Wake up!

  Grayson jerked awake. The voice in his head was the familiar voice of Perimis. Grayson carefully extracted his limbs from Fera’s grasp, gently shushing her back to sleep. He got up and dressed, grabbing his tabard and sword before stepping out of the room.

  Putting his tabard on over his clothes, Grayson walked through the quiet halls of the church. He knew something was wrong as Perimis wouldn’t have woken him up otherwise. He was also uneasy about the way he was woken up. Specifically he was reminded about how he’d been woken up before in a similar manner.

  We suspected it wasn’t her. Once we heard her voice clearly, we knew it wasn’t the same.

  Yeah, we did. Still… Not exactly something we were looking forward to confirming.

  Yeah. We’ll need to be careful. There’s another God involved here and nobody knows what they’re up to.

  Grayson headed outside and over to the stables, bringing Mink out and saddling him up. He led the pegasus out into the village, and over to the gate at a jog. Grayson unbarred the gate quietly and led Mink out, closing the gate behind him before realizing that he didn’t think about how to bar it again from the outside.

  “Fuck it.” Grayson whispered, then jumped on top of the gate and let himself down the other side. He barred the gate again, then jumped back over.

  Mink nickered at Grayson as he rejoined his mount. Grayson shrugged, checked the saddle straps, then mounted up. They took off away from the village, the steady beat of Mink’s wings taking them higher and higher.

  Grayson started looking around, banking Mink in a spiral search pattern similar to the one he did on the first night he arrived. This time though, Grayson could see magic, could feel magic, and was on a flying horse. This trio of advantages let Grayson see the leaking magic of a mage from almost three kilometers away as he crept through the recently tilled fields of one of the outer farmsteads.

  He tilted Mink in that direction and gave a low whistle, a signal to the pegasus to glide without beating its wings. Grayson carefully raised himself in his stirrups as they began to move closer, bleeding altitude for speed. He held on to the saddle tight as he brought one leg over to sit side saddle before preparing to drop off the side. Finally, he whistled a second signal to Mink and dropped off the pegasus.

  Grayson dropped from the sky, using the relative wind to form small orbs of air under his hands and feet, letting him control his descent. He steered himself to land just ahead of the small group that were heading towards the house. Reaching a few dozen feet over the probable bandits, Grayson released the wind orbs and dropped to land in front of the group… and sink into the soft dirt half way up his shins.

  Grayson swore.

  Mantilay was having a bad night. He and his men had barely managed to evade the knights that had patrolled the area for the past week. After the other caravan had screwed up, the knights had arrived the next day, armed and ready to hunt down other caravans. Pomiran had tried to keep them under cover, but the bastards had found them.

  There had been a fight, but knights on pegasi had a massive advantage against light infantry stuck on the ground. They’d been picked off by the knights flying above the canopy without their mages managing to land a major hit. Hell, only Kraim was left after the second pass of the flying bastards.

  Mantilay had broken his squad off at that point, running them out of the fight and going to ground in a thicker patch of trees. They covered themselves with branches and then just stayed put through the first day and into the first night.

  Early in the morning after the fight, they had crept back to the caves they had spent the winter in only to find the remains of their supply cache gone. They hid there for the next week and a half while the knights patrolled, and discussed their next step.

  Trying to cross the border empty handed would see them punished, if only slightly. What happened to their caravan and the other caravan that had been waiting nearby wasn’t their fault and the presence of the knights so early in the year hadn’t been expected. Still, if they wanted to avoid punishment altogether, they still needed some cargo.

  Instead of trying to raid a village, they settled for a farmstead. They’d be able to sneak in, kill the farmer, take his wife and children, and retreat across the mountains. Most farms would have food for the next few weeks as well, which would be enough to feed the now very hungry squad while they made their crossing. They had spent a day watching the farms in the area to pick one that would be easy to raid while having enough food. Ildram had claimed to see another knight in the sky the previous afternoon, but Mantilay had dismissed it. They’d seen the knights leave.

  So now, it was the next night. Ildram had been trying to convince him for hours to skip the raid and try to cross the mountains with the food they had left. There was no way they’d be able to cross the mountains that way and they all knew it. The food they had left had only lasted this long because they’d been rationing less than a meal a day. They had two full meals that day to give them enough energy to kill the farmer and take his family. What was left barely counted as one meal each.

  Fortunately, the rest of the squad hadn’t been so skittish and were happy to be moderately full for a few hours after starving for a week. They were willing to do the raid despite Ildram’s complaints, if only to not starve on the trip home. The squad had decided to follow Mantilay’s lead as long as that would get them home and get some reward for their trouble.

  So here they were, trudging their way across the soft dirt of the field in a half crouch. It was slow going across the aerated soil, almost like a cross between sand and deep mud when it came to walking, sinking an inch or two with every step. There were muttered complaints coming from behind him, but Mantilay ignored them.

  Suddenly a man dropped down in front of them and every neuron in Mantilay’s brain screamed danger. This was the knight that Ildram had seen, except he wasn’t just a knight. He was a Crusader. A damned voice of the meddling gods. Even in the blackness, silhouetted against the lamp outside the farm house, he could see what the man was. Hells, the darkness made it easier to see the fucker’s glowing golden eyes.

  “Ah fuck, this is way softer than I was expecting. What the hell?” complained the man.

  Grayson’s landing had not gone as intended. He pulled his feet out of the dirt, keeping his eyes on the bandits in front of him. So far, they weren’t doing anything, either taken aback by his landing or his complaints shortly after. Once the action started, they would probably react much faster, so this time was crucial.

  There was one catch though… despite what Grayson was certain these people were here to do, they hadn’t done it yet. He couldn’t let these people kill or kidnap anyone, but he didn’t want to kill first and ask questions never. That wasn’t who he wanted to be.

  “I’ll give you all one chance to surrender,” Grayson said. This seemed to surprise the group.

  “And we should believe you?” asked one of the people back in the ragged column.

  The leader said nothing, his eyes boring into Grayson’s. Grayson’s night vision was extremely good, letting him see the man’s expression. His eyes were full of rage and hate. Grayson was surprised, but decided to press on regardless.

  “I can’t make you believe me. I just don’t want to kill anyone who hasn’t done anything to harm the innocent… yet.” Grayson projected his voice to ensure everyone heard him clearly.

  He heard them murmuring to each other, discussing this offer. Grayson was disappointed with their skepticism. He really didn’t want to kill them, and he knew that interrogation would be a priority, so they wouldn’t just be executed. There was even a possibility that they could walk free some day if the Muric Empire fell.

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  But they didn’t know that. They also couldn’t see anything of Grayson’s face aside from his eerily glowing eyes. They weren’t inclined to take him up on his deal. This notion was solidified by a blast of fire being shot directly at him by the mage.

  Grayson didn’t have to dodge the seemingly slow moving fireball. He tried to consider how best to deal with it to get these guys to possibly surrender. Dodging it would make him seem less invulnerable and more human. It could tell them he could be reasoned with, or it could embolden them into thinking they had a chance.

  On the other hand standing still and using a shield would be intimidating but wouldn’t necessarily cow them into surrendering. The same could be said of using his sword and some mana to cut the fireball. But doing that could also cement him as some unknowable semi-divine entity, which wasn’t something that could be reasoned with.

  Letting it just hit him was also an option. It wouldn’t kill him, certainly. Not much really could to begin with. But just tanking a fireball to the face and healing it would make him look even more inhuman than using magic. With a sigh, he made his decision.

  Grayson used his off hand and backhanded the fireball with a small shield of magic mana. The fire was cast aside and dispersed, the fire mana powering it dissipated like glitter in the wind. Grayson stepped forwards threateningly.

  “Last chance. Fight and die or surrender and live.” He sighed as a knife thrown by one of the other members of the group started spinning slowly through the air.

  The leader had raised his sword and started stepping forwards. Unfortunately, he was moving in slow motion, so Grayson had plenty of time to take two hops forward to land in front of him, ducking his shoulder under the knife as he travelled.

  This fight wasn’t going to be like the first one. There were only seven of them. They only had one mage, no magic equipment, and were half starved. Meanwhile Grayson had trained extensively and actually knew how to fight and do magic.

  As much as Grayson wanted to hold back, these people made their choice and if they somehow managed to miraculously defeat him, they would be going on to kill or kidnap people. At the end of the day, these people had made their choice to be monsters. Grayson sadly decided to treat them as such. That didn’t mean he would have to be cruel about it. He could afford them a very small portion of mercy.

  Grayson decapitated the leader, stepping past him to decapitate the man standing behind him as well. A stream of fire leapt from the third man, but Grayson sidestepped it. Even as the mage tried to move his hand to bring the fire on to Grayson, Grayson looked into his eyes. A beam of light speared the man’s head.

  The last four were charging as well, but two faltered. Grayson ignored them, stepping forward to stab the first of the committed bandits and sidestepping the downstroke of the second before withdrawing his sword and sweeping it through the attacker’s neck. Of the faltering pair, one dropped their sword. The other raised it and stepped forwards, tears rolling down his face.

  Grayson’s own resolve shattered. He stepped into the strike, catching the man’s hand and gently removing the sword. He threw the sword to the side and restrained his arms. Grayson mixed water, earth, and light mana and infused it into the crops surrounding him. A mass of thin, flexible roots sprang from the dirt around him and severed themselves at a meter long, then did so again.

  “I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to tie your hands and you’ll be given over to the knights. Resist and you may be injured.” Grayson looked back and forth between the two men. They were both trembling, but the one who dropped his sword was able to nod his understanding.

  Shortly, both men’s hands were lashed firmly behind their backs. Grayson, who had watched movies, also checked their hands for any hidden sharp objects before cutting fabric from the clothes of the others and wrapping then tying it around their hands to stop them from grabbing or rubbing their bonds on anything sharp. Finally, Grayson gathered the fallen weapons and whistled for Mink to come down. He tore more of the cloth from the clothes of the dead bandits and recovered the sheaths of the weapons, tying them into a bundle and tying them on to the saddle.

  Grayson prodded his prisoners forward and led them to the farm house. His neural network had the time at about three in the morning, so he’d have to wake people up whatever he did. He decided that the farmer at least should be made aware of the men who had been sneaking towards his house.

  They arrived ten minutes later. Grayson knocked on the door a few times before he heard movement coming from inside. The farmer was understandably surprised to see Grayson, more so to see him in the company of a pair of bandits.

  “What’s going on, Grayson?” he asked. Grayson spun the bandits around to display their bound hands.

  “Found these two with a few of their fellows sneaking towards your farm. They’re back in your fields about a kilometer that way.” Grayson turned to point towards the bodies in the field.

  “What’s a kilometer?” Grayson blinked, then did the math.

  “About a fifth of a league, Vale. Sorry, measurement from back home” Grayson apologized.

  “Not to worry, Grayson. Thank you for stopping them. Come in, come in.” The farmer ushered the trio inside.

  The two bandits were tied to chairs around the home’s dinner table. Their arms were tied even more firmly on to the chairs and their legs tied to the chair legs. Vale watched Grayson as he tied them with rope Vale provided.

  “You sure you aren’t overdoing it?” Vale asked.

  “Better to overdo it than to have them sneaking off and hurting someone,” said Grayson with a grimace. Vale nodded.

  “I can appreciate that with my family being upstairs. Thank you.” Vale’s voice was steady, but his hands were shaking slightly. His wife and daughters had been taken two weeks ago, saved by Grayson. He had been knocked unconscious during that incident.

  “Still trying to get away from the border?” Grayson asked.

  “I’ve heard nothing back from my family nearer Gravistone so far,” Vale said with a frown. It was understandable that a letter would take time to get there and back, but with the recent activity, people were extremely on edge. It wouldn’t be difficult for one of the bandit caravans to kidnap a messenger.

  “You know the journey normally takes a week and a half from here to Gravistone. That’s without having to make detours to other villages to drop off letters there. You shouldn’t expect anything back for another two weeks.”

  “I know, I know. It’s just…” Vale trailed off. Grayson stood up from where he’d finished tying the second bandit to his chair.

  “Yeah, Vale. I get it. With what happened two weeks ago and the second group the knights found, nobody knows if there are more…” Grayson indicated the bandits tied to chairs. “Except maybe these two, so please make sure nobody kills them while I’m summoning the knights.

  That won’t be necessary.

  “Or maybe I’ll bring them back to the village so they can guard them while I go patrol for more?” Grayson floated the idea while looking vaguely up.

  These are the last in your area.

  “Well, don’t know if I’ve passed a test or failed it.” Grayson sighed, then looked back at Vale. “It feels like I get told enough to know there’s something to do but not enough to know what it is. I patrolled the northern forest. I patrolled the southern forest. I duelled an avatar of Bolan and got a deal for the protection of the farmers and village from the beasts of the land for the next ten years. I guess…” He trailed off.

  “Fuck.”

  And there we go.

  “Okay, that last part was unnecessary.” Grayson stood up and started walking in a circle.

  Well if you’re going to act so self-impressed with yourself for beating a root avatar, someone’s got to bring you down to Earth.

  “A literal goddess putting me in my place?”

  Vale and the bandits looked in consternation and horror as Grayson walked in a circle talking to thin air.

  You needed it. You missed something this obvious.

  “Okay, fair.” Grayson sighed and stopped walking. “So what about these two?”

  They didn’t do anything that you know about.

  “That implies things I didn’t know about.” Grayson turned to the two bound bandits. He’d suspected that they would have committed some crimes against humanity based simply on where they were from, but had decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

  Of course they did. The Muric Empire is a vile place, especially for the poor.

  “And these men were poor before joining… what? The Muric slaving corps?” Grayson asked, looking closely at them. They were trembling in fear.

  Indeed.

  “So, is there anything they’ve done that they weren’t forced to do?” Grayson asked. Vale opened his mouth to speak, but Grayson held up a hand stalling him.

  Were they forced to join the slavers?

  “Were they given a viable alternative to dig themselves out of poverty?”

  There were other options. Some harder. Some easier. The harder ones likely would have seen them jailed or dead. The easier… more disgusting.

  “Then the answer is no.” Grayson said. “So did they commit any crimes that they weren’t forced to do as slavers? Violation? Pillage?” The bandits shook their heads frantically.

  No.

  “Then they live.” Grayson said it with finality. “Rehabilitation to a civilization that values humanity more than money.”

  Maybe don’t phrase it that way when explaining to other people.

  Grayson sighed.

  “You know what I mean. A civilization that values thinking beings more than money. So what? Did I pass this test?”

  Naturally.

  “Glad to know my morals align with yours so closely,” Grayson said only slightly sarcastically.

  “Umm, Grayson?” asked Vale.

  “These guys are going to be taken to Gravistone and looked after by the churches. I’ll take them tomorrow. There’s no more danger here and won’t be until the late summer. That’s if the Muric Empire has already sent more groups across the mountains. If not, probably not until next spring.” Grayson said distractedly.

  “They were going to kidnap my family, Grayson.” Vale said, his voice hard.

  “And now they aren’t. You heard my end of the conversation. Do you really think that if Perimis had answered ‘yes’ to that last question I’d be keeping them alive?” Grayson asked. Vale looked away.

  “No.” Vale’s anger subsided to a resigned frustration.

  “You’re safe. Your family is safe, at least for the next couple of months. By the time there’s danger again, the knights will be back and patrolling, and they’ll be patrolling this time next year as well.” Grayson started untying the bandits from the chairs.

  “What are you doing?” Vale asked.

  “Well I’m not stealing your chairs, Vale. These two are coming with me back to the village. I should make it at around dawn if I hurry. Besides, I’m leaving their hands tied. Oh yeah, anything you find on those bodies in your field is yours. There’s probably some money, don’t know what else. I took their weapons and that’s it.” Grayson stood, coiling the rope that had been used to tie the bandits to the chairs and handing it to Vale. “Look after yourself.”

  Vale looked conflicted for a moment, then nodded.

  “You too, Grayson.”