Jilamaka roared, charging after the armored man with its claws outstretched. He would impale and eat this one for wasting its time! Rage fueled Jilamaka’s actions, the need to slaughter overwhelming all other thoughts as it dove into the room after the human, seeing another one of his soon to be victims standing on the far wall.

To kill that one would be most sweet, the one that had ruined its previous body! It didn’t matter how strong that armor was, Jilamaka would peel it off him piece by piece before feasting on the flesh within. It leapt forward like a panther, claws aimed for the black armored humans back- yet something was wrong… Jilamaka couldn’t move! Paralyzed in place, the eyes set into its shoulders rolled around in their sockets, finding a hooded woman standing in the corner of the cramped chamber, a young black-haired human and halfling standing by her side. She was staring right at Jilamakas back with an intensity that froze it solid.

Magic…? No matter, a mere mage could not contain Jilamaka’s raw power! It shook its arms and legs with great fervor. The woman gulped as Jilamaka struggled, sweat beading at her brow as she struggled to keep Jilamaka in place. It wouldn’t be long before it broke free-

The ground rose up to meet Jilamaka as its knee disintegrated, blasted apart by one of the other human’s strange implements. Blades sunk into its shoulder-eyes, turning the world black and sending him writhing in agony, feeling its second knee get blown apart. Finally Jilamaka felt the paralysis break, and it lashed out with its claws, hearing a scream and feeling metal being parted by its claws.

“Yugo!” The woman’s voice shouted.

She sounded shaky and exhausted, easy to kill. It scrambled away wildly, lashing out with its claws and feeling them tear through cloth and flesh alike. Unfortunately, the woman’s pained screams afterward meant that the blow hadn’t been fatal. Another blast rang out, and Jilamaka felt its arm disappear, leaving it with only one.

“Sera get over here!” A deep voice yelled urgently, “Prolo stay outta arm’s reach!”

Jilamaka twisted about, propelling itself forward toward the voice and colliding with something large, no doubt the human that had ruined its body. Jilamaka’s left eye regenerated after the collision, and it could see that this was indeed the case. The weapon the man had used to remove its limbs had been flung away after they had collided, leaving him unarmed. Jilamaka opened its mouth and clamped down hard on the man’s neck, its teeth failing to pierce the thick armor around his throat.

Jilamaka applied more force, compressing the hard material to strangle its prey. The man choked and sputtered, its hands attempting to pry Jilamaka off of him to no avail. This was it! Jilamaka had won-

The man then drove its fingers into Jilamaka’s shoulder eye, blinding it to the world once more as the human’s hands began ripping the tender flesh out piece by piece. Ignoring the pain, Jilamaka continued to apply pressure to his throat… just a bit more and-

Snap.

Jilamaka felt its neck snap as something impacted the back of its neck, breaking its hold on the human beneath it. Its right shoulder eye regained function, revealing the dark armored human it thought it had killed. A massive bleeding rend in the armor revealed itself, running across the man’s torso. The human had driven his elbow into the nape of Jilamaka’s neck, breaking something in the process.

The second human beneath Jilamaka then wriggled quickly out from beneath it, kicking it squarely in the head and knocking it backward, its neck crunching painfully from the motion. In Jilamaka’s remaining eye, it saw the halfling and dark-haired man running forward, swords drawn. It attempted to get away, but Jilamaka wasn’t fast enough, as the two drove their blades deep into the eye, blinding Jilamaka once more.

It tried to raise its arm to slash wildly… but exhaustion was beginning to take over. It had taken too much damage, it’s frame felt frail and weak-

A foot stomped down on its elbow, shattering the bone before being followed by more stomps, the foot crushing the elbow in further and making the limb useless. Dozens of blows from multiple sources assailed Jilamaka, cracking bones and rending flesh. Eventually though, the attacks stopped, and it heard its prey scrambling out of the room, despite Jilamaka’s harrowing injuries. A blessing that they were foolish enough to flee despite having the advantage… it heard something rolling into the room, coming to a stop beside it. When it's right eye regenerated for the final time, it saw that the object was a small green orb.

One of the very ones that aided in destroying Jilamaka’s main body.

The door to the room slammed shut- before the little green orb exploded, sending Jilamaka into a realm of eternal darkness.

----------------------------------------

Joe clutched his agonized throat, coughing before he kneeled down, struggling to catch his breath as the world continued to whirl. He’d need to redesign the armor again… and uh… his mind was a fog. Breathing heavily, he used his poleaxe to stand back up, leaning on it heavily as he looked at the door where they had sealed Jilamaka. Gerad had thrown the grenade in, and hopefully that would have been enough to end it.

Sera stood over Yugo, inspecting the horrid rend in his armor as the man lay with his back against the wall, breathing heavily and trying to staunch the bleeding. The wound was deep, and Joe wasn’t sure that the guy would make it… in the back of his mind, he hoped that he’d pass from the injury, it’d be another loose end tied up after all. Sera herself sported a gash across her back, the coat he’d made for her torn from Jilamaka’s claw. Thankfully though, the wound barely went deeper than that, just a few red lines across her already scarred back.

He looked around, spying Prolo staring at the door with wide eyes, his face deathly pale. The boy looked fine from what Joe could see, no external injuries he could make out. Mentally though, it might have left a mark, Jilamaka had been a terrifying foe. Now… where was Varig? Joe didn’t see the dwarf standing anywhere, and he hadn’t been in the room with them either.

That was when he spotted a squat form, lying prone on its back at the far end of the hall. Joe gasped and limped over as quickly as he could, still using his poleaxe to support himself. No one followed after him as he went over to Varig, either tending to wounds or being frozen in shock. As Joe approached the body, he saw a massive dent in the breastplate.

Joe hung his head. There was no way anyone could survive something like that. The dent looked like a footprint almost, implying that Jilamaka had kicked him square in the chest. Varig had been a good guy, definitely didn’t deserve to go out like this… It’d be hard to deliver the news to Ugals, but they had to know. At least they could take solace in knowing that their prince had helped bring down Jilamaka.

Joe frowned, wasn’t he giving up too quickly? He should at least check Varig’s vitals before giving him up for dead. That damn brain fog was making him jump to conclusions too apparently. He knelt down, carefully removing the helmet to see Varig’s blood-caked beard, his eyes shut, face a pained grimace.

But he was breathing.

Somehow, Varig had survived all that, but unfortunately Joseph didn’t think he’d have long. He was certain that several of the dwarf’s ribs had been shattered, who knew what the pieces were poking into? Well… considering the fact that blood had exited his mouth, it was safe to assume one of his lungs had been punctured.

It looked grim, but maybe there was something about dwarven biology that would help Varig survive, Joe wasn’t sure. Knowing he was alive though, Joseph refused to leave him here to die. It would be a huge pain in the ass to get him back to Ugals, especially in his current state, but he had to try. He’d need something to use as a makeshift sled, he couldn’t drag Varig by his ankles after all. If there was a cart he could use, that would be better.

Maybe there was one, somewhere in the ruins. If it was made of steel it would have lasted from Old Ugals ruination till now. It would be too risky to take the time searching for it though, it would have to be a happy accident to run across one. Best not take that chance. Besides, now that he thought of it, he did have something durable that he could use as a sled, one that he could fit Varig onto perfectly. Joe groaned as he removed his scaled trenchcoat, leaning his poleaxe against the wall before laying it flat on the ground.

He then took up his poleaxe again, and moved back to where the others stood, shaking Prolo by the shoulder, “Hey, Varig’s in bad shape.” He breathed heavily, “Help me load him up on my coat, we’ll try n’ drag him back.”

Prolo blinked for a few seconds before he nodded, “Of course, let’s see to it.”

It was a struggle to load Varig onto the coat, he was far heavier than his short stature would have suggested, and with everything aching it made the task fall heavily onto Prolo. They did manage to get it done though, with the dwarf laying face up on the coat. Joe then grabbed the sleeves, using them as handles as he pulled Varig back toward the other end of the hall.

Once they reached the others, Sera took her eyes off Yugo to look at Gerad, who still stared at the door with apprehension, “Is it done, Gerad?” Sera asked hopefully.

Gerad hesitated, “...The contract hasn’t been fulfilled yet.”

“You have got to be kidding.” Joe huffed, “Open the door, go in there, and finish it off then.”

“What!?” Gerad questioned, “By myself!?”

“It won’t even be able to move anymore after all that kid, trust me.” Joe said, “I’ve killed things like that before, if it’s alive, it’s comatose.”

“I…” Gerad hesitated, “Alright then, fine. Sera, may I borrow your pistol again?”

Sera proffered it immediately, “Be quick, we cannot remain here for much longer, Yugo and that dwarf both need help as soon as possible.”

“I will be fine.” Yugo said breathlessly, “These cuts are not as dire as they seem.”

“Don’t argue with me, young man.” Sera scolded, pointing at Yugo, “We need to get that armor off and wrap you up tighter than a Yuloni mummy.”

“Huh?” Yugo asked.

“Just let me help you get that off.” Sera said, “I have bandages in my pack.”

Gerad held the pistol nervously as he approached the door, and Joe drew his own, realizing he’d forgotten his poleaxe at the other end of the hall, “Prolo can you go grab that for me?” He asked, indicating the weapon.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Wordlessly, Prolo ran over to it, quickly swiping it up and bringing it back, “How about you carry it, I’ll drag Varig for you. You aren’t in any shape to be lugging him all the way back to Ugals.”

“Thanks kid, ‘preciate it.” Joe said sincerely before he moved up behind Gerad, “I got your back, just open the door a crack and look inside, if it's moving, shoot it from here, if it ain’t, still shoot it from here.” Joe said, “Can’t be too careful.”

“What if it jumps at me?” Gerad asked nervously, hand on the rusted handle of the door.

“Just shut the door.” Joe snapped, “There ain’t no way it has the energy to do that, trust me. Let’s just get it over with.”

“A-Alright then.” Gerad said nervously, opening the door a crack. “It’s just laying there, but it’s still breathing.”

“Well, make it not breathe.” Joe urged, “Just hurry up.”

Gerad, after a few seconds of hesitation, pulled the door open a tad bit more, taking aim with the pistol and opening fire. After three shots, Gerad stopped, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Sera, the contract is fulfilled.” Gerad told her, “You’ll be a bit luckier now, it’s been a pleasure.”

“You say that like you’re leaving straight away.” Sera said, turning to him, “We have to leave the way we came, Ugals will not let you, and especially not me, through its gates.”

“Just keep yer hood up and you can probably make it through with me.” Joe said, “It’ll be a long trip back for you if ya go back the way ya came.”

She seemed to consider for a moment before she shook her head, a pained look on her face. “I would love to, but it is too risky.” Sera said, “Who knows what would happen to us if they found out you brought an elf into their hold?”

“You didn’t seem against it last time.” Joe pointed out.

“I would’ve been hidden inside of Betty,” She sighed, “With this I’d be out in the open, all it takes is for one dwarf to see my ears and we would be done for. We can be patient Joseph, I’ll meet you back in Shian, I will wait for you there, and if you happen to get there first, wait for me.”

“I got business to take care of before I can head there, it’ll take a bit.” He said, looking down at Varig, “If he survives I gotta make him some armor, and I ain’t leaving him here, we had a deal.”

“I see…” Sera said, her tone a tad disappointed, “Well, again I can be patient.”

“Alrighty, I can too.” Joe nodded, eyes narrowing before he turned his head toward Yugo, “But I still got one more thing to take care of before I go-”

“You will leave Yugo to me.” Sera said firmly, “I will not let you kill him, if that is what you intend.”

“He knows what I am.” Joe told her.

“So do I.” Sera replied flatly.

“You weren’t out to sacrifice me, he is.” Joe said, pointing to the still slouched man, “He’s a foot in the grave already-”

“I can still fight, Outworlder.” Yugo threatened, standing from the ground, “I will not die like a dog.” He said, immediately leaning against the wall to support himself.

Joseph himself didn’t feel all that capable at the moment… but just one bullet should do the trick.

He reached down to his holster, only for Sera to grab his wrist, glaring up at him with deadly intent, “You will not.” She told him in a dangerous tone, “I will resolve this matter for you, trust me.”

“Move.” Joseph ordered back, shrugging out of her grasp to grab his pistol.

“Is your oath to your God so flimsy?” Sera questioned, jabbing a finger into his breastplate.

Joe’s jaw clenched in frustration. In truth, he had forgotten about the promise he’d made in all the chaos, getting his brain rattled may have had something to do with that. His instincts screamed for him to kill Yugo and beg God for forgiveness afterward, but… a promise was a promise, especially when it was to the Good Lord. That didn’t mean he had to spare any other members of the Black Hand he came across though. If he saw any survivors crawling around he’d kill them.

“How many of yer cronies are still around.” Joe said frustrated, hand leaving his pistol.

“We all mustered to capture you.” Yugo said, “I… I am the only one left.” He continued, apparent realization hitting him, “By the Overseer…”

“All the more reason for you to leave!” Sera scolded, a deep frown on her face.

Before Yugo could answer, Joe said, “If you are the last one, leave Prolo and me alone. If I ever see you again after today, there won’t even be a stain of you left when I’m done, understand?”

“I’m the last…” Yugo said, “No…” He continued, hands going to the sides of his helmet.

Joe looked to Prolo, who still clutched Joe’s coat sleeves, “Let’s get out of here, we don’t got any more time to waste.”

“Goodbye, Joseph.” Sera said, “Thank you for showing restraint, I will see you again soon.” She finished in a hopeful tone, turning her attention back to Yugo, who continued to mutter.

Gerad, for his part, merely leaned against the wall, looking tired. The halfling could become a problem in the future as well, but Joe had the feeling Sera wouldn’t let Joe kill him either… or rather, that Sera would come to despise him if he did. His hand went to his pistol once more, drawing it before aiming it squarely at the halfling’s head. No one noticed… Prolo’s back was to him as he dragged Varig, Yugo was in shock, Sera was trying to bandage him, and Gerad himself was staring at the wall, sitting cross-legged by the door that led to Jilamaka’s tomb.

He considered Sera’s reaction, as well as Prolo’s. They would think it monstrous for him to do this, but Gerad was a threat to him. There was no guarantee that the halfling wouldn’t gather up a posse to capture Joe in the future. He had only promised that he wouldn’t kill Yugo… he didn’t say anything about Gerad. He could live with Sera’s anger and Prolo’s shock, but he couldn’t live with Gerad remaining alive. Joe pulled the trigger- but inexplicably, the gun merely clicked, with no round being fired. Instantly he holstered the weapon, but he had been noticed.

While Sera, Yugo, and even Gerad hadn’t apparently noticed the click of his gun… Prolo had, turning his head just in time to see that Joe had been aiming it right at Gerad. The boy’s eyes went wide with shock, jaw hanging agape. If he ratted Joe out, he’d just kill Gerad anyway. Prolo however, didn’t say anything, shaking his head and turning away.

After they left the ruin, Joe spoke, “He knows what I am.” He reasoned.

“You were going to murder him like a dog, even though he fought beside us against that beast.” Prolo said flatly, “He was not the threat Yugo was, I would have understood if it had been him you took aim at.”

Joe bit his cheek, “I’m what the wastes made me, kid.”

“You make me sick.” Prolo replied, refusing to look at him as he continued to drag Varig.

“He knows what I am.” Joe repeated.

“So do I, so does Sera, will you try to kill us next?” Prolo pressed, voice gaining heat.

“Of course not!” Joe shot back, “You ain’t a risk, he is.”

“Will you kill Varig’s family because they know what you are?” Prolo pressed, “Best to eliminate all risks, right? If Varig dies on the way back, they might want their Third Prince back from the Overseer’s clutches, will you shoot them at their son's funeral, when they are all gathered together to mourn him?”

Frustration heated his face, why couldn’t Prolo understand why he’d did what he did? Or at least tried anyway… he wasn’t wrong for it… But… what would God think? Even with his mental faculties hampered, Joe could not reason that the Lord would have approved of what he did. It was one thing to kill someone in self-defense, it was different if it was outright murder, which was what he’d attempted. God knew the difference. Had Joseph made a bad call…? He had been going to kill Gerad, he’d fully intended to, after all. His thoughts still felt muddy, was his reasoning skewed because of it? Perhaps, but even if he hadn’t been concussed he would have still tried to kill Gerad.

He would need to pray later, when his thinkin’ was clearer.

“Why didn’t you rat me out?” Joe asked.

Prolo didn’t reply as they moved through the shattered ruins of Old Ugals, an awkward silence filling the air between the two men, with only Varig’s pained breathing to break the quiet. The dwarf was in rough shape, and if Joe was being honest with himself, he doubted that Varig would survive the journey back. It had taken three days to get here after all. Then again, that was if they stopped to rest… if they pushed on until they got back, they could cut that down significantly. Could they do it though? Joseph was struggling to merely walk, and Prolo would get exhausted dragging Varig through those winding tunnels. Damn it all, it seemed there was no good solution here, and Joe was no surgeon. If Sera knew how to help, she no-doubt would have offered.

It still felt strange to simply leave her back there… but she’d been right. The best thing for her to do was go back the way they had come. Joe stopped in place then, gritting his teeth in frustration as he realized that he couldn’t quite remember the way back. Any of the dwarves that had been with them would have had the path memorized easily, but Joe, especially in this state, only knew the general direction they had to go. Varig let out a low groan of agony as Prolo slowed, coming to a stop behind Joseph.

“What’s wrong?” Prolo asked, “Why did we stop, is there trouble?”

“...Do you remember how to get back?” Joe asked, “I don’t.”

“Did the dwarves bring a map?” Prolo asked, “Maybe there’s one on Varig?”

Joe turned around, crouching down awkwardly beside him before unceremoniously rifling through the pouch at his belt. All he found was a few coins, a lavender gemstone, and a note that read ‘If you have found this corpse, know that I was Third Prince Varig of New Ugals, I pray that my efforts in slaying Jilamaka have been successful, and if not… it is up to you now, if you have the heart to take up the task.’

Joe put everything back, shaking his head, “Nothing like that on him, lets head back and search the others-”

“It’s yoo!” A voice suddenly shouted from above.

In an instant Prolo dropped the sleeves and drew his sword, just as Joe drew his pistol, taking aim only to see the goblin, Nine standing there proudly, another rat in his clutches by the tail, “Ya got that big thing good you did! I’ll trade you two of me rats for it, maybe even one!”

Joe lowered his pistol, hopeful as he asked, “Do you know how to get to Ugals?”

“Orals?” Nine asked, rubbing his chin, “That one’s where the beardies live eh?”

Prolo looked to Joseph, before looking back to Nine, “The very same.” He replied.

“Yeh, I know where it is.” Nine replied.

“Can ya lead us there?” Joe asked, “I have an idea of where to go but that’s it, and my friend here needs help as soon as possible.”

Nine squinted down, looking over Varig with a critical eye, “He’s ‘alf dead already eh?” The goblin asked, “Just leave em’ here.”

“Not gonna happen.” Joe replied.

“Fine!” Nine yelled happily, “But he’s gonna die before ya get there.”

“He will if we keep wasting time standing around.” Joe said, frustrated.

“Well he don’t gotta…” Nine said, scratching his chin, “The Shaman can help him, for a price. Has magic hands he does, ate a big book once. Saw him do it I did, tried to take a bite out of it meself but he slapped me!”

If this shaman had a healing spell, that may just be the thing that saves Varig’s life. As much as he hated to admit it, Nine was right.. Varig would die on the trip back. Even now he could hear the dwarf’s breathing becoming more pained, weaker, and with every cough, fresh blood came with it. There wasn’t a chance he’d survive the trip back to Ugals, the dwarf needed help now.

Joe could neither morally allow himself to abandon Varig, but the survivor in him also refused this outcome. If he returned to Ugals with the corpse of their Third Prince… there was a real risk that Varig’s family, who also knew what he was, would attempt to sacrifice him in order to bring Varig back to life. With Betty being at their gates and with them packing firepower similar to Joseph’s own, there wasn’t a chance of forcing his way through either… they had to take a risk and travel with Nine to see this ‘Shaman’.

He supposed that he could leave Varig and travel with Sera out the way she came, but doing that would mean abandoning Betty, which Joseph would not do under any circumstances. The thought was tantalizing but Varig didn’t deserve to die like this, if there was even a chance that the goblins could save him, Joe would take it. It seemed that, as he was thinking this through, Nine had continued to prattle on.

“Then my ma tells me that the Shaman ate me mushroom! So I slapped ‘im good I did, left a bruise on his stupid face-”

“How long would it take to reach your Shaman?” Joe asked, cutting him off.

“We gots a huntin’ camp pretty close, Shaman’s there now in case any of us gets a boo-boo.” Nine said with a nod, “I had a pretty big boo-boo last week, was chasin’ a rat n’ twisted me ankle, let me tell you-”

“Get to the point.” Joe ordered through grit teeth.

Nine’s ears perked, and he frowned, “Sorry… you don’t ‘ave to be so mean.” He said in a sulking tone, “We is closer to our place than to Orals, much closerest, you make deal with us, we save the beardy!” Nine offered, “Maybe half the beardy actually-”

“Fine.” Joe said, “But if this is a trap I’ll kill you.”

“Joseph,” Prolo said, eyes wide, “This is a goblin, you aren’t thinking clearly, you hit your head.” He reasoned, placing a hand on his shoulder “We cannot go with him, they’ll try and throw us into a stew.”

“I can fight them off if they try.” Joseph whispered confidently.

Prolo’s eyes narrowed, “In your condition?” He questioned, “You’d be lucky to fight off one of those dead rats he has.”

“That’s why I’ll have my shotty at the ready.” Joe said, “A blast from this will send ‘em running, trust me.”

Prolo grimaced, looking from Varig to Nine before he said, “This is a bad idea.”

“Oi!” Nine yelled, “Are ya gonna come with me or not!? I gotta get a third rat if yoo say no so hurry up!”

Joe took Prolo’s words into consideration for a moment before he decided on what to do.

“Let’s go, shorty.” Joe confirmed, “Take us to the Shaman.”