User blog:Redknight910/WWYD Salamander Corvus29

Prompt: Out for Revenge

Not liking my chances against the armed group of monsters, I decide to run recon and get an idea of what I'm up against.

The man himself has a halberd strapped to his back, and the salamander has a saber on her hip. The small collection of lizardmen are armed with various blades, a couple of them having polearms. I followed them, keeping to the forest shadows, and watching them.

It was clear he was involved with the salamander, and they were talking about something, occasional laughs bursting from the salamander, and sometimes the other lizardmen would break out into fits of giggling. It was almost like watching children talking about their crushes.

As the afternoon wore on they set up a small camp. After setting up they set to making food. When the smell of roasting meat hit my nostrils... I almost forgot about my mission. I saw the two, shuffling off away from the main group. As I moved to follow them, I caught a snippet of the conversation the others were having.

"...think they'll do?"

"I don't know, maybe the boss will finally settle down?" They all laughed.

"Yeah right! If their kid's going to be anything like them she'll be swinging a blade before she can walk." My eyes widened at that. Were they talking about the salamander? And him? No, no I couldn't allow this.

I quickly caught the two a few meters away. They were drawing weapons, the salamander's flame heating up.

"You know I'm not comfortable doing this." He said, fitting something to his halberd. It looked like he was swapping the head over.

"And I told you, I'm fine. I'm not showing yet, and besides, I need something to keep myself fit. Now stop whining and shape up." They shared a grin. A cocky grin that made my blood boil.

Watching them fight was informative, intense, and somewhat awe-inspiring. Watching the wild salamander charge him down time and time again, only to be repelled by jabs or broad sweeps. Watching him make precise, directed attacks, only to be foiled by her ferocity.

In the end he kneeled, laughing as the salamander held him to her blade.

"Great fight dear, you're getting better every day." She snorted and shook her head.

"I know you're holding back. Once we've had the baby, I'm not accepting anything less than full strength." He chuckled, standing.

"Right, come on, let's get back to the others." He turned to pick up his pack, and I caught his gaze. Panic ripped through me when I realised he'd seen me. Panic, and hate.

I hated this man for taking my brother from me. I hated him for leaving our mother grieving. I hated him for leaving me alone.

I didn't think, I didn'teven realise what I was doing until it was too late. By the time my mind caught up with my body I was running right at him, sword and dagger at the ready. He stepped back, pulling his halberd up, and I saw the salamander stare in shock at me.

I hit him with the full force of my charge, but he threw me off to the side, turning back to his partner.

"Go get the others!" He shouted, by the time he was turning back, I had him in striking range. Whipping my blade around I managed to catch him on the side, before he swung the bottom of his halberd at me. I pulled back, barely avoiding a blow to the temple, before going for a thrust.

He turned it to the side, continuing into a short strike with the head of his weapon. I caught the under powered strike with my dagger, pulling up and brining my blade in for a slash across his throat.

He ducked, wrenching both his weapon and my dagger from my control, and bringing it around to dig into my back. My eyes widened as I felt the cool metal bite deep, sinking firmly into my lower back. I dropped my blade, looking to my side to see the man who I'd come to kill.

His eyes were lit with a fire, his face set in a defensive scowl.

I whispered, "I'm sorry, big brother." as my vision went dark.

"I woke to a throbbing in my back, and my wrists and legs tied tightly. Looking around, I saw the group gathered around their fire, looking far more serious than they had earlier. I heard motion next to me and what quiet conversation there was died as everyone turned towards me.

The traitor was the first to approach, looking at me with those hard eyes.

"Who sent you?" He asked, but my head was still foggy from waking up. When I made a confused noise the salamander stormed up and grabbed me by the tunic.

"Who sent you, asshole?!" She shouted, leaving my ears ringing. A hand appeared on her shoulder, and she dropped me, leaving me to shake the rest of the stars away.

He kneeled next to me, looking me eye to eye and calmly asked again, "Who sent you, boy?"

"I, ugh, I was sent by... by Commander Varai." He nodded, grabbing a plate from next to him.

"And why did he think a lone boy could stop me? Did they think I'd have pity on you?" I looked at him for a moment, before going in for a headbutt. I connected and managed to get his nose.

"That's for my brother!" I shouted, before the salamander grabbed me and held my mouth shut.

"You little fuck! I'm gonna-" She was pulling the other hand back, when he stopped her again. "You can't be serious!" She shouted, letting go of me and turning on him.

"I'll handle this, Lea." She stood for a moment, glared at me, kicked me in the shin and walked away. He kneeled down again, watching her leave.

"Great way to get yourself a pair of black eyes, kid."

"Stop calling me a kid! My name is Charles, and you-"

"Killed your brother, yeah, I heard you the first time." He turned back to me, holding his nose. "So, who was he?" I stop for a moment, stunned by the question, before returning to myself.

"His name was Daniel. And he was a good man, who didn't deserve to die to a beast like you." He gave me that look again. A kind of calm anger.

"I'm sure he was. I'm sure many of the men and women I've killed were good people. But when you're being hunted by people, good or not, you can't take risks." His look softened for a moment, and suddenly I was reminded of my father, after he was told he couldn't serve after his injury.

"Why? If it hurts you, why do you do it?" He snapped back to that simmering facade again, looking at me intently.

"You see them?" He pointed to the lizardmen around the fire. The salamander was still glaring at me. I nodded. "They've had it just as rough as you. Most of them lost their mothers, some even lost their fathers. They're good people as well." He pointed to one sitting to the right of the salamander.

"That's Annie. Her mother died protecting her father, her sister, and her when she was an infant. Order soldiers burned their house and chased them through the woods. She grew up without even being able to remember what her mother looked like, watched her father wither from the pain, and saw her sister get killed by her own resentment of the Order.

Now she's out here, trying to protect other children from sharing her fate." He grabbed my head and turned it towards the salamander.

"And she's had it worse. Grew up alone, learned everything she knows from experience. She took these girls under her wing to give them someone to rely on." He let go and sat down next to me. "And then there's me. I made the weapons that were used to kill. Men, women, children. I've heard and seen no discrimination from the Order. If it lives outside the border, it doesn't deserve to live." I look at him for several long moments while he sits there, eyes glassed over.

"But then you left and killed more people. Why? And why... why aren't I...." He looked at me, smirk on his lips.

"If it had of been my craft, you would be. Be happy I only had a silver head on the pole, else we wouldn't be having this little talk." He sighs, looking away again. "But you're right. I left, burned my plans and ran for the border, only to keep killing people." He was silent for several moments, lost in thought.

I think... I think I remember you're brother." He looked at me, squinting and cocking his head. "Yes, he was a strong looking man, he fought to the very end." He sighs again, looking over at the others. "I guess that's what I planned to do. To just keep fighting until someone managed to kill me. But now...." His voice drifted as he looked at the salamander.

"Now you're going to be a father." I said, earning a nod from him.

"Yeah. And I can't help thinking of how our little girl could be forced to grow up just like her mother." It's only now that I notice he's spinning something in his hands. The head for a halberd. "I've been trying to think of a good way to get away from it all. To stop fighting without being worried someone like you might come looking for me." He looks at me, and I catch a hint of desperation in his eyes.

"Charles. I have an offer for you." He holds out the head, offering it to me. "Take this, take my cloak, and tell them it's done. You'll be an inspiration to everyone, the man who killed the great wolf, and I'll be free to find a home, settle down and raise my kid." I look at him, and shake my head in confusion.

"This... you..." I take a deep breath, "what will you do if I say no?" He looks at me, his eyes so intense it feels like they're staring into my soul.

"You'll be taken prisoner to some dungeon, eventually you'll see that monsters don't want to destroy us, or the chief god, and you'll probably join some town guard or patrol group.

I'll probably get to watch some would be assassin kill my wife, and my daughter will probably get to watch another kill me. And then some poor soul from the Order might defect, kill a lot of men, and we'll end up right back here, in a different time, with different people, with the same problem."

I wanted to deny it, to say this wouldn't happen again, but everything he said, after everything he'd told me. It was true. If thing continued as they were, this scene would probably play time and time again. More families would be destroyed, on both sides, and people would suffer for it. The hardest part of it all was admitting he was right.

"So... can I go tonight? Or tomorrow?" He smiled, grabbing my hands and untying them, before thrusting the plate into my hands.

"Leave tomorrow, for tonight, eat." I looked down at the food. It was hardly hot anymore, but it did look good, and aftera few bites I confirmed it tasted just the same. I watch them near the fire, subtly watching me. Except the salamander, she's still glaring at me.

I wake the next morning to a pack being dropped next to my head. Eyes snapping open I bolt upright to see a burgundy scaled, clawed foot standing in front of me.

"There's enough food and water to get you back to the Order." She says, before dropping the halberd head into the ground between us. "I don't trust you. My girls don't trust you. But I trust my husband, and if he's right about you..." a hand drifts to her exposed midriff, absentmindedly rubbing her belly, "if he's right, then I'm willing to believe him." She turns around, walking away without another word to pack up the site.

I set off with the pack and halberd, which has the end of it's shaft snapped off inside of it. I fend off several monsters on the way back, but make it into Order lands without much trouble.

I arrive back at the outpost two days later, and when I present the halberd head and bloody cloak, my commander is more than pleased.

"I wasn't sure you had it in you, soldier, but I'm glad to be wrong. I think after that, you've earned some RnR. You have two weeks leave, so make use of them. Chief God protect you."

"And may their light guide us all." I say, turning to take my leave.

I decide to head home, where I'm welcomed back with open arms and tears from my mother. There's a small celebration in my honor, where more than a few girls approach me with compliments and flirting.

One woman, though, approaches with something else.

"A-are you sure he's... he's dead?" She asks, looking on the edge of losing all composure.

"Yes. Yes, he's gone, and he'll never harm another soul." She nods, holding her hands tightly to her chest.

"I- was it a quick end?" I look at her for a few moments, before nodding.

"Quick as I could. He was a very skilled fighter with his weapon." She nods slowly, her eyes turning to the past for a moment.

"He was. I'm... I'm glad, you did this. Now he can rest in peace."

"Did you know him?" She nods, a sad smile crossing her lips.

"I was his wife." My eyes widen, and just as I'm about to apologise she stops me. "Don't. I... he did this to himself, and I...." I see her shudder a few times, tears falling down her cheeks. "I have to take some part of this blame. After all, it was me who reported him." I look at her for several long moments, before putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You did what you thought was right. It's all any of us can do. Whether it was right or wrong, we made those choices, and only the gods can tell us if we did the right thing." She stops sobbing for a moment, taking one of her tightly clutched hands and dabbing a kerchief at her eyes.

"Thank you. I think, I think if you'd met him before, he would have liked you." When she turned and walked out of the room, I was relieved. I don't know how much more I could have stood without confessing everything.

"We can only do what we think is right." I mutter to myself. I just need to believe what I did was right, and that my future actions as a soldier are right as well.