"Before the duel" [Weekeend freewrite]

A burning question began to grow stronger in my heart day by day. "is there anything missing inside me"?

Yes. It was my soul.

When your soul falls into darkness you have only two options: the first is to get out of them. For that you must know the reasons why you have first fallen into them. The usual thing is that there was a break at some point in your life that led you without realizing it until a fall in a well whose bottom is at unsuspected depths. Above, you only see one circular sky which is your only window to the reality. The faint light of the stars will be all you see, and also the only thing that gives you a hand to get out of it. The second thing you can do is let the darkness consume you. This happens when your soul is contaminated by so much darkness that it rots. The acts you perform in that state will lead you to an unfailing death very early and without any glory. But in my case, I preferred to create a third option. If I can not escape from the darkness, I shall make them mine. Inside this spiritual battle that I supposes to be a hostage of the darkness, I better convert them into my allies.

I had fainted what I thought would be a few minutes. Emilia appeared and helped me recover. Then she took me to one of the camping houses in the camp and I went to bed there. Emilia cleaned my wounds on my head and I fell asleep until the next morning. I woke up and had a sharp pain in the left side of my head, and I also felt very tired from the loss of blood. I was shirtless. My sword, my cloak and the rest of my mask rested next to me on a chair. Someone came through the door, it was Emilia again, she was loading breakfast. She helped me to recover again and I began to eat in silence. She started to apply something on the injured side of my head. Fried eggs, apple, sausage, bacon and a huge piece of bread; water. I would had prayed for some drop of water.

"You're not so hurt," she said. "You did something quite heroic last night, and by that I mean it was foolish." I continued to eat slowly and drank a lot of water. I just wanted to drink. I felt very thirsty.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you" I said after a while. Emilia finished doing what she was doing.

"Who says I am?" She answered and let out a friendly smile. "It's just that you were able to kill you, or worse, get me in trouble. One of the men escaped into the forest and I could not get him. I was very aware of you. And luckily, I found you lying on the ground, hurt. But I'm sure that guy is going to come back." I finished eating and drinking.

"Yes, I know he will," I said and got up from the bed. I left the room. Emilia was behind me. Then, I went into a bathroom to wash my hands and my face. I left. "And where are the girls?"

"They are outside. They helped me carry you here. Do not worry, they did not see your face, mine either. I managed to make them sleep. However, they got up early and some helped me stack the corseps while others prepared breakfast for their hero".

"How looks like the man who ran away?"

"Very tall and very fat".

"I guess I saw he. Those girls live about 20 kilometers from here. We can escort them to their town".

"Why would we do that?" Emilia asked seriously. I did not expect her to do so. Not at least at that time. I still felt weak and in pain. It was a bit difficult for me to think. I had nothing to say except:

"I have to do good work. And anyway, we should leave here, take a train and go to Lydian. We could let them go alone but one of the men was alive, so you must assume it's your fault." Emilia rolled her eyes and looked at me reproachfully.

"Hey, it's not my fault, it's yours," said and I went out the door. "Wait, do not forget to put something to cover your face," said from the other side and gave her a clown mask.

Outside, in the camp, were the six girls who had been kidnapped. They looked at me as they left and stopped doing what they were doing. They looked nervous but not as much as last night. I did not want to approach any of them because I know that the least they would have wanted was to talk to a man. I walked and saw the corpses of the drunks, also Rodrick's and Morty's. However, the horse could not be moved and still there, with its head smashed. I observed that one of the two horses was safe and sound, and in addition, they had obtained a third. One of the girls was near a wooden cart. Emilia appeared and handed me my sword and my gun.

"There are some clothes in one of the trucks. You must change".

"You can tell the girls that we're going to escort them to their placer" I said. Emilia sighed and reported this to the girl near the cart. Then they gather the rest of them.

"You should not fear, the man with the clown mask was the one who saved us" said that girl.

"I think he said his name was Hanan Baal. Thank you very much for saving us, sir,"said another of them, bowing. I did not feel exactly like a hero, I was hurt, weak, half naked, and I was wearing a clown mask. But I had managed to save six girls from being sold as slaves in Samour. It was not so bad. "Your feet walk on a carpet of joy" a voice in my head told me. The girls were scared and then, behind us was that man very tall and very fat as a mountain. He carried an ax in each hand and eyes injected with rage. I had seen it last night. It was what Morty called Fluffy.

The girls were scared but Emilia told them to get behind us. Fluffy was there, imposing like a mountain of fat and armed hatred and ready to attack.

"You killed Morty and the others," he said in a powerful voice as if he were a bull bellowing with anger. "Rodrick should not have trusted you."

"Well, but I recall that you started killing yourselves, I caught fire without realizing it" I interrupted.

"Morty, the boss was fed up with Rodrick and his constant moral problem. He was going to get rid of him and his men to keep the girls, that's why he took care of getting these mens drunk, but things did not turn out the way we expected; A huge wolf appeared and attacked us. Morty had said there was something odd with you".

"It's true that I'm not normal, I'm wearing a clown mask, but I'm not a wolf or a shape shifter" I said. I put my gun behind me, inside my pants. "Have he come alone?" I whispered to Emilia.

"I do not feel any other presence," she whispered.

"Then he is silly" I said to her. "Fluffy I heard your name," I said to him, showing that I was holding my sword in its own holster. "I see that we have a misunderstanding. Those girls are now mine. They are free and I will fight with you for them. Do you believe in a fair one-on-one combat with my sword and your axes?"

"It seems you have warrior manners," he said.

"And who are you to judge me?" I asked. "You're just a kidnapper." My comment made Fluffy chukled.

"Oh, boy, I'm from the Shandal Lands, the hometown of the strongest and bravest men," he said, showing off his skills with both axes at the same time. He moved them with a lot of skill and speed, and when he hit the ground I felt his enormous strength. "I will gladly accept your challenge. I'll split you in two with a single blow". I took a few steps back and showed the edge of my sword and what I could do with it. Fluffy did not seem remotely impressed. And the truth is that I was very weak from the loss of blood, so if Fluffy hit me one blow, it would probably be my end. I took a few steps back, and he too. His axes were long and my sword equal. The land was open. My speed would not be enough.

"So you're a tourist with honor," I said. I did not know there was any honor in those lands.

"Wow, boy. You are very stupid and an imbecile. Honor, I do not give a fucking shit. What I want is money. "He raised his axes, I put myself in combat position. The distance between us was about 7 meters, maybe 8. "Do you care about the honor?"

"Honor is like peace for the dead," I said. He begin his attack, and in that moment I reacted, dropped my sword and pulled out my pistol; I fired six shots that I did not know were left. Two in the left leg, two in the chest, right in the heart, and two in the belly. And still I had to step aside so he would not hit me. Fluffy fell. "The dead mens want peace, but the living want revenge. These girls are alive and I have avenged them" I said, and watched the light fade from Fluffy eyes.

 

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