Sunlight beamed between the clouds.
It was almost blinding, and he'd not felt such warmth even beside a fire. It soothed his rough skin, something Allison noted when they rested atop a hill overlooking a river leading to the cliffsides.
"When was the last time you bathed? Or took care of yourself?"
"I always wake up fresh," he said, and that was the truth. For all his deaths, he awakened with only a handful of scratches, but never a stench.
He never knew whether she was worried or angry. And he was to be the brute, at the very least it wasn't hard to tell what he was thinking.
Perhaps it was best he didn't have all his memories, as she was more wound up than anyone he'd ever met. What made it worse was the two dimwits following her, Arthur and Dany, a somewhat tolerable lad and a strange lass.
On the same sunny morning along the hills he practiced swinging his flail, getting familiar with his strength again. Dany approached him, careful as she could, but she was a clumsy little mouse.
"What is it?" He asked, as welcoming as he could.
Her face reddened, and she scurried off, stumbling a few times returning to her horse.
Arthur made his way towards him, flask in hand, offering a morning brew.
"Odd. She's never taken an interest in someone before."
"So I'm lucky."
"I'm serious. Whenever we encounter other adventurers, she's either quiet, or looks the other way. If I'm being honest it's a bit rude, but, she's a sweetheart. And stronger than she looks."
He took a few sips of Arthur's flask, a bitter mead warming his bones. "What's she remember?"
Arthur enjoyed a swig. "What to do you?"
"Drinking. My pecker. Muscles bigger than most, and some lass who called me Babe."
"Ah," Arthur said, grinning, "So you were in love? She must've been someone special."
"She was a cunt. Said she was leaving me."
Arthur frowned, evidently bothered by his language. "Well, did she say why? What did her body language suggest?"
Unfamiliar with the term, but confident in its meaning, he replied, "Didn't see her, but she spoke to me through a magic stone. Said she didn't want me enlisting, on account of her brother and father being fucked up."
"A magic," Arthur said, laughing a bit before shaking his head. "That would've been something known as, a device. You could say it was magic in a way, but it was something people used to communicate with one another at the press of a button."
"Fine," Babe said, pretending such a 'device' could even make sense. "She was crying through this device, and I threw it after she said was leaving."
"I don't think you were being very nice to her."
"How could you possibly know?"
"Well, given your choice of words, your charming personality, and how welcoming you are of others, I could see why she'd be upset."
"She was leaving because of me enlisting! Which I'd wager means I was a warrior in my past life, and she was afraid, because her father and brother either died or worse!"
"Worse?"
He leaned closer to Arthur. "Cowards."
Hand on the chin, Arthur pondered for a bit, then shrugged. "If that's the way you see it."
"It's all I know," he argued, "and I have to know more. It's why I've gone from one cursed place to the next, searching out every champion so I can get some fucking answers."
"You've my empathy," Arthur said, tucking the flask away, "but there's more to this world than just seeking out trouble. It's hard enough as is, dying, something we soulless can't even do right, but to actively push yourself through such dangerous areas is, well, a bit self sabotaging."
He raised slung his flail over his shoulder, and they made their way to the horses. "Then what? Am I to go off, seeking little quests from one lord after another, making safe the princess and slaying the dragon?"
Arthur was hesitant, but replied, "As Allison said, you can use your gifts to help others. Might give you a bit of what you're looking for."
"Like what," he asked, mounting his horse.
"Quiet!" Allsion snapped, lowering her voice.
Atop their horses, the Embers Three and the brute, stayed behind trees, each of them parallel to one another.
Down the hill were banners with a red or black dragons, cloaked and hooded men marching towards the river. They wore rusty mail, but their spears were sharp, larger than most, and they rested along the river to allow their horses and men to drink. A hundred at the most, nothing he couldn't wipe away with one swing.
Allison looked towards the sky, then the hills separating the woods from the trails leading to the front. After a few minutes she led everyone down the other side of their hill, and they kept course, careful not to cross over for the rest of the day.
At dusk, violent gusts swayed branches, and there was a hint of smoke.
"Alrieon," Allison whispered. "Keep your head d-."
Fire overtook the sky.
Orange hazes on the other side of the hill, then horns bellowed as swords and shield clashed.
Off horse, the party crept up the hill, crawling to peek over the other side.
Dragon banners waved, men howled, the hundred spear men drove back dozens of riders, and fire rained from above.
Black scales, razor talons, and red eyes with a glowing belly, it was over thirty meters long. Its wings were enough to blot out the sliver of sunset on the horizon, and every beat sent winds swirling across the hillsides. Men screamed, engulfed in flames, then spears took their backsides or split their bellies open, intestines wriggling free. Atop the dragon was a man wrapped in white robes, a massive sword on his back, and his hair was long and white as his robes.
Though out of practice with killing dragons, he was anxious to put his flail to the test.
"Stay down!" Allsion demanded. "Not yet!"
"Ya' brought me here to be your muscle," he argued, going to gather his armor.
She jolted up, hurrying to him with an arrow nocked. "Stay the fuck down!"
"Allison!" Dany mewed, sword drawn. "They're coming this way!"
Allison turned towards the sky. "Shit!"
While the Embers stayed ready behind a tree he hurried to his shield and flail.
With no time to put on his armor he readied his flask, though hesitated upon recalling the Feather Sword's suggestion. Perhaps he'd lose control, accidently bash Allison or Arthur dead, and then he'd be free to return to a real challenge. He'd not risk anything happening to Nathan, so he tucked the flask away as fire burst over the tree lines.
Allison loosed an arrow, landing inches from Alrieon's thigh.
"Down!" The white robed rider commanded, and he saw his ears to be sharp.
Allison and the others scattered down the hill, herself faster than anyone he'd seen since Paracles. Arthur and Dany tried to keep up, but they huddled behind a boulder, fire roaring overhead.
Lighter than usual, he leaped atop the boulder, taking the brunt of the flames. Talons swooped down, and he swung his flail breaking the dragon's left ankle. It wailed, Alrieon yelling in a language he didn't know, ascending from the hills. Allison loosed a few more arrows, but it was several hundreds of meters away within seconds.
Dragon banner men flooded the hilltop, and he smiled, banging his shield.
Some turned away at the sight of him, others readied shield walls. Allison loosed arrows, which plunged between eyes or landed in the throat. Arthur and Dany stayed several paces behind, and he broke out in full stride.
Their walls broke, some turning away as he closed in, one shoulder charge tossing men dozens of paces. Then his flail did the rest, scathing men to flesh chunks upon impact. He crushed skulls with his shield, splitting heads open like melons. Eyeballs and bloody teeth fell through the air, and he roared chasing men down.
"Enough!" Allison shouted, though he didn't stop.
Some dropped to their knees, weeping. He turned them to bloody ribbons before running down the rest. It was slaughter, something he missed, and he ignored the arrows plunging into his back shoulders.
She could've struck his neck if she wanted.
Upon getting to the last man, he dragged the fucker by the mouth, carrying him to Allison who's face was red as the sky.
She tugged his arm, and he followed her to an old tree.
"This isn't some grave of monsters or wood of the undead." she complained. "These are husbands, fathers, brothers and sons! If they retreat or surrender, we take them alive, understand?"
"I know good fucking well what this is," he said, wiping blood off his face. "War's no place for mercy. They'd not give us the same."
"They won't," she said, scowling him, "if you hunt them down like dogs! There's a name for people like that in our world!"
"What? Murderer? So it is, on a battlefield, whether its men, the undead, or demons."
She glared at him for a second longer, then said, "Don't do it again. Or I'll have William excommunicate you and your squire."
He growled, nodding, and he made his way over to the captured soldiers.
After kicking the whining fucker in the face, knocking out several of his teeth, he made his way to his a quiet spot along the hill.
Allison and Arthur questioned the soldier as night fell, and he tended to his flail, buffed some of the soot from his shield, and washed his hands clean. Dany approached him, easy to tell by the uneven footsteps, and she offered him a slice of pork.
"Where'd ya' hide this?" He asked, stuffing his face.
She held her breath, as if she hadn't just evaded dragon fire and fought in a skirmish hours ago.
"I saved it," she spoke at last. "There's a little more, if you'd like."
He shook his head. "Save if for yourself."
"You need your strength more than I, my lord."
"Not a lord. Just call me brute."
She nodded, paused, then rubbed her forehead. "Y-you're not a brute."
He gave her a side eye, and saw her face redden in the moonlight.
"Thanks for the pork."
She muffled something, probably a your welcome, then crept away.
What Allison and Arthur gathered from the lad was there was an attempt by Alrieon to scout out land for a second camp.
It was the dragon lord's desire to corner all sides of the trails, cutting off any army from passing through and give the mountain elves a greater battlefield presence. As expected armies from all across the kingdoms were fighting for control over what used to be cursed grounds, some skirmishes getting within a few miles of Draynsville, where the inn he'd been in for months stood.
"Alrieon's not the only rider, but he's among the strongest," Allison said as they mounted their horses. "We don't stop until we reach the trails."
The dragon soldier was stripped naked, given water and bread, then bound by rope to a tree. Allison gave him his cloak, and told him to stay for the night or suffer being thrown off the cliffs.
They rode out, towards the hillsides, and orange haze glowing beyond.