by Billy Wong
"Do you know who she is?" he asked the nearby Cody. "The kind of tall one, with the big swordsman."
Cody grinned knowingly. "I bet she gave you those bruises, didn't she?"
"Yeah, but if you got closer, I'm sure she's pretty bruised herself."
"I didn't say she wasn't. A bit strange to take pride in beating up a girl though."
He shrugged. "She's a worthy opponent."
"I'm just teasing. But yeah, I've met her before. That's Ruthless Ruth as she calls herself, and her partner Stan."
"So she works in a pair too." He wondered if theirs was just a business relationship, or something more. "What about you? Are you together with anyone?"
"I'm working alone for the moment. Or technically, with all the rest of you."
Lars imagined there might be a lot of bickering over shares after the work, considering there were so many of them. The mayor guided the small army to the far side of the lake, which he told them had shrunken considerably from its old size. That was a problem too, but not one blades could solve.
Past the lake, they sighted the hillside cave they sought. It was huge, the entrance towering close to fifty feet high. "How big is this God Soldier supposed to be?" Allen asked.
Cody answered. "From the rumors going around, anywhere from twenty to forty feet tall."
"Forty?" Lars mumbled.
They neared the hill, a rounded mound with cracks running haphazardly across it. From within sounded a thunderous drawn out roar. The creature heard them coming. Thudding footfalls drew closer, then it came into view. Just over thirty feet tall, it resembled a humanoid insect, standing upright with only four limbs but the head shape and shell of an immense beetle. One arm ended in great pincers that could easily snip a man in two, the other a huge axelike blade that was no doubt one of the empire's "improvements." Instead of chitin, dull brown metal plates made up its hide. It bellowed again, the sound straining Lars and the others' ears at close proximity.
"What a monster," Cody breathed.
Lars gave a grim nod. "Have you faced something like this before? I would've thought you might have experience in such things given your attitude earlier."
He admitted, "Not this size, no."
Most of the sellswords who had chosen to take the front charged, though some lost their nerve and hung back. Lars and Cody observed for the moment, taking the foe's measure. Following Lars' lead, Allen did likewise—and so, somewhat surprisingly, did Ruthless Ruth and Stan. It seemed she knew the value of caution against certain foes. The first mercs approached. Its mammoth axe blade swept down. Sounds of tearing metal, breaking bones, and shrieking men filled the air as body parts from at least five individuals flew through it.
"Geez," Allen whispered.
"Pelt it with ranged weapons!" the mayor shouted. Many warriors took aim at the God Soldier, including Lars with his crossbow. Arrows, bolts and javelins showered over it, but glanced off or snapped against its thick carapace. Odd round holes opened up on its shoulders. Lars didn't understand until he heard a series of pop-pop-pop noises, and blood sprayed from man after man who fell screaming or silenced. Spotting the objects newly on the ground next to the injured and dead, he pieced together what was going on. It was shooting tiny pointed rocks which, propelled at such speed he couldn't see them, tore apart anything they hit.
They were called God Soldiers, Lars recalled, because the damage they could inflict on the battlefield drew comparison to angry gods.
"We've got this!" a sellsword near the back said. A trio of men had wheeled along a ballista, and now brought it to bear on the enemy. Before it could fire, however, the titan expelled a larger rock from its mouth. It flew over half the crowd, crashed down into a bunch of mercs—and kept going along the ground, smashing through several more victims before reaching the ballista. Two of its crew jumped out of the way in time, but not its operator, who disappeared with the weapon in an explosion of splinters and red giblets.
The monster stomped forward. Many warriors turned and fled, all thoughts of payment probably forgotten as their lives flashed before them. Lars, Allen, Cody, Ruth, Stan and a few others stood their ground. One burly man rushed, sword raised overhead. The God Soldier grabbed him up in its pincer and snapped him in half, mail and all. Steeling himself Lars followed, rolled under its descending blade and chopped at its leg. His axe glanced off with no visible effect.
"Let me show you how it's done!" Cody tried to stab into where two of the plates met. But there wasn't enough space between them for even his thin sword to slide in, and it bent sharply before he pulled back. "It lacks the weakness of the one I killed before... this one must have been fully grown before conversion."
Four mercs Lars didn't know the names of tried their hand at hacking at its legs. It punted one away like a ball, his bones snapping audibly like so much kindling, and split another vertically with its axe hand. The other two ran. Though he didn't flee, Allen stood frozen with his spear forgotten in hand while they passed him. Lars didn't blame him. He thought about retreating too, but his pride didn't let him just yet. He landed another ineffectual blow to a leg and dodged a kick, the wind from which sent a shiver down his spine. Stan stepped in with a big swing, actually making the beast take a half step sideways. It kicked him too, hurling him away to lie still in the dirt.
"Stan!" Ruth cried, raising her bow to line up an arrow with one of the God Soldier's shoulder holes. She loosed, but before the projectile got to its target, that dreadful pop-pop-pop sounded again. The arrow broke in midair as one rock hit it. Ruth dove aside, but not in time to avoid the barrage completely as blood burst from her shoulder.
The mayor picked up a dropped spear and leveled it at the monster. "Why are you all so useless? I'll bring this thing down myself." But after taking one hesitant step forward, he stopped.
"We should fall back and think of a way to stop it," Cody said.
Lars braced himself as the God Soldier advanced towards them. "I don't know if it'll let us..."
From behind, they heard the sound of wheels rolling quickly closer. "Am I late?" a slightly winded female voice asked.
Everyone looked. The new arrival was a short, cloaked young woman, pulling along a cart that looked comically big in comparison. The deep wheel tracks left behind it indicated the load must be heavy. On her back, she carried a quiver of javelins, one of which had a green cloth tied around it. "Is that... her?" one of the sellswords who hadn't fled yet muttered in a voice tinged with awe. "Cart-Dragger?"
"It could be a impostor," another said. "That's not so uncommon."
Seated clutching her shoulder, Ruth replied, "If it's just another girl pretending to be her in hopes of discouraging robbers, why would she come here? And look at those tracks, that load must be incredibly heavy. She really is the fabled Cart-Dragger..."
The girl flung back the leather tarp over her cart, revealing the many bags that lay upon it—and the immense hammer nestled among them. She gripped the handle and lifted it up smoothly with one hand, and it became clear the maul was at least two feet longer than she was tall, with a steel head the size of her torso. One side of the head was flat, the other tapered to a thick spike. What monstrous, impossible strength... Lars doubted most men thrice her size could handle that thing as easily as she seemed to. Well, maybe not many were really thrice her weight; height aside, she looked pretty thick.
"Who are you?" the mayor asked, staring at the outlandish weapon.
A slight smile tugged at her lips. "You don't know of me? I suppose there's no obligation to. I'll let what I do speak for me. And, I'm taking that bounty."
Lars figured disagreements would be voiced later. But for now, all watched as the girl walked calmly towards the God Soldier. "Your suffering must be great," she said. "I will release you."
"Can it understand us?" Lars asked.
Pop-pop-pop went the shoulder holes again as they released another volley, this one centered on Cart-Dragger. She spun her hammer before her with such speed
it became a blur, and the projectiles bounced off as if hitting a solid wall. However, some shots which went wide bypassed her completely and hit other sellswords, dropping them.
"How can she move that thing so fast?" a merc breathed. "At her size, she shouldn't even be able to swing it, and yet..."
"I don't think it can understand now," she said with a sad shrug. "It's too far gone. But still..." She continued walking towards it and addressed it again. "These others can't dance with us. If you want to take your pain out on someone, do it to me."
The God Soldier shot larger rocks at her from its mouth. She dashed at it in a zigzag pattern to avoid the heavy missiles which thudded into the earth. It adjusted its aim and launched a rock into her anticipated path. Jaws dropped when she batted it with an upward hammer swing back into its face, staggering it. As she got close, it recovered and its axe hand plunged down. She made the mistake of trying to block with her haft—or Lars thought it was a mistake until unbelievably, she succeeded in standing up to the full force of the blow. The giant tried to push the blade down, only for her to wrench it deftly aside and redirect it into the ground. It reached down with its pincer. Before it could grab her, she whipped the hammer in a wide arc at its leg.
The limb bent inward, its metal exterior warping with a screech, then buckled. The God Soldier tumbled down with a loud crash, kicking up a cloud of dust. Cart-Dragger showed no hesitation in running straight into it. The hammer rose into view and came back down. Clang. Again, and again. Clang, clang. Then another sound of twisting metal. When the dust settled enough to see, the girl stood over the great beast's corpse, her weapon resting in the crater she'd made in its head.
"Her strength, her speed," Cody mumbled, "she made everything—every attack, every defense—that bewildered us seem like nothing..."
Ruth had helped Stan up, and he held onto her for support with blood covering his face. "Is, is she even human?" the big man asked in a disoriented voice.
Cart-Dragger laughed. "I was born to human parents." She turned to the mayor. "Now, time to get my reward."
"All of it?" a wild-haired man snapped. "Some of us fought hard against that monster, and lost friends to it."
"I'm sorry to hear that." She bowed her head. "I wish I had gotten here sooner. But if we're being honest, it didn't look like you all put a scratch on it before I arrived. It isn't really unjustified that I claim the full reward... and I need it."
"What if we say no?" Ruth asked.
She lifted the hammer out of the God Soldier's head and set it on her shoulder. "You can try to stop me if you want. Be aware though, I'm not a person who lets others walk over me."
Some of the sellswords muttered among themselves, but no one stepped forward to challenge her. After about a minute, the mayor said, "If you're ready, the payment is at my house. We'll have to return there to retrieve it."
"Let's go then." She went to her cart, put her hammer on it and replaced the tarp. Her eyes swept over the mercs almost as if daring them to make a move now that she'd put aside her main weapon, but most looked down or averted their gaze in deference. Though he didn't intend to fight her, Lars met her eyes as he was too busy feeling admiration for her abilities to be intimidated. In response, she might have smiled a bit. She gripped the handles of the cart and began to drag it towards town, and the mayor trailed behind it.
"What do we do now?" Allen asked. "We aren't getting paid."
It looked like most everybody also headed towards town probably not knowing yet what to do next, except the wild-haired man and a couple of friends who stormed off in a rage. Lars replied, "We'll follow the crowd for now, until we think of something else."
Chapter 2
After arriving in town, more and more of the surviving mercenaries drifted away as they came to accept the loss of their payment. Lars on the other hand went with Allen to the bar in search of a new job. They had traveled far and wide, but the business was the same everywhere. Fight, kill, earn enough to live comfortably for a time before the next bloody task. He looked over the scant postings on the board to find nothing of interest, then visited the barkeep to see if she had heard anything. If they couldn't get another monster hunting gig, they might end up having to work for some aspiring warlord seeking to seize territory from his neighbors, which wasn't Lars' favorite.
He ordered drinks for himself and his friend, but before they could ask about work, their host said disapprovingly, "You boys certainly roughed that girl up. Not the most chivalrous behavior coming from a couple of big muscly men."
"She started it," Allen replied in an indignant tone. Sometimes, when he could be bothered to talk, he still showed traces of his energetic old personality. "I wish Lars put her down for longer so I could teach her a lesson." Or maybe Lars was fooling himself, because the past Allen would never have accepted needing his help so easily to beat up someone.
"You're the worse of the two. You could have killed the poor woman, if she didn't take a punch so well."
"He wouldn't have killed me. It was just a fight." To Lars' surprise, Ruth sat down next to him, Stan plopping himself down heavily at her side. A bandage covered her injured shoulder, and her face was still a mess. "But maybe if you didn't beat me so badly when I was down, I could have done more against the God Soldier."
Allen spat. "That's a lame excuse. Getting punched in the face before didn't make you useless in that fight."
"And what about you? You're the coward who stood back not attacking once, at least we tried!"
"I see you're just like they are," the barkeep said, and turned away sadly.
Ruth didn't seem to hear her. "Scaredy-cat! Weakling!" Allen slumped in his chair and grew quiet, seeming to withdraw into himself.
"Hey, ease off on him," Lars warned.
"Why? Why do you defend him, why are you even friends with a useless person like him?"
"Don't be so quick to judge. If you'd suffered what he did," he whispered into her ear, "you might be in worse shape than he is. Maybe not even alive to insult him."
"I'm pretty resilient." But she paused, seeming to understand. "We're lucky to be alive after meeting that thing."
"Indeed. Are you feeling better, Stan?"
He touched his head. "I still have a roaring headache. But I guess I'll live." His gaze shifted to the door as it squeaked open. "And look who's here, our guardian angel."
Cart-Dragger walked to an empty table and sat down. When the waiter came over, she ordered something and waited patiently without showing interest in anyone else present.
"She's kind of cute," Allen said.
"You say that about every girl." Lars chuckled. "Looks more like a boy with long hair to me."
Ruth gave him an admonishing look. "Just because women can't doll themselves up as easily now, doesn't suddenly make us men."
"I'm not talking about her not wearing makeup or being dirty. Her shoulders, her back, look at how big they are for her height. She's probably more bulked up than you despite being almost a foot shorter."
"At least some of that is fat. But she is pretty stocky. Well, she does have to swing around that ridiculous hammer. Stan might even not be able to lift it."
"I could lift it!" he protested. "Now wielding it, that might be a problem."
"Anyone want to talk to her?" Lars asked.
Ruth took a long swig from her mug. "About what?"
Stan replied, "He must be thinking about possible jobs she might have lined up. If we partnered with her, I'm sure we could easily complete tasks that would otherwise be exceedingly dangerous."
"And what makes you think she'd agree to split profits with us, given how far below her we seem and her unwillingness to do so before?"
"It isn't all about combat ability," Lars pointed out. "Her wagon was looking pretty full—with some help, she could make more money before having to go put it somewhere."
"But if she wanted a coin transport assistant, don't you think she would have one already?"
Stan suggest
ed, "Maybe she did one before, and they died."
She rolled her eyes. "Well, that's encouraging."
"We should still try speaking with her," Lars said. "Things can always turn out better than we fear."
Ruth snorted. "You go ahead. I'll stay right here and enjoy my fish filet, and Stan too."
"Actually, I want to hear what they talk about."
"Fine! But I'll laugh at you if you throw away your pride as a mercenary to become somebody's baggage attendant."
"What's wrong with her?" Allen asked.
"Women problems?" Stan mused in a low voice.
"I heard that! Don't think I won't remember this betrayal!"
Lars smiled to himself. She was overdramatic, but it amused him. The three men made their way towards Cart-Dragger's table. She must have noticed them coming, yet didn't react, continuing to stare into the large bowl of meat and vegetables she shoveled into her mouth. Not sure how to approach her, Lars asked, "Aren't you worried being in here, leaving your cart alone?" He noticed the conspicuous absence of a certain object. "And, not even bringing your hammer with you?"
She glanced sidelong at a window, outside which the vehicle could be seen. "I keep a eye out for it. If somebody so much as touches it, I'll be right there. And if I have to fight, I'm pretty good at using a javelin in melee—or my arms and legs."
He figured she wouldn't need her hammer to deal with most mere humans. "I don't doubt that." He smiled, but she still didn't look directly at them. "I see your cart's just about full. Would you be interested in say, teaming up with a couple stout men who could help you move more?"
"A couple? Sounds like there's three of you."
"He's not with us," Allen said of Stan. The latter shifted awkwardly, hesitant to confirm or deny it.
She finally gazed up. "You do look fairly strong. I have no interest in your offered services though. You probably couldn't keep up with me with a load of your own; almost nobody can. And what if one of you got killed accompanying me to the places I go? Anything you were pulling would be as good as lost, and that's a waste of time I can't afford."
