I grabbed my things and followed through the dark wood. Dan wouldn’t say a word, and that was fine. Something was off with him. He came to the battleground, where two humans and a wolf lay. Motionless. I recognized the wolf as Sparrow, and my jaw clenched. He was fine, right? He just needed some rest. He would be fine.
Dan crouched low, bending one knee over the wolf. He stayed like that for a moment and then turned to me with empty eyes. He started digging with his front paws. At that moment I stopped pretending and told myself the truth: Sparrow was dead. I didn’t move while Dan worked.
He lay our friend to rest, covered him, and let out a mournful howl. The wolves behind in the glade returned the howl. A deep rage simmered within me. Unexpectedly, Dan snarled and bounded off again. Towards the village. I scooped up a my things and followed without so much as a word.
It didn’t take long to reach the village. Or maybe it did, and my mind was moving so fast that it got there sooner than my body. I looked toward the village, the collection of wood and stone that made this happy little place home for dozens of denizens. They got to live here happily, while we were shoved down to hide in the shadows, labeled as monsters. I gritted my teeth. It wasn’t fair.
Dan and I calmly approached the village, and someone shouted in the near distance.
“Bring help! Only two have returned!” Two people rushed out to us, and I raised my burlap hood over my face.
“Only one of the others has respawned yet,” a man said as he neared. The other spoke up, a younger woman. “Let me examine your injuries quickly, you don’t want your bleed stacking.”
These were the players. The people who played in my new life as though it were a game. They had no time to react as we sprang forward. Dan made short work of the man’s cloak and laid him to pieces. I struck with my spear toward the woman, piercing her roughly in the neck. She collapsed to the ground, gasping and clutching her bleeding wound as I plunged my weapon again through her. The pair hadn’t a chance.
[+6 Souls]
[+10 Antagonist Points]
This time I looked at the pouch at the woman’s side. It contained a few coins. I left them and took notes. The weapon and armor she had equipped couldn't be taken. Dan and I continued toward the center of the town. I didn’t know what we planned on doing, and I suspect that Dan didn’t either. The death of Sparrow was fresh on my mind, and my own guilt led me to anger at this village, and the world that it sat on. I vowed I would bring them to ruin.
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Some specialized buildings were located around the largest building, a stone, and wood structure with multiple floors. Nobody was around at the early hour, but a light was on in the hall. The door exploded open.
From the threshold stepped a hulking warrior. Over six feet tall and armored in shiny silver, the new arrival turned his gaze toward us through the slit of his helmet. A red crest on his shield depicted a sword crossed with an arrow. The cherry on top was the name tag above the man’s health bar: [Braunfeld Village Sheriff]
The man’s gaze had pressure to it, and I could feel it pressing down on me. The sheriff charged. I planted my back foot onto the dew-laden grass and shoved my torch into the earth, freeing both hands for combat. The armored menace freed his polished sword from its place on his hip and raised his shield.
“Your time has come, fiendish vagrants!” The man’s voice rumbled. He lunged toward us.
I had almost no time to react as the sword approached my torso. I twisted, and the sword pierced through the side of my robe. It slid in between my ribs, deep into my ribcage, scraping multiple bones in the process.
[HP: 37/75]
In a moment of tactical inspiration, I hooked my leg around my opponents. He was locked into me, unable to maneuver his weapon properly. In my peripheral, a streak of fur and fang slammed into the side of the Sherriff’s helmet. I noticed slight indents where the claws had glanced off shiny metal, but little damage was dealt. Kent spoke up,
“Go for the joints of the armor!”
I came in at a strange angle with my spear in one hand and missed a jab at the slit of his helmet. I cursed inwardly at my failed attempt. The sheriff twisted his sword, locking it against multiple ribs. The kite shield slammed me from an inch away. It had little momentum built, but the pressure broke multiple ribs where the sword had been wedged. The sword exploded out of me, arcing a half circle toward Dan.
[HP: 17/75]
A moment of panic riddled my mind as I saw my health plummet. I didn’t want to die, this was my last chance, dammit! I gritted my teeth and planted my feet. The back of the Sherriff was facing me giving me time to plan. Reaching to my side where the jar of tar was dangling, I grabbed it and smashed it against the back of the knight’s head. It exploded into ceramic shards and a thick ooze. Dan had taken a cut to the chest and was slashing with little effect in his beastly form.
The enemy was occupied. I grabbed my torch out of the ground and slammed the flame into the head of the opponent. Flames immediately sprung to shroud the sheriff, building quickly in temperature and intensity. In moments, the fire cast light across the nearby buildings. The Sherrif was clawing at his helmet, no longer concerned with the furred menace. Dan slammed the Sherrif to the ground, where he rolled and Clawed at his head, crawling toward the town hall.
The metal armor trapped the heat and cooked him as he gurgled, his health bar plunging to zero. The fire sprang onto the wall of the town hall building where he lay, and I honestly couldn’t care less. I sat on the ground and stared at my fractured bones, warming myself with the bonfire of a town hall before me.