Chapter 7

Patrick was stepping through the woods; Harrison's dogs were with the group, staying close to the younger children. The Thompsons had their baby in with Harrison's girls as they smothered her with affection, they didn't believe that their baby was used as a weapon killing Wilkinson, but that hardly mattered. What mattered was that they had stopped at the base of the mountains. The slope was steep so the group couldn't just simply climb up. They had tried to walk to an unfamiliar area but were met with more mountain. It had only been a day since they left town, so the distance wasn't too great for Patrick's liking. The older folk could make the climb, but that would mean abandoning all their possessions in the process. The hike to Duke Harold's lands was long, and no one wanted to make that trip on foot unless they had to. Currently, the group had settled camp the night before, were making breakfast.

Harrison walked over to Patrick, motioning for him to step out of earshot of the rest of the group. He didn't want anyone to hear what he had to say. "Listen Pat, I know we're all wanting to get out of here, but it's no use trying to rush us right out of the door. People are already on guard after the whole mess with the town. You keep pushing them and they won't respond well to it." His tone was low enough that Patrick had to bend a knee to his friend to hear. What he said made sense, but that was what worried Pat the most. The longer they stayed in the woods, the easier it would be to justify going back home.

Patrick put an arm on his friend Harrison's shoulder, squeezing it a little for affection. He didn't want to lead these folks here, but his friend and Jenifer believed he should. "I just want to get out of these woods." He stopped what he was going to say as a couple of people in the group screamed. The Marshes and son had small arrows sticking out of their bodies. The arrows were made of crude material that Patrick had never seen used in them before.

Thinking fast, Patrick sounded the horn on his belt. It was used only for emergency to signal the killer was close by. The horn had the opposite effect on the group, as the sound that signaled for the bloody man sent the group into a craze, most of them scattered in different directions. Patrick and Harrison stared in disbelief as the people ran around like they had their heads cut off. The rain of arrows continued to drizzle on the running folk. Patrick dashed to his war pitchfork, pushing a few people over as he did. Harrison called his dogs to him as he jogged toward the coming attack, ducking under cover behind trees as the arrows continued.

"Pat! They're coming from the west of us. I'll send the dogs out, cover me after I start to move." He didn't feel confident about what he was doing, but damn if he was going to let his girls died again.

Patrick did as Harrison suggested and got in position to follow. He looked back to find Jenifer had gotten the more unruly town folk to calm down, mostly. She grouped them up behind a few of the wagons, taking shelter from the coming attack. He focused on the task that was in front of him, pushing himself to get in the mindset of protecting his family and friends.

Harrison had his hand out to Patrick, counting down with his fingers when they should charge. The dogs were already barking and biting whatever had sent the arrows their way. A few had found their mark hitting Patrick in his left arm, forcing a curse out of him. Closing his eyes, he could hear the wails coming out from whatever was over there, making the ambush they were about to do that much easier for them. 3, 2, 1, Harrison dashed out of cover with Patrick on his heels. They sprinted to the sounds of cries coming out; the arrows were still shooting at them, but there were fewer as they got nearer. They got close enough to find a blood trail that was blue, making it obvious they were dealing with goblins. The trees gave way to a picture of carnage, with goblins laying out on the forest floor. Most were bleeding out, but a couple that could still pull the little bows they had in hand were given a mouth full of teeth.

The remaining dogs that didn't give chase were giving the survivors the death shake, but that only made the scene worst. The dying things that were still alive cried in pain as they tried to get back up and make a break for it. Harrison and Patrick didn't give them the chance, as they took them out with not so clean blows, making the brutal deaths slow and unintentional. Patrick could still hear the howls from the dogs from where they stood, so they continued out west, finding the dogs were still chasing what was left of the small group. The few goblins that still lived disappeared into the depths of a cave, making the other goblins that were left behind scream in pain and rage along the forest floor. Patrick and Harrison soon came to the cave entrance the trail lead to. It reeked of goblin waste and blood, sending nausea to them as they stood there. The dogs were smart enough to stay away from the cave, which was a clear indicator for Harrison that they shouldn't go down there.

"How many do you think are there?" Harrison asked Patrick as they watched to see if anymore would come out.

"I don't know, but my Da told me that if you see a shrine by the entrance, then that could only mean one thing." Patrick turned to look at his friend, "there's a shaman in there."

Harrison and Pat made their way back to the wagons where the town folk were probably still huddled up to each other. They talked along the way, figuring out if they should still try to make it over the mountain or if they could try another path. The question was hard on the both of them because no matter what they tried to do; they would still be stuck going about it the hard way. They were still talking when the dogs at Harrison's feet got scared, whimpering out to him. They finally lost it and ran back down the little trail they were following. Patrick and Harrison couldn't make sense of what that could mean until the cries and arrows started to fall down on them. They both looked back to find that the little group of goblins that had escaped them turned out to be more than a hundred of the little fuckers. Turing around, they both sprinted to their fellow town people out running the short-footed green things. Harrison and Pat didn't stop till they got to their families, telling them to hop in the wagons. The rest of the group looked on in confusion as Patrick tried to get the other town folk to do the same. Not everyone listened to what Pat had to say, could be because there was a vast horde of goblins peeking out through the trees.

The crowd moved as one clawing to be the first ones in the back of the wagon, pushing others out to make room for their families. The previous day, they had to take turns with who got to ride in the wagons. There wasn't enough room for everyone, so they made do with what they had. Now, that rule didn't seem to apply to anyone.

Patrick, not slowing down in the slightest, snapped the reins making the horses go from standing in place to trot, then on to full on galloping. The few people that were trying to get on still held to the wagon for dear life, they fell after the first big bump. The screams and cries that came out behind them made everyone wince from the actions they had made, but given the chance to do it over again, the folk would have done the same.

Jenifer called out from the second wagon; she didn't pay close enough attention to what one Pat was driving. She was more concerned with her kids getting on. "What are we going to do now! The town still has the cures of that man, and the way out is blocked off by new mountains! The goblins are to our south and the killer is to the north." Tears were falling down from her face; she did the best she could so the children couldn't see them, but the older ones knew.

"I don't know! The best that we can do is go back to town for now." Pat shouted out before he could think better of it. The kids and Harrison all looked at him but didn't say anything. He didn't see the worried look Harrison had given him but if he could, he would have seen the fear in the man's eye.

The ride back was rushed, leaving everyone in a state of tiredness. Patrick had the people in the wagon hurry to the door of the town hall as soon as they made it back. There were no bodies left in the dirt, but blood was splashed all over the place. The sight was horrifying, even more so as the sun was slowly setting. Patrick was the last one to enter the hall, making sure that everyone that had made it back to town with him was inside before night came. He closed the door behind him then started to pile the pews up against the door, making sure that He couldn't enter.

"Who did we lose…?" Patrick said to his wife while the rest of everyone made fortifications to the building the best that they could.

"We lost five, the Mors and the Thompson's. Lisa still has Trish their child. Patrick, what are we going to do? That Man will be here tonight and if you haven't notice it’s almost here!" Jenifer didn't mean to sound angry at him for bringing them back, but that didn't help their situation. The goblins being to the south came as a shock, especially their numbers. The thoughts went through her mind, making her hyperventilate.

"Hey! None of that now!" Patrick caught up in the moment, forgot everyone there and smacked his wife across the face. The smack sounded through the hall, bringing the group to a halt. He didn't notice the shocked faces on everyone but stayed focus on Jenifer. "I know that it's not ideal. We lost some much that it can be hard to move on but that doesn't mean that there isn't a way for us to keep moving forward."

The small welt on Jennifer's face was clear to see. The handprint was an angry red color. She had stopped sobbing when Patrick stuck her, shocked at what happen she listened to her husband tell her this wasn't the end for them. He went on looking across the room. "There is still time for us to defend this place and wait for day to break." He got to work helping around where they needed help.

Jenifer for her part, stayed put still trying to cope with the events that were taking place in her family's life. How many times did they die? After the first, it was too many to count. NO one should have to die more than once! She thought. What did her mother used to tell her when she was afraid? To sing, you can't fear things when you're singing, Jenifer's mother Jess used to say. She didn't have a song, so she started to hum as she helped move things around, bringing a cheerful tune to the room. It came slow almost a whisper, but soon the words were coming out. Everyone knew the song "the farmer with too many wives" it was used as a way to teach children how to count. It started with the young lad selling his cow's milk that had magical properties bringing the king's health back, who gave the lad land and wealth. He wants his true love but kept getting other wives on his chase. It would go as high as the person singing it would allow before he finally got his true love. The song soothed the townspeople as they worked, making some dance here and there. Everyone always said that Jenifer's voice was beautiful. It's what Patrick said so often why he found her attractive in the first meeting they had.

Patrick watched as his wife sang, making sure that all the work was still getting done. Harrison watched next to him while the dogs circled around the crowd, occasionally getting petted in the dance. Harrison leaned over to whisper into Pat's ear. "I was going to tell you this sooner, but the blue parchment that you said had sheets and that. Well, it says now that my class is -Beast Tamer-.”

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The night that Patrick and his group left, it had been a hard blow for Sara. Her own father had abandoned her, leaving her here all alone with some of the more questionable men in the town. She knew that Brock and his cronies had plans for her, but she didn't want to leave the only home that her mother lived in. This was the only place of her mother's memories she had left. She had to make it, if not for her, then for her mother's sake. Everyone that had stayed all agreed that everyone would be part of the fighting, even though a lot of the men didn't seem to agree that Sara and Ms. Katye should be a part of it. She would stay here and go out fighting, even if it meant that she could die. Her father Bob didn't see it that way, tried to persuade her to leave with Patrick's group, but he was always a whiny little weasel. He always tried to sell her off to all the single men in town so that he could expand his house for a new wife. Now that he was gone, she felt free for the first time in her life. That ended when the surrounding men slowly enclose around her into a tight circle. In the center was none other than the arrogant Brock.

"Now that we are alone, Sara, I was thinking we should try to pick up where we left off in the corn field last harvest." He leered at her, making it obvious of what he meant. Last holiday she was looking for Pat's son Henry, but she found him in the arms of Harrison's daughter Lisa. That was shocking enough because she assumed that the two families were too close for that, making it feel wrong.

Sara was lost in the memory and didn't notice Brock had gotten close to her, making her remember the rest of that night. Pissed and hurt that Henry was with another girl, she ran to the cornfield where she bumped into Brock. He was too drunk from the night of the harvest and had a distinct memory of what happened. She had to beat him off her just to escape from what would surely follow. "I told you that's not what happened! I had to beat you off-"

The group laughed at the word choice she made. Sara realized what she said and was embarrassed as she tried to correct her statement. But that was futile, they only cared about one thing, so she thought quick and came to an idea.

"Ok" Sara said. The men stared in disbelief at what they had just heard. "But I don't want it to be here. It's my first time and I want to make it special. SO, if one of you makes it out alive then I'll spend the evening with them." That got a reaction out of them as they whooped and hollered out that they were going to be the ones to make it out tonight. Brock didn't like the fact that he had competition with Sara.

He signaled for big John to come over from the corner, towering over Sara by at a three yards. "That's fine, but don't think you can get away by sneaking off tonight. You will accompany me and John there when it gets dark, don't want you getting with someone else while everything goes down." He called out as they turned around. Big John stayed behind with her keeping an eye out if she tried to make an escape before tonight.

That wasn't the plan, shit! If she had to stay by them, then how would she be able to fight? Brock was one of the advocates against her fighting. Big John sensing her distress, asked her what the problem was. "Hey, pretty lady. What's the matter?"

That irked enough to pissed her off, Why the hell did she have to be surrounded by these insistent men she thought. Sara had the blue parchment that was in her face with the stats showing what her best attributes were. They were more on speed and less reliant on strength; it wasn't the best here in town, but it was still high after the endless hours of sewing and knitting. Doing those helped the women of the town build up their reaction and agility. The second screen was the body leveling. No one paid enough attention to this because they all started at level zero and couldn’t seem to get it up past that.

Sara

Class: n/a

Level: 0

Hp 100 Stam 150 Mp 100,

-Hp regen 10 per hour

-Stam regen 15 per minute

-Mp regen 10 per hour

Vit 10 End 15 Str 10

Agi 17 Percep 15 React 17

Will 15 Intell 10 Wisdom 10

Skills-Sewing lv. 8, Dagger proficiency apprentice lv. 2, Knitting lv. 8

Abilities-n/a

Sara had a higher-than-average speed and could react with it, most average people had it at 10. This meant that she was almost double the speed of most humans in town. She could have done a lot of things but didn't feel the need to show off, not yet anyway. If the group and her did make it through tonight, then she would put that speed to use by running or a little flash with her daggers. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. She could have done just that but got frightened by the number of men that circled her. That couldn't do. She was going to fight tonight, and fear didn't have a place for that.

She had a plan on how she was going to make the men here respecter her and one of the ideas she had was making an outfit out of an old dress from her mothers' funeral, it was a little small but had enough material on it to make pant legs and sleeves. She would make the outfit with a face cover so the guys didn't have a pretty face to drool over and when she was done, Sara would practice with the daggers from her dad's hunting collection. She quickly took off with big John following closely behind her, he would keep an ear to what she was doing so he could tell his best buddy Brock all about it.

Later in the evening before the day was over, Sara had company come over to her father's house. Well, she guessed that it was now her house. Brock approached her in the backyard where she was practicing on a tree with the blades she had gotten. They were more for decoration, but that didn't mean they weren't able to cut. She would switch from her dual wielding over to sharpen them after the blades got too dull. She was wearing the garment that she made hiding her face and curves, well not very well with the curves department. If anything, the clothes accentuated them even more now that she wore something that hugged her body.

Brock noticed the change to her garments and thought to comment on it by how much better it made her look. That didn't happen when he saw the look in Sara's eye. He didn't know what he did to piss her off, but the bitch needed to know that he wasn't going to let that attitude go on. He was going to let her stay in the town hall so she would be out of harm's way until this happened.

"What's wrong? Not happy with me including you in the plan. You can drop the attitude and follow me. John come along now; we will have things that you won't like, but you can smash some things afterward, ok." He waved for the two of them to follow as they made their way to the town hall. As they made their way through town, Sara seen everyone was done with putting traps up around town. Brock told them to put them in the same places on the map Patrick had drawn up the night prior. He seemed to think that it would go better than last time now that people had some skills and a character sheet. The spots on the map were labeled with skills and people best suited. People were nervous about the night, but a rumor was going around that it was fake. Brock was going around and telling everyone that it was giving them dreams of dying and they were really just stuck in a nightmare and the only way to free themselves was by killing the thing giving them the night terrors. He seemed to think it was something called an incubus that would give towns bad dreams and suck their soul out.

Sara didn't really think it was that but something that was a lot darker than a sex demon. She tried to point that out when the rest of town didn't want to hear it. They probably felt more comfortable with this just being a dream than the town really being killed over and over again. She had to admit that it did sound crazy to die and then wake back up over again just to face the same fate. A small cult was also forming with Merry and her husband that this was hell, and we all did something to deserve this. That didn't save them from dying painfully like the rest of us. She sat there next to Brock listening to him plan how they were going to kill the demon; the archers and spotters were the same spot as last time and a couple of people asked if that was really a good idea. Brock assured them that the thing wouldn't remember where they had been last time and that the traps would show where it was coming from. So, if they heard a trap go off instead of waiting for it to shoot at it, everyone would have a horn to signal with. If the horns were blown, then everyone was to come back to town and kill it together. Brock didn't tell anyone, but he planned to deliver the final blow and take the position of mayor from Patrick. He didn't understand why they hesitated on making him mayor now instead of him pulling off some heroic act and becoming the town savior.

The town was on track with what everyone had to do and went out to get into position as they waited for the thing to come back again. Sara and the two dumbasses were in front of the town hall like Patrick did. This was getting ridiculous, and Sara was getting fed up with Brock wanting to be like him. She went to the bakers house to see if it had anything to eat. Big John followed her, but there wasn't anything to take. Sara had some perishables back at home but forgot to pack something for the night. The horn sounded, and they both strolled back to Brock to wait for the killer to show. Other horns sounded but no one was showing up, Sara was still walking back just a few feet from the town hall. That's when she and John heard Brock shout. They stood still for a second, but nothing happened.

Big John nudged her to keep moving when something jumped out behind the barrels by the general store Pete ran. He was with Patrick, so it couldn't have been him. All three turned in time to see the man in blood looking at them with his head cocked to the side. No one moved an inch; Sara was the first to recover seeing an opportunity to out show Brock and prove that she was better than him.

Sara ran at the terrifying thing with her blades drawn, throwing a blade out hoping to impale it in his chest. The blade was off by a foot and only scratched the man in the side of his stomach. Embarrassed that her initial attack didn't work, she was about to go in for a stab but seen big John swinging his trunk size club in an overhead slam. The bloody man side stepped into Sara's path, she recovered enough to throw out a couple of week swings of her own only nicking him here and there. Damn it why can't I hurt him! She thought. The sound of arrows being released from the bow Brock held was audible enough for Sara to hear, moving in time for her to move out of the way. She stared at the imbecilic for a second as big John swung his club again. The nightmare dodged as the hard club swung, making it look easy as Sara caught the tail end of the attack.

Picking up her other dagger, she dashed at the man, hoping to score deeper hits, but he disappeared from sight. She stood there for a second when she came to a stop looking around in front of her to see where he went. Pain lanced up her arm from her wrist as something grabbed and twisted it, breaking it in an instant. She still held on to the dagger as she was bent over from the force, that changed when Sara's arm got forced behind her back bringing her up onto her toes as her arm got shoved up to her shoulder. That only lasted a second as the world changed in front of her made out of mist and shadows. She felt a hard kick hit her sending her into the vapor made barrels breaking them on impact.

Sara slowly got up to look around feeling a little worse for wear but didn't find the man that sent her here. Bending over to pick up the daggers with her one good arm (left arm), she put the dagger back into her sheaths. It was a little tricky with only one hand, but she managed, she started to look around at the buildings and everything else. It matched up perfectly to the town she grew up in but there wasn't anyone around, she thought out loud to herself "It feels lonely here." The words echoed into the nearby general store making the feeling of loneliness even more apparent to her.

"Yes, it can feel like that at times." A warm voice said behind her. Sara spun around to meet the speaker and found the most beautiful thing she has ever laid eyes on. She wasn't one to find the opposite sex appealing, but the sight of this person gave such thoughts an excuse to exist. "How did you get here child? This isn't a place to be lost in. Come, I'll show you to my home and you can tell me how you got here." She beckoned for the girl to follow her so they could get to her home.

Sara, unsure if this was really happening felt that she shouldn't trust anything here. But her will crumbled as the seconds passed, making her feel like if she didn't follow this beautiful woman back, she would be lost here until the man in blood came back to find her.

"Yeah, but only for a moment I need to leave this place before he finds me. Do you know the man in bloody rags? Well, he's not in rags anymore now that he stole some cloths form some of the villagers." Sara went on rambling off as they walked to the unknown lady's house, she was too frightened to stop talking. She would have figured out that it was a trap if Sara wasn't engrossed with what she was saying. The smile on the stunning woman beside her was full of terror and misery.

The walk back felt brief as Sara talked about anything and everything that came to mind. The Goddess in her perspective, listen to what she said without any complaint as they walked. She nodded at the right spots and responded when she had to without Sara prompting her to. Overall, she felt that she could tell Achlys anything.

When they finally made it to the home of Achlys, the hall with the throne was smaller and there was a table set up right in front of it. The table was set up for tea and some kind of bread she didn't know. The chair and decoration were set from a time Sara didn't recognize but it was generously decorated with precious metals and jewels she only read about in the fairy tales she had as a kid. The table cloth was pure white without a stain on them, looking like a wedding dress with all the frills it had. Sara took the elegant carved chair in hand when the gorges woman took the throne seat gesturing for her to sit. The tea was fine with a refreshing fragrance, but Achlys set her cup down a little too hard, bringing Sara out of the fantasy she was living in.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little excited to have guest here for the first time." She dabbed a cloth just as white as the tabletop at her mouth. "I wanted to ask how you got here. Did something happen?" She smiled coyly. Sara finished her tea and went into the story about what was happening in her town. The appearance of the killer and then everyone getting skills and character sheets. She went into detail about the story with the deaths and fear they faced, never knowing when the death would be permanent. That the whole town believed that this was all a dream, and the only way out was to kill the demon that stalked them.

Achlys listened and followed the story, but that was all she did. She didn't feal remorse for the deaths of these insignificant things, but she needed the girl. The whole reason she went with this complete debacle was to get the girl here and take her as a pawn.

"What if there was a way for you to escape the nightmare you faced." Achlys asked. She fully intended to take the trash human out of the town, but she had other plans.

Sara brightened up at the words the lovely woman said. "That would make everyone-" She was interrupted by the unknown Goddess.

"No, not all of the town just you." Achlys continued by getting up. As she was getting up the figure Zayne made an appearance in the hall scaring the hell out of Sara.

The two women looked over to the new figure, he was all bloody and held the leg of someone in his hand. The two arrows were still in his arm making him more of a monster than Sara had assumed he was.

"That's just my chosen one, he won't hurt you, he's here to help settle a matter for me." Achlys said soothing Sara before she could die of a panic attack. She beckoned Zayne over, "Zayne, I want you to meet my new prophet. Her name is Sara." Sara looked back at the woman in bewilderment. She never mentioned this to her even once. And what does she have to do with the monster that has been killing her people for the last few days? No, this isn't real. This isn't happening. Brock was right. This is all just a dream and isn't real. The thoughts running through her head made Sara unresponsive to Achlys, which brought out the Goddess ire.

"You don't have a choice now! There is no escape, and you won't be taken out by the System either. Until you agree to be my prophet, you won't see the light of day for the rest of existence!" Achlys slammed her hand down in the same fashion Zayne had witnessed to the first time he had met her. Mist rolled out circling Sara as she screamed, knocking the table over. She tried to run but was caught up in the mist. It dragged her away into a dark room where it closed as soon as she cleared the door.

"You have the worst timing, you know that." She said disdainfully.