Chapter 4

The boy continued looking down on them while they stood in stunned silence. Eventually he turned towards Maria. “You smell like one of mine, how could you bring these people here?” He turned around, continuing to yawn untill he noticed the stone plaque and the altar. “What is this mess, why has my shrine been allowed to fall to such a state?” He cursed as he went around the altar looking at the signs of age.

He picked up the offering bowl, sneering as he looked inside. “And what is with this offering, where is the gold, the jewels, the delicacies.” The boy picked out some nuts from the offering bowl, hungrily shoving them into his mouth. “Should at least be a sacrifice or two…” He muttered through his chewing, turning back to the others.

His eyes lit up for a second as he noticed the men again, before quickly shifting to disdain. “Is that what you were bringing them for? I prefer clean sacrifices, just get a goat or something next time. Also, where are the servants? It’s obvious this place hasn’t been well taken care of…”

As the boy continued to rant, the knight started to laugh. “I get it boy, you're hiding the Shard. Stop playing around and hand it over if you and the girl want to live!”

The boy looked at the man, giving him an icy glare as he finished chewing. “I don’t remember giving you the right to speak filth. And why should I give you anything of mine? Even the pebbles on the ground here are too good for you.”

The knight lifted his sword and pointed it towards Maria as he growled “You little brat! Give me the Shard now or else!”

The boy’s face darkened as Maria was threatened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but no one disrespects a priestess of mine.” The boy lifted his arm, aiming his hand at the Knight. “Beg for my mercy scum and I may spare your life.”

The knight flinched, wondering if the boy could really use the Shard. He stepped slowly forward, sword at the ready.

The boy chuckled, “Then die.” He closed his hand into a fist.

The knight paused, ready to dodge to the side. As the knight waited the moment seemed to drag on.

The boy frowned, opening his hand to look at it. He then looked up at the knight obviously confused. “Why aren’t you dead?” There was another moment of shock as everyone stared at him. He shook his hand pointing it out again with force, but still nothing happened.

The knights all started to laugh as the leader started walking towards the boy, a smile on his face.

“No matter” the boy said, “If you won’t die then you’ll burn!” once again flourishing his hand. But nothing happened and the knight continued to approach, sword in hand.” You’re going to pay for scaring me like that boy.” The boy looked at his hand again, a puzzled expression on his face before pointing out again and yelling “Freeze! Suffocate! Break! What’s going on?!?!”

The boy’s disbelief was cut off as the Knight arrived in front of him. Grinning down at the boy, who seemed to be lost in his confusion, the knight shook his head. “Should have just given me the Shard boy.” He thrust his sword forward. Maria watched in horror as the sword pierced the boy’s gut, lifting him from the ground with its force. Blood started to seep from around the wound as the boy dangled from the sword.

Maria felt the last bit of hope in her heart drain as she watched the boy hang listlessly. For a moment she had hoped their god would save them. Now she realized it was probably just some child from the village, now dead because of her. Tears started to fall down her bruised face and she started to curse the men around her.

The knight let out another laugh, joined by his comrades, who ruthlessly taunted Maria. As they laughed the boy’s body convulsed, coughing up a mouthful of blood. The Knight grimaced in disgust as the blood covered his arms and went to throw the body aside.

Except the body didn’t move. The knight pulled heavily at his sword, but it was no use. It felt as though his sword wasn’t just in the stomach of some child, but a steel rod buried into the side of a mountain. He strained and cursed yet the body would not move.

A voice rose out of the should-be corpse “You dare defile the body of your god?” The air of the clearing had gone still once more. As the voice spoke the trees shook as if the voice somehow scared them to their roots. The knight watched as the hand of the boy slowly rose and gripped his own on the sword.

A sudden crunch resounded throughout the clearing. The knight looked at his own hand to see it crushed into a meaty clump under the boy’s own. The pain hit him instantly and he screamed. Backing away in terror as he stared horrified at the lump of meat that used to be his hand. The rest of the knights stared in shock as he screamed in pain. The knight stumbled, falling onto his back as he watched in horror as the boy gripped the sword in his gut and slowly pulled it out.

The simple tunic he wore was soaked in blood, making him look like an evil spirit when combined with the cold fury that glinted in his eyes. The boy wrenched the sword from himself, blood spilling like a fountain for a moment. As they all watched the blood seemed to slow and as the boy lifted his tunic to stare down at himself, they could see the wound visibly closing in front of them. The boy let down his tunic, lifting the sword in one hand as he approached the fallen soldier.

“What are you waiting for? Kill him and take the Shard!” The knight yelled, backing up along the ground as he held his destroyed hand. The others hesitated. Two nodded at each other and circled out to come at the boy from the sides. They rushed forward, swords slashing.

The boy raised the sword in his hand and slashed back. The attack was clumsy, with none of the finesse or practice of the two attacking him. Yet his blow struck first, striking the knight in the waist and cleaving through his armor in one swing.

The other knight’s attack cut down into the boy’s shoulder, stopping as it reached his chest. Before the knight could celebrate, the boy lifted his sword above his head, and brought it down. The knight had no time to react as the sword split his skull. The body collapsing as the boy held onto the blade.

The rest watched as once again the boy’s wounds started to close as he continued forward toward the knight who had stabbed him. The knight tried to back up, but his strength had left him as blood poured from his ruined hand. Eventually the boy reached him, lifting the same sword that had first stabbed him.

“I commanded you to die…” The boy spoke, his voice iron. The sword stabbed down and pinned the knight to the ground through his throat. He struggled desperately for a few moments. His hands grasping at the sword that had sunk more than a foot into the ground underneath him. His hands soon fell, and the only movement was the blood that flowed onto the ground.

The boy then looked up at the last two knights, who instantly panicked. One turned to run while the other seemed to have an idea as he grabbed Maria, still sitting on the ground in shock. He pulled out his dagger and pressed it to her throat. “Stay away!” He screamed, dragging Maria toward the exit of the clearing.

The boy didn’t seem to care as Maria was pulled along, the blade at her throat cutting a small line in the knight’s hurry. “How long are you going laze about and let your master work damned mutt…” The Boy spoke casually while looking into the forest, but a tremor of anger within caused the air to shake.

The knight looked back in confusion, still dragging Maria with him towards the exit. He found himself flying towards a nearby tree, the marks left by the enormous jaw that threw him not registering before his body exploded into gore.

A large beast stood just behind where the knight had been. Blood running down its fur as it sat and put on an obedient look. It’s tail wagging like a puppy looking for attention. The creature was a massive wolf, easily the size of some houses. Silver and gray fur shone within the light of the sun and dust rose, kicked up by the great swinging of its tail. Giant paws held up its lean and muscular body and sharp teeth dripped with the blood of its recent kill.

The boy gave a displeased look at the wolf. “Your laziness allowed your master’s body to be defiled. Why is a whelp like you here anyway?” A gargle interrupted him. He looked down to see Maria sprawled on the ground clutching her throat as blood seeped through her fingers. “Look at what you did you stupid mutt, now even my priestess is dying. Even as weak as she is, she’s still mine!” The Wolf seemed to look down whining a bit as if reflecting and apologizing for its actions.

“Hmph” the boy grunted, “Go take care of the last one, and bring yourself to a reasonable size! I don’t like looking up at you.” The Wolf nodded, its shape shrinking down to around the size of a horse before disappearing in a flash as it ran off into the woods. The boy turned back towards Maria struggling on the ground with a frown on his face…

Maria’s vision grew more and more dim as she could feel her life fading away from her. “I’m dying…” she thought as she struggled, her strength leaving and her body becoming heavy. Soon her hands fell away from her throat to lay limply at her side.

She heard the boy speak. Who, after all she had seen, could only be the god her and granny had served their whole lives…? He ordered the Guardian to take chase after the last one and could only hope he would protect the village as well. “As long as they can be saved” she thought as her Grandmother came to mind. She smiled as she thought of her Granny getting to meet the god. Her struggling stopped as she came to accept her fate.

“Idiot.” A voice called to her, barely reaching her murky conscious. A rush of warmth filled her, and she could feel her body growing lighter.

“Has the god taken me?” she thought as she noticed a bright light.

A form rose in front of the light and a familiar voice spoke. “Get up already, I’m hungry.”