{-Rennyn-}
“We should arrive at Silvium by noon,” Kaylin announced. “Maybe a little earlier, if we stay at the pace we’re going.”
“What are we supposed to do when we get there?” Allyna questioned. “I mean, we might have the money to stay the night, but we can’t just wait around to get Lord Aymer’s attention.”
“Well, again, we’re not forcing it either,” Rennyn decided. “We’re going to stay out of trouble when we get there. The last thing we need is for someone to think that we have bad intentions.”
She huffed. “Why would apparently no one care that we’re literally there to save the world?”
He wished he could be that naive—that clueless. That he could ask that question without immediately coming up with the answer. “All they want to do is to move on with their lives. They wouldn’t have listened to a bunch of kids from a random village on a normal day. They’re definitely not going to believe anything we’d say about being ‘heroes.’”
“Sounds pretty ungrateful, to me. They should be thanking us for saving them when they’re completely unaware of the threat against them.”
“If you want recognition,” he mumbled, “being a hero probably isn’t the way to do it.”
Heroes were only praised for as long as they were perfect, but they were still human. And no human was perfect—none were strong enough to bear the weight of high expectations.
Not like the average person would see that.
It was only after several lives that he recognized the fact himself, after all.
A not-so-subtle snap! from some portion of the woods around them caught his attention immediately. Rennyn stopped and tried to determine where it came from, along with a vain attempt to get himself to focus on the event at the present. He’d been the one to state that they shouldn’t be caught unprepared—though, really, he was the only one that could be more prepared.
That really didn’t help to put his mind at ease. He had to make far more of an effort than he’d like to admit keeping himself from dwelling on the idea that neither Kaylin nor Allyna would be capable of fighting.
“Kaylin,” he said slowly, eyes darting around their surroundings, “I need you to give me that stick next to you. The long one.”
“Why do you need a stick?” Allyna asked, proving she really wasn’t paying that close attention.
Kaylin, on the other hand, had no such questions. She picked up the stick in question and even picked a leaf off of it before just as casually tossing it to Rennyn.
He took a deep breath before calling, without any hint of his reservations, “I know someone’s out there! If you think you’ve found an easy target you might want to think again.”
But their fellow “travelers” did not emerge from their place in the shadows. Or, at least, not in the way he expected them to.
There was more obvious rustling, the sounds of something scurrying through the forest to circle around them. Even as these noises grew closer, however, there was no sign of anyone else. Instead, it emerged from the ground itself, using the dirt and leaves and twigs to form its vaguely human appearance. Several more appeared around them, each lurching a bit closer.
“What the hell are those things?” Allyna stepped back from the monsters but must’ve quickly come to the realization that she couldn’t go anywhere.
“I don’t know,” Rennyn said rather honestly, “and, right now, that doesn’t matter. I need you both to stay right there. Don’t do anything.” He didn’t know if he really wanted, or needed, to add I can’t protect you if you don’t listen to me, so he simply left it unsaid.
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He went for the closest figure. Its attempt to to throw itself at him failed as he stepped out of the way.
The stick, serving as a sword or spear, was thrusted into it with enough force to impale it. Rennyn effortlessly kicked it down, reclaiming the stick from it as it hit the ground with a thump and dissolved back into the brush.
~~~
The thud was just as sickening as the thought that he had been the one to do it.
He’d had the displeasure of seeing dead bodies before—the bloodied corpses of who had once been allies. But he’d still had plenty to learn back then.
Like what it felt like to kill someone himself.
And, suffice to say, it was even more nauseating than what he’d imagined.
“Ay, good job, kid!” The commander gave him such a strong pat on the back he almost stumbled onto the body. “You showed that scout what was coming for ‘em! Our lord’s going to need all the might he can get. I can see you climbing the ranks pretty quickly here. Good job.”
Rennyn stared at what was apparently considered a good job and promptly found a place far away from the others to throw up.
~~~
He moved on to the monster closest to Kaylin. First, he pushed it away from her. It bumped into another one, so he took the opportunity to finish them both. He stabbed one, knocked it to the ground, and made the other land on the upright stick.
Only after they were both gone did he reclaim the stick and move on to the next target. Instinct did all the work for him from there.
~~~
He’d never gotten used to it—had he been supposed to? By then, he’d fought in wars, had to defend his friends. It was kill or be killed in some of those situations and, even then, he knew he didn’t want to die during these cycles.
Something that never really clicked before this, though, was that he didn’t need nearly as much training as everyone else. His skills came naturally—or, perhaps more fittingly, from instinct.
“You’ve got one good kid, Boss,” one of them murmured. She had a close to unreadable expression as she looked around to see what not just he, but the whole band, had accomplished. Calling it a bloody mess may have been an understatement. “When did you teach him to do all that?”
“I never did. He must’ve picked it up somewhere else.” A man, his father from that life, walked up to him. “Good job. The princess will be safer for a little while longer. Make sure you’ve got your things gathered, though. We shouldn’t stay here any longer if they’ve already realized this is where we are.”
~~~
“Rennyn.” He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Kaylin’s small smile. “I think it’s safe to say that you got all of them.”
He paused and looked around to see that she was right. He couldn’t get himself to drop the stick, though—he just held it tighter. There was no telling if he’d need it again. He turned to her and Allyna and asked, “Neither of you got hurt, right?”
“What. The hell. Was that?” Allyna asked instead, more amazed than anything else. “You effortlessly took care of whatever the hell those things were! On your own! With a stick! How did you do it? When did you learn to do it?”
His answer was more effortless, a bit more emotionless, than he may have intended. “Do you think all fourteen of those lives were easy?”
He’d meant that as a cue that he didn’t want to talk about it. For any normal person, that probably would’ve been enough, too. But Allyna was not one of those people.
“That doesn’t even begin to answer all—”
“Can your questions wait?” he interrupted. “Maybe later, but we don’t know what else could be out there or what they’re attracted to. We should probably stay quiet until we get to Silvium, just to be on the safe side.”
Somehow, thankfully, that worked. Or, at least, for a little while. He wasn’t paying attention when Allyna started talking again; his thoughts were elsewhere, staring not at the ground but rather the stick.
He was holding it tight enough that little cracks were beginning to develop. But that wasn’t what he focused on.
There was a stain at the end, though he didn’t know why. Those monsters hadn’t bled—they couldn’t, since they were made up only of the ground and trees. So… why was there blood on it?
He blinked and it changed—it became the sword he’d had in his last life. He froze to see Dhymos in front of him but, despite the blood and undoubtable pain, he was smiling. He lurched forward and Rennyn took a step back then, in another blink, it was gone again.
“Rennyn?”
“I’m fine,” he mumbled quickly, avoiding Kaylin’s worried glance. “Just thought I saw something. We need to make sure we get to Silvium as soon as possible. Someone needs to know that those things are out here—not everyone’s going to be as capable as I am.”