Parity

The Redeemer led his army from the front and even as a child Adams wasn't about to get close enough to the front lines to chance meeting an actual alien. If he had been old enough, he wouldn't have been much good in a fight anyway. When he tried to use a staff he tended to hit himself on the head more often than he hit his opponent. It was just unnatural for a male to use a weapon.
After the war, when rumors reached his little village of an approaching warlord, Adams was one of the first to run away. He traveled long and far, scratching out the barest living by playing music and telling stories. Unfortunately, in those days, he wasn't very good at either, so he learned to lie, cheat and steal. Sometimes he found a place where he was welcome for a while, but when the truth, or the law, inevitably caught up to him, he had to move on.
Now he's making a good living as a travelling bard. A middle aged fraud, a hustler, a coward. His only purpose in life is to tell a good enough story to get someone to buy him another drink. All his best lies would have him be a great hero in the old war against the giant aliens. Of course, he was just a boy back then. He really has no idea what to do in a real fight. But now, someone is taking him seriously. They expect him to lead the fight against the Warlords who now rule through violence and intimidation. Can he come up with a new scam to get himself out of this one?

Another story in the world of CHITON.