The worst was behind us.

My muscles ached with each step, but they were steps that brought us closer to the safety of our fortress.

Along the way we had lost men.

Good men.

But they taken some of our enemy to hell with them.

I couldn't remember when I had lost my sword, but now my only weapon was a metal staff that was stained with the blood of my foes.

A man who asked us to call him "Skeeter" had joined our group and regaled us with legends of a land filled with the magic crystals we all sought.

The crystals gave life force and and an almost superhuman amount of energy to whoever injested it.

Pain was but a memory with these crystals.

At times the crystals were all one could think about.

These magical crystals seemed to call to us as we set on this journey and pulled us along through violent deadly interactions with those who greedily sought to possess them.

Our first night started out as a bloodless endeavor, but any semblance of a plan gets thrown out after first contact with the enemy.

We met up with the protectors of the crystal at a predetermined location long held to be a sacred place.

We had agreed to purchase the crystals for a nominal sum, which we had procured after selling some of our household wares.

However, the peddler of crystals betrayed us and requested more coin than we had become accustomed to.

He, completely unreasonable to negotiations, had to be dispatched.

I brought down my mighty rod of justice upon his devious scalp and watched life leak from his stunned eyes.

In an instant, I grabbed the crystals and took off running to the safety of my fortress. Safe from those who would steal the crystals from me.

I had only gone a few steps when I ran face to face into my first foe.

A man who runs the local market stopped me.

"Hey, you can't be in here. I've told you and your crackhead friends to stay out of my bathroo..."

My staff again snuffed out a life.

After using the market's lavatory to gain energy from the magical crystals, I was back on the road.

I was immediately filled with a euphoria that only comes from experiencing the one true God in crystal form. As I left the market I quickly grabbed a day's worth of rations. Small pieces of unleavened bread, heavily spiced to taste like their exotic counterparts. I had some that tasted like tacos from the South, the famed barbecue of the Americas, and a pleasing "Cool Ranch" hailing from an unknown origin.

However, I would not get to enjoy the refreshing cool nor the ranch. As I left, I encountered the most vile man. A man purported to keep the peace in our village, though most of his time was spent haranguing worshippers of the sacred crystals and forcing us to trade our freedom for "blowsex".

"Cricket what the fuck did you do this time? Jesus Fucking Christ Cricket, that magical mouth of yours ain't gonna help you with this one. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck."

He raised his enchanted weapon just as my compatriot settled behind him and plunged a driver of screws under his armor.

The wicked man fell and I grabbed his enchanted weapon.

The power of the weapon combined with the crystals was like God himself guiding my hand.

I lowered the weapon over the treacherous man's face squeezed the lever until his face was no more.

My compatriot and I consummated our act on top of the now dead man while enjoying the crystals together. He had, after all, helped me and thus deserved some of the crystals.

The problem arose when he began to enjoy too much of them and had to be eliminated with a nearby block of cinder.

The life of a traveling adventurer is not an easy one and at times, one must make difficult decisions, we all knew this when we set out to claim the crystals. Now was not a time to get sentimental.

Now was a time to enjoy the crystals.

At last, I reached my fortress, cleverly situated under a bridge, so that I could reach either side with ease.

I hunkered down for the night and cleaned the blood of my enemies off of my piece of rebar.

Tomorrow is another day, and I shall require more crystals.