Tale Swapper
(Unverified Madman)
- Location
- Lost Among a Sea of Imaginings and Dreams
Kel Vagabonde
Mission 1 Commencing
Bandits. At this point, as we approach the village, the enemy seems no better than bandits. Flames lick from buildings, men and women in rough homespun and undyed wool fleeing from others in much the same. Raucous laughter and screams fill the air.
That's not to say that that I couldn't feel for some of those who had turned to the axe and sword to earn their bread. We were no different, in a way. Save that when we fought, we did so under the aegis of the law, our actions laid bare for the courts to condemn or condone as they wished. These men were likely hoping to melt into the woods, go back to their ordinary lives or go on to kill again after they were done here.
That couldn't stand. Dismounting from Shaggy, I loped forward, behind several of the more skilled mercenaries, spear and hastily assembled shield at the ready. Before long, though, they're all scrambling for their own targets, leaving me alone to face the flames and those that set them.
The first man I encounter barely knows how to swing the rusted sword he brandishes. I spin my spear around, shield deflecting his swing before the butt of my spear drives into his gut. As he staggers, my targe catches him in the forehead, leaving him slumped and groaning upon the ground. The second man behind him requires me to sidestep, but the over-aggressive swing of his axe means that I can plant my foot on the back, then smash my gloved fist into his face as he tries to pull it free of the ground.
Then I find the one setting the blazes. A tall woman, magic crackling and sparking around her fingertips, lobbing bolts of fire into men trying desperately to escape a burning building. From the looks of it, it was a local militia's office or town hall, a structure of stone instead of brick or wood. s I advance, she whirls, blasts of fire forcing me to maneuver. She drives blast upon blast at me, and I'm only able to stop her by slamming her with a Nosferatu burst- but it's not enough. Second later, she's back up, able to avoid my swings as she readies a more powerful blast.
This time, when my spear comes around I grip it properly, driving the broad-headed spear point at her midsection. She's nearly blinded by the flames gathering in her palms- she doesn't see the blade coming until it's too late. The sharp spearhead tears through her thin robes and patched leather, tearing open her lower intestine. She falls, screaming. It's a gut wound, and from what the healers tell me, that's something I can't fix with my skill. I step forward, and her pain-filled brown eyes meet mine. I give her the only mercy I can.
My Blood sings at the death. My Heart recoils, dreading the moment the light leaves her eyes. My Mind is touched by neither.
I know myself. There's still a job to do, each enemy an objective, a task to complete. I can feel satisfaction at that, though the work itself is distasteful and horrid.
But even as my mind calmly works through the facts of the battle before me, the weight of guilt slowly creeping through my heart will not abate. The guilt, the regret- those will come later. They're merely held in abeyance.
For now, we have a job to do. I'll mourn the deaths of those I killed and the self I was when the battle's done.
Mission 1 Commencing
Bandits. At this point, as we approach the village, the enemy seems no better than bandits. Flames lick from buildings, men and women in rough homespun and undyed wool fleeing from others in much the same. Raucous laughter and screams fill the air.
That's not to say that that I couldn't feel for some of those who had turned to the axe and sword to earn their bread. We were no different, in a way. Save that when we fought, we did so under the aegis of the law, our actions laid bare for the courts to condemn or condone as they wished. These men were likely hoping to melt into the woods, go back to their ordinary lives or go on to kill again after they were done here.
That couldn't stand. Dismounting from Shaggy, I loped forward, behind several of the more skilled mercenaries, spear and hastily assembled shield at the ready. Before long, though, they're all scrambling for their own targets, leaving me alone to face the flames and those that set them.
The first man I encounter barely knows how to swing the rusted sword he brandishes. I spin my spear around, shield deflecting his swing before the butt of my spear drives into his gut. As he staggers, my targe catches him in the forehead, leaving him slumped and groaning upon the ground. The second man behind him requires me to sidestep, but the over-aggressive swing of his axe means that I can plant my foot on the back, then smash my gloved fist into his face as he tries to pull it free of the ground.
Then I find the one setting the blazes. A tall woman, magic crackling and sparking around her fingertips, lobbing bolts of fire into men trying desperately to escape a burning building. From the looks of it, it was a local militia's office or town hall, a structure of stone instead of brick or wood. s I advance, she whirls, blasts of fire forcing me to maneuver. She drives blast upon blast at me, and I'm only able to stop her by slamming her with a Nosferatu burst- but it's not enough. Second later, she's back up, able to avoid my swings as she readies a more powerful blast.
This time, when my spear comes around I grip it properly, driving the broad-headed spear point at her midsection. She's nearly blinded by the flames gathering in her palms- she doesn't see the blade coming until it's too late. The sharp spearhead tears through her thin robes and patched leather, tearing open her lower intestine. She falls, screaming. It's a gut wound, and from what the healers tell me, that's something I can't fix with my skill. I step forward, and her pain-filled brown eyes meet mine. I give her the only mercy I can.
My Blood sings at the death. My Heart recoils, dreading the moment the light leaves her eyes. My Mind is touched by neither.
I know myself. There's still a job to do, each enemy an objective, a task to complete. I can feel satisfaction at that, though the work itself is distasteful and horrid.
But even as my mind calmly works through the facts of the battle before me, the weight of guilt slowly creeping through my heart will not abate. The guilt, the regret- those will come later. They're merely held in abeyance.
For now, we have a job to do. I'll mourn the deaths of those I killed and the self I was when the battle's done.