Chapter Ten

"We're what?"

I glared at Cantrol. I had known that he wouldn't like the idea, but this had been what Goombuckle wanted to do in the first place. There was no way I would let a snob like Cantrol stop me from do this.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, child! It's only natural that a pupil of a cleric of Fharlanghn would want to do it. In fact, my deity demands that young acolytes take part!" Wexler proclaimed.

"Listen old man! I was put in charge of Chris' care and protection, not you! I don't think that allowing Chris to go off on some quest that was given to her by a total and complete stranger would be very responsible of me!"

"Oh yes! And you've been doing such a good job of keeping her safe, oh Master Cantrol! Why, letting her wander around by herself at night is very responsible! If you were really keeping tabs on her safety, then how precisely was it that she met these 'strangers' who proposed the job?"

I could see that Cantrol was struggling with his anger. "And where were you, geezer?" he demanded. "If she is really your pupil, then why aren't you making sure that she doesn't get herself hurt, or even dead?"

"Once again, unknowledgeable baby, it is part of Fharlanghn's law," Wexler replied in a cool voice. "Those who cannot survive on their own in society or on the road are simply not meant to be clerics."

"It sounds like Fharlanghn is quite cold towards his clerics," spat Cantrol.

"We clerics of Fharlanghn are called to aid fellow adventurers! If we cannot help ourselves, then how can we possibly be expected to help others? Unlike certain other gods I can name, Fharlanghn favors no one race or type of person."

I could see Cantrol's mind working to think of something to say. I expected it to be something about superiority. But before Cantrol could speak, Wexler continued.

"Besides, if Miss Chris here were to get into some kind of trouble," Wexler's face showed that he was about to make a striking blow, "you could always just use that ring of yours."

Cantrol's eyes opened wide. I was equally as shocked at the attack. I guessed that Wexler must have been brooding over the whole ring incident ever since it happened.

"You're afraid to use it? Aren't you, boy?" Wexler asked after the silence had filled its space. His voice was calm and silent while his eyes burrowed their way through Cantrol.

"N-no," Cantrol stuttered, trying to beat back the advancing eyes. "Why would I-"

"Because, you understand its power," Wexler cut him off.

"G-get away from me, you senile, old coot!" Cantrol shouted in anger and retreated from the inn.

"So Chris," Wexler turned to me after a moment, his voice and visage now in stark contrast to its previous state, "shall I now teach you the morning ritual?"

"Yes… sir."

"Very good."

…

"So, these are the people you're traveling with?"

"Yes they are, Nick."

"I must say, they are not quite as impressive as yourself. But I'm sure they are not two dimensional. At least I hope."

I was standing in the front room of the place that, I had learned, was more commonly referred to as "The Guild". "The Guild Master", also better known as Nicholas Namigurai, was wearing a chain shirt and was resting in his chair again. And again he was lounging about with absolutely no interest in the little assembly before him. Meanwhile, Cantrol and Wexler were getting a little aggravated as well as a little fidgety; after all, they were surrounded, indirectly, on three sides by the rest of Nick's crew.

"I'll admit it is good to finally have a cleric on board. That should help cut down on the cost of healing," Nick said as he let his lazy eyes gloss over Wexler. "And I don't suppose it would hurt to have some more muscle readily available," Nick sighed with an absentminded look at Cantrol.

I looked over at the two as well. Wexler was completely neutral to the comment, almost like he hadn't heard it. Cantrol, on the other hand, seemed to be a bit insulted at being referred to as "muscle". I didn't understand why he would be. But at the same time there were quite a few things about Cantrol that I didn't understand, so I let it slip.
"Well," Nick yawned getting up form his seat, "I guess we should be on our way. We'll be lucky if we can make it to our destination by nightfall. You guys have got everything you need, right?"

"Yep!" I smiled as I presented the leather sac that I had bought to hold my stuff. "We've got rations and torches," I held up the object in my other hand, "and I got a bedroll."

"That's great," Nick smiled back, "but why are you carrying your stuff."

I started to answer but he stepped forward and took the bag and bedroll before I could get a word out. I started to tell him that he didn't have to carry my stuff for me, but he briskly walked over and tied them to Cantrol's backpack. I nearly laughed as Cantrol stared at the added weight.

"What do you think you're doing?" he objected.

"Well, you're here to protect her, right?" Nick asked with a grin.

"Yes, and it would be easier for me to do that with less weight."

Nick shook his head and chuckled. "You're missing the point, kid. How will she be able to run away when you get your butt kicked if she has to carry the stuff?"

"I won't be beat. I'm stronger than those little beasts," Cantrol argued.

"Oh, really? Well maybe I don't agree because all I see you carrying is a light weight, wimpy spear," Nick gave Cantrol's spear a little slap for emphasis. He then jerked his thumb at Norg. "I can tell that Norg actually has some muscle on him just by looking at that great club that he's carrying and the falchion. If you really want to make me think that you're strong enough to make dragging you along on this trip worthwhile," he put his face close to Cantrol's and smirked, "then show me how much you can lug."

…

Nick was a bit off with the time. We had stopped once at midday for a quick meal and had stopped for a while for a rest a few hours after that. By the time we had stopped to make camp it was dark and Cantrol was lagging a good twenty or twenty five feet behind us. He had been puffing and sweating, but to my surprise he didn't complain once.

Nick seemed equally impressed; especially given that Wexler had complained about carrying too much for an old man and Nick had been too happy to transfer a large portion of it to Cantrol's pack. He now sat beside Cantrol, offering him some of his share of a pheasant that the ranger, Ronever, had managed to shoot. Nick lightened up the rest of the group as well with a funny story about a Pixie that had stolen from Hill Giant. It helped every one loosen up, given our conditions.

We had assembled a ways off from a goblin "school". Well, at least that's what Nick had told us. Apparently there was a grouping of huts that was the center of the goblin's community of magic. Nick had told me that it was where all goblins who took up wizardry studied. Our job was very complex, but basically it boiled down to destroy everything.

And I was nervous.

There is no way I could lie to you and say that I felt fine. I looked around every few seconds. I worried if the goblins were stalking us, if they had managed to see Nick and Ronever who had scouted ahead to the edge of their establishments. Had I been thinking logically, I wouldn't have been worried. The two of them were like shadows as they passed through the evening forest. Upon their return I had nearly stabbed Nick because he had snuck up on me while I was eating.

But being attacked wasn't my only worry. I was also unnerved by the thought of attacking. This would be the first time that I ever fought a creature that was not human. This would be so much different than anything I had ever experienced. I knew in my core that there was something wrong with simply attacking them. I wasn't able to say what was wrong with it exactly. After all, they did attack town every so often. This was just payback, or protection even.

Eventually I realized that I thinking about it too much. As per my life law, therefore, I did my best not to dwell on it any longer. I found ignoring all the thoughts to be a bit difficult, though. Hoping that some sleep would stop them, I got up and started to walk away.

"Where are you going, Chris?" Nick asked.

"I'm going to go to bed now so that I'll be fully rested for tomorrow," I replied and signified the bedroll I was carrying.

Nick frowned and I got a bad feeling in my stomach. "Chris, I talked it over with Ronever and we thought that a surprise attack at night would be best."

"What?" My eyes were widening. It seemed to me a little cowardly to attack someone in their sleep.

"Listen, I'm fully aware that you've never done this before so I'm going to explain some things to you," Nick voice grew grave and his lazy eyes became dark. "This kinds of thing… it's not like your normal adventure, I'll admit. The truth is that we've only done this once before. I know you were expecting a normal adventure, and believe me, I wish I could take you on one, one that would make for a great camp fire story. But this mission that was given to my guild is very urgent. We have to get this done as soon as possible. I suppose I was being a bit selfish when I invited you; I guess I was only thinking about the added security that you and the rest of your group would add. I should have thought about how it would affect you. I promise, though, I will take you on a real adventure," his eyes grew bright and pleading. "I just would like this one favor from you. Please, help me out on this one."

I stared at him and felt him search me. I thought hard about it. Basically, we were going to kill a bunch of other creatures. They weren't humans, so I figured that it would be like killing some kind of animal.

That's it, I thought, it'd be like killing a pack of wolves that had been attacking citizens of town. But… wolves aren't smart enough to create magic. So how smart do you have to be to cast spells?

Then I thought of something else. How many villages were wiped out when the people of Palané first landed here? How many people were misplaced because we took over the land?

"Yes," I said.

"'Yes' what?" Nick asked carefully.

"Yes, we will help you."

"Thank you," Nick smiled. It looked like Cantrol's luggage had been taken off his shoulders. "Thank you, thank you. I promise the next thing we do after getting this over with is to go on a great adventure."

I smiled back and sat back down. I stared at the fire and felt good about myself. I was going to share something with Goombuckle. I would experience what he had when he had started to claim this land. I'd be able to tell him how brave I had been. How I had destroyed a village in the name of Salidemthía.

After a long time Nick stood up and started briefing us.

"Now, how silent can you two be?" he asked Cantrol and Wexler.

"Well," Wexler slowly said, "this scale mail isn't exactly the quietest, and I've never really done much sneaking around in the first place."

"I'm not one to sneak up on my opponent either," Cantrol asserted with his normal air of superiority.

"Alright, good enough," Nick said quickly, "Norg isn't exactly the lightest on his feet either."

"Which means…" Cantrol prodded after Nick turned back around and started heading away from the camp fire.

Norg landed a big, meaty hand on Cantrol's shoulder that seemed to almost knock him over. "Means we da chaos."

"Oh, great," Cantrol muttered and got up.

Ronever dumped a bucket of water on the camp fire and everything was dark.

We walked in a group with no specific order or pattern to it. I cringed at how much noise Cantrol, Norg, and Wexler were making. Fortunately, we were far enough away from the goblin's settlement by the time Nick had us stop. He signaled us together into a little group and gave last minute instructions.

"Alright, this is going to be very hectic and very dangerous." He turned to me. "Chris, are you sure that you're still ok doing this?" I nodded. "Good. Now, those of you who will be disturbing all peace and turning these woods into a nightmare for those little beasts, I need you to give us about a three hundred count to get into position. Once you get done it's really simple: just charge in screaming with your weapons out and act like you're leading the armies of the abyss. As for the rest of us, we'll split into two groups. Chris and I will attack from the east south-east flank and Ronever and Williams will attack from the north-west." Nick stopped to make sure everyone understood. Once he got some sort of sign from everyone that his instructions were understood he continued. "And remember the number one rule: watch each others back. That applies doubly for you three." His finger swept from Wexler to Norg and finally to Cantrol. He thought for a moment then shrugged. "Well, I guess that's it. I'll see you all at the center when it's all over."

We broke up and circled around as quickly and quietly as possible. It was a bit difficult for me but Nick seemed to have no trouble. He slowed down enough for me to keep up, though. After what I guessed was about "two hundred count" Nick stopped. He signaled me closer to him and I obliged. We had a clear view between two huts to the fire in the center of them.

"You have an extra dagger, correct?" he whispered.

I was a bit surprised, I hadn't thought of getting another one. "No, I didn't think I'd need another one."

"Well let this be a lesson. Don't ever go adventuring, or the like, without a spare weapon. Sometimes things can happen and you'll want to have the reassurance of a second."

Nick handed me one of his and I thanked him for it. There was enough moonlight that I could make out a little bit of his face. It wasn't the careless, absentminded face that I had seen before. In a way it was like the face he had on when he had attacked me. But the vibrant, quick eyes were coated with darkness this time and there was no smile on his lips.

A blood-thirsty scream destroyed what had been a silent night. The ferocity in it vowed that the previous condition would never be restored.

Nick looked at me one last time and then was off. I raced after him and saw small monsters flicker past the fire. Nick tore past the hut and into the fire's glow. He quickly stabbed a goblin that hadn't realized his presence as the goblin raced by. The goblin went down in an instant.

By the time I got to the edge of the hut there was complete pandemonium. I paused and looked around. There were a lot more goblins than I would have expected to come from tents. Some where in the ruckus I thought I heard Nick call my name. Despite the average height of the enemies, a quick survey didn't reveal him to me so I stalked around the perimeter and tried to pick out an easy target.

I sent a few that hadn't seen me as they ran by. As I watched I could see random sparks of colors and sometimes flames as the goblins attacked. I wasn't even sure if they were hitting their real enemy.

Just like a bunch of animals, I reassured myself. Their just a bunch of wild animals that we'll keep from causing anyone else harm.

After a few seconds I found a goblin standing stock-still in fear of the chaos. I snuck up behind him and raised both hands over my head in preparation to kill him. I knew I was smiling. This was so simple and it was drawing me closer to Goombuckle. He would be proud of me. And finally I would have a story to tell him. Sure, I might spice it up a little; make it more worthy of his attention. But the best part was that…

This was only the beginning…

As I struck, though, a movement caught my eye. One of the creatures, I assumed a female of their race, was running. I saw her bend down as she ran and scoop up a bundle. She pressed it firmly to her chest and sprinted for dear life. But she ran right by Norg. He turned around and saw her. Without even the slightest thought he ran her through the back with his falchion as she passed.

The bundle hit the ground…

And over the screams and shouts…

I heard a baby's cry…

And suddenly…

Suddenly everything changed…

Time had slowed. The woman laid on her stomach on the ground, with the sword sticking out of her back. She reached forward, her face clearly showing that she wanted to hold her baby one last time. But the snarling monster wouldn't have it. The beast tore the sword out violently and made one final slice. With that slice my world completely froze.

My eyes, the only things left moving, frantically looked around for a friendly face, but all my people were being slaughtered by strange animals. Then I saw a figure at the opposite end of settlement.

Goombuckle!

But he appeared to be crying. I couldn't understand why. This had been what he had done, right? Yet as I thought about it, he had never once told me a story about any of these things. Why hadn't he? It could only be… that he knew the truth. And he was now crying… because I had to learn it the hard way.

Time started again and large poleaxe struck his stomach so hard that it came out his back. The axe kept singing and pushed him to the ground.

Time stopped again and I realized a horrible truth. Everything was the same as the last time. I was striking at the same angle, in the same formation, and from the same perspective as he had. I looked down at my target. During the brief amount of time that time had begun moving again, my hands had moved the dagger closer to the victim's neck. But it wasn't just any victim. It wasn't a monster.

It was Philippe!

No, No, No! my mind shouted.

Or at least I thought that it had been said in my mind. But as my hands went lower, moving against my will, the head started to turn. It turned as if it had heard me shout it. But it never made it all the way around. My dagger struck into the back of Philippe's neck, through the cartilage between the vertebrae, through the throat. My arms tore and cut through a large vein in the neck.

I felt my legs give out and I landed onto of the body that was moaning, but not moving. It had been a horrible way to send it to its death. Why had I done it? I didn't want to. But I did it. I didn't even know that I knew how to do it. I felt my body convulse as I threw up. Despite it all, though, I didn't move. I didn't want to. I wanted a goblin to come along and kill me off. I didn't want to live with this nagging thought. And it sickened me even more that the thought was about my self.

I had killed Philippe.

Had there been any doubt before. It was non-existent now. I was given another chance to relive the situation. And I had struck. I had finally killed Philippe.

As the thoughts crashed into each other as they flew around my mind I saw another goblin come up to me. At first I thought that my prayer was answered. But he was stumbling and it seemed that the gods had sent him to die on top of me.

I continued to cry and I curled up as I tried to escape reality. I was now drenched in blood and I wondered if I was just a toy for the gods to torment. My screams and cries blended with those of the goblins.

It must not have been much later, because the battle was still going on, and the blood on me had yet to dry, when I felt the dead goblin on top of me get moved. Then, through the blurred thoughts and realities, I felt a pair of strong hands pick me up. I gripped at its shirt as gently carried me. I didn't care who it was. I pressed against it and cried like a little child. At length, as the battle grew more distant, It started to sing. The song was incomprehensible to my conscious mind, but the deepest part of my soul recognized it as a song that Goombuckle had sung to me once, in a time that seemed so far away. The song was not sung as perfectly as it was when Goombuckle sung it, but it comforted me nonetheless.

My savior set me down gently against a tree. With an arm it held me up and I felt it pour a liquid onto my head. A gentle hand ran through my hair and tried to clean my face. I still couldn't make out who it was, though. My vision still blurred and what made it clearly into my eyes was lost amongst my other thoughts, even if they had become more passive because of the song.
At long last I stopped trying to understand my world and let myself drift into sleep.

A.N.- While I can still type, I might as well remind you that I post responses to chapters on my profile. Just in case you missed it on chapter one or forgot.