The Bodyguard

Prologue

You play a sentient magic sword. You are centuries old and have seen and done terrible things, often in the pursuit of some misguided quest for glory and power. Everyone who has ever wielded you has died, and you have spent more time alone in the dark places of the world than you have spent in the hands of someone who would put you to work…

One day since this new bearer plucked me from the dark. How long has it been since I was last left there? I don’t remember. But it feels good to be held again, to feel the warmth of mortal flesh around my hilt. Soon I will be put to work again, made to rip and tear as I was built to do. Part of me thirsts for it, longs to feel the bite of meat again, but the rest of me feels nothing but disgust and fatigue. I have served for so long, been discarded so many times. Surely it’s time I was allowed to rest for good?

Game: https://loottheroom.itch.io/go-alone

The Story

Part 1 – A new friend

Noble heroes, my sword and yours are kin. Good sparks and lustrous, a word, good metals. – All’s Well That Ends Well

She came for me through the dark; I could sense her just as she could sense me. I could see the pale glow that surrounds her as she made her way through the ruined city heading straight to me.

I have been lying here in the gloom for almost 50 years enjoying the peace and quiet. Lying next to my last bearer, Grimstone the Dwarf. Well, what’s left of him after he fed the local rats over the years. We had helped storm this city when it was the centre of the Undead King’s empire and he made an unwise decision to see what he could “liberate” from the treasury just before a couple of enraged trolls decided to stomp through the building. He wasn’t too bad, just a little too greedy at the wrong time.

I knew that one day I would be found and put back to work but there was just that faint hope that it might not happen this time. Although, I have to admit it, I am a little thrilled by this new bearer: it has been a very long time since I have been in the presence of an Elemental Warrior. I wonder what she wants from me.

She picks me up by the hilt and smiles. It appears that this will be a new chapter of my life and I wonder what we will accomplish. We introduce ourselves: I am always cautious when I first meet a new bearer so I provide a false name. She is called Allegra and she is a bodyguard. This is a little confusing, why is an Elemental doing such a mundane job? Who is she protecting?

Part 2 – First blood

As we climb out of the ruins we are met by some of the locals. I have heard them over the years looting what remains of the city and, I assume, selling whatever they find. But the plunder must be getting bare lately as they have been through the city time and time again. Luckily for me, they are a suspicious lot and Grimstone’s skeleton kept them away from me.

So, on one side we have an Elemental Warrior with an enchanted sword and the other side is half a dozen peasants armed with rusty weapons handed down from their grandparents. I expected them to be very polite, say “good morning madam” and quietly disappear. But things must be getting desperate and their greed overrode common sense (a bit like Grimstone). They demanded that Allegra drop her valuables and leave.

She did not comply and we proceeded to defend ourselves. I suppose slaughter them would be a better turn of phrase. I must say that she is a wonderful partner, such fluid movement, perfect balance and gentle touch. Over the years I have had to control my bearer to direct their clumsy attacks and protect them in a fight, but Allegra showed me what a true artist can do. I really had nothing to do but watch the action.

It was over in a few minutes leaving me covered in their blood. Much to my surprise, Allegra not only cleaned me but also applied some oils to my blade. Caught a little off guard I thanked her and completed the introductions by telling her my real name, something I only do for bearers that show her level of skill. She actually knew some of my story: how I was forged by the elves in Baden Nur to kill the dragon Razeroth; and succeeded, of course.

I did not mention what Razeroth did before he died. That’s something I have to be very careful with.

After a short rest we continued, leaving the ruins and travelling North through the forest eventually arriving at a small camp site. The other two in the party are asleep when we arrive and Allegra settles down for the night.

Part 3 – Betrayal

Everyone wakes just after dawn and I see the person she is protecting.

I know him. In fact, two hundred years ago I tried to kill him.

Cassius the Necromancer.

Well, this is going to be interesting. Cassius looks like he’s only aged a few years: a bit of grey in his hair and some wrinkles. But the strange thing is that he doesn’t know me. Surely someone of his power can sense me, just like Allegra did. And yes, it is him and not someone who looks like him. When you have killed as many people as I have you get to know death and Cassius is definitely the Necromancer I met all those years ago.

I immediately tell Allegra who he is and demanded that we finish him off as quickly and painfully as we can. She did nothing. I screamed at her. She did nothing.

She finally placed me into a scabbard on one of the horses and moves me away from the camp for the rest of the day. This banishment drove me further into spasms of rage. Someone is going to pay for this.

Part 4 – Memories of the past

I often wonder what type of creature I would be if I wasn’t in this form. Yesterday I would liked to have been a giant so I could crush everyone in this damned camp and finish off Cassius.

Allegra brings me back to the camp at dawn while the others are still sleeping. As they wake something strange happens. The servant, Garth, was up first and began preparations for breakfast. Cassius woke and stood up, he stretched and looked at Garth.

Who are you? he asked.

What? Yesterday they spoke and joked as if they were old friends. Garth explained, I’ll summarise it as the discussion went on for a while over breakfast.

I am Garth your servant. You are Cassius. You have been enchanted some time ago and forget who you are each night as you sleep. We have been together for some time. Myself and Allegra travel with you.

Garth said nothing about Cassius’ past just his current affliction. Also, nothing about removing the curse. How long ago was he cursed? How long have they been travelling? I need to talk to Allegra about this: is she really his bodyguard or could she be his jailer?

Too many questions for my liking.

After breakfast, and further discussions, they pack up the camp and continue travelling North. Allegra leaves me on the pack horse and we don’t speak. Cassius’ memory seems to be fractured and parts of it surface during the day. At one point he asks if we are travelling to Frostford as the wizards there might be able to help him. His companions are non-committal. As far as I can recall Frostford was destroyed years ago. This is something to note: Cassius still has limited knowledge of the past.

I listen carefully to their discussions as we travel to see what I can gather and maybe try to guess what is happening and how long it has been going on.

Part 5 – Ghosts

Another day of travel and no answers. At breakfast Garth repeats yesterday’s script, does he get bored giving the same talk each morning?

What does Allegra want from me? Why did she hunt me down?

With nothing else to do I am left to ponder the big questions of life. Not really, I day-dreamed of the past and the people I have known and killed.

I have been used by Kings to carve out empires and drunks to kill their friends. When Grimstone and I stormed into the city our target was the witch Mortwella, the Undead King’s second in charge. It was a good fight, but I feel that she lost only because she was distracted by the destruction of her city. Once we had dispatched her, Grimstone had decided that he needed to be rewarded for his efforts. We know how well that went.

With Cassius so close, I would have thought that my failure to kill him would have been my biggest regret, but it is always that drunken idiot Sven and him showing off to his so-called friends. He was the local grave digger and was secretly robbing the mausoleums to obtain money for booze. He found me in one of them and had decided to show off to his friends in the local tavern.

Throughout the evening the crowd had gotten him drunk and egged him on as he staggered around the tavern swinging me as if he was battling a whole army. While striking at his one of his imaginary enemies he had slipped and before I could do anything had sliced one of the barmaids in half. I could still see her sister screaming at us from the other side of the room. The crowd soon became a lynch mob and dragged Sven out into the fields. One of the more enterprising souls stole me and a few days later sold me to a blacksmith.

Part 6 – Duties

Repeat the breakfast scene again.

Allegra unsheathes me and while the other two are busy repeating themselves again we wander off to the forest to scout the area. We have stopped at the edge of a forest atop a small hill. As we arrived late yesterday I would glimpse the lights of a town through the thinning trees at the edge of this copse.

She finally reveals what is happening and why she deliberately sought me out. Much of what she told me has been passed down the generations of warriors who guard Cassius and some details have been lost over time. In one way I was correct, she is his jailer but she is also his executioner.

To summarise the tale: when I failed to kill Cassius all those years ago he had escaped through a tunnel system under his castle. As he exited the tunnels he ran into our “Plan B” – a handful of wizards waiting to ambush him. Wounded & distracted by our attack he could not evade them and they managed to knock him out and transport him away. I was not aware of this as they had previously decided to keep the capture secret and tell everyone that Cassius has escaped the ambush.

Unable to kill Cassius (you know, the Necromancer) the wizards came up with a plan to curse him: each night while he slept he would forget who he was.

Allegra and her predecessor are becoming alarmed that the curse is wearing off and Cassius is beginning to remember his past life. Perhaps that’s why he asked about the old city of Frostford the other day?

Did I mention that Allegra is also his executioner? I was to be the instrument of that act. I believe that this is the first time that I’ve been able to have a second attempt. When my sister and I were forged, the elves Adoel and Eledhwen had vowed to kill the dragon Razeroth and we had succeeded. That was the first of a long long line of successes. Cassius was by biggest failure and it looks like I might get a second go!

I wish my sister was here with me. I remember her singing as we fought together. With her at my side I would have never had failed the first time. But she had been lost before the Undead King had arisen and spawned Cassius and his kin.

Part 7 – Lost and found

Repeat the breakfast scene again. But this time I watch carefully to see if Cassius has changed. I didn’t notice anything different from the previous days, but could I tell? Cassius is certainly capable of hiding his recovery from us.

Allegra has decided to carry me and swaps swords, the old (boring) one now rides with the pack horse. Maybe I exaggerate, the old sword belonged to her father who taught her to use it when she was little. Allegra grew up in a town that was situated on a trade route making it a valuable target for the local bandits. The town was often raided and as a result everyone in town had some form of military training to help defend the town and the caravans that had stopped to rest. It sounds like it was a good arrangement: develop a skilled fighting force and make the town a safe-haven for the wealthy traders travelling along the trade route.

Allegra’s father had been killed in one of these raids. Some time after she decided to join one of the caravan to get away and travel the world – something that her father had always wanted her to do. I’m still waiting to find out how she became an elemental, I understand that the process can be traumatic.

In one way, we have both suffered a loss of family that continues to haunt us both: my sister and her father.

Lost in my own thoughts I did not see the ambush until Allegra swung me at the head of one of the attackers. Much to my shame I flinched and missed, allowing the attacker to wound Allegra in her sword arm. Anger at my clumsiness burnt through me and I flexed my powers and tried my best to seal the wound. The trees lit up with Allegra’s flames, enhanced by my powers, and we finished off the attackers quickly. I hope that she did not notice my mistake.

Allegra ordered Garth and Cassius to change direction and travel south to find a hiding spot. She dismounted and quickly searched the attackers. This lot isn’t your normal bandits. They are all dressed in some sort of uniform. No, it isn’t a uniform but more of a religious habit: leather clothes, a cloak and cowl. Are they cultists of some form?

I guess someone else knows about Cassius.

Part 8 – Silent night

Garth and Cassius had found a cave for tonight’s camp site. We didn’t risk starting a fire, so we spent an uneasily night in the dark. Allegra and I keeping watch for any further attacks. To the west is some sort of tower and from what I can see it has been abandoned for a while, the tower showing the ravages of time. Later that night the moonlight shines through the holes in the stonework.

Gwen was her name. The barmaid. Even though I have tried to forget, the scene keeps playing in the mind. Especially on nights like this: the moonlight lighting the land with a silver glow and the quiet of the night as Sven was dragged out of the tavern into the field. I have killed so many people, high-born people like Mortwella who commanded armies and controlled empires, to the lowly soldiers that guarded the doors to her castle. But the barmaid is always there filling the nocturnal silence.

Part 9 – Ambush again

Repeat the morning ritual. Nothing to report on Cassius’ condition, it appears to be unchanged. We pack up camp and start moving south-west to skirt the tower.

I was wrong about the tower: it was not abandoned. As we passed it there was a growl from the shadows.

How many times have I been in this situation: something nasty springing out of the shadows to attack me and my bearer. There had been dragons, demons, trolls, orcs and one time it was a mimic (a treasure chest with a big mouth and nasty teeth). As I relived these past ambushes I forgot to concentrate on this one. This time it was an ogre and he was one of the biggest I’ve seen and armoured as well. The ogre swung his club at Allegra I was caught off guard (again!) and just managed to block the club awkwardly. The momentum of his charge added to the force of the blow and almost shattered me.

He slipped and fell to the ground, but as he rose he took a wild swing at Allegra. I had been knocked back too far to prevent him striking her, the club hitting her knee and ricocheting into her stomach. Her armour prevented any major wounds but the force of the impacts almost knocked her off her horse. Luckily Garth that his wits about him and managed to loose some arrows at the ogre which distracted him enough for Allegra and I to recover and fend him off.

The ogre charged at us again. I could feel Allegra’s flames building and adding my own powers we ignited one of the dead trees surrounding the tower. The ogre was startled by the flames and we got a luck blow in before everyone retreated back into the forest.

Allegra’s injuries are not life threatening but she needs to rest for a day or two. We double back to the cave we used last night to recover.

You don’t get to be my age and not be a little paranoid. The ogre was equipped with a metal club and was wearing well made armour. I wonder whether our encounter was an accident or he was waiting for us?

Part 10 – Rest in peace

Repeat our morning scene. This time I notice that Cassius nods and smiles at the revelations just a fraction of a second before Garth gets to the good bits. Perhaps it’s my imagination, fuelled by the ambushes over the last few days.

We rest today in the cave. Allegra resting to recover from the ogre’s attack with Garth standing guard. Cassius sits quietly at the back of the cave reading by the light of the small campfire.

Toward the evening when it starts to get dark Garth and Allegra swap roles. He moves deeper into the cave to be with Cassius and Allegra and I settle down just inside the cave mouth. She starts to nod off near midnight but I stay alert (I don’t sleep). A few hours later I notice someone creeping through the brush heading towards us. I wake Allegra and we silently move out of the cave into the darkness to intercept them. I have to admit I find this thrilling: the tension as we quietly move through the brush and the killing stroke as Allegra drives me through his heart.

It was another of those cultists but there is no sign of any others. Perhaps they have split up and are searching for us through the forest.

Just an idle thought: in both encounters the cultists have come from the north-west. I wonder whether they originate from the village I saw the other night?

Part 11 – there’s always a first time

Repeat the morning ritual. Cassius appears to be the same.

Around mid-morning Allegra and I decided to scout the area. Coincidently our suspicions follow the same path: could our enemies originate from the local village? We cautiously move through the forest to get a better look at the village from some nearby hills. We arrived about midday and stayed for a few hours observing the villagers go about their daily routine. Nothing suspicious happens.

Bored by watching nothing happen we leave. Before we return to the cave we decide to scout the tower to the south to see if the ogre is about.

Well, bits of him are. As we approach the tower we can see the remains of the ogre lying in the ruins of the ground floor. His body and armour have been shredded. Remember when I said that Grimstone was too greedy at the wrong time? Well, we were too curious at the wrong time. As we crept closer to the tower to get a better look, the ground collapsed underneath us. We fell into a tunnel and standing before us was an Umber Hulk. I have only heard about these creatures and have never encountered one before.

It was nasty fight: trapped in the narrow tunnel we could only retreat backwards further into the depths hoping that there was nothing else waiting for us. The Hulk was covered in armoured plates and the confined space prevent Allegra from striking with full force. In desperation I dug deep and spoke to Razeroth hidden inside me. The old dragon was amused by the situation but agreed to my request. He added to my power and along with Allegra’s skill we cut though the heavy plates wounding the beast enough for it to turn and retreat.

We return back to the cave beaten and bruised again. The dragon humming to itself. Did Allegra notice anything?

Epilogue

I can’t remember last night. The last thing I do remember is the usual “good night” wishes as everyone falls asleep. Someone picks me up.

It is Cassius and as he raises me into the air I see a handfull of cultists surrounding the bodies of Allegra and Garth.

Cassius smiles, and says “I think we are going to have a wonderful adventure together.”

Deep inside me Razeroth laughs.