The Horseman of Calamity

Chapter 4 - Bloodlust

Hung was way too excited at the prospect of finally seeing some action, while he swore to himself he'd try his best to never hurt another human again, he had no qualms in his mind about killing feral orcs. He eagerly woke up in the morning, a little too early in the morning, so he decided he'd train himself as there was nothing else to do. He made a small trek to a nearby clearing, the once tedious climb now felt like a casual stroll. In the early mornings, there were always birds chirping like the ones back on Earth. There had been a light drizzle the night prior, which made the grass shine with dew and made the cold air smell of fresh pines and damp soil. Again though, he noticed the peculiar golden-lime canary, sitting away on a nearby tree branch, how many times had he seen a bird like that now? He trained for about an hour, but it was still 6:00 a.m., so he went foraging in the nearby bushes for some fruit. He made sure not to wander too far from the camp as he didn't have a compass.

When Till and the others had woken up later around sunrise, Hung was already packed up and ready to go. Till stationed four of the knights to stay and maintain the camp and took Hung and three other knights with him down the mountains and into the surrounding woods. The trip was simply uneventful. They reached the village in four days and upon arrival, they were swarmed by the desperate villagers.

"Did his majesty send you here?"

"Please take care of those nasty orcs!"

"I don't want to ever see those brutish bastards again!"

They all shouted, directing all of their anger and frustration onto Till.

"I won't be the one to remove them, but I will keep this village safe. As for the one who will get rid of them, it is my apprentice."

He cleared the way, revealing Hung to the villagers. There were some hushed murmurs and whispers throughout the group of villagers, most seemed to wonder if Hung could actually do it while some inspected his attire and hair.

"Where is the village chief or elder? We need to discuss a few things with him in private." Till questioned the crowd. An old man with nearly white hair stepped forward, he wasn't a sickly and short man as most would imagine, he stood several centimeters taller than Hung and was surprisingly muscular.

"I am the chief, please, come with me, we can discuss the situation in my home." He motioned for Hung and Till to come and follow him, and the remaining knights took up posts to protect the village. Leading the two into a scruffy part wood, part mud building, he closed the doors and windows.

"I want to begin this discussion with the fact that the village and I are going to be forever in debt to you gentlemen for this favor that you are doing us."

Both Till and Hung gave the old man a nod.

"My name is Ungrud, our village has been getting into skirmishes with the local orc tribe for the past month or so. We've never had to deal with this sort of issue before, at least not when the Horseman of War was around. But my people are so terrified they refuse to even leave their homes to go to work."

The old man sighed.

"I believe their village is located just northwest of our village, please purge those damn monsters for us! I beg of you! No one else is here to establish the authority anymore." Ungrud gave the two a solemn bow.

"Of course, consider this a free favor from King Alza himself, there's a reason why you can't trust any of the Horsemen." Till responded.

"Oh, thank you! A million thanks! I know it doesn't mean much, but this poor village will be forever loyal to the crown."

As night crept its way forward, Till went over his plan and goals with Hung.

"Listen, two months of training is nowhere near enough time for you to have mastered anything, so I'm making you do this so you can experience actual combat for the first time. Don't worry too much though, should anything go wrong I'll be there for support, my head will be picked if you end up dying." Till patted Hung's shoulder.