For all of those uncomfortable with descriptive gore, I have left '-' these at the beginning and end of that section, Please enjoy.
Retribution for happiness.
I found Filo down the path I followed, the one that hooked right and in on itself. It was a short distance from where I entered that I found a sizable clearing in the wood. A place bereft with log stumps etched with old axe marks through their bark. Each was about as wide as the tops of barrels, though with finer smoothed lids than what could be compared to the crafted coverings. Some were cracked diagonally, clean cuts leading halfway into the stump before the wood would curve up and out sharply.
Leaving pointed extensions of snapped trees to jut out in the open sky, evidence of a long ago logging that took place here. The stumps totaled in about a dozen, dotting the floor in seemingly equal distribution before the oppressive tree line swallowed the surroundings. Through the riddled floor and sitting somewhat center in it all was a small girl.
Her soft blonde hair marked in a silvery hue when the moon shine glossed over it. An anguishing spiking cowlick dancing on her scalp while she relaxed atop a tree stump. When I stepped into view she stretched her wings out with a long yawn of noiseless air. Her hands sit easily at the sides of herself, sealing her fingers around the edges of the stump itself, straight postured and away from the cracked vestiges as if it were a sight uncomfortable to sit against such things with her wings.
"Big sis." She said softly in my direction, she wasn't actually looking at me as those words rolled around her yawning expression. She did seem rather tired, sitting here in the cold dark.
"Filo, where have you been?" I started out with, the crunch of deadened leaves following my footsteps as I moved towards her position. I felt relief and moderate frustration towards the creature before me. Having made me and Naofumi worried, only to have her cheerily sitting out here in the field, hidden in the woods.
"Waiting here?" She spoke with a confused expression, following my movements with somewhat piqued interest as I slipped between the worn wood around us. Coming upon her to look at her fully. Finding her face smudged with dirt and a leaf sticking from her silvery golden locks. I dabbed my thumb with my tongue as I reached in quickly to grasp the small Filolial girl with my hands, wiping away the dirt with a firm gesture. The much too drowsy girl grimacing sharply at my movements. "Ra-Raphtalia."
"Hush yourself, you haven't been bathing like we've told you." I harsh out at the girl while those slightly wincing blue eyes turned a bit guilty. I knelt down, stoking out the back of her hair with my left palm as my cleaning right hand moved to hold flat along her perfect conformed face. "Master and I were worried…" I let out suddenly, looking hard at the young girl's face. She turned a soft strawberry which was quite noticeable on usually so pale of features. The eyes heavy with guilt suddenly flicked away from me and came back with elation resting in them.
"You and Master were worried about my bathing?" She played coy but she knew what I meant, I was only crouching in front of her to match her height. If I were kneeling I'd only be a smidge shorter due to the height of the stump. I pinched her cheek with my primary hand and let my other slick through to remove that invading leaf.
"We were worried about you, dummy." She let loose a small smile and led her head towards my pinching hand before I relinquished my hold on her. Smoothing my fingers forward and around her before I hugged her to me tightly, pushing my chin through on her shoulder and practically getting smothered by greasy hair. Her arms came up and around me to embrace me firmly as well before her tiny form spoke, the words directed at me but flowing out just at my back.
"Where's Master?" She asked, causing me to pull away after a brief moment of silence. Rolling my hands up the back of her hair to test if it was all gross throughout. It was, I fluffed up her head of hair and stood up, brushing my hands off on my shirt. Her hair fell down around her head, back instantly into form despite its messy unwashed length.
"He's in town, looking for you. We should start heading back, actually, before he gets too worried and ends up lost out here in the woods." Filo snorted at that and hopped forward off the stump and stood properly before me. "Then you're taking a bath." The little Filolial stuck her tongue out at me and suddenly my chest started to hurt. She was happy and safe but the pain within me was like an unfolding vine, a pressure that was ebbing through me this whole time without my realization.
I betrayed none of this to Filo though, and her weirdly innocent stature. I was relaxed now, removed from the walk here and what not. But it was so sudden I just had to consider the slowly soothing sensation in my heart. Like a serpent uncoiling itself from a strangling hold, allowing me to breathe easier even though I had no trouble before. The calm flaring up as I checked for the umpteenth time that Filo was okay.
What is this..?
"I'm not that dirty, Big Sis!" I scoffed sharply at her and was met with the crossing of arms.
"You are, you made the whole tent smelly this morning."
"I did not, Master would've said something!" She retorted, quite loudly I might add. One would think that a sleepy Filolial wouldn't have the energy but here I was.
"Master can't smell like you and me." I only replied in my same old calm. Bringing my left hand up to grip the sheath of my sword where the hilt met, my thumb firmly molding to the back of the sword. "Anyway, that's settled." I turned then and kept my eyes towards her as I moved out and away from the clearing and began to head back to the village.
"N-Nothing's settled! I'm not stinky, Master would've-"
"Have you seen Master at all today?" I replied with a soft chuckle, cutting the younger girl off as I stopped my gait to look at her fully this time. She wasn't moving from her spot by the stump and she looked rather flushed now.
"W-well… no, not really. He was busy all day and…" She patterned her feet in the dirt as her head turned downwards at the soil. Taking in the image of leaves I imagine.
"Well… we're going to go to him right now." Her cowlick sank forward and down towards the ground. Bobbing in the shifting breeze with an eerie aura filling our surroundings. The silence I could handle but it just felt really heavy at this moment.
"You're hogging Master!" She suddenly yelled, turning her face up to mine. Her gaze filled to the brim with welling emotions, her hands had seized onto themselves, balling little shaking fists as her words hit me like a stone.
"What, what-"
"Don't start lying to me!" Her voice was shrill, and the second time she spoke thin tears fell down the front of her face. She must've noticed because she brought her hands to wipe them away. She was shaking, a sharp sniff coming from her as I moved to talk. Holding up my right hand non threateningly as my left grew extremely tight on the sheath.
"Filo, what're you talking about?"
"You both… are always gone now. I never get to see Master, or you." She was struggling to make it through her thoughts it seemed, I assume it was the tiredness and the frustration. But these didn't seem just like random feelings coming up in the dead of night. "You were both supposed to be here but you're acting like… like you didn't even know!"
What?
"Filo I swear-"
"You didn't even check in on me today!" I got cut off again and I felt mildly annoyed with that fact. "Then I got back to the tent late and you both were still gone!"
"Filo, we were busy…"
"I know that isn't true…"
"It is true, Naofumi and I had some work… to do tonight." I lowered my right hand and sighed out. Feeling a wave of harsh exhaustion overtaking me as Filo's words kept dragging me lower. The bird's eyes staring at me, scrutinizing my expression.
"You guys never checked on me in my room either, everything is different… and…" She stifled herself with a low sob that almost broke my heart. "I don't want to be left behind." Following the attempt on my heart with something that completely shattered it. The child in front of me now crying with her tears dribbling to the soil. "I-I'm sorry… for not bathing…" She let out at the sight below her, her stature growing more and more meek with every passing word croaking from her mouth. The tightness grew in my chest once again, and I felt sadness welling up in my eyes but no words really found their way to my lips when I was watching her.
I couldn't talk, nothing truly satisfying for either of us anyways. I rushed in despite the lack of words and took the girl into my arms again. Hushing soft comforting tones by her ear as I clutched the small child to me.
"Filo… it's okay," I softly let out a drawn 'shh' beside her, trying to soothe or anything that would reduce the tender feelings wracking her tiny body. Her hands came up my sides and clutched sharply on my shirt as she buried her face into my front and started weeping. Due to her movement I had to look down at her scalp now, watching her shake and seize up with every harsh tone escaping her lips to only be muffled by my shirt. My hands returned to a sort of memorized movement, stroking down her back and smoothing soft circles into her clothes. The other secured around her waist. "I swear to you, that is not happening."
"Please don't leave me behind…" The words were crushing almost. Muffled and ebbing into my shirt and then my skin.
"Filo… we won't ever leave you behind, it's okay." I reassured her, getting only her tiny hands squeezing tighter on my shirt as response. "Master… we both love you, we'd never want to leave you behind. No matter what."
"Really?" She hushed into me.
"Really." Filo pulled her wet covered face to look up at me, following her motions with a sharp sniff. "Really." I repeated down at her watery eyes. It was then that I was reminded of something my mother used to do, a type of thing to relax or comfort me. I moved my hands up to her head, cupping her at both ends before drawing forward to gently kiss her forehead, getting the cowlick to tickle angrily at my face for such transgression.
I think it kind of stunned Filo for a second, because when I drew away to look at her, the tiny transformed bird blinked slowly at me. Slowly faltering tear lines stuttering along the front of her face, leaving dull grey lines from where chance took them away to her chin.
"Do you believe me?" I uttered, drawing my thumbs around to gently wipe away the desperate, distraught trails. Cooling the tips of my thumbs in the process. She nodded, only once which was enough proof for me.
"Y-yes… Big Sis." I gave her a wry smile for that, feeling much more like her mother than any 'sister' should. Which may not be so far from the truth anymore as fate would have it.
"Things," I paused, looking away from the Filolial I had co-parented and off to the suffocating tree line, hoping in vain that something would draw our attention so I wouldn't have to continue mimicking my mother. "Things are different now." I pulled myself back to look at her. "This place… it's a lot of work for Master- um… Naofumi and I, and I'm truly sorry neither of us noticed you in pain."
"It's okay…" She said sorrowfully, leading her eyes in a defeated manner before I could continue.
"No, it is not. It won't ever be okay to ignore your place with us, and you can always talk to me or Naofumi if you ever feel this way again." I was speaking so firmly it could be misinterpreted that I was disciplining her. But those now fully invested eyes told me she understood what I was saying. "We have a lot on our minds now with the village, but one of those things includes you… so…" I stumbled finally. Unsure of where I could draw from my experience with my own mother to ration out an explanation for being so awful of a parent. My eyes drifted again, trying to find the words I could say, but Filo interrupted my skewed gaze. Reaching up from gripping my shirt to emulate my hands-on-the-head move. Well, due to our positioning she had to hold at my cheeks rather than my whole head.
"I understand Sis!" Her tone did a 180 and came right back to the typical cherry Filo i'd known all this time. Maybe with slight warbling under her vocals as punishment for crying so hard. Not to even make mention of the tear stains that persisted passed my smoothing thumbs. The way she looked, turned right around from being sad or frustrated with me. It almost made all the hardship up till now worth it, but still a weight found itself resting in the bottom of my stomach drawing me down with all its infinite heaviness.
Do you understand?
How could you?
I don't even understand…
"Heh, then you're doing better than me." I brought my thumb around to smudge that dark grey on her face before breathing in shakily. "Why don't we head back now, I'm sure Naofumi is losing his mind."
"Really? Then… should we wait a little longer?"
"Filo." I replied curtly at the bird as we separated ourselves, she let out a bright giggle that made me smile despite the implications.
"I was only joking, Raphtalia!" I brought my left hand to my hip with a shake of my head as she let loose a wide yawn. "Ah… I'm tired, I wanna sleep."
"Then it sounds like we're heading back." She nodded along with my sentiment and I indicated with my head to get moving. Falling in line alongside the filolial as we navigated through the logged area back towards the path we had both taken to get here. But something struck me as I looked over and down at that bobbing silvery scalp with an accompanying trembling cowlick. "Filo… what were you doing sitting out here for so long?"
"Oh! I was waiting for you and Master."
"I remember you saying you were waiting…"
"Someone told me you wanted to meet me."
"Someone in the village?" I looked ahead as we rounded to the long straightaway in the woods, trekking back to Filo's tracks.
"Yeah…" She interrupted herself with a yawn. "One of the new people."
"Huh," I let out softly while trying to piece together why someone would want Filo out here in the forest. I worried about her safety but not, per se, her safety with the local monsters as she was simply a more skilled and higher leveled fighter. But it was very unsettling. "Filo, could you point out who told you to wait out here?"
"Uh huh!" She answered without hesitation and my left hand came unconsciously to grip along the top of my sheath. Something in my instincts told me this was going to be a long night.
Filo had taken the initiative and led the way through her previous path back to the village, stepping assuredly through the deep dark brush. Ahead of us both shined the soft glow of orange torchlight shining at us like the golden reversal of silvery moonlight.
Filo stumbled forward out and into the clearing closer to the edge of the village, drawing out a soft yawn as she twisted around to watch me following. I didn't stumble as she did, but I did watch her in return.
"What's the matter?" I questioned her.
"Can we all…" She hesitated for one barely registerable second before finishing her thought. "Can we all go for a picnic? Like the old days…"
"Sure, I think Naofumi and I can get out of managing the village for one afternoon." Filo released her trademark expression and it was that moment that it crossed my senses. Sharply cutting along the top of my lips with all purpose and no hesitation.
Smoke.
It ensnared my nose with a harsh wick scent, wafting through the air with heavy purpose and significance. Overpowering the natural woodlands just at my back with salty overtones lacing the deepest mark of sooty air. I knew my knuckles went white along the breadth of my sheath as the memory of this place and such a potent embalming agent assaulted the inside of my mind.
I looked up so quickly it felt like my form was twisting and set on a spin. The village, laced in golden but not the golden of torchlight, raging flames licked up the tops of the reconstructed buildings. Dancing flaring ashes sailed low into the street, it was just like then. Just in the now.
My heart pulsed so loudly that I thought that maybe my inner ear would burst like those long ago balloons.
"Raphtalia?" The sleepy Filolial had noticed as well, and was looking on towards the village much like myself.
"I want you to find Master, and help him." I ordered sharply, glancing down at her as her gaze switched around to watch me. "I'll be helping people evacuate from the houses."
She nodded firmly and within the blink of an eye, a large white feathered Filo appeared before me, clasped in her bright bow flowing in on the power of her mana. Her wide beak held that same common shape of her smiling face, which was only natural that my inner thoughts would rationalize the look of the bird beak to the shape of her human appearance. Just as quickly as she transformed she dashed off from my side and into the village.
I hate it when my instincts are right about things like this…
I sprinted ahead at the smoldering rooftops and felt the air grow heavy with heated currents flowing down the spaces between the hardened exterior walls. Bouncing off each other and filling the space with warm choking smoke, the soft sea side breeze didn't help matters one bit as it would constantly feed and stoke the inner hungry ravenous flames. Several times before the sight was removed from the edge of the rooftop I saw them flare up and consume eagerly of the fresh air fed to them with every cool breath the coast exhaled.
"Everyone, fire!" I called sharply to the buildings around what could be considered the main reconstructed residential district, and I quietly considered the cause of this sooty rising stack of air filling my lungs with harsh memories. I rapped my knuckles on one of the homes quite loudly, getting the door opened by a very grumpy man a few moments later. I backed away and set to repeating my sharp call and front door knocking on all the houses in the area.
Each house was settled an agreeable distance away from one another but with every moment that the flames persisted there was a chance of fire spreading to other buildings. Right now my concern was evacuating civilians from their homes.
"What's happening?"
"Fire?"
"Quick, get my mothers-"
"Ah Gosh, maybe one of the ovens?"
"We need to get water buckets!"
The collective vocals of everyone in the surrounding area was filling the interior of the street quite quickly, leaving only for me to draw their attention towards the safer parts of town. Lying invariably along the outskirts and away for the buildings. I felt every necessary word before I could even actually think of them.
"Anyone willing to help, please start drawing water to start dousing the fire. We need to act fast before it can spread!" I called out to the now dozens of bodies filing out into the streets. Many of the buildings in residential were spacious enough to accommodate a sizable family, and many more offered any extra space they could to each other to fill out and shelter some. So a diverse cast of humans and demi-humans spied around to follow with my directions without much fuss. Men were drawing buckets of water further down the street and there was someone even guiding the others in bringing them dutifully to the fire itself.
They all marched with purpose, the men and women. Children even, though roused quite rudely from their sleeping arrangements had followed my words without question to find safety along the earthy edge and backed by the tree line. I remained center, observing, commanding when needed.
It was all so strangely fluid.
There were so many bodies filing through at one moment that the other bodies that filled out the road to the interior of the village had made no special impression on me. I was watching the volunteers, not paying attention to the shadowy images that paused sharply at the end of the road. Cutting off residential from the rest of the village.
I only became aware when a voice spoke.
"My… oh my! What a community we have here." The voice came out as strong, arrogant even, marked heavily with the type of bravado that the Spear Hero exuded at times. It was such a strong feeling that it was the only comparison that I'd drawn to with so little follow-up information about the speaker. I was looking away when it sounded out and found the heads of the volunteers twist to look back in on the village, I followed their turning expressions to only be met with a most disheartening sight.
A wide line of what could only be described as highwaymen, rough cloaks for shouldering the long cold of late night caravans. Harsh brutish weapons slung haphazardly along their hips with hardly a care of discipline placed into their positioning. Dark colored leathers to present a mockery of unity among their number, all in light armor as it was easier to move in. All so very familiar if I was to say anything remarkable about the band of unremarkable men that stood before me. With their rough leathers licked haphazardly by uncontrolled fire light.
The sooty air ravaging their aura with a filament haze that worked wonders for their dark colored aesthetic.
"It seems like you all have been working so hard, I think it's time for a different line of work for all you poor, poor souls."
Slavers…
It was obvious, the manner of speech. The snarky, overconfident vocals flowing out ahead at all of us. The man who was speaking was standing just behind the line of men, with a Cheshire smirk lace across the front of his face. There was no way this was all of the men they had.
There was too much overconfidence, that or they were incredibly dumb, time would tell what would be the case here.
The volunteers made themselves sparse from the space between me and them. There were no true fighters among the residents living here which was rather… unfortunate. They knew they could trust in me, the several close enough to be considered at risk were moving to be behind. At the time I hadn't granted the slaver the time of day with my full expression, just side eyeing him to keep my left peripheral to follow the slow moving citizens that were now solely under my care.
What would Sadeena do..?
I thought to myself, I had the answers for what I'd do, but it had to be a somewhat different approach that I will be taking on this tumultuous evening.
Connecting with Filo… as a mother…
My first disagreement with my best childhood friend.
Then… my Naofumi.
I popped the sword from the sheath and took it up in my right hand before slicing the air with steel with a humming whine splitting over the gleaming polished metallic hue. I faced them completely with the tip of the blade drawing out towards the roughly hewn cobblestone road. I drew my weapon up to my offensive stance, entrapping my extension in both of my hands as I stood my ground towards the men before me.
"My name is Raphtalia." Almost instantly the line busted into laughter, feeling the foolishness ebb off of them as if they never saw a demi-human brandish a sword. It subsided after a moment or two. "This village is under the respected governance of the Shield Hero. I ensure that not one of you will live to see the day if you raise a hand against me, or his people." I flicked my gaze to each of their faces, I couldn't see them. Not really.
Just animals… lecherous eyes, raspy breathing of unwashed teeth and pocked lips. Not even worth the blade. My eyes rested on the assumed leadership, his detachment of highwaymen never turned to look back on him. They look at me like a prize.
Maybe the leader understood my threat was standing more on stone than sand.
"Aye, I know who's village this is, what makes you think that we're not here for that express reason?"
"You were hired then?!" I accused.
"Plenty of folk are still buying you Demi-humans, despite current events being what they are."
"They won't get away with this, not now."
"Hm," he sounded out, before reaching forward on the shoulders of his men that suggested to them to separate which they obliged with no qualms. "No one cares around here when you all disappear and reappear in chains."
I get my teeth grit unconsciously, gnawing together in gnashing anger that grew with every syllable that escaped his dumb rotting mouth.
"Things have changed. I recommend you not take one more step and leave here. Now." I felt a need grow within me, a terrible need.
"Even if that step is one of your people?" On cue, a section of two men parted and led forward one figure, spying immediately of olive speckled skin with warped facial bruising before being launched hard to the stone on their knees. The figure was a male demi human, tufts of mangled fur sticking from the soft bear-like ears that marked the familiar look of one man.
Se'Li, not even bound as he knelt there, clearly bruised and beaten to a pulping mass of warped flesh. I could vividly imagine the group of them flooding his tent and plucking a hostage from the many other possibilities. They must've been watching, taking notes on the notable figures of the village.
The distraction with Filo hadn't lasted as long as they expected, neither did they expect me and Naofumi to separate to find her. So here they were taking the side of the village they thought that just maybe they would have a better chance of picking 'merchandise' from.
Which was an assumed favorable position with me.
They really were just a group of vile morons.
'-'
Se'Li coughed harshly, and thick dark red drooled out from the assumed position of his mouth. Running down the side of his thigh and into the inner space to the road, staining his nightwear before the leader reached a hand in to grasp the locks of his head with violent intent. Pulling the grown man up by the brown hair and exposing his full, damaged expression to me. Mouth swollen and I could imagine the several missing teeth pooling in the sides of his cheeks, eyes barely conscious and fluttering closed every so often which was speckled with white stars from the painful daze he was experiencing. I felt my stance weaken at the sight.
He must've fought back from the damage he had, they wanted to pacify him and clearly took it a bit too far. Overzealous and evil breaking of a man without a single minute of real combat experience. He was just a builder…
"That's right, if you just give up then we won't kill this little welp here." He was too pained to even cry. Far gone into that space where he couldn't be hurt anymore, the anger flooded my veins and I felt it pulse up my throat as the leader smiled like he was doing me a favor.
"You'd just kill him later…" I huffed out sadly, I knew he was gone already. But it didn't make my pain go away at the sight, these types of people don't save 'broken' toys. My hands trembled around the hilt of my blade before I cut it all off. Staring ahead with a resolved glare. "I'll kill you all, you disgusting trash, there won't be another chance." The shaking in my limbs faded away but was replaced by the wateriness pooling in my vision, blurring the shape of Se'Li for just a moment.
Don't look away…
Something inside me said, don't forget it, remember him. My instincts knew the memories of everyone who had fallen then, and I will remember everyone who will fall now. I was holding myself back, too far to dash and save Se'Li, maybe… Just maybe.
The leader scoffed once.
I launched my feet into action as the noise signaled the start of all that followed. I spied the dagger that slipped from his side and came down into Se'Li's neck with little remorse, I was right there, dashing to save him as I brought my right arm under from my momentous speed and severed the the arm of the bandit leader with a frilling spittle of red from the space that the other half of him once occupied. They were so stunned with my speed that the leader was silent and watching with shock that his arm could've been dispatched with such efficiency to not have even been felt. The death of their hostage an afterthought to all of them.
"Y-y-you… BITC-" He couldn't scream it out fast enough as I sent my fist firmly into his face, crushing the front of his nose into his expression before the first of his men recovered from the stunned moment. Two on my left came at me with barely drawn axes and angry expressions. The first to reach me sent his axe downward at my side which I easily drew forward away from the arc, entrapping his non-dominant arm in my left before swinging round to meet the following compatriot with the tip of my blade poking deep into the front of his exposed throat. Light fading from his expression before I twisted the blade out and firmly planted it in the back of my corralled raider's left knee.
"AHH-" He screamed, but the noise didn't matter anymore whilst the whining vocals strained with pain became nothing but white noise. I released my sword in the man's leg while three more descended upon me. Ducking under a ribbed baton, oval-like metal protrusions lining a shoddy oaken centerpiece, followed up by a shortsword pointed at my right side with a thrust driving it forward. The third man was another axe wielder and was following the other two in surrounding me, flowing in from my left he prepared to swing after his comrades.
You deserve this…
I encircled the thrusting man's sword arm and cracked it easily at the elbow to get him to drop his weapon, the vibrations in the stone ebbing through my boots as the baton wielder stepped back from us two interlocked to give the left man his space to attack. Swinging wildly at my head I lurched forward with the cracked arm still in my grasp to bring the trapped bandit around my back. Invariably into the path of the axe which stuck with a sickening solution into the man's shoulder. Enticing a yowl as it stuck within his body while I released him to move forward away from their entrapping circle. Baton man sailed forward at me once again, aiming to crack me in my skull, I wonder if they knew they were under leveled and just fighting out of desperation.
It doesn't matter.
I side stepped his swing and caught his arm with my right hand and pulled his momentum up and out, forcing the man off balance and falling hard to the ground when his feet stepped into the new direction his arm was led. Twisting him to the floor before I smashed his face in under the heel of my boot. Breaking the baton from the now limp arm I rushed forward at the axe wielder desperately trying to free his weapon from his screaming friend's body.
You all die for this.
Bringing the baton up I cracked the man in the ear and sent him to the left with its force. Getting that swirling daze while the injured one sank to the floor from the weight of the buried axe, his head was bleeding at the impact and I took him forward by the collar to hit him dead center in his face. Making him limp to the ground while his friend's screaming expression slowly turned from adrenaline marked wails to pitiful whimpering as the blood loss drained him.
"GET HER!" One called, which caught my attention. I looked up at the five others remaining, one sitting off away from them dressed in a long dark robe. I hadn't noticed him before so it was easy to assume he was hiding until now. I was standing between multiple heaps of useless animals, striding over to the incapacitated bandit and drawing my blade from its resting place and gliding out from the side of the leg it was burrowed in and ripping it open in consequence. One more collapsed bandit to add as I flicked clinging blood off onto the cobblestone and released the now useless baton to the road. They could've run, but they figured each of themselves would be that one to end this fight with their weapon.
"First Fire!" The robed man called out and a bundle of flames exploded from his extended hand that was hidden behind his compatriot. Dodge left, cast illusion magic and I was gone in the flash of fire that broke down into my centerpiece stance.
"Did you get her, Feimon?" One spoke cautiously before I stepped deftly up to the bandit closest to the mage and impaled his belly on my blade, drawing it from his side to spill his innards and stepping around him to dash forward into the mage as he casted up a weak barrier. It hardly stopped my sword from meeting the flesh of his collar. Crunching into the torso and killing the mage, the robed figure collapses to his knees and I pull my blade forward and out from the deep wound to slice an arc of blood across the road at the rest of the bandits while they haplessly watched me slice down two more of their number.
"I warned you," I started with before pointing my blade towards the closest one on my right. I followed that point towards him with my fury filled gaze while the weapon trembled between his two gripping hands. "I promised you."
I spat in their direction, feeling the cold tear spill down my cheek before I blinked it away. Dash forward and I lobbed this bandit's head away before his friend could assist, witnessing the lifeless skull fly before my left hand sailed in to smash forward into the windpipe. Choking on his apple before I poked his chest with my sword and ended the disgusting sound.
Maybe I was the one trembling now.
The final bandit failed to run, just collapsed to the ground with a pleading look. The words made no noise to me as he screamed for me to spare his life. I merely knocked him out with a curled fist, red poured from his nose while he limped to the cobblestone… the one of two who lived. Only one of two, everyone else was a pool of red and now rotting flesh. I stepped back to the leader as he slowly awakened from my punch, quite dazed and pale from the lack of blood that flowed freely from his stump arm. I swiped my blade off to my side to free the metal of red speckled decoration before I sheathed it. Grabbing the barely conscious man by the scruff of his neck, hauling his weight up to his knees, drawing in close along his ear.
"Die already." I muttered, pulling him back and dropping him from my hand. Letting him fall in a heap to die cold and alone by all the men he brought to die before him. I drew to my knees besides the corpse that was once an acquaintance. A man under my protection, I still managed to fail someone and the words of Naofumi rang within my head. Stuff about fear, the fear of not being strong enough. Sometimes I worried about the same things, and now… I was stronger then all who faced me here. Startlingly so, but still this man was dead with a blade in his throat and beaten to a bloodied pulp.
'-'
I was never going to be strong enough, I'm still that weak girl…
"I'm sorry…" I hushed out to the calmer expression below me. My left hand moved in and caressed along the top of his scalp and between his cold ears. Right reaching in to grasp on his shoulder and draw him up to my lap. "I didn't save you…" I whispered out, "We'll bury you somewhere nice."
In that horrible image, I saw my parents.
I saw Rifana.
I saw Keel.
I saw Filo.
Then of course…
My lips trembled and I sighed out harshly. Rasping out a stifled voice as everything overcame me in an instant.
This is why I became stronger.
And it never even mattered.
Smoke, fire in my lungs, ebbing fear and adrenaline. I was right back there in every terrible thing that has ever happened. Cold like in the cell, crushed like after the cliff. Drowning quietly in the sorrow for long tumbling moments.
"Raphtalia…" Naofumi's voice sounded out behind me, at my left, I didn't even notice him trot up the road. Lost to the feeling I assume. How much time has passed, does it even matter?
"Don't let Filo-" I turned around sharply to look at him and he started speaking.
"She's helping with everyone else… damn, Se'Li?" He paused after he interrupted me, and I nodded. The casually dressed Hero moved closer to me as I held the cold man in my arms.
"Filo's too young…" I whispered out at him and he nodded in agreement. Filo had seen nasty things… but, I don't know if she was ready to see someone she knew dead. He took his position beside me and slowly placed his hand on my shoulder. I looked down at the man below me while Naofumi softly squeezed onto me.
"I… We will find a proper site to bury him."
"I couldn't save him."
"You saved the others here."
"... yeah…" I hushed out, receiving Naofumi's comforting grip to reassure me. "It's just like last time."
"No it isn't." He knelt down besides me now, reaching over to gently press my chin up. Bringing my eyes to the sight of the remaining houses still standing as a chilling rain started to dribble down onto our surroundings. A cold breeze cut off the smoke while rainwater smothered the once blazing roof fire. "You saved everyone here. You protected your home." Everything felt so fast and removed from the person beside me and the person in my hands.
He was right, everything was different now and that was all my doing here.
Every time I blink I see their faces.
I shut my gaze and turned into the chest of my friend, my partner. His hands came around my head and clutched me gently, letting my wail hide into his torso as I couldn't stifle it for a second more.
Pattering rainwater washing away the red.