I didn't exactly know the significance of what Clare had just said, but judging by the serious expression on Lemon's face, those few words must've held some serious weight.
"What do you mean by that?"
"What does that mean?"
The two of us started questioning Clare almost in unison. She didn't react, but after a moment of silence, started explaining further.
"Lemon, I suspect you know most of what I was doing, but I'll explain for you, Slate. Originally, I was putting my magic into the sword to explore it from the inside to attempt to determine its nature further. With the Church's weapons, when you attempt to do that, they always react strongly, usually trying to rewrite and absorb the magic into themselves. Because of that, if you can dump enough magic into them fast enough, you can actually destroy them. Keep the magic low strength though, and you can discern the nature of the sword, both its specific attitude and how it will amplify the user's strength."
When she paused to breathe, Lemon jumped in.
"I want to make something clear. When she says 'you can destroy the weapons', she means that she can destroy them, or others with her magic power. Destroying anything made by the smiths of the Church is damn-near impossible, and depending on how it's done, can have catastrophic consequences due to the sheer amount of energy released in the instant of destruction."
"That's somewhat of an exaggeration. The energy required to actually destroy one of those weapons in that matter would leave the person completely drained and vulnerable to the wielder, who had to be strong enough to be given a weapon in the first place. That aside, as I tried to discern the nature of the sword, I felt no resistance. I could sense a magic flow within the sword, but when I attempted to pry into it, there was nothing, just like a typical, lifeless, lump of iron. I increased the magic I was putting into it to have an easier time searching, but there was still nothing. At that point, I noticed the other odd thing. If it were to behave like a non-magical sword, or even a magic one to a certain extent, it would begin to heat up as the energy dissipated into it, but it never did. No matter how much energy I dumped into it, it didn't heat up or resist in the slightest. It felt like tossing a candle into a bottomless hole. I have to suspect the energy is still in the sword, but the amount it would have to have stored would be enough kill a rather strong beast."
"Do you have any idea who could've made it?"
"No, and nor do I know what it could be made out of."
As soon as she finished, the carriages started slowing down, stopping awhile later.
"Right after sunset. Those things have their shit together. Let's go."
"Slate, you go with him this time. I want some time to think."
"Alright."
I returned my sword to its place on my hip before following Lemon out of the carriage and towards the animals. It took a bit for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, and when they did, I noticed we had stopped in a burnt, barren landscape. Unlike the untamed grasslands we had been surrounded by for the last few hours, this area had been cut down and scorched. What trees there were had all the leaves burnt off and the bark left blackened and cracked.
"What happened here?"
"Lightning probably started a wildfire."
"Even with it being so wet?"
"Lightning is a hell of a thing. Heard a story of a guy who got hit once. He was tending a field out here when the sky decided to unleash its wrath on him. When the neighbors decided to check in after not hearing from him for a while, they found a half-charred corpse and scorched earth around it. The area he was in was mostly dirt, so it didn't start a fire, but man is that a shitty way to go."
"Indeed."
We reached the front of the carriages and Lemon opened up a panel near where the ropes connecting the Wizonen to the carriage were connected. He produced a somewhat large bag and started walking towards the animals' heads. I walked over to the other carriage and repeated his actions. As I walked towards the animals, I opened the bag to see what we were feeding them and was surprised to see it looked like some type of meat jerky.
"These things are carnivores?"
"Omnivores, I think. Meat doesn't get moldy when wet as easily as the plant food does, and they seem to enjoy it, so just don't think about it too much."
I stood in front of the two Wizonen who looked at me with curiosity. I started pulling pieces of meat out of the bag, alternating which one I gave it to, which was what I had seen Lemon doing. They were fairly flat-faced animals, so I had to put my hands uncomfortably close in order to feed them. Overall though, they seemed to be fairly gentle creatures, and it struck me as I fed them that they must've been smart enough to realize that, since I had their food, I meant them no harm.
"Shit. We have trouble."
As I emptied the bag I held, Lemon's warning reached my ears. I turned to see three people approaching down the road in front of us.
"Here, take my bag and put it back. I'm going to go make sure they aren't about to try something stupid."
I nodded and took his bag. I walked quickly back to the carriages and put the now empty bags back in the same compartments we had pulled them from, closing the compartments while watching the scene unfolding up the road. Nothing had happened yet, but I had the feeling that it wouldn't last. Closing the second compartment, it struck me that Lemon hadn't grabbed his spear before leaving, and while I wasn't concerned given his hand-to-hand ability, I decided to grab it before joining him. With a final glance, I turned and quickly walked back to the carriage, entering quickly.
"What happened?"
"Three people appeared on the road. Lemon's talking to them now. Nothing has happened yet, but better safe than sorry."
"Slate, please do your best to make sure no one dies."
"That's the plan."
With a quick nod, which I only realized after the fact she couldn't see, I left the carriage again, spear in hand.
The spear was oddly heavy. The shaft was black, which I had assumed to be wood that was charred for water resistance, but was likely some type of metal, although it felt coarser than I'd expect for metal. Regardless, I did my best to look unbothered and confident as I walked down the road. As I walked, the rain started coming down harder. The sound of the rain masked their voices until I was fairly close
"Are you sure you can't spare anything?"
"I'm sure."
"Aren't you Church-lot supposed to be generous?"
I decided to stand a bit behind Lemon. In my mind, it was best to keep them thinking Lemon was unarmed. However the situation had developed, my addition changed it, and giving the only drawn weapon up would only raise their suspicion.
"Ah, great, my vice-captain is here. Would you mind repeating the offer you just gave me?"
The man looked between Lemon and I for a moment, choosing his words carefully. They all wore mud-stained cloaks, slightly tattered around the edges. Their leader's hood was pulled back enough to allow us to see his face, but still forward enough to block most of the rain. The two behind him had their hoods fully up, completely hiding their faces in the low light. The leader had one sword clearly visible on his hip and another strapped horizontally across his lower back, while the two behind him held halberds.
"Well, vice-captain, it was less of an offer and more of a humble request for help."
I gave him a second to continue, but he seemed to have no intention of doing so.
"What did that request contain?"
His eyes darted between the two of us and the carriages behind us.
"I simply asked if you all had any food you could spare for myself and my companions here."
"What else?"
"That was all we asked for, I swear."
"So, he told you no and you should have left, yet you're still here and he's annoyed. What else did you ask for?"
"Well, seeing as your captain was unwilling to provide us with something to sustain us, we wondered if he would be willing to spare some money so we could perhaps buy some food from one of the people out here, or from another group such as yours who has more to spare."
"I see. Captain, remind me, do we have any money with us?"
From his body language and what I could see of his face, I could tell Lemon was becoming increasingly irritated by the situation. I could also tell, however, the man we were talking to was also becoming increasingly agitated, although I couldn't tell whether he was embarrassed for asking or if he was wracking his brain to see if he could still work the situation to his benefit.
"No, unless you have any pocket change on you."
"I don't. Well, since we don't have any money or food for you, we'd both best be on our way."
"Wha- wait, please, I'm sure you have something- ah fuck this."
The man's hand darted for his sword. I had expected something like this, and the moment I saw his hand move, I stepped forward and drove the spear towards him. It was clumsy, but it was accurate and fast. The strike interrupted his draw as he sidestepped backwards. I was now standing by Lemon's side, and I quickly handed him his spear before reaching into my robes for my sword. I didn't draw it immediately, instead waiting to see how they'd respond. Lemon kept his spear leveled at them as well.
When I had struck, the two people behind the man stepped forward and leveled their halberds at us. Their leader retreated behind them as he drew his sword and was now holding it at a low ready position. We stayed like this, staring at each other unmoving.
Lemon started speaking softly, quiet enough I could barely hear it over the rain.
"Slate, I can hold them off for a bit on my own. When I move, run back to the carriages and give the signal to get moving. Clare would be pissed if I killed them, so make it fast."
"Right. On your move."
There were another few seconds of silence as I watched Lemon in my periphery. Just as I felt he was about to move, the area around the carriages was illuminated in a bright light. In that moment, I finally got a clear look at the faces of the other two, and a clearer look at the lead man's face. The thing I noticed first was how their skin seemed to eagerly stick to their bones, and how the light seemed unable to chase some of the shadows off their faces. One of the people behind the man was a woman, the other male, and they seemed even worse off. The three of them had their eyes locked on something behind us, mesmerized.
After the moment of analyzing our foes, I turned to see the source of the light, only to see Clare walking briskly towards us, radiating light like the long-unseen sun. The light spread around us halfway to the horizon
"They started it, I swear."
"Lemon, I don't care. There are a dozen more on either side of the road and I will not allow this to turn into a bloodbath."
She was only halfway between us and the carriages, and the rain hadn't abated, yet I could hear her clearly, as if she was standing right next to me.
Without another word, she suddenly started floating into the air, rising up the height of a few people. As I watched, her words finally processed in my mind, and I looked at our surroundings. On either side of the road, still a good distance away yet too close for comfort, there was a dozen people lying down, watching us. Their positions suggested they had been crawling forward, trying to stay out of sight while getting close to us. As Clare had said, if they had gotten close enough and ambushed us, we would have had no choice but to fight them off, and I had full confidence in us winning. As that reality set in, Clare started speaking, her voice falling across the charred plains around us.
"You all should be ashamed. You lot prey on the weak, stealing from those with nothing to give, preying on those you believe to be unable to fight, and for what? To live a life in shame? To make your ancestors regret continuing their bloodline? You may believe you are desperate, yet no matter how little you believe yourselves to have, there are always options that do not involve taking from others, especially those who need it just as much, if not more, than you do. You can go to the fringe towns and volunteer to defend humanity, where you will be given a paycheck and a warm meals; you can volunteer in the cities and the Church will provide you with the basic necessities; you can beg someone for a job; you could even do that which the people you take from do and produce your own field, taking only that which you grow for yourselves and what nutrients from the land that are required. Yet you do this. Your existence is shameful and, as it stands, unfit for continuation. Now, you will let us past and you will swear to yourselves you will cease this cretinous behavior, or I will treat you like the beasts you pose as."
She waited a few seconds for her words to sink in before descending back to the ground. She looked at us briefly before turning and walking back to the carriages. As she did, the light surrounding her started to fade. Lemon and I watched her leave for a moment before looking at each other, then at the three in front of us who had been stunned into silence.
"I recommend you do as she says."
With a final disgusted look, Lemon turned and started walking back toward the carriages, and I followed suit. As we walked, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Lemon had a smirk on his face. I likely would have too if I wasn't still a bit stunned by what had happened, although thankfully not to the extent of the bandits around us who had yet to move.
When we made it back to the carriages, we quickly entered, and Lemon gave the signal to the Wizonen to start moving again. We quickly passed the location we had been standing at, seeing that the three who had stopped us were standing at the side of the road, watching us pass them. Before long, they were out of view, and the darkness completely enveloped us, leaving only the sounds of the carriages creaking and the rain falling around us.