That day Damhnait and I spoke to the chief for longer than either of us were comfortable doing. On my part I wasn't used to speaking to others beyond what was necessary, and for Damhnait she looked like she wanted to run. I didn't have a chance to speak to her while we were alone, so I never could figure out what it was she was worried about. But besides all this, things were as pleasant as we could possibly ask for. They had started to sew for us new clothes, had fed us, and even gave us temporary housing in exchange for the sword. It wasn't a bad deal, we could've certainly gotten more for that sword in any other circumstance.

Chief Finbar was a man with a single wife, a bit of a surprise for someone of his rank. He was friendly and reassuring that we'd be safe within his village, and that we could take our time in resting here. From the way he phrased the words it sounded like gaining permanent residency wasn't outside of the question. While kind, it was suspicious that he'd offer this much to a pair of siblings, regardless of whatever social status they allegedly had.

I had to be careful around this man. Tonight, I would be awake throughout the entirety of the night. I wouldn't be surprised if there would be an attack, perhaps a cold blooded murder on the both of us while we slept. Damhnait being so jumpy could be for this feeling of anxiety, this knowledge of possible future betrayal. Finbar wasn't being subtle over the gracious acts he was displaying, as if he was trying to take advantage of our youth and possible naivity. Whatever, taking advantage of kindness is what I had wanted to do from the beginning. Eat, let Damhnait have her sleep, and then possibly fight.

Let's hope that they wouldn't bring with them too many villagers to attack us. All the better if it were a single man.

The afternoon and evening pleasantries Finbar had invited us to was over. Night was descending on the world, and we were being led to the roundhouse the both of us would be spending the night within, a building that wasn't too far from where the Chief's own house was. Standing in front of it, it wasn't a bad building by any metric. It was well maintained and inside I could tell that it had been used, and was still in use, as a storage for miscalinous items. Most of it was hay.

This would do fine, just don't light a fire in here. Damhnait and I could huddle close together for warmth if it was too cold, something both of us were accustomed to. The same men that had guided towards the Chief were guiding us to the building, and even now I still haven't caught on to their names. They nodded after seeing that we had no complaints and made their way back to their own houses, probably.

Once those two left and we by ourselves, we headed inside and began to clear up space for us to sleep on. Since we finally had the opportunity to speak alone together, and now that we had nothing else to do, now would be the perfect time to discuss with Damhnait about what had happened throughout the day.

"What do you think about Chief Finbar?" I said, starting the conversation that we would inevitably have.

"He's planning on killing us, or turning us in to whoever slaughtered our village." Damhnait replied, not skipping a beat. That's also a start.

"Aren't you jumping to conclusions here? He could be kind without having ulterior motives, couldn't he?"

Damhnait glanced at me and grimaced. "We both know it. I know you know it, stop playing devil's advocate. There's no reason to trust this man and I won't lose my life on a gamble. Who's going to keep watch tonight?"

"We could leave and go towards another village if you don't trust this man so much."

"And you know that's not going to work, either. We've already given him the sword, we'd be leaving while at a complete loss. We have no choice but to stay here."

All the other arguments in Finbar's favor would be inappropriate now. Both of us knew why we had made the decisions we had, and going through and verifying each one wouldn't be beneficial. I nodded, and relented. "You're right, I'm just testing your naivity. You're echoing my own thoughts. I'll be staying awake for tonight, since I don't think I'd be at my best when just awoken."

"No, you sleep. I'll awake you before it hits midnight. I doubt they'd attack us right after we supposedly slept, after all." Damn, I hadn't thought of that one. I nodded, and we made our arrangements. We both had a fine sleep last night, it wouldn't bother me much to have to stay awake for another night. But it would be best if I had some sleep rather than none.

Once we had cleared up all the space needed for us to lay on, or more likely, sit on, we grabbed the blanket that was lent to us and wrapped ourselves together. Damhnait was on my right, and I to her left, huddled while sitting on a wall. We had full access to the entrance, Damhnait especially, so all that was left was for me to sleep and her to keep watch. There would be no one who would sneak up on us, Damhnait wouldn't allow it.

It didn't take long for me to sleep. I'd grown accustomed to having to sleep through stress and dread, almost like a switch I could turn myself awake or asleep on a moments notice, a trick that I had slowly been getting the hang of throughout this trip. I was sure it was magical, some sort of spell, but I couldn't figure out exactly I've managed to do it.

One moment I had closed my eyes, and the next I was awake. Damhnait was shaking me, whispering my name.

"Anyone here?" I whispered, my eyes still closed.

"No. It's your turn now."

"Alright."

I opened my eyes and adjusted myself to watching the entrance, Damhnait folding the blanket deeper around herself and tried to find sleep. I kept my eyes open, looking deep into the darkness that laid ahead. It was almost pitch black save for the light from the fires of homes. That was enough, combined with the moon's grace shining over us I had enough vision to see who or what would attack.

After what felt like hours I saw the sight of a shadow. A shadow? No, a figure. I loosened the blanket's hold over me and grabbed my sword, something I had hid within the blanket itself. The movements were too subtle to be caught in the dark, I hope.

The figure slowly revealed itself, two more of the same shapes appearing and blocking the light from the entrance door. One carried a long stick, a spear I would guess. Two others carried different, shorter weapons. The man with the spear began his walk inside, closer to us, his spear pointed directly at me. I waited, clutching the blanket tightly, and lightly shoved Damhnait in the ribs. That woke her up, luckily without a startle.

The man began to run, his spear pointed directly at me. But that doesn't matter, I jumped into action by pulling the blanket away from Damhnait, throwing it over the spear. The spear couldn't pierce the malleable fabric, and within the confusion I grabbed and pulled the spear closer to myself, my sword flying into the man's neck. I moved faster than I thought I would've, my nerves and the fire within my blood must've give me more strength than I thought I was capable.

The man's head removed from his body, falling onto the floor. Without speaking I let go of the spear and began to wrap the blanket around my left arm, hoping it would work as a good enough shield. I knew where my shield was, but I preferred Damhnait to have it.

The men who had accompanied the now thoroughly dead man stood shocked for a precious moment, before the man with the sword began to shout, and the other one with what was most likely a stick began to walk towards me, careful with his steps. I ignored them, instead finishing wrapping the blanket around my left hand. This would be easy if they were stupid enough to not charge at me.

"Damhnait, grab the shield and follow me."

Wordlessly I heard Damhnait move and grab the shield. I walked forward towards the cowardly men, both hands by my side. I held no guard, I wanted him to strike first. Once I had gotten close enough, and to his credit he didn't take a single step back, he made a tentative throw of his club against me, but I was surprised by how slow it was. I wanted to test charge him the moment he swung, but it appeared that would be a waste of time if he was this illogically slow.

So instead I waited until his hand was in the perfect position, took a step in and cut his hand off, and then sliced his neck. Or, that's what I wanted to do, give a slice. But instead his flesh gave away entirely to my blow, and his head came off. This wasn't natural, why was it so easy to cut through his neck? There's a bone there, you know. Was my sword always this sharp?

I kicked the body that was taking too long to fall, the headless corpse still on both of its feet, sending it towards the swordsmen and toppling him on to the ground. A crunch had resounded against my foot, and it felt like I had caved in his sternum

I stood there and watched as the body impacted the man hard enough to send the man toppling and rolling against the ground, a fair distance away from where he had initially stood.

Something was very wrong here. I looked over at Damhnait, ignoring the men who had started to appear out of their homes with weapons and spears in hands, and saw that she was holding a shield that was too big for her, and in the other a club that she had already took from the dead man. Her eyes were large and even in the dark I could see the white in them.

"Did you see that?" My question was sincere. What just happened? Damhnait nodded, staying where she had stood.

"By Arawn you're fast."

"Aren't they too slow?"

"No, I couldn't see your movements at all. One moment a man with a spear was charging, and in the next you had pulled the blanket from me and cut off his head. And the other man, both his arm and head came off like they were never attached." Her words were said as if she didn't believe them herself. But suddenly I was reminded of our current situation.

"Damhnait, come here." I said, looking away from her and back towards the swordsmen. He was on the ground, but he was beginning to get up. He had been there for a while now, did the impact of the corpse wind him that much? I swung my sword to get some blood off of it, the ground being dyed with more blots of red. Villagers were out, but they were confused. I don't think any of them could see me in the dark.

I ran over the man on the ground, preparing my foot for a kick to his head. This was more out of test of what the hell had just happened. Once I got close enough, I put all my energy into my left foot and sent it towards his skull, my naked food giving off a horrendous crack. His head, for a lack of a better expression, exploded from the impact, the side that had faced it being sent across the earth.

Yeah. This isn't how a kick to the head should've went. At worse it would've broken his neck, at best given him a concussion. But I had made his skull disappear, leaving broken bits and teeth remaining. I'm not going to let Damhnait look closely at this, that's for sure.

She was still standing at the entrance, her eyes wider than before. Her hands were held dumbly next to her, holding a club and shield. I'd be making the same expression as her, but watching the man's head explode had given me a surreal realization of both the situation and the power I had over it. This strength, a strength strong enough to decimate a man's head, would be a vital tool for the things I had planned.

I jogged over to Damhnait, "Everything alright?" She nodded, a bit stupidly, looking at me intensely. "We'll figure this out later. For now, how about escaping?"

"No." Damhnait unexpectedly said. Her eyes were staring at me, and I could feel something working behind them. She was starting to think up a plan, and from what I've experienced so far she might be a bit smarter than I was. It'd be wise to listen, I think.

"No? Why?"

"Did you see yourself? You kicked his head off. You can move faster than my eyes could track. Get the sword, we're going to plunder this village."

"Hold on, plunder?"

"Yes, plunder. Trust me, with a bit of a show we could have the entire village cowering. Let's find Finbar. And grab that sword, doofus."

Ah, right the sword. With this we could have three swords, a wealth that wasn't massive but would do us very well for a long while. I jogged over to the sword and picked it up out of his dead hands, and went to inspect it. To my surprise, it was precisely the same sword we had given to Chief Finbar. Guess we're still stuck with two swords, then. I removed the sheath off the corpse's belt and ran back to Damhnait, her keeping a close eye on the villagers and on what they were doing.

I was surprised no one had come, but many had begun to notice our presence. Some were pointing, and others were beginning to come, shields and spears in hand. I'll listen to Damhnait's words on finding the Chief, but right now the focus will be on protecting the young girl from harm. I grabbed her hand, but she shook it off with surprising force. I looked at her in questioning.

"Grab rocks, try throwing some at the men." Her words were simple, she ran back into the house, towards the direction of the man that had held the spear. Was she planning on fighting as well? Ignoring that, I went and tried to find rocks. There were some nearby, kicked off onto the grass. I picked those up with my right hand, needing to drop the sword in order to do so, and threw one at the closest man. None of them were far, the closest was much less than half a minute's walk from me.

They must've been really slow on the up-drift to not realize that the swordsmen had yelled specifically to get their attention to me, telling me that this wasn't a well planned attack against us.

I threw the rock pretty hard, and it took only a moment to see that the man hadn't felt the impact. While I was staring at him, and he staring at me with a focused glare, he dropped on to the ground, on his knees, clutching to the area that he had been hit. I had aimed for his abdomen, looks like he finally felt it. But a rock wasn't something to drop down and hold your stomach over, what was he doing? Did my strength translate to an extremely brutal rock throw?

Men continued to come, not many however. Only ten of them, all with spears and with shields, came to me. I continued to throw rocks. A shield broke, another man dropped when I landed a hit on his face. By the time they had gotten close enough to me, only six remained. There was only five rocks, so that was all the projectiles I had. I knew I had pretty good aim, as well.

I picked up my sword and retreated back inside the house, the men being strangely cautious over my every movement. I couldn't see their eyes that well, but from their timidness I'd guess there was fear in them. It wasn't like they hadn't noticed the men I had downed given that they had adjusted their formation to accommodate the lost men.

Going inside the house was a purely tactical move, lessening the amount of places they could attack me in by going into a building that had only a single entrance was to my advantage. And Damhnait was inside, maybe she had planned for me to head inside already. I didn't give her a glance, but did notice the smell of blood and corpses start to fester the building. Disgusting.

"The spear," I gave out a hand and asked Damhnait, keeping an eye on the men who were positioned outside. They didn't move, instead waited. Waited for what?

Damhnait gave me the spear without responding, placing it in my hands for me to adjust. Then she retreated, still holding the shield. I guess I'll have to fight with this blanket rather than with shield and spear. This wasn't something I trained to do, but it would work fine.

The men stayed outside, still waiting. Some insults are in order. "Wait are ya waiting for, cowards? Scared of a single man? Come in! You've got the advantage, take it!"

Of course, it was to my advantage to have them attack. They could wait outside and do something to the building instead, and if I tried to head outside I'd be meeting a wall of spears. Perhaps it wasn't so smart for me to head inside here after all?