Welcome to my SI. I'm not much of a writer, but with the whole covid pandemic being a thing, as well as being someone who works in the thick of it, I felt like writing something strictly for myself. I've been seeing a slew of SI pop up recently in the Awakening setting and I used to think myself as someone who didn't think too highly of them. But after reading a few and being inspired by Bobcat's Rigged from the Start, I felt like I needed something like this to get me through the day. I will apologize for making another SI that's going to be Severa-centric but she's my favorite character in all of Fire Emblem and I am saddened by the lack of representation in the CYL rounds. (I promise that it will turn out different than his I swear)
With a giant snowstorm hitting Jersey the past two days, being snowed in gave me a bunch of time to churn out a quick chapter.
Chapter 1 - Vain Surface
"Am I going to die here?" the patient residing within the room I was inspecting coughed out. I let out a brief sorry as I ensured the rooms within the hospital met the correct accommodations. I made my way to one of the code carts within the hallway, weaving in and around the nurses and medical equipment. I stopped to pop one of the locks and opened the first drawer to reveal the drug tray inside.
"Everything still looks to be in order here. That's Code Cart A35 checked off in 3 Central. Time to tackle the ones in the Brain Trauma Unit. Then again, that's something I can save for after my lunch break." I picked up the packets of grab n' go bags filled with drugs designed to deal with Covid patients. A loud bang rang out as I bumped into a code cart on my way to the elevator. Uttering a curse, my journey halted as a nurse called me over.
"Hey Chris! So, nothing was wrong with the drug tray right?" I looked to my right as one of the nurses on the floor waved me over.
Heaving an exhausted breath, I addressed the woman in dark pink scrubs. She had looked way too happy to be working on a floor filled with Covid patients.
"No Kendra. Just be careful about popping the white locks on the code carts alright? Even if I'm ninety-nine percent sure nothing's wrong with the damn thing, it's still protocol for me to ensure the drugs aren't tampered in any way." A yawn escaped my mouth as I smacked my lips underneath my face mask. "You know I'm trying avoid being on the floor as much as possible. So be careful when transporting patient beds around the carts lest you break the lock and force me back here….again."
I grabbed my phone out of my pocket to eke out a habitual glance at my twitter retweets as Kendra laughed the problem away.
"Oh come on dear, you know I'm not trying to keep you here on purpose! Anyways, you go have yourself a nice lunch. Your mom's the one who's always making it for you right?"
"It's my sister. I already told you my mom can't cook for shit." I chuckled as I recalled the last time my mom tried to cook something resembling a meal. You would have a hard time calling it edible. "It's only like the billionth time I've repeated this. Anyways, good luck on the floor Kendra. God knows you'll need it more than I do." Waving her a small goodbye, I grabbed my things and rushed towards the elevator.
Today seemed to be a pretty normal day in the life of this whole pandemic. Wake up, grab my breakfast, get to work. Make my rounds across the floor, and haul ass back to the department to order in a bunch of crap we need to ensure this hospital keeps on going. I had to order another two cases of post-mortem bags the other day and they already ran out. The implications behind that are rather unsettling, to say the least.
After that, I get to go home, indulge in my hobbies for the amount of free time I get, sleep and start the day all over again. Wish I could say I could enjoy my weekends half the time, but when you're an essential worker at the hospital it turns out you have to be there every other weekend to ensure nothing shits up the department. The good ol' 'if one department suffers, then so does all the other' kind of schtick we've got going here.
Given that today was a Monday and I came off a work weekend, it's no surprise that I found myself fatigued as I made my way to the break room. I forced myself out of bed in response to the Jersey snowstorm. The snow crunched beneath my feet as I shovelled away, my breath fogging over as I struggled keep the cold at bay. All that work only to deal with the lazy aftermath of our department's 2nd shift work or rather the lack thereof. When choosing between lunch or a forty-five minute nap, the latter felt more appealing. I stuffed my lunch into my backpack to fight the inevitable pangs of hunger later.
Prepping for my nap, I stepped into the freezing cold with my keys in tow as I shambled to my car in the parking lot. I shivered as the bitter chill assaulted my body. Even with a jacket, scrubs aren't exactly the best defense for the winter cold. Too late for regrets now though.
"I don't get how much I loved the winter as a kid, snow fucking sucks." I muttered as I tip-toed around the visible ice patches in the parking lot. I almost slipped as I got to my car, shoving the keys in it and forced my way in so the cold would stop beating against my chest.
Turning on the ignition, I immediately flipped the switch for the heater on as I fumbled my way into the back seat. With not much of an alternative, I laid down using my jacket as a make-shift blanket. Setting an alarm for the next forty minutes, I closed my eyes waiting for sleep to take over.
My body jolted awake as the alarm blared its unholy cacophony of evil straight into my ear. A low and guttural groan left my lips as I forced it off.
"I really could've used another five minutes."
I awoke in a daze. My eyes struggled to open as the exhaustion from the previous days still caught up to me in light of my small nap. Confusion began to tug at my mind though as the moon's rays pierced through the forest around me. I leapt to my feet forcing a gulp down my throat as I observed the area around me. The stress and panic of my situation came to light, inducing a forced shot of adrenalin through my body. Gone was the car and winter snow around me, instead finding myself in a forest of obsidian. The former winter air was now replaced by motes of black dust that permeated my field of vision.
"Freddy Kreuger ain't out to get me, is he? I'm not even a goddamn teenager." Trying to force a poor joke out didn't do much for my stress as I began to let out panic-induced breaths. I squinted my eyes as I tried to make out anything in this darkness. To my right, I saw my backpack in its same haggard state from constant years of use and jumped at it. I forced its contents open. My lunch was still in there as well as a couple of granola bars I used to work through overtime. This meant I didn't have to go foraging for any provisions. Thank God for that because I couldn't tell an edible mushroom from a poisonous one.
Outside of that, I also had my wallet and an extra pair of clothes in case my scrubs get dirty in the future I suppose. There was also a portable battery charger for the phone currently in my hands. The side pockets also housed two water bottles that would quench my thirst in the neat future.
How did that phrase go? Out of the frying pan and into the fire? The idea of dealing with a pandemic seemed more appealing than trying to play survivor in this god-forsaken forest. Let's go about this another way. We can play a small game of 20 questions, except by yourself and not within the comfort of my own car.
How did we get here? Who the fuck knows? Next question. How long can I survive out here? With the amount of food I have in my backpack, I can subsist for a couple of days if I only eat while hungry. Next question. Any signs of life? This time using the light of my phone as a guide, I shone it through the forest around me. I could hear the chirping of insects, but outside of that…couldn't tell you much.
"And there goes my chance of googling how to survive in this place."
Looking at my phone, I immediately noted the lack of service area. Something was telling me this wasn't AT&T's fault either. With a gruff sigh, I slinked down on my ass as I began to think about my options here. No service. Food that could last me the week. And a backpack that I can use as a make-shift pillow if I need to hunker down.
Well, there's only one thing to left to do here. Finding a nearby branch, I stood it up upright as I let it fall, the stick pointing northeast of me. Well, north east from my and the stick's point of view at least.
"Alright, let's uh. Walk in that direction and see where life takes me." Hefting my backpack on my shoulders, I walked where the random twig had dictated and hoped for the fucking best.
My body felt heavy and my throat felt dry as I roamed about this blackened landscape. Now I don't know much about trees and basic wildlife knowledge if I had to be perfectly honest. But something tells me trees aren't supposed to be this obsidian. I rubbed my fingers over the bark of a random tree on my walk. Looks like black ash it seems. Like the ones floating in the air.
"Was there a forest fire in this area?" I guess I can be thankful I wasn't caught up in it if that's the case. My eyes still burned with a bit of fatigue, as I continued to scan the world around me. One foot moved in front of the other, the weight following. My gait was slow, punctuated by the darkness in front of me. The only real source I had was the illumination of the moon.
I thanked the gods the moon was bright as it was. The idea of using my phone's flashlight and alerting anyone I don't know of my presence felt less than ideal. That's how it always worked in the horror movies. Flash at the wrong time and you got Chucky coming down with a knife at your throat.
After what felt like an eternity, the view ahead of me changed as another source of light began to form. I slid forward, the nervousness behind my steps making each step feel heavier than it should. Tendrils of smoke appeared above the tree lines, but something felt wrong. You would expect one or two from a potential campfire, but several tendrils floated up to the sky above. Gathering all the courage I had, I broke through the edge of the forest as I saw a village come into view. I let out a small gasp as I took in the surroundings.
"….Fuck." The remains of a village more like. The illumination pierced through the broken walls of the buildings and watchtowers, splashing across strewn debris and hard stoned tiles. Tendrils of smoke came from remains of fires that licked away at several of the buildings in a wake of destruction. The smoke from the fire, and the obvious remains of a battle obscured a part of my vision. I held my hand to my mouth as I went against all common sense and chose to enter the village. Desperation clouded my mind, as I tried to find any answers to my situation despite the dangers. I plodded through the village before a silhouette of a person caught my eyes.
"H-hello? Are you okay?" A bad feeling caught my throat as I staggered towards the person. Falling onto my knees, I positioned myself over the body. Touching their shoulder, I could immediately feel how cold the it felt. Closing my eyes, I muttered to myself.
"Maybe it isn't too late. Gods…" I gently turned the body over, revealing a young man with a set of brown eyes dull and empty of life. There was no light in them, only a visage wrought with fear. Blood stained the person's lips, already hardened as I tried to wipe it away. A hatchet lay embedded in his chest piercing through the right side of his ribs. I held back the bile in my mouth as I ripped my vision away from the corpse. Random thoughts swam in my head. trying to think of anything to distract me from the horrible sight.
Christ, I'm used to seeing corpses, but they were usually in a body-bag within a morgue. You know well enough in advance on top of that. Evidence of fucking murder though? You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who's used to a situation like that. The situation was clear at this point. Wherever I was, this place wasn't anywhere safe at all. I'm not all that religious, but I crossed myself as I prayed.
"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Please forgive me for this small transgression." With a squelch, I removed the hatchet buried in the poor man's chest. Another sorry left my mouth as I wiped away some of the blood with the cloth from the man's shirt. A tearless choke escaped me as I closed the man's eyes and held the hatchet close to my hands. I've got a weapon now at least. I sucked in a breath as I stood up and ran around the village looking for any signs of life. It wasn't only him. Numerous bodies in a similar state littered the village. Arrows, daggers, or swords the only evidence of their eventual demise.
"Is anybody alive! Please, someone answer me!" Disregarding any sense of potential danger, I bellowed out for any kind of response. The crackle of flames was the only sound to grace my ears as I slinked down against the wall of a broken building.
"Aah..." The sound of breathing broke me from my panic. My eyes shot to the body of a young woman hidden with a copse of small trees. I ran over, finally happy to see some form of life. As I arrived, I bit my tongue as she was no different from any of the others I found, this time being a dagger lodged between her ribs. Her eyes widened as she saw me, beckoning for me to come closer.
"Woah woah, try not to exert any strength alright? Y…you'll be fine, I'm here to help." Hesitation cracked in my voice. From the ambivalent smile the woman gave me, it was clear that she knew that she was living on borrowed time. Cursing my powerlessness, I cradled her arms together. This was going to be real shitty of me, but I had to ask.
"Please tell me what happened here. I…I need to know."
The woman's voice caught itself in a mix of pain and gurgling.
"R-risen….found us…..Please h-help…." With her remaining strength she broke free of my hand and pointed behind me. Whipping around, I found a small and decrepit wooden building. It was barely holding together.
"Wait Risen?! What do you mean?" Before I could even finish my statement, the woman's hands fell with a harsh thud. I could only stare at her corpse, still registering the meaning of her final words.
Risen. Only one thing comes to mind when I think of the word Risen. We're talking about the rise of the living dead. A term coined in most zombie movies. Even if that's true, that must be fucking crazy. How am I not living a dream right now?!
I looked at the building behind me, hatchet poised and ready to strike any offender. I sneaked forward; one hand outstretched to push open the door with the other holding up my hatchet. Entering the house, the inside looked ransacked to hell and back. Debris littered the floor, wooden chairs and tables lay shattered in pieces. With a tremble of my lips, I anxiously called out.
"Is there anyone here? It's safe now! The uh….Risen aren't here anymore." Bracing myself for any kind of response, I jumped in shock as a crack assaulted my ears. One of the wood panels on the ground near me immediately shifted to the side, the head of a young man rising into view.
"Holy shit! Could you give me some warning before you go and do something like that! What if I smashed your head in?!"
The young man ignored my words however.
"Do you truly mean that? The Risen have left the village?" With a despondent sigh, I offered my hand to the man who took it up in stride. He freed himself from the hidden compartment, letting out a strained groan in the process. Using his dirt-caked hands, he brushed off the motes of dust and dirt stuck to his brown and green village attire. Can't imagine that would help much.
"I wouldn't be here alive if that were the case now would it." I tilted my head, peering over as the man reached his hand down, revealing two more individuals as he pulled them up. A girl with braided hair no older than ten immediately clung to the young man. A woman with frizzy brown hair that reached her shoulders and a dress with a similar color scheme held the line in front of him. A wary expression rested over her face. At a closer inspection, I could see that the three of them appeared emaciated. There was no way someone with their builds shouldn't be that skinny.
"You guys hungry?" At the mere mention of food, the child's eyes lit up before the woman walked forward arms crossed.
"And who are you? I don't recognize that attire of yours. Are you Ylissean?" the woman asked. My eyes widened at the mention of 'Ylissean'.
There's no way. You mean to tell me I got transported to a video game of all places?! That explains everything about the Risen then! And it also means that I'm in one of the shittiest situations. Fuck.
"You can call me Chris. And no. I'm…Valmese. From Rosanne." Virion's birthplace was the first place to come to mind that I couldn't help but blurt out. I was afraid that if I took any longer, the woman would be suspicious of me. Suspicious of what, I couldn't tell you. But I had to make sure the woman could trust me if I wanted to get any sort of information.
"Hm. Explains how stuffy and weird your clothes look. You can call me Scilla. And these are my younger siblings Johann and Evelyn. You have our thanks for telling us of the Risen's disappearance. We were much too afraid to do any scouting of our own. And as you can tell…we're not exactly what you'd call battle ready."
Johann spoke up.
"I'm real sorreh for givin' ya a spook there mister. But ah' had to make shore you weren' any of those dastards ready to bash our skuhls in, you hear?"
Evelyn walked up to me and tugged on my scrubs. An audible growl erupted from her stomach as well as the other two in front of me. With an embarrassed flush, Scilla bent down to pick up Evelyn, the latter looking at me with stars in her eyes.
"Scilla, what have we said about minding our manners?" Scilla focused her gaze on me as she bobbed Evelyn up and down to appease her. "You….mentioned food earlier yes? Would you truly be willing to share some with us? As you can see, anything else we had was destroyed alongside everything else."
I ran the numbers in my head. If I had to feed all four of us, I doubt all I had in my backpack would last no more than 3 days. Heaving a sigh, I dug into my backpack and tore open three of my granola bars. A part of me had a thought that keeping them in the plastic would confuse them. I'm not even sure if any medieval-like era has something akin to a plastic wrapper. With a chuckle at my complete lack of historical knowledge, fictional or not, I handed the snacks off to the three. Evelyn munched on it without a word, but not before the other two could profess their thanks.
"Ya truly got a heart o' gold mister. Thank ye kindly!" Johann dove into it even faster than Evelyn whereas Scilla took her time savoring the taste.
"Sorry for asking, but I've been on the run from the risen for a while already and I got a bit lost…Where are we right now?"
Scilla wiped the crumbs off her face as she gestured in my direction.
"We're in a village just south of the Northroad. We had actually been making our preparations to travel to Ylisse with our mother before the Risen attacked."
"And Ylisse would be?" I frowned as I tried to wrap my head around the names she was throwing at me. There were the obvious names like Ragna Ferox, the Ylisse Halidom, Valm and Plegia. Outside of that, I couldn't tell you much of anything in relation to this world's geography. Maribelle is from Themis too I suppose? And the Mila Tree is also a thing. Noticing my confusion, Scilla responded in kind.
"To get to Ylisse we'd have to take the main roads south as they lead straight into the Halidom. But traveling these days along the main road's considered a risk what with all the Risen." Johann chose to speak up.
"Sis, travelin' anywhere's a risk nowuhdays. But I gotta ask mistah, you wouldna found any other villagers didja?" Remembering the last words of the woman and Scilla's previous words, a sharp feeling churned in my gut. Subtly, I called over Scilla and whispered into her ear.
"I think I found your mother." Scilla's face whipped to mine, hope clear on her face. I grit my teeth as I really didn't want to be the one to be the bearer of bad news. I flicked my gaze behind her, ensuring Evelyn's attention was still on the granola bar in her hands.
"If you check that small gathering of trees I'm pointing to over there, I think you'll find what you need. If you want to take Johann over, I can watch over Evelynn for the time being…I'm sorry."
I frowned as I looked at Scilla's visage. The clear implication drew a wrought expression on her face. Rushing over to Johann, she grabbed him by the arms as they darted out the house. The night left a cold silence within the household. The sound soon broken by the smacking of Evelynn's lips as she finished up the snack I gave her.
"Did it taste good kid?" Evelynn threw me a sheepish grin as she hobbled over and grasped my leg.
"Yea it was great mister! Except, heheh. It wasn't as good as mom's cooking. You need to practice sum moar." Even though I wasn't the one who made that granola bar, I still couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed by this kid's teasing. I ruffled the kid's hair as she cackled, trying to escape my grasp.
"Now look here you silly brat!" I teased as we played around for a little while, the stress of the situation slowly escaping me. In that moment, I heard a sizeable knock behind me. "It's your house guys, I don't see why you have to knock." Evelynn's shriveled gasp indicated something else as she clung harder onto my leg.
A visceral growl erupted behind me. The sound of uneven, hobbled steps slowly resonating behind me. Whipping around I was met with a grotesque mix of red eyes beading from a black mask caked in blood. Its armor consisted of broken pieces of what looked to be a breastplate. Half of it had clearly rusted over. In its right hand was a near broken spear with a rusted tip pointed towards me. My fight or flight response immediately clicked in as I backed up, ushering Evelynn behind me. I felt the palpitations of my heart in my head as my breathing became haggard with uneven breaths.
"Now listen here Evelynn. I need you to be a good girl and stay right behind me ok? I'll make the bad man go away. But I'm going to need you to step away for just a moment. Can you do that for me?" With a nervous shimmy, Evelynn moved behind one of the broken tables and out of view.
The Risen moved with an uneven stride, its head bobbing left and right. On reaction to the brandishing on my hatchet, the Risen burst forward with a quick motion. The twisting of its body felt hellishly unnatural as it attempted to stab forward. Instinct took over as I dodged to my left. Rearing back my hatchet, hesitation took over for a brief moment as I made a half-assed swing. The result being only a small graze against its armor.
It's not human god damn it! Why am I so fucking scared of hitting it!
Recovering from my weak blow, the Risen twirled around, swinging the spear like a bat as it rammed against my side. Spittle trailed out my mouth as I fell to the ground in a heap. A terrifying screech spilled outs its mouth as it stabbed down with the point of its spear.
"Fucking hell!" I screamed as I rolled off to the side. Bolting up, I did the next best thing I could think of. With a load roar, I charged forward with all my strength. The Risen was briefly lifted off the ground as we barreled through the front door of the house. I scrambled to get my hatchet ready, survival instincts taking over in that instance. I bellowed and screamed in fury as I swung down at the Risen's face. This time there was no mercy to my attack; no form of technique to enhance my swings. I hacked and slashed until the damn thing stopped moving. I swung some more before it dissipated in a small mist of black and ash.
"Evelynn! Get over here!" Unsure of the current situation, I called for Evelynn as she emerged from the door, tear laden.
"W-where's my brother and sister?!" Before I could even register her words, a scream pierced through the village as I flicked my gaze to my left. I noticed Johann and Scilla running towards us from the village entrance. Heaving out tired breaths, Scilla grabbed me by the shoulders.
"R-Risen! About a dozen or so, I dunno! We…we were trying to bury mother when those abominations appeared out of nowhere!"
"Then what the hell are we still doing here!?" I yelled.
"Horses! Two of them ar' atop horses! We onleh managed to escape cuz of tha trees!" Johann eked out.
Looking past them, I noted beads of red eyes beaming from the darkness. The same visceral screech attacked our ears as it resonated through the night.
Fuck. Nowhere's safe.
"Are we going to die here?" Evelynn spoke up, the tears from before still cascading down her cheeks. The same words from the patient I interacted with during my work morning resounded in my mind.
"No. You guys won't be dying here." The three of them looked at me quizzically as I began to elaborate.
"I'll distract them. The three of you just get away from here as fast as possible. If I stay here long enough, maybe they'll forget the three of you were even here to begin with."
Scilla looked at me concern etched on her face.
"You'll die you know. Are you sure about this?" I let out a mirthless laugh.
"Hey, you don't know that. Besides, it's better than all four of us dying here." This time it was Evelynn who latched onto my leg.
"Don't go mister! I'm sorry I said your food wasn't as good as mommy's so you should come with us!"
No child should have to say that, let alone come to terms of a hellish situation like this. I noticed that Evelynn was clutching a kitchen knife in her hand, something much too large for her to handle.
She was that ready to help a stranger like me? I guess it's time for me to return the favor.
"Look, the longer we sit here arguing, the less of a chance you guys will have at getting away. Scilla, please trust me on this. Besides, I've got a plan or two to make it out alright. Now get the hell out of here!"
I shoved Scilla towards the exit of the village, opposite of the reinforcements. Looking back one more time, Scilla and Johann offered a grim nod as they picked up Evelynn. Despite her protests, they scurried into the night.
Wish I could say I had plan outside of run around like an idiot before they catch me but let's not tell Scilla that.
There was one thing I was able to gather from the Risen in the game itself. It was that most of the typical ones fell into predictable patterns. The first one I fought charged forward the instant it could with no real rhyme or reason when it came to technique. It's what made them easily handled if you were an experienced fighter. Unfortunately, outside of being somewhat fit due to the nature of my job, I have zero experience whatsoever when it came to fighting. I'm praying that the Risen are too stupid to be able to navigate their way in and out of the buildings.
I turned around, holding the hatchet in my right hand as I stared into the thicket ahead. Numerous pairs of red eyes forming in the distance as they encroached upon the village.
Well, it's now or never.
"Come get me, you sacks of shit! I'm over here assholes!" Their eyes seemed to glow a deeper red in response to my provocation. Their screeches continued to carry itself throughout the village. Two of them approached at a much faster rate as the sound of galloping entered my ears. Soon enough, a pair of risen atop equally terrifying horses rode into the village, as they stared me down.
I ran to the nearest building and kicked down the decrepit door with relative ease due to its rusted hinges. I stared at the backwall of the household. The first thing I noticed when investigating the area was that most of the houses' windows were flaps. In front of the door that I kicked open; I could hear the Risen dismounting. The two of them walked into the house, a low growl following their pace. Their rotting flesh somehow managing to grasp onto the rusted axes they were holding.
Shrieking, the two of them pressed forward as I slipped back and opened the flap on the wall. I mounted myself across the window. its flap closing behind me as it splintered from the strike the Risen made. To my right, I could see the arrival of the other Risen in tow.
One, two….shit, she wasn't lying when she said there were at least a dozen or so.
Sprinting around the side of the house while the Risen were still occupied, I took the time to aim my hatchet.
"Here goes nothing!" With a grunt, I threw it at one of the horses stationed at the front as it made an impact against its long neck. It let out a startled neigh as it made a break for it out the village. It didn't pierce the horse like I intended, but I'll take it.
That's one horse out of the equation at least.
My chest rose unevenly as I tried to catch my breath from the stress catching up to me. Sweat began to trickle down my face and the air felt much warmer than it did before. With a gulp, I pried a rusted dagger from one of the corpses near, thinking a small prayer yet again as I peeked out.
"Fucking hell!" I saw an arrow whiz by my vision as it impacted against the ground near me, almost scaring me to death. "Of course, they have archers, why wouldn't they have god damn archers?"
I heard the shuffling of the Risen from the building I escaped. The plodding of the others catching up joined their raucous behaviors. I heard the slight twinge of a bowstring in the distance.
If I stay here, I'll die. If I make a break for it, I'll still maybe die, but maybe they'll miss with the arrow. Fuck it, this'll make or break it. I sprinted across the main road of the village, hands covering the back of my head to ward off any potential arrows. The sound of a volley let loose in the distance whistled in the background. Arrows impacted the ground in front of me and I felt a sharp pain in my back. The collision forced me to lose my balance as I barreled to the floor.
I screamed in pain as I looked backwards, seeing an arrow protruding from my back. In my induced panic, I scrambled to my feet as fast as I could and burst through the door of another household. I reached for my back, grasping at the arrow as I gave it an immediate tug.
"Please don't let there be poison. Please don't let there be poison!" Giving it an initial light tug, I found that it wasn't as painful as I imagined it would be. With as much force I could, I ripped it free to find that it had penetrated something within my backpack. Tearing it open, I noticed that it pierced one of the safety manuals meant for the code carts at my job.
"I'm the luckiest son of a bitch. Thank you, lord." I've made it this far. Let's make it count. There's still about ten or twelve of the Risen still out there just waiting to rip my guts out. Using the same strategy as before, I opened the flap only to meet the eyes of the horsemen Risen. I backpedaled immediately out of fear. As I attempted to escape out the front entrance, another Risen had already occupied its spot. It raised its axe in preparation for its attack.
"I don't suppose we can talk this out, can we?" Its head tilted in response to my words, but it didn't stop the Risen from moving any closer. "Get a load of this then, asshole!"
I threw the knife I had as a distraction, the Risen parrying it with ease as I burst forward. I tried to swerve around its blind spot, but the Risen still managed to correct its swing. It twisted its body in an inhuman manner, the sound of bones and flesh cracking, followed by a strike from behind.
A scream hissed from my mouth as I felt the impact of the rusted axe. I could feel it almost tear across my left shoulder as I fell face forward.
"Get the fuck away from me already!" Despite my injury, I struggled to my feet as I ran in the opposite direction. An arrow burrowed itself on my lower right leg ensuring my fast descent straight into the ground. My escape route all but blocked off.
"Fuck man, I really don't want to die here! Not to zombies of all things!" I shifted my weight over to meet the Risen face to face. I heard galloping in the distance, most likely the other horse left by the Risen. The monster raised its sword, ready to run me through. I braced my arms for the impact, instinct telling me to survive despite the odds. I yelled to take my mind off the pain yet to come.
A separate bellow resounded across the village, followed by the unlikely sight of a horse vaulting over the Risen.
"Pick a god and pray assholes!" The call was followed up by a slice echoing through the night as a loud crunch against bone tore through the neck of the Risen in front of me. Its head flew as it disintegrated into black ash. In front of me was a young woman atop a brown horse, bearing a sword in her right arm. Red hair flowed down her head in a set of twin ponytails, a myriad of curses now leaving her lips.
"No way...Severa!?" It had to be. There's no way I could've mistaken her for anyone else.
She glared at me for a brief moment as she surveyed the battlefield in front of her, "Gawds. Of course, there's archers. There's always god damn archers."
With a derisive snort, I responded in kind, "That's exactly what I said." She let out an irritable grumble, before detaching the steel shoulder plate from her left arm. She used it as a makeshift shield as she used it to block the volley of arrows left and right.
From the corner of my eye, a blur of blue and white zipped past Severa's horse. The lone figure closed the distance between himself and the monsters. He slammed his sword through the back of one trying to swerve around his side and wrenched it out, spraying himself with black ash as it toppled the Risen backwards disappearing in motes of black dust before it could even hit the ground. The one near the door of the building slashed at him but missed by a few inches as the figure dodged effortlessly. Utilizing the opening, he thrust his sword straight into its neck and sliced to the left, removing its head with a devastating blow.
With a quick breath, the man turned towards Severa, barking out an order, "Now daughter!"
"I got it, I got it! Geez, you act as if I don't know how to follow you up after all these years!" Brandishing a long bow fashioned to the horse's back, Severa tugged at the string readying two arrows with a black tip at the Risen ahead. The first shot rang true as it struck one of the archers in the back, the creature screaming before dissipating. Not wasting any motion, she readied the second shot as the twang of the bow made a sharp noise, striking the second archer in a similar fashion.
My attention was called once more as a cry of great panache emerged from the same edge Severa came from, "My sword arm hungers for combat! Radiant Daaawn!" A young man in a brown tunic came forth, flaunting a curved sword.
A second figure followed suit, a woman decked out in full plate wielding a lengthy spear. Short black hair adorning her features, an enraged growl escaping her mouth, "Quit it Owain, this is no time for games! Just get the job done!"
The young man whooped, doing a pointless flip as he carried himself straight into the depths of combat.
"Already ahead of you Kjelle! Try to catch up lest you allow me to make a legend for myself!"
Owain dived into the nest of Risen, his sword parrying one of their blows as he twirled around before removing the monster's head from its shoulders. Kjelle followed up in kind repelling blows from the three creatures in front of her. Her attention didn't seem to lose focus, as she tore through the three with her lance. Clashing spears and swords rang in the air as the squad of monsters engaged against my rescuers. The lack of formation from the Risen combined with the well-rounded teamwork of the four ended the fight in a few eyeblinks.
Despite the battle appearing over, the four figures continued to hold formation. Severa held the rear-guard with support from her arrows. They held this for another minute before they all sheathed their weapons. All gave each other a wordless nod as they took off in opposite directions minus Severa.
Severa dismounted her horse as she crouched down to look over my injuries. She grimaced at the sight of the arrow embedded in my right leg and I could see her eyes trailing the small pool of blood forming near my left shoulder.
"You alright there bud?" I grunted, still not believing the fact that a character from a fictional video game began to talk to me directly. "Gawds, did you forget how to talk or what?" She snapped her fingers in front of my face, pulling me away from my thoughts.
"God, do I look ok!? I've got an arrow in me! And I almost got torn apart by a dozen Risen! You tell me if I'm ok!"
Severa rolled her eyes as she drew a bottle from her bandolier, filled to the brim with a clear liquid, "Alright open up, and no I'm not asking for your permission." Grabbing my chin with her hands she forced my mouth open as she poured the tasteless liquid down my throat. I almost coughed up the liquid, not expecting rough manhandling as she forced it down.
"It isn't going to do much to heal you up, but it'll at least numb the pain for a good while. Especially since we'll be pulling that arrow out of your leg in a second."
"Excuse me you're going to do what?!"
"And that's one second." With a mighty pull, Severa ripped the arrow from my leg in a quick manner as I yelled out in pain. Her brows furrowed as she inspected the injury on my shoulder. "I'm afraid we'll have to bandage that wound for now. We don't have access to a healer right now so you're just going to have grin and bear it for now."
"Like you had me grin and bear it for the arrow you just pulled out?"
Severa snorted as she began to pull out a roll of bandages from a sack tied to the horse. She gave me an inquisitive look before grunting in irritation, "Well?"
I stared at her in kind. My voice coming out in a low whisper, unsure exactly of what she wanted, "Well, what?"
Severa rolled her eyes for about the fifth time since I met her as she heaved a sigh as if dealing with a petulant child.
"Gawds, are you an idiot? Remove that shirt so I can treat your wounds already!"
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes at her abrasive attitude. "Geez, you could've have just asked? I'm the guy who nearly died here and you're treating me like some kind of nuisance!" I took off my shirt, feeling the wet smack of blood along my shoulder. The pain felt more evident with the threat of battle no longer there as I eked out yelp of pain.
"Can you fight?"
"W-what?"
Another roll of the eyes.
"And he's deaf. I said, can you fight?"
"N-not really…"
A smug look graced her features.
"Can you heal?"
"N-no…."
This time she nodded, as if this information were totally necessary
"Alright, last question. Can you forage?"
"….No."
With a single clap of her hands she blessed me with a wry smile, as she began to wrap the bandages around my shoulder. She gave it an especially sharp tug to keep the pressure going.
"Then yes. You are a nuisance."
"Your bedside manner really fucking sucks you know that?"
Severa laughed as she began to put her materials away, "You're not the first one to say that trust me."
I blinked as I stared at Severa as the rest of the group seemed to finish their rounds. It was one thing to think her character traits were cute when reading it. Maybe it was because of the stress. Maybe it was because of the pain I was in. But experiencing it first-hand hadn't exactly been the most stellar interaction I've had.
Severa glanced at me one final time, sheepishly scratching her head.
"But…you're alright."
My head whipped toward her, surprised by the statement.
"I….thanks?" I wasn't sure how to take that compliment.
"The only reason we got here to save your sorry ass was because of the three villagers we came across our patrol. The little brat kept crying about how 'mister is gonna die saving us, please save him!'" Severa played it up with the best impression of a little kid she could, eliciting a small laugh from me.
"To be honest, we didn't really expect to find anyone alive out here. Even if you didn't turn out the way you did, we would've at least done the job of exterminating the Risen in the area so uh. Good job on you. For surviving I guess."
To be honest, I felt embarrassed at Severa's attempt to cheer me up. Both for myself and her. Leave it to Severa to fumble something as basic as a compliment, "I uh…well. How about we start with introductions then? This is the first time we've met so…the name's Chris. Short for Christopher. What's your name?" I offered a hand for a brief handshake.
Severa accepted it in kind, giving it a rather deathly squeeze, "The first time we met you say?"
I felt a nervous tic begin to form as I opened my mouth, albeit no words escaping my lips as I struggled to find a response.
Did I say something wrong?
Severa watched me with a questioning stare before simply nodding.
"Severa. You can call me Severa."
And that's the first chapter. I might go back and edit it in the future. I unfortunately do not have a beta reader, but I just really felt like putting it out there. Not sure how I feel about writing it in first person. I apologize if I back out and switch to second person in the near future. I also apologize in advance for Johann's language. I could really use some tips on how to handle 'Donnel village' talk. I might just go back and take it out entirely though.
