Escape

“The full story?” My earlier frustration waned and I now felt uneasy.

Alicia nodded. 

“The fight with the witch really happened as I’ve told it. What happened after that though, I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest nightmares.” She paused as she now vividly relived the memory. She started trembling again.

“The moment I slayed the witch, a powerful presence appeared before me. It was an impossibly handsome man, but there was something terrifying about his face. Not just that, he was also surrounded by a fiery halo.”

It dawned on me. It was he. The Devil had come to visit Alicia in person.

“With him was a black goat standing on its hind legs, that spoke in his stead. And when it spoke, it talked in a thousand different voices at once.”

“’O mortal, you have shown great power through killing a servant of ours.’, it said, ‘Join us, and attain glory beyond your wildest dreams.’”

“Then what happened?” I felt chills run over me as she recounted her dark encounter.

“I was frozen in place due to their overwhelming presence. If only I had been stronger at the time, I would have cleaved its head in two. The man standing next to it however, I could never take on. I instinctively felt it as soon as I laid eyes on him. He was not of this world.”

“The worst part is, I actually considered its offer. I wished for the power to set out on great adventures, to use magic and dispel any opponent with ease. But I didn’t accept. I wanted to retain my humanity. To still be able to smile with all my heart. So I refused. In the next moment, they were gone and I was alone in that field.”

Alicia seemed to relax again. It confused me how she spoke of smiling when I'd never seen her laugh even once. Perhaps she really had been a different person during her life as an adventurer.

“But that’s just another old story. The Devil is no more, and witches are on the verge of extinction. The coming of that girl you’re protecting though, spells an ill omen.”

Pulling myself back together after hearing all of that, I retorted.

“We don’t know where her power came from. If the Devil is really gone from this world, there must be another explanation.”

“Enough of this conversation”, she took on an authoritative tone again, “I’m tired from all this talking, go now.”

Alicia pointed towards a big backpack in the corner of the room.

“I’ve prepared provisions for you two. You haven’t eaten all day, right?”

I was on guard now. This kindness wasn’t at all like her. Was she seriously about to just let us go? Something was off.

“Oh, and one more thing…”

Her mouth slowly contorted into a broad, toothless smile. It was the first time she had smiled since retiring from adventuring.

“You’d better start running.”

A ringing bell emerged from beneath her robes. She started shaking it back and forth, and the sound filled the room.

Before I could react, five large villagers entered the room and came straight at me. They’d been hiding in the next room all along, waiting for this signal.

One final test

I immediately dove for the mantelpiece. I managed to get the sheathed sword off the holder and swung around, hitting the first assailant in the jaw.

I heard the sound of cracking bones as he fell to the ground with a grunt. The impact painfully reverberated through my entire body but I couldn’t let that stop me. One down, four more to go.

Next, one of them tried to charge at me. I took on the proper posture I had trained for, sword in both hands to my left-hand side, and quickly swiped it from left to right to deter his attack. The blade was a little bit heavier than the training swords I was used to, but I could work with it well.

It worked. He stopped in his tracks and bent through his knees to jump at me, but I was one step ahead. I made a lunge with the sword, pushing the tip of the scabbard into the stomach of the man.

He let out a loud gasp as the wind was knocked out of him, and he too sank to the ground, clutching his abdomen.

It wasn’t my intention to take on all five of them – I probably couldn’t win against such stacked odds – so I had instead created an opening by whittling down their numbers as fast as possible. I slowly moved along the wall, brandishing my sword to keep the other three at bay, until I reached the corner.

I grabbed the backpack filled with provisions, and took off. I pushed one of the men out of the way – almost knocking myself over in the process – and ran out the front door without any hesitation.

Alicia had been watching the scene unfold from her rocking chair with a satisfied look on her face.

I ran out onto the main street and intended to go right, but a mob was already gathering there, people were streaming out of their houses to hunt me down. So I went the other way, to the west.

I ran with all my might towards the palisade while dodging people trying to block me left and right, and jumped into the nine foot tall wooden wall. My hands grasped the rough surface and I managed to stay off the ground by positioning my feet in the gaps between the stakes.

I climbed over while the people chasing me started going around to the nearest gate. They intended to continue the pursuit.

I ran with all my might into the grassy fields and up the first hill. I was in good shape after years of training and manual work, but this was taking a physical toll on me. There were now people slowly closing in on me, as I couldn’t run at full speed with the heavy backpack weighing me down. But I grinded my teeth and kept going.

About 20 minutes of running later, I finally arrived back at the place where Chiyo was patiently waiting for me. I was completely spent.

At first she was happy after noticing me, but then her eyes went wide. There were still three people in hot pursuit. Samuel, who had been bickering with Chiyo when I first saw her, was among them.

“Chi...yo…we…RUN!”

I didn’t need to tell her that twice, she was quick to get on her feet and started running with me.

“You got the sword!” She confirmed.

I sure did.

In that moment I’d forgotten all about Alicia’s terrifying story. What was this feeling? An indescribable emotion surfaced as the cool night’s breeze ran through my hair, running side by side with Chiyo as every muscle in my body was screaming for me to rest.

This was it. The feeling I’d been searching for. I couldn’t help but throw my head into my neck and laugh.

This is the exciting life I wished to lead!