Return of the (formerly) one-armed swordsman

"Oliver!" Silvia shouted as she ran to the door. Oliver was breathing somewhat heavily, partially leaning on the door. She quickly reached him and put herself under his arm to support him. "Are you okey? you should be-"

Oliver cut her off while looking straight at me, "You. I cannot stress how much you have helped me. How could I ever-"

It was now my turn to cut him off, "I require no payment. To be honest, it served as quite the way to prove my god's power, so the act itself helped me greatly." I gave him a polite smile. 'Not that I expect someone like you to accept that. You will do whatever you can to assist me from now on, and I'll make sure to use you properly.'

He let out a slight grimace as he took his weight off of Silvia. "Then at least allow me to make a proper introduction for myself." He got down on one knee, in a very deep bow. "I am Sir Oliver Trust, son of the great adventurer William Trust, and brother of the great Oracle, Willson Trust. It is an honor to meet you, priest of the new god."

I gave a twisted smirk on the inside, but a caring smile on the outside. "I am Mathew Kiegan, first priest of Moged-Ruun." I paused for a few moments before I asked an embarrassing yet important question. "I do apologize, but I am unfamiliar with William or Willson Trust, would you care to explain?"

He looked up at me with surprise. "My father, William Trust, was a renowned adventurer. Some say he was the equivalent of to one of the Heros in his day." He took a slight sorrowful expression. "He settled down after our mother had me and my brother, though I never met her. And then there is my brother. He was born with the power to see the future the world was currently going towards. And of course, the royal family saw that as a valuable tool, so they took him just after our father died." He clenched his fists while retelling the story.

I put on a contemplative expression. "Quite the useful ability. I would say it is more powerful than my own 'Gaze into Fate' ability, though I suppose it could be argued otherwise."

Oliver looked at me in amazement before turning to Grutrod, who answered the implied question. "Aye, he used it on the lass a wee bit ago. The one on the floor, I mean."

Oliver turned back to me while standing up. "I regret to make a request of you again, but-"

I chuckled, "I understand, though I should warn you that it probably won't help you much." He gave me a confused expression before I answered. "I neglected to tell them this before because it didn't much matter, but 'Gaze into Fate' allows me to see the fate of a person, specifically in a world where my god did not exist."

He went wide eyed, and Grutrod gave an accepting nod. "Regardless, it would help me to know where I would be without your aid, so I may reward you properly." He gazed at me with determination. I gave a supportive nod before holding out my hands, excited for my second use of Gaze into Fate, hopefully a less lewd one this time.

#####

The good news is that I could tell where I was this time. I was in Wodegta, just outside of the tavern in the square. Thats where all of the even positive in the least news ended. Now we get to the bad news, the town was under attack.

The city guard and a few thugs were fighting their hardest, but it was a one-sided slaughter. Hornet-like monsters swarmed, blocking out the light from the rampant fires around. The people screamed in terror as they were attacked. The women plucked from the ground, and the men struck down with stingers and spears.

The door to the tavern swung open behind me, and two arrows and a bolt of magic flew through me, granting a strange sensation. The party I had met ran out of the tavern, fighting their way through the hoard of bugs. They seemed to be winning at first, but the swarm noticed this as well.

They attacked them with full ****, quickly overwhelming their defenses. With only one arm, Oliver could not put up a good defense, and was quickly overwhelmed. I could not see the fate of Grutrod though the mass of Hornets, but I saw the massive insects taking the two girls. I could assume their future from here after seeing Natalia's fate.

After stinging Oliver, they moved on, not even finishing him off. He was left to slowly die from the agonizing poison. Suddenly, he started speaking. "Brother, is that your gaze I feel upon me?" He let out a grim chuckle that turned to a cough. "I am sorry, brother. That I could not protect you like an older brother should." He let out one last wheeze. "Please, forgive... me." with that, he fell to his side on the ground, unmoving.

#####

I released his hands slowly. It seemed I was quite bad at hiding the sorrow I felt from that scene. "It was that bad, huh?" Oliver asked me.

I looked to the floor for a minute, before looking to Natalia. "Let's just say it gave context to Natalia's fate, and that I was not fully truthful with how bad that one was."

Silvia scoffed. "You said I was dying, how much worse can it get?"

I looked at her with a grim expression. "I said you were suffering, not dying, and I hope you can piece that together on your own." A look of confusion overtook their faces. "I will say, I may have preferred Oliver's fate of **** by sting then you and Natalia's."

Natalia started to slowly awaken, not that anyone else noticed that. Silvia spoke up with a slight anger, "You said Natalia looked happy, you saying you lied?"

"I did not lie." I said firmly, "However I shall state that I doubt she had enjoyed her circumstance at the start."

Silvia sill didn't quite seem to understand, but Natalia had started to get back up. "I had already guessed what you meant." She said. Silvia quickly turned to her with a concerned expression. "After all, I very much doubt I could endure in most situations near as long as Silvia could."

With that it seemed to click. For all of them. They all gained a look of horror on their faces as the turned to me. I gave a sorrowful nod, confirming what I believe they suspected.