Chapter 11: The Village (P3)

The plan is simple; we didn't have one.

Although Anselm had humble beginnings as a petty street thief before catching a lucky break and serving as a knight's squire in a war that promised riches in form of free pillaging, he is unfortunately no criminal mastermind and nor is he a man capable of thinking in the long term;

Steal even more sheep? Fine, how do we transport them and secure their safety from predators as we move through the fields, we can't cook them all at once now can we?

Oh, we can? Oh, we should cook them all at once? Well we'll need some salt to preserve the meat at least, I'm the only one with a working digestive system and I can only eat so much even though I've been starving.

We'll also need some way to transport all that food, my pockets surely won't suffice; that's where I keep my rats.

Steal a satchel from one of the houses? Oh, and new clothes too? No, can't forget gold of course. From each house, obviously, can't just be one house.

Well, it's a plan, as soon as you tell me how to get past all the drones walking around, and what to do if we get caught; we don't know what kind of attacks they have but needless to say it's going to be powerful.

Nothing.

And so we're back to square one. Willing but unable to help ourselves. I sat in the grass plucking at the roots and chucking it over the grazing face of the sheep. It'd gotten over its long shock of being possessed and was now back to basic functions; eating, sleeping and shitting.

While I and Anselm argued over what to do, arriving at one dead end after another, the sun had begun to set. Right now, it hung low in twilight, staining a portion of the sky with an orange hue.

My stomach growls and I wonder whether I should just cut my losses and leave with the single sheep I managed to capture. Even without water it was better than nothing, certainly better than being integrated into some hive mind.

Speaking of, they were absolutely terrifying. Not just because of what they were but because of how that affected everything they did.

After I bolted away from the hive in the morning, they seemed to linger at the totem a bit before going about their regular looking villager activities. Tending to crops, feeding the animals, sweeping their half-cobbled ground of dirt, pointless as it was.

Point is, from afar they looked absolutely normal. And then I stole the sheep and let the others out in the process.

I didn't get to see the beginning of it but from what Anselm told me and what little I caught after getting away, it only took one person sighting a loose sheep for everyone else to drop whatever villager thing they were doing and pounce on the running sheep.

They didn't even run after the sheep, they just walked fast into various positions and caught them all without one- save from the one I stole- leaving the village.

Cool as it is to be part of a collective and perform wonderous acts of organisation, I'd much rather it be the product of the individual ability of myself and others to coordinate properly than some sort of devilish influence.

"If you're going to strike this might be the best chance we'll get today." Anselm mutters, staring warily at the setting suns. "The day is gone, soon they'll all settle in bed and we'll have to wait until tomorrow if they do."

I shake my head, "But we don't even have a solid plan."

"We didn't have a solid plan when we went in on the goblins." He argues.

"Yeah, and look how well that turned out. Barely got a sip of water out of that pond."

"If you stick to the empty houses I show you and if you're fast, you can get away with a lot."

"You can turn invisible." I mutter.

"Yeah at the cost of the mana, you only give me so much with each cast."

"So? If you're fast you can get away with a lot."

"I'm only fast if I fly! And that costs more mana, I'll burn through it and it'll be coins all over the floor."

"Aren't you flying right now?"

He pouts but his feet touch the grass. "Even if by some miracle I make it out with a bucket of water with coins at the bottom and clothes slung over my shoulder, what if they make chase? With them chasing after me there's no safe area for me to land unless I lose them, which means I burn through mana and we get nothing."

True. If they made chase that wouldn't do me any good. Not sure how well I could run with sheep in my hands and a hive on my tail.

Wait…

"That's it!" I snap my fingers in excitement.

"What? What's it?"

"I'm a genius that's what."

***

I hang back now; watching the hive on a different side of the village, they'd started putting up lanterns as the sun barely lit the horizon now.

I am close to the pen; they'd stuffed all the sheep I let out back in. Incidentally I'm here with the missing number. My soon to be dinner kept close to me, I couldn't leave it behind, not now that Anselm was gone anyway. No one to look after it.

The sound of its bleating is overshadowed by the bleating of its peers so I have no fear of being caught, noisy as it is.

"Hey you!"

Finally. Anselm shows up, stepping close to one of the hive and snatching away their lantern. The hive says something I can't make out but I'm pretty sure it was some weird greeting.

As quickly as I'd witnessed with the loose sheep, several other hive begin to crawl out and surround Anselm in a tight circle.

They begin chanting, speaking in unison as they encroach on him, tightening the circle even further despite Anselm swinging furiously at them with the flaming lantern, he breaks it over a few in fact but still they press on even as one catches fire and begins to burn.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Part of me wants to start running now. Actually, a large part of me wants to.

Still, I wait. They get into hugging quarters with Anselm, his kicks and flails proving useless, especially against the one on fire. Eventually they touch him, or so they think. He phases through them and begins to fly.

"Come get me you freaks!" he jeers and flies away.

Fortunately, the hive follows, every single one of them frighteningly limber and quick on their feet as they parkour through over the narrow space and onto the buildings, taking chase at Anselm's retreating hide.

Quickly I jump at my opening, pulling my sheep by the furs it eventually begins to trot beside me as I make my way over to the nearest house.

I am quick to open the door, pull the sheep in and shut it. It's a small house with only two rooms.

On the left immediately after the door, there's a fire place with a table close to the ground, in the corners there are several leaves and flowers piled up against the wall, it looks to be the living room and dinning room cuz on the right lay several mats and animal skin bed rolls.

A living area. I head in and I'm greeted by possibly the largest thing in the house.

A wardrobe.

I let out an enthused but quiet cheer and dive in. Pulling the doors open I find several brown clothes stacked on each other.

Brown seemed to be the only colour available which I find weird given the sheep were white. Maybe they didn't sew their clothes with the wool and sold it instead? Probably not given they're a hive mind, do they trade? I don't know.

I pull out a trouser and a coat from the stacks, it falls over but I don't bother with it. I line the trousers up with my leg and waist, hoping it's a good match. Although it's a bit on the long side, I wasn't in a position to be picky.

I don't bother checking out the coat, having faith that it was cosy and long enough to cover me. I hung the trouser and coat over me and start my getaway. Only something catches my eye as I start.

Sitting at the end of the wardrobe, behind the fallen clothes sat a heavy looking leather pouch. I grab at it and push back the string that knotted it shut to have a look inside, but I already knew what it was. It jingled.

I stuff it whole in my pocket and pull on the sheep. Time to get out of here.

I pushed the door open and peered out, looking left, right and left again. And good thing I did. There stood a man, his back was turned and his hands crossed behind him. He stood still, looking up at the totem.

I feel my palms sweat as I breathe, praying the man doesn't look back as I step out onto the street.

"You have not been touched by the Lord Phien. Will you come into his fold?"

Fuck.

I don't answer. I keep moving with the sheep, nearly bursting into a sprint and then…

"Why do you flee?" His breath is on my neck.

I push back against him and fall on my butt. The sheep bleats and cries, trotting over to me.

"Stay away from me!" I jump to my feet and take several steps back. He doesn't chase.

"You are invited to the fold." The smile on his face widens into a grin as he stretches his arm towards me.

The air shifts and the hairs on my neck stand. Magic.

A blue piercing light forms around his outstretched arm and I can just tell he's about to blast me with something.

"Come to the fold."

The light shoots forward, coming for my head but just as it does, I cast a spell on my sheep.

"Death Grip!"

The spell takes hold and within a split second, I pull the poor bleating sheep to shield my face. The sheep however, is a poor shield. The beam pierces through my dinner and grazes my head, knocking me on my butt and pulling the consciousness out of me.

I can't help but feel a familiarity with how I entered this world. Perhaps this is how I leave it.