BLACKFLAME
Blackflame, or Voidflame is the term used to describe any offensive magic created to counter other magic. This is typically achieved through formation of a zone or zones of concentrated antimagic, akin to a heat sink, to draw in and disperse magical forces, for instance preventing healing in magical creatures. For this reason, most magic-users are taught to utilize it to some extent, as are many shinobi and high-rank soldiers.
When used, blackflame typically coats a given surface in its namesake onyx fire, and is either cast directly onto a target or the user's weapon. Blackflame can be shaped or manipulated like pyromancy, but the process to do so requires immense skill on the caster's part. Exceptionally skilled users have even managed to transform other spells into blackflame variants, granting them the properties of both blackflame and the parent spell.
Generally, Blackflame will ignite a target, and continue to burn until nothing of it remains, and is capable of heavily damaging even fireproof structures and materials. It is nigh-impossible to extinguish, but doesn't spread easily. The pain of being burned by it is said to be more comparable to intense frostbite than conventional burns. Blackflame can, however, be sealed or absorbed by a properly trained mage or open seal on the victim's body.
Blackflame doesn't affect all magical phenomena equally, however, having little effect on wards and barriers, but being immensely effective against supernatural creatures, such as demons and aberrations. Strangely, mortal blood is a component in igniting the flames, implying it is to some degree an act of communion with a higher power, the identity of which is totally unknown. It also has an exorbitant magical cost on the user, making it a precious resource to be used only when absolutely necessary.
Lilith sat at the quayside alone for what felt like hours. The world being obscured by fog was somewhat comforting. She felt calmed by the rhythmic lapping of water against the stones. Her tranquility was broken by Dolorem's return. He practically rolled out of the boat, splashing and stumbling through the waist-deep water.
Eventually, he collapsed onto the shore in front of Lilith, before pulling himself up and throwing his arms around her. Lilith's joy was disrupted when she felt Dolorem shaking, and heard his cries. She hugged him tighter. "What happened?" She asked. Dolorem said nothing. He just shuddered. Finally, after what felt like an age, he released his hold on her. "Lilith," he said, voice quavering, "I love you, never forget that."
He collapsed after that.
Lilith sat by him until daybreak, and when the mist cleared, she woke him. The two found their way to a lodging-house, where Lilith paid for a day's stay, with money she had collected from the safehouse's stockpile.
Dolorem slept for another three hours after they got to the room. After which he recounted his battle with Aeonis. He omitted the part where Aeonis admitted his fear, though. He felt there was little need. Things felt normal once again for them. They were free, to an extent.
After that, Dolorem leaned back, and closed his eyes. The battle had taken its toll physically, and the Sword of Gathering Clouds had drunk deep of his magical reserves. Lilith was writing letters, the smooth sound of pen strokes interrupted only by shuffling of papers once a letter was complete. Since becoming The Orochi's vessel, his senses had heightened somewhat. His hearing was no better, but he was capable of sensing movement on the air.
Lilith's heartbeat raced as she finished her final letter. "Something wrong?" Dolorem asked, sitting bolt upright.
"Hmm?" Lilith turned around.
"Your heartbeat, I can hear it, it's way faster than normal." He said, beginning to look concerned.
"No, Dolorem, nothing is wrong." She said, sitting down on the bed. "Then why's it beating so fast?" he asked, incredulous.
"Dolorem," Lilith asked, "You know that marriage comes with certain expectations of one's partner, yes?" She said, leaning in.
Dolorem's face reddened. "Oh." He said, suddenly realising what was going on. "Well…" he stammered. "Lilith, I haven't… I don't know…"
"Don't worry," she said, moving in front of him, hands on his shoulders. "I'll take the lead."
"As you wish, Marchioness of the Adjudicators."
***
Venari and Rhodri sat in the warehouse district of Black Iron, waiting for a deserving target. Venari had purchased a new rapier, and was compulsively checking the weapon for flaws. She had liked her old one. The usual ne'er-do-wells flitted about, petty thieves, men and women drugged out of their minds, counterfitters. None of them deserved death. Their blood would be mired with filth anyway. A chill had crept into the air, and silvery mist was punctuated by hills rearing up above it in the distance. "No use," Rhodri said. "I'll send for vials tomorrow, you'll have them by the end of the week."
"Not a hope." Venari snapped. "I draw my own blood, I have to know who it's from."
"I can specify that you want it from a deserving source, there's no problem…"
"No." Venari repeated. "That's not the reason."
Then what is it? Rhodri asked, becoming somewhat impatient.
"Every time I take a life, it is my place to come to terms with that. Vile as those I kill are, it means I won't end up murdering an innocent. I do it to remind myself of the weight of the lives I preserve by ending theirs. It's what prevents me from becoming something else."
"I understand." Rhodri said, subdued. "You did all this for your daughter?"
"You'll understand when you have children." She said, "Nothing is too much for your child."
"Hmm… never thought about that future," Rhodri mused. "Rhodri, the Purple Hand, Family Man. Just doesn't sound right. Always thought I'd die young, to be honest. Truth be told, my sister's doing just fine without me now."
"Then why do you stay in the military?" Venari asked. "You don't actually believe in Cranswell's "One Nation" shit, do you?"
"Of course I do, to an extent." He replied.
"Didn't take you for a complete idiot, Rhodri, I have to say I'm disappointed." Venari said, genuinely.
Rhodri was taken aback. "I'm no fool, Venari. I understand the sacrifices the archduke demands, but the ends justify the means. Look around, Black Iron has the potential to become a hotbed of industrial progress, the people would be rich beyond anything they could manage without the guidance of the North. Look around, these people live as peasants, living small lives, serving small communities. Imagine, with our help, they could work the forges of the greatest empire known to this world!
Think about it, Venari, a world without borders, a world united under one banner. The sacrifices now lay the groundwork for a thousand year's peace. It's about having the resolve to make this decision."
Venari said nothing for a long time. When she did speak next, she pointed out a convoy of people, drifting as ghosts in the distance, the thunderous cracking of whips echoing in the distance. "They'll do."
Silently, Venari approached, Rhodri lagging behind somewhat, cautious. Once in range, approaching downwind of the slavers, she wrapped herself in her cloak, disappearing in a flurry of red petals.
Venari reappeared in the air above one of the whip-bearing men, descending on him like a bird of prey, rapier skewering him as she fell.
The two other slavers fumbled for their swords, but it was too late. Venari impaled another through the heart with an almighty throw, and the third was felled by the telltale flash of a throwing-spike to the throat.
It took less than five seconds. Venari stood up and surveyed the some-twenty slaves. Mostly women, all emaciated and no doubt terrified. "Rhodri, cut their bindings." Venari ordered. Rhodri approached, forming razorlike threads in hand.
Venari produced a leather-wrap set of needles and vials, and got to work. She attached a vial to each needle, and set about filling the vials. The bodies would still bleed for a while, once rigor mortis set in, they'd be as co-operative as marble statues.
Rhodri cut the slave's bindings, then went to his belt pouch, offering it to one of the women. In it was a hundred-twenty gold coins, and some eighty jade magatama. Enough to support them for months. She nodded in thanks. Rhodri turned his attention to Venari, who surveyed her harvests against the moonlight. Eight full vials of blood. She looked at Rhodri. "Their swords are Northern design, and military grade. Do you still think Cranswell's soldiers are the saviors of this savage land?"
Rhodri said nothing.
"Should we hide the bodies?" He asked after a long delay.
"No, let them be a message to the others. Feeding the crows is the first bit of good they'd do." She stood up and began walking back toward the town.
"Wolfcoat Godfrey arrives tomorrow." Rhodri called after her.
"If he's of the same pedigree of those corpses, don't think I won't gut him, flay him and turn him into shoes." She growled.
"And yet you take pay from the Archduke himself." Rhodri retorted. "You can't have it both ways."
"I agreed to take out the bounty on the Five-Seals. If the roles were reversed, I'd kill Manus. Who dies on the way isn't part of the contract. If I knew the Adjudicator could keep my daughter safe, we'd be enemies. If a bounty on you were to pay well enough, you'd be dead." She said, voice rimed with anger.
"Nobody who's raised a hand to their comrade has ever died an honest death, Venari."
"Good thing you're just someone who happens to share a short-term goal, then."
Venari disappeared then, no doubt back into the town. Rhodri was left alone, bathed in moonlight. He didn't feel anything but numbness. Was he the hero? His mind churned, the time Dolorem spared him rising to the forefront. The demon that had murdered an innocent nobleman putting himself between his wife and a threat. How he'd torn himself free from his patron's grasp to prevent Rhodri's death. Nothing made sense anymore.
Dolorem rose early the next morning, not long before daybreak. He sat up, careful not to wake Lilith, and dressed himself. After that, he slipped out of the room and headed seaward in absolute silence.
He reached the docks, where gulls circled endlessly overhead, and the grunts and shouts of sailors punctuated the chorus of waves against shore. He sat on a quiet section of the beach, staring out to sea. If he wanted to, he could wake Lilith, steal a boat and just sail away with her. A sharp stake of guilt punctured his heart. He'd never be able to live with the knowledge he was forfeiting the lives of the south's people, his people. His parents would go unavenged, and the invasion uncontested.
"Realistically," the Orochi said, "even if you used the full of our power, even if somehow, you destroyed the House of Cranswell, there would be death on a massive scale. You know that. You are one man, and it's not wrong to want to live peacefully with someone who loves you."
Dolorem thought hard. "Solomon has to be punished."
"Why?" The Orochi pried.
"He killed my parents. He made Lilith a fugitive, he betrayed his people. It's not a choice."
"Who decided that?" The Orochi continued.
"I don't need anyone to decide it, it's the way it is. If I have the ability to help, I have the obligation to do so." Dolorem replied. "In all honesty, ability doesn't even matter, it's about preventing as much suffering as possible. I want to let as many people as I can live proper lives and die proper deaths."
"Which entails?" The Orochi asked. "You killed those soldiers in Black Iron without hesitation, nor did you show Manus or Priscilla any mercy. Is killing Solomon in revenge really preventing suffering?"
"Solomon died alongside his wife. He only exists now to support Cranswell's ambition. It's an act of mercy." Dolorem said, voice tinged by bitterness, even grief.
"This is your choice, Dolorem, it doesn't matter to me." The Orochi said.
"It'll be my final act. No more after that, no more killing." He whispered, getting up to return to Lilith.
"As much as I wish I could agree, I doubt it."
Dolorem returned to the safehouse to borrow from the coffers, a handful of magatama, sufficient for food and travel fares. After that, he made his way back to the inn, only making a slight detour to the market to buy himself and Lilith breakfast. The feeling was absurdly alien to him. He'd been living on food pills for weeks now, and it suddenly occurred to him that he had no idea how to act. He'd been a shinobi his whole life, not a husband. Did he buy something elaborate, or something Lilith would definitely like? He settled on buying one of every fruit he could get a hold of, waddling back to the room with his haul balanced carefully in his arms.
Lilith was still asleep when he entered, so he placed his assorted fruits on the table and sat on the floor, with the intention of meditation until she woke up. His battle with Aeonis had drained his magic reserves, and meditation was the fastest means by which he could replenish them.
Lilith didn't wake up until near noon. Dolorem didn't notice her at first, until she made herself known. "You bought all this?" She asked, standing at the table.
"Yes." He mumbled, pulling himself out of his trance.
"How many people do you plan on feeding?" She asked.
"Just us, I didn't know what you wanted."
"Oh. You bought all this for me?" She said, genuinely surprised.
"Well, I'll eat what you don't, and we haven't eaten anything except food pills for ages now." He reasoned awkwardly.
"Thank you, in that case, that's very romantic, slightly insane, but romantic." She laughed. "Doing things like that, how is it you were never with anyone before me?"
"I'm generally disliked." He said bluntly. "People were suspicious of me, which I suppose is fair."
"You give that impression, to be fair." Lilith said. "I wasn't sure of you at the start, especially after you tried to arrest me."
"That was one time." Dolorem whined, "Are you ever going to let that go?"
"Absolutely not, and what's more," she said through a mouthful of cherries"You set the bar way too high, I expect this after every time."
"As you wish. We need to get moving soon. There are things that need to be addressed in Red Pines."
Manus, Solomon and Priscilla knelt at the table in the House of Mist's great hall. Manus took charge. "Solomon, you'll be instrumental in creating a safe zone in which we can operate. Using your mark, you are to place an illusion over the prefecture that the colonization happened in the distant past, so they'll be more accepting of it, can you do that?"
Solomon looked grave, the blood draining from his already waxen face at the idea. The Mark of Mist had been successfully transferred, but Solomon was ill suited to wielding it. "I can, Your Excellency, but there's a caveat. I won't be able to rule if I do so, it'll drain me for all I'm worth to maintain it."
Manus waved his hand in dismissal. "I'll have a vassal rule in your stead. Can you maintain the illusion or not?"
"Your Excellency, with all due respect this is my land, perhaps an alternate solution is better here." Solomon reasoned. "I know this land, their people. Would it not be better to have a native ruler?"
"Native rule is the problem, Solomon." Manus said coldly. "As much as your cooperation warrants praise, and rewards to come, but your rule was previously solidified by Dolorem. You are an able tactician, and undoubtedly wise, but Dolorem was the instrument of your rule. Without him, you're little more than a theorist."
Solomon's mind raced. Any kind of confrontation would see Manus the victor. He needed security now. "Very well."
At daybreak, Wolfcoat Godfrey arrived in Black Iron, a second horse in tow, already tacked up, trailing a small chest behind it on wheels. Venari and Rhodri were waiting in the town square. Not a single word had been said between them all day. Godfrey dismounted his steed, immediately picking up on the tension that hung in the air.
Venari was confused for a moment, Godfrey appeared to be a battlemage, rather than the bererkering wolfcoats of legend. At his side hung a mass of iron and chain, a seeming mix of thurible and flail. Thick pauldrons and an ornate tabard artificially enlarged his frame. His face was veiled by blackened mail. He spoke with authority, in a voice like grinding steel.
"One of you is to intercept the Five-Seals on the road to Red Pines, alongside me. The other is to serve as Solomon's bodyguard should the threat reach him."
He didn't elaborate. By his manner of speech, he had some form of apparatus on his mouth. Rhodri volunteered immediately, unhitching the chest. As per his request, his great rapier and armour had been provided.
"I'm the best suited to fortifying a position, my ability works best in confined spaces. Besides, I think my cooperation with Venari has run its course."
"Agreed." Venari hissed. Godfrey turned his head toward Venari, she could feel his stare from beneath the veil, trying to analyse her. "Let's get moving," she ordered. Godfrey gave an affirmative nod, and gestured toward the other horse. Both mounted, and Venari gestured in the direction of the main road they'd patrol.
"Rhodri!" Venari called out before they left. "Think for yourself for once, yes?"
She had disappeared in a cloud of dust, Godfrey in tow before Rhodri could ask what she meant. He set about carrying the chest indoors, the weight doing little to hinder his massive frame.
Lilith and Dolorem paid a driver with a covered wagon for passage to Red Pines. The journey was relatively pleasant, with no customs checks or banditry, but the summer heat took its toll even in the relative shade. Near sundown on the next day, Venari spotted the wagon on the horizon, alerting Godfrey.
Dolorem sensed their presence once their horses had picked up speed. He told Lilith in a hushed tone, then tapped the driver on the shoulder. "That's far enough. Turn around, and keep driving until you reach the nearest town." He picked Lilith up and jumped out, without a semblance of hesitation. His shins and ankles shattered on impact, but he maintained his stance, and gently placed Lilith down. "Did that not hurt?" She exclaimed in shock.
"Of course it did." Dolorem siad, face stiffened in an attempt to mask the fact he felt splintering bone rending flesh. "But what's important is you're ok. "Besides," he said, his legs healing, tendon and bone snapping back into place.
The pair stood firm as Venari approached, she leapt from her horse. Godfrey followed suit, his landing shaking the earth. Both parties stood facing one another, at a safe distance. "So," Venari called out, "go peacefully, or do we need to go through the usual?"
Lilith spoke for them. "I'll be having the usual. Pair off, or two aside?" Dolorem and Godfrey remained silent. "One on one." Venari growled, drawing her rapier and dashing toward Lilith. Lilith dashed for the nearest wooded area, hoping to gain a mobility advantage.
Scales covered Dolorem's body, and his eyes turned a vibrant amber. Godfrey unhooked his thurible from his belt, the enormous head colliding with the ground like a meteor, spiked chain jangling above. Dolorem drew the Sword of Gathering Clouds, and immediately the wind around them picked up. Godfrey didn't flinch. He stood deathly still.
Dolorem swung his blade, the steel cleaving the air in front of him. The razorlike swath of air surged toward Godfrey. In an instant his thurible intercepted it, producing a scorching wave of magical force. Godfrey stood perfectly serene once more. Once the dust cleared, Dolorem dashed in, sword sheathed, ready to draw into a lethal slash. Once he was in range, Godfrey lifted his flail once again, bringing it down with meteoric force.
Dolorem drew into an overhead parry, saving himself from being crushed but abandoning his offensive. Godfrey swung hard with an iron-clad fist, with force enough to shatter stone. Dolorem caught the strike on the flat of his blade, managing to maintain stance as he was forced back, shoulders burning.
Once he had distance between himself and Dolorem, Godfrey lashed himself with the spiked chain of his flail. Dolorem stood in shock as the sound of tearing flesh echoed through the plain. Crimson rivulets drained into the thurible's censer, which began to glow an insidious red. "That's hemomancy," The Orochi said. "I didn't think it still survived."
"I'm guessing it's because it's communion with the Outer Gods?"
"Unfortunately. This will only get worse the longer you let the fight last."
Godfrey raised his free hand, flinging blood in Dolorem's direction. The seething liquid missed him narrowly, and where it struck the ground, it spat and boiled, consuming all it touched. Dolorem, with the speed of the wind behind him, advanced, slashing his adversary's outstretched arm clean through, his speed carrying him on behind Godfrey, before turning around to face him once again.
Godfrey was totally unperturbed by the injury, his veiled face turned toward Dolorem. In place of his arm, blackened tentacles formed, the burgeoning limbs twisting and writhing against one another, where spidery veins marked the muscle, vermillion blood glowed from within. In places, gluey, squid like eyes opened along the appendage, furiously seeking out prey.
Dolorem jumped away from the lashes of these seemingly sentient things as Godfrey was thrown about by the alien motion of his replacement arm. "Fire seal? Obviously not," Dolorem's mind was racing. "Wood, not a chance, Metal, Earth, Water? Maybe."
He wove the seals of his water jutsu, forming a bubble of frigid water over Godfrey. Typically, this Jutsu was to contain fires, even small explosions. It would do the same here. The water collapsed on Godfrey, leaving both arm and wielder sodden. Once this happened, he combined earth and metal into the same Iron Tomb jutsu he used on Priscilla. He was less hesitant to use it to kill now.
The iron dust encircled Godfrey, closing in on him, crushing bone and ripping flesh with its countless serrations. Just as he thought he was gaining the upper hand, something surged from within the tomb, the binds shattered, spraying razorlike iron everywhere, some biting deep into Dolorem's flesh, hardened as it was. The wounds healed quickly, but Godfrey had been released. In place of a man was an aberration. Now of only vaguely anthropoid outline, Godfrey was a mass of twisted muscle and sinew. Fanged maws dotted his body, retching molten blood, and where mouths were absent, dead, split-pupiled eyes rolled in their sockets. All remnants of human limbs had been warped into tortured caricatures, writhing in the air, with exposed bone and arteties pumping that boiling toxin.
Just looking at the thing before him, Dolorem's vision blurred, and his ears bled. It was an assault on the senses. Each putrid shifting of its flesh caused him physical pain.
"Close your eyes, Dolorem!" The Orochi shrieked.
Dolorem obliged instinctively, the pain subsiding a little.
"Dolorem," The Orochi said. "You can't look at something like that, it'll break your mind. You need to fight blind."
"Blind?"
"Blind, but not entirely, you can still sense heat and vibration, as the serpents do."
Dolorem stilled himself, expanding his perception. He could make out the creature's position. He could feel the heat of the blood leaking onto the ground, radiating out into the air. He felt it approach, thrusting out a fiery tentacle. Dolorem wove under it, not wasting time to cut it. Each movement had to be calculated. The only way to truly put down anything tainted by Outer Gods was to seal it with Voidflame, which, somewhat ironically, was too fuelled by blood.
He drew his blade across his palm and said the incantation. "Flame, emerge blacker than darkness, swallow the bastard star's light."
He felt the trademark chill of voidflame creep up his sword. He could wound the creature now. The next clash of blackened flesh with steel saw Dolorem's blade cleave it open, cutting through it, spraying boiling ichor. Where stray droplets hit Dolorem, they writhed and immolated his flesh before dying out. In spite of the pain, with eyes shut tight, he continued his crusade toward the pulsating heart of the creature, which by its shape, was formed from Godfrey's thurible. It was a cruel amalgam of metal and flesh, a mockery of life itself.
Dolorem cut through the phalanx of corrupted flesh, frigid bloodflame steaming against infernal flesh. As he got closer, the mouths snapped and gnawed at him, tearing apart his armour and clothes, sinking into flesh. Once he had an opening, he raised his blade, ready to impale the creature's fetid heart, but he was halted by a mouth clamping down on his left arm, fangs lodged deep in the flesh.
Reptilian instinct took over. Without hesitation, he ripped what he could from the mouth, tearing his own arm off at the elbow. The pain was beyond anything imaginable. His very breathing became nigh-impossible. Paltry threads of flesh hung from the eviscerated stump, the air burning what little nerves still clung on. With his remaining hand, he thrust his blade, piercing the heart, hearing the aberrant screech of the monster. He felt the life drain from it, ebbing away to nothing. The mass of flesh crumpled and collapsed on itself, returning to its human form, albeit battered and nearly unrecognisable. Dolorem opened his eyes, seeing Godfrey dead, lying in a pool of still bubbling blood.
Dolorem's arm was already beginning to regrow, steam rising from the newly formed limb, bone providing scaffold for muscle and muscle for flesh. The pain faded away, like a bad memory. The fog in his head was yet to clear, and his vision had only partially cleared. He flicked the Voidflame from his sword, and sheathed it. He was exhausted, but he still needed to regroup with Lilith. He began to stagger toward the woods, somewhat unsure he would be of any help to her. It didn't matter, he had to try.
Lilith had led Venari into the woods, weaving between trees to try to lose her pursuer. Venari could track her by smell, following the trail like a bloodhound. Lilith felt a burning sensation in her prosthetic eye, a pressure building up, compelling her to tear off the bandage. Venari was gaining ground, once in range, she set to pounce, only to be halted by the sight of Lilith's new eye, and Lilith staring her down, bandages in one hand, the other outstretched.
Lilith's new eye was glowing a radiant gold, a flamelike seal pattern adorning her face. A little blood had leaked in the transition, but that soon seemed to disappear. Venari flung a dagger in her direction, shaking herself from her awe. The blade was flicked aside a few feet from Lilith. It had been deflected by some sort of sigil, no a mirror. She could see it now, a radiant disk of golden light, eight spans wide. It returned to Lilith's hand, much to both women's surprise.
Lilith looked at it, inspecting the formless shield intently. "Hi-no-Kami," she whispered. This was the manifestation of her will. Venari retrieved her dagger, drew her rapier and teleported above her, hoping to catch Lilith off-guard. She'd drop from above.
Lilith could see Venari's cloak. Not just the material, but she could see the magic it was infused with, she could see the linear trail it left by teleporting. Venari's position had been laid bare. Lilith dodged back and snapped her staff into position.
Venari landed somewhat heavily on the ground where Lilith had stood, quickly realising her teleport had been countered. She'd need to change tactics. She began her swing, apparently at thin air, but teleported mid-attack. Lilith couldn't catch on in time, and Venari managed a shallow wound on her shoulder.
Lilith retaliated, spinning her staff, before she lashed out and slammed Venari in the face with it. Venari was sent reeling, but managed to regain her footing. The blood leaking from Lilith's shoulder was different. Familiar, yes, but different from the last time she had taken on its scent. She continued her assault, teleporting in and out of close quarters, and back out again. She had to land a decisive strike soon, lest she burn through her magic reserves and have to imbibe blood. She certainly would have an advantage, but the loss of control was too much to risk.
Lilith's staff wasn't well suited to the claustrophobic environment of deep forest, it snagged on every twig or branch, it seemed. After receiving a nasty slash to her calf, she decided to drop it altogether and make full use of Hi-No-Kami. She reasoned it'd be usable as a sort of buckler. Instinctively, she opened her hand, and the mirror came to her. It was weightless, but as stable as a tower shield.
Immediately, the battle turned in her favour. Lilith blocked Venari's assaults, each defence converted into a deadly shield bash, or a kick. Lilith's free hand also afforded her use of jutsu. Where Venari stopped, Lilith released a burst of sparks into her face, blurring her vision.
Venari finally did land a solid slash however, stabbing Lilith's left shoulder. She withdrew her blade and retreated several metres, inspecting the anomalous blood, to Lilith's disgust. Venari threw her rapier into the ground once she realised. She took off her brace of daggers and threw it to the ground in front of her. "I surrender." She said, staring Lilith dead in the eye.
"Mind explaining why?" Lilith shouted out, too exhausted to question it. Venari stared at her as if she had two heads. "I may not look like it, but there are people that even I won't fight."
"I'm sorry, what?" Lilith questioned her. "You actually expect me to fight a pregnant woman?" Venari shouted back, exasperated. "Did you take a knock to the head? Do I look pregnant to you?" Lilith asked.
"Well no, but I can smell it off your blood. Point is, I am not that bad a person." Venari explained. "I'm guessing you didn't know, so congratulations on that front, if that applies." Lilith stood, completely in shock. Her head was spinning. "So you're saying that I'm going to have a child, and you're just letting me away."
"More or less, yes. I have no great loyalty to the Archduke, and, well, I'm a mother myself, so… yes, you can go." Venari confirmed.
In the sheer insanity of the situation, Lilith played along as if it were a normal conversation. "I would never have guessed, what'll you do about the contract?"
"I'll take out another one and say I couldn't track you two," pay'll take a hit, but I'm ahead on my payments, and I'm not exactly buying royal silk gowns every other week."
"Payments for…?" Lilith probed.
"My daughter, she's being raised by a northern trading family. I pay a cut of my contracts every month. It's the best life I can give her, especially given my condition."
"I can do better for you, if you're open to cutting allegiances." Lilith's survival instinct took over. If she offered to have the Adjudicators raise Venari's child, her loyalty would be guaranteed. Essentially, she'd be taking a hostage in all but name. Lilith felt no shame in it. It was a better deal than her current arrangement.
"So long as Lucia is safe, I'll take pay from a horse," Was her response.
"Alright, then in that case, how about I have the house of the Adjudicators take her in, and you don't pay anything? How does that sound?" Lilith said, hands raised in a show of non-hostility.
"Sounds good, what's the catch? No harm to you but I've learned the hard way not to trust nobles." Venari questioned cautiously.
Lilith struggled to keep her composure. She couldn't risk aggravating her, nor could she pretend to be purely altruistic. "All I ask is you assist Dolorem and I until such a point as the House of Mist is secured."
Venari said nothing. Lilith was offering a reasonable deal, and if Rhodri's account of Dolorem was anything to go by, they probably had no desire for bloodshed.
"Fine. Deal, but I expect payment." She said,
"Naturally," Lilith replied.
It was about this time that Dolorem staggered into view, still disoriented and not fully healed from his encounter with Godfrey. His ragged breathing betrayed his position to both Lilith and Venari well ahead of time.
Once he saw Venari, he was filled with a desperate rush of adrenaline, half-running half-falling toward Lilith, standing between her and Venari, swaying. His hand was on the hilt of his sword, prepared to draw.
Lilith put a hand on his shoulder. "Dolorem," she said softly to him, "stop, she isn't the enemy anymore."
Slowly, almost reluctantly, Dolorem's fingers loosened on his weapon. "What do you mean?" He asked Lilith.
"She's a mercenary, she isn't like the Purple Hand, Dolorem, she's under the patronage of the adjudicators now."
Dolorem's hand went back to his sword. "Not a chance. Lilith, she'd betray us in a heartbeat." He entered a shaky draw stance.
"The fuck is wrong with him?" Venari growled.
"Dolorem!" Lilith snapped. "Conduct yourself!" Dolorem let go of his sword. He could barely stand. "No," he stammered, voice barely above a whisper, "nobody… nobody, can betray…nobody, can hurt you… you, we…"
Dolorem crumpled onto the ground after that. Twitching and yelping even while unconcious.
Venari looked down at him in a mix of pity and annoyance. "He's not entirely with it… but there's no doubt he loves you."
"I know. We may as well make camp now, he won't wake up for another few hours." Lilith said, with a wistful half-smile.
Within the hour, camp had been prepared. Venari sat stitching up Lilith's wounds. "I have to ask," she said, "of all the men and women, and half the animals on the planet, why him?"
Lilith turned her head. "Dolorem?"
"Well, who else?"
"I suppose you've gotten a fairly skewed look at him, haven't you?" Lilith said.
"You could say that. Frankly, my impression of him is coloured by Cranswell's lens." Venari admitted
"I'm sure that's flattering." Lilith said with all the sarcasm she could muster. "Give me the synopsis."
Venari pulled out a canteen from under her cloak, and took a long drink. "According to the wanted posters, a treasonous knave who abandoned all morality and loyalty in the name of sowing discord."
"That…" Lilith siad, "is impressive, there's real poetry to it."
"Wait until I tell you yours." Venari cut in. "A fine scion of a well-respected house, and one not without prospects, now with a twisted mind and little hope of rehabilitation."
Lilith snorted with laughter. "Now that's a description and a half! You know, you're alright when you're not trying to kill us."
"Yeah…" Venari agreed, suddenly solemn. "Unfortunately most people I meet end up dead before they get to this point."
"Do you regret it?" Lilith asked her.
"Regret what?"
"Becoming a contract killer, surely it wasn't an easy decision." Lilith elaborated.
"Wasn't a decision. Where I'm from, if you have a child and no husband, you're fucked, actually, you're worse, damaged goods.
I drifted from place to place, and because I couldn't find a job, thievery was the way to go. Eventually, you realise that it's far safer to slide a knife between one very unpopular person's ribs for coin than be caught stealing from the wrong person, so I took out contracts. Who'd suspect me of it? A starving woman with a baby?"
Lilith said nothing. "I presume dear old dad wasn't on the scene?"
"No, fucked off as soon as I got pregnant. Didn't need the bastard around anyways." Venari said bitterly.
Lilith didn't know how to react. She'd lived a relatively sheltered, and immensely privileged life. Venari and her were worlds apart. She couldn't imagine the suffering that hid behind her voice.
"I'd say we should get some sleep, it's best we move along as fast as we can," was the next thing Venari said.
Dolorem awoke, fully healed shortly after that. Seeing Lilith and Venari already asleep, he decided to take first watch. "You don't need to bear any hatred toward her, Dolorem." The Orochi said to him. "She's no different to you, really."
"She took my wife's eye out."
"Did she not also spare her today? If she wanted Lilith dead, frankly, she would be. What makes her switching alliances any different to you doing so?" The Orochi scolded
"My only allegiances are to my country and Lilith. The alternative was serving a traitor and a murderer." Dolorem contested.
"You say so, Dolorem, but you too are a traitor and murderer. Your reasons are obviously justified to you and Lilith, but equally, Solomon is the hero of his story, and Manus of his. Is Venari not the same?"
"I'm well aware my perception of her is skewed, but quite frankly I don't care. Lilith is the only part of my life worth protecting, and therefore any potential threat to her won't earn my trust."
"If you say so" The Orochi relented. "Remember, I am not here to judge or direct you. I only ask you to reflect on your thoughts."
***
Rhodri had followed Godfrey and Venari's tracks in the evening. He knew that they couldn't be relied on. On the road he found Godfrey's shattered corpse. He knelt down beside him. The smell of burning flesh and rancid blood burned at his sinuses. He resisted the urge to retch at the stench. He had a body to search. He'd recover Godfrey's insignia as proof of death. It was the least he could offer to the family. As far as he knew, Godfrey had elderly parents, he probably supported them to some degree.
Eventually, mired in black sludge, he found the little gold disk, engraved with the symbol of a Wolfcoat, encircled by marks denoting recognition of valour. He wiped the remnants of Godfrey from its surface and stood up. "Dolorem, did you do this?" He called out into the night.
"I did."
Dolorem had taken it upon himself to patrol the vicinity. Now he stood across from Rhodri. Rhodri's already massive frame was magnified by the angular platemail he wore. It encased him entirely, like an onyx shell. The helmet seemed to retract back into the massive bevor, capable of sealing the wearer inside at a moment's notice.
"Why?" Rhodri asked. "Why him and not me?"
Dolorem looked at the mass of liquefied flesh. "The thing I killed had given up its humanity. I was putting it out of its misery."
Rhodri held up Godfrey's medal. "That thing is a hero. Five distinctions for valour, to think someone would willingly bear such a curse for their country, and you killed him for what? Petty revenge? Who is the monster here, Dolorem?" He roared out.
"There are no monsters." He fought for what he believed in, and I did the same. He would've lost control eventually anyway all those entwined with Outer Gods do."
"He was a hero." Rhodri spat.
"Aren't we all?" Dolorem said. He no longer felt guilt, nor anger.
"No." Rhodri said, composing himself. "No, we're not. I'm but a part of something far greater than I, you are a threat to the peace Manus envisions.
"Peace?" Dolorem asked. "Is that what you want? Is killing me really going to secure peace?"
"Of course! Why else would we be willing to die for the cause? Why do you think Godfrey agreed to fight alongside us? I'm fighting for my family, my home, my people!" Rhodri cried out, becoming emotional.
"Tell me then," Dolorem said in a low voice, a shadow fallen over his face "does your desire to create peace not necessitate war? Am I not simply doing as my nature demands by trying to preserve my home?
Grow up. Peace is an illusion sold by the powerful to justify slaughter of the weak. Tell me, where is the peace for those already dead? The dispossessed? The raped? The broken families? What would you say to my family, my home, my people? What gives you the right to preach about peace? My actions are to protect my people, I go to war because of your peace."
"You're a monster, Dolorem. You made an attempt on the Archduke and Archduchess' lives, killed dozens of soldiers, and killed Godfrey. At the end of the day, regardless of morals, you are a murderer. My actions are those of justice, and my heart is unclouded." Rhodri growled.
"Then there truly is no hope of helping you. If you can't understand our suffering, you can't be stopped from increasing it. I'm sorry" Dolorem said, drawing his sword.
Rhodri drew his weapon. The Helice. A spiraling great rapier, infused with holy essence. "History will see my justice."
"History won't concern itself with your morality, nor mine."