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"You sure it's gonna help him? I... um, alright, thank you. Thank you so much! Hilde gives the tea to her boy Here... now you must rest, Otto. Everything's gonna be alright, sweetheart."
"What are we going to do to now? We can't stay here forever"
Almost as an confirmation of her words there's commotion outside again. It seems that the village people are coming here to investigate.

"Thank you Ruthard", Karl says with a genuine look in his eyes.

*Another pause, before Karl can contain his curiousity no longer*

"Where have you been? What made you come back? What have you been doing? *eyeing the longsword*"

• "When that bastard Georgius turned the village against me I had to survive Karl. I took it with a mercenary company and I made it captain."

Softly turning to Hilde, his voice now a whisper.

• "But my heart never left... So I had to come back. Alas, I was too late..."

Turning to face them both, his eyes shooting flames.

• "Thankfully I was not robbed of everything... That dog Georgius murdered my father and put the blame on me. I came back to have the bastard's head on a pike. And so I will, even if I have to fight through the legions of Hell. But enough with that. As I said, there will be time later to catch on. Now we must stay alive."

Finally turning to Hans, pointing to his messer.

• "As you heard my name is Ruthard and I'm a warrior. Who are you? And most importantly, will you help against those lunatics?"

"Ah, yes. My name is Hans and I'm just a simple carpenter from the city waiting for the storm to pass so I can continue my journey.", Hans answers Ruthard with almost a sad tone in his voice.

"We need each other to survive the storm, so I will help you but I am not a warrior despite having this oversized knife in my hand. So, no frontal assaults or anything stupid like that. By the way, thanks for helping Otto!".

Ruthard nods in agrement. He walks up to Hilde, unsheathes the rondel from his boot, and gives it to her.

• "Pray to God you won't be needing it, still, I won't have anyone unarmed in a situation like this."

Ruthard returns to the hut window and peeks out.

• "We'll have to stay as a group and swiftly get as far as possible. If need arises I'll lure them away while you make a run for it."

The street just outside the hut is clear (not counting two bodies), but in the distance Ruthard can see a dozen or more peasants, heading slowly towards him.

"So, you're a local, too? Where do you suggest we head next? Our plan was to go to manor."

• "And so you should. The manor seems the best place to make a stand if needed."

A measured pause.

• "I'll go out first to lure that mob away, when it's clear you four run for it. Just don't go inside the manor when you get there, for we don't know the Lord's intentions. Better stay low until I rejoin you. Don't do anything stupid that would get you killed."

Without a word Ruthard steps into the street, closing the door behind him, and faces the crowd.

• "You bunch of shit-smelling goat-herders. Here I am. Come taste my blade!"

The mob turns at Ruthard and charges him.

• "It's the White Devil! KILL HIM!"

Ruthard starts running, crowd at his heels, away from the manor. Suddenly he spots a side alley, half hidden by a cart full of hay. He suddenly spins around, back towards the alley and gets ready for facing the villagers, using the cart as cover for his flank.

• "That's it! We've cornered him!"

Then all hell breaks loose. Villagers try to push him down, while he furiously fends them off with his sword. However his choice of fighting ground is good. Only three can attack him at a time. A few stabs and slashes later three mangled bodies are lying at his feet, while a nasty gash across the cheek marks his face.

• "Stop, stop! He's the Angel of Death itself! How can we fight Death?"

The villagers withdraw and Ruthard takes a step forward and screams at them.

• "You are wrong! I am Gabriel, the Might of God! The Lord send me to this land to cleanse it from the presence of the venomous Serpent, Georgius the Usurper!"

The crowd turns tail to flee at this exclamation. Or so it seems. From behind the mob a burly man with a thick mustache, brandishing a wicked halberd shouts.

• "He is the enemy of father Georgius! you two - we must kill him... the rest must warn our priest"

Two well-built youths side by him, one brandishing a long dagger, the other a quarterstaff. The crowd flees, as Ruthard advances against his three opponents.

The previous scuffle was a test of ferocity, but now its clearly a test of wits and skill.

Ruthard starts circling his opponents, waiting for the right time to strike. Then an opportunity arises. Ruthard steps in for the kill - alas he is wrong! His opponents misled him, and what seemed like an opening in reality was a devious feint. The man with the staff tries to hit his legs with his staff, but suddenly he retreats, and their leader steps in with a wicked slash to Ruthard's chest. Miraculously Ruthard manages to redirect his sword and deflect the strike, but not strongly enough. The halberd rattles his blade, bounces upwards and cuts half his left ear. The halberdier then makes an arcing slash top-to-bottom to Ruthard's head. Thankfully the albino was ready, rolling away using his sword as leverage, piercing the unaware man brandishing the dagger with his longsword cleanly through the skull.

The man with the quarterstaff panics at the sight of his fallen comrade, while the halberdier advances.

"You will not survive here." says the burly man.
"I've heard that before, worm food." responds Ruthard with a chuckle.

The two warriors clash again. The halberdier swings a mighty blow to Ruthard's chest once again.
"Predictable." Ruthard muses, blocking the halberd with his blade, and with a sharp twist sends it flying. Before the burly man has time to react Ruthard's blade continues a full circle and hits him on the head with a loud cracking sound. The man collapses in a pool of blood and brains while his companion keeps running and screaming.

Ruthard readies his warhammer, gauges the distance, and throws it full force, striking him on the leg. His leg broken, the man tumbles down, Ruthard running after him. Finally he clears the final feet with a mighty jump, blade first. The doomed villager tries to fend off the attack but in vain. The longsword pierces though his outstretched arm, chest, spine, and finally hits the cobbled road, throwing a shower of sparks.

Ruthard collects the hammer, quickly binds his ear, and hustles towards the manor, hoping the others are safe.

Hans nods in agreement and spies from a window how Ruthard engages the mob.

"Okay, are you ready people?", he asks Karl. "You take care of your family and direct me to the manor. I'll lead the way. Let's make Ruthard's feint count, eh?".

Karl has watched Ruthard's massacre solemnly from a distance. At Hans' question he will give an an almost imperceptible nod and point the way, eyes never leaving the man who was once the boy he knew, and the cooling bodies of men that were better than they had been forced to be by that bastard priest.

The group heads towards the manor. They are covering themselves with coats and blankets, Otto protected between his parents.
After 10 or 15 minutes they are close to their destination. Hans goes first and sneaks closer to investige. There are four guards at the gate, wearing mail hauberks and simple helmets, holding spears and with daggers as their backup weapons. Despite the rain they keep the watch.

"You have dangerous friends, Karl.", Hans whispers as he heads toward the manor.

At the manor he keeps his distance from the gate.

"I think we should wait for Ruthard here outside the wall and find a place to hide until he hopefully shows up.", Hans says to Karl and begins to look for a better place to hide Karl's family.

In response to being told he has dangerous friends, Karl will raise an eyebrow himself. "It would seem so."

"I don't care to take on those guards or get caught by them climbing the wall. Let's wait for Ruthard."

"The way I see it is that we either bluff ourselves in but I wouldn't count on it or we use rope to get inside the wall. But you are right, let's wait for Ruthard."

- Karl, he's cold and scared. We need to find shelter! - Hilde cuddles Otto.

Meanwhile in the village...
Ruthard heads toward the manor. When he leaves the center, on the field nearby he can see another crowd. They surround two men: one very big and unarmed, second with a scarred face and an unsheathed longsword. They both are wearing similar black coats. Peasants are getting ready to attack them.

Ruthard waits until they start fighting, then he charges in with his trusty sword. A quick scuffle results in another wound for him, just like in the case of the "Scarface" - who is now going to be known as the "Twin Scar"... Miraculously, his big unarmored companion is unscratched, mainly because he has managed to grab two peasants in his mighty arms, use them as a shield, and then smash against each other.
The villagers back down.

- The Angel is with them! - those who are able leave the scene quickly, the rest surrender and ask for mercy. The fight is over.

The man with longsword turns toward Ruthard.
- And who the hell are you?!?