Always Walk Forward

by Billy Wong

  "Paladins don't bend easily to threats, huh?" she spat. "How about now? Are your underlings as prepared to concede your life as you were theirs?" The Paladins around them hesitated. "Go ahead, tell them to kill you like you did Jacques. Are you scared?"

  "Stay back," he said, beautiful, glorious fear in his voice. "Maybe she can be reasoned with."

  "Coward. Hypocrite. Your true nature is exposed now that you see we aren't so far beneath you."

  "You were lucky."

  "No. You might still have been a better fighter overall, but I outplayed you." She leaned closer so that he could feel her breath in his ear. "And now, you'll never be better than me again. How does it feel?"

  He squirmed at her blade digging into his skin. "Just because you won a fight doesn't mean you know better."

  "Just because you think you know better doesn't mean you know better." She gazed around at the Paladins. "Don't you dare come after us. I see any of you again and your captain loses his head."

  She departed the base with Leland at her mercy, the lesser Paladins backing out of her way. He moved lethargically, his severed arm no doubt affecting him, but she wasn't inclined to be very sympathetic. "Faster!" she demanded while she put distance between them and the base, glancing back now and then to check if they were being followed. "Go faster!"

  Sam drove him ahead of her for miles, his steps becoming ever slower no matter how she barked at him. "Do you really intend to take me with you forever?" he rasped, sounding deathly tired.

  Her arms were getting weary from holding the axe up to his neck. "No," she replied after a moment. "Get on your knees."

  "You can't be serious."

  "I said, get on your knees!" He began to do so—then spun, braving a cut throat, the risk paying off when she failed to slit it. He clutched at her axe, seeking to wrest it from her hands. She headbutted him, then lifted him on his toes with a knee between the legs. Grabbing him by the head, she flipped him through the air so that he landed on his knees. She launched a spinning low kick into the back of his skull, leaving him stunned on all fours—three and a halfs. "Like I said. On. Your. Knees."

  Struggling to speak, he sputtered, "You... you are the victor. End it."

  She exhaled. "I'm not going to kill you. Maybe I should, for being an asshole, but I guess I'm too soft. It's hard for me to kill a helpless man even when it's a piece of shit like you."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "I'll tie you up here like a hog with your own clothes for your underlings to find. Though I doubt they'll wait indefinitely as I asked, hopefully they wait long enough for me to get away. If some wild animals or daimons come upon you and eat you before then, well, that isn't my problem." She trussed him up, two legs and an arm bound together, and started away satisfied with her handiwork.

  "Where to now for you?" he asked.

  Sam looked back and said in an even tone, "I'm going to dismantle your entire shit organization."

  "You won't succeed."

  "Ha! Isn't that what you thought about me beating you? I'm not the weak, dependent girl of before. I can do things now for myself, and that includes this. You just wait and see."

  In spite of her words, she knew she wouldn't be able to take down the Paladins all alone. She set off for Patuta, hoping Cordy and her father could aid her again. The wounds Leland gave her stung, moreso than they would if she had Lord Drugamor's power coursing through her, but she didn't mind the lack of it. She didn't need to walk the path of destruction offered by the eldritch god. She walked the path of justice, and that was enough.

  Chapter 10

  Sam hastened away from the base, trying to get as big a lead on any pursuers as possible, then realized she didn't have any food. Damn. She didn't want to slow down, but knew she couldn't survive without eating. Furthermore, she would quickly slow anyway as she weakened from hunger. Maybe she should have demanded some dry food from the Paladins while she held Leland hostage, but she hadn't thought of it in the heat of the moment and maybe that be pushing her luck too much. She sought out edible plants of the types Drea had shown her, all the while listening closely for movement at her back. To her relief, no pursuers showed themselves. Maybe it was because she had avoided killing anyone, and they didn't take her as a serious threat to the order, that they didn't make catching her a priority. Them not having men to spare due to the broken-legged ones not having fully healed yet might factor into it too.

  Becoming more confident she wasn't being followed, she continued at a lesser pace than the fastest she could have sustained, opting for caution over pure speed. She needed to stay alert for any daimons, and avoid being noticed by them if possible. Thankfully the Paladins had cleared away the rubble from the blocked pass, which must have been the result of a natural rockslide after all, and she didn't have to find a way around. Before resting for the nights she set snares as Drea taught, and the small game she caught helped her keep her energy up and spend less time gathering food. One time she woke to find a hare in her trap—only half the body was gone, just the legs and haunches hanging from the snare. Her heart beat rapidly as she looked around, fearing the killer was still nearby. She didn't see anything and calmed somewhat. Maybe whatever had done this only wanted an easy meal, and dared not confront a larger, armed creature like her.

  She packed up her bedroll and started away. Approaching a bend in the natural trench she had made camp in, she got a bad feeling. Something could be lurking behind the turn, waiting to jump her... she drew her axe and listened. Was that... breathing? She carefully removed her pack, thinking the fabric resembled clothing enough that it might fool a predator. Holding the axe in her other hand, she flung the heavy bundle one-armed with difficulty past the bend. She heard a loud hiss and a dark shape surged out, slamming into the airborne pack. It was a black-scaled bipedal serpent tall as a man with tiny legs and arms, which had snatched her pack in fanged jaws. If she had simply walked past the corner, that could have been her head. Not wanting to risk an extended battle, she lunged. The monster turned towards her and dropped the burden in its mouth, but before it could react further her blade cleaved down through its snout. It flopped down dead, head split in two. Although she still sweat heavily and her heart pounded from the tension of the encounter, she felt a bit of pride in herself. She was surviving out here all alone. Again she confirmed she had strength within her after all, without Drugamor.

  Sam wiped the thick venom the serpent's fangs had injected out of her pack as best she could, sewed up the holes left by them and moved on. Another time, she was walking through a field of boulders when she suddenly spotted a squat winged daimon like the ones she fought alongside Vincent and Giorg not ten feet away, obscured until then by the rocks. Fortunately, its back was to her, and it hadn't seen her yet. She hid behind the nearest boulder and peeked out to watch it, hoping for it to leave. A second similar daimon walked into view from between two other rocks to communicate with it using hisses and snarls, followed by a third. Sam clenched her jaw. No way she could take on three at once. Please go the other way...

  One of the daimons started towards her position. No, no... She thought about sneaking away, but she didn't know the terrain well enough and could easily get herself spotted. She needed to find somewhere she could hide preferably without moving too far. Looking around, she saw a long flat rock lying partially across another boulder a couple feet tall, leaving a decent space between a section of its bottom and the ground. It would be a tad frightful to lie down there imagining she could be crushed at any moment, but it beat the alternatives. She crept over, crawled under the tilted rock and prayed. After what seemed like a long time, probably less than half an hour but a nail-biting eternity under the circumstances, she heard the daimons' bestial sounds recede into the distance as they flew away. She waited a few minutes more, then dragged herself out and stretched joints stiff from remaining in the same position too long. Not the most glamorous tactic to overcome a test... but she survived.

  She resumed
her journey, wondering how her friends at the playhouse fared. She hoped Vincent, Jon, Joan and Cal remained in good health, that business went smoothly and they were happy. It came to mind they probably thought she and Eli were fine, based on Vincent's last interaction with them. But in fact he was being held against his will, and while she managed decently for now, she would soon be endangering herself again in an effort to free him. Heck, she risked her life just trying to make it back to civilization. Yet though it was tougher alone, she had grown somewhat used to it, and didn't mind so much. She felt sort of like a successor to Drea, odd as that might seem given the veteran warrior was herself only twenty-two, and that felt pretty good. Did Drea still reside at the theatre? She didn't seem much like a person who would stay there long term, considering the talents she had revealed and the background that must go with them. Sam was tempted to try and recruit her help again. But if Commandant Talben had an issue with her, his and Cordy's aid with their resources should probably be prioritized over the mighty but poor Drea's.

  As she neared Patuta, she glimpsed small figures flittering about just outside the dome. More daimons? If so, she counted herself unlucky crossing paths with them this many times compared to when she traveled with Cordy and the men. Staying low as she darted between scattered trees, patches of brush and rocks, she moved closer for a better look. The figures were a pack of wild canines, playing with each other it seemed. She breathed a sigh of partial relief. While wild dogs could be dangerous too, these appeared small enough they probably wouldn't try to attack her, and if they did she could probably run them off by killing one or two. She believed enough in her abilities now that they didn't much scare her, though she would need to remain careful.

  She approached the city, and the dogs eyed her with possible wariness. When she got within a few yards, they fled. She smiled a little to herself. She was a daimon killer, after all. A hardened warrior to some extent, with scars. She'd seen in her reflection in streams that the beating from the tavern bully and Leland's stomp had given her face "character" in the form of a crooked nose and slightly lower features on one side, and didn't mind it all that much. If there was a price to be paid for standing up to evil, she would gladly pay it.

  She knocked on the dome in front of the gate. "One kid?" the stocky soldier who had given her and Vincent trouble before said in surprise. "State your business!"

  "I'm a friend of Lady Cordy and ally to her father. I come with news that should be of interest to them."

  "Alone? From where, and what happened to your traveling partners? Were they all killed on your way here?"

  That would kind of be a callous way to put it if they indeed had been. "Isn't that a little irrelevant? But to answer your questions, I came from the mountains to the north and east, and none of my traveling partners died. Because I had none with me."

  He scratched dubiously at his beard. "You braved the daimons by yourself?"

  "I slew daimons." Granted, she had killed just one on her way back. But she'd overcome enough after her separation from the others to warrant holding her head high, she thought, although she should save really feeling good about herself for after she rescued Eli from the clutches of the Paladins.

  "Wait, I remember you!" the guard's older colleague said. "She's the girl who blundered in with that handsome boy the other time. You look much changed—stronger, and less nervous."

  "Glad for the compliment, but can I come in? It would help if I could get this time sensitive information to the commandant and his daughter as soon as possible."

  They finally opened the barrier for her. "I would say it is always pleasing to see a boy become a man, but in this case I suppose it would be a girl becoming a woman."

  "Thanks. I hope to be a worthy woman."

  She made her way to the Talben manor, where the well-groomed guard greeted her. "You're back. The master and young mistress have been wondering about you. Have you returned with good news?"

  "The news is good in that I'm alive to deliver it, but otherwise it's a mixed bag."

  He raised his trimmed brows. "I see. In that case, they'll no doubt be interested to hear it."

  Entering the residence, she asked the maid she saw cleaning if Talben and Cordy were around. The plump woman said the daughter was out, but the father should be upstairs. Walking to the steps, Sam poked at the rent in the old armor that stood on display. Oh, Cordy. It may soon be time to put your awe-inspiring skills to use again.

  She climbed the stairs, made her way to Commandant Talben's office and knocked. He opened the door, plainly dressed as usual, and regarded her with surprise. "Sam? It's good to see you safe after all this time. Has Eli decided to stay with the Paladins then?"

  "He's staying with them... but he didn't exactly decide to do so."

  "Oh? I fear you are about to confirm my daughter's suspicions."

  She took a seat and told him what had happened since Cordy left her, since he probably knew everything from before that. "So now that Eli's held unjustly again and being taken to the Lord Paladin, I'm hoping you or your daughter can lend a hand again."

  He looked down. "We have already been reprimanded by the Council for Cordelia's unjustified breaking of legs. If we commit more acts against the Paladins without provable due cause, there will be sterner consequences." Sam's heart sank. "But if you are certain now the Paladins are doing wrong and the leg breaking actually was justified, then we will surely help you as we can."

  Her sinking heart leapt right up with joy. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

  "It's not all for you. Aside from the still unanswered question about my love's fate, the Guardian Knights and Paladins have a longstanding rivalry. If we can expose them being corrupt it will finally be settled who are the worthier defenders of humanity."

  "Still, I'm real grateful to you and your daughter for everything... if I can repay you someday, I definitely will."

  "Perhaps you could consider joining the Guardian Knights. You seem to have some potential as a warrior."

  Sam hesitated. "Erm, well..." She didn't know much about the Knights, other than that they were the Council's elite fighting force and the face of human military might, but expected them to differ from the city guard whose ranks she had thought to follow her father into. Despite her improvement, she thought she might be in over her head with them. Besides, joining them might take her far away from her friends.

  Seeing her conflicted expression, Talben flashed a soothing smile. "Relax, I know what you're thinking. Cordelia's skill is extraordinary even among her peers, so don't assume based on her that you would be considered poor by new recruit standards."

  "It's not just that. I've spent my whole life in Berilim, and to leave behind all I've known..."

  "It's fine if you don't wish to join, we would not try to force you to do anything against your will like the Paladins. I simply laid it out as an option."

  "I'll think about it some more. The thought makes me nervous, but I'm still young. Maybe I shouldn't be dead set on one path ahead, and leave myself open to new adventures."

  He nodded approvingly. "That's all I would ask. I myself was once skeptical of my daughter taking up arms, but her brother being not very keen on martial pursuits, I figured someone should carry on our family tradition. Since then she had done me prouder than I could have ever predicted."

  "Wait, Cordy has a brother? She never mentioned that." That desire to maintain a sense of mystery around oneself... reminded Sam of someone.

  "My daughter has her quirks. By the way, since she won't be back for a few hours, I thought you might want to know your friend is still in Patuta in case you'd like to visit him first."

  She stared in shock. "You mean Vincent? But it's been at least a few months, how... why?"

  "Why is he still here? You can ask him that yourself." He smiled as he handed over a few coins. "The shows should be playing right now. These will buy you admission. He is currently working at the Dolphin Theatre in the commercial district."

&
nbsp; As eager as she was to go see her long-missed friend again, she couldn't help asking first, "What's a dolphin? I've never heard that word before."

  "It is a mythical creature of the ocean, legendary for its elegance and grace."

  "Oh, the ocean... no wonder, then. What kind of shows do they put on there?"

  "That too you can see for yourself." Sam began to associate Cordy's "mysteriousness" habit less with Drea, for her father appeared to share a fondness for it too... maybe Sam should adopt something like that when talking to less well traveled people. Then again, she'd probably never be able to keep it up.

  #

  She found her way to the Dolphin Theatre, its new-looking facade with rounded arches over the windows and door painted a light blue. "Latecomer?" the silk-vested doorman asked when she held out the coins to him. "We should almost be halfway through the current show... and you're rather unconventionally dressed."

  Meaning poorly, she assumed. "Come on, I have money don't I? I just want to see my friend."

  "Friend? Someone who works here?"

  "Yes, he should only have joined up recently. His name is Vincent."

  His eyes lit up with recognition. "Ah, Vincent! Are you Sam then, who he always talks about?"

  "That would be me, yes." She chuckled. "I hope the things he says about me are good."

  "He mostly speaks of how he's worried about you and hopes you're okay. Anyway, you're just here to see him? If that's so, why don't you just wait until after the show instead of paying?"

  "I am a little curious what kind of shows you do, and the commandant did give me these coins to buy admission. So I don't mind giving some support to fellow actors."