“C’mon, ghosts?” Jogd laughed, walking behind the wagon, as the two horses slowly pulled it towards their destination.

“Listen, I know it sounds stupid.” Countered Kujo, at the right of the vehicle, questioning his decisions to wear light leather armor. “But I swear to the seven gods themselves I’ve seen weird stuff around these woods.”

The forest of Ozrario had always seemed weird to him. Too many slimes, too many monsters. The birds sometimes got quiet for no reason, almost as if hiding from someone or something. The trees blocked the light from the early morning, which, combined with the everlasting mist of the valley, gave everything a gloomy, eerie look.

“You mean like the big-ass suit of armor you found in a cave when we were kids?” asked Lydiam, at the left, the only woman in the group of amateur guards. “The one no one was able to find?”

Jogd laughed at her retort. Kujo wanted to be mad, but he couldn’t. He knew neither meant anything bad by it — they had been together for years, after all. His two friends simply knew when to take his stories seriously and when he was just being paranoid. He would be specially prone to seeing things for a while, considering this was their first mission as a party.

“We were kids.” He protested. “And I did see a giant suit of armor. It must have moved or something.“

“Whatever, dude. Just don’t let mister fancy pants hear your complaining.” The other man laughed.

Their job was pretty simple. Escort a merchant from the neighboring city of Lighini to Ozrario, the capital. A simple entry-level task for a newly formed group of mercenaries. Still, why it had to be this forest?

The man sighed. “Just don’t-”

The whistling of the leaves around him cut him off. His two partners instantly readied their weapons, sensing something had changed on the way the man looked around. They trusted his instincts, if not his fairy tales. A few seconds passed in silence, as their leader tried to locate the source of the sound, spear pointing upwards.

He glimpsed something black far above the trio, but when he looked up, nothing was there.

“Fucking fog.” Jogd spat.

“...Kujo? Did you see anything?”

“Yeah.” The man nodded. “Something moving on top of the trees. Could be a crow or something, but I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Are you sure?” Lydiam asked.

“I’m sure. That was not a bird.” The man nodded. He had a sixth sense for combat.

“It’s okay.” The woman reassured him. “I believe you. You have a knack for these things. Jogd, get ready.”

The second guard did not reply.

A second passed in complete silence.

“Jogd?” the woman asked again, this time louder.

A muffle scream echoed through the forest moments later. Instantly, Kujo’s mind went into combat mode. He first jumped towards the wagon, telling the driver to stop and get inside, as Lydiam circled around the vehicle, looking for their companion.

“Jogd?! Where the fuck are you?!’”

No reply. The mist surrounded them, making it impossible to see where their enemies were coming from. A flash of black entered his vision again for a millisecond , but it was enough for him.

“Above us!”

“Got it!”

The woman thrusted her spear above her, hoping to hit whatever was there. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw a fire slime descending towards her at incredible speeds. The red blob avoided her attack, twisting around the spear as it came down. By the time she realized what had happened, the monster was already in her face.

Her bloodcurdling scream as the thing stabbed her eyes with two very thin tentacles was something that would chase Kujo until the day he died

“GET IT THE FUCK OFF ME!”

Lydiam went down to her knees, desperately struggling to get the slime off her head, but to no avail. No matter how much she tried to pull the thing away, it would not budge. Her screams redoubled in the strength moments later.

Her face began to melt, as she kicked and flailed around.

She was being eaten alive by the creature.

“Get away from her, you little shit!” He threw his own spear against the creature. The weapon flew across the air, and it seemed like it would hit.

Until a hand stopped it midair. “Good evening, sir.”

A perfect face. Black eyes. Horns. And the wings of a crow.

Kujo could not even scream when he saw her appear. The woman began to walk towards him, spreading her massive feathered appendages behind her, as wide as the road itself.

“I do hope you forgive me for this.” She clenched her fist. The spear cleanly broke in half. “Do try to find solace in the fact that you died a warrior.”

Something inside the man’s mind snapped. The screams of Lydiam as her face was being burned, the sounds of her struggle against the creature as she rolled on the ground, his own mission as a guard — it had all ceased to matter to him. His brain conjured a thousand images of himself being devourer alive by crows and ravens.

He was prey — the woman in front of him, his predator.

He turned around, pumping his legs for all that was worth. Until he tripped on a blue string. He fell to the ground, face first.

He scrambled to all fours, trying to crawl his way out of the situation.

“Winter pz kvul dpao aoha thu.” The ice slime that had just appeared emitted a sound, one that almost sounded like words..

“Is he dead?” the woman asked as she extended a hand.

“Uv, tpzaylzz. Winter slma opt hspcl mvy shaly.”

“Good. We’ll use him to feed you later. Scythe.”

Instantly, the blue slime began to morph shapes, extending towards her hand.

Kujo did not even register the fact that the slime had talked as he turned around. He tried to get to his feet. Something swiped his left leg before he could take a step forward, and with that second fall went away his chances of running away.

“Not sharp enough.” The demoness commended as she set her red pupils on the man.

“Winter pz zvyyf. Winter ullkz av lha aolzl obthuz ilmvyl abyupun puav h wyvwly dlhwvu.”

“It is okay. We shall feed you soon enough.” She approached the would-be victim, her every step elegant. “Do not fret. I am sure Isaac will not dispose of either of you. I am not fully convinced he is as bad of a man as he makes himself to be.”

The woman twirled her scythe around, raising it above her head.

Kujo could not even scream. “Please...”

“Begging? Disappointing. My people would never lower themselves to such a level.”

The weapon crashed against his neck. Kujo felt the world spin around him as he fell towards the ground. And once he hit the road, he saw his own decapitated body in front of him.

Suddenly, Lydiam scream’s felt so far away...

“Lesson one; one does not need sharpness to decapitate a human. Momentum is more important.”

She turned around as she began to walk back to the wagon.

“Ohhh.” The scythe seemed to nod. “Tpzaylzz, doha hyl fvb?”

Everything began to fade to black.

“Oh, I did not explain? I am a goddess. Now, let us go. Isaac did a praiseworthy job of commanding us this battle, least we can do is take care of the cleanup.”

A... goddess? I..saac? A talking slime?

Who are these people?

Those were his last thoughts, as his brain finally shut off.

 

---

“I do not think your cape is long enough.” The deity commented as she watched Isaac’s new outfit.

“What’s up with you and pompous clothes?”

The man wondered if there was any kind of skill that would help him come up with new retorts. Something told him eccentric servants would be the norm in his group, not the exception.

His new attire consisted of several pieces of dark leather armor over a simple black shirt and pants. Leather greaves and gauntlets granted him some protection on his limbs, while also allowing him enough mobility to dodge attacks. Combat boots finished his outfit. Winter hung at his back, having turned into a long navy-blue cape, common in this world.

Also, at his back stood Summer, now turned into a really adorned, well -crafter spear. A real high-end weapon might have caused them problems, but for now, it would do the trick.

“Did you loot the coin?” asked Isaac after double-checking his new outfit. Tyrannia had insisted he take the weapon, as she did not need it. She carried a really normal, almost feeble looking spear she had collected from one of the bodies.

“Indeed. Several gold coins worth of it.”

“Do you think the guy will be missed?”

“Hardly. This amount is a lot for a normal peasant, but not for a merchant. If this is all he had, then he was nothing more than a newcomer to the city. The guards were also complete novices.”

“Loose ends?”

“Not that we know of. All the corpses have been devoured and there were not hints that someone might have escaped during the fight.”

The prophet nodded as he turned towards the city. The mist made it hard for him to see it, but he guessed that there were about an hour-or-two long ride from here. Since they no longer had the cover of the night, flying was not an option.

Instead, they would take the horses. Isaac had taken riding lessons twice, so he trusted the animals would not simply thrown him off, but he also knew that he could not really control the beasts. He double checked that the saddle was locked in place, then mounted the creature as best as he could.

By the time he managed to get himself into position, Tyrannia was already beside him, her own horse calmly following her with every single tug of the reins.

“Let’s go.”

Thirty minutes passed in complete silence while Isaac took in the sights of the forest, deep in thought. The chirps of the early birds took away part of the frustration he was feeling, as did the breathtaking sight of the misty woods, but it was not enough. His party had apparently caught onto his mood, so they didn’t say anything.

Until Winter finally broke the silence.

“Is master okay?” The cape asked on his back, fluttering in the wind as the horse picked up speed.

The man sighed. “It’s not you.”

“Was it Summer?” his spear asked.

“Is neither of you.” He clarified. “It’s just...why did we do it this way?”

“As I stated, it is your job to lead us. Your place is not in the frontlines, but on the rear, analyzing the battlefield and giving orders. Such is the position of a ‘summoner’, and your normal abilities and magic are more suited to a role like that as well. This was our first mission, yet you have already shown a great deal of talent for commanding. The idea of dropping the slimes from the sky was something I would have never thought about.”

“You people just don’t have the concept of air supremacy yet. If you had, I’m sure you would have come up with the same plan.” The man sighed again. Moments later, he spoke again. “I understand that was the idea. I get it, I really do. You, muscle. Me, brains. I have no issues with that. I’m just worried.”

“About?”

“What if I have to do it?”

“To fight?” Summer asked.

He shook his head. “To kill a person.”

The clip-clop of the horse’s hooves echoed through the woods as they slowed down.

“I feared it was a matter such as.” Tyrannia commented. “Are you getting second thoughts?”

“No. It’s not like I care about the act itself.” Isaac replied. “Hell, I already ordered the deaths of five people, didn’t I?”

“Then...”

“What if it comes a time where I have to do it myself?” he finally said what had been on his mind for the past half an hour. “What if it turns out I can’t do it?”

“Ah.” Tyrannia nodded. “That is certainly something...” she trailed off.

“it’s just that. I’ve never killed someone, so I think not knowing how I’d react when I do puts us at a disadvantage.” Isaac didn’t look at the woman, his eyes focusing on the trail. “I don’t think I will care that much. But I won’t rest easy until I confirm it.”

A few minutes passed in silence before she spoke up again. “While I hesitate to say this, I feel like I should remind you that murdering someone is always a possibility.”

“What do you mean? Wasn’t that the idea in the first place? To feed these two?”

“Yes. But I mean, before we get into the arena, if that is the plan we are going with. We can always just find someone for you to personally kill.”

“Wouldn’t that attract attention?”

“A single human living in the slums? Hardly. I do believe you raise a legitimate concern, and that we should take care of it. But...I...” she once again trailed off, looking for the words she wanted to say. “Taking a life is a burden I do not wish to put on you.”

The horses slowed down to a mere walk. “You told me I’d have to, didn’t you?”

“...yes. And I do not take it back. But while you will be still responsible for the deaths of innocents, I do not believe you should be the one holding the blade. That is the job of an executioner, not a prophet. And quite frankly, as someone who has been on both sides of the equation, I can tell you it is much easier to sleep when you are just giving the orders.”

The man shook his head. “I guess it is. But I promised myself I would never let inaction take hold of my life again. I don’t expect anyone to understand, but If I sit back and let you three do all the work, I’d feel like I’m just running away again. Like I did before I died.”

A moment of silence passed.

Tyrannia spoke moments later. “...if that is your wish, then I will not oppose it. At any rate, we should get to the city first.”