The tip of the Spear was close, the end of the Monk's journey up river. Cadaoir was making his way up a small hill when he noticed dark smoke rising up ahead of him. He reached the crown and a large village came into view. Chira had been burned.

This will make things a little harder on me. Cadaoir picked up his pace, he reached the bottom of the hill and followed the road to the village. Wooden buildings were charred, their roofs non-existent now. Villagers were cleaning up debris, others were sitting with the injured and crying. Wounded Soldiers were sitting and waiting for medical attention, though it would come slowly. The usual brown and dusty streets were instead covered with black and brown ash, some homes still smouldered and others had the orange glow of hot embers still inside.

Cadaoir reached the town centre to find a number of Amaratese military men and women helping to extinguish fires and clean up. In the middle of them all was their Commander, the now familiar face of the Spear-woman that had denied Cadaoir's challenge in Hattsu. She was ordering and pointing, players following her commands to the letter. Messengers ran back and forth to her, she spoke with them briefly and then sent them scattering into the village on whatever errands she had for them. Eventually she made eye contact with Cadaoir.

'Churashi?' Cadaoir called out about the events that had transpired here.

'Pirates.' The woman corrected.

This far up river? Odd. 'Did the Post Office survive?'

'No idea, wait a second.' She motioned for one of the women under her command to approach. They spoke quietly for a second and then she shouted to Cadaoir. 'It barely survived, you won't be able to send any mail, the courier was killed.'

The Monk nodded his thanks and waved, the woman simply turned away and continued with her duties. Cadaoir found his way to the Post Office building, one of only a few stone structures. Any wood, apart from the support beams, was gone. Burnt to ash. Cadaoir found the Post Master sitting on a stool outside, his sons worked inside, cleaning up the mess.

'Ho!' Cadaoir called to him. 'Did your stock survive?'

'We managed to move it across the street before my business burned down.' The man explained. Cadaoir looked across the road only to see the worst of the damage he had seen yet. All that was left were the foundations of a number of homes. NPCs searched through the wreckage. 'And then the rest of the street burned down.' The Post Master added. 'Sorry.'

'I don't suppose your local store survived, did it?'

'You're looking at the local store too I'm afraid. My wife worked it.'

'Did any of her stock survive?'

The man looked down to the ground sullenly. A voice from inside the Post Office called out. 'The stock burned along with our mother. Now please kindly get lost.' Cadaoir didn't see who said it, but he obliged.

At an untouched patch of grass, Cadaoir sat down crossed legged and pulled an apple from his pack. He ate it slowly, replenishing his stamina. He took the moment to close his eyes and relax.

'Is that not the man who beat up Captain Deluge?' The question roused Cadaoir quickly. From his left came three Amaratese Soldiers, long spears in hand.

'I think so.' Another replied. 'Ho!' He called to Cadaoir. 'What are you doing here, pilgrim?'

Cadaoir looked to them as they approached, saying nothing.

'Pilgrim, do you have a duel in Chira?' A well spoken moustachioed man inquired. Cadaoir stood up, slung his bag over his shoulder and walked away. The three men followed. 'You know.' The well spoken man said to his comrades. 'I fancy myself a much more fierce combatant than Deluge, especially after witnessing his performance against our good fellow here.'

The other two laughed. 'I agree, Deluge held himself up as some godly soldier of sorts.' One said, a wormy looking man. 'This one doesn't look too tough a challenge, look how he runs from us.'

Who is Deluge? Cadaoir kept up his pace. He found himself back at the village square, now void of much activity. The Spear-woman and her entourage were nowhere in sight, but there were voices coming from the direction of a narrow street between blackened buildings. Cadaoir decided to walk in the opposite direction. The three men followed.

'We know that your pilgrimage involves some sort of duel now and again, why not indulge me?' The moustachioed man asked. 'I rather think that I will give better than Captain Deluge offered you.'

'I'll pass. Thank you.' Cadaoir waved his hand and increased the speed of his walk.

The men were not so pleased. 'Pilgrim!' The well spoken man with the moustache picked up his pace. 'Why deny us?'

Cadaoir stopped in the middle of the narrow ash filled street, the remains of burnt houses casting criss-crossed shadows over him. He faced the three men 'Do you want the truth?'

'Yes.'

'Can you accept the truth?' Cadaoir was blank faced, unreadable.

'Of course, yes!'

He turned around and began to walk away again. 'Even the three of you together could not defeat me.'

The men laughed. 'Try all of us then. We surely must match a strong opponent together. It's impossible for us not to. Wouldn't you like to make up for the duel you missed in Hattsu?'

Cadaoir stopped at that comment and thought on it. Maybe he was being hasty. Maybe they could prove a challenge. 'OK, we four can duel.' Cadaoir responded. 'Tomorrow, on the eastern edge of the village, near the quarry road to The Temple.'

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

'Why not now?' One of the men asked with a laugh.

Cadaoir scanned the area, already looking for his advantages. 'Are you sure you want this now?'

'We are!' Stated the moustachioed man.

'Very well.' Cadaoir placed down his backpack and stepped away from it, always prepared for a fight. 'Come.'

The men looked at each other hesitantly, Cadaoir hurried them. 'You have asked for this. Come!'

The men dropped their spears toward Cadaoir. The well spoken moustachioed man charged first. His cry rang out clearly and loudly. The worm of a man followed with a weak shout. Two long spearheads came at the Monk with speed. Cadaoir skipped backwards out of reach, the men continued to rush in, but the Monk kept his distance. He would have to find his way inside of their reach to win.

'Stop running!' They shouted. 'Fight!'

A spear was thrust forward but found no target, the second was spun around over the Soldier's head, meant to build momentum for a broad swing at Cadaoir's legs. Cadaoir rolled to his left and through the broken doorway of a house. The swing missed.

'Come!' Cadaoir demanded. The two men stepped through the still standing door frame one after the other. The third man showed his face out on the street, unsure whether to act or not. He watched for now.

Another thrust, another evasion. The spearhead of the wormy man found a wooden wall, half destroyed, and pierced it deeply. The Soldier struggled to remove the weapon. Without waiting for his friend, the well spoken warrior swung his pole-arm back in order to prime an attack, the spear instead collided with the door frame. Cadaoir reacted to the interruption, and with both hands he forcefully pushed the man with the moustache back out of the door, who then tumbled to the ground ungracefully.

The other man had finally removed the point of his spear from the wood, but found it quickly removed from his hands and thrown out into the street. Cadaoir took the man by the shoulders, pulled him off balance and pivoted quickly. The Soldier tripped over the Monk's hip and flipped head first, crashing into the ashen ground. He did not move afterwards, could not move in fact, as he was thoroughly knocked out.

The third man ran. He was up the street in no time at all, running for the village centre. Cadaoir did not bother to follow. He stepped out of the building and stood over the man in the road, his moustache twitching nervously. The pilgrim said nothing, he looked the man in the eye and shook his head disapprovingly, gathered his belongings and then strode away.

A waste of my time. He thought to himself. Autumn's package was destroyed, I should be replenishing my supplies, not playing with these... People...

His situation was bad. Cadaoir had expected a care package sent to him from a regular source, someone who would resupply him remotely at locations expressed by the Monk through mail, but the Post-Office and its stock was destroyed, his package included, as was the main store. So resupply was difficult. Another walk around the village was due. Cadaoir searched for anyone who would trade with him, but the NPCs had nothing. Their homes and entire economy were destroyed, it would be other players that he would have to trade with.

Cadaoir usually kept out of the affairs of people, but by the time he reached the village square again, he found himself feeling curious as to why the village was so heavily damaged. He knew the Churashi raiders, or pirates, whatever, were responsible, but could not think as to why they razed the place. He approached a group of neutral looking players who were talking amongst themselves. 'Hey.' He politely nodded.

A female Soldier in brown leather armour responded. 'Hey, what's up?'

'I was just wondering what happened here.'

A man answered, a wiry strong Scrapper type. 'Pirates attacked about a day ago. They came down the river and started setting fire to everything.'

The woman nodded. 'They usually just rob the post office or rough up the local authority. They came with more men than usual this time though. Really looking to mess the place up.'

'Do you have any ideas why?' Cadaoir asked.

'We've been discussing it all morning.' The Scrapper gestured with his hands. 'No clue what-so-ever.'

'Fun, I guess.' The third player added, a male Soldier with a short sword and buckler. They looked typically Western, from Hurdland. Likely unaffiliated.

'What happened to the pirates?' The Monk delved deeper.

'We saw some of them off, they didn't seem keen on fighting, just burning. Then a spear unit from Hattsu turned up and cleaned up pretty good. Though we've heard rumours of a couple of people getting away.' The woman cracked her knuckles. 'We chased one guy out of the village ourselves, a real fat one. I wish I-' She paused. 'Head's up guys, it's the captain from Hattsu. She doesn't look happy.'

From across the square came the Spear-woman that Cadaoir had been seeing recently. With her was a squad of five other Spear-men, and tailing them were the three men who had challenged him earlier. 'They're likely here for me. You three should take a stroll and keep out of trouble.'

'Might be a good idea.' The Scrapper agreed. The three players backed away.

'Hold them there!' The Captain commanded. The Spear-men pointed their weapons at the three and rushed to stop them. They froze.

'You, Monk.' The captain was angry. 'You have some explaining to do.' She stepped into Cadaoir's personal space. 'Why did you attack my men?'

Cadaoir glanced at the men he had encountered. They were sheepish, unable to look at him at all. 'They challenged me to a duel, I accepted. I won.'

'They say otherwise.'

They say otherwise? 'They lie.'

'My men would not lie to me!' She stated sternly.

Cadaoir was honest. 'They already have.' The woman looked deep into Cadaoir's eyes, searching for something. A flicker of a lie? Cadaoir saw how unsure she was, so he made a move to backup his story. He reached into his clothing and recovered the tattered yellow cloth that bore the symbol of his order of the Monk. 'This symbol is of my sect. I am a fighting Monk, yet I am forbidden to take part in any war. I am not to take any side or attack any soldier. Unless for the purpose of a duel.'

'Prince Philip is a Monk yet he commands our armies.' She replied. Cadaoir appeared completely unamused when that name was mentioned. He kept his silence. The Spear-woman continued, her voice lowered. 'I have to take the side of those under my command on this matter, you must be punished for assaulting Amaratese men at arms.'

'I will not be punished.' Cadaoir was a rock. 'I will walk away from here unharmed, as will you.'

The Captain looked unsure as what to do. The moustachioed man urged her on. 'Captain Kainda... You can not let this man off lightly.'

She sighed and whispered. 'I did not want to do this.' She turned to her men. 'I have some doubts, but will fight for the honour of Amaratsu despite them.' She turned back to Cadaoir. 'Tomorrow, at Chira's quarry, at the mountain called The Temple. You will prove your innocence through combat. Call it a trial by combat if you like.'

Cadaoir was pleased. 'A duel!'

Kainda shouted, a deep and angry shout. 'No duel! A trial by combat! This is not a test of your skill, but a test of your innocence, if you win. Or of your guilt, if you lose.' She walked to the three other players who had been held at spear point, all the while gesturing the remainder of her men toward Cadaoir. 'Take him away, I want him tied to a tree until tomorrow.'

Cadaoir did not oppose them. A real duel.