Death Dealer

Blood is Thicker Than Wine

Gath nodded in and out of consciousness, in the moments he was lucid he was able to take in the fact that his wound was being treated. Gath still couldn't believe he fell for the shapeshifter's trick the first time. Luckily though he saw the trick once before the other one took on the form of Robin, else he might not have found the will to act.

"Fluttershy, why is it bleeding so profusely?" Gath could hear Twilight's voice filled with concern as he lay on his stomach.

"It looks like something is still in there, whatever stabbed him broke off inside and is holding the wounds open." Fluttershy said in a firm voice as she inspected the wound. Gath found it odd that in such a situation the shy girl found her bravery.

Gath lost consciousness as Fluttershy dug into the wound with a large pair of tweezers. Gath awoke next lying on his side, his head pounding and his teeth gritted. Gath noticed he was drenched in sweat. Opening his eyes he saw a slender, fragile arm wiping the table he lay on in front of his face. Gath noticed the remnants of bile before looking up into the concerned face of Twilight Sparkle.

Gath did not speak, he only observed as the girl cleaned up the mess. He could see how red and swollen her eyes were, she had been crying. Gath could not understand why though, he could understand treating his wounds since he had saved her, but why cry over him?

Twilight in the meantime had finished cleaning up the table and she dropped the rag into a bucket. Twilight sighed a ragged breath and sniffed back more tears. Fluttershy told her Gath should be dead with how deep the wound was and how much blood he lost, and that if anything he may have been treated too late. Twilight ran her eyes over the large man, her eyes lingered over his broad bare chest, taking in the lines of how his muscles moved as he breathed in his slumber.

Twilight gasped as she moved her eyes up to Gath's face and saw the two burning embers that gazed back at her, "Gath!"

Twilight lunged at the man, throwing her arms around him, wary not to touch his wound. The young sorceress then began to cry against the old barbarian's chest. Gath tensed as he was touched, but slowly calmed himself, fighting his instincts to not let anyone this close to him.

"G-Gath... You shouldn't be awake..." Twilight managed between sobs.

"I am not allowed rest." Grunted the man, "Not since I stole this helmet all those years ago."

Gath slowly rose into a sitting position, Twilight still clinging to his chest giving a slight protest to him moving in the condition he was in. Gath merely put a large hand on Twilight's head and made her look straight at his face as he spoke.

"I must leave, else you and your friends will only suffer. My curse is beyond what happens to me. All who draw close to me for too long eventually become the target of men who lust for my power. I have most likely spent too much time as it is in this town. The two mages that have attacked me so far will probably turn their sights on this town if I stay." Gath said as he gently pushed Twilight away and stood.

Gath strode over to where his gear had been laid, he still wore his boots and loincloth, but his chain mail and gauntlets had been taken off. Gath picked up the chain mail first, but noted that the entire thing was not cut in half. Gath shot a confused look towards Twilight.

"We had to cut it off to operate..." Twilight said as she cast her eyes to the floor.

Gath grunted and shook his head as he put on the gauntlets and slung his axe over his back with its harness, leaving the useless chain mail on the ground. Gath made his way to the door and opened it but was stopped by the small voice of the crying Twilight Sparkle.

"Gath... Please be careful..." Twilight managed loud enough to be heard.

Gath looked over his shoulder, clenching his teeth at the pain of the movement, and strode out of the library, closing the door behind him. Twilight stared at the door her mind whirling with what had happened. Not twenty minutes ago.

"I trust you believe you made the right decision..." Celestia's voice called from the other room.

The princess of the sun then strode out to embrace her student and attempt to comfort her.

"Princess... Will he be alright? Fluttershy said he should be dead with that wound... It clipped an artery..." Twilight said between sniffs.

"As long as no one removes that helmet it will be able to heal. That is why I stopped you from taking it off." Celestia explained.

"What will he do?" Twilight asked, looking away from the door and to her mentor.

"He will most likely do what he has done in the past when an enemy arrived that gave him trouble. He is going to look for better armor, and he is going to sharpen his weapons. Armies have been crushed under his boots, and he has not always come away unscathed. He always has come back stronger though..." Celestia said smiling as a small portion of the concern left Twilight's face.

Gilda sat on a tree stump, peeling an apple with her dagger. Applejack had tried to give chase, but flight was a useful thing when outrunning an angry farmer. Gilda laughed to herself as she popped a slice into her mouth and looked around once more at the stained ground. Gath had done a number on these weird bugmen creatures. Gilda saw a lot of blood that looked human though, heading towards Ponyville.

Gilda heard a twig snap and looked up as the form of Gath shuffled from the darkness.

"Did you get your wounds treated?" Gilda asked as she wiped the blade on her pants leg and sheathed it at her belt.

"Yeah, I need to take it easy for a little bit now however... You didn't drink the last jug of wine have you?" Gath asked.

"Nah, it's all yours." Gilda said as she lifted the trapdoor to the den and let Gath inside.

Gath handed the white haired girl a bag of coins that he had looted off some bandits before saying, "Take these to Berry Punch in town. Get as much as you can carry and bring it back here. I'm going to be down for a while..."

"Any preferences?" Gilda asked as she tied the coin pouch to her belt.

"Strongest she has." Gath mumbled as he grabbed the last jug of wine and pulled the cork off with his teeth.

Gilda smiled at the display of the large man tipping the jug and draining half of the contents.

"Take it easy there, if you lost too much blood that is going to hit you faster than it normally does." Gilda laughed.

"That is the idea..." Gath said as he set the now half empty jug down and fell onto his pile of furs in the corner of the den.

Gilda smiled as she left and departed for the town to run her errand.

Gath's eyes longed to shut and sleep, but he knew it would not come to him. Not even the satisfying feeling of the alcohol could could bring him to the point of rest. Worst of all this meant Gath was left to brew over his thoughts. Memories long since buried of Robin Lakehair sprung up.

Gath's reached for the jug of wine and emptied it as his thoughts kicked up into the more recent events. Gath thought over the black creatures he fought, and their ability to take on the form of anyone. Gath closed his eyes as he thought of seeing one of them take on the form of his dead lover.

The empty jug shattered against the packed earth wall of the den. The adrenaline from his rage made Gath forget all about his wound, and Gath would have set off to find whatever witch or wizard dare to play a trick on him. But he was still in the dilemma of being unarmored for the time being. His old steel chain mail did not do the job against whatever material those creatures were using, and while the helmet was nigh indestructible and granted him protection from some things, A blade through the heart would still kill him.

Gath could repair his armor usually, but he had no forge of his own set up. Ponyville's blacksmith was too incompetent to make anything of use to Gath as well. Gath thought long and hard over his options, and as much as he hated to admit it, he may be in need of digging up some relics of the past.

Before his imprisonment in Celestia's dungeon, Gath had hidden some of his treasures and trophies with the help of a sorceress he had captured. The thought of having to dig her up to open his stash made his blood boil though. Though she was not directly to blame, Cobra had been the cause of Robin's death in a way. Gath would need to be careful after freeing the ancient evil being he had imprisoned, but he needed his old armor from when he defeated the Kitzaks.

All this would need to wait though, Gath reminded himself. If he was to venture out that far without quality armor, he was going to need to be at full health, not with a hole in his back. Gath sighed as he allowed himself to lay down completely, his back stung once again as he lay on it, eyes staring at the ceiling of the den. Slowly Gath found himself able to drift into a fitful slumber.

"Well you at least managed to wound him... Shame about the uh, hole..." Discord said as he poked his finger inside of the wound the helmet's spike punched into Chrysalis's stomach.

Chrysalis hissed at the mad mage but moaned in relief as he pulled his finger out and the wound was healed. Chrysalis swept a hand over where the wound once was and shook her head at the memory of the man who slaughtered an entire unit of her changelings.

"He is stronger than we gave him credit for... And when he went berserk, he was like death incarnate..." Chrysalis said, casting her piercing green eyes at Discord.

"Yes, well... I had read somewhere before about the bearer of the helmet, but I did not think he was still alive with how a few of the tales ended..." Discord began, "They had a name for him, one other than his birth name. A title the people of that time found fitting for him."

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at this before commenting, "Oh? Pray tell what they called him."

"He was called the Death Dealer, a man who reveled in the glory of battle and defeated the old god of destruction. Legends tells that he even brought an entire nation to its knees by himself..." Discord said, his pupils turning to slits as he got serious.

"Anything in those legend books about any weaknesses?" Chrysalis asked as she wove her magic into fixing her torn dress.

"Not a weakness per say..." Discord said as his eyes once again dilated into their multiple hues of color.

"Cut to the chase madman!" Chrysalis spat at Discord.

"Ah ah ah, I saved your hide, and you owe me a game if you want to learn this tasty morsel of information..." Discord said waving a finger in front of Chrysalis's face and then tapping her on the nose.

Chrysalis roared in anger as she attempted to leap after the mage who simply winked out of existence momentarily, only to appear once again behind the witch.

"Now, the rules are simple..." Discord said, a wide grin on his face with his one fang protruding among his other teeth.