Chapter 5: The End Of A Turn

April 1, year 0 of the guardian calendar

Season: Spring

A dream? Was I asleep?

Scitus calculated and made explanations for his dream, he was never once sleepy but ending his turn caused him to sleep and the moment he woke up the month, the year and season flooded into his mind.

"When I founded the kingdom it was March first, I slept for 24 days.“ another number popped into his, a number that’s meaning was understood in an instant. “no, I slept for 25 days.” the number that had appeared in his mind was the number 32 and its significance was that every month had exactly 32 days.

The daze from the flood of information that poured into his mind allowed Max and Robin go unnoticed by their god.

When Scutus’s stupor faded and his full faculties returned, he, at last, noticed the kneeling Max and Robin before him.

“please return, kind master” Max had not noticed his god's quiet return, both he and his son had their eyes closed to concentrate on calling their god.

"I've returned." Max's ears twitch and he opens his eyes. His eyes stare at Scitus, making sure he isn’t an illusion and once he Is convinced that it is his god, he stands up with his head down. Robin follows his father's example and lowers his head.

“master.” Maximus’s voice is calm in the same way a captain in war is. “ogre king attack. Lose Thomas, lose Cecilia”

Scitus took a step forward, he was near twice their height and unintentionally intimidating. He looked down at the two, "what happened." His voice expressed concern for the two. Robin, who was still kneeling, raised his head. His eyes glowed and in his mind was the emotion of satisfaction. He knew he wouldn't come to regret trusting Scitus.

Robin stood up so that he could face his god without having to break his neck to do so. “Not long, sun not go.” The normally composed goblin was anxious, and his movements made it the clear that he was scared for the lives of his friends.

“Seresa tell more” Maximus and Robin beckon him to follow them. The two run towards where Seresa was, their speed almost prevented Scitus from following them, but with a deep breathe and a force release of adrenaline, he managed to stay several feet behind them.

As Scitus' ran deeper into the forest, chopped down trees began to emerge in his field of vision. Most were of a similar size, others were slightly rotted trees but all of them were stacked into neat piles alongside each other. The amount collected surpassed Scitus’s expectations even if he had been gone for little under a month.

“Seresa.” He whispered to himself as if wanting to confirm something.

The stench of blood marked their destination, all around Scitus, he could see injured goblins crying for help. A few took a glimpse at him and whimpered incomprehensible words but the words were laced with a deeper emotion. The eyes looked at him, they begged him for salvation. Scitus turn away, fearing the responsibility, then he closed his eyes for a moment and steeled himself. He returned the gaze of the pleading goblins with eyes full of pride, this small gesture gave them the strength to fight the pain for a bit longer.

A few of the uninjured goblins looked at him much the same, but their plea was not for themselves, it was the opposite, he could sense something inside them, a single plea. “please allow me to take his place.” The whimpers echoed in his head, it brought him great pain to know that if he had been there to guide them, things may have been different.

“Seresa here” Robin points to a young goblin with someone in her arms, of all the goblins, the one she held was in the worst state. the soul In his eyes was gone, his body was limp and blood trickled down from his lips to her arms. She carried his upper body and stared at it with a stone expression. She didn’t even twitch, nor turn to face Scitus when he got closer.

“seresa, master return.” She didn’t move for several seconds, Robin decided to nudge her but as he stretched his arm out to tab her shoulder, Scitus stopped him. He shook his head. Robin quickly put his arm down as he stared at the reddened eyes of his god.

Finally, after another few seconds, Seresa lays her brother down and turned to face them.

“ogre king, attack, master. Many hurt." With the small stone in her pocket, she began to draw tick marks on a small area of dirt, with every increased tick, her hand slowed while her trembling grew. At the sixth mark, Scitus knelt down and gently grabbed hold of her palm. His eyes were as kind as he remembered. Quickly, she used her other hand to wipe the tears that began to spill but before she could wipe the right side of her face, Scitus grabbed hold of her other hand. She finally understood what he was trying to do.

“okay.” She said as she finally allowed herself to grief, Scitus released her allowing her to mourn her brother. She wailed as she fell in front of her brother, wiping the grass on her face, trying to muffle her screams.

As she screamed, Scitus noticed a sudden rise of William's chest, then it would disappear for several seconds. Still kneeling, Scitus reached for William's hand and felt its pulse, it was weak but still there. Normally he could not be saved without proper medical equipment and the right expertise, Scitus had neither, but what he did have was magic.

Without a word, Scitus put a hand on Seresa’s shoulder, she raised prostrating body to meet him.

"Forgive," Scitus says as he dries her tears with his thumb.

William was a valuable asset and it was wrong to think that Scitus didn’t see William as valuable, but underneath all that, he still had empathy. As much as he tried to deny his own humanity, as much as he wanted to be the cold calculating genius that the world painted him as, he could deny himself, he couldn’t watch someone die knowing he could have helped.

He wanted to protect the happiness of the goblins, he wanted them to have the sense of family that was stolen from him. His eyes darted from place to place, he knew there was an enemy in the area but he didn't know who. His healing ability should have taken effect once the battle was over and nothing was happening.

"Robin," He asks him as he finished counting the goblins in the area.

“Yes?!!” caught off guard by his tone, Robin raises his guard.

“that enemy!!” Scitus knew that Robin always carried the sharp stone blade with him, it was his prized possession since he made it himself. Robins eyes follow his god's finger and finds the outsider lurking near two mourning goblins, a goblin that went unnoticed due to the commotion.

Everyone in the tribe knew everyone else, an outsider was easy to spot but for a human like Scitus, finding the difference between one goblin and another was incredibly difficult, but it was a testament to his dedication to them.

Robin bolted towards the unsuspecting goblin. The closer he got the more he hated himself for not noticing his boots, something no goblin in their tribe had, nor did he notice the blade tucked in the spaces between his boots. Seresa would have noticed, the thought crossed his mind, but as he got closer the thought faded into irrelevancy.

With a giant leap over a fallen goblin, he reaches his target. The goblins were startled at first and then panic when Robin swipes at the goblins neck, an area that Scitus explicitly told him to aim for when killing deer. Like a broken fountain, the goblins neck spurts blood onto the four goblins there. The goblin clutches his neck as his eyes widen in shock but before he can collect his thoughts, Robins stabs him a second time, and a third and fourth.

"I KILL!!!" the goblin had already fallen to the ground but Robin continued his relentless attacks. With a slash and then a two-handed stab and another slash, the goblin was quickly beginning to resemble minced meat.

Robin was angry at himself just as much as he was angry at the goblin. He hated the fact that he didn’t notice the awful smell coming from the goblin, how could he have let his people suffer for so long? Then a sudden thought came over him why? For the first time in his life, he asked why it was all happening, why goblins were killing goblins, why the world hated them so much, why the ogre king had to attack. He didn’t understand what was happening to him, it was as if his mind was expanding as if a someone had opened a door and the door led to revelation after revelation

Robin stopped attacking, a black aura consumes the area. One minute had passed since the death of the goblin and the battle was now officially over. Robin looks around him and witnesses a miracle, people whose legs were broken in three and people whose arms were little more than broken mesh began to heal. In a matter of moments, their injuries were healed

……….

“Seresa” Scitus holds onto her shoulder for a few seconds before turning to William who’s state was still far from ideal. William was perhaps the best fighter in the tribe, but Scitus had already forgotten about his value as a pawn and only saw his value as a person. He knew the importance he had for Seresa, the last living relative, Scitus never asked but he knew William was all he had left, it was why she would often take glances at him. she was surely fearing for his safety.

Scitus looked towards robin who at that time was relentlessly stabbing the goblin, it was almost time for the healing to take effect but suddenly William's chest stopped moving. Frantic, Scitus gently pushes Seresa out of the way and begins to perform CPR on William.

"1, 2, 3" he pushed Williams chin up, and breathed air into his lungs, he repeated the process, he does this for thirty seconds at which point a black aura consumes William.

Scitus took a gamble, he didn’t know if his ability to heal them extended to healing internal organ ruptures but was elated to this very healing happen to all the goblins around him. the same phenomenon was happening to William, little by little his internal injuries were repaired and finally, the light in his eyes returned along with the strength of his heart beats.

"I okay!!" William lifts his body up like a certain undead wrestler and with a powerful yell he lets out his emotions. His glee was not for himself but rather, it was for his sister who stood by him through the whole ordeal. It was as if he is trying to tell her, you don't have to cry anymore.

“You okay!!” Seresa yells and hugs her brother, tears gushing like a waterfall from her eyes and down her bony cheeks.

Seresa then turned to Scitus and prostrated before him, this was her thanks. Scitus didn’t want to be thanked, he felt it was his fault the first place so he asked her to raise her head. “I do job.” He said as he rubbed the top of her bald head.

“hair?” he thought as he felt the small pricks of hair but then quickly went back to patting her head.