Bab 15: Alma Is powerful
"I will follow after you." Fitzpatrick spoke with obvious hesitation. He had already given his word he would follow after them and as a man would never go back on his word. It was only a day after seeing the lightning. He believed he could not go against this new god for now. If before now he was only cautious about the god even existing, now he was a god-fearing man.
The priest Adder had taken up this mission believing nothing was to fear, so now seeing something was truly here he was extremely happy. As for why? It was because lightning has always been seen as the punishment of the gods. He believed his God Prashka had become mad at the small cult and let the village feel her anger. Still, as a man of god in the Inquisition, he knew he had to make sure all cult members were destroyed.
As for this supposed 'new god' that they were worshiping? He thought nothing of it since the 'god' only has power over a small cult that didn't even have a hundred believers. Hearing the baron Fitzpatrick cautious, Adder believed the man a coward that had not fought more because of his cowardice leading him to this small position despite his ability to lead. He had heard he gave up the chance at greater glory for a safe place, so this thought deeply made him believe that Fitzpatrick was simply a coward and a fool.
"Hmph- Yes, we shall show you the true power of the Inquisition!" This was supposed to be the promotional trip that would allow him to gain a greater position within the church. As long as he destroyed the small cult he would be promoted even if half of the twenty men he brought died.
As he led his men to the village, Adder was slightly cautious as he approached to the place where the lightning bolts hit. After all, he didn't know what survived and if something could survive the lightning, it must have some level of power.
As he walked a large green tree appeared in the distance. As he got closer he could see that there was more than one tree. It was a small orchard. "What?" Standing only a few hundred feet away the group of men could clearly see several trees all planted in the center of town.
One Inquisition soldier stood out to speak first, "Sir Adder. I shall go forward and lead the charge."
Adder simply nodded as he stood still transfixed on the trees. The Inquisition soldiers all got ready for a fight as they stared at the trees. They all knew that this was the area where the lightning hit and where the god's wrath hit the hardest.
Slowly they walked as voices eventually reached their ears. "They are finally coming? I can finally really test what Lord Alex bestowed upon me!"
"A child?" Frowning several members looked to each other in affirmation. The men began to murmur to one another as they spoke softly.
Adder spoke up hushing the murmurs, "Remember the report of the child! It was said that the child was the catalyst according to both the report we received and the report the baron received." Pausing for all the murmurs to stop, Adder spoke with confidence, "Lord Prashka has kept the foolish cultists for us to kill! The child might not truly understand what is happening or she might be possessed by an evil spirit making this situation worse. Kill all the cultists! As for the child... If she attacks she will be struck down!"
The more Adder spoke the more excited the men were as they began to believe that the only reason the cultists had survived was because Prashka was giving them the chance to prove themselves. Several members even began to believe the cultists were trapped by the trees as Prashka was the light that allowed for their growth, and with the help of Draid the god of the rain, they made a trap for their prey.
"Yeah!" As they became excited for the battle their marching hastened as they quickly approached the trees. It was at this moment that three people walked out the trees.
"I can't have you fight and hurt these wonderful trees, so here I come to you! Enemies raise your weapons! Those who surrender should drop to their knees and lay their head to the ground! Only then will your lives be spared!" The sound of a child giving a war cry made the men confused only for a moment before they saw a shocking scene.
The girl pulled something out of her hair as it grew eventually becoming a spear a bit taller than herself. "What!" As confusion descended the men Adder quickly woke up from his stupor first.
"Men hold your weapons at the ready! The possessed child is going to attack! Kill these heretics! Destroy the false god! Formation!" Quickly everyone seemed to know what to do as they made a simple formation that they had practiced. "Ready?! Attack!"
As he finished his orders the child had already charged and moved extremely fast covering the short distance in seconds. The men had no chance to block or dodge as they could only try and defend themselves as the spear sliced open their necks.
Within seconds, five men fell to the ground as the girl backed away to avoid a sword strike. Adder quickly gave orders as he tried to figure out what was happening. "The possession has given her strength, attack when she nears! She had killed many without giving them a chance to defend themselves! Make sure to be extremely wary! The-"
As he spoke, one of the men, who had been ignored due to the child's quick attack, appeared as he slashed at the soldiers. The other man had already pulled his bow and used the attack to shoot at Adder who was giving orders. Luckily Adder was no fool and had been paying attention to the men noticed the man attacking and pulled his shield to cover himself protecting his most important sections.
The man with the bow realizing he missed his chance focused on the soldiers as he pulled his bow and shot at the distracted men who were too focused on the close combatants. Adder's leadership was not enough as before he could caution his men the child killed them and even made the soldiers attack each other if they missed her. Within the minute twenty bodies lay in front of Adder.
"You monsters! You Damn Heretics!" Before he could speak more he found himself on his knees as a searing pain pierced his legs, "AAAGGGHHH!"
The possessed child had appeared in front of him as he was forced to the ground. Her childish voice resounded with a clear coldness to her tone, "We will not seek out a war, but if you come to fight us, in the hopes of destroying us, then..." Her childish voice seemed to become the voice of a demon in Adder's ears as she spoke directly into it, "You deserve Death..."
Breathing heavily from the pain he tried to say something only to feel a warm liquid come out his mouth. As he tried to cough only more warm liquid came out as his body kept getting colder... As his eyes blurred he saw the childish face of his killer staring back at him.
"May you receive Lord Alex's grace in your next life..."
**
"Finally done with that. What happened with the baron?"
"Lady Alma, he is slowly leading ten men to follow him into the village."
"Why only ten?"
"He might be here to reach a peaceful conclusion. After all, with the amount of lightning Alex gave us, he most likely thought it was better not to go against a god. That said if he truly wants us off this land he will likely seek the church's help at a later date and do his best to make it happen while we aren't around."
As they talked about what could the baron want and what his future plans could be, the man himself was leading his elite squad made up of seven short ranged men and three bowmen. He believed that if the god was truly a false god, then the Inquisition men would kill all cultists and maybe some villagers.
But what if?
What if it was a true god?
He knew then he would use the small number of soldiers following him as a sign that he wasn't here to fight.
He had even prepared a small white flag that was hidden in his clothes. If they were going to attack he would simply raise his flag as a sign of non-aggression. If they attacked either way, he would run with the cover of several archers and the wall of shields that allowed his retreat.
After walking for a while he noticed the first really strange sight. In the distance, he could clearly see a small orchard of trees that should be the center of the town. The place where the lightning struck.
He knew they shouldn't be here since he had been here less than three years ago! Now he could see large trees in what should have been the center of town. Such trees can't grow so fast no matter what unless there is something supernatural.
He could clearly remember that nothing stood at the center of town save for the dirt road that opened up to a large empty area. It was all originally planned as a section where people could announce things and make it a recognizable place that anyone could find. The place had truly become recognizable but had also changed greatly in every other way.
"What the hell happened?"
"Sir... Wasn't that spot empty? I know I haven't been here in a while, but such a sight is something I would definitely remember."
"Indeed. It was nothing but dirt, but now stands an orchard of trees."
As they got closer they could see where a battle had clearly taken place. 21 men all dead on the ground as their blood pooled around them. Standing at the side stood a man, he recognized as Olsen, and a little girl who didn't even look ten. The pair quickly noticed them, but instead of preparing for battle or even sizing him up, instead, they talked like he and his men meant nothing.
As he got closer he realized why they could stand so calmly. He could tell the Inquisition soldiers had all died in quick succession. Normally this would be seen when a rain of arrows attacked, but now he was seeing it happen with most men only having a hole through their neck.
Looking at the pair, the spear that seemed to be only a bit taller than the girl herself stood out. It was then that he saw only four dead men with a different death. One had a sword slice open his neck while two others had arrows piercing their eyes. As for the fourth, he clearly recognized as Adder the priest. He had his legs pierced at the knees along with a hole on each of his arms. With one last hole on his neck clearly made by the same spear.
As he neared the pair he ordered his men to not attack before addressing both Olsen and the girl, "My name is Fitzpatrick. I am the lord of this land. I heard that there was some unrest and came to personally investigate it."
The child smiled sweetly as she spoke, "My name is Alma. It was bestowed on me by Lord Alex. I am the one who calmed the unrest." As she spoke she pointed to the bodies on the ground before continuing, "Are you here to cause more unrest by attacking me?"
The sweet childish voice gave Fitz a chill as he couldn't tell that this child was truly a killer. Most who kill for the first time are scared, and even when they kill later they don't get much better, but this girl looked like she had just resolved a small argument by talking, not killing everyone who went against her.
"Thank you for your help, Lady Alma... I also come to make some peace negotiations. You see when you kill someone else's family you need to talk to make sure no more misunderstanding happens."
Alma looked at him like she was trying to see through him before nodding, "You are right, I don't want too much blood to be spilled without good reason. Allow me to explain everything that happened that led to the death of your son. Then you can talk peace negotiations."
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