupt.
"I need to know. Springvale used to be my home." I say with finality, "No matter what, I need to know."
"OK." Ramon concedes reluctantly, "Your home, your call. By the way, don't you think its gotten too quiet here?"
At my friend's prompting, I turn my senses outward, searching for what had gotten him so uneasy.
"There's no sound coming from the direction of the tavern." I conclude with alarm, "Everyone that had been drinking there dispersed while we were in the church."
"You think the villagers -" Ramon begins to panic, his voice stuttering. I want to tell him to calm down, but the thought of the jaws of a trap closing in on us has gotten me pretty concerned as well. I keep probing with my senses, trying to home in on where the villagers went to.
"This is bad." I announce grimly, "A large cluster of people have gathered at the village entrance, just past the Evergreen Grove and near the potato fields."
"They cut us off Mac!" Ramon yelps in alarm, "The villagers made their move while we were poking about in the church!"
"We don't know that for sure." I say, trying to calm him down, "But just in case, you still have your guns, right?"
"Yes. Of course." Ramon confirms, "Its in my luggage."
"Put on those gun belts of yours then." I instruct, "And stay behind me when we ride. Understood?"
"And what do we do once we reach Springvale's entrance?" Ramon asks as he reaches into his luggage and begins getting equipped.
"Play it by ear." I elaborate, "If it comes down to a fight, I'll force a way through for us while you cover me, got it?"
"You don't have a weapon though." Ramon observes, "I could loan you a brace of pistols if you want?"
"Don't need it." I shake my head, "I've got magic. That makes my body my strongest weapon. Ready?"
"Ready." Ramon affirms, tightening the last gun belt securely against his waist. The well varnished grips of his pistols gleam hungrily in the moonlight, begging to be unleashed against a target.
"Let's go." I order, urging Loaner forward, with Ramon following closely behind. As the rural landscape blurs past us, the sound of commotion becomes steadily louder, to the point where I no longer need magically enhanced hearing to notice the racket.
"Sounds like a quarrel?" Ramon pipes up hopefully.
"That would be a stroke of luck." I grunt back, "The commotion would have nothing to do with us then."
A wave of pink assaults our eyes as Ramon and I keep riding forward. The Evergreen Grove is in full bloom. Already the leaves of the trees are starting to dry up, patches of brown soiling the otherwise cheerful, almost festive, display put on by the flowers. The wind blows again, sending the ocean of pink shuddering in an undulating motion. Something that is supposed to happen only every three hundred years.
Or perhaps time never passed here, if that newspaper Ramon bought was telling the truth. Maybe both of us had stumbled into a kind of purgatory.
The Stabber could also have been always right, Springvale had burned down years ago and I have been wandering amidst the ruins, chatting with ghosts.
It didn't matter at the end of the day. Anything that had an entrance must also have an exit.
"Torches up ahead." I warn Ramon as we crest a slope in the road, "Stay frosty."
"I see them." Ramon shouts back, as we see a large crowd clustered at the entrance of Springvale, their backs turned to both of us and carrying a motely assortment of torches and lanterns.
From the odd pieces of armor worn by some members of the crowd, I deduce that the entire village militia is probably in attendance right now, with almost every working age adult backing the militia up to make up the numbers. As the crowd mills about, a catch glimpses of the whomever they are confronting. Men on horses, all armed.
"Go away!" a man within the crowd shouts at whomever they're confronting at the village's entrance. A raucous laugh from the armed horsemen is the only response the man receives.
"Should we wait?" Ramon suggests, "Let both sides go at each other, than sneak out of here?"
"Sounds like a plan." I agree, moving Loaner to the side of the road, "Anything that reduces the risk to our safety is fine by me."
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"Kneel wretch." a low guttural voice cuts into the chatter ahead, "Know your betters when you see them."
"And who the hell are you?" one of the militiamen demands angrily.
"Your King." the voice fires back and I sense a sudden surge of magic coming from Springvale's entrance. There's a change in the pressure of the air followed by a massive gout of fire devouring a good part of the village militia is a single swoop. Cries of pain and fear compete with the noise of malicious laughter.
"Damn!" Ramon shouts in fear, "A mage?"
"Its not a complicated spell." I murmur to myself, trying to make sense of the situation, "I do the same thing with my cigarettes. But the power behind it, that's something else ..."
As my voice trails off, the crowd parts into two halves, leaving the road strewn with charred corpses and revealing the pack of horsemen in all their glory. Dirty armor and simple weapons. No insignia of rank on their uniforms either. And leading them is a bear of a man a few years younger then myself, hunched over his horse, stroking his extravagant beard while a small flame rests in the palm of his free hand.
"Show respect to the King of the Mountain!" the bandits demand sneeringly at the villagers.
"Can't be." I curse under my breath as another headache begins to bite, "The King of the Mountain is supposed to be dead."
"What's going on, Mac?" Ramon queries urgently.
"Don't know." I reply helplessly, eyes glued on the unfolding scene.
"You can pay your tribute in gold or blood." the King of the Mountain booms, the flame in the palm of his hand dancing madly, "Makes no difference to me."
"But we don't have any gold!" a young man in the crowd protests, "We're just farmers."
"Blood it is then!" the King of the Mountain jeers, the flame in his palm erupting upward, taking the form of a giant sword. With a single swing of his arm, a row of villagers are scythed down like wheat, the fire voraciously devouring their bodies.
"Attack!" the King orders and his bandits charge into the crowd with their weapons raised.
From the corner of my eye, I see Ramon preparing to ride forward as well to make the breakout attempt we discussed earlier. As the sounds of violence reach a new crescendo, I hurriedly pull Ramon back.
"Change of plan." I say, "We need to fall back to the village."
"What?" Ramon jerks his head back, turning his attention to me.
"The bandit leader is a mage." I explain, "I can't deal with him and escort you out at the same time. We need to hunker down until he moves away from the village entrance."
"Got it." Ramon swallows audibly, "You're the professional. Lead the way."
We kick our horses, riding deeper into Springvale. If anything, I'm underselling the danger the so called King poses. Strength of a sword master with the magical ability of a battle mage. Never mind keeping Ramon safe, if I tangled with the King, I would get owned. Hard. As if driving the point home, a fireball sails over our heads, slamming into a house and levelling it with a deafening explosion.
"The church!" I yell to Ramon, "Its the sturdiest building in Springvale!"
"No shit!" Ramon shrieks as he struggles to maintain control of the panicking pony. Embers from the flames whirl about all around us, blown by the wind. The bandits storm Springvale mercilessly, putting down the feeble resistance mustered by the militia. Blood flows freely, staining the streets.
"Die!" a bandit horsemen hollers at us as he charges forward. But Ramon's hand is like lightning, drawing one of his pistols in a flash. There's a crack of gunfire and the bandit flops off his horse, his throat torn out by the slug.
"Keep moving!" I urge as we both try to keep ahead of the battle raging around us. Most of the bandits have by now dismounted, for ease of looting the homes of their victims.
"Mac! Look!" Ramon points to the Evergreen Grove.
Before I can ask him what's so important, I notice a pair of figures fleeing from the grove in obvious panic. Its the two teens we saw earlier tonight. My double and his presumed childhood friend. My double is already covered in blood, one hand tightly clenched around a knife while the other leads the girl behind him. A dying bandit stumbles about in the background, desperately trying to keep his guts from falling out of the gash carved into his chest.
"Not bad!" the King of the Mountain grins at this sight, "Better than the rest of your fellows anyway."
With a disdainful flick of his wrist, the King sends a fireball hurtling at the pair of teens. The duo throw themselves to the side just before another explosion blooms into existence. When the smoke clears, Ramon and I see a large furrow blasted into the ground, separating both teens from each other. As the girl squirms in the dirt like a worm, stunned from the impact, the King saunters up casually and grabs her with a sweep of his girthy arm.
The girl struggles, but can't break out of the King's savage embrace. Her abductor merely smirks and tosses another fireball at a nearby house, watching it explode with obvious delight. As the dying screams of the bandits still looting the house fill the air, the King laughs uproariously, his booming voice drowning out everything else. The boy climbs to his feet, rushing to confront the King, but a group of bandits quickly intercepts and cuts him off. Both sides glower at each other, while the King of the Mountain grins mockingly at my double.
"We need to go." I say to Ramon, tearing my eyes away from the scene.
Ramon doesn't object and we ride without interruption to the church, the fires spreading behind us. Everything is burning.
Just like the Stabber had said. But the stone structure of the church still stands.
Dismounting, both of us order the horses to flee to safety before running inside and jamming a pew against the door to prevent anyone from following us.
"OK. What now?" Ramon asks, panting for breath.
"Find the bell tower access and get up there." I order, "Keep watch but don't do anything yet. We want to remain unnoticed. I'll stay here in case someone tries to force entry."
Ramon gives a thumbs up and darts off into the back rooms of the church. No longer paying any attention to my friend, I head back to one particular cabinet near the pulpit and steel my stomach for the incoming wave of nausea. Throwing the cabinet's doors open, I pull out the Springvale Sword sitting inside.
My Springvale Sword.
"How would we escape from here?" I hear Ramon shouting distantly at me.
"I can make the jump from the tower carrying you." I shoot back, "We just need an opening to make a run for it!"
I hear the pounding of feet as Ramon makes the ascent up the tower. Unsheathing the Springvale Sword, I find the weapon settles into my hand easily. As if I had never parted ways with it.
Then a pounding noise against the church's door breaks my reverie.
"Its the boy!" Ramon blares from his lookout.
"Ignore him!" I shout, "He'll go away once he realizes that the door is jammed!"
"Bandits are after him!" Ramon responds as the pounding gets increasingly insistent.
Damn it. I bite my lip, hoping my double would just get the message and leave. But a pulse of magic flares, betraying my hopes. The entire door flies off its hinges, throwing the pew back with it. I manage to duck just in time as the pew sails over my head, busting into splinters as it hits the stone wall. My double rushes into the church, eyes manic, staring at the cabinet I had looted the Springvale Sword from.
And when he notices the sword in my hands, those manic eyes lock on to me with deadly intent. Blood drips from the boy's wounds, staining the floor.
"My sword." the double demands, "Give it back."
"No." I dismiss, staring the boy down, hoping to intimidate him into leaving.
"GIVE IT BACK!" the boy shouts angrily as bandits begin filing into the church from the gaping hole where the door was stood. I hear the sounds of gunfire as Ramon begins shooting from the bell tower. But pistols will not be enough to stop a flood this size.
"No." I say again firmly, getting into the ready stance, "I need this sword more than you."
"G -G -G - I -" the boy stutters and I notice that an odd vacant expression overtaking all the bandits. Ramon has stopped firing as well. A kind of hush descends upon the chapel.
"I - I - I -V - V- V-E" the boy stutters, his body jerking spastically, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. A strange light suffuses the chapel, bathing both me and my double within it. Everything outside this cocoon seems grey, dead.
Trapped in time.
"I - I - I - I- V -V -E -" my double screams in agony, as an invisible force twists his body in unnatural directions. I hear bones snap and tendons tear, while the light keeps getting brighter and brighter. Almost like a miniature sun had taken up residence in the chapel.
"AUGGGHHH" there's an earsplitting howl as the light grows into a searing radiance, focusing squarely on the boy. I see my double being consumed by the flash, his entire body being reduced to nothing. Literally nothing. No blood. No remains.
Scrubbed off the face of the world like a stain.
And with that the light dims and winks out, shattering this suspended moment in time. Bandits continue filing into the church and Ramon begins firing again. I raise my sword, pointing it at the bandits who would think of Ramon and myself as easy prey. They could not be more wrong.
I have no idea what happened just now. But I'll figure it out.
Once I've dealt with the trash.
.....
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AN INSTANCE OF THE TUTORIAL IS ALREADY RUNNING. THE CURRENT INSTANCE WILL BE TERMINATED.