Chapter 104: The Ashes of Dornheim
When we reached the edge of the forest, I froze. Ahead, where the map indicated a large village, a giant bonfire was raging. Orange tongues of fire licked the thatch from the roofs, turning houses into skeletons of charred beams. Sparks flew up into the sky, and over everything hung a heavy, sickly sweet smell of burning meat.
I clenched my jaw. Again. This scenario all over again.
"Uh-oh..." The spirit on my head stopped dangling her legs. "My forest... they hurt it. The black shadows are still here, iron man. Can you feel it?"
Out of the blanket of smoke, dragging remnants of intestines behind it, a creature tumbled onto the road. It looked like a wolf but was the size of a bull, its hide bursting with putrid sores. Three more emerged from the shadows right behind it.
'Lumon,' I called out in my mind.
[Biological signatures detected: 4 objects. Type: Corrupted forest predators. Attack vector analysis... Complete. Recommended strategy: counterattack on approach.]
'How nice that I don't have to calculate the vectors myself,' I thought.
Using Lumon's calculations as a blueprint, I guided the blade.
To the left. Momentum dampening. Pivot.
The sword slashed the first wolf from jaw to tail. Blood splattered onto my jacket, but I was already in another spot.
The spirit on my head didn't stay on the sidelines either. She snapped her fingers, and the roots of a nearby oak erupted from the ground, wrapping around the two remaining beasts and ripping them in half.
A minute later, it was all over.
We stood in the middle of a street littered with the corpses of monsters and humans.
"Someone's over there!" The spirit took off from the crown of my head and flew toward a ruined well in the center of the square.
I moved after her, wiping the sword on my sleeve as I walked.
By the well, leaning his back against the stone masonry, sat a guy. He looked to be about my age. His clothes had turned into bloody rags, his face was covered in a crimson crust, and his left arm hung limply.
He raised his eyes to me; his gaze was glassy.
"Help..." he rasped. "Noah... my name is Noah..."
The spirit didn't wait. She landed on his chest, and her tiny palms lit up with a bright emerald light. I watched as wounds closed and bones knitted together right before my eyes.
The guy gasped raggedly, his body straightening, and his gaze cleared.
But as soon as he came to, a siren wailed inside me.
'Lumon, report! What's wrong with him? Scan him!' I ordered.
[Warning. Request denied. Scanning object "Noah" is impossible. Recommended level of caution: Maximum.]
I gripped the hilt of my sword tighter.
The moment the spirit finished healing him, he sprang to his feet, swaying.
"Grandmother!" he screamed in a cracking voice. "Are you here?!"
He rushed toward the nearest house, which had already half-turned into a heap of smoking embers. Noah began to tear away the hot beams with his bare hands. The skin on his fingers blistered instantly.
"Help him, iron man! What are you standing around for?!" the spirit cried out, circling above the debris.
I reluctantly approached and, using the strength of my prosthesis, tossed a heavy charred log aside with a single jerk. Underneath, in the gray dust and soot, lay an old woman. Her eyes were open, but there was no longer any life in them.
Noah collapsed to his knees. He grabbed her wrinkled hand and pressed his face against it, shaking with sobs.
"I'm sorry... I was too late... Grandmother, I'm sorry..." His voice dropped to a choking whisper.
Looking at this, I remembered that I hadn't even gotten the chance to sit over the bodies of my loved ones like that.
I turned away.
Gradually, people began to emerge from basements, forest thickets, and behind stone fences. About fifty people. They crowded into the square, staring at the burning houses.
Some screamed, some tried to run back into the fire, some just sat on the ground, rocking back and forth.
I realized that if I didn't organize them right now, they would simply perish from the cold or from returning monsters.
"Listen to me!" I stepped into the center, trying to put authority into my voice. "Everyone quiet! We need to establish a perimeter! Men—gather any salvaged weapons. Women and elders—form a circle, check the water supplies! We need to..."
The people froze. They looked at me.
But in their eyes, I saw not hope, but horror.
"Who are you?.." an old man whispered, backing away. "Was it you... who brought this flame? Leave! Go away!"
The crowd began to murmur dully.
The spirit, watching this from the roof of the well, sighed heavily.
"Oh, iron man... You really don't know how to talk to them at all."
She soared into the sky. Her presence filled the square with a warm, golden light. She began to sing—the very same tune she had been humming to me in the forest.
The people fell quiet. The crying stopped. The malice was replaced by awe.
The spirit slowly descended, touching everyone with her light, and I watched as their shoulders relaxed.
Ten minutes later, all fifty people were sitting peacefully around a large bonfire, which the spirit had transformed from a destructive inferno into a peaceful flame.
I stood in the shadows at the edge of the square, feeling like a stranger at this celebration.
"Hey," a voice sounded nearby.
I turned around. It was Noah. He had wiped away his tears; his face was pale but composed. He looked at me, and there was no longer that glassy despair in his eyes.
"Thank you for helping pull her out," he said quietly. "And thank your friend."
"My name is Noah," he repeated, extending his hand. "And you?"
I looked at his palm, then into his eyes.
"Iron," I replied, but I didn't extend my hand.