When he woke up, it was still pitch black, the fire was slowly burning away, and the moon shone brightly. He looked around, searching for Maria, since he woke up on his own, to take over the watch. At first, he couldn’t find her, but upon closer examination he concluded that the dark bundle curled by the campfire was her. She fell asleep before she could wake him up. Normally he should get angry, but he didn’t for some reason. Why did he even expect her to stay awake, especially when she had nothing to do. Couldn’t expect a girl like her to stay awake. It wasn’t especially cold, but Vladislav was still basically naked, so the blanked he had over him was the only thing to keep him warm. He took a look on his gambeson, which was already almost dry.

“Alright then.” He said and put the gambeson, together with his trousers on. He then took the blanked and covered Maria with it instead. After all, she didn’t have anything but the rags Vladislav lent her. She didn’t have it any better. He looked on the moon. He guessed that he was asleep for four, perhaps five hours. He was already used to a lack of sleep when on the road. When he travelled alone, he usually slept for two, maybe three hours at most. That was also why he tried to sleep in inns if possible. The safety and good sleep were well worth the few coins a room costed.

“It’s really strange.” He said out loud and chuckled. He didn’t even realize how much he missed human companionship. Travelling alone for years really took its toll on him, conditioning his mind to only think of himself and nothing more. If he could, he’d really left her and the bandits alone – simply because he’d thought it would be too much trouble to help her. He was thankful that the circumstances didn’t allow him that, because otherwise he wouldn’t be able to have such a nice chat.

As he sat in the warmth of the fireplace, lost deep in thought, he barely didn’t notice the sticks breaking under some kind of weight. Then he heard soft, almost silent murmur among the trees. He became alerted. He quickly extinguished the already small fire and swiftly woke up Maria.

“Hey, Maria, wake up. We aren’t alone.” He whispered as he shook with her. It was perhaps a reflex or the fact that Maria wasn’t used to such a rude awakening that she almost shouted her dissatisfaction. To that purpose, Vladislav simply had to put his hand on her mouth.

“Shh, or they’ll hear us. Calm down, they don’t seem to know about us yet.” Said Vladislav in a soothing voice. At least he tried to, but he himself was pretty nervous. They both fell silent, listening to the surrounding sounds.

“You saw the guys on the road. They have to be somewhere here. If it only weren’t so pitch black.” Complained one of the intruders.

“But who the hell killed those two? The lass shouldn’t be able to use any weapons.” Said another one, bringing up an interesting point.

“Perhaps someone was conveniently travelling this road too, so he helped her. Who knows? It doesn’t matter, you can kill whoever is with her. We only need the girl.” Answered another with an authoritative voice. Perhaps their leader?

Vladislav calmed himself as much as was humanly possible in that situation and then he whispered.

“Listen, we need to run. There are at least seven of them, which is way too much for us. I don’t think we can beat them. Understand?”

Maria was stunned by the situation and managed only to nod in understanding. He took his hand from her mouth and started to pack the things he needed. As he was putting his armour quietly into his bag, he turned to Maria.

“Take your uniform with you, you’ll change once we’re safe. Also, take my chest piece. I can’t fit my whole armour into the bag, so I’d at least have the chest piece with me.” He whispered as he realized his bag was way too full to fit his armour in. He had to leave his leg and arm pieces here. He only managed to get the boots and the helmet on. Thankfully, they didn’t make as much noise.

Maria nodded upon hearing his request. He put the bag on, took his halberd and listened to the sounds. It seemed like they had bad orientation due to the darkness, as they still complained that they can’t see anything.

“Now is our chance. We can’t take the path which led us here, so we’ll have to go through the thicket. Brace yourself.” He said in a quiet voice, taking Maria’s hand and leading her along the cliffside into the bushes. If his senses didn’t become dull, they should arrive onto the main road a bit further than where they entered the forest path. He heard Maria’s heavy breathing. She was no doubt scared – but so was he. For some reason, he felt an unfathomable fear, the kind he hadn’t feared in a long, long while. But despite that, it was somewhat thrilling.

“Don’t you smell anything?” asked Vladislav Maria after a while. He smelt a weird stench just as he began hearing the men. The wind blew to Vladislav, so perhaps it was a stench those men possessed. But it was weirdly familiar. He asked Maria to confirm something.

She was taken aback by his question. Apparently, still in shock, she only let out a silent “No.” and that was it. Vladislav frowned.

The thicket was barely passable, but it was enough. He got scratched several times by the vines and whatnot, but he at least left a somewhat walkable path behind him for Maria. He felt weirdly protective of her. Perhaps it was the fact that he already had a sort of contract with her, so he felt responsible for her well-being. Or perhaps it was simply due to the fact that she appeared so vulnerable in that exact moment that he had an urge to protect her like some small, cute animal.

Finally, after another few minutes, they left the thicket and arrived onto the main road. He looked behind him to ensure Maria was there and then he relaxed a bit.

“Alright, seems like we’re out of the pickle for now. But we have to move. It won’t be long before they find out our camping spot. Then they’ll come looking for us again. Change quickly and let’s go. We have no time to waste.” Said Vladislav, still in a quiet voice. Maria again simply nodded. Vladislav then reached out for the chest piece she was holding and put it on, turning around from her as she was putting on her dress.

It lasted a minute at most until they were ready to embark. Maria seemed to be calming down a bit from her initial shock. Vladislav decided to pry a bit.

“Those men were clearly after you. You must be a big shot in Praga, aren’t you?” asked Vladislav with in a carefree tone, meaning to lighten the mood. Maria simply smiled.

“Maybe.” She answered, apparently not wishing to discuss this right now. Vladislav’s attempt to pry has diminished and he didn’t bother to continue trying.

Out of a sudden, he smelt the same stench he smelt before. He became alerted.

“Stay behind me!” he shouted on Maria as he saw eight figures emerging from behind them. It seems they caught on. Of course they did.

He also realized what that stench was. He never smelt it on any human, so he didn’t realize it at first, but he now recognized the smell. It was the smell of corruption, usually found on monsters. These men, who were now closing in on them, were tainted with it. How or why? He also wondered, but it wasn’t the time for these kinds of questions.

“You caused us a bit of a mischief, didn’t you, missy? Hiring a bodyguard? That was something we definitely didn’t expect. But that doesn’t matter. Your father was a fool for letting you travel alone. The roads today are dangerous, you know?” said the one with the authoritative voice. He really was a leader, Vladislav thought.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“You there, if you give the lass to us, we might let you go. But only if you cooperate. What do you say?” Asked the same man.

There were eight opponents, all fairly well equipped. One with a sword and shield, another had a spear, one had a zweihander, really, an equipment that common brigand would never have. Vladislav knew that they were screwed. Normally. But he knew what he had to do. Protect Maria at all costs. And so, he decided.

Instead of answering the brigand’s question, he knelt down, his armour clunking, and began to pray. Maria, dumbstruck by his sudden action, began to shout in panic.

“What are you doing? This is no place to pray! Please, Vladislav!” she cried in desperation. The brigands merely chuckled.

Oh, the High God, father almighty, please, grant your strength to me, your mortal servant,

“It seems your bodyguard has began praying for mercy. How about you simply go with us?” asked one of the brigands. The other also began taunting him.

“Look at him. What a coward.” Laughed one of them.

to cleanse the corruption, the filth ravaging this land

“He really is. What a loser. His weak god can’t save them. Let’s go, guys, just take her.”

and to purge anyone partaking in its curse. Father, I beg of you, relinquish your power onto me, for I will extinguish the flame of corruption in your name. I plead you, Radegast.

As the brigands approached, a ray of light shone from the dark sky on Vladislav, illuminating him fully. His prayer was answered. He stood up, the halberd in his hands shining with golden rays. Around him a golden sphere was created, purging any impurities in its wake. The brigands stiffened upon the sight and Maria was in awe.

“What the fuck is that?” cried one of the brigands.

“The fuck I know. Surround him! He can’t kill all of us!” shouted the leader.

The expression Vladislav made was aggressive. Bloodthirsty even.

“The corruption must be purged.” He said in a calm yet imposing voice. He then leapt forward, stabbing one of the assailants before they realized what was going on. This was enough for the others to focus again, and they surrounded Vladislav. He looked around him, his expression confident.

“May you suffer for eternity.” He proclaimed as he took a swing with his halberd, cutting down another man. One of the bandits tried to take a stab at Vladislav. “Watch out, Maria screamed as she was trying to materialize an ice spike. It took her much longer due to the pressure she was under. But Vladislav paid her warning no heed. As the spear was about to reach him, it stopped and hit some invisible force around Vladislav. Noticing that, Vladislav turned around and stabbed the attacker. Now there were only five more left.

“How? Is he some kind of mage?” shouted one of the remaining brigands after witnessing the spear being stopped by some invisible force.

Maria finally materialized the ice spike and hit another bandit straight in the head. The remaining four jumped onto Vladislav simultaneously, hoping to break through his invisible armour.

“Let’s attack simultaneously! It must have some limit, that power.” Said the leader, who was still alive.

Vladislav stabbed another one, but he was pushed from behind by the powerful strike that although blocked still had a force behind it. He stumbled forward, giving the assailants another opportunity to strike. The leader took his weapon and stabbed Vladislav. And this time, he was successful. His shortspear stabbed right into Vladislav’s shoulder, which was normally guarded by his arm piece. It hurt, it burned, and Vladislav cried out in pain. The corruption this spear was soaked in threatened to spread through his body.

“See, I told you! We can kill him.” Shouted the leader as he pushed the spear further into Vladislav.

“No!” cried Maria from the background, desperately trying to form another spell. Vladislav heard her shout, grabbed the spear and forced it from his shoulder. Then he swung around with his halberd to force the bandits away. After that he quickly repaid the man in kind before finishing the remaining two men with a swing. Then he fell to his knees and began to pray.

Maria watched him from behind as he felled the men. When she saw him also fall down, she ran towards him as quickly as possible. She crouched right next to him and talked in a soothing voice.

“Are you alright? We have to treat your injury.”

But Vladislav was still deep in prayer. She decided to wait until he was done. She didn’t have to wait for long. After a brisk moment, he stopped praying and grabbed his arm.

“Quickly, give me a bandage. There should be some in by bag. Hurry.” Said Vladislav in a serious tone. Maria quickly followed his orders. She took out the bandage and wanted to treat his wound. But Vladislav stopped her.

“No, not there. Give it to me.” He said, grabbing the bandage and wrapping the bandage and tightening it just under the wound. Maria was flabbergasted.

“What about the wound?” she asked worryingly.

“The wound is nothing. The corruption is worse. I had to stop it before it devours my arm. This is only a temporary solution.” He answered.

“Will you be okay?” asked Maria, sounding as if she was about to cry.

“I think I will. I won’t die from it, at least. Thanks to Radegast’s protection.” He said with a smile. Maria broke into tears.

“I was so scared.” She wailed. “I didn’t know what to do. I’m sorry, this is all because of me. It’s because of me you got hurt.” It seemed that the stress got to her. She began to cry, tears pouring out from her eyes. It was clear she wasn’t used to such situations. After all, if she only recently finished the academy, she couldn’t have saw some real combat. Vladislav hugged her with his healthy arm to console her.

“Don’t worry, it’s alright. It’s all part of a deal. But perhaps I will raise my price. After all, this was more trouble than I imagined.” He said with an obvious sarcastic tone to lighten the mood. After all, it was finally over.

--

It took about thirty minutes for Maria to fully calm down. During that time, Vladislav was kneeling among the corpses, murmuring some kind of prayer. Then they hit the road again. After another thirty minutes, Maria was, once again, the cheerful girl she was when Vladislav met her. At least it looked like it.

“I really didn’t know what to think, when you suddenly knelt and began praying right in front of them. What was that? And why did you do it?” she asked, once again full of curiosity.

Vladislav felt like he had no other option than to explain.

“Do you remember how I asked you about the smell? How you said you didn’t smell anything?”

“Yeah. But that might’ve been due to the shock, especially if the smell was weak.” Answered Maria.

“No, trust me, you would’ve noticed it. That stench is recognizable anywhere in any situation, as long as you know it.” He said. “It was the stench of corruption.” He explained. “Monsters usually smell that way. It’s really easily recognizable.”

“Wait, but how come you can smell it and I don’t? I never even heard that corruption has a smell.” Inquired Maria.

“Well, that would be obvious. It’s because you aren’t a priest of Radegast.” Answered Vladislav with an unease. He really wasn’t comfortable with telling other things about him, but he felt like he had an obligation to explain it to her.

“Priest of Radegast? You? But then… It doesn’t make sense, right? Why would a priest of Radegast also be a zbrojnosh?” asked Maria with a surprise.

It didn’t make sense. Radegast’s priests were in churches or monasteries and ventured out only when there was corruption to cleanse. Everyone knew that.

“You know how I told you that my parents died and all that? Well, that was a lie. At least, I have no idea whether they are alive or not. What I know is that my earliest memories are from a monastery, where they took me in.” said Vladislav.

“And why aren’t you there now? Why didn’t you remain?” inquired Maria further.

“Let’s just say that circumstances are to blame. I’m also allowed to have some secrets, aren’t I?” he said with a smile. Maria had no other option than to stop her questioning. At least on this topic.

“So what was that prayer? You got some kind of shield around you, and your halberd shone. That was really cool!” she said cheerfully. Vladislav couldn’t find the girl that cried just a moment ago anywhere. He smiled.

“What are you, a child? Being excited over nothing.” He laughed. “I simply called out to Radegast for help to cleanse the corruption, and he answered. It’s just another tool we priests have to fight corruption, similar to cleansing it through prayer.” He explained.

“So when you knelt over their corpses, that was cleansing?” she asked, still not satisfied.

“Exactly.” He answered simply. He then looked at his hand and saw the corruption slowly spreading.

“We need to find a church. There they can cleanse the corruption from my body. Radegast is slowing the spread, but it’s not something I can cleanse on my own. When corruption spreads through body, it becomes much stronger and potent as it literally devours your energy.” He explained, because he was sure that was what Maria was going to ask about next. Her soft smile only confirmed it.

--

It wasn’t until a day and a half passed when they reached civilization. They were in one of the smaller villages on the road to Praga. It took them longer than Vladislav thought, and the corruption was becoming a big issue. He breathed hardly, almost panting and the arm hurt and throbbed as if there was fire burning inside. At this point, it was Maria that was helping him more than he was helping her. When they camped, she used some healing spells to keep the pain in check and even now she was helping him walk. When they reached the village, she asked the villagers to help her bring him into the church where they could help him. He was losing his consciousness as the corruption grew and spread. Any longer, and his arm would be at risk of amputation. He didn’t want that.

As he lay in one of the beds in the church, he saw Maria leaving the room for whatever reason. And then, his vision faded into black.