Chapter 4: A Fortnight

POV: Corson

Author: Forscythe12

That first night, Corson and Kaiah stayed up until sunrise. The bandits never came. They didn't come the next night either, nor the one after. Corson got antsy. He kept assuring Kaiah they'd come again soon. Randomly throughout the day he found himself recounting terrible tales about them, embellishing a bit. It'd been three days and he was worried Kaiah Coppervein would start to think she was getting manipulated.

Because Corson absolutely was doing whatever he could to manipulate her.

Knock knock.

"I'm up."

Corson opened the door to his own house and came in. Kaiah was sitting on the bed. She was slouching, rich brown hair hanging over her face, the loose strands another sign of inadequate rest.

"How'd you sleep?" He carried a bucket in and crouched down. She grunted. He wrung out a cloth and passed it to her. "That bad, huh?"

Kaiah began wiping her face. It was early afternoon. They both slept at sunrise and then because of the savannah heat, they'd only get a few hours with many more in restless limbo. Kaiah was no grouch but these conditions gave them bags under their eyes.

She sat quietly, droplets from the cloth fell to the floorboards. Corson watched her, anxious.

"We can't keep this up," she said.

"What!?"

"If I'm not well-rested I can't fight at my best. Sorry…" She sighed then bundled up her hair. "One of us has to keep watch alone so the other can sleep. I can cope with a few hours but not for multiple days in a row." She finished tying her hair and stared at him.

Corson thought for a few seconds then nodded. "Fine."

At night it was just them. Corson was often pacing or practicing sword drills with Kaiah's advice, or at times, participation. Kaiah told stories intermittently, about Zone 1 and her experiences as a Royal Guard. Corson opened up about their village and some incidents, but he didn't have nearly as much to say. Kaiah had already lived twenty lifetime's worth of excitement, by the sound of it.

The sunrise, accompanied by villager activity, meant it was their bedtime. Corson had dug his heels in and insisted that Kaiah sleep in his house. Corson began sleeping in the hay barn, which was always empty from the looting. Kaiah replaced his bed with one from her hidden inventory. She'd slashed away with her sword and instead of falling to pieces it vanished. She'd then followed him to the barn, splayed her hand and his bed replanted itself beside a smear of chicken poop, same as it'd always been.

Player abilities were kinda spooky.

The hours before sundown were problematic. Elsbeth helped out or hung around, but nobody else would say a word to Kaiah. Corson tried to ingratiate himself and laugh at her jokes. They needed her help, even if nobody else really wanted her around.

Then came day six. Kaiah's bags receded while Corson's worsened.

"At this rate you'll turn into a zombie," Kaiah said, sitting at a table she'd planted in Elsbeth's house. "Let me do the watch tonight."

"What? No way," Corson replied.

"Seriously, Corson. Get some sleep tonight."

"I said NO!" he shouted. "You're the warrior we need!"

There was a lot he didn't say: I'm weak, even after all your pointers. Even with my glitch I'm not strong enough. If we gotta wait several more days how will alternating sleep affect you? Will you leave us?

Elsbeth stopped working the loom.

Kaiah looked stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Corson, you're also my only backup, ya know."

"I'm getting better at sleeping in the day," he lied.

"You can't keep this up," Kaiah said and Corson bit his lip to keep from yelling again. With the other villagers all shunning Kaiah, he had to be as nice as possible. He was stressed and sleep-brained. Kaiah continued, "The bandits only come two or three times a month, right?"

Corson glared at Elsbeth's back. He didn't outright lie but was trying to give Kaiah the impression they were getting attacked every three days.

"Nobody else can back you up?" Elsbeth asked Kaiah without turning around.

Corson's stomach dropped. If Kaiah left to get help she might not come back.

"Afraid not," Kaiah said and Corson's spirits lifted. "The three guards in Trine have to stay put. Out here in Zone 3 I'm already considered the back-up."

"Then I'll stay up so Corson can rest," Elsbeth decided.

"No." Corson massaged his head and paced. "Charna will find out and it'll cause a bigger stink if more villagers start to help us. This is all her fault."

"Then we'll take the watch in four hour shifts," Kaiah spoke with more authority.

"No." Corson kept pacing. If Kaiah burdened herself for too long she might leave. Their one hope in so long, a golden ticket slipping through his fingers. "This is all Charna's fault."

"CORSON!" Kaiah yelled but he stormed out, leaving her and Elsbeth to stare at each other.

Meanwhile, Charna was overseeing a stocktake of their minimal goods in one of the larger workstations. After finding her, Corson yanked the door open and stormed in.

"Charna, a word!"

Everyone stared at him.

"You look awful," Charna said. "We're in the middle of-"

"This can't wait. Sorry." Corson's voice was hard and he saw outrage on a few faces.

"How dare you!" someone yelled but Charna put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright. Everyone, give us a minute." She spoke with a strained, condescending patience.

The others walked around Corson, glaring. When the door shut he looked at Charna and she crossed her arms. "This had better be good."

"How dare you treat our only hero like an outcast! Other villages would be running around, eager to do things for her. Everyone here just ignores her!"

"We have our own ways of protecting this village," she said.

"How does letting the bandits take what they want protect us? They'll just keep wanting more!"

"You don't get it!" Charna was boiling over. "If any of those bandits get killed by your hero they won't take it out on the King's Guard, they'll wait until she's gone then kill all of us in retribution!"

"We can't not fight."

"We must! Did you forget that Salkadina is only a couple years older than you? When I was just a girl our last village was razed to the ground! We survivors escaped with a single golem, sleeping in caves until we settled here!" Her fists were shaking by her sides.

Corson wasn't sure he believed her.

Charna glared. "You're not the village head. I am! I must appease the people, and fortunately for you, Elsbeth isn't the only one who wants to put their trust in the hero Kaiah, for the moment."

Translation: she won't order Kaiah away until she's convinced more of the villagers to see things her way. Charna wasn't the one to speak to. Corson nodded and turned to go.

Charna called after him, "There's hard rules to life, Corson. If this results in our village getting destroyed, that's on you!"

He hesitated then continued out.

By the tenth day Corson was sharing the night watch with Kaiah and sometimes Elsbeth. It couldn't be helped. The bags under his eyes were gone, he could think clearly and was less crabby.

"You don't have to keep bringing me food and drink," Kaiah said where she sat. Her helmet appeared in her hands and she started twirling it. "Don't worry. I'm not going to leave until the bandit issue is solved."

Corson made a face as he set down her lunch. She'd figured him out, Corson wondered when.

Light reflecting off the spinning helmet caught his eye.

"Hey, do you mind if I train with your armor for a bit?"

She caught the helmet and stood. Her cuirass vanished then appeared in her hands as she held it out for him.

"Alright, I don't see why not."

Corson carried it staggeringly to the barn. He suited up as much as he could, but it didn't fit right. Even so, he didn't mind the added weight. He was Salkadina's best fighter – but only good for testificate standards. Thanks to Kaiah's pointers he was now almost decent. Plus, he had his secret glitch ability. He'd love armor of his own, but they needed iron.

Corson jumped around, getting a feel for it while swinging his sword.

When he finished, he yanked off the helmet. He was all sweaty. He took a long drink from his canteen. Charna would lose it if she saw him wearing this. He took it all off before carrying it back to Kaiah who was shooting arrows in his backyard.

"My helmet?" she asked after vanishing everything else.

Corson paused, wracking his brain. "I left it in the barn! One second!" He took off but upon reaching the barn it was nowhere to be seen. Someone took it. "Goddammit," Corson seethed. Charna or somebody was inwardly snickering over this passive-aggressive stunt.

Oh no you don't!

That afternoon, while avoiding Kaiah, Corson got into four arguments with different villagers. He'd searched multiple chests, looked under beds, and discovered a few small hiding places under floorboards – filled with only enough food so they'd never starve.

It was dinner time, Corson was outside when a gleam caught his eye. Walking back from the well was his brother Romir, carrying the helmet. Corson stared then ran over.

"Romir! Why do you have that?"

He held it out. It looked shinier.

"It's better now."

"You buffed and polished it," Corson realized, feeling stupid. Romir was too shy to talk to Kaiah, but he'd been in Corson's workstation the whole time.

"It's pretty now, brother?"

"You did a good job." Corson squeezed Romir's shoulder before taking it back.

It had been one fortnight. The normal amount of time between bandit attacks. Corson was now calmly certain they'd be back any day now. True to her word, Kaiah had stayed. He'd still not told her, or anyone, about his glitch thing.

Away from the village, on a tree stump sat an empty barrel. Corson readied himself. A weird energy moved down his arms, a subtle vibrating. His eyes flashed green. He punched and the barrel soared above the savannah flat, bouncing then rolling to a stop. A dog started barking.

"How'd you do that?"

Corson whirled around. "Oh. Elsbeth."

Yapping by her leg was her reddish sheepdog. Corson faced forward again and started counting his strides to where the barrel scuffed the grass. Elsbeth scurried over with Coco still barking.

"How'd you do that?" she repeated firmly.

"Can you shut your dog up? I'm trying to count."

With a frown, Elsbeth crouched and petted Coco until he stopped. Corson counted twelve steps, a new record. He turned around.

"Turns out I'm a glitch."

"Like… like the zombie tha' walked through walls two weeks ago?"

"Yeah. When I went to Trine, before I met Kaiah, this guy offered to enchant my sword but instead…"

"You got enchanted," Elsbeth finished, incredulous. She thought for a moment. "You're not actually goin' to fight beside Kaiah, are you? You're just her back up."

"You're sounding like Charna."

"She has a point, you know!"

"How could I know I have these powers and do nothing while we get robbed?"

"Oh Corson…" she sighed and straightened up. Corson's eyes stopped glowing. Coco watched him, tail wagging cautiously. "It's almost wandering time. Let's go back."

Corson knew she could keep a secret and appreciated it. He nodded. He hurried to the barrel and rolled it back into its ditch, covering it with a leafy branch. Then he rejoined her and they headed back.