Sixteen #2
"I hope he's not really an ass, that he was just manipulated into the things he's doing. Either way, though, he's quitting."
When we got to the spot I figured was the closest, I took shelter with Suzona behind the wall of a building from which I could actually see Jordon fighting.
"Well, this looks to be about the spot. Let's give the others a bit to catch up so they can distract everyone, then we'll go for it."
"Maybe you should have told them that before we left?" Suzona chided me, smiling.
"I just want to get this done and go home, if I'm being honest."
"Well, how about we use our rifles and start picking off the folks around him? Make his priests use up their magic?"
I nodded. "Good idea, let's."
Unlimbering the rifle, I went to one end of the wall, Suzona took the other, and we picked off targets of opportunity, hitting them in the arm or the leg so they'd need healing. We had no idea how many priests were up there, but they weren't on holy ground, so they'd be burning their spells.
That was until Jordon yelled out to his priests to stop wasting their magic.
By the time I ran out of ammunition, there were a lot of wounded and dying on the ground around Jordon, and, it was safe to say, morale was taking a hit.
"Where'd you learn that one from?" I asked, setting the rifle and the now-empty bandolier against the wall. By now, the company we'd come here with had shown up.
"That last nasty fight with Isengruer," Suzona said with a sigh as she set her rifle down. "They did it to us once, and after that, I did it to them every chance I got."
I nodded. I'd definitely have to remember that.
"Well, let's go!"
Coming out around the building, we dashed up the hill towards Jordon, and the company let go with a massive volley of continuous covering fire as we did so. I guess the commander really knew his job.
I shot a couple of people with my pistol, and then I shot Jordon in the knee just before I dropped it.
"Who are you that dares to defy me!" he yelled as he healed the wound.
"Your father!" I growled at him. "What kind of idiot did I spawn that you threw in with an evil god?"
"You're not my father! The coward left me! Left me behind! I was nothing to him! Nothing at all!"
Smiling, I drew my swords and used my champion's voice to call out loudly as I shifted, "Behold, William the Godslayer! I have come to claim my son and spank his ass for dishonoring the family name!"
The effect was surprising. The look of shock, then anger on Jordon's face was about what I expected.
"I will kill you for abandoning me!" he screamed.
"Well, then, better be about it, because I ain't got all day!"
I bulled into him and attacked him all-out. I wasn't trying to teach him any kind of lesson beyond not messing with his father. He fought sword-and-board, so I had no problem blocking his attacks as I circled him.
However, he wasn't able to block mine. I smacked him on the head with the flat of the sword every chance I got.
I kicked him in the shins when he raised his shield, and I kicked him in the hip on the other side when he didn't. The first time I got inside his shield, I headbutted him hard enough that he had to backpedal, shaking his head.
"Now are you going to stop fighting me, or am I going to have to get mean?" I growled at him.
"You abandoned me! You left me behind!"
"Yeah, well, I'm here now, and I'm not at all pleased with what I'm seeing! You fight like shit, and you work for an asshole who doesn't give two shits about you! Yeah, you had it rough! Boo-freaking hoo!" Then I punched him in the face, surprising the hell out of him.
"Now drop your sword and listen to your old man!"
"Like hell I will!" he yelled and turned to run. I could see that he was trying to open up a portal, so I stepped on his cape and smacked him on the side of the head, breaking his concentration as he came to a sudden stop before the cape ripped free.
"Molnitus, if you let him gate out of here, I will come to your temple, kill everyone, and destroy it, and if that's not enough, I'll destroy you!" I growled out loudly.
"He's not afraid of you!" Jordon screamed and rolled over onto his hands and knees just as I kicked him in the face. He'd lost the shield when he'd fallen, so I sheathed one of my swords.
"Oh, he's afraid, all right! And he'll cut you loose to save his own worthless ass! He's evil, you stupid idiot! Do you think he cares about you?"
"Well, you didn't!"
"If I didn't care, I wouldn't be wasting my time!" I said, and I kicked him in the side so hard I felt his ribs crack as he rolled away from me. "Go on! Try to open a portal!"
I watched as he concentrated, and then suddenly his eyes got wide, and he screamed!
"No! No! You promised! You promised!"
"Jordon, drop your sword, stand up, and come over here."
Jumping to his feet in an obvious rage, Jordon charged. "I don't take orders from—"
I bitch-slapped him so hard that I readied a cure in case I broke his neck, and his body spun around. Grabbing him from behind, I disarmed him, dropped down to sit on a rock, bent him over my knee, and spanked his ass.
"You will quit that god, and you will quit him right now!" I yelled at him. I almost laughed as I remembered getting a good spanking from my own dad back when I was six.
"Let me go! Let me go!"
"Jordon, if you don't, I'm gonna kill him! Then no one's ever gonna want you!"
His whole body twitched as he got bitch-slapped by Molnitus, and he screamed again.
"You bastard! You bastard! You lied to me! You lied! I quit! I quit!"
I felt it then, as Jordon lost his champion status instantly.
I looked around. Suzona was going to town, killing anyone who got near us, but when Jordon quit, they all turned and ran.
"Sue, I'm heading home. You coming?"
"Nah, I think I'm gonna stick around a while and work through some issues!"
I laughed and, opening a portal, I picked up Jordan, who was literally sobbing at this point.
"Son, I was told you'd be taken care of and raised well. I wish I'd known, or I'd have come sooner. I'm sorry."
I stepped through the portal, and he shivered a moment and passed out.
"He's not dead, is he?" I asked.
"No, William," Fel's voice said, "but we are having a conversation."
"I messed up with him, didn't I?" I said with a sigh, and set Jordon's now feline body on one of the padded benches, then stripped off my gear.
"Yes, you did, though very few champions would care, especially since it wasn't your fault. Don't be too hard on yourself."
"Now I need to figure out what to do with him. I don't think having him around here would be a good idea. I think he needs a lot more training and discipline, and to be in a place where people aren't allowed to act like entitled brats.
"I also don't want any gods trying to poach him."
Fel laughed. "He was a champion for all of ten days and got no training at all, then he quit. Nobody's going to be looking to recruit him, especially not if it'll get you coming after him."
"Well, that's good. How long before he wakes up?"
"It'll be a couple of days."
"Great. I'm gonna go find Nara and show her that I still care. Thanks, Fel."
"You're welcome. He does have potential, William, but Molnitus was actually after him for some time. He's been trying to subvert someone from inside the king's household for decades so he could turn them traitor."
I had to shake my head at that. "Oh, how's Helena doing?"
"She's hip-deep in males and having the time of her life. She appreciates the higher status females have here and is very much planning on staying."
"As long as she's happy," I said and went off to track down Nara.
#
I was lying in bed with Rachel the next day after telling her everything that had happened.
"The problem is I don't know what to do with him." I sighed. "He can't go back home, they'd kill him, and I don't trust him enough to leave him to his own devices."
"Send him to live with the Mowoks."
"What?"
"Will, if anyone can ride herd on him and teach him ethics, morals, and honor, it's them. They'll whip him into shape, and if he acts up—" she shrugged "—they'll beat his ass until he either behaves or they kill him."
"I don't want him ending up dead," I grumbled.
"You told me your other son, Theo, said they were friends, and Jordon turned into an ass, which means he wasn't always. Well, if he can be saved, who else do you know who'll save him?"
I thought about that for a while. She did have a point.
"I guess I'll talk to Fel and see what he says. You're probably right. Who knows, maybe he'll like it there? I don't think he's ever really had an easy life."
"Okay, now that's done, what are our plans?"