Chapter 170: The Gift of Revenge (Part 1)
The sun set behind the Impassable Mountain Range and the missionary group made camp on a patch of open ground beside the road.
They were disciplined about it — tents positioned quickly, the bonfire laid in the center with wood gathered before the light went, the porridge set to boil with the efficiency of soldiers who had made camp in worse conditions than this. The armor came off and the warriors stretched the fatigue from their bodies, settling around the fire with the weary patience of people who had been riding for weeks and had one more day left.
Alicia carried hot water to the Priestess’s tent.
“Thank you.” Mira dipped her towel. “Tomorrow we arrive.” The line of her shoulders eased slightly. “I won’t miss the porridge.”
“Your horsemanship,” Alicia said. “I hadn’t expected it, from a Priestess.”
“I wasn’t born a Priestess.” Mira wiped the day’s dust from her face, the motion practiced, thorough. “I was a peddler before the Church. You learn to ride quickly or you learn to walk slowly. I preferred the former.” She handed the pot back. “Wash your face. It will help.”
Alicia took the pot. Said nothing.
“You’re still thinking about what Abrams said,” Mira said. Not a question.
”…”
The God’s Punishment Army. Abrams’s brother was one of them now — had chosen to become one, had entered the ceremony voluntarily and had emerged from it no longer quite himself. When Abrams had encountered his brother in the corridor of the Hermes compound, the man had looked through him without recognition. No anger, no distance — nothing. The face of his brother wearing someone else’s absence.
“Sacrifice is necessary,” Mira said, her voice settling into the particular register she used when she was teaching rather than simply speaking. “The Church’s enemies are powerful. The God’s Punishment Army is our answer to them. Those who join it do so understanding what they give up. That sacrifice is written into the monument of glory, alongside the Church’s continued existence.” She paused. “Choose the lesser of two evils. You know the motto.”
“Choose the lesser of two evils,” Alicia said.
The weight she’d been carrying shifted. Didn’t lift entirely, but shifted — redistributed itself into something she could carry further.
She raised her right hand to her heart.
“Thank you for your guidance.”
She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep when she heard the first sound.
A heavy thing hitting earth. Then again. Then, unmistakably: the ring of a blade hitting armor, a sound that carried through the tent fabric and the camp noise and arrived in her chest as something her body recognized before her mind did.
She was already sitting up when the presiding Judge’s voice split the night: “We’re under attack!”
Then a second sound — louder, different, wrong — and the voice stopped.
Alicia rolled out of the tent with her sword in hand.
The Judge was in two pieces. Precisely in two pieces, with the mechanical specificity of a cleaving blow that had not hesitated at the breastplate or the spine. His blood had gone up before it came down. At the center of the camp, a woman in a black robe stood with a blade that was catching the firelight — not throwing it back but drinking it, the surface of the weapon too dark and too dense to reflect normally.
Gold eyes, beneath the hood.
Two Judges moved at her simultaneously. She moved through them: one sound, two sounds, the specific crunch of steel meeting bone at speed, and one was down and the other was down and there were nine of them remaining and the gap was not narrowing.
“Witch!” someone shouted.
“Take the Priestess and flee.” Abrams, from behind her, his voice entirely steady. “The objective is her survival. That’s why we’re here.”
“I won’t—”
“Their deaths will mean nothing if you don’t move. She’s an extraordinary. God’s Stone won’t help us.” His jaw was set. “Take the Priestess back toward Longsong on the road. Stay visible — flag down any caravan you see.” He looked at her once, fully, the look of a man distributing what time he has left into decisions that matter. “Go.”
He turned and went toward the woman.
Alicia went toward the tent.
She pulled Mira out still reaching for her shoes, got them to the horses, changed her mind — the horses on the road would be heard — turned into the tree line instead, pulling the Priestess by the hand through undergrowth that tore at their clothes, moving by moonlight and instinct further from the fire and the sounds that were still, intermittently, happening behind them.
The sounds stopped.
She didn’t stop moving.
When they reached the foot of the mountain range, she finally slowed. The forest around them was quiet except for birds. No pursuit sounds, no footsteps. She had been counting her own breathing for the last quarter-hour and it was finally slowing to something reasonable.
“What now?” Mira asked. The Priestess’s voice was remarkably even. “Border Town is closer.”
“No.” Alicia shook her head. “The extraordinary was here, between us and Border Town, moving in that direction. It’s not coincidence.” She looked at the dark tree-line behind them. “The Lord has associated himself with witches. The direction isn’t safe.”
“That is a reasonable conclusion,” Mira said. And then her eyes went wide.
Alicia turned.
The woman in the black robe stood at the edge of the shadows. No hurry in her posture. An owl, silent, on her shoulder. The gold eyes found Alicia and held.
Chapter 170 The Gift of Revenge (Part 1)
The sun slowly sank fell behind the mountains, allowing the night to descend over the Western Territory.
Not far from the road, the emissary group had discovered a piece of open land where they had decided to set up their tents.
Not a very long time later, a bonfire was burning in the center of their camp finally allowing the warriors to take off their armor and stretch out their tired bodies. Sitting leisurely around the fire, they waited for the porridge to start to boil.
Carrying a pot of hot water, Alicia stepped into one of the tents, “Priestess, I brought some hot water with me, please use this to wash your face.”
“Thank you.” Mira smiled and nodded in thanks, then dipped her towel into the water. “Tomorrow we will finally reach Border Town, we can then put an end to this exhausting journey.”
“The journey was nothing when compared to a fight against a demonic beast,” Alicia replied. “Contrary to what I had expected it was your horsemanship that made me have a whole new level of respect for you. I had never thought that a Priestess would be so well accustomed to traveling.”
“Haha, that’s only normal. After all, I wasn’t born as a Priestess. Before my life in the Church I was a peddler, so riding quickly is a common thing for me.” Mira answered while she wiped her face clean from the day’s dust and sweat. When she was done, she handed the pot back to the warrioress, “Here, you should also wash your face. Maybe it will help you feel better?”
“What?” Alicia became startled by the Priestess’ unexpected words.
“This is still about the matter of the God’s Punishment Army, ah,” the Priestess shook her head while still smiling, “your mood is clearly visible on your face and is still clearly affected by Abrams’ words.”
“…” Even though she took the pot, she didn’t give her an answer.
“We, ah, during your lifetime you will encounter many difficulties and challenges, if you aren’t able to get past these thresholds, not only the church, but the whole world suffer as a result. In order to hold back those terrible enemies, sometimes sacrifice is also necessary.” Mira began to lecture, “It’s a difficult choice, but never forget the church’s motto.”
“Choose the lesser of two evils” Alicia whispered.
Above all, joining the God’s Punishment Army was entirely voluntary, and when Abrams’s brother had decided to become a member of the God’s Punishment Army, he was well informed about what this would mean for him. Being prepared to sacrifice oneself for the Church, this was one of the most noble of ideals, and for this sacrifice, his name would be forever engraved on the monument of glory, being spread together with the glory of the Church.
“Thank you for your guidance,” Alicia said as she raised her right hand up to her heart “I feel much better now.”
What the Priestess had said was right, in order to spread its glory, they devoted all of their energy to God. Regardless of the outcome, the members of the God’s Punishment Army were at least following in their own beliefs. Coming to this conclusion, Alicia felt how a weight had been lifted from her chest.
“We should go out and get something to eat, until now they should have had enough time to get it done,” Mira laughingly said. “Really, we have eaten so much porridge lately, that our tongues can’t even taste the its flavor anymore.”
“Fortunately, today will be the last day,” Alice couldn’t stop herself from starting to laugh, “Tomorrow we should be able to enjoy the Lord’s personal
hospitality and also receive a sumptuous meal.”
After eating their tasteless dinner, the presiding judge elected to be tonight’s night watch, and the lucky warriors who weren’t elected immediately entered their tents, trying to get an early sleep. Alicia was no exception to this, together with the Priestess she also returned to their tent, putting out the lamp then covering themselves with their blankets.
She didn’t know for how long she had been sleeping, but within a dizzy moment, she suddenly heard a slightly muffled sound, it was as if a big object had been thrown onto the ground. Not much later the sound could be heard again.
This time, she had heard something clashing against an armor, it wasn’t obvious, but by no means was it just an illusion she might be having.
She abruptly opened her eyes wide.
Standing up, Alicia quickly grabbed her two-handed sword which laid beside her, slowly going to the side of the tent, preparing to sit in a corner and wait-and-see, but at this exact moment the roar of the presiding judge could be heard, “We’re under attack!” With this roar, which instantly broke the quiet of the night, the camp immediately started to boil.
Then the sound of another loud clash could be heard!
And with it, the loud voice of the presiding judge also came to an abrupt end.
No longer hesitating, Alicia rolled out of the tent, seeing how the presiding judge’s sword was split in half, no… it wasn’t only his sword, even the Judge himself had been split in half, sending all of his blood into the sky. Within the shine of the campfire, Alicia could see his body powerlessly fall to his knees, slowly splitting into two and falling to the foot of a woman.
It looked like this woman who was holding a strange sword in her hands, was the attacker. She had shrouded her body in a black robe and her face had also been covered by a hood. Within the shadows of her hood, the only thing Alicia could make out were her two sparkling golden eyes.
Two other Judges rushed forward in an attempt to stop this woman, but in front of her terrifying weapon any thought of resistance was considered futile. The enemy was not only able to easily behead one warrior, she even split his sword into two as well. She could first hear the loud sound of two swords clashing, and then sparks and debris began to scatter everywhere, soon followed with the sound of a sword cutting into the flesh and it then crushing bones. Hearing this cacophony of nightmare like sounds, her blood almost solidified.
“Witch!” Someone exclaimed.
The enemy was only one person… alone on her own, she dared to attack the camp of the Army of Judges, with the exception of the power of a fallen one, no one else would have been able to do this!
“Take the Priestess and flee” Alicia suddenly heard a steady voice coming from behind her.
Turning around she saw that the speaker was actually Abrams.
“You actually want me to flee and leave my companions behind?” Alicia couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
“Or else the death of the others will have been meaningless, it seems you simply don’t understand this!” Abrams growled, “The other side isn’t affected by our God’s Stone of Retaliation, and that is only the case if they are an extraordinary. So, I will try to stop her, while it is your task to bring the Priestess back in the direction of Longsong Stronghold! Remember to always use the road, so that in case you met a caravan you can immediately call for help!” Then grasping his sword he rushed towards the enemy.
An extraordinary, sucking in a mouthful of cold air, according to legends, only the members of the God’s Punishment Army are strong enough to fight against them. Everyone who encounters an extraordinary witch has to immediately seek help from the local church. Alicia knew that Abram was right, staying here would only turn their sacrifices into a vain act.
Seeing that they had already lost five members, the remaining Judges changed their strategy. They used the tents and the terrain to start a catching game, trying to win as much time as the possibly could. But Alicia knew that the strength and speed of the witch were much better than that of her companions, so it was only a matter of time before they all died.
Biting the bullet, she rushed into the tent, immediately grasping the Priestess who was still trying to get into her shoes and began to pull her in the direction of the horses.
“What happened?” Maggie asked in confusion.
“The camp was attacked by an extraordinary! I must bring you away!” She shouted back, “Please hurry!”
However, with no possibility of seeing the road clearly enough during the night, it became quite a difficult task. If they ran too fast, they could easily trip into a roadside bump, injuring their legs in the process, but if they were too slow, it would be way too easy for the witch to catch up with them.
Alicia decided to let the horses run down the road, while the Priestess and herself would enter into the woods, which grew along the road. Making it quite hard for the enemy to find them without the help of fire.
Leaving the sound of the colliding weapons behind her, she pulled the Priestess by hand, only relying on the dim moonlight to identify the surrounding environment. Always moving away from the road, and further in the direction of the center of the woods. Increasing the possibility for them to meet with wild animals like vipers, but this would still be better than confronting the witch directly.
When the two stumbled across the foot of the Impassable Mountain Range, Alicia finally felt a little relieved, it seemed the witch had given up on her pursuit. With the exception of some bird cries, the surroundings were now completely silent.
“What are we going to do now?” Mira asked.
Even knowing what could happen it seemed that she wasn’t very scared. Seeing how calm the priestess was, Alicia’s heart was full of admiration, “Priestess, we should look for a place to rest, and stay there to rest for the night. At dawn, we will then return back to Longsong Stronghold and seek support from there.”
“Shouldn’t we go into the direction of Border Town? From here, we will at most need a day and a night to reach the stronghold.”
“No,” said Alicia, shaking her head. “Meeting an extraordinary here is too coincidental. I suspect that the Lord has already associated himself with the witches, and with this, it is too dangerous for us to go to the town.”
“What you say makes sense” But then the Priestess’ eyes became large and she looked straight behind Alicia.
Seeing her reaction, Alicia’s heart sank. And indeed, when she turned around, she saw the witch dressed in her black robe slowly stepping out of the dark shadows, her eyes were sparkling like stars, and an owl was hovering over her shoulders.