The Pendulum Swings Back

"You're improving, Conrad."

Conrad exhaled slowly, satisfied. Over four months had gone by since he arrived at the farm, and in that time, he had developed himself physically and mentally a great deal. More physical definition, greater ability to focus for extended periods, and notably improved skills with the blade and bow. A smile slowly creeped onto Conrad's face as he allowed himself to accept and appreciate Joshua's praise.

"Thank you, sir. I've come this far thanks to your direction."

"Have you been making sure that you've been putting enough time into this? The basics on how to hold a blade and strike with a blade can be understood quickly. But improving your aim with a bow is something that needs a lot of continuous practice."

Conrad glanced to the side, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Using a sword seems to come more naturally to me. Cassandra's been putting a lot of time into helping me improve my swordsmanship on our off time. I really appreciate her support."

Joshua grunted. "Of course you do. Makes sense. I've been hearing the two of you practicing quite a bit. But you need to make sure you're putting enough time into the bow, too. Takes a lot of effort to master."

"Yes sir. I'll adapt to your advice."

"That would be best. That's all for today, lad. Going to go sit down."

Joshua walked back into the house as Conrad returned his last arrow to his quiver. Before he could relax, a certain someone appeared next to Conrad in her father's place.

"Water?"

Conrad turned his head. Carmela was standing before him, offering a glass. He accepted it gratefully, leaning back against the wall and hydrating himself.

"You've been a huge help around here, Conrad. I wanted to take a moment to thank you."

Conrad raised an eyebrow. To say this was a surprise would be putting it lightly. Carmela's penchant for brattiness was matched only by her enthusiasm for farm work. Her offering Conrad an unprompted compliment was like a fish walking on dry land. He waited a moment, expecting Carmela to take it back, turn the compliment backhanded, or ask him to do something for her.

Carmela caught him eyeing her suspiciously, and quickly grinned and became defensive. "Am I not allowed to offer you sincere encouragement, Conrad?!"

"Not you. Your mother, yes. Your father, yes. The chickens that lay your eggs, yes. But not you. Hearing you give me a compliment makes me feel paranoid about what's to follow."

"No faith in my sense of generosity."

"Thank you too, Carmela."

Carmela glanced over, thrown off slightly.

"You've helped give me pointers on my training when your parents were busy. You've motivated me and helped me back to my feet during field work. You've pushed me to build my body and mind further. Even when you're teasing me, I can tell it comes from a good place. So, yes, thank you for everything you do."

Carmela glanced away, blushing slightly. "We've got a smooth talker on our hands, huh?"

"It's my greatest strength."

The two stood in silence. Conrad simply took a moment to be grateful for what he had earned in the last few months through his efforts. Discipline, growth, confidence, and a family unit that he had become sincerely appreciative of. At peace, Conrad stretched, ready to turn in.

"I'm going to head to bed, Carmela. See you in the morning."

"See ya. I'm going to relax out here for now. Good breeze tonight."

Nodding, Conrad headed back inside, his sword, bow and quiver still with him. He would go and retrieve his arrows from practice tomorrow. Heading to bed, Conrad placed his weaponry on his bedside table and prepared for bed. Fifteen minutes later, he was cozy and dozing off.

His deal with Nana was, so far, proceeding extremely well. A happiness that he hadn't known in his world was starting to show in his words and attitude.

But change is constant, and nobody can appreciate bliss fully without experiencing tragedy.

The sound of a scream ripped through the confides of the home. Conrad bolted upright immediately, panic setting in. He tore off his covers, grabbing his weapons and running out of his room. Arriving downstairs, he followed the sound of Carmela's voice and headed out behind the house.

What he saw made his stomach squirm.

Carmela was fighting pair of grotesque, stout, green humanoids. Clutching daggers and shrieking, they were swinging away at her, clearly looking to kill. Carmela was an experienced woman who had also been trained by her parents on how to defend herself, but the beasts were nimble, cunning, and aggressive. There was no time to ponder how this was happening. There was no time to do anything but take action.

With the sound of his heartbeat thumping in his ears, Conrad ran towards Carmela. Hearing Conrad approach, one of the goblins became distracted, glancing warily to the side. Carmela took the opportunity to drive her sword through the goblin's chest hard, landing a fatal blow. However, her blade became caught in the beast's ribs for a moment, resulting in an additional couple seconds of vulnerability. In a life-or-death encounter, such a brief period of vulnerability could change everything, and had many times before.

The second goblin thrusted at Carmela. Not a clean hit, but it was able to cut her arm. She yelled, stumbling back and landing on the ground, leaving her weapon in the body of the first goblin. Fortunately for Carmela, it was at this point that Conrad reached them. Hearing a threat to its life approach, the goblin turned and squared off against the new challenger.

Conrad showed no mercy and wasted no time. Two against one, the slippery goblins were able to pressure Carmela, but now that there was no longer a numerical advantage for their side, the beast was on the back foot. Conrad drew his blade, asserted the combat stance that Cassandra had drilled into him, and set himself upon the monster, slashing down hard.

The goblin yelped, fighting defensively, backing away frantically from Conrad's focused swings. The young man could feel himself focus in a manner that he only had once before, in his fight with the wolf months ago. He was all boiling blood and raw contempt for the slimy little thing that had infiltrated their home and attempted to kill them. Conrad tightened up again and slashed hard, knocking the goblin's dagger out of its hand. Its eyes widened in fright. Conrad didn't care.

One last move settled it. Conrad drove his sword forward in a committed thrust, and it found its mark between the goblin's eyes. The creature didn't even manage one last shriek. It merely hung there a moment, its body immediately limp.

Gasping wildly, Conrad placed his foot against the goblin's chest, kicking against it hard to help him pull out his sword. As Conrad regained his breath, Carmela stared down at the corpse in front him, utterly shaken and bewildered.

"This can't be right. What's going on? Goblins have never come anywhere near this territory. There's never been anything more dangerous than wolves around here!"

The sound of yelping and screeching further away snapped Conrad and Carmela to attention. Carmela yanked her sword out of the first goblin's corpse and rushed with Conrad back to the house and out through to the front yard.

Joshua and Cassandra were facing off against a group of goblins and wolves out in front. Conrad watched, astonished, as Joshua demonstrated the kind of outrageous talent that Cassandra had spoke of from his youth. Joshua showing Conrad the form and patience needed for archery was one thing. A man possessed, striking down invaders to his home with fatal shot after fatal shot was another. Cassandra was a beast in and of herself too, her bow slaying her share of beasts while even managing to switch to her dagger and killing a pair of goblins that got too close.

But a quiver did not hold infinite arrows.

Joshua reached behind him, cursing as he attempted to load his bow with thin air. A wolf charged him, knocking him to the ground, resulting in a tussle with the beast. Carmela darted over to assist her father, drawing her blade to assist but struggling to line up a clean thrust that would not hit Joshua by accident.

The last wolf darted off to the side, aiming for Cassandra. Out of arrows as well, she was in a predicament. Conrad pulled his bow off his shoulder, nocking his sole arrow that had been left over from training.

He shot at the wolf, applying all of the training that Joshua had given him. All of the training that Joshua had warned him may not be enough.

He missed.

Conrad watched in screaming terror as his inadequacies resulted in the animal's teeth digging into Cassandra's neck. Crimson sprayed across the ground.