by Billy Wong
"I know that. But what makes you think I haven't fought many foes before?" She looked towards a cluster of houses ringed by orange banners near the center of town. "Anyway, Norm and his men live over there. You two can sit this out if you want, but I'm going."
Lars exchanged looks with Allen, who nodded. "No, we're coming too. It's not like we'd be much safer trying to hide somewhere or sneak away by ourselves."
They approached Norm's camp, Cart-Dragger stopping at the perimeter. "Norm the Neverwrong," she sang holding her hammer upright at her side, "I'm here to challenge you, will you face me or are you scared to?"
"Never knew she was musically inclined," Allen said.
"I heard Norm plays a flute, so I'm inspired."
Norm and his warriors stepped out of their dwellings, his only slightly larger than the rest. Not all his men were here at present, but most appeared to be. Yet he stared at Cart-Dragger and the vehicle behind her with trepidation. "You are..!"
"Your big mistake was hurting those I call friend, now all you can look forward to is a bad end."
"You consider us friends?" Lars asked.
"It sounds better than calling you random hanger-ons." She resumed singing to Norm. "Do you have the guts to take me alone, or would you have your men's blood flood your home?"
Norm's cronies looked to him awaiting an answer. His halberd wavered in hand as if he was torn between pride and pragmatism. "What are you waiting for," he finally barked, "get her!"
The men rushed in an unintentional triangular formation, the bravest making up the spearhead. Cart-Dragger darted to meet them. She smacked one aside to a sound of crunching bones, then a second before the third managed to start a sword swing at her. She intercepted his blow with her own, shattering the blade followed by his sternum. The rest fanned out to surround her. She dodged thrusts and slashes from all sides, spun and tripped one foe with the butt of her hammer while turning another's face into pulp with the head.
She launched into a blinding flurry among the mob and broke into song, felling an opponent after almost every word. "Why are you so loyal throwing away your lives, with a better leader you can still thrive." After those lines, nearly twenty of Norm's underlings lay dead or broken.
"Shut up!" Norm snapped. "Somebody shoot her or something!"
A dozen warriors who had hung back leveled bows and crossbows at her and loosed. Cart-Dragger danced and twirled her way past the missiles towards them, still smacking down men who tried to engage her in melee along the way. An arrow grazed her arm, but she didn't make a sound. She grabbed one archer in a chokehold and used him as a human shield, seven of his fellows' quarrels sprouting from his front. She snatched a handful of arrows from his quiver and threw them, did it again. Six archers fell with shafts in their faces and throats. She hurled the human pincushion she held at the last few archers, knocking down three. Deflecting shots from the two who remained standing with her hammer, she reached them before the others could recover and laid waste to the lot of them.
Her maul dripping blood and gore, she glanced at Lars and Allen. "What, aren't you going to join in at all?" More than half of Norm's warriors were down, and several more had already fled.
"We're pretty beat up, and you looked like you were handling things on your own," Lars said sheepishly. "But you're right, we should help with the cleanup. Better late than never." He and Allen charged into battle, his axe lopping off a head, his partner's spear piercing a chest. Caught between the men and Cart-Dragger, what was left of Norm's crew lasted only seconds before being killed or driven off.
Norm stood alone in front of his house, fingers shaking around his haft. "What, aren't you going to fight me?" Cart-Dragger asked. He glared at her, but didn't say anything. "Norm the Neverwrong. You probably thought you would still be lording it over this town at the end of today. But you were wrong about that, and many other things too."
Lars' eyes widened as he grinned and produced a... flute? from his belt pouch. "This isn't over. I didn't think I would have to show my trump card, but now..." He blew some odd notes on the instrument. "My reputation of infallibility doesn't come solely from my fighting and leadership skills." An inhuman wail sounded in the distance, and moments later a shining shape became visible in the sky to the north. It grew rapidly larger, and Lars could see it had wings and a tail. A huge yet sleek reptilian perhaps forty feet long, with a tapered head and hide of white metal. "The Air Dragon," Norm explained, "who I befriended with my tune."
"A God Soldier..." Lars breathed. "Is what he said possible?"
Cart-Dragger gritted her teeth. "It certainly looks that way! And I've heard of similar things happening before."
"How did it hear that little flute from so far?"
"Creatures of air are more attuned to vibrations in their element, including sound."
The beast opened its mouth as it neared, unleashing what seemed to be a cylinder of condensed air which tore a line in the ground. Cart-Dragger dove aside, but was caught in the wind from its wings as it passed overhead and tumbled painfully across the earth. "Not even you can stop the Air Dragon!" Norm gloated.
"Oh yeah? We'll see about that." It wheeled around for another run. Cart-Dragger reached for the javelin with a green cloth on her back. As the Air Dragon's jaws parted to spit its breath again, she threw. Lars glimpsed something trailing behind the shaft and realized it to be a thin chain attached to the javelin's butt and probably connected to the inside of the quiver. The barbed head entered the dragon's mouth at an angle and punched out through the thinner metal over its cheek. It stalled in flight.
"No way..." Norm muttered. He stepped towards Cart-Dragger, but her companions barred his path.
Cart-Dragger gripped the chain with both hands and turned, coiling it around her body as she yanked hard. Stunned with pain, the Air Dragon failed to resist and crashed down, crushing a house it came down on top of. She sprinted at it.
Norm tried to batter his way past Lars and Allen with powerful strokes of his halberd, but they held him back. "Fly up, fly up!" he pleaded while his reptilian ally rose to all fours. Its tail slammed into Cart-Dragger's middle and sent her flying head over heels. Lars held his breath, fearing her badly hurt. But she landed on her feet to resume her forward run. Its mouth began to open again. She leapt and struck where its lower jaw joined the upper. It fell sideways in the midst of releasing its breath, which accidentally tore apart another house, and tried to raise its head.
"Air Dragon Slayer Alpha!" Cart-Dragger screamed, and swung her hammer spike-first into its eye socket. Driven against the floor, its metal skull bent inward around the orb and it lay still, dead. Norm's jaw hung open.
Lars went to her side. "Is there an Air Dragon Slayer Beta, Delta, or Omega?"
"I made that up just now to sound impressive," she said in a low voice.
Norm drove Allen back with a sudden wide slash and dashed past him to swing at her head. She ducked and hammered the side of his left knee. He shrieked as his leg buckled at an unnatural angle, only for his pitch to grow higher when she crushed his right shoulder too. She raised her weapon to finish the job, but just then a boy in his early teens ran out of Norm's house and in front of him. "Please don't kill my dad!"
Cart-Dragger grabbed his shoulder and was about to throw him out of the way, but Lars said, "Wait, why not let the people decide what to do with him? Wouldn't that be better justice than you just deciding to execute him for them?"
"I... suppose you have a point."
They handed off the crippled Norm to the residents who had opposed his policy, to their delight, and helped round up the remaining members of his gang. The townsfolk decided to banish most of them, except a few who seemed especially repentant, but let Norm stay after his family begged to be allowed to take care of him. Lars supposed it was fittingly ironic, him being shown mercy in a situation which mirrored that of his intended victims, and might help him see the error of his ways.
Cart-Dragger took two bags of money from Norm
's house as payment for her help. "Since my wagon's pretty full," she said as they prepared to leave, "you guys can finally do some work and carry these for me."
Lars eyed the large sacks with displeasure. "Really?"
"What, don't think you could keep up?"
The challenge to his pride overcame his misgivings. "Um... we'll manage."
Chapter 3
The bags wouldn't have been heavy to carry even for an hour or two, but to lug them around all day on top of their gear at Cart-Dragger's pace would be a test. Shortly after leaving the town, however, the pace-setter herself slowed. She let go of one of her cart handles to clutch her ribs with a soft groan.
"Are you all right?" Lars asked. "What's wrong?"
She looked back with a pained smile. "Dragon tail got me good. That hit probably would have broken you in half."
"Maybe we should all slow down a bit now? It can't be that urgent."
"Don't worry, I'll manage. I've had much worse." She let go of her ribs, gripped the cart with both hands again and resumed going at her usual hurried speed.
Lars imagined her eventually letting go of the handles and falling over on her face when her strength ran out, and him and Allen mulling over what they could do to her if they were bad men before helping her to a comfortable spot to rest. But after a few hours, it seemed clear that wouldn't happen. If anything, the two sweat-covered panting men might collapse first. Lars wondered whether she would be generous enough to give them a ride on her wagon if that happened.
"This might seem like an odd question after all we've seen from you," Lars asked eventually, "but don't people ever try to rob you, being alone pulling around all that money?"
"It still happens once in a while. They tried a lot more when I first started out, before my reputation grew to deter them. Traveling girls imitate me sometimes now, to make would-be robbers and rapists think twice."
He remembered the mercs mentioning that the first time they saw her. "So your image might have saved some girls you never even met. Good for you."
When they stopped for the night, Cart-Dragger finished eating first and excused herself to go to bed. Upon going to join her, the men noticed her twisting and turning uncharacteristically in slumber. "What wrong with her?" Allen asked. "Is it her injury?"
"Father... mother... where are you?" she mumbled in her sleep.
Lars instinctively reached down to soothe her, but stopped not knowing if he should interfere. "I think she's having a nightmare."
#
The girl stepped into the great dining hall and looked around. When her eyes shifted up towards the ceiling, her heart skipped a beat and the hammer dropped from her hand, its thud against the floor distant in her ears. No, it couldn't be... her mouth turned dry as parchment, and hot tears ran down her cheeks. Her parents and younger sister dangled from giant hooks stuck through their bodies, open eyes staring grotesquely in death. She returned her gaze to the man seated on her father's chair at the head of the long table, a handsome black haired devil in fancy robes with a neatly trimmed mustache. Around him sat four grim-faced warriors—two ponytailed men with swords who shared many facial features, a fat man resting a mace across his lap, and an incredibly tall armored figure even sitting down with a spear at his side.
"Who are you?!" she wailed, her voice thick. "Why did you do this?"
The leader stood, a cold smile on his face. "I am the New Emperor, the man who will bring order back to this shattered world. The taking of your city, from which my hands will reach, is the first step."
"B-but... why did you have to kill them?"
"Your family fought hard to defend their hold on this place. A message had to be sent that such defiance would not be tolerated."
"But my sister, my sister..." She fell to her knees. "She was only nine years old," she barely managed to get out.
"She was killed trying to shield your mother. I saw no reason to separate her from her beloved parents in death. What about you? Will you submit and accept the honor of being a symbol of the inevitability of the new world, or will you resist foolishly and die as an outdated relic of the past with the rest of your line?"
The girl shook with grief, but also building rage. "Honor of being a symbol? You... you want me to marry you?"
"Perhaps not marriage. A small ruler's child like yourself seems unworthy of being called my queen. It would still be an honor if you were to be part of my harem." She started to laugh crazily, and he frowned. "What is so funny?"
"You murdered my family, including my little sister, and hung them up like butchered pigs, and you want me to be your plaything? Ha ha ha ha ha! I'd rather make love to one of your vile hooks than you! But..." She reached for her hammer. "It won't come to that, because I'll kill you New Emperor!"
She snatched up the maul and shot forward at him. His warriors rose and tried to stand in her way. With little regard for defense, her heart set on ending her nemesis, she plowed ahead. The ponytailed brothers, if they were, met her first. Her hammer touched one's face before his sword could her throat, hurling him to the side amid a shower of blood. The other cut at her head. She ducked and hit him over the liver with her haft, doubling him over. The fat man reached the battle and swung his mace. Her hammer collided with its head, smashing it to pieces. "What are you..?" he breathed, grabbing her in a desperate bearhug.
"Death." She bit down on his throat and ripped sideways, tearing it out. He tottered back windmilling his arms while spitting blood, then tripped over his feet and lay gurgling his last.
The second ponytail brother was back up and hacked frantically at her. She took a chop to her shoulder, caught his wrist and grinned. She brought her hammer down on his elbow, breaking it so badly his forearm came right off. He stood there screaming in front of her, and she raised it again to finish him. Suddenly the tip of a blade burst out his belly and before she could react, penetrated her abdomen. She gasped.
The New Emperor pulled his greatsword out of both her and his former underling. She fell to one knee while the ponytailed man toppled backwards. "Impressive display," the New Emperor said. "But even so, you failed and will now pay the price."
"Who says I'm done?!" She lunged up swinging wildly, drove him back across the room as each parry of her hammer made him wince. Her stomach burned like hot coals had been stuffed inside it, but she pushed the pain to the back of her mind. Blood oozed between his fingers from the struggle to hold onto his hilt when their weapons made contact. At last a particularly heavy clash sent him reeling, and she darted in for the kill.
The armored giant stepped beside him, his spear jabbing at her with unexpected speed. She deflected several thrusts, but so wounded couldn't keep up, and the long spearhead found a gap in her defenses. It went deep into her belly not far from where his master's sword had entered, and blood spewed from her mouth as he lifted her into the air. She tried to drag herself down the shaft, but the boar spear-like crossbar denied her. Despite her hammer's length, it fell just short of being able to hit him. Her legs kicked helplessly below her while she grew faint. No, she couldn't let this happen... She tried to focus on the hated visage of the New Emperor to give herself strength, but her vision blurred. Her head drooped, and her arms fell to her sides...
#
"No, I can't... lose... Mother..." Cart-Dragger said, and her voice trailed off. She returned to a more peaceful sleep, the nightmare having apparently ended.
Allen regarded her curiously. "What you think she was dreaming about? What could scare her?"
He only showed mild interest, but Lars felt quite intrigued. It was possible she had just been dreaming about something she feared could happen, yet the amount of detail in those of her words he'd understood made him suspect otherwise. Something about hooks, her sister, somebody being murdered, and a new emperor... It seemed more likely to him she had been reliving a past trauma. Perhaps her family had once ruled a land, and been killed by whoever conquered it. Wait, the city they were going to—could that be where he
r nightmare took place? Maybe she worked to raise money for a coup to take back her family's domain. But if that was the case, going to the site of the conflict could put Lars and Allen at risk.
"Well?" Allen asked.
Not wanting to worry him prematurely, Lars said, "Everyone's afraid of something. Considering she seems so experienced in fighting its creations, maybe she's seen the power of the empire at full strength and it scares her to recall it."
"That sounds right, I think I heard 'emperor' in there. Hundreds of God Soldiers fighting on the same side would be frightful to see."
In the morning, Cart-Dragger awakened early as always, but moved more sluggishly than usual. The long nightmare had been enough to cut into the energy her sleep restored. Against Lars' hopes, however, she still kept pace albeit with a sullen demeanor. He brought up the issue lurking at the back of his mind. "Say, is there anything you might want to tell us about where we're going?"
"Anything like what? It's the city where I live—not in perfect shape, but what place is. What, are you big strong mercenaries scared of falling prey to the pitfalls of civilized society?"
"That's not exactly what I meant... but you're on the right track. Are there any special dangers we should be aware of?"
"No more than anywhere else. It's not like we share the streets with God Soldiers on the verge of going berserk."
He sensed he wasn't going to get much more out of her regarding the true state of things, but it appeared likely she was hiding something. After some time passed and she didn't seem to be paying attention to them, he whispered to Allen, "We should stay alert when we get to the city. Cart-Dragger may have enemies there."
"Everybody has enemies. Maybe you'll see Johnny Just-Once there."
"I mean, powerful enemies."
Allen looked apprehensively at Cart-Dragger's back. "Oh, I see."
Some time later, Allen stepped away to pee. He came back wearing a nervous expression. "What's wrong?" Cart-Dragger asked.
