The next guard had his spear up by the time I got close. He jabbed to keep me back while his comrades struggled free. I knocked the attack aside, stepped in close, and cut his head off. Blood fountained from his severed neck and bathed his comrades in its crimson stain.
By now, panic had taken hold of the two remaining guards. They struggled and strained against the mud, even put their hands in to try to give them more leverage to get clear. Instead, that drew them deeper in and left their hands coated with ooze. As the third one raised his warhammer, it slipped through his fingers. He tried to catch it but was too late. The weapon sank into the mud as I ran him through.
The last guard raised a club. “Hells-spawned foreigners. Coming to our valley and taking over, ruining what we have.”
“I’m not the one who ruined this,” I said. “But as long as you support the people who did, I’ll bring you all the hells you can face.”
He swung his club, but I jumped over the blow and kicked the weapon aside as I went. I sent Vigor into the Sundered Heart, and it burst into flame. My sword cleaved his armor and cut through bone while his flesh sizzled and cauterized.
All four guards lay dead in the mud.
“A good start,” Nydarth said. “But killing a handful of guards is hardly going to make a difference in this city.”
“Of course not. But they were asking for trouble. So much for an espionage mission. Still, I have to find Mahrai before reinforcements come.”
I figured more guards would arrive at some point to take the next watch, so I snuck through the gate and moved through the back streets. The place was too quiet for my liking, and I didn’t see any sign of citizens. I figured there must be some kind of curfew in place. I heard something patter on the rooftop of a nearby building and heard a familiar voice.
“Swordslinger,” she said.
I looked up and saw Mahrai standing on a rooftop with her staff in her hand and a scowl on her face. The flicker of torchlight cast strange shadows across her clothing and gave her hair a fiery glow.
“I’m going to rip your fucking head off and bury it in the sand,” she continued. “Cockroaches and dung beetles will feast on what passes for your brains.”
“Of course you are,” I said. “After all, you have to follow the orders of the Cult of Unswerving Shadows.”
“Fuck the Unswerving Shadows. I make my own choices.”
“Then maybe you should reconsider them. Right now, you’re siding with the monsters that are destroying Hyng’ohr.”
“I know the choice I’ve made, Swordslinger. There are monsters on all sides of the empire’s disputes. If I have to ally with one group to get at another, so be it. And if, in the meantime, I end up close to my own monsters, well, that’s an opportunity I just might have to take.”
“Think about what you’re doing in the meantime. By supporting the cult, you’re bringing on the ruin that has left this valley parched and starving. Is that really what you want?”
She pointed at me with her staff. “You don’t know shit about what I want, Swordslinger.”
“There’s another way, Mahrai. You could leave the cult and return to the Wandering Path. You can do some good for Hyng’ohr while you pursue your monsters. Do you really want to tie your fate to Saruqin’s?”
Mahrai looked down with a frown. When she looked up at me again, some of her fiery indignation was gone. I felt sorry for her. Something had driven her down this path, something she cared deeply about. But now, she was divided, torn between a dark but familiar option and one filled with uncertainty alongside the possibility of hope.
“I’m going to bring Saruqin down,” I said. “Do you want to fall with him?”
Indecision was written clear as day across Mahrai’s face. I’d gotten to her. Perhaps this madness could end now, before any more destruction came to Hyng’ohr.
Mahrai sighed deeply, then slammed her staff into the ground. Cobbles shook as her golem rose, inch by inch, from the ground in front of me, showering the place with dirt.
“This time, I’m not going to spare any Vigor,” she said. “The spirits have smiled on you today; you get to see my golem’s most powerful form."
The stone monster towered over me, its face devoid of all expression, vast fists dangling by its sides.
“We’ve each chosen our paths,” Mahrai said. “Now, we have to face the consequences.”
“No choice has to be forever,” I said.
“Perhaps. But sometimes, we have to stop thinking and act.” She pointed at me. “Golem, that is the Swordslinger. Destroy him.”
The ground trembled as the golem strode toward me. I flung up a Smothering Mist in its way, but it strode through the green haze with barely a touch of damage to its rough rock exterior. It swung its leg back, and I leaped clear as a foot like a bumper car kicked the air where I had been.
I rolled across the cobble, sprang back to my feet, and dashed to the edge of the courtyard. The thud of footsteps and the trembling of the ground told me that the golem was in pursuit.
“You’re slacking off,” I called out to Mahrai. “Letting your minion do all the fighting for you. Are you sure you’re committed to defending the Straight Path?”
“You think this is easy?” Mahrai pointed down at the golem. “I’d like to see you try it, Swordslinger.”
The golem picked up speed. With its long legs, it could easily outpace me if it wanted to, despite the body weight it carried around. At the edge of the courtyard, I stopped, turned, and raised my sword just in time to deflect a strike from one of its fists. The blow sent a shudder through my arms that left them aching. Another
