The First Lich Lord
Chapter 9

We’d been traveling for several days, Ciltus well-behind us now. Over the last day, we stopped in a small hamlet where Friar Brown ministered to the people. Mainly by gifting supplies they desperately needed, handing out everything from tools to food. I hadn’t realized at the time, but his wagon was equipped with several large, expensive spatial storage crates. A fairly uncommon thing, NPCs owning storage items, so I found it rather interesting that this wandering friar did.

We turned off the main road to avoid another small city and began traveling out into the country, when we came across a tree lying across the road. Immediately, suspicion gripped me, and was justified moments later when I noticed where the stump of the tree had been cut. Several men stepped out from behind its full branches, brandishing spears and clubs.

These were clearly bandits. Mercy lay in the cart behind me, and I braced myself to lunge back and grab it. Friar Brown’s hand squeezed my leg, the illusion spell giving him substance to feel.

“Easy now. Don’t spring to action too quickly.”

“Give us all your goods,” the leader of this group of bandits demanded. “We got archers trained on you, and at my signal, will shoot you dead.”

“I am but a humble traveling friar,” Brown said gently. “All I have is simple trade goods that I’m using to support the villages in these hard times.”

Hesitation entered the lead bandit’s eyes, but that hesitation quickly fled, replaced by a steely gaze. “I’m sorry, Friar, but that don’t change my demand.”

“Try not to kill them,” Friar Brown whispered to me, barely moving his lips.

Getting up, I made like I was heading to the back of the cart.

“See, your friend here understands the situation,” the lead bandit said.

Bending down, I noted another pair of bandits standing not far off. My hand closed around Mercy. Best to deal with them first. I leapt off the cart, making sure to keep my blade-staff as a simple staff, since none of these bandits appeared to be high level. My quick attack surprised the poorly hidden bandits, and I was able to knock one of them hard across the head with my staff. A resounding crack sounded out and the man crumpled to a heap, unconscious.

Spinning Mercy, I intercepted the second bandit’s club, deflecting it to the side. Before the man could react, I slammed the other end of my staff into the side of his right knee. With a sickening crunch, the knee bent in a direction it wasn’t meant to bend. The man collapsed with a cry of pain.

Shouting filled the forest path as more bandits rushed out of the woods, some headed straight for the friar. To my surprise, there was a flash of light, and a pulse of kinetic force sent several bandits tumbling back from him. None got up from where they fell.

I rushed around to the front of the cart in pursuit of the lead bandit. He was surrounded by a group of four other bandits, all armed with axes. They looked stronger than the rest of their party.

The axes, while a far more deadly weapon with their bladed edges, were actually safer for my skeletal form to engage in over the heavy clubs. Not even bothering to slow, I attacked their legs with the goal of disabling them rather than killing them.

Unfortunately, it was five against one, and the friar was preoccupied by other bandits. I had to handle this alone. I used Mercy to cut short and block as many blows as possible, all while landing heavy attacks to the sides of knees and ankles. Every once in a while, I would attack their bodies and arms, but that was mostly for distraction.

A few blades bit into my cloak despite my harried dance, scoring the hard bones beneath. The blows hurt, but not as much as they could have.

I had no effective way of blocking a particularly heavy incoming blow, so I chose to attack.

Rolling my body to absorb the blow with my shoulder, I struck out at the man’s legs and dealt the most powerful blow yet. Even as his ax drove me to the ground, throwing off my aim, Mercy struck true, the bones in his shin breaking. There was a scream of pain and the man collapsed.

I’d not escaped undamaged. The joint in my shoulder grated, refusing to work correctly. Fortunately, I was undead, and though the wound hurt, it wasn’t a crippling pain like it would’ve been if I were still human.

The fight continued, and I absorbed several more heavy blows, always managing to cripple one of the combatants in the process. Before long, it was just me and the leader. My cloak was in tatters, but I was still standing.

Noticing I wasn’t bleeding despite having taken multiple blows, the leader snarled and brandished his spear. “What kind of monster are you?”

“No more a monster than you are.” I smiled right back. “This good man is out here helping people in these hard times, and you’re being a right asshole, depriving others of the help they need.” I let my illusion flicker across my face for just a second, revealing my inky-black skeletal visage. “You are more of a monster than me.”

His startled, scared look gave me a sense of satisfaction as I brought my staff down on his head, ending the fight.

When I looked behind me, I was surprised to see unconscious bandits all around the wagon. There were dozens! I’d been so focused on the leader, I hadn’t realized just how many attacked the friar. Yet, Friar Brown sat there completely unfazed. I was pretty certain he hadn’t even moved from his seat on the wooden bench.

“I see you handled the rest,” I said, limping toward the wagon. I hadn’t realized I was hurt so bad.

“You’re wounded, let me heal you.” Magic began to build around Friar Brown.

“No! Wait!” I held out my hands, gesturing for him to stop.

“It will be fine,” Friar Brown assured me, casting his spell.

I winced, bracing myself, but when the magic reached me, instead of the burn of holy magic, there was only soothing healing. That was surprising. I was undead, and life magic should hurt me. It took me a little bit to realize he hadn’t used life magic, but something more akin to a mending spell. My body restored itself, and though it wasn’t the same as healing myself with death magic, it eased the pain and restored my cloak.

As the magic faded, I couldn’t disguise my surprise.

“See, I told you it would be fine.” He gave me a knowing smile.

This didn’t make any sense. There is no way he knew. Because if he did, he would try to kill me. I remained rooted to the spot as Friar Brown got off his wagon and began to cast healing spells on the unconscious bandits. The magic didn’t wake them, so he was likely adding something to the spell to keep them asleep. But the fact he was using regular healing magic on the bandits further confused me.

When he was done, he went to the back of his wagon and pulled out a big bag that he began to load food and other supplies into, then he set it beside the wagon. “Well, are you coming?” Friar Brown asked, getting back in his seat and gesturing for me to join him.

The fight played out in my head over and over again. Did he know I was undead? Had he seen my idiotic stunt with the leader? I didn’t know what to do.

The bag next to the wagon drew my eye.

“Why are you leaving them supplies?”

“These men are just villagers, no doubt from somewhere nearby,” Friar Brown said. “In hard times like this, the cities are dangerous, but it’s the villages that suffer the most. They rely on trade goods coming from the cities and other villages to support them. And with the cities in such a state of chaos, they’re not receiving the supplies they so desperately need. These men are likely trying to get what they need to support their families and keep them alive for just a little bit longer.”

What he said made sense. Moving to the wagon, I climbed up, still wary but also wanting to help this good Samaritan in his task. Maybe the spell he cast on me had simply been a more effective healing spell. At least, that was the rationale I told myself.

“How bad is it out here in the country?”

“It varies,” Friar Brown said sadly. “Villages whose primary industry was mining or logging are in desperate straits, while villages who produce food are generally better off, as at least they can still eat.”

I remember reading about things like this in the Middle Ages when Europe was torn apart by war. I just hadn’t made the connection that something similar would happen in a world so full of magic. It showed that there were still a lot of similarities between Earth and this place.

People were still people after all, and the world was still full of suffering no matter where you were.

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