"We're running low on food." Teija's declaration came during breakfast, more plain rice.
"How bad is it?" I asked, staring into my bowl. I had gotten sick of rice days ago, but that didn't mean I would prefer starvation. While the potatoes had been a lovely diversion, we were already running low. Teija hadn't been willing to risk the black ones, and that left only a small portion of the sack.
"Two days. More if we ration it. I'm sorry, I got excited when you brought the potatoes back yesterday and we made too much. I should have been paying more attention to how much we were using-"
"It's okay, Teija. It's alright." The woman was on the verge of hyperventilating. "I'll see what I can do to find more. I found a goblin storage spot yesterday that I can dig through some more, and worst case scenario they have to have some kind of food supply inside. I'll just slip inside, get what I can, then come back."
Teija's face was pale, and I realized, belatedly, how much my words must have reminded her of her past. Had her male lover said the same thing, before his death? I put down my bowl and closed the distance between us in two steps, putting my arm on her shoulder. She buried her face in my chest, hiding from the world.
"I'll come back, okay? I won't leave you guys here alone."
"Promise?" Her voice was muffled, but I could hear her struggle against the tears.
"I promise."
She took a shuddering breath, then nodded against me. When she pulled away, she had her game face on. A bright smile that almost reached her eyes.
"Okay. In that case, I'll have things ready for you when you get back. Oh! And you can tell us your story over dinner tonight. Don't think you got away without having to share."
Teija poked me in the chest and I laughed, holding up my hands in surrender.
"I will, I will. Don't know how interesting it will be, but I'll do share what little I can."
"Damn right you will. Check on Sonja before you leave, okay? I think she had something for you."
Sonja was working at her forge when I found her, and she gestured for me to wait.
"Give me just a moment, Ciaphas. I'm just putting on the finishing touches."
I leaned back against the stone wall, happy to watch her work. She was a craftsman, through and through. She'd rolled her sleeves up to stop them from dipping into the forge, and her forearms were tight and strong from swinging the hammer. Her latest project, one I had seen her work on periodically since Teija and I had joined her camp, was finally coming together and I marveled at what the smith had been able to do from the scrap metal and strips of leather I'd been able to salvage.
When she was finally satisfied, Sonja lifted her work and held it up, comparing it to my body shape. It was a breastplate, strong and simple, and she had etched a sunburst over the heart in reverence to her god.
"Is this for me?" I asked, admiring her work. Sonja nodded and gestured for me to lift my arms to test the fit.
[Simple Breastplate: Increased Protection]
"It is. You are always putting yourself in danger to bring back supplies. The least I can do is ensure you are as well-prepared as I can make you."
The armor felt strange, and she spent a few minutes showing me how to tighten the various straps. I was testing out the fit and the limitations to my mobility when I noticed she had stopped assisting, and was just watching me move.
"Did I put it on wrong?"
"Not at all. The opposite, in fact. You have worm armor before."
That caught me off guard. I stopped my experimentations and cocked an eyebrow. Sonja nodded, watching me critically.
"I'm sure of it. You may not have noticed yourself, but you are moving as someone who was trained to move and fight in armor. There is a certain amount of muscle memory that one picks up that is obvious when you know what to look for, and I see it in you. Good. I had expected to have to teach you to wear it, but this should save us some time."
My arms, ribs, and shoulders ached from the constant sparring. Hell, my entire body hurt. I had paid my instructor to teach me to survive, but I suspect they would have done it for free out of sheer sadistic joy.
"I think you're right. Thank you, Sonja. Both for the gift and the reminder. Maybe wearing this will help some of my past come back to me."
"More importantly, maybe it will save your life. Bring me more good metal when you can, and I'll add on to it. You still have far too many vulnerable points for my liking. Still, it will do for now. Now, cast a few spells for me so I can see how it changes your movement. Unless you intend to pick up a sword any time soon?"
I ran through my repertoire of magic, layering [Mage Armor] and [Shield] over the steel for extra protection, and launching a few attacks at the stone wall. The breastplate was well fitted, Sonja had an excellent eye, and after a few minor adjustments I was able to move almost as well with it on as I had without it.
"The extra weight will slow you down a bit, and you will tire more quickly in a fight." She said as I tested my range of attack with [Drain Touch], careful not to touch her with it. "You won't be able to dodge as well, so pay attention to keeping your enemy at a distance."
Sonja was only satisfied when sweat ran down my face, and allowed me to drink and rest.
"Did Teija tell you about our food situation?"
"She did. I'm going to look around the goblin camp today. With any luck, I'll be able to bring us some more food today. Keep an eye on the camp while I'm gone?"
Sonja nodded and clapped me on the shoulder.
"Go with the Sunfather, Ciaphas. I will be praying for your safe return."
I trudged back to the camp, stumbling when my foot dragged the ground. The day had been a mixed bag. I'd found enough food to last us another few days, buried in the heaps of assorted trash outside the goblin territory, but had been attacked twice. One of the attacks had caught me entirely off guard and would have killed me, had it not been for Sonja's breastplate.
Teija was carrying a bucket of water to the workshop when I came in, and she stopped to stare in amused horror.
"Oh, wow. What happened to you?"
I took a long, slow breath and exhaled heavily, playing up my exhaustion.
"I don't want to talk about it. I did, however, bring you a present."
Her eyes lit up and she bounced a little, sloshing water onto the floor. Right up until I pulled a bag of cabbages from my inventory. Then she threw the water on me. Freezing water.
Worth it.
"Of course it would be cabbages." Teija grumbled as she tore one into strips and threw it into the rice. "No carrots, no peas. Hell, I'd even take broccoli at this point. Anything but more cabbage."
I turned away from the fire to let the back of my shirt dry, and hide my laughter, and shot Sonja a quizzical look. The woman barely looked up as she dried and oiled the breastplate she'd given me.
"They were all we had when we first camped together. Did you really need to jump into the fountain after getting stabbed? You'll have problems later if this rusts."
"Don't look at me. Teija was the one who decided I needed a bath." I heard the alchemist snort behind me, and Philip laughed.
"As a matter of fact, you did. Smelled like you'd been rolling around in garbage all day."
"Pretty much," I admitted. "And where do you think I got those cabbages? There isn't exactly a market close by."
I heard Teija gag, and I could imagine her shudder, without having to turn around.
"I have a feeling we've already gathered the easiest pickings available. Anything else will be harder to come by. And yes, Sonja, I'll make sure to keep it as dry as possible in the future. It saved my life today, by the way."
"I can tell."
Sonja flipped the plate over in her hands to show my a long scratch along the back. I had felt the blow of course, but I hadn't had the chance to see the damage the attack had caused. The goblin had ambushed me while my defensive spells were down, and the blade would have gone right through me were it not for the armor.
"The same day I injured my hand, I had a dream of making a breastplate just like this. Though, perhaps, with better materials. I'm glad I didn't dismiss it after all."
She brushed the hammer on her belt without even realizing it. I had never seen it outside of her reach, now that I thought about it.
"The Sunfather?" I wasn't sure how to feel about her devotion to her deity. It wasn't one I was familiar with, but Sonja was clearly a firm believer.
"Perhaps. He isn't the type of god to appear in the dreams of his followers. His portents often show in more practical, and less subtle, ways." She flexed her hand at the memory. "And yet…"
"Alright, food's ready. " Teija said, passing Sonja a bowl of cabbage and rice, then pointing her ladle at me. "And you owe us a story while we eat."
"Well, once upon a time there was a terrible alchemist. She was pretty, but mean, and would throw water at people passing by her hut."
Philip laughed in delight, and I could have sworn I saw Sonja hide a small smile with a spoonful of rice. Teija, however, was not amused.
"And she wouldn't share any of her dinner with people who deflected conversations." She said, without missing a beat, and sat down with a bowl of her own.
"Pretty and wise." I shot Sonja a betrayed look, but she refused to meet my eye. Traitor didn't even try to hide her smile this time.
"Alright, alright, I get it. I'll tell you what I remember. But like I said yesterday, it isn't much."
I took a bowl and made myself comfortable. The others did the same, Philip nestling himself against Sonja's stomach.
"I was an officer in an army of some kind, I think, or maybe leading it. I remember feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, but it was a resigned kind of hopelessness. We may not succeed, but maybe the next people would. We were facing a powerful enemy, a tyrant I think. I don't remember his face, but I remember hating him."
The fire was clear, but detached. Like it had belonged to someone else.
"I'd just had a terrible argument with someone important to me, and I felt betrayed when they left. I think it was my best friend? You remind me of him, Sonja, so maybe he was a knight of some kind. Or a paladin. Whatever he was, I know he was a good man. And we had argued about my decisions. The methods I had chosen during our rebellion. He didn't agree, thought I had gone too far. Refused to fight alongside me while…"
The memories were so fuzzy, it was hard to remember. As soon as I focused on one it would turn to smoke and slip through my fingers.
"He left, and I was alone with a woman. My, er, friend." I glanced at Philip, unsure how to phrase just how close I had been with her. The others caught my meaning and nodded. "She was comforting me, telling me that I didn't need him. That together we would win without his help. I was so angry I ate it up."
I felt the fire again, but this time it was my own. I remembered just how much I hated that faceless woman now that I was reliving it.
"She poured me a drink, but she must have poisoned it. I woke up, bound in my tent with sounds of battle outside. My… friend… told me that she had never loved me. That I was a fool for never noticing it, and that her master had sent her to lead me and my army into a trap. And I had walked right into it."
I ate some of the rice but it tasted like ash. The woman's laughter, cruel and mocking, rang in my ears, making my stomach turn. The details of my previous life may have been intangible, but my hate was real. All I had of my previous life.
We ate in silence for a moment, until Philip broke the awkwardness.
"I liked the story about the alchemist more."
Sonja's snort was so unladylike, both Teija and I stared, which only set her off more. Her snorting laughter was infectious and in an instant the moment was gone, along with my hate. Teija and I were all too happy to make up a silly story about the mean, but pretty as Teija insisted, alchemist did mean but funny things to a series of increasingly deserving villagers.
I lay awake for a long time, after the fire had burned down. At first I had tried to read more of the adventurer's journal, but my thoughts kept drifting back to my hazy memories and I eventually gave up. Instead I lay on my back and watched the soft shadows dance across the stone ceiling, trying not to think about how much the place felt like a tomb.
"Ciaphas, you awake?"
Teija's voice was soft, barely audible in the darkness. Sonja and Philip had fallen asleep a while ago, judging by Sonja's bear-like snores. She had placed her bedroll on the opposite side of the fire from me, and her back was turned to me.
"Yeah. I'm awake." She rolled over to face me, a lock of her dark hair brushing her nose.
"I'm sorry for… for freezing up. When you saved me. I wanted to help, I swear I did, but it's like I was watching someone else just sit there and scream. I wanted to help so bad but I…"
The goblin's dagger inched closer to my chest. Teija huddled in the corner, screaming.
"It's okay."
"It's not okay." Her voice cracked, and Philip shifted in his sleep, burying his face into Sonja's side. Teija lowered her voice. "It's not. I was stupid and scared and you almost died trying to save me, all because I froze. Just like-…"
She rolled onto her back and cleared her throat. It hadn't been quick enough for me to miss the tears. I didn't have anything to say to that, so we lay in silence for a while. Eventually she broke the silence.
"We're dead, aren't we?"
The thought had occurred to me as well. How could it not? I sure as hell didn't remember choosing to come to this place. Nor could I see how my last memories could have had a different ending.
"Yeah. I think we are."
"Is this our punishment? You for making the wrong choices. Me for being a coward. Is this a punishment? Or a second chance?"
I didn't have an answer to that, either. Teija had to have been thinking the same thing I was, that if it were true what did that mean for Sonja and Philip. It seemed wrong, thinking about it for someone else. An invasion of their privacy, in a way. A piece of firewood popped and settled, sending a flurry of sparks to dance upwards.
"I won't freeze again, Ciaphas. I promise."
Sonja and I spent most of the next day shoring up the camp's defenses. We had left it long enough, and every extra day increased the chances of a goblin attack. While Sonja used her skills to sharpen stakes and shape iron reinforcements, I provided the physical labor, fitting everything together in a way that would hopefully survive a goblin raid.
Or at least not fall over if one of us sneezed on it.
Philip had originally been excited to help, and I had put him to work running supplies from Sonja as she finished them. He had enjoyed playing with the strengthening ring some more, but before long he'd grown bored.
"Uncle Kai, is it okay if me and Horse play outside?"
"Sure," I said around the nails in my mouth. "Just don't go too far, okay?"
"Okay!" The kid stuck to it too, never quite straying outside of the radius of my light spell or the torches we'd set up while I was working., and I was able to keep an eye on him as I worked.
The work was slow going by myself. Teija had offered to help, but we'd decided that finishing her various alchemical supplies was more important than hammering wood into place. If something were to happen, we would be glad to have her completed products available to us.
"How goes it, Uncle Kai?"
I frowned at Teija's shout, but didn't turn around.
"Not you too. Well enough for now. Could you hold that plank up for me?" I was able to nail it into place with her help, and stretched out my aching back.
"I came to get Sonja some water, and brought you some on my way past. Figured you must be exhausted out here." I took it gratefully and leaned against the now-fortified barricade, testing its sturdiness. Teija had taken to wearing a goblin short sword on a belt, and it bumped her leg as she settled against the wall next to me.
"I appreciate that. My helper ran off a little while ago, so it's been tough to get some of the reinforcements in place."
Teija glanced around, then into the shadows at the edge of the lights' radius.
"Where is Philip? I thought he'd be with you. Philip!"
Silence greeted us and we shared a worried look before the boy's scream of surprise and terror broke the stillness. Philip shot out of the shadows at full speed with three figures, goblins led by a hobgoblin, chasing him. The large one carried a net, and was winding up to throw it over Philip.
[Improved the camp's defenses before the next attack.]
[Defend against the goblin raid.]
"Sonja!' Teija shouted, and she drew her sword as I grabbed my staff from where it leaned against the wall.
I regretted not having my breastplate, but the [Mage Armor] and [Shield] were a comfort as I felt the magic settle over me in a thin layer of protection. I repeated the process on Teija as well, and she shivered as the magic washed over her. With my preparations finished, I moved forward to stand between the goblins and Teija, but she stepped up to stand alongside me, sword at the ready. It wavered in her hands and her knees trembled, but she was determined.
"I won't freeze again…"
Philip ran between us, still screaming, and we closed ranks to block the entrance. The goblins rushed us first, but the hob hung back, looking for an opportunity to use his net to take one of us out of the fight. My [Firebolt] soared over their heads and struck the frayed rope, igniting it. The hob dropped it with a howl of pain, and I blocked a cudgel with my staff.
Teija fared better against her opponent than I'd thought she would. She was clumsy with the sword, but so was the goblin. Her frantic swipes did a decent job of keeping it away from her, keeping it away from me while I finished off mine with a [Drain Touch].
[Goblin Raider killed. Exp gained.]
I turned my staff on Teija's goblin, but she shook her head.
"I've got this one. Get the big one!" She looked to have the situation in hand and I trusted her to at least survive long enough for either Sonja to arrive or for me to finish with the hobgoblin.
The hobgoblin eyed his dead companion with disinterest, then gestured toward us with his not burned hand. Battle cries rang through the halls, along with the scratching and pounding of clawed feet. First I saw the beady eyes reflecting my light, then almost a dozen goblins charged from out of the shadows towards us.
"Teija! Get inside!"
My shout cost her. Her opponent took advantage of her distraction and slipped inside her guard, cutting her arm. She yelped and stumbled away, holding her arm and staring at the rushing tide in horror.
"Get inside!"
I was already running toward her and a hasty [Firebolt] drove her attacker back long enough for me to grab her arm, eliciting a gasp as I grabbed her wound, and dragged her toward the new barricade. Fortunately, Sonja met us at the entrance with her war hammer and shield, and I shoved Teija in her direction, then wheeled around and blocked the entrance.
"Goblin raid, eight of them." Sonja nodded.
"I'll bandage her arm, then help you. Hold on."
The goblins were on me. They would have surrounded me in a heartbeat were it not for the new barricade. I blocked the entrance just on the inside, limiting their numerical advantage. They scrambled over each other to be the first one inside, and I scorched one with a gout of flame before raising my staff high, glowing with eerie green light.
"[Cause Fear]!"
The wave of magic washed over friend and foe alike. Our attackers recoiled, not as eager to be the first through, and Teija yelped again. I spared a glance behind and saw them both staring at me in horror. Teija trembled while Sonja had paused in wrapping her injury in clean cloth to stare at me with a hard expression.
I hadn't considered that they would be affected, but the spell bought me enough time to lash out. A wave of [Magic Missiles] rocketed forward, dealing injuries both light and severe to the crowd of goblins. It looked like they would break and flee for just a moment, but their leader roared a challenge and charged in himself. He swung his club at me with both hands, forcing me to jump away. I didn't trust my spells or staff to block such a heavy blow.
"Hold on!" Sonja had almost finished with Teija.
"Pitiful humans." The hobgoblin said as he stepped into our defenses, giving a few goblins room to slip in behind him. "Wulthark is a coward to hide from you. I'll kill you myself, then I'll be the chief."
"You can try."
I channeled my magic and met the hobgoblin head on. He fought like a barbarian, wild and heavy swings intended to overwhelm my defenses. Fortunately, it worked against him. His allies were too afraid of being hit to attack my sides, and his blows were easy enough to predict. I dodged the heaviest and carefully tested my defenses with a few lighter attacks. They would hold, as long as my magic reserves held out.
I stayed on the defensive, keeping myself between the goblins and the others, and staying alive, until Sonja finished bandaging Teija. She leapt into battle beside me, blocking a while swing with her shield and giving me an opening to deal a [Drain Touch] to the hobgoblin. It roared in pain and, while not enough to kill it, the spell startled it badly enough to force it to back off warily.
"What are you waiting for?" The leader shouted at the goblins. "Kill them!"
They rushed us in a wave, my spells only dropping a single goblin before they were on us. My spells were strong enough to resist their attacks, as long as I could see them coming, and Sonja was an immovable bastion, blocking with her shield and dealing vicious blows with her hammer.
I drove a goblin back with a [Drain Touch], and Teija surprised me by stabbing the retreating enemy with a lunge. The sword slid from the dead goblin with a wet sucking noise, and Teija's face went ashen. She was clearly terrified, and yet she backed off to stand beside me, opposite Sonja, with her goblin short sword up and ready.
"Thanks for the help," I said, blocking another attack.
"I told you. I won't stay behind again." Her voice made it clear she was trying hard not to puke, but I respected her all the more.
The rest of the fight was a blur of action and reaction, casting, dodging, and blocking. I would protect one of the others, and they protected me on more than one occasion. It came as a surprise when we turned to find the next enemy, only to see they had all been killed. All except the hobgoblin leader, who must have fled during the chaos.
[Defended against the goblin raid.]
I scouted the perimeter briefly to make sure there wouldn't be a second wave, and to catch the leader if he was still close by, but the coast was clear. They must have thought their raiding party would be large enough to deal with us. When I came back Sonja was leaning against a wall and breathing heavily while Teija examined her injury. Philip was pressed against Sonja's side, but was watching Teija check her gash with wide eyes.
"Looks like we're clear. How bad is it?"
"Not too bad, actually. It hurts like a bitch, but it looks worse than it is. Hot water, a bit of cream, and a clean bandage and this should heal up in no time long as I keep it clean. Not even worth the effort of a healing potion."
Some of the color had returned to her cheeks, and I saw the same fire in her eye that I'd seen when she had single-handedly driven off the last goblin raid with alchemist's fire.
"You fought well, despite your injury." Sonja said, smiling faintly. "For a scientist."
"I-I didn't know I could do that." Teija looked at her shaking hands. Sonja clapped a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
"We'll make a warrior out of you yet."
