The roar of the crowd was muted by the thick, timber palisade and sounds of our horse’s shoes clopping on the drawbridge. As soon as we moved out from under the gatehouse my ears were assailed by deafening cheers. Flowers fluttered by, some landing in my lap. By the way they were acting, you’d be forgiven for thinking we’d already beaten Gutrender’s army rather than a small gaggle of deserters in a cave. Considering the sum total of their past few months revolved around crushing defeat after crushing defeat, I guessed they were just happy to have any kind of win on their side.

“Thank you,” I said, smiling as much as I could while I dodged rose thorns from my saddle. Hands pawed at me, as if I had some magical luck they could catch by bodily contact. I was grateful when the guards broke them up and they headed off in the direction of the reunited families to get more of the story.

“I didn’t like that,” grunted Sun as we neared the stable.

“I wasn’t overly thrilled either, but these people needed a win. I think we’ll get through the meeting and find a nice quiet place to hunker down for the rest of the day.”

“I don’t think anywhere will be quiet after the story gets told,” she replied, sourly.

“I’ll send my rat swarm after them if they get too close.”

“Miss Sunlith! Young master! Oh, how glad I am to see you both returned safe and well!” Edric waved, running over to take the reins as we climbed down.

“It’s good to see you too, old man,” said Sun.

“You were right about Bolt,” I said, rubbing my friend’s neck. “He was a fine companion. How have my girls been?”

“Well the mare warmed to me eventually. She’s certainly no lady, I can tell you that. Foul tempered and uncooperative. If I hadn’t seen you ride in on her, I’d never believe she’d been broken.”

I remembered Romund’s words and the death of Bella. “She’s been through a tough time. I’ll have a word with her.”

Edric laughed and shook his head. “Young master, you sure are a funny one.”

I clapped him on the back. “We’ve got to go and see the marshal shortly. Can you give our trusty steeds the royal treatment for a job well done. Money is no object.”

“I’ll not be taking your coin, young master. I can’t tell you how much your return has raised the spirits in this place. This morning it was like a black cloud was hanging over the garrison, promising thunder and lightning and far, far worse. People were beaten down, trudging from place to place with lowered heads. Broken they were. When the first scout informed the guard that you were a few hours away, and with survivors no less, the cloud vanished as if the sun had boiled it away. The folks had their heads held high for the first time in weeks. They greeted each other rather than shuffling past with the weight of the world on their shoulders. You’ve done a noble thing, young master. A very noble thing.”

“Stop blowing smoke up my arse, Edric,” I replied, awkward at the praise. “Sun did most of the hard work.”

“I did not,” she said matter-of-factly. “You’d have been fine alone.”

“Hardly,” I scoffed, ducking into the stables after stealing a handful of carrots. Lady had heard my voice and peered from her stall as I approached. “Have you been a pain in the arse, girl?” I rubbed her neck and fed her the biggest vegetable. Bella was whickering at me from her mother’s side. “Ok, don’t be pushy,” I said, giving the filly one too.

“A different horse,” Edric muttered as he walked past with Bolt and Duke.

“I’ve had a word, Edric,” I called as he put the two horses away. “She says she’s sorry.”

“I’ll still maintain a safe distance, thank you very much!”

“It’s your job! Stop being such a baby about it!”

“Say that to me when they’ve nipped your skin. Then you’ll be singing a different tune!” he called in reply.

“I’d probably be screaming.”

Edric locked the pen doors and moved towards the oat barrel to get them some food. “That you would be, young master. Their teeth might look funny but they’ve got power in them jaws.”

“We’ll be back in a while, Edric. If you won’t take payment, the very least I can do is buy you a drink or ten later. If you’ll show me where the tavern is.”

“It would be an honour, young master. Good luck with the marshal!”

I gave him a merry wave and followed Sun back into the main thoroughfare. We’d made it a dozen paces before we were mobbed. The unfettered adulation made me extremely uncomfortable. I hadn’t done the task for fame, but here I was in the middle of a crowd who were cheering my name. Sun could sense my growing angst and ordered everyone back. Her booming voice and imposing stature quietened everyone down instantly.

“The road has been hard. Please allow us to pass in peace. We’ll be at the tavern tonight if you wish to give thanks.”

The gathering was placated for now and they gradually dispersed.

“Why did you say that?” I whispered.

“You’re going to get attention no matter what you do now,” she replied. “At least in the tavern we can find a quiet corner and funnel the well-wishers towards us. If the line’s too big, a lot of them will have second thoughts.”

I hoped she was right. I valued my privacy for the most part. My presence on social media could be summed up in terms of a Buddhist monk. In other words, I wasn’t on there at all. Anyone I wanted to know had my number. The last thing I wanted was a bloated friends list of people I only had a passing connection to. I wouldn’t have known what to put on there anyway. Another dire weeks takings. Please send prayers? No way. I was more than capable of wallowing in my own misery without bringing others down with me.

“May I ask a question, Mark?” asked Sun.

“Of course you can,” I replied, stepping over a pile of horse shit that was impressive in its size.

“What happens when you complete the task the gods sent you here for?”

“Missing me already?” I chuckled until I saw her look away in dismay. You dick! “I’m sor…” I held my tongue, cutting off the apology. “I don’t honestly know. In the first world, I killed the monsters and was transported to a place of purest white. Like one of your cells, but a lot cleaner. Less urine ingrained in the stone, that kind of thing.” I doubted her knowledge would extend to floating trial selection tablets and dimensional teleportation.

“So you’ll just disappear?”

“I guess.” I didn’t continue with the fact that she, and by extension everyone in the land, would vanish too.

She fell into silence and strode away. I left her to her thoughts and tried to keep my head down as I walked through the town toward the massive keep. I’d always been fascinated by castles and tales of ancient valour. Sloppy mud was being spread across the straw rooves of the small, wooden homes. I’d seen a few thatch fires back in my world and once they had taken hold there was little to do but stand back and let it do its thing. With the forces incoming, it was a necessary precaution.

“Gross,” I muttered as I dodged a pile of poo on the ground that was most definitely not of the equine variety. The liquids I’d assumed were runoff from recent rainfall were far too yellow to be from the sky, which was cloudless anyway. The one thing that never makes it from the pages of a history book to the reader is the smell. The street, which I now knew was also the public latrine, was absolutely ripe. Years of filth penetrated the mud and mortar on which the cobbles were bedded. My second job after explaining the futility of torture was to grab some bleach and scrub this festering town from top to bottom. A packet of handy wipes would have been a good start, if only to hold under my nose while walking.

A woman appeared at her door with a bucket that sloshed. “Don’t you bloody dare!” I warned her as I passed. She muttered a few words under her breath and tossed the contents once I’d made it clear of her porch. “We’re going to talk about indoor plumbing later!” The door slammed at my back. “That’s rude,” I muttered.

I crossed two demarcations that had once been the original bailey walls before they were taken down and extended outward to accommodate the growing population. To my mind, copying the great Gondorian city from The Lord of the Rings would have been a better bet. Layers of defence to fall back to as the fighting raged. The age and state of the properties deteriorated as I moved towards the stone fortification. At least the smell waned from the slightly less cramped housing of the original bailey.

“What took you so long?” asked Sun as she waited for the outer portcullis to fully rise.

“I’ve been dodging floaters,” I replied.

She scowled at me. “Is that an Englander thing?”

“You could say that.”

The gate guards gave us warm words of appreciation as we moved from the sunlight into the shadows. I waved them off as I was wont to do and made my way toward the fortress itself.

The marshal was waiting to greet me at the second gatehouse. He did his best to hide the simmering anger but I still caught it. “Welcome back, brave warriors! I trust all went well?”

“As well as it could,” I replied. I figured it was best to just tear the plaster off, missing hair be damned. “Have you spoken to the jailers?”

There was that flash of anger again. “I did. They had some strange misconception that they work at your behest.”

“They do as far as Godbert’s concerned,” I replied. Before Randulf could fly off the handle, I said, “Let’s go inside. I’ve got some information you’ll want to hear.”

I tried my best not to appear like a kid at Christmas as we walked through the cold, stone halls. Randulf was as shrewd as he was abrupt and caught me immediately. “You like my home?”

“It’s amazing,” I gushed, unable to contain myself. “We have them back in England, but most are fallen into ruin. I used to love exploring them. The ghosts and memories held inside. The history.”

He directed me towards a staircase that had actual carpet lining the steps, or their version of it anyway. The rest of the place was covered with rushes strewn across the floor. “Why would your grand marshal allow them to fall to ruin? How do you prevent attacks and stage your wars?”

“We don’t have many wars these days.”

“Did the Englanders conquer their enemies so thoroughly?” he asked.

“Yes and no. Our technology became too horrifying to use and the people of my home mostly just bicker now because the next war would be the last war. The entire world would burn if the weapons were ever used.”

Randulf led me into the war room and offered me wine. I gratefully accepted the fine goblet and sat down. I could tell by his furrowed brow that he was troubled by my words. “Your technology? You can harness exploding fire too?”

My mind shifted to a dreaming Sarah Connor and the searing of flesh from bone as children melted in their burning parent’s arms. “In ways that would make your blood run cold.”

“Did you take it from the goblin engineers?”

“We have no goblins. Our advances came from trial and error over a long period of time as we tried to find more devastating ways to kill each other.”

“Do you know the secrets of this technology?” he asked, breathlessly.

“I’m afraid not.”

“Blast! That might’ve evened the scales.”

I gathered up the orc army pieces and stood before the huge map. “I’m just going to check something, then I’ll be able to show you the current movements of their army.”

Randulf looked at me as if I was touched. “You gleaned all this from the prisoner?”

“No. Somewhere else.” I collected the quest reward and my world map came alive with a scarlet flood that stained the land like blood. “Fuck me.” I gasped at the scale of the greenskin infestation, forgetting my vow to stop swearing.

“Bad?” asked Randulf.

“Worse,” I replied. “Far worse. You might want to sit down too.”