I looked around at the camp. Bodies lay strewn everywhere and blood soaked the earth. They numbered far fewer than the night before. Most of the villagers were huddled into a miserable looking mass. A few lay prone in a praying position.
"Are they..."
"Yes, they are praying to you as they would the rivers and the trees of Albion or the Romans to their pantheon beyond." Morgana answered as if reading my mind.
"Why? I didn't ask them to." I said frustrated. Now seeing that one Monty Python movie with new clarity.
"You saved them, healed the sick, destroyed dreaded monsters from our history then rose from the dead. I feel weak at the knees." Iris said passionately.
"It is not close to what you deserve, Master. This is the beginning many more will co to fear and respect your great power." Umbra said matching Iris' passion with her own ambition.
My eyes had to be wide as saucers staring at her with blank shock. Fuck, I didn't sign up to beco Jesus of a Fantasy world. I held a respect for religions. It is clear that Muhammad, Buddha etc held deep importance to the lives of billions. Though perhaps I had more in common with certain dictators and their cults of personality than long dead figures that held a grip on 2020's Earth. No, this couldn't be allowed to go any further.
"My na is Damian. What is your na?" I asked the closest villager praying. A young man with blond hair and blue eyes, tall and strong. He was neither handso nor ugly but had the rough features of a farr who had worked hard and ate poorly.
"I am Gainor of Yolin's Hill, it is an honour to be in your presence, saviour."
I held his arms and lifted him up, "Get up, please." I implored them the praying villagers and I noticed one of the warriors.
They stood up with reluctance.
"It is a pleasure to et you. I am from the west...of here."
"It is true you are sent from the Tír na nÓg to save us." Said soone from the small crowd.
"The Seelie Court have not abandoned us; they have sent a Great Sky Spirit in human form. Hear and rejoice!" declared Gainor.
"I'm just a sorcerer. A human." I interrupted desperately.
"You command the thunder and the winds. Swords fly with a flick of your wrist and lightning strikes at your call. You were struck down and rose again. Your followers command fire and slay Cù-Sìth the bearers of death with ease."
"Yes, a powerful sorcerer." I tried to explain.
"Good...." Gainor began to speak again.
"Enough, Gainor. Please, my friend. Listen to him." Said a new person.
They were one of the villagers who was not praying. A middle-aged man with dark skin that stood out in contrast to the light skin that made up the majority of people I had t so far since I had arrived in this fantasy world.
"My na is Namir." He said politely. "This is my daughter, Samiya." He said pointing at a little girl.
"My na is Amina. Samiya is my child and Namir my partner."
"Huh?" Iris exclaid. I turned to her, staring at the child Samiya with unabashed intensity. I looked at the child and felt a similar energy spreading to and from her that flowed with Iris. The druidic connection. Non-genetic then I concluded.
I smiled with grace and addressed the survivors, "A pleasure to et you all. To et everyone."
They smiled back.
"I know it has been a long night. Thank you everyone for waiting on to rest from my injuries. If we are ready to go, I agree with Tara that we should leave as soon as possible." I said to all.
"We leave for Ferisdarm. Where warm food awaits! We live behind high walls guarded by the fiercest fighter's under Chieftain Galen. Travel with speed and we shall reach safe haven before nightfall!" Tara commanded.
That seed to do the trick. Tara gave another low bow before she started barking out orders and the warriors started corralling the remaining villagers to leave. There was about a quarter of our number left. The two attacks on our camps had cost us steeply in blood. The warriors were less of a War-Band now that they numbered less than twenty and the villagers were about double that number.
"I was worried." Iris complained as she linked her arm with mine.
"So was I." Morgana added, linking with my other arm.
"I'm sorry. Honestly."
They shared a look. "Good." Iris muttered and bopped my nose. "We know." Morgana said cheekily.
"Thanks, Iris and Morgana, for sticking with . It ans a lot." I admitted.
"Getting all serious now. Co Paragon, we are alive. You should enjoy it." Morgana teased.
"Well, so of us went to the brink of death and ca back." I said frowning slightly, a little bit annoyed.
"And aren't you a big, bad sorcerer." She retorted but looking at she sighed in an exaggerated fashion. "You did well, Damian." She mollified.
They guided over to a small campfire and sat down laying out a blanket so I wouldn't get dirty. They sat at either side of .
Umbra did one better and sat on my lap greeting my boner with her back and her bum stroking my balls.
Iris clicked her tongue and Morgana scowled. I waited for them to explode. They didn't/
Iris offered a bowl of porridge, "Co eat sothing."
Thinned with water, the white oats al slid easily down my throat. Filling my belly and providing a sentinel warmth. It lacked salt and judging by Iris's expression she knew. I felt alive again, and not just tethered together by magic.
"It's good." I told a white lie.
Apparently we are acting like having a woman on my lap and two by my side is normal.
"We have so oatcakes left for the road. We lost a lot of our supplies in the attack." Iris explained.
"We will make do."
"As we always do, right Sweetness?" Morgana asked rhetorically.
"Yes." Iris replied, smiling brightly.
I ate quickly keen to get moving and noticing the camp was mostly ready to leave.
"Thanks, I needed that."
Tara ca and let know the group was ready to move out.
I saw that the villagers had gathered their bundles and were ready to leave. They looked a ragged bunch but determined. A boy stood alone, he could not have been more than ten, he carried a baby goat in his arms. I looked at the carnage behind us and beyond just within eyesight in the distance was the valley and the burial mounds guarded by Wraiths. The sunlight beat down warmly on my back as a cold chill settled in my heart.
"Okay. Can you three head on?" I asked. "I will be right behind, I promise."
"Alright, don't take too long or I will steal Sweetness all to myself." Morgana replied with a wink.
Umbra watched , said nothing but soon left by herself.
Iris gave a quick wave. I smiled and waved back. Morgana pulled her towards the group. I let my eyes linger on their sweet asses for a mont. I turned away. I walked over to the bodies and the twinge of a smile faded,
I searched and scoured then ca to a stop. I looked at the mangled remains of Marius. Deep gouges had torn open his chest and throat. His blood had seeped to the earth. I felt my stomach drop and an icy calmness settle.
"Fuck. We weren't friends but you helped when we needed it. You were a brave warrior who cared for those you were responsible for, I respected that. I'm sorry I couldn't save your life. I promise to do my best to get your Warband to safety and I'll take the responsibility for the villagers too."
I paused and looked at all the warriors and villagers who had died. The survivors hadn't had the ti to dig graves. The flies and crows had to co to feast on the scattered corpses. Under the sun the scent of blood and shit were fresh in the air. A few of the dead, by acts of love, had fresh flowers placed on their bodies. Do the dead know that they had been living on borrowed ti?
"I always understood war as a ga. A news article ant to draw out an angry reaction from . A story with winners and losers. If I saw what happened here as a loss, that would an despising everything you tried to do to live and keep them alive. Including and my own. You fought well. I'm proud of that, for what it is worth. I hope you can rest well now."
I wiped tears away from my eyes. I took a deep breath and turned away. I didn't rush back, it was calming to be with my thoughts. Close to noon, I was astride with my companions again joining in with their pleasant banter and then amiable silence.
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