Chapter 25

Gwen

The Hollowed Seamstress that was Gwen gave a grunt as she dodged an attack from a massive wraith that was larger than the others currently attacking the village. Dodging another attack from the wraith, she dashed towards its left flank. Then, before it could react, she had the wraith's waist between the blades of her scissors. She then cut the wraith in half, "killing" it, as the magic of her scissors went to work in neutralizing it permanently. Undead were notoriously difficult to kill without magical means. Unless completely and utterly obliterated or torn to piece to such a state that they can't physically fight anymore, an undead warrior will keep fighting if one uses a non-magical weapon against them.

Gwen, fortunately, was not short of magical arms to combat the undead. In fact, she wasn't short of anything related to magic on account of her origins. An origin that caused her both sadness and also confliction. For the thing that brought her to life is also the cause of the Shadow Isles and all the suffering it brought, including what was happening right now.

Feeling a twinge of anger and sadness at the sudden memory of her origins, Gwen moved to her next target, a wraith that was approaching the lodge of the village. Conjuring some magical needles in her left hand, she was about to throw them at the wraith when suddenly it was set upon by Rogier. Moving quicker than she thought possible for someone like him could move, he raised his war mace above his head before slamming it down on the wraith's head. Gwen couldn't help but wince as the mace squashed the wraith into a pulpy mess on the ground. She then watched him swing his mace to a wraith that tried to pounce on him. The result was the wraith's upper body being torn from its lower body by the sheer force of the mace, causing it to fly quite a distance away from the village. With that done, Rogier stopped fighting and looked at Gwen.

"That was the last of the wraiths endangering this village. For the moment at least." Said Rogier/Mordekaiser as he looked at Gwen and the bodies around them. Half a dozen wraith were laid dead before the two in various states of dismemberment or stains on the ground.

"Must you have been so brutal in your fighting?" Said Gwen as she looked at the wraiths that Rogier killed. All of which suffered quite brutal deaths at the hands of his giant mace. Truth be told, when Gwen first saw his weapon of choice, she couldn't help but be concerned regarding it. She detested war maces and hammers. She never understood the reasoning behind them. What was the point in killing people and creating a further mess than necessary, which hammers and maces tend to do. Plus, she found them absolutely dreadful and barbaric not to mention uncivilized for the aforementioned reasons.

"Yes, it is how I normally fight." Said Rogier/Mordekaiser as he looked at Gwen. His "clothing" all bloodied from all the blood he had spilled in the battle. "Is that much of a problem that you brought it up now?"

"Well, not really." Said Gwen as she looked upon Rogier/Mordekaiser. "It's just that I never understood why some people would desire to use such…brutish weapons when cleaner options are available." If he could, Mordekaiser would have rolled his eyes at answer.

"War and battle do not care about what is clean and what is dirty." Said Rogier/Mordekaiser. "What matters is defeating the enemy and obtaining your goals. Anything else is irrelevant to those two matters." Gwen frowned when she heard that, not pleased to hear such a thing come from her ally.

"Defeating our foes and obtaining our goals are not the only things that we should focus on." Argued Gwen with a frown. "We should also focus on how we obtained our goals. Otherwise, we are little better than those that we fight." Mordekaiser scoffed at that internally.

"And why is that?" Asked Mordekaiser as he looked at the young woman before him, indulging her a bit. "We protected these villagers from harm all the same. They're safe from this threat and those that will come soon regardless of the methods we used to do so. That is all what these villagers want. To be protected from the dangers that intend to do them harm. What more could they want?"

"For one, not to see such gore." Said Gwen as she looked at the bodies around Rogier/Mordekaiser. "Do you think that they desire to see all this death? This carnage when they're finally safe from harm? Do you think they want their children to see it? Better yet, do you think they would be happy with our efforts if this is what we have to show for our efforts? Corpses with their insides all over their homes? No, they would be afraid of us. They'll see us as the same as the monsters that we just defended them from."

"I do not need their approval." Said Mordekaiser as he looked at Gwen in annoyance. "I did what they needed to happen and that is all that matters. I do not need their adoration nor do I need to be loved by them. All that matters is that they are safe and free to continue their lives without threats to their existence. Besides, it is unlikely that I will ever be seen in this village again. I only came here for you and nothing else. These villagers will likely never see me again after this day." Upon hearing all that, Gwen frowned further at that, not agreeing with him at the slightest. Though she approved of him helping to defend the village when he didn't need to, she still was disapproving of his attitude towards how he should go around obtaining his goals. The methods were just as important as the results, if not more so. Even if he intended on not coming to this village ever again, he should, at least, try to leave a good impression on those that he helped save today. It would certainly be the gentlemanly thing to do as well as a good habit to do. Something she thinks this Rogier could benefit from.

Before she could speak her mind about his words, Rogier suddenly raised his head and looked towards the coast. This caused her some alarms as she worried that he was sensing something else coming towards the village. Something bad.

Hoping that she was wrong and that he was simply being paranoid, Gwen's hopes were dashed when Rogier spoke opposite to her hopes.

"We appear to have more enemies approaching. Ones more powerful than this group. And they're approaching from the water. Come, we must go there immediately." Said Rogier/Mordekaiser as he left for the shore of the village. Gwen sighed at that before following him. Looking at Rogier's back, she wondered what was going on in his head and if she was perhaps wrong about her initial assessment of this wraith.

He wanted to help these poor villagers, yet he had no true desire to establish friendships with the villagers or even care much about them beyond them living to see another day. Such a strange man and yet one she couldn't help respect, if only a little.

True, his choice of weaponry and what his priorities were was something that annoyed, even angered, her, but she couldn't deny that she was intrigued with him. He was so…cold and uncaring to the people of this village yet was willing to protect them nonetheless. Even protect them further once it was clear that more enemies were coming to attack them. It intrigued her and she wanted to understand the reasons behind his actions as well as understand him more as a person.

Walking next to Rogier, Gwen was about to speak to him when he suddenly spoke up himself.

"It seems that we have quite a force coming to us." Said Rogier/Mordekaiser as he looked at the ocean, seeing a massive fog of Black Mist coming towards them. Seeing this, Gwen was surprised and a bit fearful at just how large the fog was. That meant that a large force was coming here, a large foe was approaching them, or worse, both. Feeling a bit uneased, Gwen felt her confidence slowly escaping her until she felt a hand touch her shoulder. Looking at the source, Gwen was a little surprised to see that the source was Rogier. His hand wasn't exactly gentle, but it also wasn't harsh either like she thought it would be. Looking at him in surprise, Gwen was about to say something when he spoke.

"Do not let your resolve and bravery be diminished by the sight of an overwhelming force." Said Mordekaiser/Rogier as he looked upon Gwen with his faceless head. Despite that typically being something that unnerves people, Gwen couldn't help but feel assured from the way he was holding her shoulder and his tone of voice. It was strong and spine chilling but it somehow managed to calm her down and inspire her with how resolute and calm it was. Not to mention the power behind it. "Think of the villagers that you are protecting. Let that strengthen your resolve. They are depending on you to protect them from this danger. Do not fail them." Upon hearing that, Gwen realized that he was correct and that the villagers were counting on her to protect them from the approaching danger. If she failed because of a slight flattering of her confidence, then she should be ashamed of herself.

Shaking her head as willed herself to rid herself of her doubt. Once she was done, she gave Rogier an appreciative smile.

"Thank you for that." Said Gwen, appreciation for what he did showing in her smile, which was perhaps the most beautiful and warm smile that Mordekaiser has ever laid on since he seen his adopted son smile. Taking a moment to appreciate such beauty, Mordekaiser gave a grunt before focusing on his next foes.

"You needed it." Said Mordekaiser/Rogier without much hesitation. "An ally that has hesitations can prove to be a significant weakness to one's side. A fatal one as well. Best to deal with it now than suffer the consequences later." Gwen had to agree with that. Looking at her ally in appreciation still, Gwen realized that there was indeed more to him than her initial impressions left her of him and she was glad of that. She truly was.

She was about to speak to him further when Rogier/Mordekaiser spoke up.

"The enemy approaches." Said Mordekaiser/Rogier as he pointed to the black mist approaching. Within, he can spot some men in horses as if they were on the ground. Leading them was a horse with the upper body of a man. Like a Centaur. Interesting. "Be ready for a fight." Gwen consented to that and readied her scissors for a fight. As the two readied for a fight, Mordekaiser thought of his son and how he was faring.

"No doubt doing the assignment that his idiot of a boss has forced him to partake in." Thought Mordekaiser, anger rising in him as he thought of Blitzo. "So long as he doesn't stray too far from what he's supposed to do, he, Moxxie, and Millie should be fine. If he doesn't, he'll pay, even if both Moxxie and his wife are unharmed. That Imp needs…discipline. Discipline that I can easily provide if necessary." Mordekaiser's thoughts were interrupted when the Black Mist dissipated enough to allow Gwen and Mordekaiser to see their next opponents. Over two dozen armored specters riding horses, their weapons varied and old, but still deadly from the looks of them. Leading them was a massive centaur-like being. Wielding a massive halberd, the being chuckled in delight as he saw Mordekaiser and Gwen standing defiantly at his attempt to destroy this pitiful village for the Shadow Isles.

Without a second thought, he pointed his halberd at the two and charged at them. His warriors close behind.