Feral: Chapter Six

When I came up to the Chapel in a carriage for the second time, it was with far less tension than the first time. For one thing, I was no longer under arrest, instead riding freely next to Katya in the carriage, with a pair of guards across from us to make sure she was safe. For another, I got to see a lot more of the Chapel.

As it turned out, even the massive castle was barely scratching the surface of how big the land given to the religious sect truly was. We went around the castle through a tunnel that went underground before rising again. On the other side of the tunnel was a lake. An enormous lake surrounded by grass, and more open space than I’d ever seen in my life. After living all my life in a city, the change was significant. The familiar scents of citylife were replaced with the clear water of the lake, of grass and fresh dirt.

While the lake was the centerpiece of it all, there was much more. Buildings dotted the area around us. I could see guard towers made of wood surrounding the lake. Great castles and mansions. An island in the middle of the lake, made of what looked like light brown earth, had a small castle and a set of barracks.

And open space. More than I’d ever seen, just enormous amounts of unused land separating magnificent castles, sturdy square buildings, and…

“Is that a forest?”

Katya nodded happily. “Yes! Isn’t it nice?”

Nice nothing. This was… impossible. Full grown castles were an expense beyond counting. And I could see five, including the one behind me! Hadn’t I felt sorry for the Prophesied Child? For being forced to live only in the Chapel? When this was her home? 

I pushed down my envy with the ease of long practice. 

“You live here?”

“Oh, no,” she shook her head firmly. “I’m only allowed out for thirty minutes a day, or when training. The rest of the time I live in the main castle.”

My envy eased, and I felt guilty for that. How terrible a person am I, that her life of imprisonment made me feel better about my own life?

I resolved once more to make her the best armor I could, Maybe then I would feel better about my envy.

“So, you need to see me fight, right?” Katya asked. She seemed less bashful now that we were on her territory.

“Yes,” I answered her, trying to ignore the beautiful view outside the windows. “I need to see how you move, how you use your sword, and so on. While the armor itself can be standard in design, I must understand how you comport yourself in battle in order to prepare the runes I’ll using.”

The guards seemed startled when they heard me speak. I have no idea why. Katya simply nodded, then leaned her head out the window.

“Richard!”

I heard hoofbeats come closer, then saw the dour face of Richard. Mountain was striding somewhere behind him, furred form easily keeping pace with the trotting horses. “My lady?”

“We can set up a fight for Char to see me in battle, right?” Katya said with a lot more eagerness than I would have expected from such a sweet person.

“I’ve already sent word ahead my lady,” He smiled fondly at her. “I dare say you’ll be able to knock a bit of humility into a few of the boys soon enough.”

“Poor bastards,” one of the guards whispered just out of earshot of the Prophesied Child.

------

We headed towards the island in the center of the lake, which had a stone bridge large enough for our group to cross with ease going to it. The castle on the island was really more of a small manor, and rather less ostentatious than the main castle. If the main castle was a gilded knight, then this smaller one, with grey stone and metal gates, was a battle-scarred soldier.

Next to the castle were stables, a low set of wooden building, and a small clearing surrounded by a low fence where five knights stood waiting, all dressed in full armor, carrying various weapons, and wearing helmets that hid their features. The carriage stopped in front of that clearing, and Katya happily hopped out of the carriage. Richard got off his horse and nodded to a man standing by with a dull steel training sword. The man, who was a little older than me, stepped forward and held out the hilt of the beat up longsword as though he was bequeathing a crown.

“Thank you,” Katya took the blade by the hilt with an eager grin, turning to look at the five knights waiting in the clearing.

I blinked at the change that came over her. The sweet young girl seemed to fade away. Instead, she suddenly have a happy, yet vicious smile on her face. Her entire body seemed to shift with energy. She slowly walked towards the five knights in the clearing. Her hand flipped the sword into a twirling pattern.

“You ever see a paladin fight orcling?” Richard asked as Mountain walked over to join us, sitting on his haunches.

“Hmm?” I looked at Richard. He smirked at me. “Uh, no. I haven’t had the uh, the pleasure.”

“Well, then I suppose this will be quite the experience for you,” he leaned against the wooden fence surrounding the clearing. Mountain came on my other side, panting joyously.

Katya giggled as the five men began to circle her. Then, she leaped forward, towards a knight on her right. The man carried a large shield and a mace, and he swung it the instant she came close. I cried out when she did nothing to block the attack, only rushing towards him.

A blaze of Light surrounded her at the exact moment she was going to be hit. It solidified into a field around her body, forcing the mace back.

“Ha!” Katya cried.

In a fluid motion, she moved into his guard. Her blade slammed into his right hand, forcing him to drop the mace, then smacked his helmeted head with the flat of the blade. A loud ringing filled the air. She didn’t stop, still moving with that blazing speed to press a hand to his chest. An explosion of Light magic came from her palm, sending the heavily armored knight flying like a leaf on the wind.

As he rolled on the ground to a stop, his brother knights confronted Katya. She giggled once more as the two swung claymores at her, her eyes bright with joy. She leaped over blow, ducked, twisted, and danced with incredible speed. Bursts of illumination followed her motions, and for a moment I tried to understand why.

Then I realized she was boosting her speed by using magic to push her in concentrated bursts. It was subtle, but her constant use of it made it clear what was happening. Using this, she was using it with her already prodigious speed to simply dance around the two knights claymores.

Soon she started fighting back. She released a brief amount of Light magic from all over her body, sending the two men back a step. The other two, had been forced to maneuver around their brethren, stepped around to attack her, on with a long spear, the other with a longsword of his own.

She stepped around the spear in a flash of Light, then grabbed it and moved it to block the longsword. The spear knight, on seeing she had his spear, lashed out with a fist. She ducked and snapped her hand out. Light came out in the form of a rope, wrapping around the spear knights ankle. She tugged him off his feet, then turned to engage the longsword knight.

Physical manifestation of magic? How powerful was she?

Even as I stared, I started writing notes. She obviously had a preference for speed and agility in combat, using that do defend herself along with her magic. Runes to lighten the weight of armor would be good. As I watched, she used her magic less, conserving it. Signs of needing to conserve energy? Maybe I could use one of the runes of magic regen that Hasha used in his robes, help her get some of that lost energy back over time? Or create a battery of sorts? I’d need to research, see how Light magic responded to my runes. Maybe I could even boost her magical strength as well?

Even as I continued to think, Katya was still fighting. Even without magic, she was clearly a well traied duelist, and she took on the longsword knight with incredible speed, their blades slamming into each other to a rhythm only they could understand. Until finally, Katya outpaced him. With a parry, she stepped forward and slammed the pommel of her blade into the forehead of his helmet. He staggered back, shouting in pain. She punched his chest, and a burst of Light sent him flying.

The last two knights, the claymore ones, rushed her. As they swung their massive blades, she turned to giggle one more, her eyes alight once more.

“Watch this, Char!”

Then she was blazing once more with Light. She disappeared, then reappeared right next to the rightmost claymore knight. A sickening crack filled the air before he fell back, a dent in his chestplate where she’d slammed the tip of her blade into the hardened armor.

I winced. Even with padding, that would cause quite the bruise. Mountain barked again, seemingly delighted at the sight of his master winning.

The other knight roared, swinging his blade around at her chest. She flipped in the air, allowing the blade to swing beneath her, and landed on his shoulders in an incredible display of agility, sitting down with her legs wrapped around his head. With brutality I never expected of her, she slammed her metal encased elbows into his head over and over, moving so quickly the air whistled. She hopped off of him, flipping back to look at him.

The poor knight took a single step forward. Then he fell over.

“Woohoo!” Katya cheered, lifting a fist in the air. “That was fun!”

I stared, my writing having stilled for a moment. Mountain growled happily, then barked, his loud volume shaking the air and bringing me back to reality.

Fun. Right. That had been one of the most brutal things I’d ever seen.

The image of a dwarf getting his head slammed into a wall filled my mind.

Second most brutal thing then.

She turned to look at us, waving happily. “Hey! How’d I do!?”

Richard smirked. “Almost perfectly, my lady.”

“Almost?” she looked crestfallen.

“Yes,” he pointed at a spot behind her shoulder. “You missed one.”

The flat of a blade tapped gently on the side of her head from behind her. She turned to see the spear knight, the one that she’d pulled off his feet with the Light rope holding a spear to her face. He tapped her with the spear again, then lifted a hand to his helmet. He removed the helmet and placed his spear on the ground.

“Should have finished me off little one,” A grizzled old face with dark skin and wrinkles gazed at her, smiling just a bit. “Then I wouldn’t be able to backstab you.”

“Backstab?” Katya frowned disapprovingly. “That’s not honorable.”

“Honor is how we fight, Lady Katya,” the older man rested his spear against his shoulder. “We take our enemies head on, crush them with overwhelming force. But our enemies, and even our allies, have no need for honor. If they could, they would kill you in your sleep. Fight with honor. But when you defeat your opponent? Crushthem.”

Katya nodded, smiling as happily as though he’d given her a new toy. “Yes Father Maxwell!”

I blinked. “That man is a priest?”

“Yes,” Richard hopped over the fence with the spryness of of younger man. “We just have a much more proactive view of prayers.”

“…You are a priest?”

Mountain barked happily. Richard chuckled lightly, striding over to Katya. I quickly stashed away my notebook and hopped over the fence as well. Even in armor, I was still larger and heavier than Richard, the wooden posts groaned as I leapt it. It held however, and I walked over to join Katya.

She turned a smile to me before the old knight stepped in between us. He glowered at me, and I slowed my walk. Despite being bigger than him, he was very intimidating. Especially considering the spear he was carrying.

“You are Char.”

It wasn’t a question.

“Yes,” I kept my tone level.

“Hn,” he nodded over his shoulder at Katya. “She seems to trust ya. More than our armorers here anyways. You made a lot of folk mad boy, calling out their craftsmanship like that.”

I stared down at him for moment. “…I wouldn’t have called them out, if they had done their jobs. If she’d gone into battle in her last armor, she would have been dead the instant she fought someone who knew what they were doing. She’s a good person. I have no problem taking a bit of hatred if it ends up saving her life.”

He searched my face as I glared seriously at him. After a moment he chuckled. “I think I like ya boy. Richard over there doesn’t. But I do. Any man who speaks his mind even while terrified is a good one by me.”

Damn. I’d been trying to hide my fear. But the longer I spent time around men with swords glaring at me when Katya wasn’t looking, the more scared and angry I became.

“Don’t worry,” he patted me on the shoulder, having to reach up a bit. “Just crack some heads later. That’ll get their respect.”

Wondering if he was crazy, I let myself be guided over to Richard and Katya. Richard poked her hip as we came up, and she winced in pain.

“As I thought,” he said firmly. “You let a claymore get you.”

She had? Damn, they were faster than I’d thought. Maybe I should make something for my helm to allow me to see things at a faster rate of perception, so I could see a move like that later? Of course, the chances I’d ever need something that for battle wasn’t high, but it might let me see the movement of other things at a slower rate-of-motion, and help me perceive such things with greater clarity, which might be invaluable for research.

“I’m fine,” Katya complained.

“You need healing,” Richard chided. “I’ll take you to a medic.”

“Aww,” she pouted.

Richard turned to me. “You can stay here. I’ll come back in a bit. I assume you have notes to write?”

I nodded.

“Right. There’s a table in the stables you can use I think.”

“Thank you,” I watched the pair walk off, Katya acting like a petulant child towards her father, Mountain panting happily, and Richard chiding her as they went. A contingent of guards followed her, leaving me with the apparent priest.

“Well, I’ll head out as well,” Father Maxwell rested his spear on his shoulders, arms lying across the length of it. “Need a drink I think. Girl always hits so damn hard.”

“Priests can drink?”

“Depends on the priest,” I watched him walk off, then left to the stables.

With no one around but the other guards, I felt more relaxed. The stables were very open, with only a few horses, a large bear, and a massive goat in the stables. All the animals looked like they were built for war, with rippling muscles and hard eyes. The goat and the bear must have been gifts from some dwarf’s. Those were their most popular mounts after all, next to the large earthdigging moles they’d bred.

I found the table and sat down. The first step was figuring out her needs. The basics were simple, such as armor strengthening, and enhancements to lighten weight or resist certain attacks, but what was important for her? She was to be the hero of the land after all. More than that, she’d been nice to me. So I needed to make armor to match her.

I’d need a closer look at that Light magic of hers. Maybe, I could help her channel it into runes. She apparently had amazing control over it. What if we could take that further? Make it so she could depend further on that ability.

But wait, would that be seen as some form of religious sacrilege?

Damn, I’d need to read up on the Chapel of Valor’s laws as well. This armor was representing them as well, and I wanted to respect their religious practices, even if I wasn’t a believer. So now that I knew what she could do, it was time to figure out how to further boost her abilities, and possibly give her new ones as well.

I made several more annotations to my notes, then flipped through the pages of my notebook. Now, obviously I’d use mannaz,  I wanted the armor to be a fluid piece. Lets see, maybe if—

A hand reached out and took my notebook away. I blinked dumbly, trying to understand what just happened. Then I looked up.

Four knights, all wearing the tabards of the Chapel of Valor, but blue rather than the black I’d gotten used to. They also seemed younger than the group Katya had fought, with less of a surety about themselves. One was standing directly in front of me, holding my notebook.

He was what Jennifer would have called a ‘pretty boy’. He had bright green eyes, tousled black hair, and was smiling brilliantly. Arthur would have said he had a weak chin.

He flipped my notebook to look at it. “Well, well. So you really can read,” he chuckled, giving me that smile again. “I’d heard, but I didn’t really believe it. Who taught you, orcling?”

I frowned at him. “My teacher. May I have my notebook back please? I’m deciding on the armor I’m designing for Katy—…for the Prophesied Child.”

“Oh, of course!” To my surprise, he actually handed it back. I took it in my hands, and slowly pulled it away as he smiled nicely. I put the notebook down and pressed my—

“What is that?”

Annoyed at the interruption, I looked up at him, then down at the object in my hand.

“…It’s graphite wrapped by wood. I use it to write.”

“Really now? Where did you get such a thing?”

I sighed. For some reason, I found this person far more annoying than Katya, whose questions had only bothered me for a moment. With this man, I could feel my patience wearing thin. “I got it from my teacher. He has a friend who got him a small supply that she invented, and she sends him small boxes every now and then. Now please, I just want to work.”

His eyes seemed to flash. “Oh, feeling temperamental are we?”

I sighed. As annoying as he was, I supposed there was no need to snap at him. “My apologies, I simply—”

“Oh no, no. no,” he chuckled a bit. “I understand. Feeling a bit frustrated? Like you need to take it out on someone?”

“What?” I frowned. Realization quickly dawned. Still, I tried to salvage the situation. “No, I just want to work.”

“Noooo,” the handsome knight laughed. His friends did so as well, the three of them unable to keep from making the sound somehow ugly. “See, I understand your frustration,” He patted my hand. I pulled it back hurriedly, and his smile widened. “You must want to fight for a bit, yes? A good bout in the ring, get that anger off your chest?”

I frowned at him. He only chuckled cheerily.

“How about it orcling!? A quick spar, you and I!”

As he said this, I looked outside. All of the guards were gone. The only ones here were the animals. In the literal and metaphorical sense.

I looked back at the young man. “No thank you.”

He pouted mockingly. “Aw, are you sure? Isn’t that a shame boys? He doesn’t want to play.”

“Mean of him,” one said, with far less charm than his leader. Though to be fair, his helmet did muffle his voice. “Come on orcling. Just one match.”

“Yeah!” another said with a laugh. “Tell you what, you don’t even have to use a sword! No need to worry about you accidentally cutting yourself! Keep things nice and safe.”

I narrowed my eyes. “And you?”

“Oh, I’ll be using my sword,” the leader chuckled again. He seemed to like doing that. “I’m trained, so don’t worry. I know how to use this safely.”

As he patted the sword at his side, I frowned. “Why are you doing this?”

For the first time, the handsome man stopped smiling. He gave me an almost sad smile. “…Does it matter?”

“…I suppose it doesn’t,” I said softly.

It was true. The reason for it didn’t matter too much at the moment. For whatever reason, they wanted me to fight their leader. The reasons for it could wait. For now, I had to deal with the situation.

Four armored knights, all armed with blades, and all trained. Even with my strength, I wasn’t invulnerable to pointed steel.

But one on one? Maybe I stood a chance.

I slowly put my notebook away in my satchel. Then I rose up.

“…Light,” one of them said in awe. I towered over them all. Hunched over the small table, writing in my notebook, they must not have comprehended how big I was. Now, they could see me for my full size.

Feeling a bit more confident. I strode forward. The leader, his face growing more serious, turned to lead the way. His friends surrounded me, as though to keep me from running. I considered that. Even with my size, I was faster than most thanks to Hasha’s physical training regimen, though I’d fallen behind in that a bit.

But I discarded the idea. If they were truly trained, a single sword jammed into my chest would do the job of killing me. Better to fight.

The leader took a position in the clearing. His friends stood around us, leaving plenty of room for me and him.

“No weapons or armor at all?”

The man smiled in a cocky manner. “Where would we find armor to fit one of your… girth? And as I said, I worry for your safety, orcling! We wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

I found myself oddly offended at the first remark. My girth was fine, if you asked me.

“Now, bow!” he did so. When I didn’t, he pouted once more. “Now orcling, if you don’t follow the rules—”

Right, that was about enough of that.

“My name,” he stopped, eyes widening at the sound of my voice growling outward, “is Char. Not orcling. We both know what this is. Let’s get on with it.”

The leader and his three knights looked at each other. Then, he shrugged. Just like that, he was leaping towards me, sword swinging at me.

My first thought was that Katya was a much better fighter. There was a grace to her, an incredible adaptability to her fighting style. His style was far less trained, despite being (presumably) older than her.

My second thought was to bemoan how little that mattered. If she was better than him, he absolutely towered over me.

I blocked his blade with my arms, forced to let the sword slice into my right forearm rather than my face and chest. Pain blossomed at the same time as blood, and I tried to pull back, to get some room. He came forward in steps, stabbing at my chest with horrifying speed.

Eyes widening, I twisted out of the way, but still sustained a cut to my stomach as when he turned the thrust into a slice. I was momentarily thrown back to the alley where the three men had attacked me.

I was scared. And I was also getting angry.

Roaring, I lashed out with a fist. He ducked the blow, and stepped into kick at my knee. My leg crumbled under the blow. I fell, and tried to hit him again. He hopped back, letting my fist slip past him, then stepped in to slice at my shoulder.

I roared again, and rolled away, pain blossoming in my wounds as dust slipped into them. The handsome man, face grim, sliced at me again, forcing me to block with my left arm. When I roared this time, I could feel the air shake. He stepped back in shock, letting me rise up.

I rushed at him. He raised his sword and stabbed it deep into my other shoulder. I screamed now, but still grabbed him by his face and started to squeeze. A red haze was filling my eyes. Rage, fear, and hate filled me.

Panicking as I squeezed his skull, he pulled his sword out of my shoulder with liquid sound, then slammed it into my chest. I roared in pain, pushing him back. Staggering, roaring, and clutching at the wounds, I pressed my back against the fence behind me. I roared again, trying to scare him back.

He smiled, as cheerily as he had from the start. His friends watched on in silence.

“I really am sorry about this, orcling.” He chuckled. “But an orc, half or otherwise, hanging around the Prophesied Child? This simply won’t do.” He raised his sword up high. “Goodbye orcling.”

…Orcling. He was going to kill me. And he wasn’t even going to remember my name.

That galvanized me. I was a person damnit. Not just a half-orc, to be killed for existing, for being in the way. And damned if I was going to die to this damn pretty boy, weak chinned, knight.

I grabbed the fence post behind me. It was stuck deep in the ground. It was sturdy, well-chosen wood. It had to be, if it was to survive whatever was going to be thrown at it.

Wrapping my fingers around it, I pulled upwards in a sudden explosive movement. I swung outwards as I roared louder than I ever had in my life. I’d always held back my strength on some level, never giving it my all.

Now, with my life on the line, I swung that wooden post with every bit of energy I had. The handsome man’s eyes widened when dirt and wood snapped behind me. He tried to block the wood. But physics was against him. A piece of wood as thick as my leg, swung with my strength, and moving at speed.

His sword was pushed aside, and the wood slammed into his arm. He screamed as his armor dented inwards.

Now fully enraged, I stepped forwards and swung again. He sliced at my thigh, laying a deep cut there, but I ignored it to smack him in the chest. Even in my rage, some part of me was still able to hold on enough to guide my movements. When he staggered back, eyes full of fear, and tried to stab me again, I aimed the post at his dominant hand.

The sound of bones cracking filled the air.

“AAAUGH!” he fell to his knees, tears in his eyes. “No, Light no!”

I hesitated. Even in my rage, I didn’t want to kill him.

“Get him!” One of his friends cried.

He leaped at me, slashing at my throat. Instinctively, I swung the makeshift club at his chest. His armor dented inwards. I think he tried to scream, but the armor pressing in on his lungs prevented that. As he fell back, scrambling at his chestplate, pain at my back nearly staggered me. I fell to a knee, and reached out a desperate hand. A squawk followed my hand grabbing a tabard. I pulled, hard, bringing the knight to the ground before me. Forgoing the wooden post, I instead punched the man in his face. My knuckles met a solid metal helm, and I grimaced at the pain as a ringing sound filled the air. Another burst of pain in my back told me the last knight was stabbing me again. The one on the ground punched me in the face, his steel gauntlets breaking the skin and pouring blood into my eyes.

Somewhere in my mind, even with the blood blinding me, I managed to keep my intelligence. When I wiped away another I noticed a crack in the armor of the man I had pressed to the ground as I knelt. A long mark where a smith had repaired it. But they’d botched the job.

Raising the post high to aim the 'pommel' of my makeshift weapon, I slammed it into his armor, right on the crack. The armor shattered along the small crack. When I hit him again, his eyes widened behind his helm, then closed.

I swung a fist out at the last knight. Like his leader, he stepped back to avoid the attack, then stabbed me in the same shoulder his leader had sliced open first.

I lost all control then. I swung the post, sweeping his feet out from under him. I raised the post high, ready to kill him, to end the threat—

“What in hell!?” I looked up. Richard was rushing towards us. “What happened here!?”

I stared at him, uncomprehending. Then I realized what I’d been ready to do. Sickened, I dropped the post. The man I’d been ready to kill stared up at me, eyes fearful.

“H…He was going to kill me!”

Richard hopped over the fence, spitting to the side as he came. “I saw it all,” I stiffened, opened my mouth to defend myself. “Four knights, fighting an unarmed man! What in the Light were you thinking!? You damn fools! I’ll have you in stocks!”

The man on the ground stared in shock, then looked around. His leader was staring at the proceedings, still cradling his hand as he cried. The other two men had passed out.

“Look at what he did to us!”

Richard scoffed. “Of the people here, who is soaked in blood?”

They looked at me. My wounds were slowly leaking now. With the threat passing, I was getting wearier by the minute. I was still on my knees, and didn’t feel like getting up.

“Hmph,” Richard came forward and wrapped my right arm around his shoulders. With surprising strength, he tugged me to my feet. “Go get to a medic on your own. Any of you damn fools die, do it away from the water we drink.”

“B-But sir!” said the leader.

“You tried to kill a man,” Richard turned his eyes towards the shocked leader. “I hate orcs too. But damned if I’ll kill one that hasn’t tried to kill me. I have my damn honor. Now either run, or deal with the guards I’ll be sending to collect you.”

As he helped me walk, I noticed the bear in the stables staring out at me. And I couldn’t help but think on the black rage that had filled me. That had saved my life even as it compelled me to take another.

In the end I was right. The only ones around were the animals.