Of Gods & Champions: Book I: Fate

VIII. A Town Silent With Death

I'M FROZEN IMMOBILE, BUT QUICKLY SNAP OUT OF my reverie when Jeggar steps away from us, shaking his head wildly.

"No, no, no, no, no," he says, and turns away and begins walking off.

"Where the hell are you going?" Ronin yells after him, fists balled.

"Home!" he responds over his shoulder. "Where else?"

"You think you'll be accepted, having deserted your comrades?" she yells, rushing after him madly.

I exchange a wary look with Lucius, and we follow them and the others.

"I prefer not to die, thank you very much," Jeggar continues. "This... This unholy host of destruction is unshakeable. Attempting to fight it will be walking to our deaths... A suicide mission."

Ronin furiously swings her fist at the back of his head, but Eleia grabs it.

"Hold on, Ronin," she says softly, glancing at Jeggar's retreating form. "He may have a point. This outpost, these poor humans, they're surely goners. Nothing we do or attempt could possibly save them. But we can save ourselves. Save our village should these monsters move on and attack Biawood. But to do so, we have to return."

Ronin wrenches her arm from Eleia's grip, and steps back to stand beside me.

"And what do you think?" she asks, gazing at me intently.

And that's the hard part - I don't know what to think. No part of me can possibly believe we stand a chance. But I also feel like we can't leave without trying.

"You can all leave if you want," Lucius's voice breaks in, and we all turn our heads back to see him standing at the edge once again, looking determinedly at the horizon.

"But I'm not leaving until I've defended my people until they are safe, or I die. Whichever comes first, I'm not particular."

Jeggar continues walking away from us, but the wind is blowing against him, and hence his words carry back to us on the gusts. "Fools, all of them."

Eleia gives me an apologetic look, and waves a quick goodbye before she runs after Jeggar.

Bailan has remained silent, stroking his flaming red goatee in deep thought. "I think I may have thought of way to save the outpost and defeat those monsters without any of us dying," he says, not turning.

"How so?" asks Ronin, curious. She and I join Lucius where he stands at the edge, and Bailan comes near to explain.

"The entire area is surrounded by high, precarious rocks... All of them sharp and huge, capable of crushing a giant," he says, pointing to the surrounding mountains.

"And your point is?" I say, following his finger. "It's not like we can use them. They're way too big for all us to even topple."

"By ourselves, you mean," Bailan grins. "If I can dig up some natural explosives, we should be able to not just cause big enough explosions in the mountains to bring down the rocks, but to use against the creatures directly."

Lucius, Ronin and I immediately glance at each other, surprise, excitement, and hope being just a few of the emotions registered in our gazes.

"What kind of natural explosives?" Lucius asks hurriedly.

"Ilah, Ronin, what powers your rifles?" Bailan asks, looking at us meaningfully.

"Gunpowder," we answer in unison, and I realize that's just the perfect thing for an explosion!

"You'd need a lot, though..." I lament. Even one cowhorn-full wouldn't do it.

"Shadoun has barrels and barrels of gunpowder," Lucius says, relieving our worries. "For our cannons."