Autumnvale burned.
Flames licked the red-gold trees, turning the night sky orange. The villagers scattered, screaming as Pillagers stormed the streets.
In the town square, Commander Ragnor stood over the broken forms of Hunter and Vince. His axe gleamed with the faint shimmer of his enchantment—Density—warping the air around him like heat waves. Emily crouched behind a toppled cart, clutching her satchel, eyes wide.
Hunter lay face-down in the dirt, unmoving. Vince was on one knee, gripping his cracked blade, his breathing ragged.
Ragnor sneered, hefting his axe. "Rogues fall the same as any other prey."
The axe came down.
And then—wind.
A sudden gust roared across the square, scattering embers, knocking Ragnor back a step. His axe dug into stone instead of flesh. Leaves swirled in a spiraling gale, the air alive with pressure.
From the roof of a burning house, a silhouette stood tall, goats bleating below in the alley. The figure's cloak snapped in the wind. A staff rested against his shoulder.
"Guess the Greatest Of All Time couldn't just sit this one out."
Ryder Bell grinned down at the chaos.
---
Emily's jaw dropped. "The… the goat shepherd?"
"GOAT shepherd?" Ryder scoffed. "No. The Goat. As in the G.O.A.T. The greatest of all time." He flipped his staff, catching it lazily. "Remember it."
Hunter stirred faintly on the ground, cracking one eye open. Through blood and grit, he smirked. "…heh… knew he'd show…"
Ragnor snarled, wrenching his axe free. The air thickened again, heavy and suffocating. "A shepherd dares interrupt me?"
"Not a shepherd." Ryder leapt from the roof, landing in the square with a burst of wind that rippled the flames backward. "A storm."
---
Ragnor charged, axe cleaving downward. The ground itself groaned under the weight of his Density field. Ryder twirled his staff, the wind bursting around him. He sidestepped with reckless ease, hair whipping.
CRACK! His staff slammed against Ragnor's wrist, forcing the commander to stumble.
"Not so heavy now, Raggy." Ryder's grin widened.
Vince, still kneeling, muttered, "Not this nickname thing again…"
Ragnor roared, swinging wide. The axe carved a trench in the stone, shockwaves rippling out. Ryder vaulted off the flat of the blade, twisting in the air.
"Wind Burst!" He thrust his staff down mid-spin. A gale slammed into Ragnor's chest, sending him sliding back across the square, boots carving furrows in the ground.
Emily's eyes widened. "He… he's dispersing the enchantment. The wind's cutting through the density field."
Ryder landed smoothly, spinning his staff and resting it across his shoulders. "What can I say? When you're the Goat, you blow expectations away."
Hunter, barely conscious, wheezed a laugh.
---
The battle raged.
Ragnor's axe strikes slowed everything they touched, crushing air itself into suffocating pockets. But Ryder's wind bursts tore them open, scattering the heavy pressure like dust.
Every swing of his staff carried slicing gusts. Pillagers charging in were hurled back into walls, goats bleating as they stampeded past. One unlucky soldier was flipped upside-down by a sudden whirlwind and knocked out cold by a flying goat horn.
"Your tricks won't last!" Ragnor bellowed, stomping forward. The ground shook, stone tiles cracking. "My Density crushes all!"
"Then you've never fought the Goat." Ryder surged forward, reckless, staff spinning so fast it blurred. He ducked under an axe swing, wind bursting beneath his feet to launch him upward.
WHAM! His staff cracked across Ragnor's jaw, a shockwave of wind blasting outward.
The commander staggered, spit and blood flying.
Emily couldn't help but yell, "Yes!"
Vince, collapsed against a wall, muttered, "Show-off."
Ryder landed, twirling his staff behind his back. His grin was cocky, fearless. "Face it, Raggy. You're getting blown away."
---
Ragnor's roar rattled the square. He lifted his axe high, Density flaring, the air crushing down with unbearable weight. Ryder gritted his teeth—the pressure slowed his limbs, forced his knees to bend.
Hunter stirred again, groaning. "C'mon… goat guy…"
Ryder's grin faltered for half a second. Then he roared, slamming his staff into the ground. Wind exploded outward in a spiraling gale.
"Cyclone Smash!"
The swirling storm wrapped around Ragnor, lifting him off his feet. Flames bent sideways, debris ripped from the ground. Ryder swung his staff like a hammer, directing the cyclone straight through the square.
With a deafening crash, Ragnor was hurled into the blaze of a collapsing building. The structure caved, flames swallowing him in smoke and rubble.
The wind died. Silence settled, broken only by crackling fire and bleating goats.
---
Ryder stood in the square, chest heaving, staff still raised. Embers swirled around him like fireflies.
"Told you…" he said between breaths, flashing a grin. "I'm the Goat. Greatest of all time."
For a heartbeat, he looked unstoppable. Legendary.
Then the bravado cracked. His hands trembled. He looked at the unconscious Hunter, the battered Vince, Emily's wide eyes. His grin faltered.
"I… I didn't…" He rubbed the back of his neck, sheepish. "I mean, I couldn't just stand there and let you die, okay? That's all. Don't read into it."
Emily tilted her head. "For someone who just called himself the greatest, you don't sound very convinced."
"Sh-shut up." Ryder turned red, scratching his head furiously. "I just—this isn't me. I can't leave my goats. Outside of Autumnvale, outside of them… I'm nobody. I'm scared of it."
Vince coughed, pushing himself to sit. His voice was dry as ever. "You fight like a maniac, then talk like a coward. Annoying mix."
Hunter groaned, lifting his head weakly, but his smile was bright. "Perfect mix… for a Shader."
Ryder froze, eyes wide. "What?"
Hunter chuckled, then slumped back into unconsciousness.
The flames continued to burn, the air thick with smoke. Somewhere beneath the rubble, whether dead or alive, Ragnor's shadow lingered, unseen.
Ryder gripped his staff tighter, whispering under his breath, almost too soft to hear.
"…What am I doing?"
The wind answered with a low howl, carrying embers into the dark.