《ShieldFather: [A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure]》 Chapter 1: Shields Up! ¡°Shields up!¡± I bellowed, pacing before the line of bronze-skinned warriors. Two lines of the hardest men you could find in Hell. ¡°Shields up!¡± 3rd Battalion echoed, feet digging into the earth as they hefted their golden defenders. Spears locked into rests, swords poised to strike, and every eye fixed on the oncoming horde. I liked my lips and grinned. ¡°The Tide takes no sons today!¡± ¡°The Steel Bastion holds eternal!¡± My Seven Hundred roared as they had the day before, and the day before that. The ground trembled beneath our boots and I looked to the scorched horizon then back at the two lines of veteran defenders. No son dies today. The vast cavern stretching into the bowels of hell bellowed as it spewed its demonic swarm at our gates. Plated hands tightened around shield handles. A whisper surged through the ranks, a promise, then laughter, and finally a promise in return. The words reached me last for I was Shieldfather and such was hell. ¡°A thousand, Saidan Thun promises, I hear.¡±Laughter broke out along the two golden lines. ¡°A thousand he will deliver!¡± I cried and seven hundred weapons clanked against seven hundred shields. Behind the lines a single robed man stood raising his feather. ¡°A thousand, Saidan Thun promises.¡± The Killreader said then noted down Thun¡¯s words into the Book of Cycles. ¡°Two thousand Shieldfather must take.¡± The ancient warrior who now served as scribe nodded at me confidently and so he should. I was Shieldfather and such was Hell. A tide of ungodly monsters loomed on the horizon, their twisted forms bristling with talons, barbs, horns, and leathery wings. The stench of their decay and burning flesh filled the air, thick and choking. I licked my lips and grinned. ¡°Angel Arbiter, son of Kold. What death have you wrought today?¡± The Breathweavers began their song upon the parapet as they had the day before and all the days before that. I whispered the words alongside their holy voices. ¡°What sorrow and bile, what hatred will find its death upon shield and blade?¡± The Tide came in like an avalanche of rotted skin, and burning manes. Thousands upon thousands as they did the day before, and all the days before that. I raised my shield high and slammed it into the tormented earth unleashing a golden wave that ignited the warriors around me with Ra¡¯een¡¯s light. The full fury of Hell¡¯s hearth crashed into us. Carcassbulls and hornhawkers, rattleyes and bilescreamers, clawed and bellowed, spat and bit, and flung their monstrous faces at our blades. But before I could take the first head on my way to fulffil my promise, a blinding white light engulfed me, stealing my breath. I gasped, but the air would not come to my lungs. Vision would not return. My body would not hear my rage. I hung suspended in a void as seconds ticked by and turned into what felt like an eternity. A milky fog closed in around me, silencing the grand war and everything else. ¡°Am I¡­ dead?¡± I muttered, panic rising as I struggled for breath that would not come. ¡°Where are my¡ªthis isn¡¯t Hell!¡± My heart thundered like a stampede of dreadborn, threatening to tear me apart from the inside. Desperation clawed at me. ¡°Where am I? Where are my Shieldsons? You demon spawn! Show yourself so I might grant you a swift death!¡± The milky fog whispered unholy chants and an old man appeared before me, his voice a low, relentless murmur. He didn¡¯t even look me in the eye as he continued his chant, every step of his pure torture. ¡°What is this, you demon? Where am I? Take me back!¡± I yelled and tried to move toward him, but I was rooted in place by the sheer power of his very being. ¡°You¡¯re a long way from Hell, Shieldfather,¡± the old man finally said, his voice edged with steel and the weight of a bloody past. I needed no more to recognize a killer, and this ancient, hooded figure had taken many lives¡ªmany, many times. Though I wished nothing more than to ram my thumbs down his eyesockets and pull his witching head from his neck, I steadied my hand and practiced patience. No one should call a Shieldfather hasty, not even this dreadful creature. ¡°You will find your way, Shieldfather,¡± the stranger claimed with an almost prescient confidence that threatened to burn a hole in my heart. Patience, I told myself, letting out a deep, slow breath that didn¡¯t do much to steady my rage. What ruinous day had come to pass that this witching demon, this wyrm-tongued fallow singer dared to lecture a Shieldfather. Patience, I told myself, pressing my nails ever deeper into my palms and feeling my knuckles tense. My teeth gnashed as I tried to exude patience. Study your ground, the Steelspeakers taught us, so with one eye on the old man, I looked around. The walls shimmered in shades of white and grey. We seemed to be in a pocket of something I could hardly understand. I carefully pushed my hand through, never removing my eyes from the witcher. A freezing cold bit my hand and I quickly pulled it back, wincing in pain. This was magic, unlike anything the Steelspeakers knew. Demonic, certainly; the spawns of Hell had really outdone themselves this time. The old man tapped his long white fingers against the head of a golden cane. The clatter of bony knuckles was like a call to attention. He beckons me like a child. His indolence was ripe for bloody justice, but I was Shieldfather and no demon would strip me of grace. Study your enemy, the Steelspeakers claimed so I did. The hooded ancient was robed in thick red colors, somewhat hunched but broad of shoulders. There was a casual air about him, the same kind of sinful serendipity I could see in our elders. But that was not all. I stepped forward and felt my body cross a threshold I was not supposed to. My bones began to ache and a mere dull pain built up so quickly that it threatened to overcome me. The old man hadn¡¯t spoken nor moved, but he knew very well what he was doing. ¡°Wyrm words will not stop me,¡± I said, trying to sound calm and steady, though I felt I hadn¡¯t uttered the truth, but rather wishful thinking. I hated the weakness in my soul, a wound deeper than any blisterspear could deal upon flesh. My threats had no impact on the old man. Curious, demons seldom practiced restrained. I took another long hard look at the witcher before I stepped back. The pain washed away almost immediately. I was at least a head taller than that gnarly apparition and twice as wide, and yet every instinct in me called for caution. Study the intent, I repeated the teachings of the Steelspeakers, but there was one question boiling up in my mind and drowning out all the others. ¡°Am I dead?¡± I finally asked. ¡°Oh, yes,¡± the old man replied. For a moment I felt my body relax and even laughter fill the globe of night. I cleared my throat and spat on the sand. So you finally found me, Ta¡¯neer, Angel Arbiter. Good. I will make a glorious statue in the Domain of History. ¡°I mean¡­ in some sense. Have you died? No, but is everything you know gone? Yes, very much so.¡± There was no mistaking the intent. Mockery. How pathetic. It was a demon¡¯s first and last resort. ¡°What have you done, hellspawn?¡± I growled tightening my fists again. Patience had to wait. I was naked, trapped in a shroud of darkness with a creature of immense power. The weight of my shield still lingered in my grasp like the last words of a dying brother, but I would still fight. I was Shieldfather and he was a demon, there was no other end to such a story, such was Hell and everything else. ¡°I have done what needed to be done. Remember that, Shieldfather. Always.¡± As soon as he spewed his cryptic words, he extended his other hand toward me. A small globe of light hovered there for a moment before a searing white fire enveloped the old man. All I could do was cover my eyes as the witch disappeared, leaving nothing but the stench of brimstone behind. The sand where he had stood turned to glass. I knelt and looked at the still-smoking spot for a moment. ¡°Fire magic, mockery, illusions¡­¡± I muttered. ¡°The marks of a demon prince,¡± I stood, eyes still glued to the sand. A dark thought made even darker by my ignorance. A demon prince, yes, but which one? I tapped the spot three times with my left foot, three times with my right, and finally spat on the smoldering glass. Whether the ancient rites would do any good was debatable, but they had to be done anyway. It couldn¡¯t hurt. With the black mist now gone, I felt a searing pain seep into my red eyes. Merciless light enveloped me as if a thousand torches had been lit. Countless cycles in the depths of Hell had made a Shieldfather¡¯s eyes adept at piercing the darkness, finding even the smallest, skittering earcrawler demons snaking up the walls. For this, there was only one explanation and I dreaded it more than a thousand earcrawlers. ¡°The sun,¡± I muttered, my eyes yet aflame. Never had I thought I would stand before it. Shivers ran down my spine as a vile breeze washed over me. So many books spoke of the sun, so many paintings showed it a raging ball of fire, and yet it did little to warm my bronze body. I forced a peek through half-closed lids, more listening than seeing. A vast blue body of water slowly came into view. Beams of light reflected off the azure wave. The lazy surf of the sea punctuated by the occasional squawk of birds echoed in my ears. It was nothing like the books conveyed, nothing like the images on the walls of the Domain of History. It had beauty to it, but it was nothing like Hell. The only home I ever knew. I scratched the scar at my neck, a gift from a tenlife demon¡¯s cleaver-arm. The deepest wound I had ever suffered. It always itched when my soul was searching for answers. ¡°Hello there!¡± a croaky voice to my left called, startling me from this fleeting moment of confusing tranquility. At the far end of a small pier stood yet another old man, much smaller than the previous one with a large net slung over his shoulder. A tiny, pitiful sight but no less arrogant than the hellish royalty before him. ¡°Another demon,¡± I hissed through my teeth. I¡¯ve known demon magic all my life and there was no doubt this was yet another expression of the same. The demon with his fire magic, this illusion of the overworld, and now this creature daring to beckon me, a Shieldfather! As if it couldn¡¯t tell I¡¯m a Varian Lord. The marks of corruption were everywhere.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The trained constraint of my mind gave way to the rage in my heart. This charade had to end. The Bastion was waiting for me. I couldn¡¯t waste another minute out here in the cold of this sunny beach. I needed to get back in line at the Gates of Hell where the Shieldsons awaited my orders. I closed the distance to the pier quickly, though not as quickly as I was used to. I ran barefoot over the splinter-rich planks, then grabbed the old man by the neck and raised him off his feet. Pain shot through my muscles suddenly and I felt I was struggling to keep the man up. I tried my best not to show, but a moment later I dropped him down to the rotten planks again. ¡°Of course,¡± I said, my voice ripe with disdain, ¡°Just as I thought. Beneath this barrow, pathetic skin you hide your true self, demon. Reveal yourself to me! Now!¡± The fisherman gasped for air with horror in his eyes. He crawled away from me, rubbing his neck and raising an empty bucket for protection. The show of weakness angered me even more. ¡°Stop pretending, demon. Your time has come.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Godfrey, sir¡­ Godfrey,¡± the man claimed. ¡°I¡¯m no demon, I swear on me wife!¡± ¡°Lies,¡± I said in a half-whisper. Frustration led my hands around the fisherman¡¯s collar again and I raised him to eye level. The bucket rolled away and dropped into the cold waters of the sea. ¡°How are you so heavy, Godfrey?¡± I asked turning every word into a threat. Even for demons, this kind of illusion magic was unthinkable. Unlike the other old man, this one didn¡¯t radiate power, only the stench of sweat and fish came off his rugged, brown appearance. ¡°How am I heavy?¡± the trickster demon asked. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ I¡¯m all skin and bones, please!¡± It was then that I felt a warm sensation on my bare feet and quickly realized that this Godfrey creature had pissed himself. I grunted and lowered the man down again. For a moment, it almost seemed he was telling the truth. Demons didn¡¯t piss themselves in fear. Demons didn¡¯t piss at all. Well, except for pisshaulers, of course. Godfrey truly was nothing but bone and skin and yet he felt as heavy as a worggobbler, perhaps even a hornhawker demon. ¡°You truly are nothing but bone and sickly skin,¡± I concluded fearing demonic corruption within my own mind. ¡°I am, sir. Look at this!¡± Godfrey said pulling his shirt up to reveal his hairy ribs. ¡°Hide your shame, old man,¡± I told him and the fisherman rolled his shirt down quickly. ¡°Do you not see me?¡± ¡°I¡­see ye, son. Yer big.¡± ¡°Hm,¡± I frowned. It was a mark of disrespect to show one¡¯s weak stature in the light of a Shieldfather. Though there were many other things on my mind, I still found it important to stress this. ¡°Need I remind you, old man, that your skin is pink and white and bruises in light winds, while mine is bronze and golden like the rivers of Ungorth?¡± ¡°Uhm¡­yes?¡± ¡°Do you not see that my hair is black like the nether night and as rich as the First Father¡¯s wisdom? That these knots take our Wellmothers hours each night and each morning so that no hair should strain the vision of the Shieldson behind me?¡± ¡°You¡­You have very nice hair, sir ¨C.¡± ¡°While yours is but a speck of pitiful hey glued to a translucent skull.¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± The fisherman said rubbing his head. ¡°And your feeble, stick-like arms! They offend the gods, Godfrey!¡± Godfrey looked at his arms and shrugged. ¡°Look at my arms, bulging with glorious muscles! Flesh made steel against thousands of demons. I¡¯m Shieldfather, Godfrey, a Varian Lord of the Steel Bastion.¡± ¡°Very¡­good, sir.¡± I eyed the fisherman suspiciously. His words were in the right place, but his heart wasn¡¯t in it. The admiration, I felt, was steeped either in fear or trickery. ¡°Then explain to me, how you are so heavy?¡± I expected little in terms of honesty from this wretched fiend, but alas, I had to learn of my surroundings before I would step further into this madness. ¡°Perhaps¡­and no offense, perhaps you need to get a bit stronger?¡± Godfrey grabbed for the bucket again but it was gone so he braced for a slap at the least, but nothing came. ¡°You dare!¡± I growled. ¡°I have strangled firewings and duskravers alike. I have torn eyes out of dozeneyed stinkwafters, crushed the skulls of mammothscreamers, and plucked the horns off carcassbulls, and yet you dare say I¡¯m weak? What have you crushed with your own hands?¡° Godfrey looked at his palms for a moment and sighed. ¡°Only my dreams.¡± We stood there in silence for a moment as a salty breeze washed over us. My gaze wandered across the vast waters and beyond, and then I felt the shivers again, not only because of the soft breeze. ¡°No,¡± I muttered as my heart sank. ¡°No?¡± The old man asked. I clenched my teeth and fists. A realization had struck me like a fireball to the face. In the top right corner of my vision, there was a change. A horrendous, unimaginable change. Where once the number 99 hovered as a testament to my many cycles at the gates, to rivers of blood spilled upon the scorching rocks of the Bulwark, to endless demon waves crashing against the shields of the Varian Cohort, now a different number stood. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­level 1,¡± I gasped, the painful realization setting in. ¡°What is going on? Why? And how?¡± ¡°Well, of course you are,¡± the fisherman said, raising his hands again in fear of retaliation, but seeing none came, he continued. ¡°Most of you who wash up on this beach are level 1.¡± I could say nothing for a while. I remembered the teachings of the Steelspeakers who taught Shieldsons and Shieldfathers alike that no demonic force, no matter how powerful, could interfere with the Soulforge, and yet here it was. Changed, weakened, and drained of a lifetime of excellence. ¡°How am I not dead then,¡± I said, my voice barely audible. A lifetime of impeccable service in the light of the First Father. Uncountable demon tides deflected against my Indominus Shield, so much death¡­ and now? What sin had I committed that the gods would punish me so mercilessly? ¡°What is this?¡± I said turning to Godfrey. ¡°What, sir? What is what?¡± ¡°This!¡± I snapped, raising my hands as if to encompass all of reality. ¡°The¡­the beach,¡± the fisherman explained. ¡°Crab Beach.¡± ¡°Crab Beach,¡± I repeated halfheartedly. ¡°I see, and then this must be an ocean, is it?¡± I demanded angrily. Godfrey looked over his shoulder and then back at me. He nodded pretending to be unsure of why I asked. ¡°And this? These green things? You want to tell me those are trees?¡± ¡°Uhm¡­yes, those are trees.¡± ¡°And many trees make a forest, do they?¡± Even as I said those words the fury of my Varian heritage fuelled an ever greater fire in my heart. The lessons of pragmatism and patience taught by the Steelspeakers were like a whisper in a storm. My mind was cluttered. Only anger reigned. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Is that a question, demon, or is it an answer?¡± ¡°What do you want from me?¡± Godfrey suddenly cried out. He sounded desperate so I stopped myself from yelling further questions. I took a deep breath and steadied myself. ¡°Swear you¡¯re not a demon, Godfrey.¡± ¡°I swear, for the love of Helma, I swear on me wife! I¡¯m just a fisherman! And not a good one either!¡± Perhaps the wicked wyrmtongue of dungeon folk still managed to take root in my Varian mind, or perhaps the man spoke true. In any case, I took pity on the man, and fearing the wrath of Kold, I spoke in softer words. ¡°Have I distraught you, Godfrey?¡± The man seemed taken aback by the sudden change of tone. ¡°You seem distraught. Have I offended you?¡± ¡°Have you¡­ You¡¯ve tried to strangle me!¡± ¡°That is true,¡± I admitted bowing my head in disgrace. Godfrey¡¯s piss glittered on my large bronze feet, but I cared little. Other thoughts roiled within my mind. Each was more pressing than the next. But first, I had to acknowledge my wrongdoings. ¡°For this, I apologize, Godfrey. I have woken into a nightmare and my mind is a boiling volcano. I wish to fight and bleed so I may use this anger for good, but I don¡¯t even know where to begin¡­¡± My words trailed off against the surf. For a moment I was lost in the vastness of the waters. Tartarus had its baths and pools. The great fountain at the Square of Iron certainly had its appeal, but this? The paintings could never do it justice. I noticed I was shaking slightly as goosebumps covered my bronze skin. The books of the Domain of History claimed the sun to to be a god, the eye of a god, the maker and unmaker but in every description, they claimed it was made of fire and light. How then was this world so cold? I noticed Godfrey eyeing me warily. If he truly was no demon and I had woken to another life, what would such a creature think of me? My first impulse was murder, my second impulse was murder once again, then insults and threats¡­He must be scared for life. The fisherman pulled out a pipe and then stuffed it with dried leaves from the pouch hanging off his hip. ¡°Forget about it,¡± Godfrey said waving his hand. ¡°I¡¯m still alive, so there¡¯s that.¡± ¡°I never will.¡± ¡°Wha¡ª¡± ¡°How do I return to Hell, Godfrey?¡± I blurted out catching the man by surprise. Godfrey¡¯s mouth hung open for a while as he thought about it for a moment. ¡°Well, they say if you do bad things, ye know? Like¡­ umm¡­stealin¡¯ a bag of potatoes can get you straight down there or so the priests say at least. I don¡¯t know much about heaven and hell, son. I just fish all day. Will that get me to heaven? I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t,¡± I said absently. ¡°There are few good things that will let you ascend, and righteous war is one of them.¡± ¡°Well, a tad bit late for that,¡± Godfrey muttered. My heart sank. The simpleton may have the tongue of a demented child but I still understood what his mangled words meant. I knew the list of deeds that got souls trapped in Hell better than anyone. Stealing was there, between murder of the innocent and treachery, sins that were out of the question. No, I needed a different way to get back home; a righteous way to Hell. ¡°Where is this priest you speak of? I need to talk to him.¡± ¡°He¡¯s up there,¡± Godfrey said, pointing to the trees behind him. ¡°Through the jungle and up the track to Underock Village. It¡¯s where I am from. My wife, too, bless ¡®er heart. Aye, up there.¡± I eyed that large breadth of green suspiciously. The trees at the border loomed darkly above the sand, casting wicked shadows across it. ¡°The trees,¡± I said, ¡°They are harmless.¡± Godfrey wasn¡¯t sure whether it was a question or not so he remained silent. ¡°They can¡¯t hurt me,¡± I assured myself, rubbing my arms instinctively. Realizing I had scrunched up like a frightful child, I quickly opened my chest and put my hands on my hips. It was unbecoming to be any other way for a Shieldfather. I could feel the shakes but decided against shaking. I would not be defeated by the weather. ¡°I will depart then, Godfrey. Demon or not, you¡¯ve been helpful, so thank you.¡± Just as I turned away, Godfrey spoke in hurried words. ¡°Sir¡­ Shieldmaster, sir. I need to tell you¡ª¡± ¡°Shieldfather, not master.¡± ¡°Yes, yes¡­ you can¡¯t¡­ uhm¡­ you¡¯re not clothed, sir.¡± I looked down at my naked body and then back up at Godfrey with a quizzical look. ¡°I see no reason not to walk naked when my armor isn¡¯t needed. The body of a Shieldfather is the manifestation of the Bastion¡¯s bottomless power. It isn¡¯t until war chimes its glorious bells that I reach for my shield, sword, and armor. Then, when the day of blood is done, I return them to the smiths where their iron hands heal the wounds left by demonic fangs.¡± ¡°Oh boy, you are quite something.¡± ¡°A Shieldafther inspires awe, I know.¡± ¡°Yes, but¡­son, we cover our bodies here, you see? It¡¯s a custom.¡± ¡°Are you certain, old man? Come, look at me again. Do you see how the sunlight reflects off my bronze chest? How every muscle in my body gleams like gold? Look at my manhood. It is plentiful in length and girth.¡± I stepped closer so Godfrey would see better, but the old man only briefly scanned me and then seemed flustered. Red had gathered in his cheeks, and he quickly looked away. ¡°Son, wherever you came from, that¡¯s not good.¡± ¡°Not good!¡± I roared. ¡°No, it¡¯s¡­ umm, it¡¯s great, just it¡¯s not nice to show it to people like that.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s great, why not?¡± Was this man mad? ¡°The people of Tartarus would cheer and sing songs to our manhoods and you? You look away in disgust! You want me to cover it? Why? Is it because I feel the cold and it¡¯s not as you imagined? I promise you, as soon as I warm up, it will¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t warm it up!¡± Godrey yelled out in panic. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s great, but please just trust me as a favor for almost killing me. People in the village¡­ and the priest! No, you can¡¯t go to the village like that.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± I said. ¡°Fine? You won¡¯t?¡± ¡°No, I will heed your advice. Now give me clothes and I¡¯ll be on my way.¡± Godfrey breathed out a defeated sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t have any, but¡ª¡± ¡°Then I will be on my way. Farewell, Godfrey the fisher. May you find a good war to die in.¡± ¡°But! Please, hear me out!¡± Godfrey pleaded. I turned around and offered him an exhausted no. Godfrey quickly continued. ¡°See, over there,¡± the old man pointed south along the sandy beach. ¡°Some way down there is a little alcove with large rocks. It¡¯s swarming with crabs, it is. They¡¯re givin¡¯ ol¡¯ Godfrey mighty troubles, you see? Now, if you were a good fellow, ye¡¯d go down there, kill me a dozen of them buggers and ye know what? Ye¡¯d might loot a couple of shells, and maybe even some pants or a leaf, anything, ye know?¡± ¡°The crabs have pants?¡± ¡°No¡­well, yes. It¡¯s¡­Sometimes they have all sorta¡¯ things in those bellies of thems. But best of all, see, ye¡¯d get yourself some experience and maybe even a level or two, huh? Sounds good, son?¡± I glanced at the top right corner of my vision again and suddenly felt my stomach churn. For a moment, I¡¯d forgotten about my predicament. Out of all the deaths I could have suffered triumphantly, mine was that of a man lost and powerless. Would they still erect a statue in Tartarus in my name? Or will the Varian cast me as a coward who escaped the Bulwark? ¡°I can¡¯t return like this,¡± I muttered eyeing the spot along the beach that the fisherman had pointed to. Godfrey offered no words of wisdom to my troubled mind. How could he? ¡°Even if I find a way home, what use am I to my brothers?¡± I said in a half-whisper. Was this what defeat felt like? Another breeze washed over us shaking my bones and infuriating me further. Was I on my knees, bleeding and recounting my service to the Steel Bastion? ¡°Not yet, Hell. I still stand.¡± I told the wind and the sea. I clenched my fists hard and narrowed my gaze upon the alcove. If it was killing that needed to be done, I would kill however many I needed. Suddenly and without warning, letters popped up in my Soulforge and I swiped at them instinctively, then looked to Godfrey. ¡°What cursed magic is this!¡± I barked and Godfrey took three steps back, raising his hands above his head. ¡°Just¡­just read it, I swear on me wife.¡± QUEST: Crustacean Annihilation DESCRIPTION: Kill 12x Crabs at the Crab Beach. REWARD: 20 XP ACCEPT? YES/NO ¡°What demon magic have you wrought upon me, Godfrey?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a quest, Shieldfather. Ye know? Quests? Ye go out adventurin¡¯, doin¡¯ odd jobs for this or that fellow, seeing the land, opening chests, lootin¡¯ them swords and whatnot.¡± ¡°Adventuring¡­¡± I said dismissively and waved the fisherman off. ¡°A Shieldfather doesn¡¯t adventure, a Shieldfather doesn¡¯t quest. He plants his feet on the ground as the Demon Tide crawls and skitters, as the spiderqueens screech and the dreadsingers wail, stampeding towards the Steel Bastion like a wave of malignant death. There he raises his shield and thrusts his sword, beheading the darkness ever approaching.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Godfrey said, seemingly lost for a moment. ¡°For now, can ye kill a couple of crabs?¡± ¡°Fine,¡± I said. ¡°Yes?¡± The fisherman¡¯s face lit up. ¡°I will do this for you, Godfrey,¡± I promised firmly. Godfrey hurriedly explained how to accept my quest, probably fearing I would have a change of heart. Why he couldn¡¯t simply believe my words was beyond me. He told me I could loot the creatures once I brought justice upon them then spoke of great rewards I found little comfort in. What rewards would crabs offer that I hadn¡¯t seen in Tartarus? An absurd thought I refused to acknowledge other than by offering the fisherman an assuring nod. For now, however, I would help Godfrey. Not just because I needed the experience, but because I felt I wronged the old man. Though I apologized, a sense of shame lingered still. That was not the way of a Shieldfather. A stained heart, steel or not, would rust and whither, the Steelspeakers said, and that would not do. For now, I would help him and then find my way back to Tartarus and the Steel Bastion. It couldn¡¯t be that difficult and I certainly didn¡¯t lack the confidence. A Shieldfather must not ruminate, I reminded myself. I would find my way back to Hell even if I had to kill every crab in this bright, cold world. Chapter 2: A Pinch of the Demonic I had found the crabs. Some of them anyway. They had gathered in a small alcove only a short walking distance from the fisherman. Dozens of red, armored fiends roamed in the shadow of a large rock taking in the cold white sun. I remembered eating these creatures when the iron chefs would make them, and I read about them in the tomes of the overworld but had never seen a living before. It came as no surprise that they resembled the ancient demonic apparition known as a crustaceofax, a despicable beast that could snap a shield in half with its giant pincers. These red monsters, however, came barely up to my knees and though I clasped no weapon, I was certain it would take little effort to slay them on the fisherman¡¯s behalf. The crabs seemed skittish, so I simply walked up to the first and stomped on it using some, but not all my force. By demonic trickery alone the slippery beast skittered away with a crack in its armor. This angered me greatly. Even more so because as it crawled away so suddenly, my stomping foot slid away and with it, I tripped. In a heartbeat, I landed with my back on the fine white sand. A travesty it was. Compounded by a sense of shame that I hadn¡¯t felt since the first and with that, the last time I dropped my shield as a fledgling warrior. To add even more humiliation on top, the demon-possessed animal animated its brethren to swarm me. Within moments, my glorious body was covered in crabs of all sizes, pinching and cutting me mercilessly. I let out a battle cry and swung my arms shamefully like a spasming fool. If only my sons could see me now how little would they think of me? I managed to slam my fist into one of the animals using all the force I could muster, but despite cracking its armor, the beast continued to live. And attack. Another crab pinched my little toe so hard, I was afraid it was about to snap off. ¡°No!¡± I cried, terrified of this nightmarish new world. I was Shieldfather, the Bulwark in the Night, the Bastion¡¯s own blood and meat, and here I was fighting for my life against¡­ food. ¡°Know your place, hellish scum!¡± I commanded, flinging one against a rock. A loud crack echoed, and the insidious little beast dropped and remained seemingly unmoving. YOU HAVE KILLED: CRAB EXPERIENCE GAINED: +7 EXPERIENCE: 7/80 LEVEL: 1 I barely noticed the scribbling before my eyes as I was still locked into battle with several other crustacean hell spawns. As if they knew what I needed, the words vanished quickly and left another blinking spot next to the ¡®level 1¡¯. ¡°You will not defeat me!¡± I yelled, making it clear to the slaves of darkness surrounding me that they were in the presence of great fortitude and willpower. Whether my words had any effect on their rotten souls was difficult to tell since I suffered more wounds, gashes, and cuts before I managed to stomp out two more crabs and, with tremendous difficulty, dismember a third. During this righteous struggle against the fisherman¡¯s menace, I noticed yet another message blurring my vision and stealing my focus. HEALTH: 43/90 Apparently, as the wounds mounted, my meager health counter slid quickly away. I decided not to brood over the fact I once had a health bar in the thousands but simply accepted the curse the gods bestowed upon me, and continued my ascent toward a power I once knew. As I willed my anger into violence, landing blow upon blow on the tenth crab and taking its life, a small chime rang inside my skull. QUEST: CRUSTACEAN ANNIHILATION COMPLETE: RETURN TO FISHERMAN GODFREY FOR YOUR REWARD. ¡°So be it, Godfrey,¡± I grunted in pain and stood victoriously above the dead crabs. A faint light came from within their bodies. Many more still lived, but they slowly crawled back to the safety of the large rock behind them. ¡°Learn from your foolish brethren, creatures. Death awaits those who let their soul be consumed by Ta¡¯neer¡¯s hatred.¡± The crabs, both terrified by the prospect of facing someone who just killed their numbers and the cautionary words I humbly offered, retreated ever deeper into the crevasses of the rocks. There they would consider their actions, surely, and perhaps learn from the mistakes for which their cursed kinsmen suffered a legendary death. Remembering the words of the fisherman, I knelt next to the closest dead fiend and reached for its carcass. A dim white glow surrounded the creature and as my fingers touched its cracked shell, a small square appeared within my vision. I shook my head violently at first, but then told myself to practice patience rather than anger, allowing my eyes to scan this curious thing. The demons of Hell never dropped loot, but I was familiar enough with the workings of the Soulforge to know what it meant. A message sat above the square with another question. LOOT ALL? YES/NO I accepted, remembering Godfrey¡¯s words for I might find a piece of clothing to hide that which was a tragedy to hide. YOU LOOT: 18X CRAB LEGS, 3X CRAB PINCERS, 4X CRAB SHELLS. I heard a soft sound that reminded me of the clank of iron against wood and another square appeared that said ¡®INVENTORY¡¯. There I could see small images resembling the crab parts. I focused on the crab shell for a brief moment until I realized I could carry the carcass of this dead fiend as a shield. ¡°How low will I stoop?¡° I demanded but no wisdom came from the crashing of the waves or the rustling of the palm leaves. I equipped the crab shell, scanning it carefully. A protrusion on the inside allowed me to grab it like a small shield. A sense of calm washed over me for a moment. This was no shield, but yet, in this fever dream of a world, it could be. For now. I curled my fingers around the handle-like piece of crab armor and more words sprung into my mind. CRAB SHELL TYPE: SHIELD DEFENSE: 1 DESCRIPTION: It¡¯s a crab shell. Really, just keep looking. ¡°Curious,¡± I muttered, ¡°Keep looking for what, demon whispers? Huh? Is there more I should know?¡± No other words appeared so I decided to return to the fisherman and see what answers the old man could provide. ¡°You did it,¡± he said excitedly, looking me up and down. ¡°Helva save us, you¡¯re pretty beat up.¡± ¡°I have suffered many wounds, but I carry them with pride. Your crabs have proven to be decent adversaries, old man. It is no wonder considering the demonic incursion that took hold upon their souls.¡± ¡°The what? Are you sure?¡± What an insolent question by a pitiful creature. ¡°You question my insight, fisherman Godfrey? I have slain more demons than there are grains of sand on this beach. You speak in ignorance so I forgive you, but know not to question a Shieldfather when he speaks of demons.¡± ¡°I will¡­ know not to, umm, Shieldfather,¡± the man replied and then cleared his throat. ¡°So, no clothes from the crabs, is it?¡± ¡°No.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Oh boy, alright. Let¡¯s finish up with them quest and take it from there, I guess. There might be more words and flashing things so please don¡¯t hurt me. It¡¯s no demon magic, I promise.¡± ¡°I will be the judge of that,¡± I said, but seeing the fear in Godfrey¡¯s eyes, my heart softened and I decided to promise no violence until I was absolutely certain of demonic influence. A new list of words dirtied my vision. QUEST COMPLETE! REWARD: 20 EXPERIENCE POINTS. Just as I read those words, a powerful surge of vitality erupted from within my bronze stature. The sensation was like no other and my whole body shook in unfathomable pleasure. The many wounds I had suffered disappeared and my health seemed to have replenished instantly. The feeling wasn''t new, on the contrary, I felt it many, many times before, 98 times to be precise. Yet I had reached my level cap so long ago that I had forgotten the joy of leveling up. ¡°Shieldfather, sir, please take this,¡± the fisherman said covering his eyes and handing me a torn piece of cloth. ¡°Why do you cover your eyes, old man? Has something about me changed?¡± ¡°No, well, you leveled up, and that has¡­ you¡¯ve enjoyed it a bit too much.¡± Only then did I notice my bronze spear pointing up at the fisherman. ¡°Yes, Godfrey. I see. It troubles you to comprehend it in all of its magnificence. I can understand that. Many an eye was blinded by the sheer sight. You are smart to cover yours.¡± ¡°Uh-huh, please take the cloth,¡± the fisherman urged him once more. I did as asked and then covered my manhood to the dismay of this world and its gods. ¡°Now, isn¡¯t that better, eh?¡± Godfrey said. ¡°And that feeling you¡¯ve just experienced is a level-up, my good man. You¡¯re now a level 2 and you¡¯ll be able to see your stat sheet now and, what¡¯s more, you¡¯ll get to pick a class.¡± ¡°Your words are a twisting storm of meaningless sounds to me, Godfrey. But alas, I know what it is to reach a new level. I¡¯ve reached many before. But as the rattlewyrm rattles and the mudgorger gorges, old days may yet be new.¡± The fisherman looked me up with tired eyes. A rude gesture by an impatient old man. I could have offered such an insult in return but knew better of it. ¡°You, umm, ye can select the blinking things in yer head now and all. I dunno how it¡¯s properly done, but yer a smart man, I wager.¡± ¡°I have spent every morning embellishing my mind with books of the overworld, Godfrey, while the greatest Steelspeakers of Tartarus brought clarity and wisdom to my studies.¡± Godfrey offered me a tight-lipped smile then repeated his words about the blinking things. I decided to indulge him. Though many things in this nightmare had proven strange and fickle, Godfrey so far hadn¡¯t lied to me, yet I still felt I had to tread carefully, nonetheless. A demon would gladly extend its foul hand to a drowning man if that meant it could snatch him away from a quick death and replace that with lavish torture. YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 2! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU CAN NOW PICK A CLASS:
  1. WARRIOR
  2. PALADIN
  3. MONK
  4. BARBARIAN
  5. HUNTER
I scoffed at those choices. I was a warrior already, there was no doubt about it. I was a paladin, stalwart in his defense and respect for the elders. I was a monk, a creature of martial and intellectual prowess. I was no barbarian, that was an insult steeped in ignorance and yes, I was a hunter, a hunter of demon heads. There was but one path in my previous life. That of a Cohort Ascendant, a Shieldson, and Shieldfather, and yet here the gods found it amusing to take that choice from me and offer a myriad of insulting titles. ¡°I am many things,¡± I explained to Godfrey. ¡°What does this choice offer me, truly?¡± ¡°I knew this wouldn¡¯t go over easy,¡± the old fisherman said, combing his oily grey hair back. ¡°In this world, you can only pick one of these classes. The Spiritvine, that is the system we have¡ª¡± ¡°The Soulforge, Godfrey. That is its name.¡± ¡°Aye, sure, Shieldfather. Some may call it that, others call it the Overtruth, in the north they call it the Frostwhisper. Me wife calls it my missed opportunity¡­¡± Godfrey shook his head and continued. ¡°That said, this thing will only let you pick yer class based on yer race which¡­ is?¡± ¡°My race? I am Shieldfater.¡± ¡°Yes, my big bronze fellow, but you¡¯re not a human, right? You¡¯re not an elf or a dwarf or an orc or a troll, yes?¡± What madness to even consider such thoughts. ¡°I am Shieldfather, Godfrey.¡± ¡°What are your people called, Shieldfather?¡± Godfrey asked, sounding ever more exhausted. ¡°There are many names,¡± I said as a sudden sorrow washed over me. I gazed at a flock of birds gathered above the great sea. In hell, only the demons took to the skies and there was no serenity in such a sight. ¡°Just¡­ any name, Shieldfather.¡± ¡°We are the children of Ra¡¯een, the Prime Protector, brother to the Angel Arbiter, curse his name. We are the disciples of the First Father Oomer, the Bastion¡¯s Redeemer,¡± I said and clasped my hands above my head, thanking Great Oomer for his blessings. ¡°We are known as the Vainar, the Oomerian Cohort, the Vok¡¯ta of Hemenbreight, the Steel Bastion¡¯s Thorns, and¡ª¡± ¡°Vainar, eh?¡± Godfrey said. ¡°Never heard of it, but what do I know? I¡¯m just an ol¡¯ fisherman, ain¡¯t I?¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± I muttered. ¡°So you say.¡± ¡°Well, my Vainar friend, your race doesn¡¯t seem all that magical to me so that¡¯s why ye haven¡¯t been offered a mage or druid class or anything like it.¡± ¡°Magic,¡± I hissed. ¡°That is for the Steelspeakers. A Shieldfather does not dabble in the arcane arts.¡± ¡°Well¡­ listen, let me just say this one thing, and then you can go wherever you want to. You call yourself Shieldfather, eh? So I guess you like shields, hmm?¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°Good. Then ye know ye should be a warrior. Them good men carry the heaviest weapons and¡­ well, paladins do to but they have them magics and ye don¡¯t want that now, do ye?¡± ¡°You treat me like a fledgling shieldboy,¡± I snapped, feeling anger rise within me again. ¡°I¡¯ve fought with spear, sword, mace, and polearm for longer than you and your forefathers have walked this strange land.¡± ¡°What? How old are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m 3,015 cycles old,¡± I said proudly. ¡°What¡¯s that in years?¡± ¡°In years? You should ask me what it is in blood shed at the precipice of the unmaker¡¯s realm. What it is in demon tides swarming the great chasm-ribbed walls like a blanket of thousandfold legs craving for the meat of your face.¡± ¡°Good Helva,¡± Godfrey gasped. ¡°A second in divine defense is a year to a Shieldfather. A year in which he hears his heart beat against the plate on his chest, his grip tightens around the virilian handle of his sword, the rotten breath of hell on his neck, iron! I must return,¡± I said bashing my teeth together. This was unbearable. Why was I in this place? Where even was hell and could I return without becoming a demon myself? When I finally tore my gaze from the inwardly and looked at poor Godfrey, the man was standing five feet away from me. ¡°You were just standing there gnashing your teeth. I¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t apologize, Godfrey. I¡¯ve been a difficult man for you. You said I should pick the warrior class? Will it get me to hell sooner?¡± Godfrey seemed to ponder this for a short bit then nodded confidently. ¡°Nobody dies like a warrior.¡± ¡°I enjoy words of praise. Very well then.¡± I had nothing to lose and if Godfrey¡¯s words proved true, not much to gain either. I was a warrior already and trivial nomenclature wouldn¡¯t change that. As I selected the warrior class, another string of words appeared. CHOOSE YOUR SPECIALIZATION IRON TOWER: Fight with a one-handed weapon and shield. TOWER warriors make great tanks, but can still do moderate damage to their opponents. BLADE DANCER: Fight with two one-handed weapons. BLADEDANCER warriors excel offensively but offer little resistance and protection. COMMANDER: Fight with a myriad of different weapons and styles. COMMANDER warriors excel in strategy, offering powerful buffs and crowd control at the expense of offensive and defensive abilities. It didn¡¯t take me long to decide on the specialization. I picked the Iron Tower and another image flashed in his mind. CONGRATULATIONS, YOU ARE NOW AN IRON TOWER WARRIOR. YOU HAVE GAINED ACCESS TO 2 BASIC ABILITIES, SHIELD SLAM: slam your shield into an enemy, stunning it for 2 seconds and causing minor damage [10 seconds cooldown]. TAUNT: Taunt up to 2 enemies to attack you for 6 seconds [1 Minute Cooldown] I groaned at those words. A pathetic array of basic abilities locked behind senseless cooldowns. I was once again reminded of my standing in this world and it was at the very, very bottom where no Shieldfather should ever find himself. With the power of my iron will, I mustered on through the boresome words of the Soulforge. YOU CAN SELECT 1 UNIQUE ABILITY IRON TOWER INCARNATE: Reduce all incoming damage by 50% for 20 seconds [5 Minute Cooldown]. RAGE AGAINST DEATH: Increase all damage dealt by 200% when below 20% health [Passive]. THORNS OF IRON: Reflect 50% damage for 10 seconds [5 Minute Cooldown]. I pondered this choice for a bit. If the words were true, any of these so-called abilities would offer me a great advantage in battle, so much was true, but two of the three seemed rather insulting. A Shieldfather was a master of shields and defense, having additional protection seemed to be betting against my own prowess. Perhaps this world was yet again mocking me. The fact the third ability dared to carry the name ¡®Thorns of Iron¡¯ only reinforced my choice. Shieldfathers were the Thorns of the Bastion, it was us who reflected damage by stabbing, slashing, and cutting the Demon Tides. What advantage would there be to let them die against our shields without drawing our weapon? An abominable thought. I chose the ability known as Rage Against Death, only because it offended me the least. ¡°There,¡± I said. ¡°I have chosen¡ª¡± Before I finished my words to Godfrey, a list of words and numbers appeared, so I shut my mouth and went through the list. STAT SCREEN NAME: SHIELDFATHER RACE: VAINAR CLASS: IRON TOWER WARRIOR LEVEL: 2 HEALTH: 100 DEFENSE: 6 [+1 from equipment] ATTACK: 1 STRENGTH: 8 [+3 from race modifier] CONSTITUTION: 10 [+5 from race modifier] AGILITY: 5 INTELLECT: 3 FIRE RESISTANCE: +60 COLD RESISTANCE: -60 I found many of these stats to be troublesome, but there was one I found insulting beyond anything else. ¡°What does this mean, Godfrey? What insult is this?¡± ¡°What¡­ what is going on?¡± the fisherman squealed. ¡°Intellect three? Are you calling me an idiot? Is this what our newfound friendship has come to, you skeevy little rat? You dishonor yourself, Godfrey.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the system, Shieldfather! I have nothing to do with it.¡± ¡°Then what does it mean? Why would it call me a fool? I¡¯m no fool, Godfrey. I¡¯ve studied under the greatest scholars of Tartarus!¡± ¡°No, I know¡­ you¡¯re very knowledgeable, sir! It¡¯s just that intellect isn¡¯t¡­ it affects yer spells, not your smarts.¡± ¡°I use no spells,¡± I said in a softer tone. ¡°Exactly! That¡¯s why intellect shouldn¡¯t bother you.¡± ¡°I have read the First Father¡¯s Roster Demonicum and learned the name of every demon by heart. That feat alone gifted me with 10 points of intellect. How is it that I have lost it all? I still have the knowledge and yet in this world, it counts for nothing! Is it to dabble in the arcane that makes a man smart or is it the wisdom he had gathered in a lifetime?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t understand this question.¡± ¡°I understand nothing,¡± I said in desperation. Another salty breeze washed over us as we stood there in silence for a short time. It was cold. The heat of battle made me forget about it briefly but as I now stood there on the pier again, I felt the shakes slowly take over. At least that piece of cloth between my legs offered some respite from the wind. Perhaps the people of this land weren¡¯t so strange after all. I glanced at the trail leading toward Godfrey¡¯s village. I needed to move. The beach suddenly felt like a prison, a vault of madness created to torture me. The trees didn¡¯t look inviting, though. Despite what I had read and Godfrey¡¯s assuring words, I had to wrestle a sense of discomfort within my heart that bordered on fear. ¡°They¡¯re just trees,¡± I muttered. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Forget it, Godfrey. I will now take this path you¡¯ve shown me and find your priest. There¡¯s much to understand about the overworld, but my destiny is to return to Hell above all things. I wish you luck, fisherman, may you find a good war to die in.¡± Godfrey let out a long tired breath and then finally nodded. ¡°And Shieldfather,¡± Godfrey said as I already faced the forest path. ¡°Don¡¯t remove the loincloth, please. Promise.¡± ¡°You have my word,¡± I said and Godfrey smiled. ¡°Thank you. Well¡­ I hope you find your way back to Hell.¡± Chapter 3: Hoomans Godfrey¡¯s piece of cloth felt itchy and uncomfortable, but its warmth could not be denied. As I waded through the tall shrubbery, keeping my distance from the large palm trees, I was tempted to remove it several times. I decided not to for a Shieldfather did not break his word, but inwardly I cursed Godfrey. Anger washed over me as I realized how much pity I felt for myself. Perhaps this was the demon¡¯s plan after all. Destroy me from the inside, make me a resentful, pitiful creature that cared about its own well-being above all other. No, that would not come to pass. ¡°I decry you, demons!¡± I yelled to the greenery around me. A loud crack suddenly came from my right and I tightened my grip on the crab shell. ¡°Show yourself!¡± I yelled. ¡°I¡¯m here!¡± The jungle was thick with plants growing mindlessly wherever they apparently desired. A sort of chaos I could only see in the hellspawn¡¯s domain. Flowers of white, blue, red, and purple poked out of dense shrubs offering enthrancing scents that, despite their intoxicating fragrance, made me tenser. Which one of these would prove to be a demon in hiding? Which one of those vine-entangled trees would swoop down any moment and crush my skull? I could not know. But I trusted in my prowess as a Shieldfather, in my instinct as a killer, and the might of my stature to keep me alive and my enemies dead. A small head poked over a lush berry bush to my right. Two long green ears stuck to a bald head. ¡°Whassa dis?¡± the forest demon said, every sound a hiss. ¡°I am Shieldfather,¡± I explained. The creature raised an eyebrow over its large dark brown eye. Then it slowly walked around the bush and stood there, studying me in awe. ¡°Yous-a big!¡± it said then licked its fat lips. The creature was tiny, half the size of Godfrey, and I relaxed somewhat knowing that no harm could come from such a feeble thing. Leather straps held up a small piece of fur around its groin. Red tribalistic tattoos meandered over its entire body. In its right hand, it held a dead animal. A fresh kill as blood was still dripping off the grey and white fur, gathering in a puddle beneath. ¡°My size is impressive and so is my strength, you are right. What is that animal you¡¯ve slain?¡± ¡°This?¡± he said, holding it up for me to see. ¡°Issa ferret.¡± ¡°Can you eat it?¡± The forest imp smiled, showing many white fang-like teeth, then bit into the creature, tearing out fur and meat. It didn¡¯t chew but swallowed immediately. ¡°Yesss¡­¡± it hissed. ¡°But, why yous naked, hmm?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to waste time retelling my story, little creature. I need to get to Underock Village to see a priest.¡± ¡°Human?¡± it said, cocking its head. ¡°No, I¡¯m Vainar. What are you?¡± The creature eyed me for a moment, cocking its head this way and that. ¡°Human.¡± It sounded as if it wasn¡¯t entirely sure about it, and neither was I. I had no doubt Godfrey was human, but this thing? It was small and green with pointy ears and I had not read about such humans before. I decided not to question it harshly as such behavior soured my relation with Godfrey. Instead, I chose to extend my respect toward the small¡­ Human. ¡°Very good then, human. Show me the way to Underock and I will offer you a reward in turn.¡± ¡°Reward?¡± ¡°My respect.¡± ¡°Respect,¡± the human repeated, weighing my offer. ¡°No coin?¡± ¡°I have no such thing and I find it insulting to consider coin over a Shieldfather¡¯s respect, young one.¡± ¡°Come!¡± it said. ¡°I will show yous a shortcut, yes?¡± ¡°Good,¡± I replied with a nod, feeling that I was finally shown the proper honor. Godfrey may have been helpful but his cadence was irksome. This small human did not question me. He understood ¨C simply by taking in the glory that was a Shieldfather ¨C that earning my trust would bring great glory to him and hopefully his many children. Finally, this world made at least some sense. ¡°I¡¯m Guza, follow mes, here!¡± he said and I did so, taking a sharp right turn from the trail and delving deeper into the lush green jungle. The trees seemed to become denser as we moved deeper into the darkness of the woods. It took the resolve of a legendary warrior not to be frightened by those large, looming protrusions that felt like the hands of Ta¡¯een reaching from the underworld to clutch me in the Angel Arbiter¡¯s foul grasp.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The sounds of that strange land helped little to steel my nerves. The rustle, the skittering, the squawks and screeches of a land steeped in otherworldly mystery made me tense. I noticed creatures, almost human-like if it wasn¡¯t for their long tails, jumping from one tall branch to another, yet Guza paid them no heed, so I tried not to either. Only a few minutes into our venture, I could hear voices similar to those of my little green human friend. This aroused suspicion in me, but I practiced patience. I would not be known as rash and unforthcoming. ¡°Guza,¡± I said, however, for I still had questions. ¡°Is this your family down that slope standing around the fire? You have caged enemies there, I see. Have you been at war?¡± I asked as six of his kin slowly walked up to us. ¡°Wassa tis?¡± one of the other humans said. It had long, fiery red hair and just like Guza, it was covered in tattoos, albeit blue and white in color. ¡°Tis good friend,¡± Guza explained as the rest of them found their way up the slope. They moved to stand in a circle around me and I smiled, enjoying the primitive but welcoming appreciation ritual. ¡°I am Shieldfather and I seek guidance through these trees. I need to reach the place known as Underock. There I must talk to a human priest and find my way back to hell.¡± ¡°Yus a big!¡± one of them said. ¡°Issa strong?¡± another asked. ¡°Yes, little humans. I¡¯m both.¡± ¡°Humansss?¡± several voices chirped at once. ¡°Hessa think we human,¡± Guza said and it was already there that I should have been suspicious of him. ¡°Oh, yes, yes! My name issa Peter Forestgoblin,¡± one of them claimed and the others giggled. I knew better than to insult them so I giggled with them. My sonorous cheer enchanted the humans even further. ¡°And mess a George Tree Ground,¡± another added, introducing himself. ¡°Mes a Sandra Hoom¡­an.¡± ¡°It is good to meet you Sandra Hoom¡¯an, but I mustn¡¯t dawdle. My path is clear and my mind set on finding the priest. You may touch me briefly, but then you must be kind and show me the trail.¡± It seemed as though my words didn¡¯t reach them. A sudden, treacherous silence befell the eight of us. An unexpected hit to the back of my knee made me stagger forward and kneel down. I looked up and saw George Treeground swinging a club right toward my face. The impact was strong and painful and almost knocked me out completely. Words of the Soulforge blinked into my mind. YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED: FOREST GOBLIN ATTACK: 6 DEFENSE:1 I grabbed for the assailant, curling my fingers around its throat, then tossed it as far as I could. I felt more hits all across my legs and back accompanied by manic laughter. ¡°Betrayers!¡± I yelled for it was true. I used [Shield Slam] against the closest fiend. The crab shell hit it on its flat nose and left it standing there incapacitated for a brief moment. I followed up with my fist and the despicable little human fell over backward, but it didn¡¯t die. In the back of my mind, I was aware that his attack was but a mere single digit, just like the goblin¡¯s defense. While my own defense, with the help of the crab shield was a 6, just like their attack. I was more than aware that this meant only some of my attacks would go through, and some of theirs would land as well. The rest of my foes widened their circle around me, slowing their attack. ¡°Foul trickery, humans.¡± ¡°Humansss?¡± One of them repeated and they all laughed again. Especially Sandra Hoom¡¯an. ¡°The thing believed mes. I said we humans, he believed me!¡± Guza explained. What a fool I was indeed. The three points in intellect were well-deserved. Here I was extending kindness to treacherous fiends while scorning my good friend Godfrey. It tore at me worse than the savage weapons used to flail me. ¡°Hes big but weak he is,¡± another of them hissed. I looked at my health and saw it was already down to 62 out of 100. ¡°So are you, demons!¡± Another round of laughter met my words and confirmed the suspicion. ¡°We goblinsss, you big fat man!¡± It made sense since it did say Forest Goblin in the Soulforge. My anger was unleashed. Whether it was trickery or not, whether these creatures were demons or goblins or humans, I didn¡¯t care. I needed to see them to their graves. I dashed to the nearest green beast and used [Shield Slam] once more, knocking it out for a few seconds. Just as I was about to follow up with my fist, the other five came at me all at once, defiling my perfect skin with their dirty cudgels. My health quickly dropped as the wounds mounted. I managed to kick one to the ground, then followed up with the edge of my crab shield, slamming it into the goblin¡¯s throat. His eyes almost popped out and I saw a small notification blink. YOU HAVE KILLED: FOREST GOBLIN EXPERIENCE GAINED: +18 EXPERIENCE: 28/130 I turned as quickly as I could, raising my shield and knowing that more attacks were coming my way. I used [Shield Slam] to stun Guza who was running at me with a rusted piece of iron. I tried to follow up with another slam, my hand moving the crab shield forward and against the nose of Peter Forestgoblin. It connected with his face, bloodying his nose, but it didn¡¯t stun the goblin. I forgot about the cooldown but realized I could still use the shield for damage and distance without the stun effect. I put my shield up against an overhead blow, lowered it again to deflect a horizontal swing by Guza, and then brought it up again to stop another club attack from above. Not one of the attacks made it through. It was a simple rotation, but I executed it slowly and without grace. It felt as if I was fighting under water. I knew everything there was to know about defending with a shield, but I could not keep up with the speed or power of this foe. The crab shell cracked as I stopped another vile blow to my side, then shattered completely as I defended against Guza¡¯s swing. I was now without a weapon and a shield while six of the goblins, mostly unharmed were coming at me, giggling like d ribblesnout demons. ¡°I will not succumb to you!¡± I snapped and lunged at Guza, ready to pry my revenge from the goblins¡¯ open ribs. Guza, however, was somehow faster than me and smacked me viciously on the head. My health dropped to 18/100 and a red notification blinked angrily in my vision. I then felt a sudden rush of strength, however, as the [Rage Against Death] ability flared up. I grabbed for the nearest goblin, suffering more wounds to my back and hands then curled my fingers around its throat as the others beat on me mercilessly. I squeezed until blood and brains popped out of the goblin¡¯s ears. ¡°Die Peter Forestgob¡­¡± As I realized the jab in its very name, I felt ashamed like a child who was played a fool by his elders. What mockery these goblins practiced; it was nothing if not demonic. My health dropped to a worrying 7/100 so I jumped away to create some distance. I was already breathing hard and sweating as if I had been at the end of a demon tide after having slaughtered hundreds. This was not as I hoped it would be. One more hit and I would be gone from this world, too. What afterlife would await me were I to die to such pitiful creatures? No, I had to distance myself, gather my strength, and return to face these vile beasts once more. ¡°I will return!¡± ¡°Hagra!¡± Guza cried, kneeling next to his kin whom I had destroyed with my bare hands. ¡°Youss killed my darling! Youss suffer!¡± It brought me some joy to see Guza in emotional pain for I was unable to create any physical one. ¡°And you will be next!¡± I yelled as I ran, not away, but to, as said, create some distance and come up with a different strategy. Chapter 4: Crustacean Annihilation Though I was panting and barely breathing, I managed to reach the cursed beach again with the goblins in tow. Though their legs were tiny and feeble in comparison to mine, they still somehow managed to keep up. Yet as they neared the line between the jungle and the sandy beach, the goblins suddenly stopped and backtracked, disappearing back into the forests while slinging threats my way. I saw Godfrey sitting at the dock with his back to the beach and smoke coming off the pipe. He seemed to have been whistling a cheerful tune when my great stature cast a dark shadow over him. ¡°Godfrey,¡± I said, and the man flinched almost dropping his fishing pole into the azure blue waters. ¡°You again,¡± the man said with no joy in his voice, ¡°You¡­ look terrible.¡± ¡°Why meet me with insults again?¡± ¡°You¡¯re bruised and bloody all over! It¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Blood and bruises are the Shieldfather¡¯s jewels.¡± ¡°Maybe where you¡¯re from.¡± ¡°Not maybe, certainly. Now help me, Godfrey. I have no weapon and no shield and out there in the jungle, a group of goblins almost took my life. I don¡¯t wish for coin or another sword hand, I only need strength to overcome them myself. In return, I will offer you my body for you to find divine pleasure in.¡± ¡°What! Are you ma-a¡­That will not be necessary, Shieldfather,¡± he said. This confused me somewhat. Never has a Shieldfather offering his body been refused. Godfrey truly was a special kind of creature. Alas, even demons couldn¡¯t resist the temptation of tracing their filthy claws along our impeccable bronze skin which now assured me that Godfrey was indeed a man. ¡°I could not best the goblins, Godfrey,¡± I said, hating the words with a passion. ¡°Of course not, Shieldfather. They¡¯re level 4 and you¡¯re just level 2. You could kill one if you were alone with it, but a pack of them is way too much¡­ even for someone as great as you.¡± ¡°I killed two out of seven, Godfrey.¡± ¡°That is¡­well honestly that¡¯s pretty impressive. I¡¯ve never seen an adventurer of yer level survive them cursed goblins,¡± he said, smoking his pipe and gazing at the horizon. The sun was slowly setting on this world. A sight I had only seen in pictures and Steelspeaker magic. To behold it in such glory almost made me forget my fate. ¡°Godfrey, you knew they were in the jungle but you spared no word of caution?¡± ¡°Shieldfather, there¡¯s a thousand things that can kill you in the jungle. I thought you knew. You are¡­Shieldfather and all.¡± ¡°I am, that is true,¡± I said. I could not argue with that logic. ¡°Listen, son. Ye need more levels.¡± ¡°Then give me more quests and I will do them.¡± ¡°I only had the one, Shieldfather,¡± he said. ¡°Unless you¡¯re ready to go strangle me wife in ¡®er sleep,¡± he added and chuckled anxiously. ¡°I do not murder,¡± I said feeling somewhat disgusted by the offer. ¡°I was joking¡­ no, never mind. Listen, if ye can¡¯t get any further there¡¯s not much I can help ya with, son. Ye might as well grind those crabs until morning.¡± ¡°Grind?¡± ¡°It means to kill over and over until you reach whatever ye need. In your case, my good man, that¡¯s experience, and maybe some more clothes.¡± I did some quick calculations and realized I¡¯d need to kill 15 crabs for another level. About 40 for two levels. With a little more tactic, I could do that and eventually level the playing field with the goblins. ¡°Brilliant, Godfrey,¡± I said sincerely. ¡°And listen, son, ye can sell me the crab parts. The ol¡¯ missus cooks a mean crab stew. Sometimes she sells some of it on the market too.¡± The offer to trade seemed appropriate for the time. As I had no use for the crab legs and pincers, I sold them to the old man for six silver which he handed over quickly. I looked at the rusty coins in my palm, bit down on one then raised a curious eyebrow at the fisherman, ¡°I know, it¡¯s not real silver,¡± he said, not waiting for my questioning look to turn into a question. ¡°We all call it silver but it¡¯s¡­well, I don¡¯t know much about these things.¡± ¡°I will take your word once more, fisherman Godfrey,¡± I said, lowering a hand on his shoulder. The rugged fisherman smiled apprehensively. ¡°Shieldfather,¡± he said, his tone shifting. ¡°Be careful.¡± I would not heed the man¡¯s advice, though motherly and kind in nature, I had already forged a plan that would see me triumphant though at great risk. I strode down the beach back to the crab-infested rock the demons called home with a stalwart resolve. As soon as the beasts saw me, they, well, they didn¡¯t react as they had the first time around, but their confidence would soon prove to be their demise. The new generation of crabs looked the same as their dead parents. It seemed that they had not learned anything from their predecessors. So be it, for the demon tides that wash upon the Steel Bastion had not learned much either in ten thousand cycles, how then would these mush-brained critters? I brought up my second crab shell and charged the first enemy with violent intent. My footsteps tossed up sand and sea water, and my battlecry reverberated against the crashing waves, creating a symphony of roaring destruction for the demons to taste. I struck the first crab with a [Shield Slam] then followed up with my fist, breaking the carapace and killing the fiend in an instant. YOU HAVE KILLED: CRABLove what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. EXPERIENCE GAINED: +7 EXPERIENCE: 36/130 ¡°Death becomes me,¡± I whispered and then spat on the crab¡¯s corpse. I looked over at the rest and bared my teeth. My health was at 7/100, having grown by one point between my unfortunate encounter with the goblins and killing the crab, which meant my [Rage Against Death] ability was lending me a permanent 200% bonus to my damage. Well, permanent as long as I was below 20% health. The crabs, seeing their kin die, began to swarm me in groups of three or four, crawling slowly but surely at me, snapping their pincers in a demonstration of potential violence. I laughed, for these beasts were less than a threat to Shieldfather. I repeated my attack pattern with the next crab, using [Shield Slam] to stun it, and then finished it off with my bare fists. Since I had a ten-second window between each [Shield Slam], I backed off and waited for its cooldown. It was easy since the crabs were very slow, but it was functional, pragmatic, and after the sixth crab, I knew I could do this for as long as my focus would allow. It wasn¡¯t too long before I reached level 3 and that same warm, hopeful sensation washed over me like the healing waters of the rosebaths. [CONGRATULATIONS, YOU LEVELED UP!] [YOU¡¯RE LEVEL 3!] [STRENGTH INCREASED BY 1] [CONSTITUTION INCREASED BY 1] STAT SCREEN NAME: SHIELDFATHER RACE: VAINAR CLASS: IRON TOWER WARRIOR LEVEL: 3 DEFENSE: 4 [+1 from equipment] ATTACK: 2 HEALTH: 110 STRENGTH: 9 [+3 from race modifier] CONSTITUTION: 11 [+5 from race modifier] AGILITY: 5 INTELLECT: 3 [IRON TOWER SKILLTREE UNLOCKED!] The number of chimes and notifications almost overwhelmed my senses. A Shieldfather¡¯s mind was as pure as his intent, or so the Steelspeakers interpreted the teachings of the First Father, but I felt it impossible to reserve my thoughts for battle when so many other things craved my attention. I stepped away from the sandy killing field and the ever-violent crabs to study my options for I knew that this decision would cut a path for me that could not be changed. Two different skill trees branched out before my eyes, though at several points they intertwined. I couldn¡¯t read what the nodes lower in the branch were, only those squares with descriptions at the very top expanded into more detail, but I could make out the images and they promised powers I had not yet witnessed. A strange sense of wonder and excitement overcame me despite the wicked fate I now threaded. There were nodes depicting one-man shield walls and devastating area-of-effect abilities portrayed by fiery circles spreading from within. Other nodes depicted several shields flying at an enemy, and so many more. The abilities seemed, at least in the picture, more powerful than any I was privy to as a Shieldfather. The thought disturbed me as much as it sparked my interest. No Shieldfather would decline an offer to power, the Steelspeakers said. And this was very much that. For now, though, I had either the option to reduce the cooldown on my [Shield Slam] by 2 seconds and I could do this three times until it would allow me to use twice as many times, or select a different square that offered to increase the defense of my shield by 50%. There was no doubt I would pick the second square increasing his overall defense value from a meager 6 to a well-deserved 6.5. ¡°You test me, demons,¡± I muttered, ¡°But you will find your evil machinations thwarted soon enough.¡± I slammed my fist against the crab shield and cracked it, cleared my throat, tossed the shield aside, and picked another one from my inventory. With the goblins on my mind and the humiliation I had suffered, I continued my onslaught against the crabkin as the sun was setting ever deeper. I bruised, and I was cut, I was pinched several times more, once on the buttocks, no less. I roared and I punched, stomped, and dismembered even as the chill of the night threatened to freeze my bones to the sand. As I reached level 4, I picked yet another point in the skill tree. This time, I decided to lower the cooldown of [Shield Slam], for I felt the additional damage and crowd control were crucial considering how little else I had to offer. My health had returned to full so I allowed the crabs to chip at me for a while so I¡¯d get the 200% damage boost from my Rage Against Death before I returned the favor. With this, I ventured deeper into the alcove where even more crabs gathered to attempt to feast upon my divine meat. I kept two stun-locked while killing a third, then finished off the others. It came ever easier to me, yet the experience needed for additional levels had mounted, and the demon crabs offered very little to change that. Soon hunger found me, and I considered eating some of the dead crabs but did not know how. I had looted plenty of meat but knew not how to prepare it. A Shieldfather was fed in the morning before training once, then once again after. He was fed a lavish meal before the demon tide, then enjoyed a feast once the hordes had been fought off. Never had a Shieldfather made any food by himself. ¡°Perhaps Godfrey will help me with this too,¡± I muttered as I pulled free another crab shield from my inventory. Deep into the night, I had laid waste to more crabs than I ever though I would see in my life. Even so, they kept crawling out of the crevasses of the rocks around me, oblivious to the fate their predecessors faced. Shieldfather soon learned that the crabs knew little of caution or history. Instead, they continued to pour toward their own demise. It was beautiful to behold the starry night. A sight I only saw in paintings inside the Church of the First Father. The chills of the night were slowly threatening to overwhelm me, though. Despite keeping my health below 20%, and taking little to no breaks, my body struggled against the cold. My limbs felt heavy and slow, I was shaking constantly, making it hard to focus on delivering righteous death to my foes. Despite all that, I marched on, landing blow upon blow and suffering the demon crab¡¯s pincers in places I would not mention in my retelling. My bronze limbs gained an eerie blue hue, and it was difficult to keep my shield up as the pain in my fingers rendered my grip numb. It wouldn¡¯t be long before I would be defenseless and perhaps succumb to the crabkin even before I get a chance to seek revenge against the goblins. What a death would that be? Pathetic, weak, laughable¡­ I would find myself swarming the Steel Bastion in a horde of demented demons for such a fall from grace. Clawing at my Shieldsons while they would surely hack me down unaware of who was behind those burning eyes. No, the image was terrifying. A curse no Shieldfather could ever deserve. I steeled my mind against ruinous thoughts and continued. But then, as I brought death to yet another, the sensation of leveling up met me again, warming my body and steeling my mind if even for a moment. ¡°I will prevail, demons! Even in the freezing domain of this beach and jungle, caught between skittering demonic crabs and the treacherous goblins hiding in the lap of ominous trees, I will prevail! I am Shieldfather! You hear me, world? I am Shieldfather!¡± I breathed out hard and tossed my latest crab shield into the sea. Soft beams of light cast the darkness into a dark blue. The sun was coming up, finally. A respite for my paining bones. Level 5 had something else to offer besides health, warmth, and another point for the skill tree. Not only was I awarded two skill points this time around, but a second layer within the two branches opened up. I quickly used one skill to reduce my [Shield Slam] cooldown to six seconds, then pondered my choices for the second rank of abilities on offer. The left skill tree, just below the passive which increased the defense of his shield, offered a skill called [Triple Block]. TRIPLE BLOCK: Increase your shield defense value by 200% for 10 seconds or three consecutive attacks [30 seconds cooldown]. The right side of the tree where my [Shield Slam] cooldown reduction was, offered a skill named [Shield Bash]. SHIELD BASH: Use your shield for a single powerful attack that does 200% of your shield defense value [30 seconds cooldown]. Both skills seemed good choices against the goblins, but I subscribed to a philosophy, taught by the First Father and carried through the ages by his Steelspeakers, that a shield was for defense, and a sword for offense. Even though [Shield Bash] intrigued me endlessly, I chose [Triple Block] instead. Perhaps, if this world would rain enough skill points at me, I would take Shield Bash once. Not to mock the First Father, of course, but only to gain more power. And that was something the Steelspeakers couldn¡¯t deny was honorable. Yes, it was all very clear to me. With my inventory loaded with crab parts and a couple of other things I wasn¡¯t really paying attention to, I made my way back to the pier. I was still freezing, extremely hungry, beaten, bleeding, bruised, and though I hated to admit, tired. This time I wasn¡¯t humiliated. I was proud, perhaps even prouder than after a successful revoke of the demon tide. The thought both troubled and entertained me. The goblins would now face their end, this much was clear. Soon after, I would find Underock Village and learn from the priest of a path back to hell. It was simple, no doubt. Perhaps I even dare say easy. Chapter 5: The Cohort Hungers! ¡°So ye really did it, son?¡± Godfrey said as if surprised. I met the fisherman on his pier, his eyes still tired and his face puffy from sleep. The sun was shedding its first beams of heat over the sand and for the first time since I arrived in this fever-dream of a world, I wasn¡¯t disappointed by its powers. I had heard so much about that fiery globe and only now did I learn to appreciate it. Still, I shuddered before I spoke. ¡°Did you not think I would succeed, friend Godfrey?¡± I rubbed my hands together and watched the fisherman, sincerely hoping he wasn¡¯t about to insult me. ¡°No, no, I knew ye would,¡± the fisherman replied, yawning and rolling his bony shoulders. Godfrey smacked his lips and smiled. ¡°Ye know, Shieldfather, I¡¯ve seen adventurers come and go all me life on this beach here,¡± he said and opened his pouch. With practiced movements, he began stuffing his pipe again as I stood there, bleeding and shaking gloriously. ¡°That is¡­good?¡± ¡°Maybe, maybe not, but ye Varians, I¡¯ve never seen anyone like ye.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t doubt your words. We are not meant for this world,¡± I said and felt a deep sorrow. That iron shadow always loomed at the precipice of my existence and slowly caressed my soul, beckoning me through roads of fond memories. It was a souring emotion, heavy and vast. ¡°Yer a strange one, Shieldfather,¡± Godfrey said, snapping my mind back to the freezing beach and the jungle beyond. ¡°Stranger yet is your world in my eyes, fisherman, but I must not ruminate. The other is not to be feared, it¡¯s to be studied. Now let¡¯s trade so I can make my way to the goblins and mount their heads on stakes.¡± ¡°Aye,¡± Godfrey, said coughing out a cloud of white smoke, ¡°Give it here.¡± I sold Godfrey enough crab parts to earn forty-five more silver pieces but left the spare crab shields and meat in my inventory along with other items I hadn¡¯t yet acknowledged. ¡°I hunger, Godfrey,¡± I said as we finished. ¡°For war, I wager, aye?¡± ¡°Yes, at all times. But also for food, my friend.¡± ¡°Oh, you eat?¡± he said, seemingly surprised for some reason. ¡°Can you make a meal of this crab meat I have hunted?¡± ¡°Me? Cook crabs? If ye want to spare yerself a day at the shitter, yer better not ask me to cook.¡± Godfrey must have seen my heart sink because he quickly continued. ¡°Take the crab meat to Underock and find me hut at the north. It¡¯s got kippers dryin¡¯ out front, ye can¡¯t miss it. Tell me wife I sent ye with the meat. She¡¯ll say nay and curse ye, so promise to leave some of it for ¡®er as well. She¡¯ll cook ye the best crab stew ye ever had, me good man. I promise.¡± ¡°I will do so, Godfrey,¡± I said, feeling the sting of my previous uncourteous behavior. How could I have wronged this fine man so? ¡°You¡¯ve been an honorable host, Godfrey. A Shieldfather does not forget. I will cherish you in my memory and tell favorable stories of your deeds. Know that once I return to the Steel Bastion, the folk of my land will know the name Godfrey the sickly fisherman.¡± ¡°That so?¡± Godfrey said with a glimmer in his eyes that brought warmth to my heart. ¡°Yes, Godfrey, you will be remembered.¡± I took a moment before I would wreak havoc upon the dishonorable goblins to learn of the other two items I had gathered during my battle with the demon crabs. WOODEN CUDGEL TYPE: ONE-HANDED WEAPON ATTACK: 1 DESCRIPTION: Good for beatin¡¯ meat and not much else. I grabbed the cudgel from my inventory. An unsightly, crooked weapon riddled with splinters that felt awkward in my hand and sad in my soul. I pushed air through my nose, trying to steady my memories and give hope to my future. At least now I had a weapon. ¡°Looks good, Shieldfather. Yer first weapon is one to be remembered, ye know?¡± ¡°To remember this?¡± I asked, shaking my head. ¡°Look at it, Godfrey. This is a child¡¯s plaything and not a weapon.¡± I inwardly pinched myself again for my petty words. ¡°Maybe, but tis better than ye fists, no?¡± he replied. ¡°You speak the truth, Godfrey. It will serve me well.¡± I checked the second item in my inventory, which wasn¡¯t even up to the standard of my wooden cudgel. WOODEN SANDAL TYPE: ARMOR DEFENSE: 1 DESCRIPTION: A sandal made of wicker and wood. The ideal footwear for the wretched peasantry. I slipped my bronze foot into the sandal and saw my defense stat increase. I stood crookedly with one leg shorter than the other. Whether I would find another sandal any time soon was questionable, but I couldn¡¯t deny the increase in defense. ¡°Just the one?¡± Godfrey asked. ¡°Just the one,¡± I replied. ¡°Well¡­it looks, uhmm¡ª¡± ¡°I know how it looks, Godfrey,¡± I said, raising my voice a little. I looked like a fool, there was no doubt about it, but a Shieldfather did not bother himself with appearance, at least not before a battle. ¡°It is time,¡± I finally said, clenching the wooden cudgel and my crab shield. ¡°I wish yer Helva¡¯s blessings, Shieldfather,¡± Godfrey said, straightening as he sensed the hour of blood had come. ¡°Kold¡¯s wrath upon yer enemies, Godfrey.¡± The fisherman puffed out another big cloud of smoke and then looked to the sea, nodding as if the great waters harbored his most hated foe. I nodded too so as not to offend him, then left the man without another word. When a Shieldfather marched to battle, the chasms of hell wept for their abominable children. It would be no different for the goblins. The trees themselves with their rough horned skin, their sickled green leaves, and their ever-brooding presence would bear witness to my revenge. I pushed on through the thicket and foliage, stomped over thorned berry bushes suffering minor cuts, squashed demonic little critters of colorful wings on my shield, and barked insults and curses at this crawly, thorn-ridden, cold world. ¡°Guza!¡± I roared, finding myself close to the goblin camp. ¡°Sandra Hoo¡¯man!¡± I hissed and spat. A flock of birds, startled by the sonorous thunder of my voice, took to the skies, cawing. ¡°George Treeground!¡± I barked, ¡°Show yourself so I may feed you your own teeth!¡± Nothing. Far be it for the goblins to display honor and meet me head-on in righteous battle. I knew not whether the green tattooed wretches would ambush me or whether their cowardice took hold of their rotten hearts and brought wind to their feet, but I would not stoop to their level. A Shieldfather didn¡¯t sneak, ambush, or trick their foes. With my crab shield firmly gripped, I marched into their empty camp, thumping my shield in the rhythm of war. ¡°Hoo-ha! Hoo-ha! Hoo-ha!¡± I bellowed. At the center of the camp, surrounded by small rocks and tree stumps, a small fire still crackled. Skewered on a branch, mostly charred and stinking, hung pieces of meat from the goblin¡¯s latest supper. My mouth watered, but I decided against indulging my hunger. ¡°Hoo-ha! Hoo-ha! Hoo-ha!¡± I roared the taunt of the Oomerian Cohort. ¡°Come, wretches. Come, witches. Come, demon, for the Cohort hungers! Hoo-ha!¡± My eyes landed on one of the wooden cages on the other side of the camp as a soft sob filled the silence between my taunts. I could not tell what pitiful creature was confined there from where I stood. A pebble struck me in the forehead but did little damage. Yet, shortly after, George Treeground came lunging at me, his cudgel held high above his head and his mouth wide open in a snarl. I raised my shield and met his swing, then stepped forward and used a [Shield Slam], stunning the treacherous beast. With a diagonal swing, I brought the head of the cudgel against the creature¡¯s forehead. I could hear the beautiful sound of a breaking skull. It was a melody I had sorely missed. The impact sent George Treeground spinning like a wheel two times before his limp body crashed to the moss-covered rocks with a meaty thump. I glanced at my weapon and found my snarl turning into a grin. I had so much more power with the cudgel in hand. ¡°Holy war, glorious battle, righteous murder!¡± I yelled and shivers ran up my spine. Prime Protector Ra¡¯een! How I missed swinging a weapon! I turned quickly, raising my shield and expecting more enemies to come at me, and I was right. Guza and Sandra Hoo¡¯man charged at me, slinging insults and waving their weapons. I pushed my sandaled foot into a soft spot in the ground and braced for the charge, but at the last moment noticed two more of their kin hefting slings in the bushes. I paid them no heed for now, instead I invited Guza and Sandra to battle where I stood.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°You will pay, bronze man!¡± Guza yelled as he leaped at me with an otherworldly agility. I smiled. I pivoted to the side and let him drop headfirst on a jagged rock just next to where George Treeground had met his demise. The tip of the rock lodged itself in the goblin¡¯s jaw and Guza died in a most shameful manner. I laughed out loud for it filled my heart with unfathomable joy. Sandra, enraged by what transpired, called upon the two goblins in the bushes and all three came at me. I returned to my previous stance, shield up, weapon held high, and met the three-pronged attack with a well-timed [Triple Block]. First, I stopped Sandra¡¯s bone dagger, then a sideway swing by the second goblin¡¯s spiked mace, and finally a deviously low upward swing from the third goblin¡¯s rusty sword. Three attacks, three blocks, and my heart thumped with battle lust. The crab shield, however, splintered after the last attack so I leaped backward over George and Guza, opened my inventory to fetch another shield, and then beckoned the last three goblins, tapping it with my cudgel. I could feel the heat of the fire on my behind and it did much to warm my blood. How wonderful that moment was. At the center of battle, caught between fire and enemies both living and dead, it almost made me feel at home. ¡°Come, wretches. Come, witches. Come, demon, for the Cohort hungers! Hoo-ha!¡± ¡°He¡¯s a madman! Gigur, Shitfoot, gets him!¡± Sandra Hoo¡¯man cried but there was more fear than anything in her voice. The other two goblins shared a worried look, but there was too much fury in their hearts after I killed their brothers and sisters to let fear save their lives. Gigur and Shitfoot came at me, yelling profanities and promises they could never fulfill. As their tiny feeble legs brought them before me and swinging like headless idiots, I blocked one of their attacks but suffered a cut to my leg by the other. I quickly used [Shield Slam] on Shitfoot, then drove my cudgel down onto Gigur¡¯s head with such force that the goblin¡¯s face buried itself in the mud beneath my feet. Before Shitfoot could come to his dumb senses, I swung the cudgel sideways, it broke against his arm, then tore in two but did not kill the goblin. The head of my weapon was lost and I now only held on to a broken piece of wood. The goblin and I shared a look before I buried the splinters in his throat, skin breaking with ease and so did the meat. How soft and weak these creatures were... The goblin keeled over and died, gurgling and choking on his own blood. The moment had cost me some caution, and I found Sandra Hoo¡¯man suddenly on my back, her bone dagger tearing into my flesh. I almost cried out in pain but guarded against portrayals of weakness. I couldn¡¯t reach the cursed goblin while she ferociously dug her clumsy weapon into my flesh. Three quick stabs found me, and I saw my health drop to just 22 out of 150. With that, I saw my Rage Against Death activate. Before Sandra Hoo¡¯man could finish her ill attempt at murder, I threw myself on my back, squashing her beneath my heavy weight. It pained my whole body, especially after suffering such wounds, but it brought me just as much joy. I gathered my wits quickly, rolling to the side and seeing a stunned Sandra Hoo¡¯man moaning on the ground. I grabbed her feet each in one hand and used my strength to rip her in two but with quite some effort. Blood and entrails fell to the ground as I roared in triumph, my revenge completed in the bloodiest of manners. ¡°You see this, world?¡± I yelled to the silent jungle and its mischievous trees. ¡°This is a Shieldfather¡¯s revenge!¡± I tossed Sandra¡¯s feet away and then took a long satisfied look across the field of blood. It was an image to behold and remember. Just before I sat down, I grabbed the charred remains of the skewered meat from the fire and bit into it. The meat was chewy, burned, and dry but it still tasted better than a hundred soft-boiled rumper eggs. As soon as I gathered my breath and finished the meat, I looted the goblins for their wealth but soon found my excitement curbed by this fickle reality. Aside from four silver and some loose bones and trinkets, the goblins offered me nothing else. Even their crude weapons were broken and tarnished beyond repair, and I found myself unarmed once again. ¡°A cursed existence these goblins had,¡± I muttered before I brought my shield up again, hearing a soft, but close shuffle behind me. ¡°If it¡¯s more of your kind, goblins, be wary. I have killed and dismembered your brothers and sisters in righteous battle and I will surely do the same to you!¡± No answer came, but I was reminded of the cages and the whimpering apparition within and was right to ascribe the sounds to it. I made my way over, still tense and prepared to wage war, but soon found my precautions unnecessary. Two of the three cages were empty, but the third sported a small hunched creature covered in a stained blue robe, trembling and sobbing. I picked up a branch from the ground and prodded it carefully. The creature sobbed even louder so I stopped. ¡°Why are you crying, creature?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m not crying,¡± it said pitifully. I thought on this for a moment because many things in this world were strange so perhaps the sound of crying truly was something else to its kind. ¡°Are you certain, creature? You sound like you¡¯re crying.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not crying. You¡¯re crying,¡± it shot back, and then somehow curled up even more, trembling and whimpering. ¡°I certainly am not crying, creature. A Shieldfather reserves his tears for the death of his brothers.¡± ¡°Wha¡­what are you on about?¡± ¡°Look up at me,¡± I ordered. As the creature raised its head and the robe slid down to its shoulders, I took a step back, realizing it was yet another goblin, though lighter in its green skin and with a short, orange bust of hair. It lacked the tattoos and the ferocious fire I found in its kin¡¯s eyes. Instead, its eyes were blue like the sea but milky and red from incessant weeping. ¡°Truly, in all my cycles I have never laid eyes on such a wretched creature,¡± I muttered. ¡°Wha¡­Why did you say that!¡± it cried out and then dropped its sad head and sobbed louder than before. A second later, however, it looked up again, an unspoken query in its gaze. ¡°What are you?¡± it asked. ¡°Do you not see me, creature? Do you not see how your brethren¡¯s blood glistens on my bronze chest? Do you not behold the muscle in my¡­¡± My words died away. Of course it didn¡¯t know. In this world, a Shieldfather was nothing. No matter, by the time I would reach the gates of hell again, this world would learn to utter the word Shieldfather in both fear and awe. ¡°You¡¯re¡­yeah, you¡¯re pretty awesome,¡± the creature said and I sensed no cynicism in its words. Then again, my instincts proved challenged at best in this world. Though I enjoyed its praise, I shook the words clear from my mind. ¡°How do you wish to die, creature?¡± His kin was treacherous, but I was still ready to offer the sniveling rat a warrior¡¯s death in case he ached for it. ¡°Hold on! Wait!¡± it yelped, uncurling. The creature wiped the tears and snot from its face and grabbed onto the bars. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die at all. Please! I¡¯ve done nothing wrong!¡± it begged. ¡°How could I? Look at me! I¡¯m a fucking goblin! And a Hierophant at that! Why even kill me?¡± ¡°Why are you in this cage? Are you food?¡± The words must have amused the creature, for it cackled between sobs. I guessed it was a male by the look of its outer appearance. ¡°Food or a sacrifice¡­I don¡¯t know. I wasn¡¯t going to see the light of day any time soon. I was supposed to be next,¡± he said, motioning toward the fire. ¡°You ate the other one. Fred was his name. He was also reborn a goblin, but at least he put up a fight before they killed him.¡± My stomach churned at those words. Was that the truth? Had I eaten goblin flesh? I spat on the ground, feeling the meat crawling back up my throat but after swallowing hard, pushed it down. Food was food, after all, and I needed to stay alive. ¡°Reborn a goblin?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah, just like you¡¯ve been reborn¡­whatever you are.¡± ¡°A Shieldfather.¡± ¡°Never heard of it. You¡¯re like some sort of giant¡­bronze barbarian¡­something?¡± ¡°That is a misconception,¡± I explained, feeling the sting of that insult but decided not to lend it a voice. ¡°I¡¯m a Varian Lord, creature. Shieldfather to a hundred Shieldsons, Protector of the Bulwark, the Steel Bastion, the Gates of Hell. I¡¯m the nightmare of the Angel Arbiter and the blood of Ra¡¯een the Prime Protector.¡± I was proud of every word I uttered and I saw a certain admiration in the creature¡¯s eyes that I hadn¡¯t seen in Godfrey¡¯s so for the sake of my sanity, I continued. ¡°I¡¯m a philosopher-warrior, humble pupil to the Steelspeakers whose words carry the wisdom of the First Father Oomer, blessed be he. I¡¯m the shield that guards against the Demon Tide, the sickle of the Angel Arbiter¡¯s corrupted fields, I¡¯m the dusk of depravity and the dawn of righteous fire. Behold me, goblin, and be humbled by what your mortal eyes see.¡± For a moment, the goblin just gazed stupidly at me and then his lips moved and I heard words not yet spoken in this cruel world. ¡°I love you,¡± he muttered barely audibly. ¡°You what?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± he whispered, shaking his head. ¡°Did you express love for me, goblin?¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t,¡± he wept and wiped more tears off his snotty face. ¡°Do not be afraid or ashamed. A Shieldfather inspires and awes the common creature. It is only natural.¡± Though his admiration felt honest and enjoyable, I was wary of goblins and their trickery so I remained alert. ¡°How are you¡­no, wait. You were this Varian in your previous life too?¡± ¡°Previous life,¡± I muttered. ¡°It¡¯s still the same life. I haven¡¯t died yet. I have only been¡­weakened.¡± I slammed my hand against the crab shield and it shattered again so I brought out another one, then repeated the gesture. ¡°I¡¯m weakened, but only temporary. My powers will return, I swear to Kold may he lead me unscathed to the Frost Lands.¡± ¡°That can¡¯t be,¡± the goblin said. ¡°And yet it is.¡± ¡°But¡­you¡¯ve started here a level 1, right? So how¡­no.¡± The goblin seemed lost in thought. Something I hadn¡¯t yet seen his peers indulge in. ¡°Have you been something else in your previous life, goblin?¡± ¡°Just for future reference, my name is Bleff, and yes, I was a human.¡± His fists tightened around the bars of his cage. ¡°I was reborn an elf hunter then, but that was a short-lived¡ªno, never mind that. On my second rebirth, I became Bleff the Butcher, a half-orc. You should have seen me, Shieldfather. I warred, I conquered, I¡­died on the stakes when the Giftar nations united to stop me, and now¡­I¡¯m this.¡± ¡°A wretched goblin,¡± I said, and Bleff almost fell into another fit of miserable sobbing before he pulled himself together. ¡°Not only am I a goblin, I¡¯m a Hierophant. A damned buffer class. I can¡¯t do a single thing on my own.¡± ¡°Your gods are strange to punish you so. After all, war is the truest path to ascension.¡± ¡°They are your gods, too,¡± Bleff said, looking away half-absently. ¡°Hmm, are they?¡± We both stood there in silence as I pondered his fate and words. ¡°Do you wish me to strike you down? Perhaps the gods will see it fit to offer you something better after you die to a Shieldfather?¡± ¡°Oh, no, no, no. Please don¡¯t. This is my third rebirth and there won¡¯t be any more. If I die again, it¡¯s over for me.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°And what did I get? This!¡± he hissed. I could feel his anger in the very air about him. ¡°How strange,¡± I muttered to myself. Bleff was certainly a different kind of goblin. He spoke clearly and with an open heart. His admiration of me seemed sincere and yet he was a goblin and a foul-smelling one at that. ¡°Maybe I could tag along?¡± he said, the words high-pitched and full of hope. ¡°What use have I of someone as weak as you?¡± His eyes teared up again and I regretted my words instantly. ¡°But¡­please! Let me show you!¡± He took a step back from the bars and raised his arms. My shield came up instinctively as I took a step back. There it was again, the goblin trickery. White light appeared in both his little green hands as he raised them above his head. A moment later, I felt a burst of power course through me. The light disappeared and Bleff gazed at me with a stupidly hopeful face. ¡°Look at your health,¡± he said and as I did I realized it had climbed from 150 to 200. I read the Soulforge¡¯s description, BUFF: WORD OF VITALITY DESCRIPTION: Increase your target¡¯s health by 50 for one hour. ¡°Hmm,¡± I muttered. ¡°You see? I have my uses and I can also heal! Not that great though¡­but with all the buffs I can send your way, maybe, you know? You could do the killing and I can¡­join you for the ride. Keep you buffed and healthy. ¡°I am already strong,¡± I said, though my heart wasn¡¯t in it. ¡°I know, I know, Shieldfather. You¡¯re one beautifully dangerous creature, but just imagine what we could do together!¡± The idea was curious, enticing even. And though my mind was wary, my soul felt for that pathetic wretch. I cast away thoughts of doubt. After all, if Bleff turned out to be yet another dark-hearted beast, I could slay him any time I willed it. Why would I, a Shieldfather, fear such a weakling? It was below me. ¡°I will release you, Bleff the goblin. But know that I will take your head at the smallest of misconducts. Do not fool me, creature. You have seen what happens to my enemies.¡± Bleff looked over to the death I had wrought upon the forest goblins and swallowed. ¡°I am aware,¡± he said. ¡°But before I do, tell me something, Bleff. What is your goal in this world?¡± The tiny light-green goblin scratched his fiery red bust of hair before his expression changed, eyes narrowing, brow furrowed. ¡°I want the power to ravage this virgin land!¡± He quickly cleared his throat and held up a hand. ¡°Old habits, I don¡¯t know¡­This is weird.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± ¡°It¡¯s as if my old orc life is seeping into this one and I¡­Am I losing my mind?¡± ¡°A question the both of us need answers to. Now, is that your goal, little goblin? To ravage these virgin lands in your quest for power?¡± Bleff thought on this testing my patience. ¡°I just need to stay alive, Shieldfather. For now that¡¯ll do.¡± I hadn¡¯t expected more of the stinking greenskin and yet the words ground on my soul. ¡°Your ambition is that of a plant.¡± Bleff bowed his head embarrassed by his own words and the deserved scolding he received for them. ¡°I guess,¡± he began sounding unsure. ¡°I guess I¡¯d like power to survive. So, in a way my goal is¡­Power? I know how it sounds, I¡¯m just so confused and afraid and¡ª.¡± ¡°Power is good,¡± I said and he stopped. ¡°A Shieldfather yearns for power. It is his mission to attain ever greater heights in both his physical and mental abilities, for the legions of hell are ever-growing too. You have spoken well, Bleff.¡± ¡°You¡¯re so cool,¡± the goblin said awe-struck. ¡°Is that a compliment?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, it is,¡± he said, nodding furiously. ¡°Very well. Compliments are appreciated. Know this, then. My task is to return to hell through righteous means. I will accomplish this whether I need to kill a thousand goblins, tread a hundred jungles, and burn as many towns. Whether I need to sunder this world and its seas or not, I will accomplish this. Are you willing to walk this path of possible ruin but certain glory?¡± ¡°Fuck yes!¡± Bleff said in hushed words that brought a smile to my face. ¡°Another thing, then, Bleff. Be scarce with your profanities. It doesn¡¯t become a Shieldfather to be surrounded by foul mouths.¡± ¡°Sure, sure. Cross my heart and all that.¡± I nodded then grabbed onto the lock to his cage and studied it for a moment. It was rusty and frail so I used my mighty sandaled foot to break it open. ¡°There, Bleff the Hierophant. You are free to traverse this world as you see fit.¡± Bleff walked out, his every limb trembling. ¡°I¡­I survived. I really did.¡± He touched his arms and head as if amazed they were still attached to his trunk. It brought warmth to my heart to see a miserable creature elated by the will of the Steel Bastion. If only others could see what joy we brought to the hearts of all people. Bleff seemingly did and though I promised myself caution, I was admittedly grateful to the gods for this creature. ¡°Where to now, Shieldfather?¡± ¡°To Underock, Bleff. To see a priest and then, then we make our way to hell.¡± Chapter 6: Bleff Bleff offered words of comfort about the jungle, the world, and particularly the so-called palm trees that I still viewed with deep mistrust. How could something be tied to one place for its entire life? ¡°A miserable existence,¡± I claimed. To make matters worse, in their despair, the trees grew tall, wandering in the only direction offered. How could they not be filled with misery and anguish? How could we co-exist with these cursed beings? ¡°You need to relax, man. They¡¯re just stupid-ass trees,¡± Bleff said and though effortless and banal, his words rang true. We were trudging up a slope that led to the main road, and I could see it ahead through the shrubbery. When I continued my shameful lament about the tall plants, the goblin, either bothered by my cowardice or simply tired of it, kicked a particularly large one, then pissed on it assuring me no harm would come to either of us. ¡°You do it too, come,¡± Bleff said as he adjusted his filthy robe. ¡°Do what? Piss on the tree?¡± ¡°Yes! You¡¯ll be fine, just do it.¡± I understood what he was trying to do immediately. One had to conquer their fear and stare it right into the eyes, otherwise they remained chained to their predicament. Chained like a tree. He was right, so I removed my loincloth and bravely approached this natural abomination. ¡°Woah!¡± Bleff yelped both his eyebrows perching up, ¡°Good for you, Shieldfather.¡± I looked down and back at him and nodded appreciatively. ¡°Would you like to see it up close?¡± I offered, but Bleff had the same reaction as Godfrey. He seemed flustered and quickly looked away. Though it felt insulting, I gave it no voice. I was a quick study, so the Steelspeakers claimed, and I would not repeat the same mistake twice. ¡°Here, tree. Suffer my urine,¡± I said as I poised for relief. I was still somewhat nervous standing there vulnerable to the great plant¡¯s retaliation, but it soon proved an unfounded, maybe even laughable fear. As I emptied my great bladder, I couldn¡¯t help but smile, and then laugh. ¡°Truly, you have wisdom, Bleff,¡± I said, turning my head toward him as I showered the stupid, helpless tree in golden water. The thump of a bow cut through the moment of bliss. An arrow lodged itself into the trunk, inches away from my face. I leaped backward, pulling up my loincloth with one hand and raising my shield with the other and almost falling over in doing so. Two more arrows flew by, one almost hitting Bleff, while the other flew wide. ¡°Take cover, Shieldfather!¡± Bleff yelled then huddled behind a bush. I did no such thing. Instead, I roared from the bottom of my lungs. ¡°Show yourself, archer! Coward! Weakling! Come face me head-on!¡± I thumped my shield thrice, my eyes taking in the greenery around us. ¡°Hide!¡± Bleff begged, ¡°Please!¡± I would not do so. ¡°The day I seek shelter from an archer will be the day I eat my shield and shit out a demon! Now face me!¡± ¡°Halt!¡± I heard a man¡¯s voice yell. I looked up the slope and saw the outline of several more creatures pushing through the bushes, vines, and trees. My words must have terrified them, for no more arrows followed. ¡°Good. Bleff, stop sniveling and get up. It¡¯s time to sow more death.¡± ¡°Is it, though? I don¡¯t know, Shieldfather,¡± the goblin muttered through croaky words. ¡°I know! Up, goblin! Up, up!¡± He waved me away then buried his head in the bush and all I could do was sigh. It was once more a disgusting display of cowardice that made me want to end his sad life right there, but the teachings of the Steelspeakers steadied my rage. A Shieldfather mustn¡¯t harm the innocent out of spite, disgust, or boredom. ¡°In the name of King Harkford, show yourselves!¡± another voice, deeper, more commanding than the first echoed through the woods. ¡°Get up, Bleff. We¡¯ve been summoned for war,¡± I said but the goblin would have none of it. He curled up tighter behind the tree until I walked up to him, grabbed his neck, and pulled him along. ¡°Shieldfather, please!¡± Bleff pleaded, his face once more covered in tears and snot. I dragged him up the slope, ignoring his miserable cowardice until we reached the road. A small fence along the road separated us from the retinue of tiny, but well-armored men in thick, shiny plate armor. Their livery was green with golden outlines and sported three black towers; two of them held banners with the same imagery. Among them, men and women dressed in simple robes and tunics, almost like Tartarus commoners, carried plates of food and pitchers of wine from tables set up in the back. It seemed to me a small feast, but there was something odd about it. They all stopped whatever they were doing as I approached, dragging Bleff along. I dropped the shit-smelling goblin to my side and he whimpered as his ass met the rough, hard road. Several gasps met me and a small grin formed at the edge of my lip. ¡°I¡¯m Shieldfather,¡± I said lowering my hands on my hips. I did not expect them to know who I was for this was an ignorant land, but I enjoyed their awe-struck gaze nevertheless. ¡°No further!¡± one of the armored men yelled, thumping his halberd against the ground. I sized him up and grinned again. The man was barely to my shoulder and though encased in fine plate, his limbs seemed thin and easily cracked. He looked like Godfrey in armor and the thought alone amused me. ¡°What will you do with that child¡¯s halberd? Cut my meat for me?¡± I asked, eager to taunt the man into losing his temper. Rage was a tool in the hands of the mighty, but quite blinding when wielded by feeble-minded creatures. The man looked at his peers, all sharing the same visage of confusion. ¡°You¡­you will not speak to me like that. I¡¯m a knight of the court!¡± There was so much fear in his voice that it made me sick. ¡°Move!¡± another man bellowed as steel ground against steel while he pushed through the retinue. A somewhat larger exemplar of the same race appeared before me. His face was set into an angry snarl, and his armor was simply magnificent. Adorned by jewels and golden vines and flowers growing from his back to the center of his chest. Long blonde hair cascaded down his shoulders framing a white, square jaw below a long nose and emerald green eyes. His hand rested on the hilt of a longsword sticking out of a bejeweled leather scabbard.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. He looked me up and down and only briefly glanced at Bleff as the goblin slowly shuffled up to his full height, which was barely around my hip. ¡°What in Helva¡¯s name are you?¡± The voice that spoke was familiar; the same commanding tone from before. ¡°I¡¯m Shieldfather, Varian Lord of Tartarus. Defender of the Bulwark, the Steel Bastion, the Gates of Hell.¡± ¡°A lord?¡± the richly dressed man said and burst into laughter. The people around him joined in, though their cheer was half-hearted, forced, maybe even somewhat apprehensive. He raised a hand to silence the crowd. ¡°Behold,¡± he said, addressing his retinue, but never removing his eyes from me, ¡°Lord Shieldmaster of the filthy loincloth, ruler of the goblin-infested jungle, and his honorable squire, shit-for-a-face.¡± The crowd laughed louder now. I breathed out slowly, trying to calm my nerves, but it was difficult to do so. I had suffered many insults since I arrived, but this went beyond anything I could imagine. ¡°My name is, Shieldfather, not master, you insolent fool. Did your slaves stuff your ears full of gold, too?¡± That did not sit well with the creature. His brow furrowed and the grip on his hilt tightened. Silence washed over the others. Then, as if to prove his cowardice, he shoved one of his retinue forward. The man staggered, only finding footing with the help of his halberd. ¡°Bring me his head!¡± A smile found my lips. I was not in the habit of exchanging insults unless it was in a good-hearted manner with the other Shieldfathers while we drank ourselves joyfully in the evenings. A Varian spoke finest through the steel in his hands. Speaking of which, I had none, but that did not worry me. The creature was small and frightened and his death would be a decent innuendo to his lord¡¯s upcoming demise. The knight of the court, or whatever he was, didn¡¯t seem enthused by the prospect of facing me, yet he marched on, obeying his lord. I could respect him for that. ¡°Come, knight of the court,¡± I said, ¡°Let us find common ground in the fire of battle.¡± ¡°This guy!¡± his commander said and snickered while the rest echoed his mood. They were a curious bunch of strangers. The knight raised his halberd and came at me in a sprint. I kicked Bleff out of the way, prepped my shield, and tried to calculate the angle of his first attack, but none found me. ¡°Enough!¡± another voice, this one high-pitched and old reverberated through the crowd. The knight stopped and quickly pulled away from me, relief apparent on his face. My heart sunk for I knew I¡¯d be met with more pointless chatter. Yet another creature shuffled through the retinue, but this time everyone, even the gold-haired idiot, moved out of the way and bowed their heads. Despite his frail appearance, the tired old face, and a crooked slow walk, he commanded the respect of everyone present. A three-pointed crown of gold, silver, and jewels sat heavily on his head above a sad, thin white smatter of hair. His robes were equally rich, colored green, gold, and red with intricate embroidery, the hem held up by some boy, so it didn¡¯t slide across the dirt. Despite his frail appearance, there was warmth in his eyes, something the other loudmouth dearly missed. He handed over a longbow of masterful craftsmanship to one of the commoners without so much as sparing him a look. The young man at his side took the weapon from him, head bowed, and then quickly moved out of the way. The elder studied me curiously for a moment before a wide smile found his thin dry lips. ¡°What a creature you are!¡± I wasn¡¯t sure whether it was an inquiry or a statement of appreciation, but expecting the latter to be true, I remained silent. ¡°And to think I almost killed you!¡± ¡°It would have been my greatest defeat,¡± I said seriously and for some reason, the perfumed old man appreciated my words. Curious. ¡°And well-spoken, too. You said you¡¯re a lord of sorts?¡± ¡°A Varian Lord of Tartarus, yes.¡± I didn¡¯t wish to repeat myself so I kept my introduction short. These fools were keeping me away from my journey and I was growing apprehensive, eager to make my way to Godfrey¡¯s village. ¡°A lord of shit and piss!¡± the blonde one said and before I could muster a rebuke, the frail old man turned around and slapped him across the face. The lustrous warrior rubbed his cheek but spoke no more. What kind of world allowed the weak and withering to humiliate their strongest warriors was beyond me, though I couldn¡¯t say I didn¡¯t enjoy it somewhat. ¡°You¡¯re a prince of Prosperia, Archibald, and you will not shed such filthy language from your tongue, gods damn it!¡± ¡°Yes father,¡± Archibald said, clenching his teeth. ¡°This is a human king, be nice, Shieldfather,¡± Bleff said in hushed words so the others wouldn¡¯t hear. ¡°A king,¡± I whispered, weighing the words. The books of the Steelspeaker spoke at great length of the rulers of the overworld, and the paintings brought through the World Door depicted them as fearsome warrior-philosophers ripe with both battle prowess and wisdom. Perhaps a thousand cycles ago that was true for this man, but now? ¡°So, Varian Lord,¡± the king said and chuckled. ¡°Where is your land, your castle, and your¡­¡± He turned around to face his retinue, ¡°Your clothes?¡± The men and women laughed, all but Archibald who remained sulking as red gathered in his cheek where his father left a lesson of good manners. He turned to face me again. ¡°Most of all, why are you trespassing on mine?¡± ¡°My land is no land but a city in the caverns of Hell named Tartarus. My castle is the Steel Bastion, but I lay no claim to it for it belongs to Ra¡¯een, the Prime Protector. I wear no clothes for I have been cast here naked as the day I was born. Were it not for the kindhearted fisherman Godfrey, this loincloth would not have found its way around my hip. I have no wish to trespass, but only seek a way to return to hell.¡± ¡°That can be arranged,¡± Archibald said. ¡°Ignore my blabbering son. He has yet to learn some manners. He¡¯s grown arrogant practicing his sword against lesser men.¡± ¡°Have I not led the army against your enemy? Have I not bled with our men in the field?¡± Archibald hissed at his father, and then seemed to catch himself and winced. ¡°Silence!¡± the king barked and Archibald bit his lip but spoke no more. ¡°What is your name, bronze man?¡± ¡°My name is Shieldfather, defender of the Bulwark, servant to the Prime¡ª¡± ¡°Yes, yes, but your name, man. What do they call you?¡± ¡°They call me Shieldfather,¡± I explained, growing tired of the question. ¡°I¡¯ll call you Conrad, huh? You feel like a Conrad to me. Doesn¡¯t he feel like a Conrad to you all?¡± The crowd agreed fiercely, almost breaking their necks as they nodded in confirmation. ¡°My name is Ursus kin Stonechin,¡± I said, casting a veil of silence over the present. My name was but a stepping stone to the Steel Bastion. A string of words never uttered again after my initiation into Oomer¡¯s Cohort and I hated to give it voice once more. ¡°Edmund Van Harpstein,¡± the king said with a grin, ¡°Nice to meet you. And what is this race of yours, Ursus kin Stonechin.¡± ¡°Shieldfather, if you don¡¯t mind great king. My birth name is second to my title. I am a Varian Lord, my race is Varian.¡± ¡°Oh, did you hear this? I like this. Well, so be it, Varian Lord Shieldfather. And how is it that you¡¯re¡­¡± A mean coughing fit interrupted the old king and he seemed barely able to restrain it. One of his aids, a hunched figure in white robes rushed to offer him a potion of sorts. The king had a sip and then wiped his mouth against the creature¡¯s white sleeve. ¡°I¡¯m not dead yet, not yet. Keep Archibald off the throne, will you?¡± he joked and the crowd dropped into nervous laughter. Just before he would question me again, another coughing fit caught him, and the white-robed figure together with several others surrounded the king. ¡°Go, Shieldfather¡­¡± he managed as they poured more liquid down the king¡¯s throat. ¡°Find your hell.¡± ¡°Father,¡± Archibald protested. ¡°He¡¯s an adventurer! We came here to thin their numbers and you will let this one go.¡± ¡°Can someone¡­¡± the king began through his cough, ¡°Help my son¡­his undergarment has been twisted into a knot again.¡± Some laughed, others refrained from it, especially the knights of the court. ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go, come on!¡± Bleff urged me. I glanced at Archibald; the prince kept his green eyes locked on me as the others escorted the king to a carriage. I snarled at the young fool. Arrogance had to be cut in the stem, but I wasn¡¯t here to teach this world¡¯s royals humility. However, I made a promise to myself to do just that if I were to cross paths with Archibald again. And something told me I definitely would. ¡°Please, Shieldfather, Varian Lord, please! Before they change their mind,¡± Bleff begged me, pulling my hand. I grunted, feeling the slimy palm of the goblin on my bronze skin, but accepted his call and decided to make my way to Underock for I had more pressing matters to deal with. ¡°Shieldfather!¡± an unknown voice from the crowd called. I turned to see one of the commoners run at me with a longsword in hand. I raised my shield and grinned. So, blood it was, after all. I couldn¡¯t say I wasn¡¯t angered for so many useless words had been spilled when we could have settled our differences with steel. Or crab in my case. The young man slid to a halt a few steps away from me, then brought up the sword, offering it to me with his head bowed. ¡°King Edmund wants you to have this,¡± he said and I relaxed. I took the sword by the hilt and swung it once, feeling its edge pierce the air. A fine weapon. For a child. Yet infinitely better than my own skin and knuckles. The young fellow ran off as soon as I took the sword off him stirring, up dust in his wake. Iron Longsword TYPE: One-handed longsword ATTACK: 7 DESCRIPTION: The most basic longsword wielded by thugs, thieves, and aspiring guards. It''s somewhat sharp, somewhat durable, and somewhat rusty. ¡°Thank you, King Edmund!¡± I yelled but got no answer. The king had been ushered into the carriage and his retinue seemed to care little for my words. Bleff pulled me ahead once again and it took a Varian¡¯s restrain not to smack him on the head for his impatience. ¡°Bleff,¡± I asked as we created some distance, ¡°Those creatures back there, they are human are they?¡± ¡°You weren¡¯t sure this whole time? I mean yes, yes they¡¯re human.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± I muttered. ¡°Humans. Such curious beasts.¡± Chapter 7: Underock ¡°What are these humans doing, Bleff?¡± I asked, seeing a dozen or so rummage around fields of golden plants. They all looked like Godfrey to me. The same wretched attire, the same sullen, hopeless look, and the same sunburnt, hanging skin. ¡°Really? You¡¯ve never seen a field of wheat? They¡¯re¡­well, shit, I don¡¯t know either. They¡¯re sowing it or¡­let¡¯s just say farming.¡± ¡°Farming.¡± I thought about that for a moment. I knew of it from the books and large paintings in the Domain of History. We had sung many songs in the evenings praising and admiring those who brought food to our tables. ¡°The most noble of us all,¡± I said after a moment of silence, and Bleff gave me a surprisingly confused look. ¡°I must pay long overdue respects,¡± I said, walking off the road and towards a group of farmers at work in their field. Bleff pulled on my hand, his slimy skin making me shudder. ¡°Ursus, I¡¯m afraid your praise won¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°Greetings noble farmers!¡± I said, waving at them and ignoring Bleff¡¯s pointless blabbering. As one, the men and women straightened up to see who was bothering them. Me. There was some confusion among their ranks, but I was certain they would enjoy a meaningful compliment from a Varian Lord whether they knew of us or not. ¡°May I say a few words, my good farmers? Words long overdue!¡± They shared looks of excitement, or so I thought, but then two of them suddenly ran off towards the village. The others remained standing, whispering among themselves and pointing at the piece of cloth between my legs. ¡°I am Shieldfather, Varian Lord of Tartarus. I thank you for your courageous work, your unending sacrifice, and your unwavering dedication to farming. May Kold grant you all you deserve, my friends.¡± After a rather long moment of shared silence, one of the men, a toothless, long-haired fellow with calloused hands and a dirty face finally spoke, ¡°Go fuck yerself, shield fucker!¡± he decried and I found myself stunned by the boldness of this man. ¡°I told you,¡± Bleff muttered. For a moment I felt insulted, as all decent men would, but I assigned their foul words to a misunderstanding rather than ill intent. ¡°I wish no harm, on the contrary. I live in eternal gratitude for your work.¡± ¡°You hear that, Alma? The big guy is thankful for our work.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Dirk, he¡¯s awfully big,¡± the other man standing next to Dirk began before Alma could answer. ¡°Maybe we should be nice to this one.¡± ¡°Shut up, Spunk! They can¡¯t be more than level 3 no matter how big they are. Dirk, Tell him he can take those thank-yous and shove ¡®em up his big, bronze¡ª¡± ¡°Help!¡± another voice cried and we all turned toward the jungle to our right. ¡°Help me,¡± the voice cried again, steeped in pain and anguish. From between the trees, a lanky, white-skinned creature with pointy ears crawled out into the open. Three arrows were stuck to his back, and one of them awfully close to his neck. ¡°Oh, fuck me. Another one. What day is it, Alma? Is it Morksday?¡± The toothless farmer said. ¡°It¡¯s Morksday, alright. They always come crawling on Morksday.¡± ¡°I thought the king be killin¡¯ em Morksdays.¡± ¡°He can¡¯t get all of ¡®em. They¡¯re like a pest, the adventurers.¡± ¡°Help me!¡± the man begged, but I remained unmoving. The creature didn¡¯t seem to be a demon, but how would I tell one from the other in a world that possibly was nothing more than a demon¡¯s nightmare? Besides, any creature that died to archers wasn¡¯t worth keeping alive anyway. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s help him, Ursus¡ª¡± ¡°Shieldfather.¡± ¡°Yes, Shieldfather.¡± ¡°Do not call me by my birthname, goblin. I¡¯m not dead yet.¡± ¡°What does that¡ªI won¡¯t, sorry. Let¡¯s help the guy. He¡¯s one of us!¡± The statement angered me. I wished no harm to Bleff but he and I were as far apart as heaven and hell. Before I could speak, the goblin hurried his ugly little feet over a part of the field, then down a small slope toward the mound of dirt on which the wounded creature was most certainly going to die. The farmers, unperturbed by the scene, returned to their toil. A rugged group of people, I figured. The stories of their nobility seemed a stretch, after all. It was difficult to reconcile their noble occupation with their less-than-noble behavior. I was reminded of a minor lesson by the Steelspeakers that now seemed underappreciated: the people of the overworld, they said, have different manners, and some don¡¯t have any. We are not to judge them for our lives have a great purpose, while theirs can be brutal and yet meaningless. ¡°He¡¯s dead,¡± Bleff yelled, standing above him. ¡°A brutal, meaningless death. Very well. Let¡¯s continue,¡± I said and made my way back to the road. Bleff came running and waddling after me, mumbling angry words I had no wish to hear. There was scorn in his tone and I was not going to dignify it with my attention, so I sang to myself. It was a joyful song called The Grabheart¡¯s Decapitation and Dismemberment, which my mother had taught me. It helped calm my nerves and focus my attention. ¡°You singing? Now? Don¡¯t you understand what¡¯s going on here?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°They¡¯re hunting down low-level adventurers for the sport here! Here! In the spawn zone! Do you know what that means?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°What? How? You don¡¯t even know what any of those words mean, do you?¡± ¡°Partly.¡± ¡°This is a cruel freaking world, Ursus, this is¡ª¡± ¡°Do not!¡± I said, raising my tone, ¡°Call me by my name, goblin. I will pull your tongue out and then feed it to you.¡± The words were harsh but honest. I would not be disrespected by a miserable coward. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he muttered. ¡°You have a lot of weird things going, man. I have no clue what kind of dude you are.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Dude?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know what¡ªanyway, are you angry with me? I¡¯m sorry, Shieldfather, but there¡¯s things about this world you don¡¯t understand and then there¡¯s so much I don¡¯t understand about you. Why¡ª¡± I knew what question would follow before he even uttered it, and was about to cut him short, but instead replied. ¡°Because your birthname only holds value if you die at the Steel Bastion. I was born Ursus, and I will die Ursus only if I die in a demon tide as all good men should. Your name returns to you after death so it can be etched into the pedestal of your statue in the Domain of History. I¡¯m not dead yet, and I won¡¯t die until I return. I am Shieldfather now until I¡¯m no more. Remember that for I will not tell you again.¡± Bleff slowed down his pace and then looked up at me with his dull blue eyes. ¡°You¡¯re so cool. Damn, I wish I was like that.¡± Despite everything, those words brought a much-needed smile to my face. ¡°You will never be, Bleff.¡± I could feel his heart sink at the words as it did so many times with Varians who were denied the opportunity. I had a trained answer, however, that I told many a man too meek to join Oomer¡¯s Cohort. ¡°To serve a Shieldfather is to share in his glory. It is not the shield that defends the Steel Bastion, it is the hand, fed by the iron chefs, armored by smiths of the Bulwark, healed by the waters of the rose baths, and taught by the Steelspeakers, that raises the shield and makes it come to life in defense of great Ra¡¯een.¡± I was eager to see Bleff¡¯s face light up but it hardly did. Somehow the words had depressed him even further. ¡°To serve,¡± he muttered, digging through his big nose with a single finger. He glanced at the treasure he found and then ate it absently. I shuddered again. Was this creature not a curse, after all? A companion so utterly revolting in every aspect that it may perhaps break my spirit in time? Everything was possible in this world. Rordrick suddenly spasmed, his eyes grew wide and he bared his teeth, ¡°I only serve the god of war and death, weakling!¡± he roared with a newfound thundering voice that spread in all directions. Caught unprepared for this outburst, I instinctively slapped him across the face. His head bopped left and right and once it stopped, he looked up at me with a face full of guilt and regret. ¡°I¡¯m¡­. I¡¯m sorry. I have no idea how that happened.¡± ¡°I commend your worship of Kold, the god of death and war, but do not call me weakling, goblin. I will not tolerate those insults.¡± He rubbed his cheek. ¡°I think something¡¯s wrong with me.¡± ¡°I think so, too. Let¡¯s continue. There¡¯s something up ahead. It might be Godfrey¡¯s village.¡± ¡°I used to say those things as an orc warlord, but¡­I thought they got it all out of my system when I was reborn here,¡± Bleff babbled on as we closed in on Underock. ¡°I never felt like an elf while I was an orc, you know? It¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Frivolity in speech is a sin, Bleff.¡± ¡°What?¡± He waved my wisdom away and continued as we passed several more fields of wheat and other crops. The farmers toiling in the cold of the sun looked upon me with awe-stricken faces, but their gazes didn¡¯t linger. They quickly returned to their work and I basked in their unwavering dedication. Such purposeful creatures. Unlike Bleff. ¡°Could it be that I still have a bit of orc warlord in me? I¡¯m so afraid all the time. I¡¯m even afraid of what¡¯s in that village. Is this how goblins go through life? It¡¯s horrible. I never feared anything when I was Kormog. I wish there was something more left.¡± ¡°Courage isn¡¯t a treasure you look for. It¡¯s in your own hands. Always.¡± ¡°Hmm, that sounds about right¡ªhey look at this bug,¡± he said and quickly snatched a big, plum insect off a nearby bush, bit the upper half off, and then suckled on the rest. ¡°I have never seen someone as disgusting as you, Bleff.¡± The goblin looked up at me with bug juice glistening around his mouth. ¡°Oh,¡± he frowned as his long pointy ears drooped. ¡°But that¡¯s just how I am now.¡± ¡°The village,¡± I said, shaking the image from my mind. ¡°Quicken your pace, goblin. We¡¯re almost there.¡± I had to say that a sense of sadness washed over me as my eyes and heart took in the reality of Underock Village. Three enormous boulders stacked one upon the other loomed threateningly over a score of huts that seemed to have grown from the mud beneath. More humans of all sizes roamed about the village, busying themselves with the ordinary. The only remarkable feature aside from those incredibly dangerous boulders hanging over the village like Kold¡¯s fury upon the demon horde, were two buildings of warped wood at the center of it. The lower and broader of the two had worn-out entrance stairs and a large board hanging next to the door. The entrance was ajar, and I could hear chatter and movement inside. The other wooden building was tall with stone foundations and a crooked, weathered bell tower, that was either destroyed in the wake of time or never finished. The runes of Kold and the other gods were etched one above the other along the bell tower and I knew this was where the priest of Underock lived. ¡°Fuck yeah!¡± Bleff yelled and I grunted at his foul words once more. ¡°Sorry, Shieldfather. Hey, listen, you know what that thing in the middle is?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a church,¡± I said somewhat proud I could discern at least something in this mad world. ¡°It¡¯s where I will find the priest who knows the path to hell.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, maybe. But that¡¯s not what I was talking about, man! That building next to it? That¡¯s a dungeon hub! We can apply there for groups to dungeons!¡± ¡°There¡¯s only one dungeon in the world that a Shieldfather walks and that is¡ª¡± ¡°Tartarus, the Steel Bastion, and so on, I know!¡± His hurried, excited words pushed away the anger I was rightfully allowed to feel at that moment. ¡°Hell is the dungeon I was referring to,¡± I said, raising my voice. I was curious so I decided not to dwell on his insolence, but I had to make it clear nonetheless. ¡°Yes, sorry. Hell, of course. We need¡ªI mean, you need to get back to hell. Sure, but what you also need is levels and gear, my friend. That¡¯s all that matters in the end.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not all that matters,¡± I said as we passed the first hut. The villagers seemed awfully disinterested as they passed us by. There was some appreciation of my perfect form, my glistening skin, and the muscles-turned-steel bulging beneath, but far from enough. Could it be that in this forsaken, miserable speck of mud that brought sadness to my heart just by existing, people had seen more impressive warriors already? Impossible. ¡°All of this is cursed,¡± I muttered. Was it not exactly what the demons wanted? To humiliate those they couldn¡¯t defeat in battle? To have a Shieldfather walk into the most desolate place occupied by the saddest wretches and yet not stir a single heart? My snort turned into a laugh. Of course, there was a reason. The people of Tartarus, my brothers, and even the blessed traders from beyond the World Door basked in the glory of a Shieldfather. It was the greatest joy to behold us. Demon trickery, madness, wyrm words, something of the sort was going on in Underock. There was no other explanation. ¡°Shieldfather?¡± Bleff said with a worried tone. ¡°Yes, Bleff?¡± ¡°You said all of this is cursed, then you laughed and then you just stood there silent for a good minute.¡± ¡°Hmm, yes. Let me ask you something, Bleff. What do you see when you look at me?¡± The goblin looked up at me while scratching a scab off his forearm before proceeding to eat it. His eyes remained glued to me all the while. I shuddered. Again. ¡°You¡¯re one big, bronze, black-haired, red-eyed, muscle-packed murder machine.¡± He grinned flashing his dirty teeth. ¡°Hmm, thank you.¡± ¡°Why would you ask me that?¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± I said, then stopped pondering his question and my own thoughts. ¡°Perhaps the people of this village have a sickness of the eyes.¡± ¡°What? How? Why?¡± ¡°Hmm, I couldn¡¯t say.¡± The door to the church suddenly swung open and a small, round man of pink complexion and a fiercely red nose stumbled outside, a flagon in one hand, and a book in the other. He wore a crumpled robe of white and black speckled with wine stains and dirt. ¡°Time for prayer!¡± he yelled and almost stumbled over his own feet. Just when I thought he wasn¡¯t going to fall, he did so face-first into a puddle. ¡°I think that¡¯s your priest,¡± Bleff said. I walked over to the man and turned him on his back so he wouldn¡¯t drown. He was alive and breathing coarsely. An expression of content was on his face. This place truly was cursed. ¡°Are you the priest, round man?¡± No answer came even after ten seconds passed. I looked for wisdom in the goblin, but Bleff just shrugged. ¡°He won¡¯t do you no good today. It be Morksday today, ya know?¡± a soft voice said, grabbing my attention. A mud-faced child with no shoes appeared next to me. ¡°He drinks his holy wine all day and then he takes a nap, he does. Always ¡®ere at the stairs, our good priest Titus.¡± ¡°A nap? How long will this nap last, child?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± the kid said and picked up a small stone from the ground. He proceeded to toss it up and down in his hand. ¡°When it¡¯s dark out he gets up. It¡¯s Morksday, so sometimes he sleeps through the night, too. You know, on Morksday he likes to have a bit more of the holy wine, he does.¡± Just as it finished the words, the child flung the pebble in his hand at Bleff, catching him square on the forehead. It giggled and then sprinted away to hide behind the church. ¡°I will murder you, you little bastard! Come here!¡± Bleff cried out, rubbing his head. ¡°Calm yourself, goblin. Child¡¯s play mustn¡¯t offend you.¡± ¡°So this is what my life will be?¡± Bleff grumbled. ¡°Filthy children flinging rocks at my head. Gah!¡± While the goblin contemplated his miserable fate, I tried to shake the priest awake once more but to no avail. I risked hurting the man if I continued. It was no wonder then that my blood began to boil with frustration. Was everything in this world out to make me miserable? ¡°Shieldfather,¡± Bleff asked. ¡°Are you as angry as I am?¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t quantify it like that, but I have a fury in my heart that needs to be unleashed on something worthy of death.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± he said and pointed to the other building. ¡°The priest won¡¯t be of any use to you until tomorrow. Why not go and kill something in a dungeon, huh?¡± ¡°Are there many foes in these dungeons?¡± I asked, my voice sounding more hopeful than I wanted to. ¡°Oh, yes, Shieldfather,¡± Bleff grinned. ¡°More than you can imagine.¡± ¡°Good, Bleff. We will put them all to the blade.¡± Chapter 8: A Most Glorious Party There was little else on my mind aside from bloodshed when I entered the only other large building in Underock. Inside, gathered around a crackling hearth, sat half a dozen men and women arguing in hushed words. That was until they laid eyes on me. The dungeon hub, as Bleff called it, was a decrepit hall filled with dusty trophies sitting on crooked, cobwebbed shelves. My gaze wandered from the people sitting around the fire to the rusty, half-deteriorated weapons in racks of worm-infested wood. A sense of decay permeated the room, but I didn¡¯t want to dwell on it. Everything in Underock seemed at death¡¯s door, be it housing, weapons, roads, or people. The silence was broken by a sudden outburst of deep, coarse laughter. Sitting in a comfortably looking upholstered seat was a man much larger than any I had seen yet. His face was that of a bear and brown fur covered him head to toe, yet his build was that of a man. Leather straps held up his short pants and he had vines and flowers in his bushy black hair. ¡°What in the name of Vildegard the Green is this thing?¡± he said, pointing at me. The others around the bear-man gave me curious, but careful looks and didn¡¯t join in on the laughter. All except one, a tall, slender creature cast in tight black leather. A thin red scarf covered most of its face, leaving only two seething orange eyes staring back at me. The few visible patches of skin had a sickly blue-white hue to them as if rotting while the creature still walked. My patience was at an end, and I had no intention to exchange insults once more. I walked up to the bear-man as the others looked on, grabbed him by the throat, and then threatened to sink my blade into his mouth. He grabbed onto my arm with both hands, trying to stall the well-deserved iron dinner, and though his arms seemed thick with muscle, his strength was that of a child¡¯s. I saw the rotten, leather-bound creature move to stop me. I leaned the tip of the sword against the bear-man¡¯s mouth as a warning. ¡°Stand back, corpse. Do you not see my sword tickling your friend¡¯s lips?¡± I said and it did, but not before it giggled again like some demented demon. ¡°I¡¯ve fed steel to men for lesser offenses, creature. Why do you disrespect a complete stranger? What is wrong with you?¡± The rotten man from what I gathered, somehow slid to the right of me so quickly I had barely noticed it. His hand landed on the hilt of my sword, and his elbow lodged itself into my ribs. The strike did little to curb my boiling blood. I took hold of his forearm and sunk the hilt of my sword into his shoulder. He winced in pain and dropped to a knee. A moment later, another jumped at my back, trying to restrain me. Strong hands this time. They slid under my armpits trying for a chokehold. A pathetic attempt, truly, for I had wrestled Varian since childhood. Before he could even try and incapacitate me, I swung him over my shoulder and into the bear-man¡¯s lap. The furry offender yelped, curling up and grabbing onto his fruits. Only then had I seen the creature who tried to mount me from the back. A short, stocky man with a rich red beard and grey eyes. The room suddenly brightened before a warmth spread all over my back. It felt nice, but I had little time to enjoy it. As I turned, I saw a lizard-faced woman with a branch for a staff incanting spells. ¡°It did nothing!¡± she cried, righteous fear spreading across her face. I had no time to bask in her misery for the rotting man tackled me. Even so, I did not lose ground but stood firmly in place. The bear-man, and the short, bearded creature each grabbed hold of one of my mighty arms and it took all my strength to barely resist their attempt to bring me down. ¡°Enough, you idiots!¡± Bleff yelled, his voice croaky and weak, ignored by everyone present. ¡°He¡¯s a tank! He¡¯s a fucking tank!¡± With those words, all commotion suddenly stopped. The rotting man let go of my hip, and so did the bear-man. Only the red-bearded fellow still hung, legs flailing, on my sword arm. I shook him off and he dropped to the floor with a thud. Suddenly the bear-man jumped from his seat and grabbed onto my leg, looking up at me with the most miserable expression. ¡°I beg for your forgiveness! For the love of Vildegard, take me with you. I¡¯m a healer! The only one in the hub!¡± ¡°And a shit one at that,¡± the rotting man said. ¡°However, you will need a good rogue and there¡¯s no greater rogue than a Duskar. I will come with you, yes.¡± ¡°Such a handsome man,¡± the lizard lady, said curling her hands around my biceps. Her forked tongue slid in and out as if readying to lick my flesh. ¡°So much muscle and power and tankiness, hmm¡­ If only you had a capable sorceress in your group.¡± Their sudden shift in demeanor was insane at best and demonic at worst. Bleff¡¯s words were like a spell that changed the hearts of everyone present. ¡°It is, of course, a shame you fools have dirtied what little honor you had,¡± said a man stepping into the light from the shadows of the far-right corner. He hadn¡¯t partaken in the short, unsatisfying brawl and seemed righteous about it. ¡°Keldar Brightstar,¡± he said with a courteous bow. There was an air of nobility about the man despite his deteriorating tunic and splinter-ridden two-handed mace. He combed back a strand of his long white hair as he swung the clumsy weapon demonstratively. ¡°Paladin of the Order of the Sparrow, protector of the weak and desolate. Glad to meet you, mighty tank.¡± ¡°My name is Shieldfather,¡± I said. I did not know what a tank was and yet the word had caused these witless apes to shower me with respect. ¡°Shieldfather,¡± the paladin repeated. ¡°How marvelous!¡± ¡°Indeed it is,¡± I agreed. ¡°Stop sucking up to the giant, Keldar. Yer fucking useless in a dungeon!¡± the red-bearded short man said as he picked himself up from the floor and dusted himself off. ¡°The name is Ramdun of Khaz¡¯ Moob. I¡¯m a proper dwarf warrior. Strong as te mountain, me friend. Ye need me in a dungeon¡ª¡± ¡°To steal your loot and get you killed,¡± the only other woman beside the lizard one said. She wore a long, dirty red robe and her hair was a mess of fiery orange just like her eyes. I had my reservations about her, truth be told. She reminded me of the fire witches at the Steel Bastion, yet she hardly radiated power close to those hated demons. ¡°What you need is fire, my friend,¡± she said, approaching me. ¡°Yer only good for burning yer own, you demon!¡± the dwarf cried. ¡°Are you a demon?¡± I asked. ¡°Of course not!¡± she claimed. ¡°My name is Kindra Van Groer and I burn demon and non-demon alike, bronze man. The fires don¡¯t choose.¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Fire can hardly kill a demon, woman,¡± I said. Her ignorance, though disturbing, alleviated thoughts of demonic trickery. For now. ¡°Is that so? Are you a demon then?¡± ¡°How dare you!¡± ¡°Has the lizard¡¯s fire spell done any damage to you? I don¡¯t see any burn marks.¡± ¡°A Varian is born of the flame so he might fight fire with fire.¡± ¡°Born of fire!¡± she gasped and her eyes widened. ¡°Why, you are one of a kind.¡± The woman took a step toward me, holding her hands out as if to hug me. ¡°Piss off!¡± the lizard lady hissed, still holding onto my perfectly formed biceps as she saw the red lady approach. She didn¡¯t heed her colleague''s warning, but instead took my face into her hands, piercing me with her seething orange eyes. ¡°You truly are of the flame,¡± she muttered, and I grinned. ¡°I must have you.¡± ¡°Many wish it so,¡± I said. ¡°Oh, for fuck¡¯s sake, he¡¯s takin¡¯ the women. It¡¯s always the same with these damned tanks,¡± the dwarf said and fell back onto a chair, seemingly defeated. ¡°All ye have to do is lift up yer skirt and the tanks stick to ye like flies on dung.¡± ¡°I will incinerate you, dwarf,¡± the red lady hissed and let go of my face. The lizard lady still stuck to me, however, and soon the paladin Keldar did too, appreciating my other biceps. The bear-man was still groveling at my legs, whispering sweet words of praise. This was good. This was normal. Perhaps this world wasn¡¯t as strange as I thought. It took only a day and a night for the people of this land to learn their place in my presence. But despite this surprising moment of unbridled appreciation, my heart still ached for the only thing that brought a Shieldfather true clarity: war. ¡°Bleff,¡± I said, turning toward the goblin and almost knocking over my admirers. ¡°I have many questions. But more than answers, I seek bloodshed. What do we do from here?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a tank, Shieldfather. You¡¯re supposed to take the brunt of the damage in dungeons, you know? That¡¯s why all these idiots here are falling head over heels to suck up to you.¡± I thought on this for a short moment and nodded, satisfied with my conclusion. ¡°There is no harm in appreciating me, goblin. It is well-deserved.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for almost a week,¡± the bear-man at my feet said. ¡°Not a single tank. That damned dwarf over there could have been a tank but he refuses.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like gettin¡¯ hit on the head!¡± Ramdun protested. ¡°That¡¯s the only thing your head¡¯s good for!¡± The red lady said. ¡°You have been here for a week waiting on a tank?¡± Bleff asked, his voice quivering. ¡°Yes!¡± The druid said as if proud of it. ¡°We can¡¯t enter the next zone until we get to level six and the king and his lackeys have been hunting down adventurers left and right so we can¡¯t really risk hunting in the woods.¡± ¡°Why would the king hunt us down?¡± Bleff inquired. ¡°Because he can,¡± the duskar said in his raspy voice. ¡°That is no explanation, corpse-man.¡± I said hating to hear empty words strung as insults rather than answers. ¡°Well, I ain¡¯t got any better.¡± Seeing no true answer came, Bleff addressed me pulling on my fingers. ¡°We must choose three, no more, no less, and we can go find the entrance to the dungeon. It¡¯s posted right outside the hub on the message board.¡± ¡°And who says you¡¯re going, goblin?¡± The rotting man said. ¡°Eat shit, duskar! You don¡¯t get to decide in any case,¡± Bleff shot back then slid behind a wooden beam and poked his ugly face out. ¡°Right, Shieldfather?¡± ¡°Rightly so.¡± I gave the rogue a flat stare and he grunted, looking away. ¡°The goblin is with me. Where I go, he goes.¡± Bleff¡¯s face lit up at those words. ¡°I suggest you take the healer,¡± Bleff said and I nodded. The bear-man shot up to his feet and dusted himself off. ¡°Tamban Bambadan will keep you healthy!¡± He said excitedly. ¡°And the red lady. We¡¯ll probably need a good caster with us.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± I said, not truly capable of grasping his words. Yet I found it wise not to portray complete ignorance. It didn¡¯t matter in the end, anyway. I would slaughter whatever came my way in this dungeon of theirs with or without their help. ¡°And lastly,¡± Bleff began. ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you pick someone, Shieldfather?¡± ¡°You need a rogue,¡± the rotting man said as if commanding me. I knew of their classes from books, and it was true a rogue could serve one well, but only if he turned out to be honorable which was rarely the case. ¡°You want me, don¡¯t you,¡± the lizard lady said, licking her lips. ¡°I do, but not for war.¡± She suddenly let go of my arm, hissing. The fire from the hearth made her green-white skin glisten like a demon in light of the Steel Bastion. I pushed the image away. ¡°Then the only one who showed some sense of honor, Keldar, you¡¯re coming with us, mighty paladin.¡± Keldar offered me a wide toothy smile of appreciation. ¡°I will serve you well, Shieldfather,¡± he proclaimed and I nodded at him, lowering my hand on his shoulder. ¡°I trust in your word, paladin. Do not let me down.¡± ¡°Never!¡± ¡°Well, fuck,¡± the duskar said and slid into a chair next to the dwarf, then pulled out a dagger from his back and stabbed the wooden armchair in frustration. ¡°I hope the rats end you all,¡± he added as Bleff and the others led me outside. ¡°Your words are poison, corpse,¡± I said, turning back to him. ¡°You should be lucky I¡¯ve left you breathing.¡± ¡°Duskar don¡¯t breathe,¡± he said before Keldar closed the door behind us. I could hear the lizard lady and the dwarf argue as Bleff brought me before the message board. There was a single notice there and below it an empty square. ¡°Put your hand there and apply for the dungeon quest, Shieldfather.¡± I did as told and new words found their way into my Soulforge. Do you wish to form a dungeon group with: Bleff Deadsoon, goblin Hierophant Tamban Bambadan, feralen Druid Kindra Van Groer, human Red Wizard Keldar Brightstar, human Paladin [YES] [NO] As soon as I accepted, the notice above the square on the message board lit up and another string of words assaulted my vision, DUNGEON QUEST: Underock Underground DESCRIPTION: Something beneath Underock has been stealing grain from the Underockians. Find the entrance to Underock''s underground and investigate. REWARD: 200 XP DO YOU ACCEPT? [YES] [NO] I accepted once more then swiped at Bleff¡¯s head instinctively. The goblin ducked and leaped away, then met my gaze with an insulted expression. ¡°There is strange magic at hand, Bleff.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just our health bars, Shieldfather. We¡¯re in a group so everyone can see each other¡¯s health.¡± I grunted softly in confirmation. I had never known the health of my Shieldsons for it did not matter. Whether they had a thousand points or one, they would stand and fight unmoving. ¡°The entrance is in the church cellar,¡± Keldar said. ¡°We have tried to group up without a tank but failed to even get through the first room. Good men left their lives down there.¡± ¡°There will be ample room to take your revenge on those foul creatures who hide in the darkness and kill honorable men.¡± ¡°Yes, Shieldfather, yes!¡± Keldar said enthusiastically. I liked the man. He was eager for war, but polite and civilized in speech. If he weren¡¯t born a human weakling, he¡¯d make a good Shieldson. ¡°I¡¯ll stay behind, you know. For the buffs and all,¡± Bleff said. And yet my first companion in this world was the very opposite. Alas, war beckoned me and I was unperturbed by Bleff¡¯s unwavering cowardice. We had to carefully step over the sleeping priest, then we walked over to the small flight of stairs leading into the Church of Kold. I wished not to look at the insides of this place in fear of offending my God, so I chose to close my eyes and told Bleff to guide me. ¡°What? Why?¡± the goblin protested. ¡°I wish not to see this world insult my God. Though you call this decrepit pigsty a church, it is not worthy of Kold. Lead me to the basement so I do not sin.¡± Just as I spoke those words, my sandaled foot caught into a broken tile and I opened my eyes as I felt myself falling forward. The bear-man caught me with some effort and I straightened and looked around, after all. ¡°Forgive me, Lord,¡± I muttered, laying my eyes on the insides of the building. It wasn¡¯t as bad as I thought it would be, for despite its outer appearance, the church was well-maintained and clean. The runes of Kold and the other gods graced the walls and ceiling, and images of the Shattering sat high above the altar. I felt my heart skip, seeing Ra¡¯een in eternal combat with his brother the Angel Arbiter depicted with great craftsmanship across the entirety of the far wall. I stood speechless there for a moment as rage and disappointment grasped at my heart. ¡°Why, Lord? Why all this?¡± I asked to the mostly empty church, my thunderous voice bouncing against the walls and low benches. ¡°Are you a man of the gods, Shieldfather?¡± Keldar asked after a long moment of silence. ¡°I am the shield of Ra¡¯een, Keldar. I am his will and yet I am here in this world, wandering aimlessly.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re here, it¡¯s the will of the Gods.¡± ¡°Your words echo those of the Steelspeakers.¡± ¡°Wise men, I wager.¡± I snorted into a laugh. ¡°Yes, Keldar. Wise men.¡± I noticed Bleff rolling his eyes at our brotherly exchange. I scoffed at the goblin. What did he know of the gods, honor, and war? He was a coward. Perhaps a loyal one, but a coward no less. ¡°This way, man of the Gods,¡± the red wizard said. I noticed her sweating quite a bit. She looked nervous, or possibly just eager. The fire in her veins made her skin almost pulsate. I looked to Keldar and he nodded so we took to a tight side corridor and down a flight of stairs. I shuddered as the temperature dropped further. It took a lot of restraint not to shake among my newfound warband. We came upon a small room filled with empty and broken jars, torn burlap sacks, and broken wooden crates. The stench was that of rotting food and foulness found in demon tides ripe with Blisterflingers and their rolling balls of foulflesh. Either that or Bleff¡¯s breath. A cellar door was cracked open to the right side of a crooked empty shelf. ¡°Here,¡± Keldar said, prying the doors open wide. More words appeared before me. DO YOU WISH TO ENTER: Underock Catacombs? [YES] [NO] Chapter 9: A Most Unfortunate Development I felt a great conflict stir in my heart as we delved deeper. The path laid out for me by the will of Kold brought me back underground where I belonged. I felt great comfort knowing I was a few steps closer to home, to hell, and the Steel Bastion, but it came with a price I was barely willing to pay. I was cold to the point where my limbs stiffened. What great irony the universe had brought upon me as if I was a mere tool for the entertainment of their vast cosmic powers? Yet, I would not utter a word for I was Shieldfather and it was not becoming for one such as me to moan cold feet. Or arms. I¡¯d rather have my heart pierced by a garg wasp. ¡°I can¡¯t see shit,¡± Bleff uttered for he had no such honorable boundaries. I could see just fine in the darkness, though. The cellar was small, stuffed with old furniture, broken wooden benches, and barrels covered in thick layers of dust interconnected by cobwebs. Our path was clear, for there was a great hole in the far stone wall that led deeper into the bosom beneath Underock. A circle of rugged rock and soil oozed darkness like giants behind their mammoth screamers. If only I wasn¡¯t so cold, I pondered and as if hearing my thoughts, Kindra Van Groer, the slick-tongued wizard flicked her wrists and conjured a small flame in her palm. It quickly grew to the size of a fist, burning lustrously and warm. The ball of fire then floated up on its own, circling the wizard. ¡°Here, goblin, now you can see. And that¡¯s why you always need to bring a red wizard to the¡ªouch!¡± To my great shame, I instinctively reached for the flame in a childish attempt to warm my freezing soul. In doing so, my great bronze hand struck Kindra Van Groer accidentally across the face. Keldar, Tamban, and Bleff found themselves stunned as the wizard rubbed her reddening cheek. ¡°The fire sheds warmth,¡± I blurted out for no words of wisdom could follow acts of such stupidity. ¡°You slapped me! You big, ugly barbarian son of a¡ªYou want a fight? You¡¯ll get one!¡± She raised her hands as strings of fire twisted up her forearms and around her fists, lighting up the cellar in yellow and orange. The dust on the old wooden garbage was blown away and the cobwebs melted. She pressed her fists together and suddenly a gust of fire engulfed me, warming and caressing my body. DAMAGE OVER TIME SPELL DETECTED: [INCINERATE] [DESCRIPTION]: Suffer 1 point of fire damage every second for 15 seconds. NOTE: The effect of [Incinerate] has been reduced by 60%. I shuddered in the pleasure the spell brought me then looked at the wizard. She seemed dumbfounded by my reaction. The bronze of my body had acquired a soft red hue, and small fires broke out from my skin here and there like flames across a stream of magma. The cold was gone, now only shame lingered. ¡°You like that, copper man?¡± ¡°I think he does,¡± Bleff replied with a big fat grin on his ugly face. The admiration in his tone was very welcome. ¡°That does not give him or anyone the right to strike a lady, especially a noble lady such as Kindra Van Groer. I thought you a man of honor, Shieldfather!¡± Keldar Brightstar, the paladin said. Tamban Bambadan ran his fingers through his dirty, vine-infested hair and grinned showing his fangs, but spoke no words. I was caught between immeasurable shame and unfathomable pleasure. ¡°I feel great shame,¡± I said, bowing my head slightly. ¡°I have known nothing but cold since I arrived in this world. The warmth of your fires has stoked my will to live once again. I did not want to strike you, and I offer you strike me in return.¡± Van Groer looked around angrily, obviously trying to come to terms with my apology and the entailing offer. ¡°I just did,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re literally on fire.¡± ¡°Hmm, yes.¡± ¡°And you¡­you¡¯re enjoying it?¡± ¡°With great shame, yes.¡± ¡°Want me to do it again?¡± There was a hint of excitement in her words. ¡°Please, if you don¡¯t mind. The timer is about to end.¡± ¡°I could hit you with a fireball, too, you know.¡± A devilish grin spread across her dark-skinned face. ¡°Alright, I see where this is going, and for the sake of the rest of us, just stop,¡± Bleff said with a surprisingly commanding tone. ¡°Stay out of it, goblin,¡± Kindra snapped. ¡°The man enjoys my fires. I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not intrigued. What did you say before? Born of the flame?¡± Bleff moaned and rolled his eyes but refrained from saying more. ¡°One more time then?¡± I nodded and the wizard¡¯s eyes lit up again as she recast her spell and lit me on fire once more. ¡°This will do,¡± I said. ¡°And there¡¯s more once we finish this thing,¡± she added with an exaggerated wink. I truly hoped there would be. Though Bleff¡¯s buffs were of great use, they faded in comparison to the comfort Kindra¡¯s fires brought me. Perhaps she would prove a greater ally than I had anticipated. ¡°Shall we bring upon buffs before we venture further?¡± Keldar asked and we all agreed that this would be wise. Bleff increased our health stats with his [Word of Vitality] and Keldar activated an ability called [Aura of Fervor] that increased both our attack and movement speed. As we moved towards the hole in the wall, the paladin stopped us one more time urging me to let him go in first for he had a spell called [Detect Evil] and claimed it prudent to use it ahead. ¡°Prudent indeed,¡± I said and Kedlar walked through the hole ahead of me. He cast his spell and then stood there for a moment before we continued. ¡°I sense evil,¡± he said grimly. ¡°So do I,¡± I said though not because of the spell but rather because I had never not sensed it. ¡°It¡¯s just rats, you dimwit,¡± Kindra said. ¡°I¡¯ve been here before.¡± ¡°They are all creatures of the wild,¡± Tamban Bambadan said as he lumbered behind dirtying his fur against the walls. ¡°The stupidity,¡± Kindra said exhausted. ¡°Rats,¡± I muttered to myself as we entered a larger underground chamber in which I could stretch to my full height. At the far end, there was another large hole, though numerous smaller holes pocked the dirt in all directions. I had seen, battled, and destroyed countless giggl-erats, drum-rats, and the notorious fart-rats and imagined these creatures might be similar. As I rummaged through memory with both glee and sadness, I heard a faint rattling coming from caves and caverns probably connected to the one we were in. Bleff grabbed onto me with one hand and to a root protruding out the dirt walls with the other. YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED A MONSTER NAME: RAT ATTACK: 2 DEFENSE: 0 ¡°Protect me,¡± he said as his voice croaked.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. A great skittering then echoed from all sides. Hundreds of tiny legs grabbing forward, squeaking, chattering, and promising a dreadful time. ¡°Have fate in me, goblin,¡± I said. ¡°No harm shall come to you.¡± But Bleff wasn¡¯t alone in his frightfulness, I noticed Keldar¡¯s hands tremble around the handle of his splintered mace. I lowered a hand on his shoulder and he twitched nervously. ¡°You too, Keldar,¡± I said and pushed past him, readying my shield and sword. ¡°The rats take no man today. That I promise and for each one you destroy, I, Shieldfather shall take two.¡± ¡°What the hell is he on about?¡± Kindra said in her ignorance. There was no time to explain to her the origins of those holy words with which each Tide began nor did I deem her worthy. Yet. And then the swarm came. It was a great flood of greyish little vermin that spilled out of every hole and crevasse of the dirt cavern. Their anger was as tangible as the smell they carried with them. These were no giggle-rats, not even half their size, but they came in vast numbers and unlike the crabs on the beach, these creatures were aggressive, angry, and squeaking with madness. I rushed forward with a mind to gather the rat¡¯s attention, and it worked. They came at me quickly, biting and scratching their way up my legs. I soon realized defending against such small critters was more difficult than I hoped for. My shield proved of little use against them. Even so, I slashed and hacked my way through the vermin with my new tiny sword, spilling diseased blood against the earthen walls. ¡°Argh! Heal!¡± I heard Keldar yell behind me. A great deluge of rats came streaming on top of him from holes in the ceiling. The paladin was almost entirely covered in a coat of dirty grey fur. Tamban weaved his hands into a spell of greenish light that engulfed the paladin with healing energies but it did little to help him get rid of the beasts. I hacked through two rats in one swing, then smashed my shield into a third. I quickly dashed back closer to my group, taunted two of the rats from Keldar and still left half a dozen more biting and scratching the paladin¡¯s neck, arms, and legs. ¡°Heal me!¡± he cried again and the druid did his best to do so, but he too was now cornered by another group and had to fend off the vermin with his free hand. Our formation was not a formation, our defenses were shattered, and no man was safe. ¡°Don¡¯t do it Kindra!¡± I heard Bleff cry out over the clamor of battle. He was hiding behind the wizard who was building up a great ball of fire in both her hands. This one was far larger than anything she had used so far, and it promised to be of great use. She slung the fireball at the paladin and it flung him off his legs and tossed him against one of the walls. Smaller shards of flame spread in all directions incinerating both the rats and the party members. It was suddenly very bright and comfortably crisp. Burning rats skittered every which way, squealing in panic and lighting up other rats while doing so. Dust and rocks came falling off the ceiling and the whole chamber threatened to crash on top of us. None of my abilities had any use when it came to the rats. Using my [Triple Block], I managed to stop one nasty rat from jumping me, letting the tiny demon bounce off my shield harmlessly, but that was it. I managed to pry away as many as I could from Kindra and Tamban as the druid maintained my health, but it was just burning, screaming mayhem. When the last rat fell, my health was already down to 110 / 200. I didn¡¯t worry for I had a healer and was sure it wouldn¡¯t harm our progress. I felt blood trickle down several bite and scratch marks and when I eyed the others, I saw they shared a similar look. I grinned, for I cherished the look of a warband after battle. There was no sweeter image than a bloodied warrior standing triumphantly over his enemy. ¡°Keldar¡¯s dead,¡± Tamban said kneeling next to the burnt body of the paladin. ¡°What the hell!¡± Bleff roared. ¡°Kindra! Why? You killed him!¡± I nodded solemnly, eyeing the corpse. ¡°A great death, surely,¡± I said, cutting through the accusation. The demise of a fellow warrior was no cause for bickering. Shameful were these creatures I called companions, but their disrespect would not sway me from the path of a Shieldfather. ¡°Say what?¡± Bleff cried, pointing a finger at the source of his anger. ¡°It is a warrior¡¯s death, no less.¡± I knelt next to Keldar, picked up his mace, and lowered it in his lap, then folded his hands over the grip. Next, I stood and made the mark of the Steel Bastion, holding my fist into a blade touching my forehead and my heart. ¡°Back to the Frostlands with you, old boy. You have done well.¡± ¡°You!¡± Bleff yelled again, pointing at Kindra. ¡°You hit him with a fireball! I told you not to!¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t heal through that,¡± Tamban said, shaking his head, but then he shrugged, dusted off his fur, and smiled again as if nothing had happened. ¡°He would have died anyway,¡± Kindra said coldly. ¡°No, he wouldn¡¯t!¡± Bleff exclaimed. ¡°Will you shut up, goblin? What were you doing the entire fight?¡± Kindra barked at the smelly green creature. ¡°You just hid behind me!¡± ¡°Bleff isn¡¯t that useful. Such is he,¡± I said calmly. ¡°And Keldar¡¯s death is nobody¡¯s fault but the rats¡¯, may they rot and wither.¡± ¡°How can you say that? You saw her hit him¡ª¡± ¡°I saw the chaos of battle, the imminence of death, the fear of pain, and great cowardice on your part. Keldar died fighting. We should be happy for him.¡± ¡°But¡ª¡± ¡°No buts, Bleff. Look to your shortcomings first.¡± The goblin opened his mouth to say something else, but then just grimaced and snorted. Soon tears followed and deservedly so. I was not glad Kindra helped kill Keldar, but at least she did something rather than nothing. In a battle, one had to make decisions and make them fast, but most importantly, one had to stick to them. Kindra had made one such decision, one of us died, but the others survived for it. It was a good trade. I would not mouth any of those thoughts to the others for words could not teach them battle. I did as my good friend Godfrey had taught me and looted the many rats strewn across the chamber. The first dozen offered nothing but burned fur, broken teeth, and crisp intestines which I stuffed into my lootbox nevertheless. I was hoping that perhaps, just like with the crab parts, I could sell these useless bits for some silver for I knew coin was a most powerful tool in the overworld. ¡°Onwards!¡± I commanded once everyone had grabbed their share, and we pushed through the following dirt tunnel with Kindra and Tamban right behind me as Bleff shook and cowered behind them. We arrived at the next chamber soon, this one larger in every way than the previous one. Even Kindra¡¯s flame could barely shed enough light for it to reach the hole-ridden walls. My red eyes pierced through the darkness and I barely made out a great chasm that split the chamber in two. A long bridge connected both sides, and it looked as if it was barely holding together. ¡°Are rats builders?¡± I asked for it made no sense to my mind that those vermin may have created the bridge. ¡°No,¡± Kindra said. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea what this is supposed to be. I¡¯ve never gone past the first chamber.¡± ¡°Bleff, cross the bridge,¡± I ordered and the goblin gasped as if slapped across the face. ¡°W¡ªwhat?¡± ¡°You weigh the least. If it can¡¯t support you, there is no point in us trying.¡± ¡°Wise,¡± Tamban said and pushed the goblin ahead. ¡°What? Wait! Why me?¡± I grunted, exhausted by his reluctance to prove himself worthy at least once. Instead of answering, I grabbed him by his robe and shoved him ahead. ¡°Go!¡± I ordered as sternly as I¡¯d order a Shieldson to give his life for the Bastion. Bleff was shaking like a wet dog, his hairy green legs threatening to give in. Just as I was to push him again, the ground in front of the goblin suddenly opened up and out came a rat as large as Bleff himself. I flung the goblin to the side and he skidded along the ground until he landed several feet away, then raised my shield and licked my lips. ¡°Travelers!¡± the rat said, taking us all by surprise. I took a step back, lowered my sword against the edge of my shield, and focused on the death I would soon have to teach. ¡°Now, why look at you!¡± the rat, said grinning and squeaking. Ugly bone trinkets, and beads hung from its skinny arms and neck. In its left hand, it grabbed a crooked piece of wood that could almost be called a staff. ¡°Words will not save you from death, rat,¡± I said confidently. ¡°Words, yes. But not for me, for you! Answer my riddle and I will let you pass. Yes, yes!¡± ¡°Riddles? Only Steelspeakers and demons dabble in riddles, rat. And you don¡¯t strike me as a Steelspeaker.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kindra asked from behind me. The goblin-sized rat chittered strangely and then slapped its hands together. ¡°Tell me, barbarian, what gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?¡± it asked with a self-satisfied smirk that made my blood boil. ¡°Your mother¡¯s twat!¡± I roared and surged forward, aiming my sword at its chest. ¡°Wait, you idiot!¡± I heard Kindra yell, but her insults became a background to what I did best: sow death upon the enemy. ¡°Wrong!¡± the rat laughed and just as the tip of my blade was about to plunge into its heart, the rat vanished back into its hole. The sound of rattling chains filled the cavern. Something came loose, and a massive rock suddenly swung from one side of the chamber only to crash into the other. Bleff gasped again, Kindra cursed me, and Tamban¡­well, Tamban was splattered against the wall by that very same rock. It was a most unfortunate development. I watched as the bolder swung back and forth a few more times. Bits and pieces of the druid still hanging on to the bloodied boulder until it stopped swinging between Kindra and myself. Tamban¡¯s blood pooled beneath it. ¡°You moron!¡± Kindra said rubbing her forehead. ¡°You stupid, pig-brained¡ª¡± ¡°A warrior¡¯s death,¡± I said, stopping her not only because Tamban had lost his life in battle and was owed respect, but also because I felt her insults were pushing me over the edge of my goodwill. ¡°Back to the Frostlands, old boy,¡± I said, tapping the boulder. Not every death could be as glorious as that of Keldar the paladin, but even so, Tamban¡¯s demise counted as a warrior¡¯s death for he was at war when it happened. Sort of. ¡°You¡¯re not made for talking, are you? You just cost us a healer.¡± ¡°Oh! Gods! We¡¯re all going to die,¡± Bleff muttered between gasps and cries. ¡°Shut up, Bleff,¡± Both Kindra and I said in unison. ¡°You said no man would be lost to the rats, and we already lost two!¡± the goblin yelled back and then cowered as if awaiting my wrath. It did not come for there was at least some truth to his words. The sting of guilt had suddenly found me and I did my best to do away with it. Guilt was a great enemy, especially to a Shieldfather. For we made promises of survival when we knew there would be death, for we lived to protect, and yet sometimes our defenses were breached. We were taught that such was the burden of command, that such was life in Oomer¡¯s Cohort, that in the end such was hell, and that in hell guilt could chip away even at the strongest armor. ¡°Forgive me, Bleff. Forgive me, Kindra. Such is¡­this world that some die and some live,¡± I finally said because forgiveness was the first step toward shedding guilt. ¡°Whatever. We can¡¯t finish this without a healer,¡± Kindra said. ¡°We better get back and look for a replacement.¡± ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°I give no quarter to the enemy. I do not retreat. I do not yield.¡± ¡°Well, I do,¡± the wizard said. ¡°I¡¯d like to yield and give quarter and all that very much so,¡± Bleff muttered. ¡°Bleff can heal¡ª¡± ¡°I can barely recover ten hit points per spell!¡± he squealed in the most desperate tone. ¡°You, wizard, can still burn swarms of enemies, and I will take the front. We will bring the rats to justice. For Tamban, for Keldar!¡± ¡°Oh, fuck!¡± the goblin cried out. I thought my words of inspiration had somehow offended him, but I soon realized the reason for his foul words. ¡°The exit tunnel has caved in!¡± ¡°Firda, Mother of Fire, I¡¯m trapped with you idiots in here!¡± ¡°Good,¡± I said, eyeing the bridge. ¡°See, even the gods are not amused by your cowardice. Onwards.¡± ¡°Why me?¡± Bleff yelped, falling to his knees and raising his hands to the ceiling as if waiting for an answer. ¡°The bridge,¡± I said, ignoring him. ¡°Go, goblin. Take point.¡± Chapter 10: Because of the Shield Once beyond the bridge and through the next tunnel, the three of us stepped into another chamber just as large as the previous one. Kindra kept her [Incinerate] up on me at all times and I was thankful for it. She might have been somewhat rude and abrasive, but as a warrior, she was irreplaceable for the moment. ¡°I could have died, you know?¡± the more replaceable of my two companions complained but I gave his words no heed. ¡°Oh, no, please not Bleff. What would we do without you,¡± Kindra said. The flame in her hand shimmered in her orange eyes. ¡°I think we¡¯re close to the end. Look at all this shit,¡± Kindra said, pointing to mountains of bones, torn, rusty armor and weapons, and heaps of skulls littering the large cave. We found no time to inspect any of it because the now familiar rattle of rats promised more glorious battle. ¡°Stay behind me, and Bleff?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Try and heal me, alright?¡± ¡°Ugh,¡± he mumbled as he picked great chunks of green from his nose and then nervously ate it. I shuddered and looked away, digging my heels in fully cognizant of the fact that my healer could let me down at any point. Out came the vermin through crevasses and holes in the walls, ceiling, and ground. A great tide of filthy fur and chittering teeth, of yellow fangs and dead eyes. ¡°Try to gather them all in one place!¡± Kindra yelled out as I engaged the closest throng of rats to my right. The rats jumped at me with great ferocity, eager to pierce the bronze skin of a Varian Lord of Tartarus. But I would not have it so. I slashed a wild arc across their ranks, splitting two, three, four of the beasts and squashing a fifth with my sandal. One particularly large rat grabbed onto my shield with its claws, and I smashed it against the ground, destroying both vermin and protection. I tossed the splintered crab shield away and pulled out yet another from my inventory. I glanced over my shoulder seeing Kindra channeling another fireball, and just as she was about to release it, I threw myself out of the way and let the orb of molten arcane power explode against a large swathe of rats. The fires lit up the entire room as the agonized squeal of the little demons filled my heart. I saw my experience bar shoot up by a great chunk and reveled in the fact it was halfway up to level 6. I leaped through the fire and smoke and landed in what remained of their numbers, crushing tiny skulls with my shield and sandal, slicing vermin in two and three, tossing some against walls, and biting back at others as they bit at me. ¡°Your health, Shieldfather!¡± Bleff yelled as white light surrounded him. I had in truth not paid much attention to it as the joy of war had overcome me. It was down to a meager 57 / 200 and as Bleff¡¯s healing spell [Tear of Bleff] landed on me, it rose to an unimpressive 66 / 200. Luckily the rats thought it pointless to battle and their thinning numbers soon vanished back into the holes they came from. We looted the scorched bodies finding more useless pieces of burnt vermin and nothing else, then considered our next move. ¡°I have bad news,¡± Kindra said as the smoke cleared. ¡°I¡¯m down to one more fireball and I¡¯m out of incinerate spells.¡± Her words pained me greatly for I had become used to the crackling warmth in my bones. The prospect of having to fight the rats and the cold at once was uninviting, but welcome nevertheless. Only the folded and hammered steel can grow to have a purpose. Besides, the day I relied on wyrd-speech for war would be the day I ate my own steel. ¡°Then we shall make do with what we have.¡± ¡°I only have two more healing spells left,¡± Bleff said and shrugged apologetically. ¡°So that¡¯s it? You can cast your heal two more times for a few points each?¡± Kindra inquired with a grimace of disgust aimed at the goblin. ¡°It heals between six and ten points¡­but yeah. I suck, I know. No need to rub it in.¡± For a second, I felt a pang of compassion for the useless, cowardly creature that attached itself to me like a spiked bloodsucker. A Shieldfather¡¯s prime directive was the protection of the world against the evils of hell and who needed more protection than that weeping, sniveling man-child? Nobody, not even a Varian infant was as helpless as Bleff. ¡°Onwards!¡± I said, casting aside my thoughts and pointing to the other end of the chamber, but once more the ground next to my feet trembled slightly, and out came the same rat as before. A great wide grin spread across its ugly muzzle. I stepped away and poised for combat but decided to hear out its words. ¡°Two down, three to go, yes, yes. You¡¯ve led them well, barbarian.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a barbarian, vermin. That¡¯s prejudice steeped in ignorance.¡± The rat shrugged as if uninterested in the truth. So be it, I thought, the underdwellers have never been a literate bunch. ¡°Hear him out this time for the love of Firda.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± I muttered. ¡°Yes, yes, listen cautiously, barbarian for I will give you¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a barbarian, rat! Must every lesson be taught by the edge of my blade?¡± ¡°For fuck¡¯s sake, let it speak!¡± Kindra roared. ¡°Riddle me this,¡± it said, ignoring my threats. ¡°Three venture forth, but only if you answer true. Two will venture forth if you can¡¯t think this riddle through.¡± The rat giggled and squealed as if it had just uttered words of great wisdom and not strings of meaningless babble. Nevertheless, I wiped the sweat and dirt from my face and let his words sink in. But came up with nothing. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea,¡± Kindra said as a big, throbbing vein pulsated across her forehead. ¡°Bleff?¡± I called out, never removing my eyes from the rat with the staff. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Yes, sorry,¡± I chewed the words. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know, and neither do my companions. So, death it is.¡± ¡°Wrong!¡± the rat cried out, laughing maniacally. ¡°Oh, gods help us!¡± Bleff shoved his face in his hands. I knew some great evil would come to find us, so I did the best I could and dashed at the rat again. This time, however, I was prepared for its swift escape and instead of trying to cut it short, I used my [Shield Slam] ability to stun the cowardly rat before it could dig back into the earth. The vermin staggered backward, its eyes rolling up and its tongue flapping carelessly to the side. I dug my sword into its guts two times before it came to its senses and coughed blood onto my face. ¡°The Great One¡ª¡± it began, the words lost in gurgles of blood. ¡°Will avenge¡ª¡± A third stab to its throat did the trick and I pushed the rat off my blade with a kick. Its body tumbled harmlessly to the ground and I raised my shield, taking the cavernous chamber. I half-expected some sort of machination to attempt murder against us once more. Bleff was hiding behind a pile of skulls while Kindra stood in the middle of the room panting and looking around nervously as sweat pooled between her collarbones. ¡°Anything?¡± she asked. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like it,¡± I straightened out and grinned. ¡°Empty threats. We should have killed him the first time around. A mistake paid with Tamaban¡¯s life.¡± I walked over to the rat¡¯s body and looted it. Nothing but filthy rags and trinkets on that one, but at least they would sell well. I pried the staff from his fingers and looked at it. NAME: Wooden Staff TYPE: Two-handed Staff ATTACK: 2 DESCRIPTION: To be honest, it''s a branch. ¡°There,¡± I said, tossing it at Bleff. ¡°You need a weapon.¡± The goblin slowly slung out between the wall and the skulls, picked up the staff, and eyed it for a bit. Then he cried again. ¡°What is it now?¡± ¡°I just¡ªI used to wield such weapons that¡­oh, gods look at this thing.¡± ¡°You used to wield weapons?¡± Kindra said with a cynicism that was hard to miss. ¡°Yes, for your information I was Bleff the Butcher, conqueror of¡ªoh, you wouldn¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the skidmark talking about?¡± the wizard asked as she eyed me curiously. ¡°The goblin claims he was once a great warrior who died and was reborn in this world.¡± Kindra¡¯s brow furrowed and for good reason. It was beyond wild imagination to think that creature was a warrior of even the most basic sorts, let alone one with title and prominence. The words certainly gave Kindra pause for she seemed to try to piece something together. ¡°Reborn in this world,¡± she said dismissively. ¡°You sound worse than those Helva fanatics everywhere. Next, you¡¯re going to tell me there¡¯s a heaven and a hell, eh?¡± I snorted and laughed at that. ¡°What little you know, wyrd-speaker. There are worlds beyond worlds. My very existence proves this.¡± Kindra opened her mouth to say something but a great tremble in the walls that brought dirt and dust streaming from the ceiling cut our conversation short. Suddenly, the earth ruptured beneath the wizard and the hierophant and swallowed both before I could even take a single step forward. Their cries echoed across the cavern as they tumbled down deep shafts each. I rushed to the holes and saw that they were caught in tubes of dirt and barely able to stand. ¡°Help me!¡± Bleff yelled in desperation. ¡°Get me the fuck out of here!¡± Kindra cried. ¡°Stay firm,¡± I shot back, trying to think of a way to pull them out. I quickly rummaged through the junk sitting around the cavern in the hope of finding some rope or other means of helping them, but soon realized I had nothing. ¡°You need this,¡± a voice behind me said then giggled. I turned to see a rat the size of a human robed in deteriorating armor and hefting a great rusty butcher¡¯s knife. Bone necklaces hung off its neck and bracelets and ringers graced its bony hands. It threw a coil of rope at my feet and giggled again.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Who do you care more for, barbarian? The human or the goblin?¡± ¡°Holes are opening up everywhere! Rats are coming, help me!¡± Kindra cried out. I looked at the rat, then back at the two holes behind me. ¡°Your ultimatum is moot, demon rat. I will slay you and save both!¡± I growled then dashed at it, ready to [Shield Slam] the oversized vermin and stop it from escaping. Despite its size, this one was faster and managed to escape me. ¡°Shieldfather! Help!¡± Bleff cried. I picked up the rope and slid to a halt next to his hole. When I looked down, I saw rats streaming into the hole. The two would soon be drowned in a tide of teeth and claws. ¡°Help!¡± he cried and so did Kindra. I couldn¡¯t possibly save both of them, there was simply no time. The shafts were filling up and their health pools were plunging quickly. ¡°Fuck the goblin! Don¡¯t save the fucking goblin!¡± ¡°Save me! Don¡¯t listen to her! It¡¯s my last life!¡± I gritted my teeth and cursed my fate for I had to make a choice any Shieldfather dreaded. Here was a woman of great use, a hard warrior who brought warmth to this cold world and promised more as soon as we left this hellhole. A powerful woman of great beauty and a fiery attraction I could hardly resist. And then there was Bleff. ¡°Bleff,¡± I said taking a deep breath. ¡°You have been a¡ªwell, it¡¯s difficult to find the right words in a time such as this.¡± ¡°Help!¡± Kindra cried again. ¡°But know that a warrior¡¯s death¡ª¡± ¡°I can¡¯t¡­too many! Fuck you all!¡± Kindra screamed and then a loud explosion rocked the ground and a plume of fire surged out of the wizard¡¯s shaft, carrying with it rats and rocks and scorched dirt that rained onto me. ¡°Her last fireball,¡± I muttered to myself. Quickly and dreadfully aware of the wizard¡¯s fate, I hastily lowered the rope into Bleff¡¯s hole. ¡°Oh, gods, help me out!¡± he cried as I pulled him free of the shaft with a dozen rats at his back climbing up the dirt walls. I flung the goblin to the side as he reached the top, then got to hacking down the enemies that had come up alongside him. Bleff was lying face down in the dirt behind me, mumbling something into the ground. The hole Kindra had been inside was still smoking and the smell of burnt flesh soon forced me to get up and move on. ¡°Get up, Bleff. We need to continue,¡± I said, softly nudging the goblin with my foot. He looked up at me, his face covered in wet dirt, blood, and snot. ¡°You¡­you saved me again.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°You really saved me again!¡± ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s move on then.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, of course, and look,¡± he said, holding up his staff. ¡°I saved my weapon too.¡± ¡°Well done, Bleff.¡± I looked over to the hole Kindra was in and saw nothing but smoking dirt, rock, and scorched rat bodies. A warrior¡¯s death overshadowing even that of Keldar. To take one¡¯s own life in pursuit of death against the enemy was an honor beyond any other. Kindra was Shieldmother material, there was no question about it. Had she been forged in the bosom of hell, she¡¯d be at the Bulwark right now. ¡°To the Frostlands, old gal,¡± I said and breathed out, my great bronze chest heaving. ¡°To the Frostlands,¡± the goblin said and looked up at me as if expecting praise for offering respect. I could hardly look back at him. What was this creature? And why was our fate intertwined in such a way? Truly, I thought, Kold was trying to teach me a lesson, or Ra¡¯een himself had found my work as a Shieldfather lacking. Something needed to make sense and soon, or I would find myself overcome with madness before I ever found a way back to Hell. ¡°There¡¯s an opening over there now,¡± Bleff said, pointing at an arched entrance to yet another tunnel except this one had beams supporting it. I hadn¡¯t noticed it when we first entered and concluded it must have opened during those deadly events from before. Markings in blood hung above it. Some unknown twisted rat tongue that would surely drive anyone mad if they were to read it. I paid it no heed for I had seen my share of runes written in blood back in hell. Bleff feared the words, of course, but he seemed to fear his own shadow, too. We traversed this relatively large tunnel with careful steps. I had to lead Bleff through it because we missed the light of Kindra¡¯s flame and the goblin kept bumping into walls, beams, and my own feet. I could hear chatter and see feint light up ahead and cautioned Bleff to stay vigilant for we were about to enter yet another room, quite possibly more dangerous than the last. Even so, I shunned the idea of sneaking up to the enemy and instead walked in with my head held high and my chest pushed out. I was trembling somewhat from the freezing temperatures, but I managed to steady myself enough not to look weak. As we stepped into the large room, the voice of the rat who was to blame for Kindra¡¯s demise welcomed me. ¡°And two venture forth,¡± it giggled. ¡°Where¡¯s your wizard?¡± ¡°In a place you wish you¡¯d be soon enough, demon.¡± ¡°Demon,¡± it repeated and giggled louder. The two large rats with rusty cleavers in their hands joined in. I took in the large, surprisingly civilized room. Stone walls did away with the dirt and lamps burned brightly on their hinges. Two rows of wooden benches and stone tables ran from where the rat was sitting up to the entrance. There was something of a kitchen to our right, but it was riddled with throngs of small rats scurrying about. More heaps of deteriorating armor, weapons, skulls, and other bones sat next to the walls. Most prominently among all of it were a great number of grain sacks stacked on top of each other. The rat¡¯s little treasure vaults, I wagered. ¡°I like that,¡± the rat said through a hiss. ¡°Great One the Demon, that sounds good, don¡¯t it, boys? I like it a lot.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the Great One?¡± I said and could barely contain my laughter. The rat hissed, baring its teeth. An insult to its fragile ego. Fitting. ¡°How absurd of a creature you are.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll show you absurd!¡± It turned to the large rat on its left. ¡°What¡¯s absurd mean?¡± ¡°Mean¡¯s some stupid adventure shit, boss.¡± I shook my head thinking of Keldar, Tamban, and Kindra. How those weak, but honorable people died so a rat could revel in its little kingdom of dirt and stupidity. ¡°Shield¡ªShieldfather, you sure we can take them all on? Maybe we should¡ª¡± ¡°Not now, Bleff. Straighten up, and push your chest out. Prepare for death. It is time to avenge our companions, to reap their lives, and tread the path of honor.¡± ¡°Oh, gods. I¡¯m terrified.¡± ¡°Listen to the goblin, barbarian. He¡¯s got them proper brains,¡± the Great One said and giggled again. ¡°Rolp, Humba, bring me their kidneys!¡± The two rats to his sides roared with maniacal laughter and charged at us, moving in between the tables and benches. I grinned and licked my lips. Dug my heels in, and raised my shield. Rolp, the skinnier one, sprinted at me, mindlessly swinging his cleaver like a child, spittle spraying from his mouth and eyes filled with bestial ferocity. It was all in vain, for he was a poor adversary. I activated [Triple Block] countering his first swing. Rusty iron met the hard crab shield, leaving a deep dent and chipping away at the red armor. Another swing came overhead, I blocked upward pushing his cleaver back and opening his chest for my blade. My shield broke, but I didn¡¯t need the third block, I dug my sword into his guts, pulled out then slashed across his throat. Blood sprayed me and I reveled in it. The juice of justice. ¡°Rolp!¡± the Great One gasped. ¡°How did you kill him so fast? Who gave you that sword, you filthy little cheater? You¡¯re all cheaters!¡± The words meant nothing and neither did I pay them any attention. Humba was chasing Bleff around somewhere behind me. The goblin hid under the nearest stone table as the oversized vermin tried to hack him down. I grabbed the rat by his filthy cloak and pulled him off his feet. He stumbled and then fell onto his back. Raising my foot high, I stomped on his weapon hand with my sandal and he clawed at me with the other, tearing into the flesh of my leg. I lost ten points of health with just that one attack, but that didn¡¯t stop me from driving my blade into its mouth. I roared and laughed as the upper part of the rat¡¯s head came loose at the jaw. Something crashed into me with considerable force. I staggered to the side, hit one of the benches with my knee, and almost fell over. I glimpsed at the rusty blade of the Great One¡¯s butcher knife only for a second before it dug into part of my shoulder and my chest. Blood gushed out of the wound as the Great One pulled the cleaver out. YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED: The Great One ATTACK: 11 DEFENSE: 4 DAMAGE OVER TIME SPELL DETECTED: [BLEED] [DESCRIPTION]: Suffer 2 points of bleeding damage every 5 seconds or until healed. CURRENT HEALTH: 51 / 200 As it readied its next attack, I kicked it in the stomach to create some space and then dragged myself away while pulling out another crab shield from my inventory. ¡°Heal!¡± ¡°Help!¡± Bleff cried, jumping from one table to the other as a throng of crazed rats skittered behind him like a wave of filthy fur. There was no way he could fight them off or heal me. Bleff was truly as useful as tits on a carcass bull. ¡°Get him, my little ones! Get me that goblin so I can roast him alive!¡± ¡°Oh, gods, don¡¯t!¡± Bleff cried again as he almost stumbled over his own hairy feet, picked himself up, and jumped to the nearest table. ¡°And now back to you, you juicy-looking piece of meat.¡± Though it sounded like a compliment, I doubted the Great One¡¯s intention behind it. He came slowly at me as if I was already defeated and all he had to do was put me out of my misery. How arrogant. The rat suddenly stopped a few steps short of me and cocked his head to the side, eyeing me curiously. ¡°How¡ª¡± Through bloody teeth and a burning wound in my chest, I stood to my full height and towered over the Great One as Ra¡¯een eclipsed the fury of his brother Ta¡¯een. I bled and my health pool slowly dropped below 20%. My [Rage Against Death] ability had activated, offering me a surge of newfound power that would most certainly help me find vengeance. ¡°How are you still standing?¡± the Great One bellowed, his self-satisfied grin replaced by both anger and fear. Oh, how I cherished to see it. ¡°Back to the hell with you,¡± I commanded, then swung my sword at the rat. He brought up the large rusty butcher¡¯s knife to block, but that only made it worse for him. The blade gifted to me by the human king bit through his ill-looking weapon, shattering it like porcelain, and then dug through the rat¡¯s shoulder severing the arm from his body. For good measure, I drove [Shield Slam] into his face, crushing his nose, and slid open his belly from belt to throat. The Great One fell to his knees as his insides spilled out, then keeled over to the cold stone floor. [CONGRATULATIONS, YOU LEVELED UP!] [YOU¡¯RE LEVEL 6!] [STRENGTH INCREASED BY 1] [CONSTITUTION INCREASED BY 1] [INTELLECT INCREASED BY 1] STAT SCREEN NAME: SHIELDFATHER RACE: VAINAR CLASS: IRON TOWER WARRIOR LEVEL: 6 DEFENSE: 8 ATTACK: 11 HEALTH: 180 STRENGTH: 13 [+3 from race modifier] CONSTITUTION: 15 [+5 from race modifier] AGILITY: 7 INTELLECT: 4 FIRE RESISTANCE: +60 COLD RESISTANCE: -60 EXPERIENCE: 10/350 TO LEVEL 7 The surge of pleasure almost made me forget about Bleff and everything else around me. The goblin was still screaming for help, jumping from table to table, crying hopelessly, and fending off a rat here and there with his crooked staff. ¡°My health! Shieldfather, please! Don¡¯t just stand there!¡± I wasn¡¯t just standing there. In fact, I was taking a quick look at what this new level offered in terms of ability and powers with which I could devastate my enemies and protect my allies. I skimmed through my skill tree, which branched into two parts. The left with defensive abilities such as [Triple Block], the right with semi-offensive abilities such as [Shield Slam], and the yet-locked [Shield Bash]. This time, just like with level 5, I had the option of assigning two skill points, so I quickly used those in [Shield Bash]. It was a single powerful attack with my shield that did 200% of my shield defense value in damage. ¡°Shieldfather! For the love of Kold, please!¡± Bleff screamed, still evading the rats as best he could. I glanced at the goblin but decided I had ample time to consider the next skill point. Bleff wasn¡¯t a warrior by any means, but he proved skillful at running away from this particular enemy and I thought he could do just that for a little longer. Another layer of options opened up beneath after adding the skill point into [Shield Bash], branching off into two skills. FISSURE: Ram your shield into the ground, creating a fissure of rock to erupt in a wide arc at the front. Each enemy caught in the blast suffers 100% of shield defense value in damage. 15 seconds cooldown. IRON LEAP: Leap up to ten feet away and land with a powerful stomp that knocks down weaker enemies and dazes stronger ones. 30 seconds cooldown. ¡°Varian¡ªhelp. I¡¯m dying!¡± I looked to Bleff and saw the rats had finally caught up with the goblin. He was on the ground fending for his life against a handful of oversized rats, bleeding, crying, and most certainly dying if I were to ignore him. I put a skill point in [Fissure], and quickly dashed to my helpless companion. I used [Fissure], immediately ramming the crab shield into the stone floor. My shield shattered, but not before cracks in the ground spread out like claw marks and sharp jagged rocks speared out upward, skewering the rats. I hacked down the last two with my sword before I helped Bleff up. This would have been useful a few chambers ago. He was shaking and sniveling as blood poured down his forehead and arms. His robes were soaked in sweat and he had a particularly rancid smell about him. He offered me a disgusting smile that showed his bloodied, yellow teeth then wiped the tears from his eyes. ¡°Is it over?¡± He grabbed onto my loincloth, eyes bulging and red. I looked about the room for a brief moment then back at him. ¡°Sadly, it is.¡± ¡°Sa¡ªsadly?¡± ¡°I feel my hunger for vengeance is not yet satiated.¡± ¡°Hunger for¡­can we go back now? To the village? To the hub?¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°Hmm, what?¡± I didn¡¯t answer, and instead, I walked back to the corpse of the Great One and looted it, hoping that for once there would be something of worth in the mangled remains of my enemies. And good Kold, there was. NAME: Wooden Buckler TYPE: Shield DEFENSE: 6 DESCRIPTION: The wooden buckler is a staple of the lowborn, slow-minded, unambitious, what¡¯s-his-name cutthroat swashbuckler and those who feel like it. Good luck, really. I pulled the buckler from my inventory and tossed the crab shield away with gusto. I didn¡¯t question how the Great One could have hidden this beautiful piece of equipment inside his guts, or why he hadn¡¯t used it. No. Those questions paled before the moment. I let my bronze fingers wander against the roped rim of the buckler, the leather reinforcement across the shield itself, and then pushed them through the leather strap handle in the back. I admired the simple dark wood, and the dark brown leather spread across the front. No markings, no embellishments, no runes with jewels and writings laced in gold, no nothing. Just a simple, functional shield whose beauty I could not put into words. A tide of emotion greater than any Demon Tide washed over me and I felt my inner defenses crumble. It was a true shield. I had a shield! ¡°Are you crying, Shieldfather?¡± Bleff asked, looking up at me stupidly. I used the long leather strap called a guige to sling the shield onto my back. ¡°Yes, I am.¡± ¡°Because of the shield?¡± I cleared my throat and wiped my tears. ¡°Because of the shield.¡± ¡°Huh, that¡¯s pretty outright. You know? Emotionally and all. Good for you.¡± ¡°I am Shieldfather.¡± ¡°Uhm¡­yes? Yes, you are.¡± ¡°And now, Bleff, now we shall war truly.¡± ¡°Oh, gods.¡± Chapter 11: To Pay for Stew We did not war immediately, of course. Our enemies lay massacred behind us in pools of their own filthy rat blood and new threats were not yet on the horizon. We had wandered through another meandering tunnel that proved to have probably been a mining shaft long ago, only to emerge to the overworld atop a hill overlooking Underock Village. ¡°We made it,¡± Bleff whispered as if unable to believe it as the morning sun met us. Its early rays felt warm and tender against my skin but paled in comparison to what Kindra had offered me in the serenity of the underground world. ¡°What now?¡± the goblin asked with a hopeful notch to his words. I scanned the trees and meadows surrounding us. The hills in the distance and the mountains overshadowing them many leagues away. Flowers and butterflies spotted the green like colorful drops of paint, and a soft breeze rustled the leaves of great menacing trees that spread their disturbing canopies across the land. I shuddered and took a deep breath, steeling myself. ¡°Now we feast on bread, body, and soul.¡± ¡°Uhm¡­sure. I¡¯ll feast on anything, to be honest. I¡¯m rather starving.¡± ¡°Be not worried, Bleff. I have the means to feed us.¡± Godfrey¡¯s wife and her cooking skills came to mind immediately. Though my bloodlust was a pool one could not fill, the battle beneath Underock had stirred more pressing cravings. I was hungry as I had never been before. Considering our tired bodies, we still made great haste to reach Godfrey¡¯s home where I was promised I would be able to satiate my hunger. The village was still seemingly asleep with only a few tired-looking amblers washing their faces in buckets outside their huts. Weirdly, they spared us little attention which came as a disappointment considering we had just rid these people of the evil beneath their very feet. I had never felt such hunger so the lack of admiration hadn¡¯t pained me as much as it would otherwise. Just as Godfrey explained, his hut was on the northern end of Underock surrounded by racks of fish laid out to dry in the cold air. There was nobody outside and the door was shut, so I knocked three times and called out. ¡°It is I, Shieldfather, Godfrey. Wake up and bring me your wife.¡± The door almost was almost immediately flung open and a woman of Godfrey¡¯s age and scarce beauty met me with an angry frown. ¡°You¡¯ll break down my door, you id¡ª¡± She looked up at me with her jaw hanging open. Godfrey¡¯s wife might as well have been his sister for the sickly skin and the thin hair. Her dull grey eyes wandered from my head down to the rest of my body and I couldn¡¯t help but feel the familiar sense of being admired. I pushed out my chest as hard as I could so she could truly take all of me in. ¡°What¡­what are you? What is this?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Shieldfather. A friend of your husband Godfrey. May I greet him?¡± ¡°And I¡¯m Bleff,¡± the goblin said and the woman gasped and pulled back. ¡°Eww! A goblin! Kill it!¡± Bleff¡¯s shoulders sagged and he shuffled behind my back. ¡°He¡¯s my companion. No harm shall come to you by his hand.¡± Even if he wanted to. ¡°What do you want? What did Godfrey tell you?¡± ¡°What is your name, faire lady?¡± ¡°The name¡¯s Wilda and¡­fair? Do I look like a fair lady to you?¡± I did not want to answer that question for my words were of a polite rather than truthful nature. ¡°Here,¡± I said, pulling the crab meat from my inventory and holding it out to her in both hands. A few pieces fell to the ground. She eyed it for a bit then grimaced at me as if unsure what I meant. ¡°Godfrey promised me you would cook a great crab stew with these.¡± ¡°He did, didn¡¯t he? That lazy bastard. Goes out all day, catches nothing down there, and then sends me giants to feed them somehow. What use is he to me?¡± ¡°Is that a question, Lady Wilda?¡± She cocked her head and looked me over again. ¡°Listen, barbarian, I¡¯m not Godfrey¡¯s maid. If I want to¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a barbarian. I¡¯m a Varian Lord of Tartarus.¡± ¡°And he finds your words steeped in ignorance,¡± Bleff quickly added. ¡°I do. However, I do not wish to trouble you,¡± I continued. ¡°I seek no hand-outs, I will pay for the food in coin, work, pleasure, or however you see fit.¡± ¡°Pleasure?¡± she quickly asked. ¡°Pleasure?¡± Bleff repeated behind me. ¡°What pleasure?¡± I winced at the question for I dearly hoped she would ask for work or coin but it was impolite for a Varian Lord not to offer the warmth of his body to those who helped him. Especially if that help meant the very survival of said Varian Lord. ¡°I offer you the body of a Shieldfather, Varian Lord of Tartarus to bring pleasure upon your flesh which you have never felt before.¡± ¡°For crab stew?¡± she asked as if not believing her ears. It was no wonder such a creature would seek out a Varian¡¯s flesh for we inspired not only awe but many other, more physical feelings in the people around us. ¡°Indeed.¡± I barely replied before Wilda pulled me inside by the hand with a surprising strength and vigor then shut the door of the hut, leaving poor Bleff outside. About an hour later, and with my body even more tired and sore than after the encounter with the Great One, I stepped outside the hut where the goblin was eagerly awaiting my return. An incredulous grin was spread across his face that I did not appreciate at all. Wilda came walking out after me carrying with her a large pot and some strange vegetables.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. First I washed my face in the bucket of water, then sat down on one of the five tree stumps arranged in a circle around an extinguished fire. Wilda immediately busied herself with preparing the stew, a satisfied smile gracing her face the entire time. She even had a certain pinkish hue to her that made her old face younger by at least a hundred cycles. ¡°And? What was it like?¡± Bleff asked in a hushed tone. ¡°As all moments of flesh shared by a Shieldfather, it was a glorious event.¡± A Varian Lord had a ready answer for that question though the word ¡®glorious¡¯ might not have applied entirely to the exchange I had with Godfrey¡¯s wife. The word ¡®feral¡¯ came to mind. ¡°Well, as long as you had fun,¡± Bleff grinned. I did have fun, so much was true. Despite her age, Wilda had shown me things I had never seen anyone in Tartarus perform. I was now even more eager to return to Hell and show the new skills I acquired. But those things had to wait, just like I was eagerly waiting for that stew. I leaned against the side of the hut and closed my eyes only for a moment, and yet sleep had come so quickly and forcefully I had no time to resist. My dreams were a parade of recent events, the old bastard that had plucked me from the Steel Bastion and sent me across realms to this place was laughing as I waded through green jungles, fought ten-foot crabs, hill-sized goblins, and an entire sea of rats. Images of Hell, the jungle, Underock, and the underground mixed and mashed into a maddening circus until a shining figure washed them all away. It was Godfrey, my good friend. A hundred feet tall and glistening in golden armor, standing ready to cast away any fears I had and bring sense and compassion to my nightmare. I woke to my name being spoken in soft warm tones. As I opened my eyes, the crab stew was happily bubbling away, giving off an irresistible smell that made me grin. Wilda was already handing me a clay bowl that I took eagerly. Our fingers touched, she smiled, and I shuddered but smiled back. Bleff was already shoveling in the stew with great gusto, bits and pieces of crab gathering around his mouth. It was difficult to look at him, so I asked the goblin to turn away while he ate. His enthusiasm sagged and tears gathered at the corners of his eyes at my words, but he did so anyway, showing that he could be considerate if he wanted to. I felt a pang of guilt again and annoyed by that most ruinous emotion, I said in soft words, ¡°Oh, just turn back around. And eat decently.¡± ¡°I will!¡± Bleff exclaimed then continued to eat like a rabid animal. Wilda filled my bowl and I dug in heartily. The stew was otherworldy, quite literally so. Though the iron chefs were masters of their trade, I had never been as hungry as I was sitting in front of Wilda¡¯s hut, which made her stew quite possibly the best thing I had ever tasted. I asked for three more bowls and Wilda happily obliged, satisfied that I enjoyed her cooking so much. ¡°Oh, will you look at that,¡± I said, putting down my spoon for the first time and pointing at the figure approaching us from the south. ¡°My good friend Godfrey,¡± I said as he reached us. The fisherman smiled, though there was apprehension in his visage, the source of which I could not tell. ¡°Shieldfather. You¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Indeed I am, Godfrey. As you suggested. And you were right once more, as you were so many times before that. Wilda is indeed the greatest crab stew cook far and wide.¡± This brought some sincere joy to the old fisherman¡¯s face. ¡°Nice friends you got here, Godfrey,¡± Wilda said and the old man¡¯s brows furrowed. I found the reaction quizzical, to say the least. ¡°You¡¯re in a good mood,¡± Godfrey told his wife and I wasn¡¯t sure if it was a question or a statement. ¡°I am, you old sock. Why? Is that so hard to believe that I can be cheerful, eh? That I can have a good day and nice guests?¡± ¡°No, no, that¡¯s not what I¡¯m saying, dear,¡± Godfrey explained, stowing away his fishing pole against one of the kipper racks. ¡°It¡¯s just that¡ªbah, forget it. I¡¯m glad you are.¡± ¡°It might be because Wilda and I shared your bed in payment for the stew. It is not unusual for my partners to lighten up after our flesh takes to dance.¡± Bleff spurted out stew through his nose and almost fell over. Wilda gasped and covered her mouth. Godfrey¡¯s jaw hung wide open, and he seemed utterly stunned. ¡°Have I not told the truth?¡± ¡°You did what!¡± Godfrey yelled out. His surprisingly loud voice caught the attention of the other villagers who stopped what they were doing and looked over to us. I could not understand his reaction at all. ¡°If you are envious of the time I spent with your wife, I will be more than ready to share my flesh with you as well.¡± I was in no mood to go back into the hut, especially not with Godfrey, but I felt I owed the man a chance to experience a Varian Lord. Mostly because I was worried my actions had somehow caused tension between the two. ¡°To what? No! No, I won¡¯t go to bed with you!¡± He looked at his wife. ¡°Wilda! How could you! How could you do this to me?¡± Wilda looked at her husband with a surprisingly calm expression. ¡°I thought you sent him here to do it. He offered himself. What can I say?¡± ¡°My gods¡­the betrayal! I have no words!¡± ¡°What is going on?¡± I asked, quickly losing my good mood. ¡°What have I done to offend you, Godfrey? Please tell me so I can rectify it.¡± ¡°You slept with me wife! And to pay for stew! How could you rectify any of this?¡± In my desperation, I looked to Bleff for answers, but the goblin kept shoveling in the stew as if his life depended on it. His eyes strictly fixtured to his bowl. Coward. ¡°Tell me, Godfrey, what I should do. Anything! I¡¯ll do anything!¡± ¡°Get out of my house! Get out of my house and never come back!¡± I locked eyes with the fisherman and sighed deeply. I could not for the life of me understand his anger, but there was no mistaking the sincerity or severity of it. I slapped the bowl out of Bleff¡¯s hands. ¡°Come, Bleff. We must go.¡± ¡°Thought so.¡± The goblin and I got up and I bowed slightly before Wilda and Godfrey. I felt my heart was about to explode for in my ignorance I had wronged this man yet again. For a moment, I considered whether I was the demon sent here to plague the old fisherman because that¡¯s what I felt like. ¡°Never come back, ye here me!¡± Godrey yelled after us as we took our leave and headed for the dungeon hub. Though it was a short walk, all the villagers who listened in on our exchange gave me dirty looks or cursed me under their breath. A child slung a piece of dung at me which I managed to duck so it hit Bleff square across the face. The shame I felt was unbearable. What had I done? There I was a few hours ago fighting for the survival of this very village with the wisdom of Godfrey¡¯s words to lend me aid, and here I was now shunned, hated, and humiliated by the very people I wanted to help. By the very man who helped me. Was there no right answer to the question of this world? What demon could have thought of such a fate for me? Not even the demon princes could wring such nightmares. ¡°You alright, Shieldfather?¡± Bleff asked, seeing me stop short of the dungeon hub. ¡°What did I do, Bleff? I don¡¯t understand what happened.¡± ¡°Well¡­in some cultures, and with some races, there¡¯s this unspoken rule that¡­well, you don¡¯t schtupp another man¡¯s wife.¡± ¡°What cultures? This one? This race of humans? They don¡¯t want me to share my Varian flesh with them? Why? And why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?¡± ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect you to¡­you know, take a roll in the hay with the old missus there.¡± ¡°Take a roll¡­oh, I see. But why?¡± ¡°Oh, my sweet Varian Lord,¡± Bleff grinned. ¡°It¡¯s because¡­where do I even start? Let¡¯s get drinks and sit down in the hub for a bit. There should be rooms on the second floor. You have some coin, right?¡± I was truly and utterly curious and I had a great craving for wine. A barrel of it, no less. But I had other matters of greater importance to attend to. I noticed the priest had picked himself up and wasn¡¯t sleeping in the puddle of mud in front of the church anymore. It was high time I found him and got on with my journey before I harmed anyone else. ¡°We search for the priest first,¡± I said and Bleff groaned. ¡°Let¡¯s just hand in the quest at least. We¡¯ll get a bunch of experience points, maybe grab a drink and then we can keep looking for¡­Hell.¡± ¡°The priest is right there in the church, Bleff.¡± ¡°And we¡¯re literally at the hub right now. Please, Shieldfather, just this one thing.¡± Another piece of dung hit Bleff on the back of his head and he lurched forward, then yelled curses at the giggling child who vanished behind a tree. ¡°Fine,¡± I said, feeling that itching pity that kept irritating me more and more creep up on my soul. No wonder. I was deeply emotionally disturbed for many, many reasons. Besides, I did need some rest. I had a feeling that whatever the priest was about to tell me regarding my predicament would just drag my heart deeper into despair. We entered the dungeon hub with Bleff taking point as I somewhat dragged myself after him. It was no great day for a Shieldfather. I paid little heed to the creatures around me until a familiar voice almost made me flinch like a suckling child. ¡°So, you made it.¡± I looked up to see a woman sitting in a high chair next to the crackling fire of the hearth. Her hair was burned, her clothes torn and dirtied with earth and blood. Numerous scratches and bite marks spread across her soot-covered body. Kindra Van Groer looked like hell itself had birthed her into existence and the sight of her caused my heart to pound like Kold¡¯s fists against the Worldforge. ¡°You fucking bastards.¡± Chapter 12: A Quest Complete The dungeon hub was steeped in the gloomy lights of oil plants hanging off the walls. The flickering fire of the hearth brought some warmth, but far from enough to make me comfortable. Only a few figures roamed about the place. The dwarf from before was sitting on a stool next to a barrel of something and some other adventurers sat near the stairs to the second floor and talked in hushed tones. None of them caught my attention and how could they? Because right in the middle of the hub, sitting legs-crossed and spiteful, was the red wizard. ¡°You are difficult to kill, Kindra Van Groer,¡± I said. She just glared at me with the fires of hell burning behind her orange eyes. ¡°You look battered and worn.¡± I added trying to spur on the conversation for she was in a sour mood for some reason. ¡°Oh, I do, do I?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I said for it was the truth. ¡°I wonder why I look like this. Hm, let me think, oh right. You let me die in a hole full of rats.¡± She got up from the chair, her torn robes showing plenty of her battle-weary flesh. It truly was a sight to behold and admire. ¡°Let you? I didn¡¯t let you die, wizard. I made a choice. ¡°And he was your choice!¡± She roared pointing at the shivering goblin clutched to my long, muscle-bound leg. I knew what my answer would entail but a Shieldfather did not lie when it came to matters of war, death, honor and loyalty. I wanted to tell her that indeed she was the first choice, but a string of coarse words from my right stopped me. ¡°Yer left her to die, did ye?¡± The dwarf warrior Ramdun of Khaz¡¯Moob accused me before I could answer, postponing the inevitable tears in Bleff¡¯s eyes. He dug a finger in my bronze arm with a mug in the other hand and glowered. ¡°Ye bastard. If ye weren¡¯t a tank, I¡¯d show ye!¡± He threatened, fist waving. ¡°Who¡¯s a tank?¡± Yet another, but unknown voice said. Kindra rolled her eyes and sighed. A few long steps later, a tall white-robed fellow appeared with silvery hair and pointy ears protruding between his strands. His face was long and noble, a certain wisdom glimmered in his eyes. He looked me up and down and smiled. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re huge. You tank good?¡± ¡°I tank well,¡± I said returning my focus to Kindra, but pointy-ears would not seize his uninvited introduction. ¡°My name is Marabel Ilumius Moontreewoods.¡± ¡°Shieldfather,¡± I said and pushed him to the side. He stepped back right in front of me and smiled again. ¡°I¡¯m a whisperwinder, a healer from the great ancient order of The White Falcon. I have studied the great works¡ª.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve studied shit, Marabel. You can¡¯t even read. Now piss off, I¡¯m in the middle of a conversation here.¡± Kindra snapped and the entire room felt suddenly warmer. ¡°I can read!¡± The silver-haired fellow said though his voice was croaky, devoid of any confidence. ¡°I read a hundred books once! All the longest ones, too!¡± He continued but with every word he uttered, he took a step away from me and back towards the chairs in the far-left corner. ¡°You were saying? Kindra closed on me. Looking down at her I noticed there was now a small bald-spot on her scalp left by either fire or rat-bite. Possibly both. Though she was the size of a Varian child and probably lighter than one, there was a ferocity about her that almost made me fear her. Almost, for her fires were barely enough to warm me, let alone hurt. ¡°I said your death was not my choice. Besides, it was a warrior¡¯s way to die and you should not feel aggrieved just because you slipped through Kold¡¯s grasp. You should hope to die the way you almost did down there.¡± ¡°I should hope to die covered in rats?¡± ¡°Perhaps something larger and more menacing would have been better, yes.¡± Kindra grabbed a handful of her remaining hair, grinded her teeth then tore out a few strands. I grimaced, for that was not the way a warrior should behave. ¡°If only I could burn you to cinders! But I can¡¯t do anything to you! It drives me insane! You. Drive. Me. Insane!¡± I sighed exhausted by the fury I stoked in those around me. I couldn¡¯t understand Godfrey who I respected, I couldn¡¯t understand Kindra who excited and warmed me. The only one I understood was Bleff who was still clutching to my leg, sniveling and though he thought I didn¡¯t notice, I knew he was wiping his snot against me. ¡°If only I could fight a hundred demons now. It would be easier than having to converse with you people.¡± Kindra didn¡¯t seem to acknowledge my words at all. ¡°Why did you leave me there when you could see my health bar wasn¡¯t empty? Huh? Is it because you¡¯re a clueless idiot? Is that it?¡± ¡°I did not notice the health bar, no.¡± I said somewhat shamefully. ¡°And you! Goblin! I know you know how things work. But you kept your dirty little mouth shut, didn¡¯t you?¡± She grabbed for Bleff who used my legs to shield himself from her angry swipes. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault!¡± ¡°Let the goblin be. He¡¯s as dumb as he¡¯s dirty, but he¡¯s not evil.¡± ¡°Yes! I¡¯m¡­Not evil!¡± Kindra¡¯s nails dug into my leg trying to snatch the goblin so I pushed her away as softly as I could. ¡°That¡¯s enough, wizard. I came here to rest and my heart warmed when I saw you live. Yet, you squander Kold¡¯s gift trying to find someone to blame for your own wounds.¡± ¡°Go! Drink, eat, fuck! Do whatever you like. You¡¯re the tank, you can leave anyone behind you want.¡± She said and turned away returning to the warmth of the hearth. ¡°We have a tank?¡± Someone from upstairs yelled. ¡°Who¡¯s a tank? Will he tank?¡± ¡°I can heal!¡± A woman¡¯s voice said before a stampede of eager men and women thundered down the stairs pushing and grabbing forward like demented demons smelling a Shieldson¡¯s blood. Humans and lizards and tall and small creatures, some hairy, some bold and tattooed, others pierced with silver jewelry and others still with skin of stone or wood. All shapes and sizes, a dozen and more to choose from. They all vied for my attention and their voices and bodies drowned out the image of Kindra sitting at the hearth. Each claimed to be indispensable, skillful, smart and strong. Each offered a lifetime of loyalty.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Just as the swarm of potential heroes was about to drown me in pleads, a rough, almost animalistic voice bellowed behind me. ¡°I am a tank!¡± The room fell silent instantly and as I turned, I saw a man only a head shorter than I standing in the doorframe, the sunlight behind him was casting his face in darkness. He had the build of a proper warrior with broad shoulders, thick muscly arms and two axes in each hand. As he walked into the light of the oil lamps, he revealed his true nature. Long filthy black hair with clumps of dirt, an unkempt beard ripe with lice, animal skins covered parts of him, where they didn¡¯t, old scars told the story of war. A barbarian. A savage, a witless animal in the skin of man. Everything they accused me of being, this man was. I didn¡¯t hide my distaste. I couldn¡¯t hide it. But seemingly neither could he. With a grimace of disgust on his battle-worn face, the barbarian looked me up and down then spat onto the hardwood. ¡°What the fuck you think you are?¡± ¡°Who are you to talk to me like that, dog?¡± I retorted tightening the grip on my sword. Bleff circled my legs so he could hide in a different direction. The heroes of Underock took several steps back. A frantic murmur broke out among their ranks, the only word I could discern was ¡®Northman¡¯. He pointed an axe at me then roared in laughter, ¡°You think yourself a Ganta God? Do you? Here in the deep south? What a fucking joke the gods are!¡± He shook his head, ¡°Fuck you Kold, fuck you for this!¡± My blood boiled at the heresy and even more so at the accusation. I did not know what a Ganta God was, but judging by the rest of his words, it wasn¡¯t a compliment at all. ¡°Turn your words to steel, barbarian,¡± I said and pulled free my shield and grinned. Despite everything, my guts ached for the thrill of bloodshed. ¡°You can¡¯t fight inside the hub!¡± Bleff¡¯s croaky voice warned me. ¡°A brawl is one thing, Shieldfather but if you shed blood here, the gods¡ª.¡± ¡°Be silent, goblin,¡± I ordered. ¡°A barbarian will not mock me and the gods and remain to see another cycle.¡± ¡°You Ganta whore will rue the day!¡± He roared and just as he took a step forward, I felt the warmth of Kindra graze my shoulder. She moved in front of me forcing the barbarian to steady his assault. ¡°You¡¯re a tank, you say?¡± She approached him fearlessly then lowered a hand on his axe and pushed it down. The barbarian seemed entranced by her, his whole body suddenly relaxed and he smiled. I on the other hand felt the fires of hell rage through me. My heart thumped in my throat. ¡°Come, forget about him. Let us go together and clear out the underground. I bet you¡¯ll do much better than him anyway. What is your name?¡± She placed a hand on his large square shoulder covered in stinking animal fur. The barbarian grunted like a rattlewyrm but then grinned again showing his yellow teeth and filed canines. ¡°Woflman,¡± he said. ¡°Well, Wolfman. I¡¯m Kindra Van Groer, a red wizard. Come, let¡¯s leave this bunch behind us. There is much more useful killing to do.¡± ¡°I can heal!¡± A young girl said enthusiastically then pushed by me. ¡°You have my axe!¡± The dwarf Ramdun said. ¡°No thanks.¡± Kindra answered. ¡°You and you.¡± She pointed at a gawky creature with wood for skin and a bushy green canopy for hair and the sickly looking dusker rogue from before. ¡°Not the only king in the castle, anymore, huh, big guy?¡± The raspy voice of the half-dead rogue said as he passed by me. I could not speak for the treachery unveiling before my eyes could not be put into words. Had I deserved any of it? For three-thousand cycles I had born the brunt of Hell¡¯s fury against my shield and soul only to be mocked and humiliated. I defended this world so that the only spark of hope I cherished would choose a filthy, illiterate, worm-brained barbarian over me. There was nothing like this in Hell. Not even the demon princess could wring such a fate. I stared at the wooden floor at my feet trying to come to grips with it all. ¡°Next time, I¡¯ll let you lick the blade of my axe.¡± Wolfman said as he made for the door with Kindra and the others in tow. I did not take kindly to threats, they either made me laugh or draw my weapon, but I felt like neither. ¡°You alright, Shieldfather?¡± Bleff¡¯s voice was a whisper. I collected my thoughts and locked eyes with the wizard then spoke in soft tones though my soul was screaming. ¡°Make it so, Kindra Van Groer. May you find a good war to die in.¡± ¡°Hah!¡± The savage roared disappearing into the cold of day. Kindra glanced at me before she left and for a moment, I thought I saw a hint of guilt that quickly dissolved into a mocking sneer. Trust only the brother next to you. The words of Great Oomer rang truer than ever before. As soon as they left, a collective gasp of relief echoed across the dungeon hub. ¡°Them Northmen all smell the same. Good think he¡¯s gone,¡± Marabel said. ¡°What¡¯s the lad doin¡¯ ¡®ere anyway? A Northman so deep in our fine lands, that don¡¯ sound right at all to me it don¡¯t.¡± Ramdun added. ¡°So¡­You want to tank the dun¡ª.¡± A third voice from the group of a dozen or so remaining beggars began, but I just walked out and closed the door behind me. Bleff finally let go of my leg and stretched his neck on the porch. ¡°Sheesh, that was uncomfortable.¡± ¡°What is a Ganta?¡± I asked. ¡°Ganta? No idea. I¡¯m as new to this world as you are, fellow. But he did seem to recognize you as one. Wonder what that was all about. Hey, on that note, can I ask you something? How come you didn¡¯t bash his head in? You know I saw you threaten to fight a dozen armored guards with your bare hands for lesser insults.¡± ¡°You told me not to,¡± I said though that was only a half-truth, and the goblin picked up on it immediately. ¡°Yeah right. No, seriously?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Shieldfather, Bleff. And though this world has tested my honor time and time again, making me almost falter on several occasions¡­¡± I looked up the muddy dirt road toward Godfrey¡¯s hut. ¡°I have continued to act as a Shieldfather should.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± Bleff let the words roll out of his mouth. Sensing he didn¡¯t grasp the least of what I said I continued. ¡°My heart burns for the barbarian¡¯s blood, but unlike that honorless dreg I have a code to live by.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the code?¡± ¡°Will your questions ever seize!¡± I snapped and felt guilty immediately after. Bleff cowered before me again and that just made it worse. Never before had uttering the truth been so difficult. I didn¡¯t care for the barbarian; I could have taken his head then and there. It was Kindra¡¯s shameless betrayal that steadied my wrath. I would not shed blood in the name of envy, it was the lowest of motivations unfit for a Varian of my stature. But how would I say this to Bleff whose life I had thrown away for Kindra¡¯s back in the dungeon? Shame had coiled itself around my heart and squeezed it empty of honor. I couldn¡¯t tell the truth, I couldn¡¯t bare Bleff¡¯s face when presented with it. Demons! Pisshaulers and bilescreamers, mudgorgers and hornhawkers take me for I can¡¯t stand this torment no longer. ¡°Alright, big guy. You¡¯ll tell me one day about that code of yours. Right? Or you won¡¯t. That¡¯s fine too.¡± ¡°I need to talk to the priest. I need to leave this rotten place.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t argue with that, let¡¯s just hand in the quest here at the board.¡± I heeded the goblin¡¯s words and leaned my hand against the board. DUNGEON QUEST: Underock Underground Complete! DESCRIPTION: Something beneath Underock has been stealing grain from the Underockians. Find the entrance to Underock''s underground and investigate. REWARD: 200 XP ¡°Oh, sweet momma, yeah, that hits the spot¡­¡± Bleff¡¯s tongue lolled, and his eyes rolled back. He just stood there as if drowned in a lake of pleasure, drooling away. I reluctantly poked him with a single finger and to my utter horror, he quickly wrapped his lips around it and sucked on it giving off the most horrendous moans imaginable. I pulled my hand back then slapped him across the face. ¡°Oh, shit. What happened?¡± ¡°You were sucking on my finger, goblin. Have you no shame?¡± He rubbed his cheek. ¡°I did? Huh¡­Alright, sorry for that. I hit level six and almost creamed my pants. That was some sensation.¡± He still seemed barely present. ¡°To my very reasonable displeasure, you¡¯re not wearing any pants. I feel disturbed to even have to say it but do refrain from inserting anything of mine inside your mouth.¡± ¡°Hah! Will do,¡± he chirped with a jovial tone. My eyes landed on the little church¡¯s entrance door which had swung open. Out came the priest, seemingly drunk again. I eyed the puddle in front of him and gnashed my teeth. ¡°Not again!¡± I roared then dashed across the mud road and caught the fat holy man before he plunged into the dirty waters again. As I cradled him in my great muscle-bound arms, the inebriated face looked up at me, eyelids half closed. ¡°Father,¡± he muttered. ¡°Yes, I am Shieldfather,¡± I said my heart suddenly racing again. ¡°Can I go out to play with the farmer boys?¡± And just like that my soul was crushed once more. Chapter 13: A Most Glorious Farewell Because I was a man of war and not of healing, I used the only tool in my box I could think of. I slapped the priest several times hoping it would spark a glimmer of sense in his eyes. After the third time my great bronze hand met his puffy red cheeks, the priest wriggled out of my clutch and took a step back. ¡°Who are you to strike a Priest of the Pantheon?¡± He thundered, suddenly sensible to the world around him. ¡°I am Shieldfather, Varian Lord of Tartarus and I was told you hold answers, priest.¡± Once he took in the glory that was I, his tone suddenly shifted. ¡°Well¡­You know, lord or not, you don¡¯t hit a priest.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with your codes, human. Am I right to call you human?¡± He seemed confused by the question until Bleff tugged on my loincloth and whispered, ¡°He is.¡± ¡°Forget about it. I have many questions. I¡¯m told you are familiar with the Gods, with Hell and the path that would lead to it.¡± ¡°Of course, I am!¡± He said offended then cleared his throat, ¡°I mean. Yes, yes. Where¡¯s my wine cup?¡± I grabbed the cup off the stone stairs and handed it to him. He looked it over much longer than necessary then shrugged. ¡°Guess, I¡¯ll have to refill this one. Follow me inside,¡± he said and as he turned his back and entered the church he continued to mumble. ¡°Every Morksday it¡¯s the same. I swear, I should just stop going outside altogether.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not Morksday,¡± Bleff said as we followed inside. ¡°It¡¯s not?¡± He said as we came up to the altar where the priest opened a cabinet and rummaged through until he found his wine bottle. He filled up his cup, took a sip and smacked his lips. ¡°What day is it?¡± ¡°Whatever day comes after Morksday, I guess,¡± Bleff said. ¡°Tussday then? Eh, when you get to my age it all blends together. So, what¡¯s a barbarian doing with a goblin, eh? And since when do you folk care about the Gods?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a¡ª.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not a barbarian, that¡¯s just prejudice steeped in ignorance,¡± Bleff said grinning happily at me. ¡°That,¡± I said. The priest eyed his half-empty bottle of wine then took a big, long swig from it before squeezing the last few drops into his cup. ¡°Godly duties. And not that anyone asked, my name is Porter Hogwind,¡± he added. It was custom to share drinks with Steelspeakers as they taught us about the world. Here it was different, the wisemen seemed to keep their wine to themselves. I didn¡¯t want to judge for I knew little of the customs of this land and I had great respect for men of knowledge, but I had to admit I had a great craving for wine. ¡°So what do you want to know about the Gods, adventurer? Oh, by the way, how did you slip past the king and his men on Morksday?¡± ¡°Shieldfather challenged his son and all his guards to battle.¡± Bleff said and giggled. ¡°You did what?¡± ¡°I only did what a Varian Lord would do. You can understand that, can¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Not really. Alright, let¡¯s say I believe you. You have questions, ask them. I¡¯m a very busy man.¡± He said and his words echoed across the dusty church until they didn¡¯t and only the soft drip of water leaking through the roof could be heard. ¡°How do I get to Hell?¡± I asked. The priest snorted and wine came spilling out his nose. He laughed raucously as if I had just told him the maddest of anecdotes. ¡°You¡¯re as funny as you¡¯re tall, my friend. But seriously. What do you want to know?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Shieldfather, priest. A soldier of the Oomerian Cohort. Sworn to Ra¡¯een the Angel Protector. Shield of the Steel Bastion, Guardian of the Bulwark, Varian Lord of Tartarus. I¡¯m Ta¡¯een¡¯s frustration and despair. I do not joke when it comes to Hell. Now I¡¯ll ask you again. Where is Hell and how do I get there?¡± The priest seemed unimpressed. ¡°You, uhm¡­You¡¯re from Hell?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± After a moment of tense silence, the priest laughed again. My patience grew thinner but by now I understood that my words seemed more than confusing to the overworlders. ¡°You know of Ra¡¯een, priest?¡± ¡°Bah! Of course I do!¡± He snapped. ¡°The son of Kold. Forever fighting his twin brother Ta¡¯een to keep the world safe and all that¡­¡± I felt like he wanted to add another word but seemed to stop himself. Still, I felt a great surge of hope finally being able to talk to a man who knew the Deep Truth. ¡°Yes, very good, priest. Except that Ra¡¯een¡¯s battle is one of the soul, while the true war is waged by our kind in the caverns of Hell.¡± ¡°Your kind? What? That¡¯s not what the scriptures say. I¡¯ve never heard of your kind.¡± ¡°You know of Ra¡¯een but have never heard of Tartarus and the Steel Bastions? Impossible. We are the shield that¡ª.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, yes. There are many interpretations. Many, many. Some think Kold turned himself into a man one day and walked our world. Some think Tussagar doesn¡¯t even exists and the oceans filled up by themselves. Some idiots even think Helva is the only God and there are no others. There¡¯s as many interpretations as there are people and none¡­Bah. As said, no, I have not heard of Tartarus and your bastion.¡± I sat onto one of the benches and let my great body sink into itself. I gazed at the great painting of Ra¡¯een and Ta¡¯een embraced in eternal battle behind the altar. A work of great craftsmanship. Ra¡¯een was indeed depicted as he was in Tartarus with his beautiful black hair, fiery eyes and golden wings and so was Ta¡¯een with his betraying white hair, black armor and demonic visage. A face twisted by hate festering for uncountable cycles in the depths of Hell. ¡°In this world,¡± I started. ¡°You believe in Kold and his sons. You believe in Heaven and Hell and yet you know nothing of its workings. Could my life have been a dream?¡± I shook my head and snorted.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Don¡¯t burden yourself, son.¡± The priest said taking a seat next to me as Bleff ambled about the church aimlessly. ¡°Let me tell you something,¡± He lowered the cup to his side then looked around as if scanning for prying ears. ¡°I know I¡¯m a priest and it¡¯s exactly why I can say this, Gods, angels, the whole thing. I don¡¯t trust in any of it. Who claims to know Kold other than old books and the peasantry who can¡¯t even read them? I know I¡¯m a priest.¡± He said again, this time as if to remind himself of the fact. He chuckled, ¡°But I¡¯ve never witnessed the Gods, or miracles, or anything really. All I believe in is wine. Could it have been a dream? Chances are it was. There are monsters out there, and ghosts, and vampires and great dragons that scorch unassuming villagers and who fights them? The Gods? No. I¡¯ll tell you who fights them, men with steel in their hands. Men like you.¡± His words of heresy filled me with a certain despair spurred on earlier by Kindra and Wolfman. My head sunk and I stared at the broken stone floors for a bit simmering in shameful self-pity. ¡°A dream,¡± I repeated letting the word echo against runes describing Kold, Helva and the other Gods. And as the last of the word dissipated into nothingness I scratched the great scar across my neck. The tenlife demon who gifted it almost took my head that day. That day. ¡°You know what a tenlife demon is, priest?¡± I said and he faced me with a tired look. He opened his mouth, but I continued to speak instead. ¡°It comes once in a thousand cycles. A towering behemoth with six cleavers for hands and a maw that could swallow you whole.¡± ¡°That¡¯s so fucking rad,¡± Bleff said sitting down cross-legged in front of me. I let his foul-mouthed comment stand for a wind of great courage had lifted me up. ¡°At such size and strength, it can rampage even through the strongest shield formation. It can take up to ten lives per Tide, which is a devastating loss for a battalion. That¡¯s why a Shieldfather needs to protect his sons when one appears in the Tide. A Shieldfather must surge forward leaving the safety of numbers and sow death through a legion of lesser demons to reach it, before it reaches the Bastion. Then he must slay this giant within a whirlwind of ungodly claws and fangs so that in battling the Shieldfather, the tenfold cleaves his own to death rather than the battalion. And all a Shieldson can do is watch him.¡± My thoughts wandered inward as the memory became my whole world. ¡°So¡­Did you kill it?¡± Bleff asked. ¡°My Gods, goblin. You¡¯ve picked your skull clean through your nose, haven¡¯t you?¡± Bleff stuffed the latest green little ball of disgusting treasure into his mouth then laughed. After a brief moment, I laughed too, only the priest remained fairly bored by all of it. ¡°I killed it, Bleff,¡± I said darkly as the red violent image of the tenfold came over me. ¡°But not before it tore my shield away and dug its last cleaver into my neck. I drove my sword deep into its bowels and tore its insides onto scorched rock. I was sure I would die. I didn¡¯t feel pain and I didn¡¯t feel fear, Bleff. All I felt was pride because I would die the way a Shieldfather must.¡± Bleff¡¯s eyes had teared up and rightly so. It was a heroic truth known to touch even the rottenest heart. ¡°And you,¡± I said getting up and addressing the priest. He squirmed for I loomed above him like an accusing god. ¡°You think I inflicted this wound upon myself while asleep? Do you? That I¡¯d dreamt my way through an honorable life?¡± ¡°Calm down, son. Yeah, sure you¡¯re a great warrior in Ra¡¯een¡¯s service. I get it. I really do. Forget what I said.¡± The casual tone unnerved me even more. He was talking me down from violence rather than believing a word I said. Was I a child to this squirming piglet of a man? I laughed. ¡°There is a war beneath your feet, priest and I¡¯m a general of that war. I come before you in all my glory with the knowledge of the Deep Truth spilling freely from my mouth. I ask you for guidance and understanding and what do you do? A holy man, no less? You not only doubt my words, you think you can make me doubt them myself? Down there, priest, Ta¡¯een¡¯s bottomless malice surges through the hallways of Hell and the only people to stop it are us, the Varians. The children of Ra¡¯een. Do you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡± I opened my hand before him then slid the blade of my sword across. Blood gushed out quickly and pooled in my palm. The old round man flinched again clasping his jeweled cup with both hands as if in defense. I walked up to the wall left of the altar then pressed my hand against the first of the four runes that made up the Word of Kold. A dim red light appeared shining through my bronze skin at the rune of war. It climbed upward, filling the rune of death next, then the rune of honor until it reached the white arced ceiling where the rune of loyalty sat and filled that one with red light as well. ¡°I am the blood of Ra¡¯een priest. The blood of Kold himself. Do you deny me too?¡± ¡°The bloodlight of Kold,¡± the priest muttered, his jaw shaking. He flung himself off the bench and onto the cold stone floor. His cup dropped alongside him spraying the white of his robes red. Bleff shot up, his baby blue eyes wide. ¡°Do you deny me, priest?¡± I asked again my voice a thunder. ¡°Forgive me! I¡ªI,¡± he could not make himself speak so I spoke instead of him. ¡°I sought answers, but you had none to give. Instead, you offered a better question. There is now no doubt in my heart that Kold still watches. And I¡¯m certain there is no doubt in you either, priest.¡± ¡°No, no, my Lord! Forgive me, the years, and the wine! And this village! And¡ª.¡± The rune of loyalty suddenly lit up with a flash of fire that spread across the entire ceiling. The heat washed over me like a mother¡¯s embrace then vanished. Leaving the white pain untouched. ¡°Kold watch over you, priest. May you find a good war to die in. Come Bleff, I got what I came for.¡± ¡°So fucking rad,¡± Bleff muttered waddling after me. We walked back out into the cold blinding daylight and despite the burning hope in my heart, I shuddered. We only took a couple of steps before the priest came rushing out after us. ¡°Good people of Underock! Good people! You, call your wife! Farson, bring your children, you all need to hear it. Good people of Underock. Hear my words!¡± Not many had cared to come closer, but all stopped whatever they were doing and looked upon the yelling priest. ¡°This man here is a holy man! Look upon him for he is the blood of Kold himself! Do you hear me? The Gods are real and this man here¡ª.¡± ¡°Is that the guy who had his way with Wilda?¡± One of the villagers said. ¡°Godfrey¡¯s wife, ye mean?¡± Another asked. ¡°Aye, sure is. That¡¯s him, I saw him at Godfrey¡¯s hut when he was gone fishing. Him and that ugly goblin. They did Wilda dirty!¡± ¡°Is this¡­True, my Lord?¡± The priest asked, his newfound spirit seemingly leaking out of him. ¡°I was paying for stew.¡± I said for it was the truth, yet somehow I knew it would be followed by nothing but wrath. ¡°And all that after Godfrey showed him the ropes and all. Helped him out at the beach even though the king forbade it! He risked his life, Godfrey did!¡± The words pained me greatly. ¡°I¡¯ve had it with them adventurers, ¡®ere. The king ain¡¯t killing enough!¡± Yet another Underockian showed up, this one with a shovel in both hands. Two more walked out the hut next to him. ¡°Kill ¡®em all I say!¡± Someone claimed. Bleff pulled me by the hand nervously. ¡°Should we¡ªshould we go?¡± ¡°Cowardly words,¡± I said, but then a group of nine more villagers came about from the field behind the church. ¡°But there might be some wisdom in them.¡± Very quickly, a very angry mob had formed and was moving towards us and the dungeon hub in the background. At first with slow fearful steps, but then as more people joined in, especially those with pitchforks, they seemed to brave the distance much faster. I grabbed Bleff by the back of his neck and decided to retreat. Strategically, of course. I ran with great speed as the mob came after me with shovels, pitchforks and hammers screaming insults I couldn¡¯t even conceive. None of which I deserved. As we passed the hub, a group of adventurers walked out the door probably stirred by the commotion. ¡°You should probably run,¡± I said not bothering to explain more as I shot by. The mob at our back spoke for itself. I ran as fast as I could as long as I could with Bleff on my back. I ran until the last villagers gave up and only dung-flinging children remained. They proved to be of great stamina and perseverance for some reason, but once they had run out of dung, they too gave up. I pulled to the side of the road and walked into the nearest trees then dropped Bleff on the ground and sat down myself. I picked a piece of dung from my hair and shook my head. Bleff looked at me panting as if he ran the whole way. After a few hard breaths, the goblin laughed. ¡°An escort worthy of a Varian Lord, huh?¡± Chapter 14: Sleep Tightly Though both Bleff and I were tired, we couldn¡¯t make camp so close to Underock fearing the wrath of its denizens. We ventured north through the trees staying close to the road but avoiding treading it for Bleff advised we should steer clear of others until we recuperated. Though I hated the idea of wading between those tall malicious creatures called trees, his advice seemed sensible so I steeled my nerves and walked. The day was cold and as the night settled in, it was becoming even colder. We walked for hours through trees, bushes and foliage. Each step offering more mud, thorns, and the disquieting sounds of wild animals from deeper in the forest. As the sun was about to disappear behind a nearby hill, and my body was entirely exhausted, thirsting and hungering, Bleff begged me to break camp. I couldn¡¯t deny him for I was reaching my limit. I hadn¡¯t slept properly in days, ate once, and didn¡¯t rest at all. We found a small clearing between the trees which seemed ever sicklier as we ventured further north. The brown of their bark was now occasionally a deep, almost scorched black and many of the trees lacked any leaves for some reason. ¡°Do you know how to make a fire?¡± Bleff asked stretching his back and looking around the clearing. ¡°To my great shame, no.¡± ¡°Really? You¡¯re from Hell, shouldn¡¯t you know a thing or two about fire?¡± ¡°In a world where all is fire, why would I learn how to create more?¡± ¡°Right, fair enough. I don¡¯t know how to build one either so I guess¡­Well, we¡¯ll have to huddle up for warmth tonight.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we will,¡± I said almost wincing at the prospect of cradling the stinky goblin in my arms. ¡°I was kidding, it¡¯s pretty warm in this region anyway. We¡¯ll be fine.¡± My first impulse was to deny this for I was already shaking, but I¡¯d rather die than admit I couldn¡¯t brave a single night without the comfort of warmth. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s warm enough.¡± Since I had no time do stow away any of Wilda¡¯s stew, and Bleff had nothing to eat except his own buggers, I stretched onto the soft grass of the clearing, then realizing I was trembling, scrunched up rather tightly holding on to my shield and tried to get some sleep. Bleff did the same a few feet away from me. ¡°We really fucked up that whole Underock thing, didn¡¯t we,¡± Bleff whispered as the first stars began to twinkle across the dark blue sky. ¡°I don¡¯t appreciate your language,¡± I said feeling my lips quiver as I spoke. ¡°But the message stands. I have trodden a path of ruin since I was brought here.¡± ¡°Yeh¡­Hey, how did you get here anyway? Did you just wake up on the beach or what happened?¡± ¡°I¡ªI would like¡­Like to get some sleep, B¡ªBleff.¡± The goblins face suddenly appeared above my own, his blue eyes full of concern. ¡°You¡¯re shaking like a leaf in the wind, Shieldfather.¡± ¡°I¡ªI¡¯m not. I¡¯m F¡ªFine.¡± Without even asking me for consent, the goblin hugged me from the back and pressed his hairy, oily, stinking body against mine. ¡°I did¡ªI did not say, y¡ªyou can do that!¡± I muttered but I didn¡¯t move. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Shieldfather. It¡¯s just for one night. There, there.¡± I couldn¡¯t deny that Bleff¡¯s touch was warm and calming, but good Kold, was I ashamed. Here I was, a Shieldfather, the tip of Oomer¡¯s Cohort in the endless war against Hell¡¯s forces being cradled like a child and in the arms of a goblin, no less. ¡°Y¡ªyou must¡­You m¡ªmust tell nobody.¡± ¡°Shh, sweet Shieldfather. You need to rest,¡± Bleff said and with those words I sunk into deep, black sleep. ¡°Shieldfather!¡± Bleff screamed me awake. I shot up with my shield and sword at the ready, but Bleff was nowhere to be seen. I looked around quickly and noticed a shadowy, four-legged creature drag the terrified goblin deeper into the woods. ¡°Bleff, stay calm. I¡¯m coming.¡± I ran after them in great strides and managed to catch up quickly as Bleff¡¯s flailing slowed the creature down. It was a big black beast with silken fur and two yellow, seething eyes. It released Bleff from its fang-ridden mouth and snarled viciously at me. YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED: Slowland Puma ATTACK: 13 DEFENSE: 5 I mashed my sword against my shield and snarled back at the puma with more ferocity than the creature could ever hope to muster. ¡°Take my friend in the middle of the night, will you? No repentance shall save you now!¡± My words didn¡¯t seem to reach it, instead the wild animal leaped at me, its large claws flying at my face. I raised my shield, but the buckler¡¯s small frame didn¡¯t manage to block both paws. I stopped its left paw, but it swiped me with its right tearing a deep gash into my shoulder. With a quick [Shield Slam] I broke the follow up and stunned it for a brief moment. The beast was quick and deadly so I had to be too. I jabbed my sword close to its neck and the puma hissed in pain. I grinned and jabbed again, but before my blade reached its flesh, it flailed its paws at me catching me across the face. It almost took my eye, so I pulled back. The wound in its neck was bleeding into its slick black fur, and the animal limped as it circled me. Eyes full of pain. Its attack stat was so high that I couldn¡¯t muster an assault without suffering wounds myself. ¡°I shall help!¡± An unexpected voice came from the darkness. I only glanced over my shoulder and saw Marabel, the pointy-eared healer from the dungeon hub standing behind me, panting as if he was running all up to that moment. The feral cat roared threateningly but it seemed to slowly move away from us seeing as our ranks had been bolstered by yet another. Marabel raised his arms and white-blue light enveloped his hands then speared into the sky in a beam. Shortly after the spell landed on the puma. ¡°You idiot!¡± Bleff cried out. The black beast roared again, louder this time. The wound at its neck seemed suddenly closed, the blood dry already. ¡°Oh, wrong target,¡± Marabel mumbled. ¡°Let me go ag¡ªargh!¡± The feral cat had moved like a shadow, leaped at the whisperwinder and tore into his throat. A great fountain of blood gushed out into the air. He dropped to the ground, the puma turned to face me. I strode forward, shield up. The cat snarled, then pounced at me. I used [Triple Block] to fortify against its assault. It swiped with its right and left in quick succession, but the buckler held firm. It landed to my side, I pivoted, blocked the third clawed paw, then used [Shield Bash] driving the buckler into its face with such force, I could feel the bones cracking beneath. The cat staggered, its face a ruined mess. I had no intention of letting it suffer so I cut straight into its neck again. It hissed weakly. This time it didn¡¯t claw back. It dropped onto the ground, dead. I hurried over to Marabel who was pressing his hand against the wound in his neck. ¡°Bleff, hurry up! Heal him!¡± The goblin was already there, casting.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°My¡­Bad¡­¡± Marabel mumbled through a mouthful of blood. I pressed down on his wound as well trying to stop the bleeding, but it seemed a fool¡¯s errant. Bleff¡¯s healing spell landed offering Marabel some respite between struggling breaths. ¡°It doesn¡¯t do shit, Shieldfather. I¡¯m healing him for six points of health but he¡¯s bleeding out ten points every other second. ¡°I¡ªI followed your tracks¡­I wanted to be your¡­to be your heal¡ª.¡± Marabel didn¡¯t manage to finish his last words. There he died beneath a starlight sky of a wound he could certainly have avoided. I pushed his eyelids down and looked at Bleff. The goblin shrugged. I shrugged too. ¡°To the Frostlands with you, old boy.¡± I said breathing out hard. I sat down on the cold grass and shook my head. ¡°Searing Kold, what the fuck was that.¡± I said looking at the mayhem around me. ¡°You said fuck.¡± Bleff grinned. ¡°Yes, I did, didn¡¯t I? Well if this awakening doesn¡¯t call for cussing, I don¡¯t know what does, my friend.¡± Bleff spread out his arms then let them slap against his thighs. ¡°What you gone do, eh? Turns out the jungle is deadly, and elves are morons. Some things change some stay the same.¡± ¡°Elves? You mean Marabel was of that noble race?¡± ¡°Yeah, a noble elf,¡± Bleff smacked his lips shaking his head. ¡°Noble and dumb as a rock it turns out. Want to loot him?¡± ¡°Desecrate his dead body? I would think not, goblin.¡± ¡°You sure? He might have something to eat or drink on him. That white robe looks pretty comfy too.¡± The goblin¡¯s opportunism was disrespectful and yet I couldn¡¯t admit I wasn¡¯t both hungry and thirsty, but I steeled against my cravings. Still, though I lived by a code of honor Bleff could hardly follow, I did not expect the same of the goblin. ¡°You go ahead. Take what you need, but I will have no part in it.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± Bleff said without a second thought. He knelt next to Marabel¡¯s corpse then rummaged through his inventory. ¡°Oh, shit! Bread! And a water pouch, will you look at that! Now that¡¯s a useful elf for a change. And this thing!¡± He said getting up and spreading Marabel¡¯s white robes before him. ¡°Huh? What do you think?¡± He said flinging his old filthy robe on the ground then putting on Marabel¡¯s. It shrunk to the goblin¡¯s size and fit him perfectly. ¡°Bleff the white hierophant, huh? Look at this! And it adds one point to all my healing spells. Wow, I could almost pass for a noble myself!¡± He couldn¡¯t. Not even in his wildest dreams. He still smelled the same, had the same dirty patch of orange hair, the same hairy, wart-ridden skin, yellow teeth and continuous streams of snot running down both sides of his mouth. ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°You look very handsome, Bleff.¡± Lies like these were inconsequential, the Steelspeakers claimed. ¡°Hey, you want my old robe? It¡¯ll be warm if nothing else.¡± I glanced at the muddy, flea-ridden piece of clothing on the ground then shook my head. The prospect of spending the rest of the night in the goblin¡¯s embrace was harrowing but putting on that robe felt somehow even worse. The stars shone against a deep black sky and I knew the sun wouldn¡¯t come out any time soon, yet my decision was final. Bleff hungrily bit into the bread and washed it down with water. He offered me some, and though my stomach growled, and my lips were parched, I refused. There had to be some lines I didn¡¯t cross if I wanted to continue calling myself Shieldfather in this world. I busied myself with looting the puma not really hoping for anything from that beast. It did offer a good chunk of experience bringing me just 40 points shy of level seven, and I would have been satisfied with that, but the Gods seemed in a particularly good mood. NAME: Mane of the Slowland Puma TYPE: Cloak DEFENSE: 2 RESISTANCE: COLD RESISTANCE +15 DESCRIPTION: Though the fur of the slowland puma offers ample protection against the elements, it doesn¡¯t protect as well against those enamored by your new, slick black style. Lovers be warned. I made little of the description. It seemed to me that every item I had found so far was described in utterly senseless terms. However, the cloak was indeed very comfortable and offered a great deal of warmth. It wasn¡¯t a traditional cloak either, it hung off my right shoulder clasped by the head of the puma I had slain protecting most of my upper back and parts of my chest. Though I was used to walking around completely naked, I found that such luxuries were dully absent in this world which made me appreciate the cloak very much. ¡°Look at us, huh? The white hierophant, the puma slaying Varian Lord. Man, we look pretty sick if you ask me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t feel sick. However, though I appreciated your gesture tonight, I must say I¡¯m glad we won¡¯t sleep huddled together any longer.¡± ¡°Speak for yourself, Shieldfather. I thought it was a nice bonding moment.¡± ¡°Hm.¡± ¡°What do you want to do with him?¡± Bleff pointed at the dead elf. ¡°Bury him?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t bury the dead,¡± I said. ¡°The cursed earth of Hell only brings them back as the walking dead. Hence why our fallen are burned.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± ¡°Hm.¡± ¡°Then leave him, I guess.¡± I knew Bleff would bring up the easiest way to get out of the situation, but he should learn as I have that the easiest way is not always the best. ¡°We must carry him with us until we find a source of fire.¡± Bleff stared at me for a while and I wasn¡¯t sure what was going through his head. ¡°You¡¯re not serious, are you? Carry a corpse through the jungle?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not something I look forward to, either.¡± ¡°But you left the others dead in the dungeon, why now suddenly¡ª.¡± ¡°Kendral was already burnt, there was not much left of Tamban to bring with us, and Kindra was crushed by rats and rock. We have time to look to Marabel¡¯s corpse. It is our duty. Shame on you for suggesting leaving him. Would you have me do the same when you die?¡± ¡°You mean if I die.¡± I said nothing so the goblin spoke again. ¡°Let¡¯s just bury him, Shieldfather. We¡¯re not in Hell, he won¡¯t rise again. People do it all the time here. ¡°How would you know, goblin? You¡¯re as new to this world as I am.¡± ¡°Just¡­Trust me, Shieldfather, alright? Just this once. I promise you, the dead do not rise up when you bury them here.¡± I thought on this for a moment as it did make sense. None of the creatures and people I killed had risen again to haunt us so far. I picked up Marabel¡¯s cold dead body and slung it over my shoulder with some effort. He wasn¡¯t that heavy, but I wasn¡¯t that strong anymore either. ¡°Let¡¯s find a good spot to bury him then. There¡¯s been too much bloodshed here. I don¡¯t trust this ground.¡± Bleff sighed then nodded towards the north where we were going anyway. We walked for about another hour until the forest had lost most of its leaves and the brushes and foliage had turned a sickly white and yellow. The smell was different too and a soft but pervasive mist had slowly crept up on us. Just as I felt I couldn¡¯t bare carrying Marabel¡¯s corpse any longer, a message popped into my Soulforge, You¡¯ve entered a new zone! Welcome to: Roterwoods Note: Only accessible to adventurers level six and above. I dropped Marabel onto the ground and sighed. ¡°It¡¯s as good a place as any,¡± I said scanning the black branches spreading overhead. I shuddered again both from cold and a feeling of unease that had been creeping up on me for the last half hour or so. We dug a shallow grave for the elf since we were both exhausted then I leaned my head against my buckler, looked up at the night sky briefly and finally let myself slip away into sleep. ¡°Shieldfather!¡± Came Bleff¡¯s cry again and by the Gods, I was certain the goblin was now just messing with me. I got up with half the speed I did last time, rubbed my eyes then groaned as loud as I could. Bleff was cowering against a thick black tree while a naked, tortured, mangled, elf covered in dirt ambled towards him, moaning and grunting. ¡°Marabel,¡± I said, but the elf didn¡¯t even glance at me, and I was pretty certain why. ¡°Help me, don¡¯t just stand there!¡± ¡°I thought this wasn¡¯t Hell, Bleff,¡± I said getting up and cracking my neck. The zombie elf was slow and limping forward at a pace a child could outrun. But not Bleff, of course. ¡°Hey! Over here!¡± I called for his attention clanking my swords against the buckler. Marabel turned finally towards me, his eyes sunken and shining with a dull yellow. His whole body seemed to have gained a sickly green color. He lumbered towards me with a little more speed probably smelling the Varian blood coursing through me. ¡°Hungry, are we, demon?¡± I said. The zombie elf came swinging at me without power, strategy or even the most basic of combat skills. I used [Shield Bash] to smash his face in. He staggered backwards, arms flailing. I finished him off with a horizontal sweep of my sword that took Marabel¡¯s head. It landed with a soft thud, shortly after, the body crashed down too. I looked at Bleff who was still shaking beneath the tree with his arms up. ¡°I couldn¡¯t have known! This was¡ª.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not in Hell. I promise you the dead won¡¯t rise up,¡± I said repeating the hierophant¡¯s words back at him. ¡°They don¡¯t!¡± ¡°They don¡¯t?¡± ¡°Well¡­It¡¯s¡­How was I supposed to guess that?¡± ¡°Hm.¡± I muttered looking up at the sky. The mist was thicker, and you could barely see the sun, but at least the cold of night was slowly giving way to some much-needed warmth. ¡°We need to find the next village or town, Bleff. I don¡¯t want to spend another night out here.¡± ¡°So¡­You forgive me?¡± ¡°You asked me to trust you just that one time¡ª.¡± Bleff teared up and I swallowed my words. What was the point? Once again, I was ready for danger and Bleff was not. Nothing truly out of the ordinary had happened. Such was Bleff. ¡°I forgive you, Bleff,¡± I said and the goblin lit up. ¡°For you¡¯re you and it can¡¯t be helped.¡± He deflated somewhat but still smiled and I smiled back. ¡°Onwards then, Bleff. I¡¯m eager to see what other notes this land has taken from Hell.¡± Chapter 15: Infinitely Less than Tartarus ¡°It stinks of death,¡± I said, eyeing the wooden palisade. A wall of sharpened wooden beams surrounded the town of Roterwood, each taller than a Varian, each infinitely less useful. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a pretty morbid thing to say,¡± Bleff claimed. ¡°Don¡¯t say that in front of the townsfolk, Shieldfather.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see. I only hope there is someone of use in this sad place.¡± There was a tall keep in the center of town overlooking the rest of the place. It was a building as black as the trees surrounding Roterwood, and home to a large flock of blackbirds that nestled in the shaky stonework. We slid down a small slope toward the eastern part of the palisade. The wall had seen fighting, possibly just the night before we arrived. The wood had scratch marks, and deeper gashes that looked like the work of some angry lesser demon. Blots and splatters of stinking blood covered many of the beams. If I hadn¡¯t known better, I¡¯d think a small demon tide had advanced against the town last night. ¡°No guards on the walls,¡± I muttered more to myself than Bleff. ¡°These holes are new.¡± My fingers moved across a torn part of the wall through which I could glimpse at the inner workings of the town. As I did, another man¡¯s eyeball suddenly popped up, staring right back at me. ¡°Stranglers!¡± the man behind the wall cried and jumped away. He rubbed his eyes and looked through the hole again, taking in Bleff and me. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re just some adventurers, huh?¡± ¡°Do I look like just another adventurer to you, youngling?¡± I asked, for his words felt like an insult. ¡°I¡ªI¡¯m just fixing up the wall. Is all, sir. Don¡¯t want any trouble, see?¡± ¡°Where are the warriors protecting this town? Why is nobody keeping guard?¡± I asked. ¡°What do you mean, sir? The soldiers are in the barracks, resting and all. They had a long night¡­ as usual.¡± He pushed a hand through his greasy black hair while playing with the hammer in his other hand. ¡°Who attacked you, son?¡± I asked, but the man had already picked up his toolbox and moved out of my sight. Impolite, to say the least, but that wasn¡¯t the only sin plaguing the people of this world. I urged Bleff onward and around the palisade until we chanced upon the entrance to the town where a single armed man leaned against the open gate, carving a piece of wood in his hand. He looked up at us with tired eyes. ¡°What the hell are you supposed to be?¡± I didn¡¯t let his words stir my anger for the lessons on patience taught by the Steelspeakers had been reinforced many times by now. The guard was armed with the same sword I had and a better shield, a woolen headpiece, dirty boots, and some old chainmail across his chest covered by the red and black of his lord¡¯s colors: a large red tree on a black background. Not much of a defender, yet he seemed battle-weary enough to garner some respect from me. ¡°He¡¯s Shieldfather, Varian Lord of Tartarus,¡± Bleff said with a haughty tone. ¡°And I¡¯m Bleff the Hierophant.¡± The guard raised an eyebrow as a grin wandered onto his face. ¡°Alright, great heroes, lords, whatever. Welcome to Roterwood. I¡¯m Fry.¡± He pointed at the hideous burn marks across the left side of his face, spread his arms wide, and chuckled. ¡°The town is at your disposal. Talk to Captain Griff. He¡¯s outside the barracks prepping the traitors for¡­he¡¯ll tell you where to go.¡± ¡°Thank you, warrior,¡± I said, having learned not to interrogate everyone with every question I had. ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± The guard got back to carving his little chunk of wood, which I recognized to be a small rune of death, part of the Runes of Kold. Just as we passed by him, I snatched it from his hands and breathed into it. ¡°What the f¡ª¡± The rune lit up with a soft red glow and I handed it back to the soldier. His words died in his throat. He took the rune and stared at it for a bit with his jaw hanging loose. Once we were almost out of earshot, he called after me. ¡°How did you¡­What? Who are you?¡± ¡°A Varian Lord!¡± Bleff shot back and giggled. The town was yet another bitter disappointment. The ground was muddy and tortured by boots and heavy carts. The dirt climbed up the walls of small stone houses with fletched roofs and few, tiny windows through which mud-faced children stared out. Bleff was weary of those, constantly looking around and waiting for the next piece of dung to meet his face. No dung came, however. I saw several townspeople with tools fixing up the walls from the inside. Donkeys strapped to carts stacked with wooden planks and beams sat every few feet along the palisade. They worked with a trained rhythm that told me last night¡¯s attacks¡ªwhatever it had been¡ªwasn¡¯t the first nor the last this town would see. I had to push down a smile as the analogies to Tartarus mounted. Had I finally reached a place where I could feel an inkling of normalcy? Perhaps, but I withheld my judgment and my glee as best I could. This world hadn¡¯t been good to me so far, and it would be foolish to assume that had suddenly changed. Just outside the inner keep was a small cobbled square. In its center sat a statue that seemed older than the town itself. More of the black birds cawed on top. There was a great gathering of people to the right of the statue, and several voices spoke over each other. Bleff showed little interest in it all. ¡°A shop, a tavern, a smithy, and even a dungeon hub! Look at all those, Shieldfather!¡± the goblin said excitedly and slapped his hands together. Several larger buildings surrounded the square, each seemingly sadder than the last, though each promising to be of great use to us. Varian or not, I was slowly becoming aware that I did not stick out from the morose reality of this place as much as I hoped. I was in desperate need of food, drink, rest, and clothing.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The owners of the tavern, the smith, and the several other shops and workshops, stood around in front of their entrances, some leaning against the doorframes, others against the outer wall, arms crossed or talking to other people. Their aprons were dirty, but their faces were full of curiosity, and perhaps even a hint of satisfaction. ¡°He¡¯s done nothing wrong! How can you do this?¡± a woman¡¯s desperate voice caught my attention. We walked over to the crowd to see what it was that stirred everyone¡¯s interest so much, and as we came closer, the question was quickly answered. A man was stuffed into an iron cage, bloody, half-naked, and looking as miserable as anyone would in his shoes. ¡°Cowards get the coward¡¯s treatment!¡± someone from the crowd of townspeople said and many layered agreements and more accusations on top of his words. Two guardsmen held the woman who talked a moment ago back as she flailed and spat and cursed the people around her. She was a tiny creature, as small as Bleff, and of light brown hair and large dark eyes. She stood out from the rest of the rubble by her purple robe and twisted wooden staff. A dwarf with a thick black beard stood next to her with a bow on his back and an axe at his hip, trying to console the woman though his face seemed just as full of the same fury. ¡°You knew what would happen when you accepted the quest. We live by rules, we die by those rules. Now take him to the keep.¡± a commanding voice spoke out and resounded above all others. The commotion died down in an instant. ¡°Zandalee! Threelegs!¡± ¡°No! Don¡¯t do it! Hartar, we¡¯ll come for you! We¡¯ll get you out of there!¡± ¡°Curse this place and all of ye!¡± the dwarf said and spat on the ground. They rolled the cage into the keep while making sure the other two dwarves stayed outside. The crowd quickly began to dissipate and I could see the man who gave the order now clearly. He had the posture of a proper warrior and was dressed in the same chainmail and colors as the others, except for the plate headpiece in his arms which had a red plume attached to it. His face was old, heavily scarred, and framed by short grey hair and a well-trimmed beard. An eyepatch sat where his left eye should have been. He noticed me looking at him and after taking in the grandeur of my Shieldfather¡¯s body, he naturally beckoned me. The soldiers around him spared me only a few glances and whispered something among themselves, laughed, and then walked off toward what I understood were the barracks, a building attached to the keep¡¯s right wall. ¡°And you are?¡± the one-eyed man said, looking up at me. ¡°Shieldfather,¡± I replied before Bleff could. ¡°And this is Bleff.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Bleff the White Hierophant.¡± The soldier grimaced at my goblin companion and then looked straight back at me. ¡°What race are you? I¡¯ve never seen anyone like you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a Varian Lord of Tartarus. There has never been anyone like me in this world.¡± A certain sadness gathered in me at my own words. ¡°Varian Lord,¡± the man rolled the words through his mouth as if tasting a new dish for the first time. ¡°I¡¯m Captain Griff, and this is Roterwoods. Lord Edgemere¡¯s home. I hope you¡¯ve come to lend a hand?¡± I appreciated how to the point the man was. He did not dwell on my race, exterior, or lack of proper attire for a change. ¡°We came to seek nourishment, shelter, war, and inquire about Hell.¡± Captain Griff stared at me for what seemed like an unusually long time, even for overworld standards. I heard the doors of the keep open, so I looked over the warrior and saw an old, crooked man with long gray hair usher in the iron cage and the guardsmen who pushed it. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, war-seeker,¡± Griff said flatly. There wasn¡¯t an ounce of humor in the man and that wasn¡¯t a good sign. Even after the greatest of Tides, a Shieldfather must not ruminate. He should laugh and celebrate each day for good humor healed as well as the Rose Baths. ¡°I¡¯m not worried. Tell me, captain. What evil has befallen your town? I see you¡¯ve been attacked and not just once.¡± ¡°You want war and hell, Varian? You just found both in ample supply.¡± ¡°You¡¯re speaking figuratively, I assume.¡± The captain snorted, but his expression hardly changed. ¡°You tell me after tonight.¡± He faced the main gate. ¡°The undead will come knocking about an hour after nightfall as they always do. We¡¯ll fight back as we always do. We¡¯ll lose some soldiers, sometimes adventurers that try and help, but we¡¯ll survive.¡± My assumptions proved true. These people were like a smaller, sadder, more desperate, and infinitely less important version of Varians. I could hardly keep my excitement at bay. Captain Griff was a brother protector and with that realization, my heart began to thump like a drumrat¡¯s tail. ¡°I understand,¡± I said. ¡°I ask you for a place in the frontline then.¡± I felt Bleff¡¯s hand pulling on my loincloth, already fully aware of what the goblin¡¯s take on this would be. ¡°Frontline?¡± Griff snapped, raising an eyebrow. ¡°What do you think this is, adventurer? You think your size will make up for years of training and experience?¡± This time I snorted then laughed. ¡°You put me with your best men at the vanguard and I promise no undead will¡ª¡± ¡°What vanguard? Do you think I¡¯d let my soldiers face the horde outside the walls? Are you mad? Fucking wannabe-heroes. Always the same shit. I don¡¯t have time for this. Talk to the Lord Confessor, he¡¯ll issue the quest for tonight.¡± The captain turned away, barking orders at some guards at the barracks, and then walked off, his heavy boots sinking deep into the mud. ¡°Hmm. The ruins of our past echo through this place.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± Bleff asked as we watched the captain enter the barracks. He gave us another angry look before he closed the door. ¡°The Legend of Oomer, Bleff. The founding of the First Cohort.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what any of that means, Shieldfather.¡± ¡°I know, Bleff. I know.¡± ¡°Will you tell me over a drink and something to eat?¡± While I was always more than happy to retell the history of our people, I had a feeling my words would pale compared to the experience we most possibly would have a few hours from then. ¡°After tonight, Bleff.¡± ¡°Alright¡­By the way, I don¡¯t need a spot on the frontlines, you know? I mean, we don¡¯t know what¡¯s coming. Maybe it¡¯s best if we stay back and just observe so¡ª¡± ¡°The Confessor, Bleff,¡± I said, nudging him onward toward the keep. The goblin¡¯s shoulders sagged, and he sighed deeply. A piece of dung suddenly hit him on the back of the head and as we turned to see who the assailant was, we saw a group of children giggle then dash away behind one of the houses. ¡°Stupid goblin!¡± the last of them laughed and ran off. Bleff moaned softly but seemed resigned rather than angry. The smell of warm food coming from the tavern almost made me forget I was heading to the keep, but I steeled myself against the cravings and knocked on the door of the tall black building. A flock of those cawing birds flapped their wings and flew off the rooftop just as the heavy iron door shrieked open. Out came the Lord Confessor. The crooked old man scanned my body whole, licking his lips several times while doing so. ¡°I am Shieldfather. We were told you have a quest for us.¡± He took a step back and looked up at me with a wide grin, only a few teeth remaining in his mouth. ¡°Yes, yes, I have. Aren¡¯t you a big one?¡± He licked his lips again at which point I began to appreciate this man who certainly appreciated me in kind. ¡°You want to fight at the wall tonight, eh?¡± ¡°I do.¡± The old man thumped his cane and giggled like a child holding his hand in front of his ruined mouth. ¡°Beautiful. Just beautiful. Lord Edgemere will be so pleased.¡± ¡°So will I. Now, if you don¡¯t mind, Lord Confessor, we are tired and hungry and need to rest before we face the enemy.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, certainly. Here you go, my big, juicy hero.¡± The compliments were well-appreciated though I wasn¡¯t sure I truly enjoyed them as I usually did for some reason. I decided not to dwell on it and simply accepted the quest. QUEST: The Long Night DESCRIPTION: Defend Roterwoods for one night against the undead hordes. NOTE: Should you fail in any way outside of dying, you will face the Lord Confessor in his interrogation chambers. REWARD: 300 XP, 2 GOLD, ??? ¡°What are the question marks supposed to mean, old man?¡± I asked, but as I looked away from the words of the Soulforge, I noticed the door was already closed again. ¡°They mean random loot,¡± Bleff said and shivered. ¡°You know? Equipment, potions, weapons, that sort of thing.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°That old man gives me the creeps, Shieldfather. And this note on the quest? That we¡¯ll go to the interrogation chamber if we fail? What does that even mean?¡± ¡°We will not fail, so there¡¯s no point in wasting breath on it any further. Let¡¯s eat, goblin, for the love of Kold, I could eat a carcasbull right now.¡± Chapter 16: Finally at War ¡°I will have a roasted animal, woman. The largest that you have,¡± I said to the waitress. ¡°And bread and vegetables of all kinds. I will also have a whole cake with fruit and a gallon of your hardest drink. Make haste, I hunger greatly.¡± ¡°Shieldfather¡­¡± the goblin whispered as all eyes in the tavern landed on me. ¡°We don¡¯t have the coin for that.¡± Coin. It was a travesty to ask warriors for coin. ¡°Do you ask your sword for coin when you sharpen it?¡± ¡°I dunno what that means, big fellow. I ain¡¯t got no sword and I don¡¯t talk to me cutlery either. The goblin be right. Got any silver on ye?¡± The waitress raised an eyebrow, tapping her foot, and I realized she wasn¡¯t the only one waiting for my response. The drunkard at the counter was looking at me and drooling away. One of the soldiers at the other table shushed his brothers and pointed at me. Even the two adventurers, the tiny woman and the dwarf sitting at the opposite end stopped arguing and watched me. My experience with Wilda and Godfrey as well as Bleff¡¯s teachings told me that this was a world where everything had a number attached to it. People didn¡¯t just trade in goods as we did with the travelers of the World Door. No, even something as simple as a bed for the night cost coins. ¡°I have 90 silver, woman. I think that should cover¡ª¡± ¡°Big boy, that won¡¯t even cover the roast ye ask for,¡± the waitress shot back, and the drunkard and the soldiers roared in laughter. I felt ashamed and humiliated for I thought I had done well in this world. It turned out it was not so. ¡°Then bring us what you can for this sum. Consider that we want to sleep upstairs, too.¡± The waitress sighed and turned to the man at the bar. ¡°Don, what do I do ¡®ere?¡± ¡°Just give ¡®em keys for upstairs, I¡¯ll warm up the porridge.¡± ¡°There. You get some hearty porridge and a bed to sleep in for that silver. And Don¡¯s being nice to ye folks. Usually, a bed is half a crown by itself.¡± I had porridge before. It was a child¡¯s meal, but my options were few, so I avoided further argument. Once she brought the steaming brown mush, I dug in. It was no crab stew, that was for sure, yet it was warm and hearty though hardly enough to sustain me. ¡°Waitress,¡± I called again, licking the last of the porridge off my spoon. ¡°I have items to sell. Perhaps we can exchange them for more food.¡± She came up to the table with tired steps, wiping her hands against her apron. ¡°Alright, big boy. You should have said so sooner.¡± I rummaged through my inventory finding broken bones and cloth scraps from the large rats in Underock. The remainder of my crab shields, rusty pieces of iron, and a few other useless bits and pieces. I had no idea why a tavern would need any of these, yet the waitress accepted them without question. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s 21 silver,¡± she said, letting out a slow breath. ¡°Don, get two more bowls of porridge for them fellas.¡± I grunted, trying not to let my fury take over. I had a battle waiting for me and two bowls of porridge after everything I had been through would not be enough. I couldn¡¯t fight on an empty stomach again. ¡°Do you see this body, woman?¡± I asked and the patrons of the Hollow Hog Tavern stopped their chatter once more. ¡°Are you¡ª¡± Bleff began but I would not hear him. ¡°Do you wish to enjoy the warmth of a Varian Lord?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t whore yourself out for food again, Shieldfather,¡± the goblin muttered barely audibly. ¡°What are ye sayin¡¯, big boy?¡± Her voice suddenly had a higher pitch. ¡°I will offer you this body for a meal that will satiate my hunger. It is a fair exchange, I wager for the pleasure waiting for you will be beyond anything you¡¯ve ever tasted.¡± A heavy hand smacked against the table opposite of us. Threelegs the dwarf roared in laughter. ¡°Yer must be shittin¡¯ me!¡± he cried. The waitress glanced at him over her shoulder, then at the man at the counter called Don, and finally back at me. ¡°That¡¯s me husband there, fellow. Ye tryin¡¯ to pork a married woman in front of her man, are ye? Ye want me to call Captain Griff?¡± ¡°No, no, that won¡¯t be necessary,¡± Bleff jumped in. ¡°He¡¯s not from¡­here. Forgive us. We¡¯ll take the porridge and get out of your hair.¡± ¡°Bleff¡ª¡± ¡°Not now, Shieldfather. Just trust me on this.¡± The waitress stormed off without wasting another word. What an insult to not only have my offer rejected but be threatened with harsh consequences just for asking. Husbands and wives, and their elderly rejoiced when a Shieldfather came to their home to share his flesh with the household, and yet here? I sighed, tiring of my own thoughts. I could not tread the path I used to, looking over my shoulder constantly only slowed me down. The bowls came down onto the table with force spilling over some of the porridge. The waitress eyed me, Hm-ed, and then marched away. ¡°I hope you like piss in your porridge,¡± Bleff said then dug in. I did not in fact like piss in my porridge, but sensing the question was rhetorical, I said nothing and began spooning down the brown trying not to think of his words. Threelegs the dwarf suddenly sat down at our table with a mug in hand, making Bleff flinch and drop his spoon to the dirty floor. ¡°Sorry about that, lad. How are ye fellas doin¡¯, eh? Welcome to Rorterwoods, the shittiest little town in all of Prosperia. The name¡¯s Plum Harthdig, they call me Threelegs.¡± He offered a hand and I took it. Though small, the dwarf¡¯s squeeze was hard and warrior-like. ¡°Shieldfather, Varian Lord of Tartarus,¡± I said through a mouthful. ¡°I don¡¯ want te be rude or nothing, but I hear yer selling yerself off for porridge, is it?¡± ¡°Not just for porridge, Threelegs,¡± I said. ¡°I have offered my body in thanks for stew as well.¡± ¡°For stew as well!¡± the dwarf roared, slapping his thigh. ¡°This big lad, ¡®ere Zandalee. This big lad ¡®here is something, isn¡¯t he?¡± the dwarf yelled at the tiny woman still sitting at the other table. Her feet didn¡¯t even touch the floor. She wouldn¡¯t look in our direction, and instead busied herself paging through a black-covered book. ¡°Listen, lad,¡± the dwarf whispered, pulling his chair closer. ¡°That over there is me good pal Zandalee. She just lost her husband to that damned Confessor and she¡¯s sagging like a troll¡¯s tit. And it isn¡¯t great when a gnome is brooding, ye know? The next thing ye know, she¡¯ll be burning down houses and cursing the lot ¡®ere. How about I pay you¡­say a whole crown if ye take her upstairs and make ¡®er feel good, uh? Ye can get a whole barrel of porridge for that price.¡± It was an honest offer I could hardly refuse in my current state. ¡°Shieldfather, you¡¯re not considering again, are you?¡± Bleff said with a worried tone. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Why do I have to say this again? If you continue to prostitute yourself for food,¡± he said, throwing his hands up, ¡°I mean¡­at least make it worth your time and effort. How about three gold, eh? One crown won¡¯t change much.¡± ¡°What are ye, goblin? His pimp?¡± I did not know what a pimp was, but I felt Bleff was right. He was better acquainted with this world, perhaps letting him haggle the price would have been a shrewd idea. In return, I thought, I might offer him a piece of the wealth I acquired. ¡°Two crowns is me final offer. How about it?¡± ¡°I will not fuck that brute, Threelegs. Give it up!¡± Zandalee said, only glancing at us from the other table before sticking her nose back into her readings. ¡°Oh, come on, Zandalee. Look at him! It¡¯ll take yer mind off¡ª¡± ¡°My husband is still alive, Threelegs. Now stop it.¡± The black-bearded dwarf shrugged and got up.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Kill me for tryin¡¯ will ye? Sorry lads, ye heard the lady. But let me get ye a round of ale for yer troubles. We adventurers need to stick together because these folk¡ª¡± He looked around the tavern and shook his head. ¡°Anyway, see ye at the wall tonight, I wager?¡± ¡°It will be so, Threelegs. I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡± The dwarf smiled apprehensively. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t,¡± he said and got back to his table. Bleff and I finished our porridge and then enjoyed the free ale greatly. To my big surprise, the drink equaled any ale the Brewmasters of Tartarus would make and it refreshed both body and soul in equal measure. Once done with our drinks, we departed for the upstairs bedroom. It was a stale, weirdly smelling room with two beds of hay, stained sheets, coarse blankets, and a single oil lamp. Bleff and I spoke little. Tired that we were, we crashed into the beds and sleep found us very quickly. A bell awoke me from my near-comatose state. I pushed myself out of bed and looked through the tiny window that overlooked part of the town and the surrounding forest. The sun was hanging low, shedding red beams over the eerie woods that already cast long, threatening shadows across the land. Smoke billowed from the houses around us, and a loud voice echoed from outside. ¡°Nightfall is in an hour! Nightfall in an hour! Get ye kids to bed! Man the walls! Nightfall in an hour!¡± I grabbed my sword and shield and clasped the puma cloak which I had used as an additional blanket, and then shook Bleff awake. The goblin opened his crusty eyes and yawned. A terrible smell wafted off him. ¡°I think¡­¡± he muttered, pushing himself up on his elbows, ¡°I think I shat myself.¡± ¡°I think so too, goblin. You truly are a creature of endless flaws. There is a well behind the tavern. Wash up and meet me at the wall.¡± The goblin¡¯s head met the hay pillow again and he groaned, ¡°Why, gods?¡± But I was already through the door before I could answer such preposterously stupid questions. The town of Roterwoods was in an uproar. Archers were already on the walls, tightening the strings of their bows as older boys rolled barrels of arrows up the ramps. More soldiers had gathered at the front gate, which was now sealed shut with three thick beams of tortured wood. I could not tell whether those gates would hold or not, but it looked like a fool¡¯s strategy nevertheless. Captain Griff was barking orders, flailing his hands this and that way as more armored men rushed in all directions, but mostly up the ramparts. I simply couldn¡¯t imagine what the use of men with swords and shields atop a wall would be, though I was certain to bring up the point with the captain after the battle concluded. I walked over briskly, eyeing the apprehensive men around me. There was no excitement in them, no quest for glory, no confidence. Only exhaustion, worry, and fear. ¡°Reporting for battle, Captain,¡± I said, appearing before him. ¡°Where do you need my shield?¡± ¡°You,¡± he said. ¡°Where¡¯s that goblin of yours? Stealing around town while you pretend to defend us?¡± My mood soured immediately. ¡°Why do you offend me, human?¡± I asked and the captain took a step back as my face darkened. ¡°The goblin is washing shit out of his robe for he soiled himself during sleep. I¡¯m here to offer aid in the protection of your town and yet all you offer are insults. Why?¡± Captain Griff¡¯s face softened just enough for a trained eye to see. ¡°Stand wherever you want. Up the wall is good or behind the backup line down there.¡± ¡°Backup line?¡± I asked. ¡°Chances are the gate will break and we¡¯ll have to push the horde back out. My soldiers will know what to do. Stay out of their way, and just kill what comes through,¡± he grunted. ¡°And stay alive, eh?¡± ¡°I will stay down there.¡± The captain turned away, thinking the conversation was over, but I still had burning questions. ¡°Why do you have shield bearers on the walls? And why do you wait for the gate to break? Why not open it and face this horde of yours straight on?¡± The one-eyed old veteran just shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t need a level¡­what are you, level 6? I don¡¯t need you to advise me, adventurer. You accepted the quest. Fight if you want to fight, or otherwise get out of my sight until the killing is done. I don¡¯t have time for this.¡± He stomped off up the ramparts, calling names and issuing angry orders. He would not heed the word of a Shieldfather when it came to defense. There was no doubt in my heart that such arrogance would bring about calamity and looking around, I was only assured because it had already turned the town of Roterwoods into a withering tomb. I had no allies here, well, except for Bleff, but he hardly counted. None of the soldiers of Lord Edgemere spared me looks that weren¡¯t full of distaste and fear. Here I was, a soldier of Ra¡¯een, blood of Kold, protector of three thousand cycles, reduced to a mere sword hand in the defense of a town. I grinned. ¡°So be it, Kold. You have given me a challenge of both heart and shield, and I will see it through.¡± ¡°Talking to yourself, are you?¡± a tiny female voice said. I turned but saw nothing until I looked down. There, standing next to my great bronze leg, just above knee-height, stood Zandalee the gnome looking up at me with big purple eyes. Her fair hair was tied into a knot making her just a tiny bit taller. ¡°Word of advice, big guy, don¡¯t try too hard or you¡¯ll get yourself killed for nothing.¡± ¡°I appreciate your cautionary words, little creature, but a Varian does not fight half-heartedly. I don¡¯t know how, even if I wanted to.¡± She rolled her eyes and walked off without uttering another word. A small group of running soldiers almost crushed her beneath their muddy boots, but the gnome managed to skitter away cursing at them. ¡°Don¡¯t listen to her, lad,¡± Threelegs said somehow appearing just next to me. ¡°She just trying to get you accused of cowardice so she can confront the Confessor again. Don¡¯t take it to heart. I love ¡®er to death I do, but Zandalee¡­eh, she don¡¯t care much for decency and all. Unlike me.¡± ¡°I have such a companion of my own, Threelegs. It¡¯s not easy.¡± We stood there for a moment as a cold breeze brought the stench of the rotting horde. A telling innuendo for what¡¯s to come. The blackbirds suddenly ascended from the keep, the statue, and the roofs of Roterwoods, cawing and flapping menacingly. A great black flock darkened the already dim sky, and then flew north as if abandoning the town. ¡°Ye don¡¯t have to play the hero tonight, lad. Just don¡¯t let Griff see ye sitting on yer arse and ye¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Was Zandalee¡¯s husband sitting on his arse then?¡± Threelegs sighed. ¡°Hartar¡¯s a bard. He doesn¡¯t fight much, he just sings songs that lift yer spirits. Griff didn¡¯t care for his songs at all. None of these sullen folk do. If ye ask me, they¡¯re not that different from the ghouls they fight every night.¡± He rubbed his beard. ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone I said that, alright lad?¡± The same thought circled my own mind. ¡°Don¡¯t become the beast you¡¯re fighting, the Steelspeakers would say.¡± ¡°Smart folk,¡± Threelegs agreed. His words still lingered with me. If they took Zandalee¡¯s husband Hartar for playing a song during battle, what would they do to Bleff whose only use in war was to attract stray arrows? Courage must find you tonight, goblin. Shortly after, the dwarf joined the gnome again and Bleff had returned. His white robe wasn¡¯t entirely white anymore and he only partially managed to wash the smell off. His usual stench did well to absorb new smells into the collage that was Bleff, so it wasn¡¯t that unbearable. I walked the walls with him one more time, trying to create a map of the town in my mind. I checked for weak spots along the palisade and found plenty. When I brought it up with the townsfolk, they just told me to ¡°Shut up, idiot.¡± And heeding Bleff¡¯s advice to, ¡°Just whatever, come on,¡± I decided not to dwell on it. After a while I grew tired of pleading my case, so we returned to the gates. ¡°Apple Hill checkpoint reached! Ten minutes!¡± a voice shouted from the wall. ¡°Apple Hill reached!¡± The words were carried man to man across the palisade. What Griff had called his backup line formed against the gate. Fifteen men, though armored better than I was, still looked more like a heap of rusty iron held together by the fear of falling apart. Most were up on the ramparts, archers, shield-bearers, and spearmen looking onto whatever would come down Apple Hill. Zandalee and Threelegs joined us behind the backup line. Threelegs tapped me on the shoulder and then nodded to the wall. ¡°My bow is more use up there. Good look, lads.¡± He waddled off to the side ramp and got up, shoving himself between two other archers who unwillingly opened some space for the dwarf. A sudden, and yet very familiar wave of arcane energy radiated from Zandalee. I couldn¡¯t be entirely certain if it was a demonic force as I had already been tricked into thinking the same many times since I appeared in this land, so I stayed my reaction. I looked toward the gnome who was mumbling wyrd-tongued chants as her body glowed with a dull grey light. My suspicions seemed right this time, though. A black runic circle appeared on the ground next to Zandalee as she waved her hands into a conjuring spell. Two clawed paws grabbed onto the rim of the black spot, then pulled out the rest of the mudgorger demon, a hound-like beast with sharp teeth, a slick red, oval body, and no eyes. A lesser demon of which I had slain countless numbers. ¡°Demon!¡± I snapped and dashed towards it. I used my [Shield Bash] to stun the beast, then drove my buckler into its snout with [Shield Slam]. My sword came down, and the demon died. I breathed out in relief. I was right indeed. The circle closed and the mudgorger¡¯s body turned to black ash, which the wind quickly carried off. I spat on the spot three times and stomped it with my leg. When I was done, I realized everyone was looking at me, their eyes full of awe and thanks. ¡°And this is what will happen to any demon that shall cross my path. You need not thank me for I¡¯m Shieldfather.¡± ¡°What the fuck was that?¡± Zandalee roared with her tiny voice. It felt as if a chicken was angry with me. ¡°You killed my familiar, you overgrown brute! I can¡¯t summon another one until tomorrow!¡± ¡°And I shall slay it tomorrow, too, demon-witch! I am Shieldfather and while I roam this world, no demon will walk it!¡± ¡°Shieldfather,¡± Bleff began. ¡°She¡¯s a warlock, she¡¯s not really a demon¡­witch.¡± ¡°Threelegs! How about your new friends, huh? He just killed Sharlatan!¡± ¡°He? He¡¯s only level six! How could he kill¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s a mudgorger,¡± I said through my teeth. ¡°I know what demon it is; I¡¯ve studied them all my life, you¡­you savage barbarian!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a barbarian!¡± I roared, the fire in my heart now stirred beyond polite words. ¡°I am Shieldfather, bane of demons and protector of the Bastion! Do you know how many Shieldsons left their lives at the Bulwark against the demons you flirt with? How dare you!¡± ¡°How dare I? You just killed¡ª¡± ¡°Enough of this shit!¡± The grave voice of Captain Griff thundered from above the gate. ¡°Not another word from the two of you! The horde is coming. Prepare!¡± A sad-sounding horn echoed across the town and the men and women on the walls turned their attention to more pressing matters. Zandalee already walked off to the wall herself, making room between Threelegs and the other archers. ¡°Buff me, Bleff,¡± I said absently and eyed the spot where moments ago a demon had shown its ugly head. I felt the hierophant¡¯s [Word of Vitality] steel my muscles, but my thoughts were elsewhere. They were deep within my soul, trying to wrestle with an emotion that I couldn¡¯t even imagine I¡¯d feel. Am I sad the mudgorger was gone? ¡°Nice one, goblin! Thanks!¡± the words shook me from my troubling thoughts. I looked up to see Bleff walk the line and buff the soldiers one by one. Each was thankful, some even tossed his dirty orange hair and tapped him on the shoulders. Bleff was positively shining and I smiled not just because the world had finally given him a break, but because the Confessor might show mercy once the soldiers saw his cowardice at work. ¡°Up here too, goblin!¡± the guards on the ramparts called and he waddled up the ramp eagerly. ¡°Get them, Bleff,¡± I muttered then tightened my grip on my buckler. ¡°War.¡± The words steeled my resolve and lifted my spirits. A Tide was coming, or a horde as these people called them. I had a shield; I had a sword, and I had all the knowledge of Oomer the First Father ready to be used on the battlefield. ¡°Incoming!¡± Griff roared. Since I arrived in Prosperia, I¡¯d seen nothing but trifling skirmishes and pointless, insulting chatter. Now there finally was war and my heart felt genuinely at home. ¡°The horde takes no men tonight,¡± I said confidently, seeing two soldiers from the backline turn my way. One of them was the guard who met us at the gates, his burned face mostly hidden behind the woolen cap. ¡°Let¡¯s hope you¡¯re right, barbarian,¡± the other one said. ¡°That¡¯s no barbarian,¡± Fry grinned, showing the rune he was carving to his fellow soldier. They both eyed it for a moment as it glowed in his hand. ¡°That the one?¡± ¡°Aye,¡± Fry said. Their eyes wandered from the Rune of Death to me. Both nodded. An understanding between warriors that needed no words. We all knew Kold was watching. Chapter 17: Kold is Always Watching ¡°This is a big one, captain!¡± one of the archers cried out. The gate shook with the impact of the undead. The heavy beams screamed from the sheer pressure of rotten bodies pushing against the gate. This will not hold. Archers had been releasing arrows for minutes, the barrels next to them dangerously close to being empty. I paced up and down behind the backup line, eager, war-hungry, and annoyed. There was no space for me on the walls. There was nothing to kill down at the gate. The undead moaned and growled, beating their broken bodies against the wooden palisade. They clawed and bit and reached for the men on the ramparts. Soon, bloodthirsty hands managed to grab feet above the sharpened beams as bodies mounted outside. Men with swords and spears pushed them back, more arrows slammed into rotten flesh, and yet I still wasn''t able to get to any of them. Captain Griff stabbed down, barked orders, and wiped sweat and blood from his face. Bleff was busy running around, still buffing people and throwing a weak heal every now and then, but hardly anyone noticed him. Zandalee was up there, too, flinging wyrd-tongued spells down at the horde. Threelegs was counting every kill, shouting to anyone who¡¯d listen how well he was doing. Perhaps he was afraid to end up like Zandalee¡¯s husband. Who knew¡­ One of the guards suddenly shrieked desperately as several hands grabbed for him, their fingers wrapping around his shoes and pants, giving them just enough perch to pull the man over the palisade and down into the swarm of the undead. To the Frostlands with you, old boy. I shot up the ramp in long strides, took his place, and looked down at the undead numbers. Hundreds, perhaps even a thousand zombies were milling outside the gate and spilling to both sides, east and west of the entrance like a river crashing against a rock. There was the mistake, there was the waste of resources and the great risk. When your wall is wood or rock, you¡¯ll always fear it cracking. My words of wisdom fell on deaf ears, but they would learn soon enough. Learn or perish. The undead came in the same sizes as everyone else in the overworld. Humans, gnomes, dwarves, lizard-folk, even elves, and those wood creatures, all pale, rotting, and mindless. Many were like Marabel, slow, lumbering onward seemingly without a goal. But many more seemed nimble, strong, and focused on destruction like their cursed brothers, the demonfolk. Those crawled over the corpses of their foul companions and reached upward toward the men at the walls. I slashed and hacked at the grabby bony hands that kept inching closer with every rotten corpse piling up beneath. So did the men next to me, panting, swearing, reaping the oncoming horde with a trained rhythm. YOU HAVE KILLED: HUMAN ZOMBIE EXPERIENCE GAINED: +2 EXPERIENCE: 242/350 The experience gain was meager to say the least, but it didn¡¯t dishearten me in the slightest. There were ample bodies to put to the sword, after all. A sinewy, greenish undead elf managed to lift his foot on the palisade and jump on one of the soldiers, tackling him backward and off the wall. The backup line waiting there quickly came to his aid, pulling the undead off the man. The drooling, enraged monster flailed mindlessly around, slashing the throat of one of the men before it died in a mass of swords and spears. ¡°Section two is giving in!¡± a voice cried from atop the wall just to the right of the gate. ¡°Section three is giving in, too!¡± another voice, this one to the left, called out as well. The beams to either side of the gate were being chipped away by furious claws and bony teeth. ¡°Backup line, split and reinforce both sides!¡± Griff ordered and the fifteen men hastened to follow their orders. Just open the damned gates! Griff was thinning out his defenses while trying to hold every single spot on the wall. It was simply impossible. A ruinous strategy that the First Father had warned us about eons ago. Another angry zombie, this one the size of a gnome came skittering over the wall and latched itself onto the nearest archer. The man staggered away, almost falling off the ramparts. I grabbed the creature by its neck and raised it, stabbing my blade through its mouth. It gurgled and thrashed for a moment, then fell still. The archer looked up at me with a mix of panic and surprise as I threw it back over the wall. ¡°How?¡± he mouthed. ¡°How did you¡ª¡± I pulled the man to his feet and pointed over the wall. That seemed to shake him free of any doubt, and he quickly returned to releasing more arrows. The answer was as simple as the Soulforge could offer. My Varian blood offered me a 300% increase in damage against demons and the undead, but these men couldn¡¯t know that. ¡°Ruinbeast incoming!¡± The warning cry was steeped in sheer horror. I looked out onto the great horde and saw a large, four-legged beast with great simmering boils covering its entire body stomp through the other undead. It crushed zombies with every step, but didn¡¯t seem to be bothered by it at all. ¡°Good Kold,¡± I muttered, seeing that the creature was an amalgamation of smaller undead, humans, elves, dwarves, and whatnot else. They were all bound together by sheer hatred and testing Gods. The Ruinbeast knew no friends or foes as it lumbered through the other undead, squashing them beneath its feet. I noticed Griff talking to his sergeant, a young man of broad shoulders and long black hair tied in a knot. Captain Griff landed a hand on the sergeant¡¯s shoulder, looked deep into his eyes then addressed the rest of his men, ¡°Fight hard, brothers! The dawn will come! Archers, cover me!¡± With those words, Captain Griff leaped over the palisade and into the rotting swarm beneath. Archers closed the spot where he stood moments before, and released a volley at anything that moved around the captain. The man slashed his sword in wide arcs, cutting through anything standing in the way between him and the Ruinbeast. Words could not describe the awe I felt for that man as I watched him reach the towering abomination. I stopped everything I was doing and simply gazed at the heroic spectacle beneath. Could it be that these wretched people had the hearts of Varians? ¡°Cover the captain! Come on! Cover him!¡± the young soldier yelled, hacking downwards, his face caked in putrid blood. I rushed atop the gate to get a better look, finding myself next to him. Griff was engaged with the Ruinbeast, dashing around the monster with incredible speed, slashing across its blisters. Every single one that he opened, exploded with yellowish goo that sprayed across the horde. Where the deadly liquid landed, it scorched flesh and bone, making me realize why the captain had gone out in the first place. A black orb exploded against the Ruinbeast, then several arrows, some of them lit aflame. I saw Zandalee and Threelegs a few spots to my left targeting the large monster. All this took away from the rest of the defense as more and more undead were climbing to the top of the wall. ¡°Section two! Section two!¡± someone yelled over the cacophony of battle. Griff managed to climb the Ruinbeast and drive his sword down into its back, creating deep holes in its rotten flesh. His left leg was steaming from a spray of yellow goo, and is face set agony. ¡°Help!¡± came the frantic voice of the soldier next to me. Several pairs of hands were pulling down at his legs. Soldiers grabbed onto the man and pulled back while I hacked off the grabby hands. A lanky, feral-looking undead shuffled its way upward along the soldier¡¯s body until it reached his neck and bit into it. The soldiers pulled him back by the arms with the zombie on top. I pulled the mindless beast off him, shoved my sword through his back then slung it over the palisade.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Bleff!¡± I yelled. ¡°Heal the sergeant!¡± The goblin came rushing up the ramparts with his head in hands and covering his ears. He was trembling worse than the palisade by the time he arrived. The goblin took one look at the bleeding sergeant, then back up at me and shook his head. ¡°Do it anyway,¡± I said. ¡°The captain!¡±a voice shouted, then another. I looked over the battlements and saw the Ruinbeast limping forward, putrid blood and rancid goo spilling out of its many wounds. Behind it, left in the deep footprints of the abomination, was Captain Griff¡¯s lifeless body. ¡°Bring down the Ruinbeast!¡± I roared. Were it to reach the gate and explode there it would take a dozen lives if not more. Zandalee, Threelegs, and many of the archers rained down onto the massive abomination. Arrows, black orbs, and the occasional spear found their marks. Finally, by the grace of Kold, the Ruinbeast staggered, its body littered with arrows like a pin cushion. The wounds were too many even for something of its size to keep on moving. It keeled over and fell to the ground with a wall-shaking thud. ¡°Bleff?¡± I asked as the goblin used his last heal on the dying sergeant. ¡°No way, the wound is way too deep. I¡¯m sorry Shieldfather.¡± In one fell swoop the undead army had beheaded Roterwoods defenses. I saw the ruinous fear that latched itself onto the soldiers seeing their commander die. It came a Tide in every Shieldson¡¯s life that brought these emotions to the surface. Fear, despair, then cowardice, and finally death. Not even us were not immune to it, and these men certainly weren¡¯t either. ¡°Shieldfather, what do we do?¡± I looked across the battlements and then at the horde. We hadn¡¯t yet defeated half of their numbers but were already battered heavily and, even lost Captain Griff. ¡°We fight, Bleff. Even harder than before.¡± ¡°Uhm¡­okay. I¡¯ll fight down there,¡± the goblin said, then quickly waddled down the ramp. As I watched him go, I felt claws dig into my back. I reached behind my shoulder, coiled my fingers around the nearest limb, and pulled the zombie over my shoulder and onto the wooden ramparts. I smashed my foot into its belly and forced a [Shield Slam] into its face, ruining it completely. Another demon-friend came up the palisade, clawing at my hips. I stepped back, and just as I was about to swing my blade at its head, a second zombie, a tiny, wild gnome undead came flying at me from my right. I used [Triple Block], letting it bash against my shieldmid-air. It crushed its head and dropped beneath my feet. I swung the shield toward the first one, blocked its claws, and used [Shield Bash] to stun it. The gnome undead, still not dead, pushed its claws into my legs. I took the pain, bit through it, then slid the sword between its shoulder blades. Finally, I turned to the first one and hacked its head off. I was already panting and feeling my strength reaching its ends when I heard words resounding from somewhere below. ¡°Chosen of Kold!¡± Fry cried out from the bailey. ¡°Chosen of Kold!¡± the man next to him cheered. The soldiers around me who saw my battle, mouthed the words before they cried them out for the others too hear. Very soon, almost all mouths had picked up the chant. ¡°No more will die tonight!¡± I roared and it was met with a mix of cheers and agonized cries and the sickening moans of the undead. I leaped down into the bailey and glanced at the gate. The three beams holding it together had splintered badly and were threatening to give in any minute. Both to my right and left, the palisade suffered damage to sections of wall, through which flailing hands and claws grabbed at whatever they could. The entire thing was about to collapse. ¡°What do we do?¡± Fry said. ¡°We can¡¯t hold much longer, not without Griff and Sergeant Thrin.¡± ¡°Backup line,¡± I yelled. ¡°On me! Form against the gate. Abandon the other sections! Soldiers on the walls, too! Get down and form two lines, here and here. Now!¡± I wasn¡¯t used to people ignoring my orders, yet I expected as much from the Roterwooders. I was a nobody to these men and there was little reason aside from the few good kills I offered to listen to me. And yet, they obeyed, running down the ramparts and forming two lines. It was clear to me why this was the case, however. Losing a commander during a Tide more often than not meant utter destruction. Morale and courage were just as necessary as a good blade. Whoever steps out and gains a grain of respect during those troubled times could be elevated to unite the remaining warriors, no matter who he was. Those were the words of the First Father and they had proven true many times before. ¡°They¡¯ll swarm the palisade without anyone on top!¡± It was a fair assessment, but it came from the same flawed defensive logic that brought the town to the brink of death. ¡°Threelegs, help me with this!¡± I said, rushing to the gate and grabbing the side of one of the beams. The dwarf was surprisingly fast and agile, leaping onto the ramparts, and down into the bailey from there. He rushed over to me and grabbed the other side of the beam. ¡°What the hell ye think yer doing?¡± ¡°Trust me, brother. That is all I ask!¡± The dwarf grunted hard but did as I ordered and we flung the first beam off the gate and into the mud, then the second. ¡°Section three is almost open. We need more people! The palisade won¡¯t hold!¡± ¡°Chosen! What are you doing!¡± one of the soldiers standing in the two lines yelled. ¡°Soldiers of Roterwoods, brave men!¡± I yelled, hefting the last beam as the undead kept bashing against the gate. ¡°I¡¯m going to release the gate and let them flood inside. We stand our ground here. Abandon all positions and gather at the gate. All of you. To the gates!¡± There was a moment of confused silence within which only the horde¡¯s deadly wails echoed across the town. ¡°Do what he says!¡± Fry yelled, breaking the silence and as if woken from a dream, the town¡¯s soldiers abandoned their posts and came rushing to the gates. ¡°Two lines! Archers move off the palisade, don¡¯t be targets! Find high ground behind your brothers.¡± I locked eyes with the dwarf and without another word, we flung the last beam off the lock. ¡°Positions!¡± I yelled and speared back into the first line to take point. ¡°Is this¡ªis this smart?¡± One of the soldiers asked behind me. ¡°Are we going to die tonight?¡± ¡°Shields up!¡± I ordered as the gate broke open and the zombie horde spilled in. A volley of arrows felled the first enemy line, but the second came at us with all the fury of the twice-born. There were now no words to steel the soldier¡¯s hearts. Only actions. I met the horde at the very front, cutting into them with abandon. My was boiling and my heart thundered in my chest. In my mind, I was back. I was Shieldfather and I was about to perform my duty. Hell is waiting for you. I was quickly overwhelmed by a deluge of rotten bodies, suffering claws and bites, blocking some attacks, striking back when I could. A human zombie flung itself at me but met a [Shield Slam] instead of my flesh. It crashed into my steel, and then dropped into the mud with shattered bones. A second came flailing to my left, I ducked, slid my sword across its mid-section, letting its putrid insides wash onto the ground. I swung my sword wide like scythe reaping grain, the Varian blood within me lead my blade. The onslaught was like a pulsing wave of putrid flesh where eyesight meant little, and instinct was everything. First Father guide me. I activated [Triple Block], and defended against a pair of hungry claws aimed at my face from my right. Then blocked another, even angrier pair from my left that almost took my eye. I stabbed forward into rancid flesh. Pulled the sword out with a spray of green, rotten-smelling blood, clenched my teeth, and then blocked a frontal attack by a towering lizard undead. It staggered away from me after meeting my steel. I sensed an opening, drove my shield into the ground, activating [Fissure]. Spikes of jagged rock erupted from below, skewering zombies on both sides. Smaller undead were sent flying, while heavier beasts had their legs torn from under them. Fetid blood and rancid flesh soured the ground and air. Another volley of arrows cut down the following advance. I straightened up and shook the blood from my blade. ¡°Kill the undead! For the Chosen!¡± A stampede of boots behind me suddenly rushed forward, and iron flashed to both my sides as the Roterwood soldiers surged to claim what was theirs. We fought shoulder to shoulder, sweating and bleeding, hacking, slashing, and dying. Undead heads flew from one side to the other. Limbs swirled through the air. Arrows rained against their backlines. Black orbs took out several groups at once, and a hailstorm of icy arrows coming from Threelegs shattered skulls and pinned zombies to one another. ¡°Onward!¡± I yelled, and the line moved, stepping over the undead, crushing them into the mud with heavy boots. Iron ruled and flesh melted before it. It had been just as I knew. The horde had sensed an opening and disengaged from the other points. Their entire force now funneled through the main gate, pushing on, climbing over each other, getting squashed beneath their own filthy feet, clawing onwards, and craving our blood. I felt the indescribable pleasure of having reached level seven sometime between heaving a zombie back into the enemy lines, and skewering another, but had little time to think about skill points. Blades and spears cut through the enemy ranks. Shields held firm, soldiers covered each other, undead bowels sprayed the air, and pale limbs and bodies were crushed beneath our feet. ¡°Push them back through the gate!¡± I commanded, wiping stinking blood off my face. With newfound vigor and courage, the Roterwood soldiers drove the undead out of the bailey and out through the entrance. Archers ran back up the palisade and loosened more death upon the walking dead. ¡°First line, open your ranks, let the second line reinforce!¡± I yelled and the men and women from the backline surged forward as the first line fanned out opening spots for their kinsmen. Without another order given, the Roterwooders spread into a crescent with the gate behind them. The last of the zombies could do nothing against us. The rhythm of the blade sang through their ranks without mercy, without second thought. I couldn¡¯t tell how much longer we fought, but I knew the last zombie died even before the sun climbed over Apple Hill. I felt my legs shake by the end . The sword in my hand still remained there only because my muscles cramped up enough for it not to slide out. ¡°The night is ours!¡± the soldiers cheered as they realized our victory. ¡°Hail the Chosen of Kold!¡± Fry yelled. I was barely able to stand when the cheers began. None of the good men calling my name looked much better, though. They were bloody, exhausted, wounded, and a few lay sadly dead among the rotten corpses. I stood there, taking the praise with my sword held high and my heart full of joy. Even here where overworlders met a fraction of our daily duty, here where weak men fought weak enemies, here where the people looked as rugged as the very undead they were up against, the First Father¡¯s words rang true. ¡°Hail Bleff the Buffer!¡± someone else cried out as the goblin carefully waddled his way toward me. Bleff flinched at the sudden roar in his honor, but then grinned from ear to ear and offered us a little bow. ¡°How the fuck did ye pull this off, lad?¡± Threelegs said chuckling. He had pieces of undead flesh stuck in his black beard. I looked over the sea of corpses and back up at the hard faces of the soldiers around me. ¡°By the shield in my hand and the iron in my heart, dwarf.¡± Threelegs shook his head and snorted. ¡°Kold is watching, friend. He¡¯s always watching.¡± Chapter 18: A Most Deserved Reward The fire in the hearth crackled softly. Heaps of uneaten food and pieces of bones littered the plates and the table. A smear of gravy ran from one end of it, between empty mugs and bread baskets, all the way down Bleff¡¯s lap. The goblin would have no mention of it. He, Zandalee, and Threelegs sat back in their chairs and rubbing their bellies, content like children of Great Oomer¡¯s Home. There were many more soldiers in the Hollow Hog Tavern than the last time we had visited. And they were much friendlier, too. So friendly in fact, that they paid for our meat and drinks. Not all was cheerful, however, and rightly so. When bloody survival ended and the cheers died down, the field of corpses at their feet shook them awake to their grim reality. I was going through my Soulforge, wanting to assign my next skill point. I had deliberated only shortly on what to choose and that was (Iron Leap). An ability that allowed me to jump up to 10 feet into the distance and knock down the hated foe as I landed. A brilliant skill that would embellish my growing arsenal of war. Fry smoked a pipe with his legs crossed at the neighboring table. He eyed us and held his glass raised. ¡°To Captain Griff and Sergeant Thrin, aye.¡± ¡°To the Frostlands with them,¡± I said, and our glasses clinked. Fry and his fellow soldiers smiled albeit wearily. A moment later Zandalee muttered ¡°Frostlands¡± and tsked. ¡°I sense dismissiveness in your tone, demon witch.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me that.¡± ¡°The captain has performed a great act of courage, gnome. He surely will be let to the Frostlands. Such is the will of Kold.¡± ¡°Aye,¡± Fry and the other soldiers agreed. ¡°Besides, have you not summoned a demon tonight? That makes you a demon witch, demon witch.¡± ¡°She¡¯s a warlock, Chosen,¡± Fry said with a knowing grin. ¡°Those are a dime a dozen around here. You better get used to ¡®em.¡± A grim prospect. So many witches, so many demons. These fools had no idea what hellish fires they were playing with. Yet I was too full of meat, tired of battle, Kold forgive me, and much too content to argue. ¡°I will call you warlock then, warlock. So be it.¡± ¡°So be it,¡± the gnome mock repeated, trying to mimic my tone. I sneered at her as dismissively as I could and of course, she sneered back. ¡°Chosen,¡± Fry began. ¡°May we ask you something?¡± When I faced away from the demon witch, I realized all the soldiers in the tavern had come up to Fry¡¯s table. ¡°It must be some question when you all have gathered to hear me answer.¡± Fry smiled then leaned his elbows on the table and puffed out a big cloud of pungent smoke. ¡°We all are more than thankful for what you did last night, aren¡¯t we men?¡± The soldiers heartily confirmed his question. ¡°Aye, well done,¡± one said. ¡°No doubt, no doubt,¡± another muttered. ¡°You knew it was better to let them all through one point, the gate. It saved lives, it saved the wall. You fight them undead like three men would fight ¡®em. We all saw it, didn¡¯t we men?¡± They all confirmed again. ¡°No doubt, no doubt,¡± one said. ¡°Fought like ten men, I¡¯d say,¡± another claimed. ¡°And you breathed into this rune ¡®ere. It began to glow red. The Bloodlight of Kold is what we call it. You saw the rune, right men? I showed it to you.¡± ¡°It glows red, it does,¡± one said. ¡°Bloodlight of Kold it is,¡± another added. I looked upon their hopeful faces and smiled. Kold¡¯s reach was endless, below, above, and beyond the world. ¡°So we was wondering,¡± Fry continued. ¡°Where are you from? And, no offense meant, but who are you?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a Varian Lord of Tartarus, straight from Hell. Blood of Ra¡¯een and blood of Kold,¡± Bleff said, holding up a spoon theatrically. A murmur broke out, and Fry quickly cut into it. ¡°It¡¯s true then, you are a chosen of Kold?¡± ¡°I have no such title, soldiers. I¡¯m first and foremost Shieldfather. Protector of the Steel Bastion. My people have been at the Gates of Hell for cycles unremembered. I have washed ashore at your beach only days ago¡ª¡± ¡°Just like we did, aye?¡± Threelegs said. All heads turned to the dwarf, and he seemed a bit uncomfortable with the attention ¡°I mean¡­Zandalee and Hartar and meself washed ashore there too after the storm took our ship to the bottom.¡± ¡°So the same story, is it?¡± Fry asked. ¡°I was on no ship,¡± I said. ¡°An old wizard tore me from the battle in Hell and cast me onto the beach south of here.¡± ¡°Oh, please. All adventurers land here because their ships sank. It¡¯s a known fact the silver current makes the Tanzanite Sea unsafe. Why are you¡ª¡± Zandalee hissed as if I had somehow offended her with the truth. ¡°He didn¡¯t,¡± Bleff intervened on my behalf. ¡°Trust me, gnome. This one is different.¡± Another round of chatter filled the tavern as the soldiers tried to make sense of it all. ¡°I¡¯m looking to return to Hell. That is all I want to do. And it can¡¯t happen through malicious acts. I need to find an entrance.¡± ¡°An entrance!¡± The gnome snapped her head back in laughter. ¡°There¡¯s no such thing!¡± ¡°Why would you lie, gnome?¡± Fry said. ¡°There¡¯s an entrance to Hell, there always was up north, isn¡¯t there men?¡± ¡°Aye, beyond the Death Mountains in the Firelands,¡± one of them spat as if he¡¯d bitten into rotten food. ¡°It¡¯s where the Ganta are from.¡± Though I promised myself I¡¯d practice constraint, curb my hopes, and weigh the words of the overwolders carefully, I couldn¡¯t stop my heart from racing. ¡°These Firelands, are they far from here?¡± ¡°Are you people for real?¡± Zandalee asked, but nobody paid her any heed. ¡°Aye, they north of the Northlands, beyond the snow. It¡¯s where the Ganta are from. There¡¯s a door to Hell there, they say. Not even the northmen have the balls to go there though. It¡¯s a cursed land.¡± ¡°Then we must venture north. Beyond the Death Mountains, you said?¡± ¡°Aye.¡± ¡°Beyond the Death Mountains, Bleff. Did you hear that? We might have our path laid out for us.¡± The goblin almost choked on a piece of dry cake. ¡°Death Mountains,¡± he mumbled. ¡°Sounds inviting.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no space for cynicism, goblin. This is a moment of joy. Be joyful.¡± I turned to Fry. ¡°And these Ganta you speak of, who are they? There was a northman down south who called me a Ganta God. Why?¡± The soldiers looked at each other with worried faces. ¡°Who knows what a northman is ever talking about, eh? I don¡¯t know why he called you that; all I know is the Ganta and the northmen don¡¯t like each other much. But to tell ye the truth, none of us ever saw a Ganta. They live in the Firelands, they say. And from what I¡¯ve heard, they eat babies and each other.¡± ¡°And so do the Northmen,¡± one of the soldiers said, raising his voice. The others agreed. ¡°I for one never saw a northman either. Why one would show up so far south¡­can¡¯t be a good thing is all I know,¡± another said to more stern nods. The door to the tavern swung open wildly, grabbing everyone¡¯s attention. A soldier stood in the doorframe; his face full of worry. ¡°The Confessor is calling everyone to the square.¡± ¡°Time to hand in quests!¡± Bleff said, clapping his hands together. We walked out of the tavern and into the square where a sizable group of people surrounded the quivering old Lord Confessor. Soldiers who had returned to the barracks after battle stood there in line as well while the fragile old man paced up and down their ranks, his cane thudding across the cobbled stone.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Two men in black-plated armor waited at the entrance to the keep. Their heads were masked by great helmets. They wore the same colors as all the other soldiers, the red tree of Roterwind on their chests and large, well-maintained halberds in their hands. ¡°There they are,¡± he said, pointing the stick at us. The villagers parted as Bleff, Zandalee, Threelegs, and I walked up with Fry and the soldiers that had been with us in the tavern. ¡°Come, come, stand before me, adventurers,¡± he beckoned us impatiently. Gone was the mild, enthusiastic tone from before. The Lord Confessor seemed awfully displeased. Once we found ourselves before him and the commotion died down, the skinny old man raised his cane high. ¡°I hear tales of great cowardice!¡± he announced, raising his weak, croaky voice. ¡°Cowardice that cost our honorable captain and his sergeant their lives!¡± ¡°Cowardice?¡± I muttered but my words died in the erupting murmur that spread between soldiers and villagers. ¡°Lord Edgemere saw it all from up in the keep. His eye ever watching, it is.¡± ¡°Lord Confessor,¡± Fry began. ¡°The captain didn¡¯t die because¡ª¡± ¡°And a new captain must be named,¡± the old man continued. ¡°And I see nobody more worthy than our trusted man Fry Biggens here. Step forward, son. You have done well.¡± The weathered soldier made his way to the front of the crowd but there was no merriment in his step. ¡°Lord Edgemere himself told me of your heroic acts, son. He saw it from up there.¡± The confessor pointed toward the keep which was once again littered with the same black birds that had abandoned the town prior to the battle. ¡°Captain Biggens, hear hear!¡± the Lord Confessor said and the crowd erupted in mild cheers and applause. Many claimed he deserved it, some others thought there was no better man, and a few muttered curses under their breaths, but such was the game of ascension. There would always be those who thought themselves more worthy. ¡°Now as our new captain, you¡¯re ordered to bring Lord Edgemere the coward adventurer responsible for Captain Griff¡¯s death,¡± the old man said grimly and a heavy silence landed among the crowd. ¡°Lord Confessor, the adventurers fought bravely. There was not a single¡ª¡± ¡°Dwarf!¡± the old man almost shrieked, pointing his cane at Threelegs. ¡°The captain could hardly follow every man during such a battle, but Lord Edgemere¡¯s eyes miss nothing. You¡¯ve been sentenced to the interrogation chamber for your cowardice.¡± ¡°No!¡± Zandalee yelled. ¡°No, no, not again!¡± ¡°Be silent, gnome! Captain Biggens,¡± the confessor said, tapping the iron cage next to him with his cane. ¡°Escort the dwarf to the keep. You, soldiers, restrain that gnome, will you?¡± ¡°But Lord Confessor, Threelegs fought¡ª¡± ¡°Will defiance be your first act as captain?¡± The two guards in black plate standing at the entrance to the keep took a step forward as if in warning. ¡°No, Lord Confessor.¡± ¡°This man is no coward!¡± I yelled, raising my tone above the murmur. The Lord Confessor eyed me shortly then turned away and waddled towards his guards. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, Zandalee,¡± Threelegs said, taking a deep breath as two of the soldiers who were sitting with us in the tavern restrained the thrashing gnome. ¡°They¡¯re just using us, Threelegs!¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± the dwarf said, assuing her again. He didn¡¯t fight the soldiers leading him into the iron cage and went willingly though a dark mask had spread across his face. This was injustice and I wouldn¡¯t stand for it, yet I knew little of the customs here, and seeing Threelegs offering no resistance, I restrained my urge to protest. They locked the iron cage with the dwarf inside and began rolling it into the keep as Captain Biggens watched the procedure. He seemed angry but resigned. There were no cheers or applause or words of cowardice like the morning before when Hartar, Zandalee¡¯s husband was taken. On the contrary, most of the crowd hurriedly made their way home, or back to the walls to fix any damage it sustained during the earlier battle. ¡°Get some rest, men,¡± Fry said, shaking his head. They ushered the prisoner into his cage, and the two black guards disappeared behind the doors. The Lord Confessor remained outside and beckoned the two of us over. As my shadow landed on the fragile old man, he looked up at me with a forced smile that made his lips shiver in effort. ¡°You¡¯ve done well last night, I hear.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a Shieldfather. My life is to protect. You took an innocent man to the interrogation chamber. I hope your questions will be honorable and your judgement fair.¡± ¡°Fair?¡± the Lord Confessor snorted and just as I felt he was about to laugh, he grew ridiculously serious. ¡°Of course I¡¯m fair. Wouldn¡¯t be the Lord Confessor if I wasn¡¯t. Now, don¡¯t you bother yourself with that. Us Roterwooders have our way of doing things. It¡¯s our land and our right.¡± ¡°So it is,¡± I said. ¡°Now then, where was I? Yes. You¡¯ve finished your quest, big fellow,¡± he said and with that, my Soulforge chimed. QUEST: The Long Night Complete! DESCRIPTION: Defend Roterwoods for one night against the undead horde. REWARD: 300 XP, 2 GOLD, 1x Beekeepers Gloves Just as I accepted my reward, I felt my body tremble in elation. I had reached level 8 and the few wounds and cuts I suffered disappeared. It took me a moment to fully come to my senses and when I did, I noticed Bleff standing there, drooling away as he enjoyed a level-up as well. ¡°Get a grip on yourself, goblin,¡± I said, shaking him sober. ¡°Wha?¡± ¡°I thank you, Lord Confessor. The reward will serve us well on our way to Hell.¡± ¡°To Hell?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Whatever. If you enjoyed the reward, perhaps you¡¯ll consider giving the defense another round. The reward is the same, and if you defend Roterwoods for seven nights in a row, you¡¯ll get a really big one.¡± ¡°Seven nights? That is too much time, Lord Confessor. We must be on our way. But I thank you for the opportunity. Once again, I have no doubt your justice is fair but do know that I saw Threeleg¡¯s heroics with my own two eyes. If you have any respect for me, and I feel like you do, show him the mercy he deserves. We¡¯ll be on our way¡ª¡± ¡°One more night!¡± the Lord Confessor said, surprising himself with the urgency in his own voice. He cleared his throat and continued in a more patient manner. ¡°Then one more night, Shieldfather. We need your prowess out there. The soldiers told me you¡¯ve led them to victory. Perhaps you could teach them a thing or two. If you do, your friend Threelegs will be treated with nothing but the utmost respect.¡± Though I disliked his tone, and many other aspects of his existence, my honor would not let me walk away from people in need of my help. Especially because the help in question was the defense of a town. ¡°One more night, Lord Confessor. And then you are on your own again.¡± ¡°Of course, yes. Yes. Excellent.¡± His rotting teeth chattered. He licked his lips then offered me the same quest again and I accepted. He vanished behind the iron door shortly after and I hurriedly scanned my inventory for the new pair of gloves. NAME: Beekeeper¡¯s Gloves TYPE: Leather Gloves DEFENSE: 2 STRENGTH: +1 CONSTITUTION: +1 COLD RESISTANCE: +5 PASSIVE ABILITY: Can¡¯t be disarmed. DESCRIPTION: They used to belong to a long-dead beekeeper. Or was he long lost? Maybe he just moved. Strange are the ways of the beekeepers. In any case, they¡¯ve been dipped in honey one too many times and are all sticky. This sweet attribute prevents any attempt to disarm the wearer. Well done. Why the description needed to tell me I did well was beyond me as always. Yet I more than appreciated the effect the gloves had. I happily pulled them on and clenched my fists, feeling the warm, comfortable leather against my skin. ¡°Check this out, big man,¡± Bleff said, showing me a ring on his hairy finger. It was barely an iron band without any embellishments, but the goblin seemed awfully proud. ¡°Brings in two more intellect. And that¡¯s not all. With my new level, I can now do this,¡± he said and weaved his hands into the familiar (Word of Vitality). As the spell landed, I saw my health rise by a significant 80 points. Just as I was to offer words of praise, Bleff held his hand up. ¡°One more thing, hold on.¡± He clenched his fist and raised it again. As he did, I received another 40 points of health. ¡°That¡¯s (Word of One).¡± The goblin grinned. ¡°My (Word of Vitality) adds 80 points to anyone I buff, but my (Word of One) buffs any of my other buffs by 50%. I can only have it active on one target, but it¡¯s still pretty nifty.¡± ¡°That it is,¡± I said truthfully. Bleff blabbered on about his buffs, new ring, ate some boogers, and told stories of his life as an orc as I scanned through my skills. I assigned another point to one of the first skills that allowed me to increase the defense of my shield from 50% to 100%. This meant my buckler now offered a very solid 12 points of defense. I grinned, satisfied with the result, and then quickly glanced over my stats. STAT SCREEN NAME: SHIELDFATHER RACE: VAINAR CLASS: IRON TOWER WARRIOR LEVEL: 8 DEFENSE: 25 ATTACK: 15 HEALTH: 220 (+120) STRENGTH: 15 [+3 from race modifier] CONSTITUTION: 18 [+5 from race modifier] AGILITY: 9 INTELLECT: 5 FIRE RESISTANCE: +60 COLD RESISTANCE: -40 EXPERIENCE: 32/480 TO LEVEL 9 My defense skill had increased significantly with level 8, and I had no doubt in my mind that the following night would be all that much easier for it. My cold resistance was slowly building up too, though it still took all my resolve not to shake most of the time. Luckily there was ample killing around this place to keep me warm. ¡°Anyway,¡± Bleff yawned, ¡°Let¡¯s get some shuteye, Shieldfather.¡± I looked up at the keep one more time, trying to see if I could gauge this Lord Edgemere peeking through one of the openings on the upper floors, but it was in vain. There was a shroud of unease about that place and despite the rewards, I was looking forward to leaving Roterwoods as soon as possible. On our way back up the stairs and to our bedroom, we found Zandalee standing in the hallway as if waiting for us. Her eyes were red and her face puffy. ¡°You two,¡± she said, then opened the door next to ours and beckoned us inside. Bleff gave me a quizzical look and I shrugged, following the gnome¡¯s call. She shut the door behind us and put her hands on her tiny hips. ¡°You need to help me get Threelegs and Hartar out of there. I¡¯m not leaving this rotten place until I get them back.¡± ¡°I was assured by the Lord Confessor that Threeleg¡¯s interrogation would be fair and just, gnome. You mustn¡¯t worry¡ª¡± ¡°Are you that thick-skulled? You think anyone ever leaves the interrogation chamber? I¡¯ve been here for four days now and I never saw anyone leave!¡± ¡°Just because he¡¯s foul-looking, has little teeth, a terrible breath, and a demon¡¯s hunch, doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s evil. Look at Bleff.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Bleff agreed. ¡°Listen to me,¡± Zandalee continued. ¡°That bastard confessor promised us a great deal of rewards if we were to stay for a week. The first night we were here there was another adventurer called Jibbers with us. He was called a coward the next morning. Then it was Hartar the day after, now Threelegs. Who do you think comes next?¡± ¡°You?¡± Bleff asked. ¡°Or you!¡± she snapped. ¡°I don¡¯t know what they do with people inside that keep, but it isn¡¯t anything good. Threelegs and I were coming up with a plan and when we saw you two arrive, I knew we could use you somehow, but I wasn¡¯t sure how. Not yet. Now I know. We need to sneak into the keep when the horde begins its attack¡ª¡± ¡°I will be at the wall when the horde arrives, warlock. There is no other place for me in this world or any other. That said, there might be something to your words. This town fills me with unease, I must say.¡± I looked through the window in Zandalee¡¯s room and saw a small flock of black birds perched on a tree. They all seemed to look in my direction somehow. ¡°However, all you have are empty accusations. Let us have one more night here and I will make a fair judgment afterward.¡± ¡°There won¡¯t be an after!¡± she snapped and glared at me for a long moment, but then drove her face into her hands and sobbed. Bleff and I looked at each other before the goblin landed a hand on her shoulder. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. Shieldfather is here, he¡¯ll sort it all out. Trust me.¡± She pushed his hand away and looked up, tears streaming down her cheeks. ¡°I¡¯ll do it myself then. Just go.¡± ¡°One more night,¡± I said, raising my voice. ¡°Let me teach these people how to defend themselves and I¡¯ll do everything I can to free Threelegs. I promise.¡± Zandalee looked at me with her big, purple eyes and I knew there was no trust in those. ¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± I said, getting up. ¡°Bleff, let us rest and you should too, warlock. Tomorrow you will see your friends again.¡± The gnome said nothing, and I understood why. I closed the door behind us and breathed out slowly. ¡°What is justice in this world, Bleff?¡± ¡°What¡¯s justice? I don¡¯t know. Look at me, Shieldfather. If there was justice, would I really look like this?¡± I thought on it, I thought on his cowardice, and his occasional, mostly accidental heroics. Then I thought about the inevitable tears that would follow the truth were I to utter it. ¡°The Gods give and take as they see fit. Let us rest.¡±