Jacques ran forward, sword at his side.
I followed closely behind.
[Why am I helping? I could get killed!]
"Look kid, it's alright to run. Even though you are a knight, dying here won't be worth it."
"I won't run."
"Even if you say that, just know I won't blame you. I don't know you, or what you've been through, but thanks for helping today."
"It's fine, I had nothing better to do."
"Doesn't matter, stay close kid, things might turn bloody."
"Understood."
We ran in silence for less than a minute before reaching the town square, in front of the church.
Dozens of armored men stood in a lined formation on one end of the road, equipped with swords and spears, and a group of civilians, wielding swords, shabby farm tools, and a few torches, stood in opposition.
The man who had made a scene earlier in the day stood at the forefront of the villagers.
Jacques gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.
"This can't be happening again…"
"Why should we just give you our supplies? We want nothing to do with this war!"
One of the soldiers, wearing a slightly different uniform from the others, called out in response.
"If you refuse to do this peacefully, then we will be forced to answer your hostility with our own."
"So what, you gonna kill us?"
"Killing all of you would serve no purpose. We will merely force you into submission."
"We ain't just gonna let you take our food…"
"You will not stop us."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes."
The villager stepped forward, drawing his blade and pointing it at the soldier.
"PETER, STOP!"
Jacques ran forward and grabbed the man's arm, forcing the blade down.
"What the hell are you doing Jacques?"
"I won't let you cause the death of anyone here."
"Because your little taxes won't be paid in full?"
He gripped the man's arm harder.
"Because my family lives here, I won't let you be the reason my daughter or wife gets harmed."
"Please, you just gonna let them take all our stuff?"
Jacques didn't reply.
"What do you men want?"
The soldier, who'd spoken earlier, stepped forward.
"Food, all of it."
"You can't expect us to give you everything."
"You do not have a say in this matter."
"Fighting a bunch of poor farmers over some grain won't be worth it."
"My soldier won't sustain any injuries, so I'd beg to differ."
"You don't know that."
"Yet, I do."
"What if we give you half?"
"I do not know what half your supply looks like. Besides, my commander told me to return with all your food."
"There are children here."
"That is not my concern."
"People will starve."
"That is not my concern."
"Have you no heart!?"
"I am a soldier, and a soldier follows orders."
"Are you not a man also? Does a man let children starve?"
The soldier fell silent for a moment.
"We will leave you with a quarter of your food."
Jacques clenched his hand and sighed with a frown blatantly spreading across his face.
"LIKE HELL YOU ARE!"
Peter stepped forward and swung his sword down at the man.
"PETER!"
The sword ran through the soldier's shoulder as he frantically tried backing away.
Blood.
Screaming.
Massacre.
Within a second the village erupted in war.
Soldiers and villagers alike began to rush towards each other. Their blades and tools clashed together as torches fell to the ground and spread fire to the buildings and stalls around.
I watched as villagers fell one after another. For every soldier that was injured, at least two villagers dropped to the floor dead.
The army looked smaller than before.
[The villagers outnumber them at least 3-1…]
Jacques burst from the crowd and ran towards me before gripping my shoulders.
"Kid, listen to me. I need you to go an-."
A flash of light, a spark.
Before Jacques or the soldier behind him could react, my blade had drawn and sliced an arm off.
The blood had stained my sword, a short reminder that what I'd done was real. Cutting through his arm ceased to drag any feeling out of me.
"AGH!-"
Jacques turned, wide-eyed, and gazed down at his attacker, now down a limb.
"How the hell did you do that…"
"I-…"
"FATHER!"
We both looked behind and saw Jeanne running forward.
"Jeanne, what are you doing here!? Go home, NOW!"
Tears began to form in the girl's eyes as she hugged her father.
"They took Mother!"
"What!?"
"They came inside and tried to take me too, but Mom had pushed him off!"
"Shit… Shit… Where are they?"
"They might still be at home!"
Jacques looked at me with a panicked expression.
"Thanks for saving me, kid, but I need to go save my wife."
"It's alright, what should I do?"
"What kind of question is that!? Go help the others!"
[Why?]
"Alright…"
He looked down at his daughter.
"You need to go hide… Outside of the city… Far away from here… Don't come back until day breaks, do you understand me?"
"But father…"
"Go Jeanne, I will find you. I promise…"
"I-… Yes father…"
Jeanne shot me a gaze.
"I watched you save him… Thank you, Sir Knight."
My expression softened after hearing her words.
"Of course."
Jeanne let go of her father and began running towards the outskirts of town.
I watched her disappear into the night.
A sharp pain surged through my leg.
"Fucking… BASTARD!"
A voice, one I hadn't heard before.
The man, whose arm I'd cut off, stood once more. A dagger stuck through my lower leg, causing me to stumble and lose my balance.
I clenched my teeth and gripped my leg as it buckled down, leaving me on one knee.
[My armor… It went right through my armor…]
"You're one fast bastard…"
[It hurts…]
He continues ranting.
"You cut my FUCKING ARM OFF!"
His tone grew more annoyed and angry.
He picked up a spear, likely the weapon he'd tried to impale Jacques with.
[Jacques…]
My head turns slowly, scanning the battlefield for Jacques, yet no matter where I look, he is nowhere.
"LOOK AT ME!"
The man stabs his spear through my shoulder, causing me to bite my tongue and flinch in pain.
[Again!?]
My armor seemed to crumble as the spear pierced through it.
[God it hurts…]
"Not much of a talker now, are you? FUCKING SPEAK!"
I grip my blade and quickly try to replicate the slash from earlier.
The man quickly kicks my arm, knocking the blade out of my hand.
"NOT SO FAST NOW, HUH FUCKER?"
[Why am I so slow now?]
"Crap…"
"WHAT WAS THAT?"
He twists the spear embedded in me, causing more pain to surge throughout my body.
"Not much of a screamer huh? I can change that…"
A torch is laid down a few yards away, burning a stack of crates. While stumbling over, the man grabs the torch and looks back towards me with a grin.
I clench my eyes tightly.
[Get up… Just get up…]
He begins to close in on me.
"Maybe THIS will make you fucking scream…"
The man begins laughing to himself.
He collapses with a thud.
I open my eyes and see mass amounts of blood leaking from where his arm once resided. His body is limp and unresponsive.
After a small pause, I wrap my hand around the dagger, still inside my leg, and yank it out.
Blood sprays out from the open wound.
"Useless armor…"
I attempt to stand but fall forward.
"FUCK!"
The spear's handle hits the ground first, sending the tip even farther into my shoulder.
I open my mouth to scream but stop myself.
[Get up!]
With an open wound on my right leg and a spear deep in my left shoulder, I slowly force myself up. Every muscle in my body urges me to rest.
[I want to sleep…]
Neither my mind nor my body wanted me to stand, yet I did anyway.
[Why…?]
I look around and see the town, covered in fire and filled with screams of terror. Dozens of bodies, mostly villagers, litter the earth below my feet. Many villagers are still fighting desperately with the soldiers despite being both outnumbered and out-geared now.
[Where are they…?]
Slowly bending over, I grip my longsword's handle.
My mind is foggy, I can't see as well as I could earlier in the day. The pain in my shoulder and leg causes my knees to buckle, but I remain standing.
A soldier spots me and rushes forward with a spear in hand.
No words are exchanged
Despite being injured, I ready my blade for his assault.
He makes a piercing motion toward my right side before quickly retreating and aiming for my left.
"Shit…!"
The spear grazes my waist as I narrowly avoid a possibly lethal blow.
He gives me no time to recover as his spear comes for my head next.
I duck low, trying to stabilize myself, but my knees give out and force me on my stomach. With a rolling motion, I avoid another attack, aiming to pin me between his spear's tip and the ground below.
My sword slashes forward, aiming for his feet.
The man sidesteps my blade and steps on my right hand.
I let out a groan while grabbing his ankle with my left hand and dragging him to the floor.
No time is left for me to think. I force myself on top of the soldier, gripping his neck with my right hand and pinning his spear to the earth with my left.
"Let go of me, you bastard!"
[Shut up…]
My right hand grips his neck as he pummels my face over and over with his free hand.
"Ggh! Let… Me go!"
[Shut up…]
"Hghh…!"
He desperately sends blow after blow at my face.
The pain is real but manageable to the point my grip does not weaken. Despite my face trickling blood onto his fist, I continue choking the man.
The pain slowly weakens as his punches get slower and softer.
"Let… Please…!"
"SHUT UP!"
I free my left hand and retrieve my blade.
One after another, I ram the handle of my blade into the man's face, causing it to bruise and deform with increasing scale.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
Less than a minute passes before he stops struggling.
My hand remains attached to his neck, choking even his very soul.
His eyes popped out of his face, his nose split in two, and I could see his skull poking out of his head.
Rather than a man, he looked like a poorly crushed bowl of fruit.
Blood leaked from my face, not my blood however.
I collapsed on top of him, gasping for air.
[Everything burns…]
My eyes fluttered open and shut as if my body was constantly fighting to stay awake.
[Just a moment… All I need is a little rest…]
I stop fighting the feeling, drifting into a deep slumber.