Chapter 144

Marsh

Walking With the Gods

Angels. Well angels, gods, or divine beings. Those were the words he would use to describe his saviors. He had hidden for so long in his hiding spot that he was certain he had died. His stomach rumbled so loudly that he wished he could die at times. He tried scraping off portions of the inside of his refuge, filling his stomach with moss and dirt. This alleviated the pains, but only for a moment as he then had the worst stomach pains imaginable.

Still despite his pain, he dared not leave the log. All the boys had run and hid, but none made it back.

The first day he heard his friends scream and cry out in pain. He wanted to go out to them, to help them. But what could he do, he was but a little boy against monsters. It was all he could to try to relax slightly and go to sleep for as long as possible.

Finally, when he was certain he too would die, he heard it. The scratching sounds around his tree. Somehow the monsters that had all been his friends, relatives, and neighbors found his secret spot. They found him and were now digging him out.

Fear gripped him, but then rather than seeing the monsters who used his friends and family as meat suits, he saw an angel.

Even wearing rags, it was clear that the creature that had found him was a divine being. Skin couldn’t be that smooth and perfect. Still, it was not Marsh’s time to go. Sure, he had been wishing for death moments ago, but that was cut off when he was saved. Then the hands reached for him, but a second more beautiful angel reached for him.

That one he let touch him, as it looked like a child angel. Almost as if the gods knew he would need someone his own age to relieve his tension.

When he was out, he realized the two likely weren’t gods or angels. They had no wings, while their forms were perfect, they lacked parts that he had come to expect. No halos, either. He knew these two were good, deep down in his soul he felt relieved to find them. Or rather, that they had somehow managed to find him.

Then the dash.

Marsh had been on a horse one time. He had snuck into old man Tyler’s barn and jumped up on the back of his work horse. The horse bucked and took off like a shot. It was the scariest and most frightening experience of his life. He had the wind knocked out of him and bruised his elbow. He barely got out of the barn before old man Tyler noticed him. Fortunately, the horse was a higher concern for the farmer, meaning Marsh could get away. Those three steps were the fastest he had ever traveled in his life, and they were enough to make him see his whole life flash before his eyes. Those three steps from the horse were nothing compared to how fast Brenna took off.

Monsters with glowing red eyes would appear out of nowhere. But Brenna never halted her speed, never slowed down. Instead, she continued her paces forward. Moving faster than the tiny legs she had should be able to move. He looked back, over the side of her back that didn’t have a heavenly war-axe over it. He looked back to see the other angel, the one he now knew to be Lykan striking out violently and mercilessly.

One of the bodies he violently struck was old man Tyler himself. Well old man Tyler that had been infused with mind corruption. Black blood and viscera flew from each strike.

Seeing Lykan strike down opponent after opponent caused a shiver to run down Marsh’s spine as he watched the carnage unfold. Then they were gone. Brenna kept going, while Lykan stayed behind.

At first Marsh felt bad. The savior would be no match for so many monsters. Guilt wracked at him. Brenna took him to the stream.

“Bathe yourself.” The Goddess Brenna said.

“That man. The one who was with you?” Mash asked, feeling sheepish at even asking.

“He’ll be here shortly. But till then. You need to wash up.” She said.

The goddess was right, he did need to bathe. So, he did. Days’ worth of filth and grime came off. It was hard to see if he got everything, but he felt somewhat cleaner after getting into the water. Of course, now he smelled like stream water, but that was far better to the stench that had clung to him.

By the time he was done bathing, the other man appeared. Woosh. Just appeared. One second not there, the next calm and composed and covered in the black blood of the infected villagers. He didn’t seem to mind the blood of the smell.

He said a few words and made a paste-like material that smelled bad. Well, the paste itself didn’t smell bad, but rather it was hard to stomach anything with his blood covered clothes being so close. Still, it was the first form of food he had received in days so he ate. Then passed out.

By the time he awoke the man had left again. That was when she introduced herself and the other man to March.

He had heard of dwarfs before, but never knew they were so beautiful. When he told her that, she just laughed. She had a kind laugh and smile, one that spoke of knowing troubles while also enjoying moments of joy. He fell in love with her right then and there. When he learned that she had feelings for the male, Lykan, he immediately became jealous. At one point he even wished for Lykan to fall in his battle with the monsters of the village.

At that exact moment he had such vile thoughts.

Boom! Rumble!

Seeing the explosion, a pang of guilt filled Marsh’s body. Had he met his end? From all accounts the second angel was a good man, if a little quiet. He felt so guilty for those thoughts that when Lykan returned once again covered in gore. He trembled.

Then he was asked to kill a monster. A tiny bat-like creature with glowing red eyes. It was of course subdued in Lykan’s grip. But still it was a monster. Just looking at it, Marsh could feel the evil radiating off it in waves. That’s when Lykan explained that this creature was the one who had caused his family such hardship. The very creature that had destroyed his whole village.

With that knowledge, he gripped the knife and stabbed. Only to miss badly and end up stabbing Lykan. As soon as the blade touched Lykan’s skin, it felt like he was cutting into stone. He paused for a second, almost certain that he would be smote right there on the spot with hellfire. But Lykan just gave a slight smile and spoke. “Again.”

With that he stabbed and stabbed and stabbed. Finally, after hours of work, the beast was killed.

That was when Marsh was filled with a notification from the gods.

Blessing Bestowed: Dhampyr Patriarch Slayer Dhampyr Patriarch Slayer (Legendary): You managed to slay a legendary male Dhampyr Patriarch with a group. As a reward the gods have granted you +4 to all Attributes.

With that, a golden light infused Marsh’s body and he felt the world go dark around him. After that, things became easier. Walking long distances was a breeze. He still needed to be carried, as the two he was with never stopped moving. He also found it tough to keep up with their pace. Even when they were merely walking, Marsh had to run at full speed to keep up. Even then he could only keep pace for short periods of time.

Still, he managed to not be too much of a bother to the two. At least he hoped not.

He heard the two arguing about what to do with Marsh. It was clear that they had a job to do, one that was important to them. It was also clear from their tone that the task was both dangerous and would lead to Marsh’s death. Hearing that Marsh pretended to be asleep in Brenna’s arms. All the while he trembled inwardly. What could cause these two to be afraid? They were more powerful than any man or beast Marsh had ever read about.

While he wanted to be with Lady Brenna, and even Lykan to a lesser extent, he realized he was not meant to be with them. At least not for the moment.

Finally, they got to the point where they agreed only monsters that were found on the way to the next village would be used for practice.

Lykan had taken the time to explain the two types of creatures that would increase his physical attributes. The first were the Dhampyr, the second were dragons. Then the next day as if to accentuate the point. He saw a dragon flying in the air.

Seeing the dragon caused a wave of fear to rise in Marsh. Even from a distance it was clear that the purple scaled dragon could cause serious destruction. Marsh was exceptionally happy to realize that it was flying away and had not noticed them.

That was of course until Lykan took off like a rocket and went on a direct intersecting path with the creature. The monster looked almost outraged by the sudden appearance of Lykan who only took a moment to reach the beast who was quite high in the sky.

Crack!

The sound of the monster being struck on the head roared out over the countryside like a mini-thunderstrike. Then Lykan did the unthinkable. The dragon that suddenly passed out and began falling to the earth, suddenly stopped. By one small hand reaching down and grabbing the beast by its long tail.

Marsh watched in awe as the great beast was pulled forward to them.

Brenna looked clearly annoyed for some reason, as she just put her hands on her hips.

“Here it is, your last kill before we drop you off at the next village.” Lykan said as if it was no big deal that he had just snatched a living, still breathing, dragon from the sky and offered it up as a meal.

Looking at the dark purple scaled creature, Marsh looked first to the beast, then to Lykan. “How am I supposed to kill that?”

With that Lykan just laughed slightly. Finally, it was determined that Brenna would let Marsh wield her axe. This meant she held up the axe high overhead. Then walked Marsh forward so that he couldn’t help but strike the beast’s long neck that had been stretched out for this strike. Then with the blade in his hand he felt a slight push forward.

“Just hold the blade straight, gravity will take care of the rest.” Brenna said gently in his ear. His spine tingled at the closeness of her breath, but he focused.

Shink.

The blade easily sliced through the dragon and didn’t stop moving down until it was embedded in the ground. Marsh tried to pull the handle clean but felt he could not lift the blade at all. Fortunately, Brenna was there to retrieve her axe.

With a simple tug of one hand, she dislodged the axe and deftly placed the heavy weapon across her back again as if it was a mere decoration.

That was when Marsh got his second notification from the gods.

Blessing Bestowed: Matriarch Slayer Matriarch Slayer (Legendary): You were part of a legendary party who was able to take down and kill a psychic matriarch dragon. As a reward the gods have granted you +3 to all Attributes.

Seven, that was the number of increases he received to all of his attributes. When he awoke to tell Lykan of his overall increases Lykan just smiled.

“Good. That was the same number I had when I first started out on my journey.” Lykan said.

“Oh, that’s right, you humans have your Awakening day young don’t you?” Brenna asked.

Hearing this, Marsh’s eyes went wide. He was just eight, but his awakening day should be soon. It would have been this summer had everything not gone wrong with his village. That raised several questions for the boy. Would this new village have an Awakening ceremony soon?

So many questions arose in his mind. Still regardless of what happened, he knew that he had been saved by two angels and granted rewards that he was not worthy of. But he made a solemn vow then and there, to one day be worthy of the power and second chance at life he had been granted.

When they got to the nearest village, everyone was moving quickly trying to get things ready. It appeared that the village was beginning to prepare for a party of sorts.

“Welcome travelers, welcome.” An overly friendly citizen came out to meet the three as they entered the village.

While the three must have made an odd sight, in their well worn and disheveled appearance the person greeting them did not seem to care in the slightest.

“You are just in time for our celebration…”