Cypher stood with his blade pointed at Gelath the Ghostly’s neck. The man was cowering before him, arm slightly raised in surrender and a pitiful look spread across his face as he breathed quickly. Cypher could almost feel the man’s heartbeat radiating up the length of his blade. He had won, but it was with no small effort on his part.

“Please! I beg of you! Let me go! I promise you on all that I hold dear that I’ll never harm anyone ever again!” The man was pitiful and hardly seemed to be the same one that Cypher was just fighting against with all his might. Gelath stared up at Cypher with tears in his eyes and his hands pressed together as he pleaded. In a situation like this Cypher was unsure of what to do.

Obviously, he couldn’t just let this guy go. Who knows what kinds of things he might do if given another chance to run amok. This was a criminal, plain and simple. Cypher wanted to believe that perhaps this guy would keep his word and vanish into the wilderness to never hurt anyone else ever again. But that was hard to believe given the malicious glint that Cypher had seen in his eyes only moments ago.

No, if anything Cypher had to bring this guy in. There was no getting around that and Cypher felt certain that Gelath knew that as well. Still, it was quite pitiful to see him begging for his freedom like this. Cypher almost felt pity for him until he remembered that this was the man who had killed Richmond.

Cypher hadn’t bonded with Richmond much but an ally was still an ally and he refused to let his death be in vain. That said, Cypher was also quite compassionate. He knew full well what fate awaited bandits in this region. If not Galex, then the mayor of this town or perhaps another would sentence this man to death.

Did this man deserve to die? On the surface, Cypher thought that perhaps he did. But in the end, this wasn’t a decision he alone could make. It was not his place to act as judge, jury, and executioner to a man he barely knew, even if the man in question was a murderous bandit.

Decisions like that were better left to those who knew more and held those positions of power. Cypher bit his lip and sighed, lowering his blade an inch as he did.

“I’m sorry but no, I have to bring you to justice. You killed one of my allies and who knows how many other people. Letting you roam free would be irresponsible of me beyond measure. However… if you come quietly and don’t pull any funny business I’ll see what I can do about keeping you from the hangman’s noose,” said Cypher, a look of pity spreading across his face.

Gelath let out a sigh and then nodded slowly.

“Very well… I can accept that offer. I’ve done plenty of horrible things in my life and perhaps… perhaps it’s time that justice caught up to me. Alright kid, you win. Let’s go get this over with…”

Cypher stepped back a bit and gave Gelath room to stand back up. Gelath moved to his knees and bent to stand up, but as he did he reached into his pocket and flung a bag at Cypher. He had no time to think or do anything other than swing his blade at the incoming parcel. His sword cut through it easily and a cloud of dull golden powder spread throughout the room in an instant.

Cypher’s eyes widened and he raised his guard, kicking the table to his right over in order to knock the amulet that granted invisibility onto the floor. He had been caught off guard by Gelath’s trickery but he knew that letting the man seize such a critical item would be disastrous.

Gelath slowly stood up. His wicked claymore in his grip once more, and he stared at Cypher unbreathing. His free hand was covering his mouth and it took Cypher a moment of staring at those murderous eyes to realize his mistake. He covered his mouth and held his breath but it was too late. Already he could feel his arms growing weak and his legs begin to wobble.

“Heh heh heh… you foolish little boy. Did you honestly think that I would come quietly?” Gelath said as he finished securing a cloth over his mouth and nose. “I already told you I can’t let that happen. You and I both know what kind of fate awaits me no matter what I do now.”

“D-damn you…” Cypher stuttered as he collapsed to one knee. He tried to keep himself balanced by leaning on his sword but he could already feel the rest of his body growing numb. “W-what… what is t-this?”

“Oh, don’t worry yourself one little bit child. It isn’t a deadly poison, only one that paralyzes the limbs. The fun part is that you can still feel pain. See?” Gelath smiled as he slashed his blade across Cypher’s chest. The leather armor ripped away as the tip of Gelath’s sword cut through it and it sent Cypher sprawling onto his back.

A white-hot line tore itself across his chest and he could feel his life essence starting to flow from the wound. Cypher collapsed to the ground, his sword clattering against the wooden floor, and used what strength he had left to clutch at his bleeding chest. The wound was shallow but still deep enough to cause immense pain.

“You must have thought that you were some hot shot hero just a moment ago didn’t you?” said Gelath as he kicked Cypher in the stomach. He coughed and shuddered under the pain of the attack and glared up at Gelath.

“I’ll give it to you that you’re a resourceful and observant kid. Whoever trained you did a good job. It’s just a shame that all that effort is gonna go to waste. Ah, but rest assured I’ll have plenty of fun with you before I finally end you. Nobody… NOBODY makes a fool of Gelath the Ghostly!”

As the dust settled and the room cleared, Gelath squatted down next to Cypher and grabbed a handful of his hair. He lifted Cypher’s face to his own and lowered the cloth covering his mouth.

“You and I? Well, we might not have a whole lot of time to play around, but for the next few minutes I’m going to make you wish you’d never crawled out of your mother’s womb.” Gelath slammed Cypher’s head against the ground and stars filled his vision as the dull throbbing pain of the impact spread through his head.

Cypher gritted his teeth and cursed himself for being so foolish. He had fallen for such a stupid bluff and now he only had himself to blame for this.

“G-Gelath please… there’s still a way out of this for you. Just… just surrender and give up quietly,” Cypher did his best to plead with the man. He didn’t want to die here and if he could just get Gelath to see that this battle was already over…

“Fuck you kid! As if I’d surrender to the likes of you! You humiliated me! There might not have been anyone around to see it, but I saw it! At the end of the day, only one of us was ever going to walk out of this house alive. Unfortunately for you, it just happens to be me.”

Gelath smiled wickedly and as Cypher struggled to stare up at him, he once more saw that evil gleam in the man’s eyes. It burned bright like a crimson light, and in that gaze, there was nothing akin to mercy or goodness to be found. Gelath then smiled again and bit his lip as he considered something.

The man dusted himself off and sheathed his claymore on his back. “I’ll tell you what, since you fought so well, and since I’m quite pressed for time I’ll give you a quick death. Consider it your reward for being so fucking stupid! Hahaha!” With malicious glee, he reached down and grabbed Cypher’s own weapon. “Not a bad blade if I do say so myself. You know, another idea just came to me! Would you like to hear it?”

Gelath smiled down at Cypher again and pressed a foot down against his stomach. He pressed into Cypher hard and caused the young boy to groan in agony as his insides were compressed against their will.

“After I kill you, I think I’ll kill every single one of those villagers down in the cellar. Oh! And I’ll do it with your own sword no less! The men, the women, the elderly, hell, even the fucking children too! This could have all been avoided if you had just given me what I wanted. But you bastards just had to play the heroes, didn’t you? Well, it’s too late now. No, now I’ll have my fun and it’s all your fault! Farewell, you little shit!”

Cypher knew now that Gelath was beyond saving. There was no point in trying anymore. The man was evil to his core and nothing Cypher could say or do would change that. He only wished that he had realized that sooner. Instead of hesitating, he should have just ended it when he had the chance.

“G-Gelath n-no!” Cypher said through rough, haggard breaths. Even breathing was starting to get difficult at this point, but there was nothing more he could do aside from watch as the man pulled his arm back to deliver the final blow.

With his lungs now unable to draw in even a single breath, his vision grew dark around the edges as his consciousness started to fade. Cypher squeezed his eyes shut and lamented his weakness earlier as he waited for death to come. He simply couldn’t believe it was ending like this.

However, before Gelath could so much as swing his blade, a mighty roar could be heard from outside the window. To Cypher’s fading mind it was muffled and faint, but Gelath turned his head to find the source of that war cry. His eyes grew wide as he took in the sight before him and his mouth hung open in disbelief.

“What the fu-” Gelath was cut off mid-sentence as one of his fellow bandits blasted through the glass and slammed into him, sending the both of them flying across the room and into the wall on the other side of the table. Agnad burst into the room, jumping over the window sill with surprising grace. He stood at the ready, his massive hammer still dripping with blood and bits of carnage.

“Ugnghh….” groaned Gelath from beneath the body of his broken companion as he rubbed his head. Before he could utter another word Agnad raised his weapon and swung hard.

“NO! PLEA-” With a resounding thud accompanied by the visceral sound of bone and flesh being crushed, Gelath was silenced forever as his skull was shattered to bits. His leg twitched only a few times and then, all was still. Gelath the Ghostly was no more.

Cypher tried to cry out to Agnad, but he was unable to even raise his head anymore. The last thing he saw before darkness took him was a crimson tide flowing slowly towards him.