It had been the roughest night of sleep for the inhabitants of the village of Freeacres. Hard work, clean air, and a peaceful life always made it easy to drift off for them; that was their life every day after all.

But today their work had been harrowing. The air was laden with smoke from their burning fields and orchards; their very livelihoods. Their friends and family lay dead, and everyone’s innocence died with them.

A waking nightmare slowly faded into a dreaming one. It was a restless sleep, but compared to what they had just faced, it was still a respite most welcome. But much too soon they were forced to wake back to reality and face the truth once more.

Three hours before sunrise; that was when Artyom told them to get ready to leave. That gave them all five hours of sleep, which was closer to three or four for many. But the break wasn’t for nothing, and all of the citizens moved with just a little more vigor than when they’d gone to bed.

“We still have firewood left we can’t bring with us. Let’s just use it now to cook breakfast,” said one of the villagers, a lumberjack by trade.

“Tell everyone to get their biggest pots and pans, let’s cook some breakfast before we say goodbye,” said another. “I bet Ruba’s got plenty.”

The lumber from around the village was gathered together and several bonfires were lit. While Artyom would have told them it was a bad idea, as it would attract a wandering enemy’s attention, he wasn’t around to do so. The fires went up, and the villagers began cooking.

It was quite difficult since the sun was still far from rising but they made due. As the first batch of food was done and being served around, Pireni, who was on lookout duty, ran to the crowd.

“Someone’s coming this way!” she shouted, rousing everyone.

Sae and Skeya jumped up from their seats and rushed towards their teammate.

“Who is it? How many are there?” asked the two at the same time.

“I don’t know. It’s too dark to see, but there’s a lot of dust being kicked up,” replied Pireni, the worry on her face hidden behind grim determination. “Let’s get our weapons ready just in case.”

The adventurers ran to the bonfire and commanded all the able-bodied survivors to grab something sharp or heavy, and for everyone else to hide behind them.

A few of the villagers shoveled the contents of their bowls into their mouths as they ran to their makeshift weapons, knowing that even the slightest bit of energy could make a difference between life and death. Though they all knew that if worse came to worst it would only be by a couple of seconds.

Tense seconds ticked on as the distant dust cloud approached. Silent prayers were made, and a mix of hope and acceptance flowed through the crowd.

As the cause of the disturbance got closer, everyone was able to make out a lone figure. Their clothes were battered and torn, and along with their skin covered in dust and blood, but as the dead eyes that had struck such great fear into the Dark Lord’s forces approached, the villager’s own worry began to disappear.

Artyom slowed from his inhuman pace into a normal job, then finally a trot. As he approached the survivors of Freeacres, the man from Earth came to a stop. His chest heaved with each breath. His mouth was opened wide to let as much air in and out as he could. His eyes stared at them.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“A-Artyom? Are you alright?” asked Skeya, her soft voice able to carry over through the sudden silence. “Did you get us time to run?”

“I bought you time, all the time you need. The war band won’t be a problem anymore. At all.”

The adventurers, along with the villagers, began to smile at the first sign of true hope that had come their way. But as everyone’s smiles widened, the trio’s slowly froze as they considered the implication.

“Hold on, you don’t mean-” began Sae, only to be nudged in the side by Pireni.

“Do we really want to know the answer to that?” she quietly hissed.

“It’s exactly what you think it is,” said Artyom. “But that doesn’t mean you can just stay here. Your livelihood is gone and who knows if another war band might try to find out what happened to this one, and find all of you still here.”

The villagers collectively felt a shiver.

“In that case, uh… why don’t you take a look on the road ahead so we know it’s safe. Make sure there aren’t any monsters we might run into,” said Sae, puffing out his chest in a show of false confidence. It didn’t do anything to hide his pensive and worry-ridden expression.

Artyom looked right at him, and for a moment, Sae felt they could see into each other’s souls. What he saw was empty, and sad.

“Can’t do that, Sae.”

“Why not? Oh right! You’ve been running for hours, you must be starving. Grab something to eat first and-”

“No Sae, I mean I’m not coming with you or the other villagers.”

“What do you mean-”

“I’m needed somewhere more important.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” asked Pireni indignantly. “What’s more important than getting the villagers to safety?!”

“The hero! If he was trained in a world like this, he’s not ready to face the Dark Lord. They’re going to kill him! I have to save him!”

“The hero? What are you talking about?” asked Sae. “He’s the hero, he doesn’t need help. He’s supposed to stop the Dark Lord and all of this.”

“He wasn’t here to stop this. And if he were, he’d be dead like half the village.”

The villagers began to look between the two groups with wide, shifty eyes, their heads ducked into their shoulders and lips sealed shut at the sudden awkward pressure they all felt.

“Artyom, you can’t leave, we’re a team!” shouted Pireni.

“Yeah!” added Sae. “Besides, all of our team member decisions need a unanimous vote! I vote no for you leaving, how about you Pireni? Skeya?”

Artyom let out a sigh. “Honestly, I was going to leave in a month anyway. I have a lot of people to save from back home, but I truthfully didn’t expect the hero would need me too.”

“You were always planning on leaving?” asked Skeya. Her eyes were beginning to mist, but they suddenly went wide as realization struck her, and soon tears began falling freely. “You were always planning on…”

Artyom looked at the three of them. In their eyes he saw all of their collective grief, their feelings of betrayal, and longing to continue their short yet wonderful friendship. He saw their feelings and desires raw, and turned around.

Olympian’s Speed.

“Artyom!” shouted Skeya, her voice for once rising above the din of the other adventurers, but it was too late.

The man from Earth had already run off, leaving only a cloud of dust in his wake. He shattered a heart, lost some friends, and spat on a village’s kindness. He knew deep down any good he did for them was unintentional, only the result of trying to save those who mattered most to him. To Artyom, there was no question about it. It was worth it.

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Thirty minutes after he started running, Artyom felt something happening to his magic.

Hours of running back right after a massive fight took too much out of him, and as his internal stores reached zero, the man from Earth felt his legs give in. He tumbled to the dirt road below him, and he was out cold before he even felt it on his face.

Some time later, he didn’t know how long but the sun was now up in the sky, he was woken up by a faint ringing in his pocket.

“H-hello?”

“It’s Gus. You didn’t pick up last night, is everything alright?”