The journey home was silent. None could muster the strength to speak their minds. The former enemies rode over mountain and valley only stopping to clear the path of Undvik’s scouts. The three shuddered in unison as they passed through the cities of man. The hopelessness so palpable it fell upon them like waves. When the trio reached the top of the gorge of tricerz and peered down into the endless sea of bodies that was Undvik’s army. Hokron turned to Virgil and Pim and spoke.

“Look forth upon the armies of certain death. Look forth my friends upon doom itself and know with conviction that our resistance is futile. Know that we shall fail in our charge, our cities shall fall, our weapons break, and all of man will know Hell. Yet we shall resist anyway. Know that so long as I draw breath never once shall we falter in our cause.”

***

I dumbly stood there for a moment. It was a beautiful night. Not a star in the sky as always. A nice cool breeze had the dead tree branches swaying. A few tents, dismantled wagons, and campfires spotted the horizon. Closer by were several dark wood and brick buildings. They were a mixture of gothic and nordic architecture that I didn’t think would work as well as it did. On any other occasion this might have been considered a cozy village. That or one of those starter towns in an RPG. The one thing that could deduct from the beautiful scene was the reception.

Fifty armed guards were waiting right outside our cell.

Fifty. Guards.

Each was armored with a tower shield and a long spear. From what I could make out they were also wearing chainmail and helmets. In comparison I was naked with only a dull sword and the dagger. My only ally being the Cardinal who had nothing but the clothes he had just stolen.

I could feel frustration build up inside me. It’s just one thing after the other in this world isn’t it. Out of the frying pan and into the fire doesn’t even begin to describe it. Every step forward gets me killed, ripped apart, glued togethor then pushed back. It’s infuriating.

Sadly, the guards didn’t give me time to finish my mental rant as they immediately took a double rowed semicircle position around me and the cardinal. With tower shields up, proudly displaying the twin swords and skull, and spears forward the guards began to advance upon us.

“I suppose we will be unable to reason our way out of this.” Said the Cardinal after taking a sweeping glance at out predicament.

“You’ve been doing this for a while haven’t you? How do we get out of this?” I asked hoping he had some hidden ace up his sleeve.

“Normally I would give up and return to the cell. This just being a matter of poor luck. However, I do not think that will be necessary this time. So long as you stay by my side fair Challenger, I will be quite safe. Your guide has to collect you at some point.”

“SILENCE! MEN SPEARS FORWARD! SHIELDS STRONG! NOW CHARGE!” With a sweeping roar all the guards flew forward.

Fifty spears shot out at me and the Cardinal. Since the spears were so close it was easy to take control and parry many at once. I was able to swipe away three of the spears in front of me only to be stabbed in the ribs and shoulder. Instead of retracting their weapons and thrusting again the guards simply charged their spears through. I caught another spear to the cheek forcing my head to the side. I watched as the Cardinal fared no better than me and was pinned down by spear after spear.

If you can’t kill your enemies you have to immobilize them huh.

I was slowly drowned in the pain of my stab wounds. With every second another spear met my flesh and limited my movement. I tried to back up and pull myself from the spears only to hit the outside wall of the cell. I struggled to keep my eyes open as my vision went blurry.

Shit.

I was going to die again. Again, I was going to be forced into a cell and tortured. I was going to suffer more and more simply because I was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

No.

No.

NO.

NO! NO! NO!

No more pain. No more. No more. No more. No more. No more. No more. No more. No more No more. No more. No more. No more. No more. No more. No more. No more No more. No more. No more. No more. No more. No more. No more. No more No more. No more. No more. No more. No more. No more. No more. No more. NO MORE PAIN.

please….

I’m human too…

Heat began to build up inside me. My heart fell down into despair. Plummeting down into further and further into my chest. Until it finally vanished. I felt empty hopeless. I was going to give up. The pain was just to much.

I can’t do this.

At that very thought heat filled my body. My heart shot back up into my chest. Beating so hard it was about to escape my battered chest. Anger fueled me. Anger I didn’t know I had. Anger I didn’t even know was possible to have. There was so much it filled every part of my body and then some. It felt so unnatural as if it was forced up into me. In an instant every ounce of despair was converted into pure…

WRATH.

My hand dropped to the dagger without a thought. I gripped it so hard I thought the handle might break. With all my might I threw myself towards the Cardinal. Bits of flesh flew off my body as spears ripped out of me. I didn’t feel a thing. I landed right before the Cardinal, jammed the dagger into his throat and drained. It was barely any vitality, but it was more than enough for my purposes. I threw the dull sword away and charged under the spears.

I wasn’t trained with a sword. I had no clue had to use one. Sadly, none of my lightsaber swinging as a kid translated into actual sword skill. The sword would not help me.

With a quick glance I looked for the closest guard, an older man to my left. I rushed forward allowing his spear to tear through my shoulder. Again, I felt nothing. I dropped down below him and grabbed his foot. I pulled his foot from beneath him with what strength I had left. Luckily, he fell.

I swatted away his shield and straddled him. I jammed the dagger into his unarmored neck and flipped him over. Using his body as a shield I drained. Enjoying every drop of vitality as his fellow guards panicked. Once he was nothing more than a husk, I tore away his arm and used its remaining blood to blind another guard. I tried to jump on him but was pushed off by his shield. Before I hit the ground, I was able to grab the top of his shield and pull myself up. I jammed the dagger into the top of his head. It passed cleanly through his thin tin helmet.

I drained him dry before we hit the ground and moved on. I did this again and again. Giving up all thought and allowing the rage to take control. I don’t know how many times I died. How many times I was pushed down and stabbed through the heart. How many times the guards sighed in relief only for me to rise up once more. The looks of pure fear on their faces as I stood up again and again. Eventually they began to tire. During the lulls in action I began to fasten armor out of anything I could. Bones, flesh, chain, gambeson, it didn’t matter. I even began to stab bits of metal into my flesh to create a sort of plate mail.

I could tell they were speaking. Panicking amongst themselves as I continued my charge. Nothing mattered anymore.

Not my old world. Not my family. Not my life. Not the pain.

All that mattered was me draining the one in front of me nothing else.

I was stabbed in the head by a muscular woman who looked to be in her 50s. The Leader. She twisted her spear drilling a whole in my head, and the world went dark.

But this time I knew. I was far from dead.