Aemilai and his men loaded up the fox-witch into the cart still wrapped by the spellbinding ribbons and went on their way back to the town of Lucan where their legion was garrisoned.
The ride lasted the whole day.
The fox, though in human form, refused to speak the whole way.
"Here," said Rugelai, trying to reach out and cover the naked fox-girl with a spare blanket. He was one of the two men serving under Aemilai. He was a broad-shouldered man with brown hair in a crop cut. "It's gonna be a cold night."
The fox let him cover her--but immediately turned her back again afterwards, still refusing to talk.
"Don't bother, Rugelai," said Aemilai. "Her days are numbered anyway. So what if she dies en route of cold?" He laughed a little. "Unlikely, as that is."
""I know, Commander," answered Rugelai. "I just...couldn't help myself."
"Do better, then," interjected Verai, the other guard. A short man with sharp eyes. His hair was cropped short like Rugelai's. "This is what we do. You won't last if you keep sympathizing with every pretty-eyed witch we escort back to base."
"I know," Rugelai as he crossed his arms. "Just...forget it."
As darkness fell, the town of Lucan came into sight. The way illuminated by the town lights, and the campfires lit by those who couldn't be garrisoned by the townspeople.
"Hoy! We've returned! We found the witch among the dairy farmers!" yelled Verai to those ahead of them.
The men immediately made their way and prepared to greet Aemilai and take into account the witch they caught.
One of the legionnaires, the camp-prefect, came to meet them.
"As expected of the commander! You weren't kidding that you could catch it in just a couple of days."
"Thanks to everyone sealing the exits,'', answered Aemilai. ''Deducing where was only a matter of time and effort. What about the wolf-witch? Has it been slain?"
"Yes. Of course. Nasty battle. But it was done."
"Excellent work"
"Thank you, commander. So, is this the Golden Blight?"
"It is. Beautiful isn't she? She said she wanted to see the capital."
"Hahah! Is that so? Well, don't you worry. Once our ships come she'll get to see it before the inquisition decides how to process her."
"Good," said Aemilai with a smile. "Verai, Rugelai? Carry her into the plaza. Stick her in one of the cages."
The two did as commanded. And as they got closer to the plaza, the fox gradually saw the grizzly fate that befell of the former wolf-god: butchered and quartered into pieces. Its head mounted in one of the tables--Aemilai was seen taking notes on the quality of his fangs.
"You fiends!" the fox screamed as her eyes filled with tears and despair. Her first words since she was captured.
The fox also saw the cages. The other "witches" unaccounted for had been found. Each one with varying degrees of injuries. She recognized them: One was a boar, the other a bear, one was a deer, and one a ram. She didn't know what the Stormhammer knew. But the boar and the bear right now assumed human forms. The boar (who looked like a muscular, bald man with a moustache) was on the verge of death. The bear was, like her, a woman, and she just laid there in the cage having lost all will to continue.
"You demons! How could you do this!" she then turned her head on those she believed to be the people of Lucan. "And you lot! How! Why?! That wolf-god protected you all! All Volrogh did was try to protect you! Protect US! And you all let these terrible men do something this cruel to him!? How could you all!"
"Lucan wanted to grow and sow new fields. The wolf-witch refused to budge from the forests they needed to flatten to make that happen," Aemilai answered her from afar as he examined Volrogh's teeth. "He also made it harder for us when he told the other witches to flee...much harder. We lost seven men in the battle."
"I wish you lost seven hundred! Seven THOUSAND! I wish you were all dead!" cursed the fox. Rugelai stuck her in one of the cages below the boar. The cages were reinforced with spell-writing.
"Ohoh! So you do still have some fight in you, witch," answered Aemilai with an amused tone. "That's nice. Not gonna help you at all, though."
"Why are you doing this?!" said the fox. "Why do you Stormhammer people terrorize us like this? What did we ever do to you!"
"Long story," said Aemilai. "One you'd be bored to hear."
"I despise you!" said the fox.
"Feeling's mutual," returned Aemilai with a grimace. "However, I will do this for you."
Aemilai raised his hands into a supplicant's gesture:
[Unbind!"]
"Now, you can cry to your heart's content. It still isn't gonna change anything."
Come midnight? The fox, once called "Lutie", did cry her heart out.
And this? Prompted Rugelai to try and talk to her.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I wish...we didn't have to do this."
"Then why do you?" said the fox. "You're still gonna kill me in the Capital, right? So keep your twisted pity, I don't want it!"
"That's not always the case!" said Rugelai. "The Commander says that, but that's just one of the fates that could befall you. There are witches and magical creatures working in the Capital. Some even inside the Emperor's palace!"
The fox stopped sobbing for a while to listen more carefully.
"Is that true?" she asked. "What about going back home? Is that an option?"
"Yes," said Rugelai. "The Stormhammer Legion gets a bad rap for being the strong-arm of the Inquisition, but we're not. We just frequently work together. The Stormhammer is sent when a magical threat pops out and threatens the empire's interests. The Inquisition is the only one who can decide your fate."
"I see. I'm doomed then," said the fox. "You heard what I'm accused of."
"Did you do it?"
"No! I did not, I swear!"
"Then you have a shot. Cling to that. Please."
The fox wiped her eyes with the blanket and forced a smile at Rugelai.
"Still not a guarantee they'd let me go even if I prove I am."
"Even if you're not. You could be let go if you give them something that could prove you useful to the empire."
"Do you believe I'm innocent?"
"I choose to."
"You...are a kind person."
"Thank you," answered Rugelai.
"I thought all Stormhammer Legionnaires hated 'witches' like me?"
"A lot of us do. Commander Aemilai, certainly does. Not me, though."
"Why?"
Rugelai pulled up the sleeve of his left arm and showed her a mark.
"My mother was from the North," said Rugelai. "She raised me in a village with lots of witches before my father brought me to live with him in the Maelian Empire. That's part of why I fell into the Stormhammer Legion. I understand 'witches'."
"I see,"
"Strangely enough. So does the Commander…"