After Skaar finishes tying up the last survivor, he looks to Corda.
"Go get the healer. Maybe he can help us sort this out", the big Orc says. "At the very least he'll know what to do with the bodies."
Corda heads for the healer and knocks on the door. When he answers the door, she says, "We need you at the shanty town. Something's happened."
Sloane grabs a bag and rushes out the door. "What is it? Did something happen to your friend?"
Thinking back to the moment she awoke, the young Witch came to a realization, Skaar was different in some way. "I'm not entirely sure to be honest. But there are other things that need your immediate attention."
"Yes, of course," Sloane says, following Corda.
***
Skaar stands and stares at the sky. It seems as different as he. Suddenly, he hear slow clapping coming from behind him. He turns to see who would be applauding such a horrifying scene. It is Sefirous.
"Well, well, chasing after the thrones of the gods now, are we?"
Skaar ponders the strange appearance of the sky only to be snapped back to his senses by that familiar voice.
”Sefirous you worm!”, the big orc growls. ”How the hell did you get here?!”
He takes an aggressive step closer.
”And what are you talkin’ about?”
"I am everywhere," Sefirous says, making a sweeping gesture at the sky. "Wherever you go, I can follow. Wherever you sow death, I know. Did you not sense the change come upon you as you defeated your enemies? A spark of divinity awakened in you. You have become something beyond the simple orc you once were."
”What do you mean? I’ve killed men before – you know. What’s so different now?” the hulking orc demands.
Skaar knew this was some kind of trick but he had to know more. He looks down as his own meaty hands in confusion.
Sefirous laughs and glances at the tied up men. "I guess you didn't kill them all this time. Well, there's that innocent man lying there. What lies did you feed him to get him to die for you?"
Skaar glances at Hanely’s broken body. Brief guilt followed by burning rage fills his thundering heart.
”I didn’t lie to him about anythin’. I didn’t have to. I just asked him to have the strength to stand up and fight – and he did. He took up his mace and fought. He showed more courage in the few minutes of battle than you’d ever know”, Skaar says as he narrows his gaze.
"Courage? What would you know about that? I'm sure all the men, women and children you've left in your wake knew about your courage," Sefirous says, walking towards the orc. "Stop deluding yourself. It's about power, who has it and who doesn't. Now that you have some power, what are you going to do? Fight bandits and be a 'noble' orc? Szuriel's offer is still open. Why not bear a crown instead of the dirt you heap on yourself?"
He smiles, his teeth far too white and sharp to be human. "We don't have to be enemies, Skaar. We can be friends, if you like. This would be far easier than struggling for nothing."
”I learned a lot ‘bout courage this past few weeks. Father Hanely taught me even more”, Skaar quickly answer. ”And I do have blood on my hands but I’m tryin’ to make things right. I can be better!” Skaar roars as he marches forward to meet the advancing Sefirious. ”And I was never like you, not even at my worst.”
”This power – whatever it is - is mine ta help whoever I want. I don’t give a f!++ about Szuriel or her crown”, he adds clenching his fists once again. ”I’m gunna do this my way and I’ll crush any tyrants or bullies I find along the way!”
"What are you willing to lose before you see that you should use your power to protect your interests? That girl following you around like a lost puppy? The half-orc woman you're chasing after because you think she's carrying your seed?" Sefirous asks, his daemonic eyes twinkling with each question. "You should have listened to the vanara. He was right."
He pauses for a moment, looking right into Skaar's eyes. "So, say you crush all these tyrants and bullies, does that automatically make you better than them? There will be an empty throne and people will expect you take it. You do realize there are consequences for everything you do? When you become a 'hero', people will expect you to play the part. All I am saying is that you just accept the inevitable. You will become a legend, why not make sure the people you love are safe? Oh, what am I saying? You still don't know what love is."
”I’ll protect what’s important to me without sacrificin’ everything else. Corda, Zahira, the explorers, my son… I don’t need you or your b+@+%. I’ll take care of ‘em on my own.”
Skaar slows down as Sefirous does. He hesitates as he considers the daemon’s words.
A moment later, with grim resolve, he resumes his advance again.
”People are stronger than you give ‘em credit for. They don’t need heroes. They don’t need me. They can stand on their own, sometimes they just need a little help”, the big Orc says with another glance at Hanely’s broken body. ”You’ll see… Right after I beat your ugly lyin’ face in again!”
Skaar swings a fist at Sefirous, his hand passing through dark mist. "Ah ah ah, not yet, old friend. Besides I don't think you want your girl seeing your ugly side. But you'll see the truth to what I've said soon enough."
He vanishes like he did at the lighthouse, as Corda and Sloane approach the orc. Sloane looks about bewildered.
"What happened here?"
When he was of age, he joined Blackwater, where he could kill whoever he wanted and be paid for it. He traveled the length and breadth of the continent and he would always say, "Blackwater is better than any other job. I mean, normally, if you kill someone, they arrest you. With them, they'll give you a sword and show you what to do. I mean, I've killed hundreds of people. Now, if I were a civilian, they'd hang me, here they give me a f!%+ing medal."
He always chose missions that would leave high enemy casualties and never return with even one scratch. Men, women, children all fell beneath his blade. Even if people surrendered, he'd execute them. Soon, rumors circulated that he was bribing officials to plant evidence of uprisings in their town, giving Sefirous free reign to come in and kill with impunity. Yet, his impressive kill count put him beyond reproach and the stability in the kingdom further kept him from being outed.
Near the end of the war, Sefirous was having a hard time finding targets. So much so that he decided to take matters into his own hands and plant evidence of rebellion in a loyal baron's chateau. The night before he and his men attacked the chateau, the baron had found the evidence and reported it to the Icathian Royal Army. The Royal Army found him innocent, finding similarities between the propaganda at the chateau and materials found in other places Sefirous had raided.
When Sefirous charged the chateau, he found the Royal Army there and was ordered to surrender. If he had snapped then or sometime before was not known, but he proceeded to kill all the soldiers to the shock of his men. He then butchered the baron in front of his daughter, then beheaded the daughter before turning on his own men. Ninety-three people died that night and Sefirous was never seen again. A search of his quarters uncovered trophies that he took from everyone that he had killed. An assortment of rotted fingers, locks of hair and teeth were sitting in a lockbox. On the lid of the box was a mark for each person he killed. The grand total was seven-hundred and eighty-five, not counting the massacre at the baron's chateau. Each body at the chateau either had a body part missing or had their hair cut as if with a dagger. The daughter's head was never found.
Skaar roars in frustration but keeps his fists up as his nemesis fades from view.
"Come back you coward!"
The big orc is still grunting and growling when Corda and Sloane appear. It takes Skaar a moment to realize that Sefirous was truely gone... for now.
"We dealt with the Skulls. Brassport is free and safe again, or as safe as it was at least", Skaar explains as he relaxes his stance. "But I need somethin' from you now."
"You a religious sort?"
"I can't say that I am," Sloane says. "Father Hanely is the only one who prays in this town."
"What do ya do with yer dead?"
"We bury them, like anywhere else."
"Father Hanely will handle that, of course. He prays over them and buries them himself. He's dedicated, I guess...So I suppose you brought me here to help taking the bodies back to him?"
The big orc frowns at the information but it didn't change anything.
"Then I'll bury 'em myself", Skaar grunts. "And Hanely", he adds with a gesture at the fallen priest's body. "The Father died a hero. It's the least I could do for 'im."
"Hanely's...dead," Sloane says, clearly in shock. "I...I see..."
"But he didn't die for nuthin", the big orc says. "Help me move these bodies and get 'em buried and then we gotta talk."
Sloane seems apprehensive at first. "A-alright..."
It takes a few hours to get the bodies sorted and the holes dug . The sun begins to set as you finish putting the last of the soil on the graves. Sweat falls off Sloane in sheets, as he rises from his kneeling position. The thugs that survived as well as their leader have come to.
Sweating plenty himself, Skaar flexes his massive hulking frame, willing away some of the fatigue taxing his muscles. He approaches the herbalist, takes a hold of the man's hand, turns it over, and drops a hefty some of coin in it - half the gold looted from the Skulls. The big orc looks Sloane in the eyes.
"Ya need to take over caring for the shrine, at least until ya can find someone who can do it as well as the Father did. This should help. And if anyone asks, it was Hanely that broke up the Skulls. They've gotta know that one man's courage can make the difference."
Corda kept an eye on the survivors while Skaar and Sloane worked, even more so when they woke up.
"Alright," Sloane says. "But why hide the truth?"
The four thugs stir and struggle against the rope, but the leader sits still, eyes on Skaar.
”Like I said”, Skaar grunts. ”Brassport’s gotta take care of itself. There’s no heroes in this world, not really. Hanely was a man that found his courage and fought for what he believed in. That's what this world needs.”
The big orc glares down at the bound thugs.
”The question is, what to do with you lot. I should turn ya over to the people uv Brassport, but they’d probably gut you here and now. Whatcha think Sloane?”
Skaar glances at the fat brawler, ”What do you think?”
"They need to pay for their crimes," Sloane says, pointing a finger at the leader. "Especially him."
"I'd keep that finger as far from me as possible, old man," the fat man says. "Apparently, if you've spared me, orc, you have something in mind."
Skaar nods at Sloane before addressing the leader of the Skulls.
"First - what's yer name."
"Marrek."
"Well Marrek, Sloane here is gunna turn you and your boys over to the people of Brassport to do what they will with ya. If I had to geuss I'd say it's gunna be the gallows but I don't know what's popular in dockside towns like this one."
The big orc draws a line across his own throat to emphasize the point.
"Or ya could pay another way - by makin' things right with Brassport and all the people ya hurt. You can work for Sloane, start over, live a better life. We'll tell folks that you were part of the brawl to free Brassport. Sloane'll pay you. Hell, you might even like it."
"If I find out that ya betrayed me or Sloane here, and I will find out, I'll come back and take it out on yer ass. And don't think I'm bluffin'. Ya know I can do it."
"So what's it gunna be? You wanna hold onto whatever's left of your pride and die a fool or do you wanna show some balls, admit ya did wrong, and make up for it? I know at least one of you has some sense", the big orc says with a glance Merrek's way.
"Dyin's easy. Living for something worthwhile is what makes ya strong."
"Ya said that already," Marrek says with a cold stare. "These guys...they can lie all they want and, if they want to save their own necks, they can. But I mean what I say and say what I mean. I won't live as a liar and I sure as hell ain't gonna go from being a criminal to a street sweeper. If I hang, I hang. That'd be the fair way to do it."
"You want a rematch?" Skaar says with a challenging gleam in his eye. "Well show you yer worth my time and not a fool willing to die for nuthin'."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Oh," Marrek says, realizing what the orc meant. "So you want me to be a fraud and 'live for something' for a rematch?"
The brawler laughs. "There are enough cowards in the world who value their lives more than the causes they stand for. I won't be one of them."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"And what cause do you stand for?"
"Rule by strength. The strongest are fit to rule. I am not the strongest anymore, I suppose. So I no longer have a place here."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Skaar scoffs, "What you call strength is just takin' advantage of the weak. You don't know anything 'bout strength and the way you're livin' you never will."
"What about the rest of you lot?"
The other 4 thugs quickly accept Skaar's offer, given the alternative.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Frustrated at his inability to help a man that reminded him so much of himself, Skaar suddenly finds that the fatigue from his battle and the hard labor of digging graves has caught up with him. The big orc gives a tired and sad shake of his head.
"Let's get this over with", Skaar says as he stands Merrek up. "Who's in charge 'round here? You're 'bout to make his day."
Corda stayed silent during the entire exchange, watching Skaar trying to show mercy to a man who just spit it back in his face. Such strength, and yet not ruled by rage as most of his kin. He's on the path to become a true Orc. The young witch couldn't help but smile at the thought.
"Take him to Constable Fletcher," Sloane says. "He's in the center of town. There's a sign outside his door. I'll take care of these four."
The four thugs wash their faces with water from a nearby barrel. The black skulls now erased from their visages reveal four broken men, their eyes telling of a life they lived long ago. Sloane seems to recognize them but says nothing, putting a comforting hand on each one's shoulders in turn. He leads them back into town while Skaar and Corda take the bound Marrek to the constable. Arriving at a small building that reeks of alcohol, Skaar finds the constable reclining in a chair, a hat covering the his eyes.
"Constable", the big orc bellows as he pounds on the door. "We've got a criminal for you. One I think Brassport's been wantin' to be rid of for a while."
Skaar growls at the man's condition. No wonder this place fell to the Skulls. This man should be their champion...