Anna shrugs. "I don't think he was a werewolf before he left us, but he might have been. He said he lost his men, was wounded by the Demon Wolves, and crawled away. Said his scar protected him. Then, just before he changed, he fessed up that they don't really work."
She spits as she tests her arm near the spot she was wounded. "More stupid superstitions. Though I don't think the old bitties back home would even fall for that."
At Tolvan's insistence Kimberly gives Anna a touch more healing, asking to see her arm, Kimberly rubs the wounded part and a small amount of warmth flows into the wounds loosening muscles and repairing internal wounds.
Did he mention about others being here? maybe he got mixed up with the whispering way folks. with a little luck they are still here somewhere.
"Oh, they're still here. They're the bodies you passed by coming up here. Did you see them? Duristan said he killed them."
Anna regards the gear and weapons and shrugs. "Half a year ago, I'd have flipped over the armor, but it's not as good as my chain shirt. I'm not sure what we should do with this; Duristan went and got himself turned into a werewolf so I'm not really in favor of giving all this stuff back to him."
Anna takes Duristan's sword and lays it with the point aimed at his gut, then braces the hilt against a gap in the floor. "There. He lunges at us, he'll impale himself on his own silver sword," she explains, then starts slapping him awake.
"Hey! Wolf boy! Wakey wakey!" she starts. Once he's conscious, she sits back on her haunches, mithral dagger held casually in one hand. "Hi again! No, don't bother getting up. You're tied, and if you try to go wolfy again, you'll have so much silver shoved in you Jezelda herself won't want to touch you."
"So. Truth this time. What really happened to the big, bad werewolf hunter?"
Duristan spits blood and smiles, bitterly. "Still the wannabe bully, I see. I think we've established I'm meant to be the villain, here. Anyhow, get lost."
Anna rocks back a bit in mild surprise, then leans in and wags her finger at him. "No. You're the fool. And you have been from the start. Maybe you've figured that out, and now you're hoping to change your status. But villain? Ha!"
She stands up smoothly and looks down her nose at him. "We have faced so much worse than some snot-nosed noble fop with delusions of heroism. You're an annoyance. A buzzing fly. A joke who went and became the very thing he thought he was hunting."
With a sneer, she leans in. Her voice grows softer, but far more condescending. "Did you grovel? When the werewolves killed all your men, did you beg to be spared? Did you ask to be like them, on your knees sniveling and crying?"
Anna folds her arms and scoffs. "Villain. Pheh. Don't make me laugh."
Duristan retains his smile. "I never said I was a very good villain. I'm just saying you're not a very convincing hero. You seem to have your role mixed up. Have we finished, or does your inner bully need some more time out in the open?"
Danica leans on in and begins to stare the man down. "I would advise you to answer the young lady's questions. There are worse fates in store if you don't cooperate." The inquisitor stares at Duristan while showing one end of her silver nunchaku.
Tolvan tries a different tact. So, how many days ago were you first bitten? Do you want to stay a were forever? We might can help you with that IF you can help us. I honestly doubt that those that bit you really want you in their club.
Anna steps over to Tolvan and leans in to whisper softly, "Dear, I think he's broken. He's been building those shrines to the Demon Lord of werewolves." Not caring if Duristan overheard, she looks at him. "Am I right? Those lovely little works of art your handiwork?"
Duristan glares at Anna. "I think I told you already, get lost. Stick to what you're good at, dear."
He looks at Danica, and sighs. "We set out for Feldgrau. We were attacked, my group was outnumbered and slaughtered. I was wounded, bitten multiple times, in the fighting. The scar-ward didn't - doesn't - work and I turned at the next full moon. They adopted me. I didn't think they would, but they did. They taught me how to become a true Demon Wolf. I'm one of them now. And to be honest with you, it's something glorious."
He looks down.
"Yes, even now."
Kimberly goes to find a view outside toward the rest of the ruins. keeping watch for approaching danger as the prisoner is interrogated. she takes in the surroundings tapping into the hidden memories of the location.
If you want I can offer him a glimpse of what awaits him in the afterlife, sometimes, that makes prisoners a little more.. agreeable
Anna refuses to be baited. She grins brightly at his attempts to goad her. When Duristan answers Danica, though, her smile fades.
"Kim, he's going to get more than a glimpse," she says softly. "You can't save everyone." She checks the silver bolt in her crossbow.
Danica uses her Discern Lies ability when Duristan recounts his events.
"That wasn't bad, was it? Now....tell me...where are your new friends now and what should we be expecting in this area?" Danica starts to slightly pound the silver nunchaku in her left palm.
Also, as part of the inquisition, Danica will Detect Evil and then Detect Chaos on Duristan.
He casts a sideways glance at Anna and nods in her direction at Danica. "Your friend's very full of herself. But she's winning me over. I like someone who's not afraid to look a fool."
He looks up and smiles. "They're in town. All over town. Them and the Whispering Way, all at war with one another. But the Demon Wolves will win. They'll win everything in the end. There's a big group waiting for me at the mill."
Tolvan looks on feeling a little sick about what needs to be done when the questioning is over. There is no way we can let this man loose.
Anna catches the sickened expression on Tolvan and guesses what he's thinking. With an understanding smile, she reaches up and strokes his cheek sofly, trying to erase those lines of worry appearing on his elven face, and whispers to him, "Why don't you see how Kimberly and Oathar are doing keeping watch? I'll be down in a minute."
Then she joins Danica to stand over Duristan. "Can you give us a minute alone?" she asks the inquisitor.
Danica walks over to her friends and whispers so that Duristan can not hear, "No lies coming from the man. I also detect a twisted black heart....an evil from his soul. It is hard to determine on whether he was like this before his transformation." Danica pauses to think then begins to continue her whispering. "We are at war with the Whispering Way. Is it our goal to destroy the The Way before they rise to power? I hate to think and say this but maybe we should think about an alliance with the Demon Wolves. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'. What do you guys think?"
Oathar stands quietly at the doorway, watching.
Duristan looks up at Anna, expectantly, his teeth gritted and a grim look on his face.
Anna stands over Duristan, face set. Her mithral dagger is held loosely in her left hand while her right has her hand crossbow. She shakes her head slightly.
"You know, a week ago, if our positions were reversed, you wouldn't hesitate, would you? I mean, it wouldn't have mattered who I was, or if I'd been an innocent victim. All that mattered to you was that I was a werewolf and needed to be put down. You even set a reckless trap in the wilderness thinking to catch a werewolf, but you didn't. Kimberly was nearly killed by your stupid arrogance." She funnels her memory of that day, the near miss, the guilt of not being fast enough to spot the trap, into anger at the one who set it.
Anna moves to his side and sets the crossbow to his temple. She hisses into his ear, "You may think I'm just being a bully, but you don't know me. I'm doing this for them. I'm sparing them from having to execute you -- a rabid dog, a man that has embraced being a beast -- and I'm going to live with it, knowing that it didn't have to be this way."
The crossbow was pressed hard against his head, the silvered tip pointed directly at his eye. She feels tears, but she forces them away so she could see clearly. This was a mercy, a necessity, she really was doing it for them, she reminds herself. It has to be me. I can't let the others do this...
She begins to squeeze the trigger.
Oathar moves forward from the shadows. His tone is soft but urgent.
"Stop! Stop, Anna, I beg you. This isn't you. This is the wrong thing to do. Whatever he is, or was, we don't know enough; whether the man embraced the beast, or the beast the man. We don't know. Executing someone for incompetence, arrogance or foolishness ... that's a path you won't come back from. Stop, I beg you."
When Oathar speaks, Anna takes a step back from Duristan, still keeping her crossbow trained on him. She looks back and forth between the paladin and the prisoner. "What else can we do? You heard him; he's a Demon Wolf now. We set him free and he joins their pack. Probably sneaks back to the Lodge and kills everyone left there for retribution."
She starts trembling in earnest now, and the tears that she'd suppressed begin to well. "Don't worry about me. I'm doing this for you, too. You can keep your paladin hands clean. I'm nobody."
"He's no Demon Wolf. They'll eat him for breakfast. Maybe for pre-breakfast. Setting him free is a death sentence as well."
Oathar pauses. "Anna, this isn't about keeping my hands clean, it's about doing good, and doing better. Our lives can't be a constant struggle to keep the ledger even, one good coin for each bad one. Remember I told you, I was looking for a sign, for guidance, from holy Iomedae? I think this is it. Give him to me. Let him be my puzzle to solve. Let him be a better mark in all our ledgers."
He looks her in the eye. "Please, Anna. You have better things to do, and be. Let him serve my purpose, for now."
Outside the room Tolvan paced. He was no cold blooded killer but he also had no solution for what to do with Duristan. And if there was a list of men that deserved to die, Duristan's name would surely be on it. Anna seemed determined. But now faced with the reality, and the deed at hand Tolvan began to regret acquiescing to Anna's decision. He would not miss Duristan one whit. No, he believed the world would be a better place for Duristan's absence. But what cost would his killing inflict on Anna's already conflicted soul?
When Oathar pushed past him to enter the room Tolvan was not sure of the paladin's plan. There simply was not good solution, and to keep Duristan a prisoner would endanger their entire mission. And that could endanger the fate of, well, perhaps the entire world.
Anna studies Oathar's face, feeling her usual defiance rise. Her stubborn nature rebels against the paladin for a moment, and she turns back to Duristan and her crossbow aimed at his head. She imagines the bolt burying itself into him, ending his sorry existence. Simple, clean and efficient. He's so in love with Jezelda, let me send him to her, she thinks bitterly.
Suddenly her shoulder itches, and she remembers the bite that infected her. She recalls the taste of blood in her mouth after the possession by the vilkacis -- Tolvan's blood. A horrifying thought occurs to her: What if Jezelda wants me, too? Anna takes a reflexive step back, swallowing hard against the phantom taste.
Oathar's words finally sink in. She turns her head to look at him, blinking, trying to comprehend. "You're leaving us?" she finally grasps.
She wars briefly with herself, some part of her still insisting that she carry through with the deed, now partly to keep Oathar with them. But she quickly settles that debate with a new seed of defiance. No, the demon b**** isn't going to get either of us."
Her crossbow lowers. "All right. Save him."
She starts to head downstairs past Oathar, whispering a soft, "Thank you," to him. She then pauses at the top of the stairs. She looks back at Duristan. "Better stick with Oathar, since there won't be any Demon Wolves left to return to. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry."
Anna quietly rejoins the others, her face solemn.
Still unsure of the plan Tolvan realizes that Anna has not gone through with it and Duristan still lives. He breaths out, not realizing that he has been holding his breath and embraces Anna for a long moment before regarding Oathar and asking What will you do?
Danica looks at Anna when she exits the room not knowing if her friend actual put the beast at rest. "And?? Is the deed done?"
Anna looks up at Danica from Tolvan's embrace and gives a small shake of her head. She glances back to the room with the two inside. "No. I... Oathar stopped me. He's going to try to save him."
Danica smiles and embraces both Anna and Tolvan. "I am pleased. The burden should not be yours alone. It taints the soul." The inquisitor leaves the lovers alone then walks over to Oathar. "What are your plans with this worm?"
Save him? Tolvan says and despite his best effort it comes out like a scoff. I am not convinced that is possible. Oathar, we need you with us. I question the wisdom of endangering our lives and our mission for the sake of this one? The wizard's firm stare softens some and he adds But I know ultimately it is your decision and that you will do as your conscience demands.
Kimberly had made her way back outside. she still was worried that there were more enemies about. besides it would be best she never does learn what happened in there.
Oathar looks round. "Best to do this, for me, for him, for you. I'll take him away, see if our priests can ... repair him. I don't doubt he has become evil. What he was before ... an arrogant fool ... I think that defies good and evil. If he can't be saved - well, in merely trying, perhaps we saved ourselves."
He looks at Tolvar. "Help me bind him, please. I probably need him gagged as well. In fact, I definitely need him gagged."
Anna had closed her eyes and let herself go numb in Tolvan's embrace. For a moment, she had pushed away the awfulness and let the strange relief that she did not have to go through with it wash over her. It was strange; her old crew wouldn't have hesitated -- especially Ryvan and Two-Bolt -- and she actively avoids pondering if she'd have hesitated while she still ran with them.
When Oathar asks for Tolvan's assistance, she slips from the embrace and lets them go about their business. She still hated the thought of being without Oathar's quiet, stoic presence. Almost as much as she missed the overbearing aura of Andjela.
Something Andjela said a long time ago bubbles up from her memory. Always doing the right thing over the easy thing. She shakes her head. Almost killing Duristan had been both easy and hard. She had come so close. And now Oathar was taking upon an insane task, when the sane thing to do was kill him and move on to the real evil. It was so absurd that it was almost comical.
Deciding that her presence would be counterproductive, she steals away downstairs and finds Kimberly keeping lookout. "Hey. You okay?" she asks.
Tolvan tries to be helpful as he tries to understand Oath's need to save this excuse for a man. He efficiently binds and gags the prisoner. When the task is done he looks again to the paladin. The cultists are here. I feel it. We could use your wisdom and your strong arm in the fifth to come. You will be missed.
Oathar looks squarely at Tolvan. "In the fight that's to come, do you want to have five people full of regret, unsure of whether they've done the right thing. Do you want to go into battle with an Anna who hasn't slept a night since last night? Better that this poison is taken away."
"I've prayed. Someone else is coming. Someone has been sent. You will have your help."
He lifts the bundle that is Duristan and flings him unceremoniously over his shoulder, carrying him downstairs, carefully stepping over the two cultist bodies.
"Go back to the farmstead, on the outskirts of town. Wait one night. Someone will come."
Kimberly watched and listened. she seemed to understand despite her younger stature.
Before Oathar could finally leave she runs over and jives him a hug. Pharasma's blessings go with you, and if the day ever comes when you have to meet her for your judgement, mention my name, Pharasma and me are pretty close.
turning to the others, to the farmhouse then?
Tolvan nods and offers Oather his hand in parting friendship. I thanks you for your part in what seems to be our epic Oathar. Be well and stay true. The wizards leads the others back to the farmhouse asking Danica to establish watches for the night. He seems tired but settles down with his books and notes and parchment and inks and begins to scribe a scroll.
Danica offers her hand to Oathar. "You have been a well addition to our group. It was a pleasure to battle evil by your side. May the Bright Lady shine upon you."
At the farmhouse Danica makes sure that the horses are in good condition and are well fed. She says to Anna "Do you think you can create some traps to alert us when someone or something is coming? I can take first watch."
Anna shakes her head. "Not without the right equipment, and more time than we've got. But I could lay some trip lines down, easy enough. Might give us a bit of warning."
Anna raids the farmhouse for rope, thread, and cans and bottles to make some early-warning tripwires across the spots where it's hardest to view from the house.
Earlier, Anna had given Oathar a quiet hug as a goodbye, not really finding the words to say as he left with Duristan. She felt like questioning him more about who will be coming, since those words seemed partly ominous. She also wanted to ask why he didn't send for more. Instead, she just kept her mouth shut and listened to the distant howls deep in the Shudderwood.
Oathar nods to the others. "Till we meet again, then. Iomedae watch over you." He smiles at Anna. "And, by the way, I think she will."
He throws Duristan's bound body over the horse, in front of the saddle. He lifts himself up, shakes the reins, and the horse moves off, at an easy step, away from Feldgrau and into the descending night.
Tolvan pauses his scribing and repast to take his turn at watch. His elven sense are acute this evening as he knows he is behind enemy lines.
Kimberly shared a watch with Dancia, a little afraid to take a watch alone.
She was rather quiet during the watch, she seemed a little concerned of Oathar leaving.
** spoiler omitted **
Oathar nods to the others. "Till we meet again, then. Iomedae watch over you." He smiles at Anna. "And, by the way, I think she will."
Anna takes a nervous glance upward, then gives Oathar a small smile in return.
Danica is happy to have some company during her watch.
