Heaven is troubled. Waves of rain are heavily descending upon the land with strings of lightning decorating the dark gloomy sky whenever they hit. Not one soul expected a violent thunderstorm in the middle of June, not even the all knowing arch mages and their prideful priests. This was no ordinary thunderstorm. On the road to an old crippled village named Little Lady, two young men are riding their frightened and soaked horses. They could have arrived two days early if it were not for this unforeseen storm. One of them, who seems to be the oldest, looks at the sky with rain streaking down his face. He turns away quickly as the downpour nearly drowns his vision.
"I bet farmers will be happy with this much rain, fucking beggars." He mutters, a frown in his eyes. The younger one glances at him.
" You could always be a farmer, you have got the looks for it, I assure you".
"Fuck off will ya", the older one replies with amusement. "It is hard to see in this gloomy weather, my vision is obscured".
"Yeah this is no ordinary storm, to think that we of all people struggle to see in this dark. At least the lightning is lending us a hand".
"The looming little fuckers have not come out to play as well, strange" He grabs his newly forged sword and wiggles it playfully. "A shame I won't try this big boy out tonight"
"Oh you will"
"Oh that?" he laughs. "An incubus needs scrolls and prayers, not steel"
"Have you read the contract ?"
"Reading was always your thing"
"The garrison's captain sent two troops after the beast. The second unit had two knights. None came back," he pauses, "and the village priest, Father Arno, went missing too."
"Even the priest ? Scrolls and prayers are of no use it seems, that is one mean Incubus we are dealing with".
"True that, Come on we are not too far off".
The two men ride on in silence as the storm grows stronger. After a two hour ride, they arrive at their destination.
"There we are", said the younger one as they entered Little lady.
The village gate was destroyed, its streets empty and dirty with mud and piss. The wooden houses crumbling and barely holding their own against the storm. "What a beautiful sight" said the older one, "I see an inn there, let's hitch the horses and pay these good folks a visit".
The two men do just that and head inside the Little Lady inn. The inn was crowded, some of the villagefolk sought shelter in it instead of their crumbling houses while others were stuck there waiting for the storm to end. They head towards the innkeeper with the villagers eyes on them, a young woman with a sad look in her eyes.
"Hey there lass, quite the place you got here" said the older one.
"It is my father's, I am responsible here until he comes back", replied the young lady with a sad tone.
"Where is he your father, if I may ask" said the younger one.
"I do not know" the young woman's eyes started tearing up, "They told me the damned Incubus got to him but I do not believe them, he is alive. I..I know it, I can feel it and he will come back to his inn and to me".
She quickly wipes up her tears and regains her composure.
"I am sorry you needn't hear all of that. What can I get you gentlemen ?"
"A cup of ale if you would lass" said the older one, completely ignoring her grief, "What is your name ?", he adds.
"Margery," said the woman while pouring down the ale.
"A fine name for a fine woman. My name is Rex, and this handsome young man with me is Dorian."
"Pleasure to meet you" said the woman while putting the cup in front of Rex.
"Likewise" said the men.
Rex grabs his cup and drinks it all in one gulp then asks for another. As the woman was fetching the cup she looks at Dorian and gives him a warm smile. "And what about you good sir, what should I get you ?".
Dorian breaks from his silence and with a stern look he gets closer to her.
"I would like to ask you more about your father's disappearance if you do not mind, it would be of great import to us".
Annoyed, the woman replies.
"Are you with the garrison ? I already told them everything I know, you should go ask your good for nothing captain", she turns around, "I should have known it when I saw the big swords and the fancy armor."
" I am a purger, we both are".
The woman's face changes from visible annoyance to fear and wariness. She tries uttering something but she fails. All her life she has been taught to stay away from purgers. Human monsters who roam the lands looking for gold and blood. Criminals that not even the law could apprehend. As far as she knows, they are contract killers who won't spare any woman or child, as long as the pay is good.
"Easy there lass" said Rex, "I know what you folks think of us, some of those stories you heard are true or even worse. But know this, we are the only men in this realm capable of dealing with whatever fuckery is out there."
"And the only men capable of finding your father and all the missing villagers", adds Dorian, putting the Incubus hunt contract in front of the innkeeper and piercing through her eyes with a confident look. The woman glances at the contract. These two purgers are here for the incubus. Killers turned saviors. With the same wary look in her eyes, she nods and hands Dorian a cup of ale. She then takes a piece of paper and writes on it what Dorian had asked.
"Here good sir, enjoy your stay".
Dorian thanks her and the two sit on a table. He quickly reads through the woman's paper looking for clues but nothing she mentioned deserved a reaction, while Rex proudly moves his sword around then puts it next to him. Cannibal he named it. The occurrence of him naming his weapon only happened twice even though he has wielded over a hundred , with the first being a claymore he named Hopebringer.
"We look menacing enough with our torn coats and armor, no need to swing the Cannibal around like that, we might spook the gentlemen", said Dorian.
"They can get as spooked as they wish, we are their protectors in these dire times, and we specifically came to this bloody village to save them, they should kiss our feet instead"
In the meanwhile, the whole inn is staring warily at the two men. A looming tension has set upon the establishment. One of the villagers overheard their latter conversation and hastily spread the word that two purgers had visited the inn thus they grew cautious and anxious at the presence of these two peculiar men. The whispering got too loud that it started piercing at the purgers' ears. It is an everyday thing for them to see garrison men in and out of the inn, but this pair of armed men was different.
"We can hear you for fuck's sake, stop your yapping already", said Rex angrily. He gulps down the remaining of his ale. "We will get out of your hair as soon as we finish savoring this fine ale, so shut your holes "
The whole inn looked at Rex with a terrified glance, and one of the villagers stood up.
"Get out of our hair? It is you animals that brought about all these damn destruction and despair. We can no longer go out of our houses without fearing for our lives and for our children".
The whole inn nodded in approval. They all have been indoctrinated to hate purgers as they blame them for the unleashing of the beasts upon them. Has this rumor been proven to be true ? That they do not wholeheartedly know. Rex felt enraged upon hearing the villagefolk's words. He smacks down the table with his palm and shatters it in half, this makes the other men stand up in fear and surprise. Margery the innkeeper had the same reaction. How can someone be this violently ferocious?
"You ungrateful little shit, if it were not for us and our efforts, your corpse would be rotting under a bridge somewhere with worms feasting on it, or even worse, inside a ghoul's stomach". The whole inn grasps at the profanity of Rex's words.
"Calm down Rex", says Dorian while getting up, "I apologise for any inconvenience my partner caused, the ale got to him, we will get out now"
The villagers stood back intimated by Dorian's sword and attire. A cold blooded murderer carrying a weapon of that size is something they should be wary of, and his partner just demolished a sturdy wooden table with a smack of his palm, clearly they stand in the same realm of might. Rex stands up as well, a towering figure with a mean look. He carries The Cannibal sheathed in its scabbard. The whole inn carefully stares at the two men as they are about to leave. Dorian takes out a purse full of silver coins and hands it to the innkeeper.
"For your troubles kind lady, we thank you for your hospitality"
The storm calmed down a notch, it stopped raining but the wind was strong enough to play with a full grown man like a fiddle. Nevertheless, the two men mount their horses and leave the inn.