I looked at the red gem in my hand. It looked no different than before. Red, bright, cold, and callous as any other stone. ''What can I do with this thing?'' I asked. The fox was still on the bed, caressing Rosa's face, lying unconscious. I was told that knowledge and memories are passed on from generation to generation, but I wonder if there is any other way of exchanging information?
The fox walked away from Rosa, reached for my hand with its little furry paws, and touched the stone. ''Lots of things can be done. What can you do? It's up to you, darling. Why don't you tell me what you can do?''
I noticed that the fox's paws were lighter and colder than they should have been. It was struggling to maintain its physical form. I was running out of energy. ''Except for healing hymns, I have never studied runes. I know nothing about black magic,'' I said.
''Hmm,'' the fox disappeared from the bed and didn't appear anywhere inside the room. ''There are a few simple will breaking methods used by cheap slave traders. However, they turn the subject into mindless animals that cannot think of anything but food and sex.''
I frowned, this wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. ''What else?''
''If you don't want to use the soul as fuel and want to keep it with you, there are runes that you can engrave on the gem that will make her obey certain someone, or anyone via a certain word, but won't change anything other than that,'' it said.
A beam of light trickled through the window. It was full of faith that causes the light to be hostile against me. Looking at the girl breathing deeply, I thought she no longer looked like she had fainted, but just asleep. Her black outfit was torn in some spots, showing her newly healed pink skin. ''Can I really do this? Can I make her obey me?''
''If you know the spell, of course, you can.''
Rolling my eyes, I approached the window to see the source of the light beam. ''Won't you tell me the spell?''
''How did you come to the conclusion that I know the spell? If I know, that means that Malice also knows, which is the opposite of your freedom now. Do you feel like invisible chains are wrapped around your throat?''
I saw several people were walking with candles in their hands through the window. They must have left the big convoy. Hoping the collective prayer was over, I pulled the curtain to cover the window.
''Wasn't Malice a super famous legendary figure among you? She must know. Why wouldn't she know?''
I saw the fox shake its head in disapproval, ''Among us. Not among you. As for your question, we do not encourage limiting the freedom of new members of the breed. We want them to embrace and love their new identity, not seeking a way to escape.''
''What a lovely... Then why take the souls?'' I asked.
''Simple,'' the fox said. ''To prevent the traitors. The candidates grow stronger over time and prove their reliability, and take their souls back. This is how it supposed to be. I told you really don't have to worry.''
''I prefer to eliminate any possibility of turning into a mindless animal as quickly as possible,'' I said and pinched Rosa's cheek, who was sleeping like a baby. ''It's morning baby, hurry up. I have things to do.''
Blinking, Rosa looked around as if she wasn't sure if it was a dream or a reality. With an instinct, she crossed her arms to protect herself. It probably wasn't a nice feeling to wake up in a room you don't know with someone who's definitely not your friend.
''You're free. Beware of the people roaming around with candles. Now go,'' I said. She looked at me with confused eyes. ''Why are you waiting for? A knight on a white horse? I don't think he's coming. Chop chop.''
She suddenly got out of bed and ran towards the door. I let her go. ''Maybe she wasn't lying when she said she didn't want to stay alone. She was attacked in her home right before you found her,'' the fox said.
I thought of the broken body lying on the white sheets. Humiliated for being unable to resist, her abused body was left to be found. ''Whatever. It's not my fight,'' I said watching her running away through the curtains.
After a few minutes of thinking I went out too. I had no choice to wait for the prey to come to me. ''Won't you wait for the tattoo guy? It's too dangerous to go outside now,'' the fox said.
I shook my head, ''Ender could be on his way coming here right now, or he might never be back. I couldn't rely on him.''
The wave of faith created by the convoy had fallen over the town like a shield. It was preventing me from finding Miran and limiting the scope of my skills. Even if I could find Miran, there was no way I could approach the temple or the convoy.
I trembled with a deep breath I took, ''In one corner of my mind I could feel the burning energy emanating from the temple, and with my eyes closed I could feel the flames from the temple's direction. I'd die of smoke before I even got close to her.''
The fox grimaced, ''Where are you planning to go?''
I was changing my path when I came across someone holding a candle, keeping going forward without a goal. I hesitated for a while, realizing I had nowhere to go. Perhaps the fox was right. I was a little too asocial. ''I... can check blacksmith to see if the armor is ready.''
Probably the blacksmith had already closed, but any goal was better than just wandering around. Surprisingly, the town square wasn't crowded. Most of the stores were closed already. ''I guess most of the people joined the convoy,'' the fox said.
Nodding, I headed to the blacksmith to try my chance but before I knocked on the door, I heard something. The tearing sound of the wind ending with a thud. Looking around, I heard the same thing one more time.
Without knocking on the blacksmith's door, I returned and headed towards the archery range. When I turned the corner, I held my breath with the yellow light I saw, but soon realized I wasn't hurt. Looking more closely, I realized that the light came not from a candle, but from a stone the size of a palm. A man made source of light, generally used by adventurers.
It wasn't too bright. Only two targets were in the bright field, the rest of the archery range was buried in the darkness. An arrow, that I couldn't see coming, hit the target. I looked into the darkness and asked the light to help me to see.
''Oh, it's your archer guy,'' the fox said but I wasn't sure if it was my archer guy. I knew the man standing in the middle of the archery field. I knew his hands holding the bow, his eyes looking at his target, his stance he used to teach newbies of the guild, but the expression on his face belonged to a stranger.
''I can't understand what he's feeling for the first time,'' I murmured.
''Maybe it's because of the prayer convoy?''
''Maybe,'' I said but I wasn't believing what I said. He reached to the quiver on his back and pulled an arrow. With the arrow in his hand, he kept his eyes on the target while stretching the bow and stood like this, without releasing the arrow.
''He got even more handsome with the deadly expression,'' the fox said. Arrow hit the target. I gulped. ''Just make sure you aren't the target.''
I exhaled the breath that I didn't realize I was holding, ''I'm trying.'' A light, almost gentle wind caressed my face. Hermes broke his stance and turned to me. I forced myself to smile and wave.