Alive again

Oh, hello, random stranger. Why did you kill it?

We've survived everything so far. Lieutenant and I, I mean. Apparently you too, but this story isn't about you. 

We had already been walking towards the light for two days and finally got to the Nebloss swamps (which are, by the way, around two days on foot far from the city). I didn't actually like the place. I never did at all. 

Hot, humid, smelly air to breathe. Mosquitoes and slugs, both the size of cats and horses respectively.

Nevertheless it was a bucolic place. Huge flowers bloomed brighter than gold. The ambience oozed with life and everything felt organic in its own way.

Since I didn't breathe anymore, the smell was no longer a nuissance.

Lieutenant, however, didn't seem to be pleased. She stuck herself on my neck and wouldn't stop making my neck feel itchy. However, the day had begun brightly.

We were already halfway through the swamp by the dawn of the day. In that zone of the biome, the trees covered the sky like a bulky blanket of green, thick branches.

Then we saw one blorgl. It is rare to witness one of these biped herbivores since they ewre driven to extinction. I guessed that the lack of human presence had let them thrive. Its from-like eyes surrounded the place and jumped a few steps to our left. I now know how blessed I had been with that view.

To my surprise, we were not alone. Discovering so was ugly. 

A black sword cut through the blorgl like a hot knife through a piece of butter. An arm and a body protected by a grey armor then got out of the bushes to claim its prey.

I was furious. That person had murdered an unusual specimen like it was nothing.

I ignore if my anger was somehow audible, but he turned the head towards me with surprise and unsheathed the sword. A male voice shouted then:

-Prepare to die again, undead! You will not approach the sacred city as long as I stand!

Lieutenant jumped to a tree. Coward. Since I had no means of communication, my only chance was to fight him. What a bummer. I (unstabbed?) got the sword out of my ribcage. It was rusty and lacked half the blade. Enough for me, I remembered. Everything started to slow down as I adopted a defensive posture. He was coming closer with each step, and I had to think fast. He seemed a decent fencer. 

Remnant of my past flashed through my mind. I remembered everything related to dueling. Lucky me. I easily dodged his first lunges and started responding to the attacks. He started to back up in a clumsy way as if he did not know how to. I don't blame him, though. Muscle mountains like him often only remembered how to attack because they're hardly attacked.

Our confrontation barely lasted a minute or two. He fell on his back when I broke his sword. If customs hadn't changed, I had dishonored him. I apparently was right, and once he realised, he fell on his knees and started praying.

-Oh, sweet Stärk-eh! Why'd you let your paladin be dishonored by a Tainted? How has one of Turr-hå's stooges defeated me, He-who-is-undefeatable?

Then he looked at me.

-Even after dishonoring me, you've not killed me yet, nor have you spoken. Could this be a signal of some kind? Who are you, who did the impossible?

I was in shock. A paladin of the war god, defeated by me? My skill level wouldn't even have stood a chance against a war god paladin's when I was alive. He either was a novice or the quality had dropped since I last saw one fight.

I wouldn't let this opportunity to pass. I quickly asked for paper and a quill with signs. He understood and handed them to me. I wrote the equivalent of "I let you live for you to follow the steps of Stärk-eh, the men harrier". The handwriting couldn't have changed much in a few hundred years.

He apparently understood, nodding as he accepted his new fate.

-Oh, Stärk-eh! If this is your will then I, as your servant and willing slave, will follow it! May I know the name of the master in whose hands you've placed me, oh Lord?

I almost panicked, for I didn't remember my name. I scribbled a few characters and then showed them to him. He nodded in respect.

-Then let your hand guide my sword, Bones, You-who-defeated-the-invincible! Your wish will be my command, since it is Stärk-eh's will!

Huh. Bones. It was a fitting name, though, and the characters were pronounced that way. I'm surprised that he didn't manage to recognise what they actually meant.

Anyways, now not only have I got a cat, but also a Stärk-eh's paladin who believes I'm a godsend just because I fit the scripture's description of Trok-el, who was the only one to ever beat Stärk-eh.

This was going to be entertaining.