Private Tales Hexed

[Baise]

"When you are...done..."

Witchhunter Steelspyre actually looked shocked. He had stared down goblins and demons and witches. Yet the brazen response from the young man genuinely shocked him.

Steelspyre closed his hand around the iron mallet at his belt. He believed in the immutability of iron, iron that had not been meddled with and given impurities. It was his strength and his shield.

"You were seen...directing a beast summoned of magic.".

One gnarled finger was lifted and poked towards Lysander's chest.

-

"I believe you," Baise replied. He offered a smile. He was almost glad Lysander wasn't here for this. Baise quite liked his direct approach to matters, but this wasn't the time for it.

"Why don't you tell me how it happened?"

 

[Lysander]

Tension fizzled and snapped. Lysander’s narrowed eyes darkened like the storm that was brewing between the two headstrong, immutable men. The dreadlord didn’t doubt the witch hunter’s prowess, he looked old and old meant experienced and strong. Old meant a survivor, and Lysander knew survivor’s were the worst sorts of people one could meet.

“It’s not any of your business if I did.” Still firm, still stubborn. The witch hunter’s hand went to his weapon, Lysander had his hand go to his own. The arthritic finger, well-weathered and still formidable, wasn’t enough to dissuade Lysander. He didn’t step back, instead, he puffed his chest out and took a step towards the mass of scars and candles. “Step back.” Monotone and dull, the threat sounded little like what it was and more as a random thought spoke aloud.

---

“I didn’t, you got to understand, it’s not me!” The man said, hushed and quickly, as if he had only seconds to say anything at all before he’d lose his tongue. “If I knew what it would have costed me, I wouldn’t have ever made the deal.” Something broke behind his watery eyes. His confession was heavy on his lips, but it would set him free, to finally take the cruel, unbearable guilt off his shoulders.

“I wanted to live in my dreams. That’s all. I meant my good dreams, like being back with my wife and kid before.…” His hands went to his head, into his hair. He took a moment to collect his thoughts. “It asked for a favor, I… completed it. It granted my wish. But it never said it would be all my dreams coming true. I never knew… such dark… twisted things were in my head.” He shuddered.

Baise

 

[Baise]

"None of my business boy? If you even are a human. That sounded like a confession to me."

The Witchhunter glanced over his shoulder, as if hoping for someone to bear witness. They were being watched by a pair of villagers, but from a distances. One black crow looking down at them from the nearest tree did not count.

"I will not step back. You have confessed, put down your weapon."

The finger met Lysander, poking him hard in the breastbone.

-

"Would it help," Baise said, "If I said I believed every word? I have crossed such deal makers before..."

He had fallen in love with one, lived an entire lifetime in a bind, only to wish he could break his own. Only to feel the pain of that link placed between them.

"...and whilst I can't make it go away. Maybe we can start to understand how to undo it? Together?"