Stirgis & Maria’s Ascension

Promises made must be kept. That was what Stirgis vowed when he got married. Now that he was retiring from adventuring he planned to keep his greatest promise off all. If he lived, start a life with his wife. Yet some of that promise could not be kept. On their last trip around the Erasure, she died. It was simple bad luck. She caught a stray arrow in the heat of battle. When it was over the casters were out of mana. All the potions had been used up so she laid there bleeding out in his arms. She made him vow to continue the promise they made. Go live somewhere quiet and be happy. Then she could die peacefully.

With tears in his eyes he made the promise. If he couldn’t save her then at least he could follow her dying wish. After she died he gave her a proper burial, and moved on to find some place to call home. He would know when he got there. This was his last adventure, finding some place to live, some place to call home, someplace to be happy.

It didn’t take him long to find a place to call home. He and his wife had already decided on a location in Escaria by the city of Onirose. A cliff overlooking the lake. It’s the spot where he decided to propose. That was the happiest day of his life. Now she left him to build a life. Alone. It would be tough but he would at least try. Like she would have.

After all his years adventuring, all the friends lost, this was the hardest of all. Being alone. He needed to get his mind away from all of this. He just needed time to process what had happened. So he started working. Cut down the trees. Notch them to fit with one another. Stack them. Rinse and repeat. After a week the frame was up. A one story log cabin. A few more and the rest of the building would be done.

Stirgis toiled away. Soon the dream home of his beloved was completed. As much as it could be without her. He just had a few more things to do to get it perfect. Furniture. So he would have to go to the nearest city to get what he needed. Stirigs may be able to get a house standing but anything fine and artsy was well beyond his wheelhouse. Onirose was only a day away and he knew some people there who might be able to help him out.

The large wall surrounding the city came into view well before anything else. Soon after was the line of people waiting for entrance. Then came the noise. It was as loud as an active battlefield during rush hour. As he approached the gates people cleared the way with some quiet whispering. A few looked like they wanted to come up to him but decided to keep their distance. He didn’t look like he was in a very good mood today. And they had all heard the stories, Stirgis the Slaughterer. It was not a name he held in high regard, but he couldn’t get away from it. And at times like this it was more helpful for him to have the title.

He was given priority when entering Onirose. Whether it be from saving the world or fear of him destroying it, it got him in quicker than the mile long line. Walking the streets Stigis drifted to the artisan district. Here he could find what he wanted. After a few stops in different shops he had acquired everything. It would all be delivered to his specified location upon completion. Now he just had to wait at home.

Another week had passed. A large caravan full of the furnishings had arrived. A shorter man with a small book in his arms sheepishly walked up to Stirgis. “F-for all of this.” The man paused trying to gain some form of courage to speak. Stirgis patiently waited, this happened more often than he would like to admit. If his wife was not with him people found it difficult to talk to the monster of a man.

After a few moments the accountant took a breath. “200 gold pieces.” Stirgis handed him a large pouch, staying silent. He didn’t want to scare the man before he could take the payment. 

Once the money traded hand the group of people that came with the caravan began to move furniture into the building. After an hour everything was neatly set up. The group left as quickly as they could, leaving Stirgis alone, again. He had started to grow accustomed to it. It wasn’t his favorite feeling. Yet he didn’t have to worry about others, or how much he could hurt them if something went wrong. Now he could live out the rest of his days in one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen. Then he could join his friends, family. Emelia.

There was scurrying about while Stigis slept. The movers must have let in some form of rodent. He went to get it before it ruined his food supply. It was in the kitchen. At first he didn’t see anything. He heard some chewing in the dark. Then it suddenly stopped. Two beings were breathing in the dark. Both waiting for the other to move first. Stirgis was in the only entrance so the beast would have nowhere to run. He just had to wait for it to get scared. That would be his chance.

“Please don’t hurt me.” A small voice pleaded in the darkness. Stirgis never had the power to talk to animals, that had always been Blaines job. “I was just looking for something to eat.” Stirgis cast a small spell, illuminating the room. There was a girl no older than 10 trying to hide behind the table.

Stirgis tried to keep his voice soft. “It’s alright. You could have just asked.” It came out more like the crackling of thunder. The girl jumped back, scared.

“It won’t happen again! Please just let me leave!” The girl started to cry.

Stirgis started up a small fire, while cutting up some carrots. He kept quiet this time. Speaking would just cause more problems. He looked at the girl; and motioned for her to sit down. Sobbing, she took a seat at the table. “What everybody said was right. You’re going to eat me. Just like you did to the people in Arlania.” He had no clue who changed the story so much. Arlania was safe. No one had been eaten. He threw the carrots and some broth from his previous stew into a pot.

“Please. I don’t want to be food for some monster. I’ll do anything. Anything other than being eaten.” Her eyes were full of tears while she pleaded with him. What would Emelia do?

Stirgis walked over to the girl and put a hand on her head. “Calm down. I’m feeding you.” The chair fell to the ground with the girl in it. She scurried over to the nearest wall.

“Don’t feed me to your dogs!” stirgis elected to ignore her at this point. No matter what he could do would make her calm down so he would finish making her a meal.

The girl sat there shouting horrible things that she thought he would do to her. He had become the story parents told their kids to keep them in line. After everything that had happened it might be deserved but it still hurt all the same. After what felt like hours of being berated he put a bowl of stew on the table and fixed the chair she was sitting in. Then sat across the table from her. “Don’t let it get cold.” He tried to keep his gruff voice at a whisper.

She inched over to the food much like a stray dog being fed for the first time. She looked at the food then back at him and waited. He didn’t move, just locked eyes with her and waited. A few moments passed until she tried the food, never breaking eye contact.  The second it passed her lips she stared straight down at the bowl, picked it up and tried to down the whole thing. “Slow down, you don’t want to choke on it.” It was too late to stop her. The bowl was void of food. Most of it had been relocated to her clothing. The starved girl pushed her bowl at Stirgis.

“More, please.” She gave him some pleading eyes.

Stirgis refilled her bowl. “Don’t spill it on yourself this time.” She didn’t jump as much when he spoke this time. Now she slowed down, trying not to spill it all over herself. They sat there in silence and darkness until she was done eating. The only light was the embers of the cooking fire.

When she was done Stirgis spoke as lightly as his body would let him. “You can stay here the night. It would be a shame for the wolves to get you.” The girl looked confused at his offer. “There is a bedroom upstairs on the left, you can use it.” It was the only one but he could sleep elsewhere for the night.

In the midst of her confusion she stuttered out “Thank you” and went to the room he told her about. 

Stirgis sat in the dark for a bit thinking about the events of the night before he began to clean up the mess she left behind.

In the morning Stirgis had breakfast prepared for the two of them. “I’ll run a bath for you and put out some clothing until I can clean what you have.”

In between bites the girl responded. “Thank you but I should leave.” 

“Your outfit is a mess and so are you. I can’t let you leave looking like that. What kind of host would I be if I did.” After they finished eating, the girl listened to his request and took a bath. While she was doing that Stirgis tried to find something that would be anywhere close to fitting her. All of his clothing was easily 4 times her size so this led him to Emelia’s stuff. He had stuffed it all in the back of his closet, not wanting to look at any of it. Yet it was his duty to help this little girl.

He opened the chest that held all of his beloved’s belongings. A small ring and necklace was on top. The ring was their wedding ring. There was an enchantment on it so that they could always find each other. The necklace was one her mother gave her. On it was a tree, the symbol of Cereblemuos, the tree of life. He tried to ignore all of his welling feelings while he dug through the chest for some clothing. Inside of it an outfit caught his eye. It was the one that she wore most often. The one she wore when he proposed. An ornate gold colored dress. It used to have some gems on it, they had fallen off due to use. All the other outfits had some form of blood or deep gash in them. This was the only one she had not worn into combat. It was the only one fit for the girl to wear.

He brought it down to the bathroom and traded it out with her old clothing. Now that he was up close he could see the wear on it. What he thought was brown dye or cheap linen was actually caked on dirt. Underneath was stains from food and what looked like blood of some sort. There was no washing this outfit. It would probably fall apart like a piece of paper in the water. He would just have to make due with her using Emelia’s dress until he could get the girl a new outfit. He couldn’t let her just leave naked.

The girl left the bath with a startled gasp. “I can’t wear this. It’s made of gold. I’ll wait in here until my outfit is clean.” She was talking through the door.

“You’ll be waiting awhile then. Your outfit didn’t withstand the washing procedure.” Stigis cast a small spell and incinerated the outfit she was wearing. “Just put that on and I’ll pin it to your size. Then I’ll get you something better fitting.”

After a few minutes of waiting she opened the door. Stirgis finally got a good look at her now that all the grime was washed away. She stood about 4 feet tall. Her hair was blood red and down to her back. She had what looked like a small scar near her eye, and some hand prints on her neck. The arms of the golden dress would touch the floor if she wasn’t using her arms to hold the bust to keep herself covered. The bottom of it bunched up around her ankles. She looked scared, ready to run away. “I’ll be quick.” Stirgis tried to reassure her, to no avail.

Stirgis started on his work. He tried his best to keep her calm and work fast. The pins went into the dress and helped it up. For some parts he had to use string to tie it together. After what felt like hours he finished. When it was all over she sheepishly said thanks.

“Let’s get you some real clothing now. You can wear this for now but I want it back once I get you something in your size.”

She looked up at him. “Whose was it? Why isn’t she here?”

He looked at her for a moment. “It doesn’t matter right now. First we need to get you something proper to wear. It’s a day walk to Onirose. Did you leave anything here that you want to grab?”

Dejected looking at the ground she says. “All I had was that one outfit.”

“Let’s get going then. We can make it by sunrise if we leave now.”

By the time the city was coming into view Stirgis was carrying the girl. Whether she was tired or to keep the dress clean, it didn’t matter. She was laying on his back taking a nap. He got an express entrance into the city once again. This time the people whispered about the young girl with him. He ignored it and prayed that she would sleep until they made it to the tailor.

Claire’s Clothing was always empty this early in the morning. The only people that came at sunrise were those who needed to pick up an order that she worked on throughout the night. When she saw Stirgis walk through the door she was filled with delight. It had been years since they had seen each other. Claire was the woman who made his wife’s wedding dress.

“Stirgis, you should have come to see me sooner. I’m so sorry for what happened to Emelia.” Then she saw the sleeping child. “Whose this one?” He looked at her. She knew he couldn’t respond without waking her up. It’s why he lived out in the countryside. His voice carried too much power. “Set her down on the chair. Then we can talk.” Stirgis went to do as she commanded.

As the girl was set on the chair she wrapped her arms around Stirigis’ neck. “Don’t go again Daddy.” Then she drifted back to sleep.

Claire pulled him into a side room so he could speak. “I didn’t think you had a kid. You and Emelia should have told me.”

Stirgis looked down, dejected. “We didn’t, —

She cut him off. “Who did you have her with? Don’t make me beat your ass.”

He put his arms up defensively. “She showed up in my kitchen last night. Her old outfit was made of scraps. So I’m here to get her a new one, then drop her off at the orphanage.”

“Dick.” Claire looked upset. “What would Emelia think of you abandoning a child? Especially such a cute one.”

“I know she would be pissed. She would leave me for the kid. It’s how she always was, but I just don’t have the time for a child.” Stirgis was stepping back from the fiery woman, He didn’t want to have to worry about another person.

“I’ll make her an outfit but as payment, you have to watch her for a week or two. The least you could do is let me try and find her somewhere better to live than an orphanage.”

Stirgis was confused. “What, why? Why do you care so much?”

“That’s my business. This is what I want for payment. Do you agree?”

Stirgis stood for a few moments thinking. “Fine. You have two weeks to find her a place. Any longer and I’m bringing her to the orphanage.”

“Great!” Claire shouts. “Let’s get her sized up for something nice.”

When they got back the girl was already awake. Claire grabbed some measuring tape and got to work. The girl was hesitant at first but after some calming words from Claire, she let her work. After a few hours of Stirgis and the girl waiting Claire came out with a few sets of clothing. “Here is one dress, one casual, and one nightgown.”

Stirgis was puzzled. “I thought it was just one outfit?”

“When Maria said that she had no other clothing, I decided to make her something new as a gift. Best I could do for someone so cute.”

Again stirgis was confused. “Maria?”

Claire motions over to the girl. “Her. Did you seriously not ask her name? I expected more of you, Great Hero.”

“Sorry. Must’ve slipped my mind with her breaking into my house and all. Anyways, 2 weeks. That’s how long you have. Don’t forget.”

Claire gave a small salute. “So sir, I’d never forget something so important.”

Stirgis looked over at Maria. “Come on, you’re staying with me for a few weeks.”

Maria looked overjoyed. “REALLY!”

“Come on, we should get going. We have a day of travel ahead of us again.”

Stirgis and Maria left Claire in her shop and headed home. Stirgis was not looking forward to these next few weeks.

Stirgis had elected to use the couch and let Maria use his bed for the time that she was living with him. That way at least for the time she was where her sleep was comfortable. The couch was more like sleeping on a bunch of leaves, rather than the bed that felt like clouds. Over meals Stirgis decided that it was best to try and get to know one another. Maria had heard stories from other children about Stirgis. The horrible things he had done. She wanted the truth from him. Was he a monster or just made out to be one.

He elected to follow the wisdom of the eldest in his group of travelers, Caramean. He had always said to treat children like you would any other person. “For they may be small and fragile but their intellect and intuition always far exceeded expectation.” Though Caramean was a bit of a kook he still proved to have wisdom that far exceeded anyone he had ever known.

Maria pried about the title he was given “The Slaughterer”. Strigis tried to explain as delicately as he could. 

“A few years ago out in Bleeding Trees. An area south of Torospeas, I got infected with some sort of virus. As did all the people in the nearby town. We tried to find a cure to no avail. The source of the Bleeding Trees proved too difficult to find. As the virus progressed all the infected started to get aggressive. Some tried to kill each other. After a while I started to feel the effects. The people in the town united and were getting ready to march. They wanted to infect as many others as possible. None of my friends would let that happen, so we elected to stop them. After we tried to convince them to stop they made a lunge for my party. A rage welled up inside me, I became blinded to the outside world. I felt what all those people wanted. To spread the disease, to kill everything I saw.” Stirgis runs his hand over a small tattoo on his chest. “Luckily after another incident with one of us being charmed we all got binding tattoos so that charm magic no longer worked on us. This tattoo let me keep enough of my sanity to redirect the rage to the group of infected. Next thing I knew the sun was setting and my friend all stood around me. I was tied up, they explained it was for their safety. Once the casters checked me out I was cut free. That’s when I saw what I had done. Every single person. Women and children lie torn apart. I didn’t just kill them. I ripped their limbs from their bodies. The cost for my sanity was all of their lives.” Stirgis looked down at his food, not sure what to say next.

Maria spoke up. “You saved them all didn’t you? Your friends I mean, were they all safe?”

Stirgis gave her a pained smile. “Yes. They all lived. I hit one of them when they tried to tie me down. It left nothing more than a dent in his armor though.”

“It sounds like you did a good thing then. You and your friends lived, and you stopped these people from infecting even more people.”

This carried on for a few more days. They would eat a meal and share stories. Maria, being so young, didn’t have much to share and was far more curious about Stirgis’ past. He found out that for the last year Maria had been an orphan. She lost her parents to some magic resistant disease. It was feared she would infect the rest of the city so they cast her out to live on her own. She almost broke down into tears when she talked about it, barely keeping a strong face for Stirgis.

Maria pried about the clothing he had let her wear. It was a woman’s and there wasn’t one anywhere nearby. “She is no longer with us. Everything has an ending and she met hers. That’s all I will say on the matter.” Maria could hear the pain in his voice so she no longer asked about the woman.

Every few nights Stigis would wake to sobbing. When he checked in on Maria he could hear her whispering something about her parents. She wanted to see them again. They left her without even getting a chance to say goodbye. At the end of the first week Stirgis was awoken by Maria.

“I can’t sleep. Can I sit with you?” She looked exhausted. Stiris motioned for her to sit down on the couch with him. After about 10 minutes she leaned over and passed out in his arms. This time he heard no sobbing. She finally was sleeping soundly. This followed for the next few days. She would come to him having trouble sleeping until he would just lay down with her. She would then sleep better than ever.

Every so often Maria would get Stirgis to play some sort of game with her, be it hide and seek or tag. He didn’t want to get her hopes of winning up, but he would let her get some sort of lead in the beginning until he felt that she wanted a challenge. That’s when he would turn it around and win by a very slight margin. She was bringing Stirigis a sense of normalcy again. He finally felt like himself for the first time in months.

That’s when Claire showed up. They knew what it meant, their time together was coming to a close. Maria went and hid from her. She didn’t want to go. “Where’d she go? You better not have brought her to that orphanage yet.” Claire looked upset.

“She’s fine. Probably just reading something.”

“I found her a place. I can take her off your hands.”

“I’m good.”

“What do you mean good? We had a deal.”
“I already found her a home. It’s right here with me.”
“Fine. She can stay here. But I’m not sure how well her new parents are going to take that.”

“If they have an issue just tell them to come talk to the Slaughterer. I’ll sort it out then.”

Claire left in a huff. Then Stirgis felt a presence he had not felt in a while. He followed the feeling. It led him to the closet in his bedroom. There was Maria holding a ring holding a nothics crystal eye. The eye gave it the ability to track the other ring. She looked at it in wonder.

“Maria, would you like to stay here with me?”
“Yes!” She was overcome with happiness.

“Then keep that ring on you at all times. It will let us keep track of the other incase something happens. I’m sure Emelia would want you to have it now anyways.”

Stirgis and Maria lived together as well as they could for a few weeks. Then one morning there was a knock at the door. Then shouting.

“Stirgis the Slaughterer! Come out here before I have to come in after you!”

Stirgis had heard the voice before. Though he couldn’t quite place a name or a face to it. It only gave him a deep foreboding feeling. He looked to Maria then pointed to the pantry. He mouthed hide. She didn’t move at first, then Stirgis moved to where he kept his only armor and weaponry. This spurred her into action.

Stirgis donned his armor and grabbed his trusty sword. He was not looking forward to what may come next, but gods be damned if he was going to let another person die. He threw the door open, The second it swung in he got punched across the jaw. The power of it nearly knocked him off his feet. Had he not been wearing his armor it might have. Stirgis turned his head to face the aggressor. 

A cloak as black as void. Only two red gems glowed behind the cowl. In one hand was a serrated dagger dripping with a black liquid. Stirgis got a terrified look in his eye. He knew who this was. The recognition caused the man to smile, a yellow toothed grin cut through the darkness of his face. “Good. Now you know how hard to fight.” Stirgis didn’t respond, instead his sword came up to bisect the man.

The cloak figure moved backwards, appearing to narrowly dodge. Stirgis wasn’t sure if he would make it out of this one alive. Death had come for him today. The least he could do is give the man the fight he wants and hope he doesn’t realize Maria is here. 

Stirgis attempted to cut open his stomach with a lateral strike. No connection. “You can do better.” Stirgis tried to grab him. “If anyone can beat me, it’s the Slaughterer.” When he couldn’t grab him he drove his sword forward after his backstep. The man spun around Stirgis. “Quicker or you’ll die.” 

Of all people to find them. Of all his enemies, this was the one he hoped he would never see again. He had taken to being called the Reaper. He is currently the most feared being on Erasure. Only a few people had ever seen him and lived to tell the tale. Only two live, one of them being Stirgis. Reaper never left anyone alive. All fell to his hand eventually.

The dagger was driven at Stirgis. He moved his head enough to have the dagger slide of his armor. A black streak was left on it. Stirgis heard a sizzling. Then an elbow was brought down onto his head. A dent was left in Stirgis’ armor. His feet left the ground. Stirgis spun in the air to try and reorient himself before he hit it.  He made it to his knees.

A hand pulled his head backwards, the dagger was pushed to his neck. “Weak.” The Reaper sounded dejected. He dragged the knife across Stirgis’ throat.

A shout came from the front door. “DAD!” She tried to run to him.

“Ooo. Maybe you can make me feel better.” He grabbed Maria. “Your Daddy was no fun. A slow death always makes me feel good.” He rubbed the flat of the dagger across Maria’s face. “How about you?”

Stirgis lay there bleeding out, the poison overtaking his body. He could do nothing. Just like last time, a helpless spectator. He began to boil over with rage. He thought everything was over. He thought he could keep his promise. He couldn’t do anything right. It was all too much. He felt his chest burn. His whole body ignited. It was euphoric. He had to spread it.He jolted up and grabbed the Reaper.

“How are you alive?” He looked frantic. “The poison should have killed you already!” Stirgis smashed the man’s head against his knee. Pulled him up to face each other. Stirgis then kicked his knee in, dropping the man to the ground. 

Full of blood lust he looked over at Maria. He felt like he was about to explode if he didn’t spread this feeling. He heard a voice. It told him to run. Find them. His friends. Stirgis turned around and started to run.

Maria sat on the grass in tears. She was all alone again. The Reaper started to raspily chuckle. “I live. Onirose dies. It’s a fair trade.” The Virus, Bleeding Trees. Stirgis was going to kill everyone in Onirose. She had to warn them. She had no time, no way to beat him there. She only had one idea to break his lust. She hoped it would work.

Maria picked up the dagger on the ground.She walked over to the Reaper. One life for thousands. She prayed it would work. He looked up at the crying girl. “My demise by the hands of a little girl. Not today!” He spun on his broken knee and tried to grab her. The knee cracked even more, sending him onto his back. “Wait, wait wait wai—”

Maria drove his dagger into his heart. He stopped moving. He fell to ash. As his body was being blown away by the wind, Maria felt an overwhelming power deep in her soul. She blacked out from the sheer strength of it.

When next she awoke she was looking at the ground, moving over it at an unimaginable speed. She tried to stop herself, driving her feet into the ground. When she did she saw the world change around her. She was standing on a cliff overlooking Onirose. She was wearing a gold dress encrusted with gems. Beside her was Stirgis. He appeared to have calmed down. He was looking down at his hands. “He died. It was enough to sate the blood lust.” He too felt a power deep in his soul. “The old bastard was right. Of all the ramblings this one was correct.” He was baffled. “Gods never die, they’re just made anew.”