Ank

As we approached Long Rock, we passed through a couple of farming villages in the outskirts of the city. And it made me think that, it didn’t matter how much I already hated the [Gods], I could feel forever more disgusted, there were no limits to loathing the sacred.

“…Why?”, one of the survivors we were guiding from the previous town asked no one in particular. As she stopped before an impaled corpse.

His eyes, lips, and tongue had been eaten by vultures, and as swarms of flies flew around the corpse, hundreds of maggots fed off its remaining meat.

“A message? Judging by the stake going through his ass and coming off his neck, this poor bastard must have lived for days before the sweet relief of death”, a young man replied.

“It’s a sacrifice to the [Gods]”, a kid pointed to the magical circle beneath. And I notice the strange fact that one of the legs of the man had become earth?

Still, I tightened my hands into fists, the dragon leather cracking sounds drowned by the chirp of the thousands of feasting birds, and the buzz of the millions of flies.

There should have been hundreds of tortured victims lining up the street, and bodies of the “lucky ones”, who got quickly sacrificed, piled up in mounts of many meters high, exposed to the elements.

“Let’s go”, I said, continuing to walk towards the walled city that should exist just beyond the horizon.

After all, I knew that the responsible for those atrocities would be coming for that place.

As we approached the city, a loud voice from a man on the edge echoed:

“HALT!”, the guard’s leader over the walls screamed. About fifty archers had arrows on their bows, prepared to tense the string and shot at any moment. “WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT DO YOU WANT?!”

“We’re the adventurers you contracted”, I raised the quest paper, and my adventurer identification, the stamp.

“N- No way…”, The guard’s leader let out, for a moment, in disbelief. “You actually came?”, He, then shook his head from one side to another, and ordered: “OPEN THE GATES!”

And, soon after, the pair of thick and large doors moved away from our path, and Hunah and I walked into the city.

The situation inside wasn’t much better than how things were outside, the only difference being that, instead of dead, the people were still dying. Birds and insects waited their turn, the carrion, on the top of the houses, staring predatory the malnourished inhabitants of the city. In fact, as I advanced towards the nearest Adventurer’s Guild building, I could see one or two corpses laying on dark alleys, and being promptly eaten by the opportunistic creatures.

Finally, my twin sister and I reached our objective, and I noticed a line of people waiting before a table settled tight in front of the Adventurer’s Guild building; they were handing out soup.

“Hello, we came for this quest”, I approached a muscular man who had a large ax on his back, and wore an apron; obviously an adventurer.

“Hm? Fuck, I thought these quests were just malicious jokes…”, his mouth gaped, and he let the soup ladle fall from his hands.

His partner, a woman with four arms jumped closer and clasped my hands with all of her twenty fingers.

“A- Are you for real? I swear to everything that is sacred, if you’re just joking, I’m gonna split you in half! So, please, tell me you’re for real!”

“Yes, yes, we’re for real”, Hunah put her head between the two of us. As the four-armed adventurer let go of me, she continued: “So, is there anything you can tell us about the situation right now? Like, who is coming? How many are in their army? When will this son of a bitch reach this place?”

“Ah, yes, the [God] aiming at this city right now is Aipaec. His army should contain about eight thousand men, including two thousand dinosaurs riders, two thousand long-ranged attack specialized mages, four thousand foot soldiers, and… himself, of course”, the four-armed adventurer gulped, surely the little spark of hope that was lit inside of her wavering when she noticed our darkening expression.

Of course, neither was I, nor Hunah, much concerned with the number of the incoming invaders. But we frowned, and had our aura wavering uncertain because Aipaec was the [God] of the land we were born in. We even went to see sacrifices being made in his honor when we were younger. We even thought he was great, and kind once…

Then, it didn’t matter.

“Understood. And, when will they reach this city again?”, I asked.

“Actually, they’re already here. They destroyed all the surrounding towns and villages, and kept us from getting any food or escaping. From the information we, adventurers, gathered, he summoned all of his scattered soldiers, and is just waiting for the rest of his army to join his main forces; I told you the number of the whole army by the way. We expect him to attack in a day or two.”

“Good”, I nodded. Looking around, I noticed everyone that was waiting their turn to get soup stared at Hunah and I, and even the guards far away, over the wall. The city’s inhabitants were completely despaired, and we were their only hope. Turning once again to the four-armed adventurer, I concluded: “My twin sister and I will pay Aipaec back everything he has done to you and this land.”