the size of buildings and whole ignited trees were now raining across the entire region due to a clash between what seemed to be Ug’gut and some other godlike enemy.
I sputtered out something unintelligible, tried to stand, and only then realized that I could barely breathe let alone move. This kid had to weigh as much as a damn aircraft carrier in spite
of her small frame.
“You came back!” She squealed in delight even as her eyes welled with tears. “You came to save big brother and beat up that stupid snake!” She was crying now and had
thrown a hug around me that was presently crushing my internals and making my head turn purple.
“Gravia!” The orc which I assumed to be the one I was supposed to deliver the halberd to called out to the kid. “Uncle Po is weakened from his return, you mustn’t crush
him like that.”
“Eh?” She blinked twice to clear away some of the tears and noticed my purple face and crumbling rib cage, then she began bawling hysterically. “I squished Uncle!” She
cried in dismay, and thankfully released her death grip, allowing a tic of regeneration to stabilize my rapidly plummeting Health.
She finally stood up, looking both relieved and miserable from guilt as the huge high orc appeared standing over me with his massive hand extended down to help me stand. Most things in my life
lately hadn’t really gone as expected, but this was was pretty high on the list of recent twists.
As our hands touched and he pulled me to my feet easily, a spark of memory shot through my mind. It wasn’t anything specific, just a familiarity in being hoisted by that exact hand so
many times that it was more nostalgic than grandma’s cookies.
Before I could open my mouth to begin sorting out the ludicrous scene unfolding all around me, Orfan flinched and snarled in pain. He took a step back and put his hand to his temple as though
he’d been hit.
“I’m sorry dear friend.” Orfan growled through the pain. “I believe Kutris would rather kill me than allow us to reunite as brothers in arms. I know I can trust you
to care for my sister.”
“Hold up a second.” I replied. “I’m supposed to give you something, and maybe it’ll help whatever this is. I don’t know, because frankly I am completely
lost.” I mentally scanned my Astral Vault until I found the antique halberd from Polemios’ tree house.
It appeared in thin air and I didn’t even try to put my hands on it, knowing that its weight was way beyond anything I could hope to lift. The orc’s eyes went wide in disbelief.
“Hey! You found Orfie’s house!” The little orc girl exclaimed, forgetting all of her guilt instantly.
“Whose what now?” I asked as the weapon began to drop but suddenly halted in the air.
“It seems you’ve lost some of your memories.” Orfan said, grimacing less and holding out his hand in the direction of the now levitating halberd.
“I am Orfan, the One Who Kills. Once and forever the right hand of Polemios. She..." Orfan gestured to the wide eyed girl. "...is Gravia, the One Who Weeps, and the left hand of Polemios. We are your weapons, Big Brother and
Little Sister. We helped you tame this wild layer in ages past, and now as I reunite with my true body we may do so once more.”
“That sounds really badass and epic, and it’s definitely got my naming sense written all over it. The only issue I can see here is that those weapons clearly have Strength requirements
from when I was a full on god. As of right now, I’m not exactly a regular guy, but I’m definitely no god.”
“So it would seem.” Orfan didn’t seem surprised or even disappointed, and Gravia just kept looking back and forth between the two of us as she clutched my pant leg. “I
shall retreat to within my weapon form, and Gravia will be the one to wield me. Kutris’ cursed brand cannot reach me in that form, and Gravia was never Branded. You may not remember, but in spite of her looks she is
quite strong. I’m sure she’ll be of use to you.”
“Yeah, I kinda caught on during the near death hug.” I answered with a strained smile and tussled the dark purple mane trying to weld itself to my hip.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Sorry for retreating to rest so soon after your return, but after all these centuries, I believe this old orc has earned a nap.” The halberd slowly floated through the air toward
Orfan’s outstretched hand. Both the weapon and the orc began to hum with power, like two tuning forks resonating with one another.
“Night-night Orfie!” Gravia finally detached from my leg to rush over and jump up to Orfan’s shoulder. She planted a kiss on his cheek and hugged him tightly. The grip that
had almost ended me just made the muscular orc smile warmly as exhaustion crept into his eyes. “I’ll make sure to swing you around lots!”
The world around us continued to experience what could only be described as an apocalypse, but for some reason that utter bedlam was powerless to intrude upon this moment shared between siblings.
The orc and the halberd finally touched, and the potent alabaster aura that enveloped them both flared so brightly that I was forced to look away. When the blinding light finally dimmed I looked
at the weapon which stood upright on its now outrageously oversized head. I instinctively used Appraisal.
*Item: Big Brother, the End of Suffering - Great Halberd (Item Score 1,299) Skin: Default
Damage (Physical): 820
Damage (Force): 680
Indestructible
Spirit Weapon
Sentient Weapon
Dancing Weapon
Shapeshifting Weapon
Skill Sharing - Domain: Timeless Nightmare
Skill Sharing - Executioner
*Set Bonus* 2/2 When Wielded with OR by Little Sister, the Weight of Love and Loss this weapon gains the
*Blood Shroud: Damage caused by this weapon creates a protective mist of blood to envelop the wielder. This mist grants temporary Maximum Health Equal to the damage dealt by Big
Brother.
Requires (7,120) Strength to Equip
“There exists only one god able to boast that his weapons alone could defeat most Pantheons without him ever lifting a finger.”
Domain Timeless Nightmare: Cooldown: 5h:23m:11s
My jaw tried to escape from my skull as I read the weapon’s description. It dropped even further when the little kid summoned the huge halberd and caught it by the charred wooden handle
before casually tossing it into the air. The gigantic dark weapon twirled like a baton a few times, trailing the same cool white aura that had surrounded the orc in his humanoid form. It was then easily caught at the end of
its long handle by Gravia. She didn’t even grunt at the weight of the weapon that required over SEVEN THOUSAND Strength to even EQUIP, much less use effectively. For the first time in months, I felt like an absolute
weakling.
I shook my head to snap myself out of the mental spiral when Gravia’s high pitched voice rang out.
“Brother says the ogres n’ giants are the bad guys right now but to stay out of the goblins’ way cuz they’re under some kinda big spell.” She informed me helpfully.
“I don’t think they’ll attack me. The ones there haven’t stopped kneeling since I landed.” I said, pointing at the few dozen mutated goblins that had dropped
to their knees in the middle of their fight with Orfan.
Now that I was finally free to look closer, just what in the hell had Ug’gut done to make them so huge… and terrifying? Even while kneeling with bowed heads, they were taller than
me. Not only that, their bodies shook with barely contained frenzy and steam rolled off of their bulging shoulders in billowing clouds. I decided to try giving a command.
“Return to the fight! Protect the Heart Tree and if the invaders won’t be driven away, drive them into the dirt instead.” I used my strongest scary leader voice, and sighed
audibly when they practically vanished with ear splitting roars as they leaped back toward the fray.
“What about me!?” Gravia bounced up and down in impatience as she watched the big goblins fade into the haze of dust, smoke, and screams.
“Stick by me. This is like going from classic Molten Core straight to Icecrown.” I saw her face twist in confusion as I spoke so I decided to backtrack and clarify. “I’m
still vulnerable after my reincarnation, so I’ll need you to watch my back. I do want to to get closer to see what Ug’gut’s having such a great time fighting.” That much was true. I could feel Ug’gut’s
aura so cleanly even from this far away, and I’m not sure what instinct was telling me, but I could just tell she was having an absolute blast.
As far as my analogy that Gravia obviously wouldn’t get, I stand by it. Any single stray attack from whatever beast Ug’gut was fighting more than a mile away would turn me into
crispy paste. I had once come back from that exact thing by consuming a stored Soul, but I had no clue what the rules for that were or if I could do it more than once.
“Okay.” Gravia said, interrupting my drifting thoughts. “Go help Ugly, and don’t let anyone hurt Uncle Po. Got it.”
“I wouldn’t let her hear you say that.” I snickered. “Besides Ug’gut is really pretty.”