The Raiders had destroyed the village. I spent the next few days after the attack burying everyone. I salvaged what food and material for building a shelter I could. It wasn't much. The Raiders had taken all the livestock and most of the stores of food. 12 goats had been left on the mountain to graze the night before the attack, so I was able to get fresh milk. I didn't slaughter them for food. I wanted to save my blade for every Raider I came across.
I used the material to build a small shelter for the goats near the forge. I used the railing from the old pen to keep them gathered together so that they wouldn't wander off and become food for a wolf any anything else. I would go into the forest each morning and forage for nuts, berries and wild vegetables. My father always told me that the forest would provide for us if anything happened to the stores of food in the village. He wasn't wrong.
When I wasn't tending the goats, or foraging, I was training. I trained at the river, I trained in the hidden room, I trained on the mountain top, I even trained further in the caves. It was dark, but that made me improve my ability in the Swordsman's Euphoria. I would douse the flame of my torch, and then enter the Euphoria. When I was there, I would reach out to the stone and gather the aether to enhance my vision. Everything would look like it was through a purple haze, but I could see everything clearly. The floor was scattered with large stone and boulders. I would use them as obstacles to run and jump on during the movements. One of the last lessons my father taught me, was that the movements could be done anywhere. You only had to master your environment. When I realized that I could do the movements in an unlit cave, I began training in all kinds of locations. The most challenging was the river itself. I would wade in, up to my waist. The water was frigid from the mountain runoff. I would reach out for the aether to warm my bones, and nothing could stop me. Not even when fall turned to winter. The aether protected me from any harm of the cold. I would train in the river until it iced over, and then I would train on top of it.
By mid winter I had grown out of my clothes. My father had old scraps of cloth and armor left in the forge and the hidden room. I knew nothing about needlework, but I tried my best. My britches were put together from two old sacks, I made them larger than I needed and pinched them with an old strap of leather. My tunic was from a few scraps of old clothing that I was able to find unburnt in the village. The most difficult thing was the shoes. I looked everywhere in hopes that I would find some, but I had no luck. I found a few old pairs of armored boots in the hidden room. I took the smaller pair and stuffed them with shreds of cloth to make them fit. It was a new experience training not only in shoes that were too large, but too heavy.
The winter was tough, but I would cut down a tree each morning after I trained at the river, and light the forge. It was warmer than a small fireplace, and the heat would travel through the cave system, so that when I trained inside, it was comfortable.
The first signs of springs arrival, came in the form of a cardinal that landed on the fencing for the goats. It was nearing the time I was supposed to go to the Kingdom and join the Knights Academy, but I had no way of getting there. The horses were gone, and it would take several weeks to travel there by foot. Also I wasn't sure of the path to get there without my father guiding the way. No travelers came to the village that I could ask. Even in the best of times, our village didn't attract much attention. We would maybe get a visitor once a season, but none had came, which made me believe that the Raiders had struck other villages on the way to ours. If I left I would have to free the goats and let them fend for themselves. I couldn't do it. They were the only living thing left of the village. I stayed.
The seasons turned into years. I continued to train, and forage, and put together makeshift clothing. I had grown enough to be able to fit into the armored boots, and some britches that my father had in an old chest in the back of the hidden room. I had gotten better at needlework, and my tunic now resembled a tunic, but still made from scraps of old clothing. In the hidden room was an old chain male shirt that was still too large for me, but I wore it when I trained. It was bulky and slowed me down at first, but after a few weeks, I was able to move freely in it. The boots were also easier to move in, since I could finally fit them.
One day when I was training in the hidden room, The excited bleating of the goats traveled through the cave. I ran out with sword in hand to see two Raiders trying to herd them out of the pen. They hadn't seen me yet, so I ran as swiftly as I could and pounced on the first one that was at the gate of the pen. With a single thrust of my sword, I ended his life. I let him fall of my sword, as his body went limp his compatriot turned and looked at me with anger. He had made his way into the pen to round up the goats. I sprung over the fence in a single leap without even touching it. We ran at each other, and at the last second I dropped to my knees and slid. As I did I slashed my sword across his midsection. That was all it took. I had opened him on the side from belly button to spine. He fell in screams of pain. I calmly stood up, and walked back to him.
"Were are your other men?"
"You will pay for our deaths when they arrive. You swung your blade for the last time."
"I doubt that. I still have one more swing within me."
With that, I opened his throat. I didn't know how much time I had, so I quickly opened the pen and lead the goats up the mountain. At least if they were there, they would have a chance to escape regardless of what happened to me. I ran back down the mountain. It was still clear, but for how long. I took the bodies of them men, and propped them up agains the fence facing the old trail that entered into the village.
I already had the boots and the chain male shirt on since I was training when the arrived, but I would need more armor if I was going to take on twenty men. I assumed twenty since it was near that number when the raided the village years ago. I found some old leather gloves, and my gauntlets. The gloves were too big, and my gauntlets were too small. I added some leather cord to what was on my gauntlets to allow them to fit, but with a large gap on the underside. The gloves would just have to work. There was other armor in the room, but it was all too large, including the metal glove that Galdren had given me so long ago.
I went to the mouth of the cave that led into the forge and waited. It took several hours before they showed up, but in that time, I formed a plan. There were only 6 men that rode on horseback down the old trail. The sped up when they saw the two men propped up on the goat pen. I could see the sense of panic in them as they dismounted their steeds and looked around frantically for the danger that had killed their friends.
I stealthily walked back into the forge and pulled a lit torch from the wall, and doused the others. I went back to the mouth of the cave, and called to the men.
"Leave here or suffer the same fate as those two pathetic slabs of meat."
They all called out simultaneously, "There!" Then the ran towards the cave. My plan wasn't for them to run off scared, although that would have been welcome. I had never fought anyone to the death until that morning. I wanted every Raider dead, but when it came down to it, it didn't make me feel any better when they fell to my blade. My plan was to lure them into the cave, and to the dark cavern in the back. I walked to the back of the forge with the with the torch in hand and waited for the first one to poke his head around the opening of the cave. I didn't have to wait long, they were there within seconds. It seemed that caution wasn't anything they were interested in. One didn't poke his head around the opening, three of them came barreling in, with the other three close behind.
"Over here."
The stayed in stride as they found my voice and followed. I ran past the hidden room and to the next corner. At this point, I no longer had to call for them, they could simply follow the light. It was the only one in the cave, and none of them had stopped long enough to light their own torch. I led them through the twisting cave system, stopping only long enough so that they wouldn't lose track of me. I entered the large cavern, and stood to the back of it in front of one of the large boulders that stood head height to me. They all sprinted into the room and spread out in front of me.
"You're dead boy."
"Is that so? How well can you see in the dark?"
"Wha....."
As the word was coming out of the leaders mouth, I doused the torch. I entered the Swordsman's Euphoria, and reached to the stone to gather the aether. As the room went dark, my vision went to purple and I sprung upwards to the top of the boulder. I watched as the men stood stark still for the first few seconds, as they tried to regain their sight. The panic set in, when their sight didn't return as fast as they wanted it to. They began running around and knocking into one another. The leader had remained still, and called for his.
"Stop running around and stand still, but keep at the ready. Draw your swords, and gather at my voice."
I saw the men do as they were told, when they were gathered around their leader he grabbed the nearest man to him on the shoulder. I watched the other men do the same, and they began walking backwards towards the entrance to the cavern. I leapt from the boulder and sprinted behind them. I slashed with my sword and sliced along the calf of the leaders leg. He crumpled to the floor, and the men began to panic again, but this time, they stayed in place.
"Circle around me, and keep your swords pointed out. He will have to take a blade to get to us again. Don't make a sound and listen for him. He will give himself away."
He thought I was attacking by their sound. I was still standing directly behind them and in front of the cavern entrance. I took off the bulky boots, so that I could sneak more quietly. I slowly made my way around to the right side, and chose my first victim. I charged in and slid low stabbing my blade upwards and into his stomach. I slide in as far as I could reach. I saw the tip reemerge from his upper shoulder. He opened his mouth to scream, but he was already dead. I quickly pulled the blade out before he could fall, and retreated back to my boots.
The panic set in again, and the men started breaking their rank. The one standing closest to the entryway, turned and ran towards me. I simply raised my sword, and slide it through his throat. Once again, he dropped silently. There were three more men left, including the wounded leader. I was stunned when I watched one of them run in a panic, straight into the wall, head first. He had brained himself.
"Come to my voice and help me up."
The final two men did as the leader ordered. Since they couldn't see, they didn't know which was to go, so they picked him up facing different directions. They both ran and went in a circle sending them all sprawling to the floor. I quickly jumped on the back of the one nearest me, and slide my sword under his head and slid it along his throat. He let out a "Hrmmph." when I landed on his back, but was silent after that. That left one more able bodied man.
"It's down to just two of you now. I'll let you live if you tell me what I want to know."
"You won't leave this cave boy. I will walk out on one leg, using the bones from your spine to prop me up."
"Very interesting proposal, but I think I'll keep my spine where it is. It does seem like you man there, has a spine that has turned to jelly."
The lone remaining man without wound was crawling away from my voice trying to shelter under or behind anything he could.
"You there. My father showed compassion once, and let one of your kind go. That was just before the rest of your men killed him and burned this village to the ground. If you tell me what I want to know, I will show that same compassion and let you walk out of here with every breath left to take. All you have to do, is throw down your sword, and answer my questions."
"Men of the Mudwood, don't throw their weapons down."
As the leader was saying the last word a loud clang could be heard from the man throwing his sword away.
"What are you doing you coward. I will kill you myself."
"Where are the rest of your men?"
"There are no other men. We are a small scout force sent to see if any of the villages we have taken or burned down have been repopulated."
"What was your mission?"
"If we found population regrowth we were to report back to our legion. Once we did that, the legion would sent out a patrol of appropriate size to destroy the new settlements."
"Where is your legion?"
"They remain across the border in the safe zones."
"Why are they staying there?"
"When we began the raids years ago, we made our way to 10 miles from the Kingdom, but we were pushed back by the Targen Knights. We have been staying in the safe zones replenishing our forces and preparing for an all out assault."
"If you are going to have an all out assault, why send in scouts to clear people out, why not just run them over with your numbers."
"The new general..."
"Shut your mouth traitor. If I get over there I will kill you on the spot."
"Wait a moment, I need to take care of something."
I walked over to the prone leader. I bent down and picked up a small pebble from the ground and tossed it over his shoulder. The sound caused him to jump and then lunge for the sound. When he was fully stretched out, I sliced across the back of the knee of his unwounded leg.
"ARGHHH!"
"Now you silence yourself and stay put. He won't be going anywhere near you know. Continue with what you were saying."
I watched the cowardly yet informative man gulp, and reswallow his heart.
"The new general wants a clear path to the Kingdom. He said stragglers or small outcrops of villagers will slow the legion down, and waste resources."
"When is he supposed to advance his legion."
"I don't know. We were supposed to report back our findings and then wait for new orders."
"Very well. I'm going to walk over to you now. Don't be frightened, and don't do anything foolish. I'm going to lead you out of here. I will stay to your back with the point of my blade at the base of your skull. If you try anything, my blade will slide through the back of your neck and out the front of your throat. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, I will do nothing."
He was true to his word. He stood up, and moved forward as I ordered him to do, and then I got behind him and marched him with voice commands on which way to turn. All the while, his leader screamed and described how he was going to kill the traitor. When we got to the forge, I stopped and told him to continue on.
"You or anyone who comes here, will be killed, so do not return. Tell you general that there were no settlements, and the rest of the men you were with, ran off and deserted the army."
"Yes, and thank you for not killing me."
"Thank my father. I was only doing what he would do. If it were up to me, I would kill you and every other Raider and that is just what I'll do if you return."
The man ran off as fast as he could. I watched as he mounted his horse and tore off in a gallop. I walked back to the cavern, with a torch. I stopped before entering the cavern, and reached the torch in front of me into the doorway. A knife went whistling past, and went rang out as it hit the wall beyond.
"Are you done?"
"Come in here and face me, so I can put my blade through you."
I walked into the cavern. The man had drug himself to the far wall, near the boulder I had stood under earlier. His sword was at the ready. Two large smears of blood trailed from his legs. He was already beginning to go pale, and wouldn't last much longer.
"I'm feeling very compassionate today. I will show you the same compassion I showed your man."
"Your going to let me leave?" The bravado had finally left his voice.
"Oh no, nothing like that. I'm going to offer you a quick death."
"I will take your life with my own blade before you can end mine." The bravado had returned. "I am a Raider of the Mudwood. We do not kneel and die, we stand up and fight."
"I don't think you will stand before you die. As a matter of fact, you are already dead. All that remains is to see exactly how you die, quickly or slowly."
He raised his sword and beaconed me to come closer to him.
"I'm assuming you are attempting to stand and fight. I'll leave you to that then."
I turned and walked away, leaving him in darkness. He screamed and yelled for a couple of hours , before he finally went quiet. I let him lay there for a day. I needed to relocate the goats to the mountain so that they would no longer attract attention. I took the pen down, and used parts of it to make a gate on the narrow pass going up the mountain. The next day. I burned the bodies of all the men that died. I took their horses and led them up the mountain pass as well. I now had a way to leave the village.
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