Wandering Warrior: Judge - Chapter 15 (Patreon)

Chapter 15

“So, the ‘gods’ demanded you execute us?”  I shook my head, trying to reconcile the idea with what I knew about celestial and infernal beings.  Believing that an actual god was giving orders to mortals was a little unbelievable to me, but the things we called angels and demons were a different story.  One of them could easily pull off calling themselves a god, since there wasn’t anyone around that would call them out on it.  At least, no one who would survive the experience if they were there in person on a world as magic-starved as this.

Getting my Mage class had unlocked celestial and infernal magic, but I hadn’t used any of it beyond a few blessings and curses.  The elves on my eighth planet had libraries filled with books that told stories of how horrible it could – and did – turn out when you messed with incredibly powerful beings from other planes of existence.  Lawfully Good was frequently just as dangerous as Lawfully Evil, and I wasn’t in a rush to mess with the insanity of either.  “Why don’t you tell me what ‘god’ wants me dead?”

Cross cleared his throat roughly, and Leedy passed him a canteen without him having to ask.  After taking a long drink, Cross finally got on with it.  “Many people don’t know this, but our guild wasn’t always the most powerful in the West.  We had help to get where we are today.  The ancient home and headquarters for our guild is many leagues to the south and east, in a small port town called Swordsworn on the banks of the Mighty Reka.”  Leedy silently nodded along with Cross, telling me the man was being honest.

“I’m not surprised to hear it.  Every organization has to start somewhere.”  I thought of the few worlds I had managed to create an order based on my Judge class, and the struggle it had taken to get there.  “So, what helped you become the leading guild?  And what does that have to do with your orders?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”  Cross leaned forward, his face deadly serious.  “What allowed us to rise to power, and where most of our orders originate from, is The Oracle.”  He waited, trying to see if I understood the gravity of the information.  When I didn’t react, he frowned and kept talking.  “The Oracle is a book.  An ancient tome that is connected to the Trinity.  Whatever they say always comes true.  It allows our leadership to write questions, and the gods will answer, if they deem the request worthy.”

I snorted, unable to contain my scorn.  “So, your entire guild listens to whatever a book says?  A book that anyone with a strong enough transference spell could write in?  With advanced thought processes like that, it’s a miracle this place isn’t a burning wasteland already.”

“You scoff, but the power of The Oracle has been proven over generations.  You can only dismiss it so easily because you don’t truly understand its power.”  Cross picked up a stick and poked at the fire.  “There have been plenty of wizards over the years that have tried to control the messages The Oracle gives us, but it always ends in their death.”

“And is it common for your book to order the murder of innocent civilians?”  I tossed more wood on the fire.  It was getting colder.  “Or are Jess and I lucky enough to be the first?”

Cross winced, looking down at his hands.  “I don’t know every order The Oracle has given over the years, so it’s possible there are more.”  He looked up to see me frowning at him.  “But yes, you are the first I know about.”

“How many people received these orders?  Am I going to have to worry about fighting every Warden I come across from now on?”  I didn’t say it out loud, but this also changed the plan about exposing him to the local populace at Greendown.  It wouldn’t be nearly as easy to show up with him tied up and denounce him as an attempted murderer if he was following orders.

“Not many know of the orders passed down by The Oracle.  It isn’t a secret that we have the book – especially in certain circles – but we keep the actual messages it gives us as quiet as possible.”  Cross paused to think, looking for the answers in the fire.  “The one who passed the message to me was the Commandant.  I don’t think anyone else knows about it.  Once news gets out that I failed, the Wardens will either send more of our own people to hunt you down, or hire members of the Button Guild to handle it.  Since there aren’t many Wardens more capable than I am in the region, I would guess they do the latter.”

“Button Guild?  What kind of guild is that?”  Images of button collectors and seamstresses armed with scissors following me through the woods flashed through my head.  “It doesn’t sound very threatening.”

Leedy had walked over to the saddlebags near the hastily erected tents and returned with a set of clothes for the nearly naked captain.  He answered before Cross had a chance.  “The Button Guild has the best assassins of all the guilds.  They don’t do cloak-and-dagger style like the Thieves Guild, or poison like the darker side of the Alchemy Guild.  All their kills are made to look like accidents.”

“Oh, now that is scary.”  I deadpanned my reply, but I actually meant what I said.  An assassin competent enough to kill someone without making the death obvious that it was a murder meant they were truly dangerous.  “So, you are saying that we need to look out for runaway wagons and loose roof tiles?”

“Something like that.”  Cross took the clothes from Leedy and put them on gingerly, still in pain from his injured foot and various scrapes and bruises from being dragged roughly across the clearing.  I didn’t offer to heal them.  He could suffer a bit longer.  “What are your plans now that you know?”

“I’ll have to gauge that based on what I see when we get to Greendown.”  I looked over to where Jess was skinning another raptor.  “Finding a safe place for Jess to go will probably be my first priority.  After that, I don’t know.  Not that I would tell you even if I did have some idea.”

Cross looked away from me, refusing to meet my eye.  “It… it’s not a good idea for you to separate from the lycan-touched.  She isn’t going to last long without your help.”

“What do you mean by that?”  I sat forward, a flash of anger running through me.  “Was she named in the orders from your stupid book?  I thought it only wanted you to kill me.”

“It didn’t name you.  Just described you, and what your message to the people you met would be.”  Cross still wouldn’t look at me.  “But I did name both of you when I sent in my report after we spoke with the innkeeper.”

“You stupid piece of shit.”  I took a deep breath and tried to calm down.  “You signed her death warrant, knowing what it meant.”  Cross finally looked up at me, and it was all I could do not to shoot him in his dumb face.  “I should just kill you for that.  For everything you’ve done.”

“I was only following orders.”  Cross barely whispered his words, knowing how hollow they sounded.  “The Wardens are a force for good, and The Oracle says you threatened that.  I did what I had to do to protect us.”

My inner Judge finally came to a ruling on his actions.  I wanted to kill him outright, but I knew it wasn’t the right choice.  I could feel my voice deepen as the aspect of my Judge Profession came to the forefront.  “Captain Cross, you claim to have only been following orders, but you know you violated your conscience.  Your actions were that of a murderer and reflect the evil inherent in your organization.  Instead of choosing to do the right thing, you chose the easy wrong.  As punishment, I claim your ability to perform magic, so that you may no longer use your power for evil.”

Before he could react, I had already stood, unsheathed my ninjato, and removed his left hand with a hard chop.  The same hand he used when slapping Leedy earlier.  I held back from removing his right hand, even though it left him with the ability to learn spells with it.  Magic was a finicky thing, and I knew that he would carry the mental scars of losing the primary hand he used for casting.  It would be nearly impossible for him to ever become as powerful as he was before.

Cross stared down at his hand in shock, not even reacting to what I had done.  I grabbed his wrist, cutting off the spurt of blood before he could die.  I stuck my sword in the ground next to me so I could use the free hand to draw a circle with both a ‘J’ and ‘H’ inside it, channeling a healing spell into Cross.  I made sure not to allow the hand to regrow, instead healing it into a stump.  Now, no one would be able to fix it.  The loss of the hand was permanent.

Leedy had stumbled back, but rushed forward with his sword drawn.  He stumbled to a stop when he saw me healing Cross.  “Wha-what have you done?!”

“I’ve removed his ability to cast spells.  From now on, anytime he thinks about hurting someone who doesn’t deserve it, he will remember the consequences of his evil choices.”  I looked down at Cross, who had gone deathly pale.  “Your Judgment has been passed.  Don’t make the same mistakes a second time.”

“You just ended his career!”  Leedy was still holding his sword, but it was pointed at the ground.  I could sense Private Murphy standing off to the side, ready to step in.  I had no idea which of us he would fight for, but the unusually wise young man held himself back.  Leedy didn’t show the same restraint.  “He can’t serve as a captain without a hand!  You have no idea how much you have weakened this region.  The amount of monsters that can now roam free without him there to stop them will result in the death of–”

I snapped my attention from Cross to Leedy, my eyes boring into the Warden.  “He ended his own career the moment he thought it was acceptable to kill Jess just for being associated with me.”  I pulled my ninjato from the ground and slammed the straight blade in its sheath.  “And he only compounded his sins when he sent out a message that he knew would end in her death, even if he personally didn’t do the deed.  As for the monsters, the Commandant will have to do his job, and protect the people.  Without his captain’s help.”

Leedy backed away, sheathing his own sword.  “I don’t like this, James Holden.  You did this without him being brought before a tribunal, and decided on your own to–”

“When will you learn?”  My voice was quiet, but the intensity was enough to silence the Corporal.  “I am the tribunal.  I am a Judge.  This is what I do.  It is my responsibility to decide the punishment for the crimes others commit.  If you don’t like that, then you are free to return to the corrupt organization that allows the injustice of this world to fester.”

The Corporal turned away, moving to go help the others with the dead raptors.  He didn’t look at me the whole time.

“What… what am I supposed to do now?  You didn’t just end my career.”  Cross finally looked up at me, still clearly in shock.  “You’ve killed me.  When those vampires come back, I’m finished.”

“No, I removed one of the weapons at your disposal.  Do you have other weapons, besides your magic?”  I stood over him, purposefully being as imposing as possible.  “You misused your magic.  Perhaps you can change, and use your sword for good, now that you can’t use spells for evil.”

I turned and walked away, finding my own dead raptor to clean.  There was no guilt for what I had done.  Cross had made his bed, and now it was time for him to lay in it.  I was more concerned about what I was going to do with Jess.  There was no way I could send her off on her own now, not if an entire guild of assassins were going to come after her.  I looked down at the bracers I had gotten from Cross, and started planning.