Unlife had its advantages, he was coming to admit. It was clear that the Revenant was not the only one who had stumbled upon the hollow of the demon that lay to the west of the city, the ground outside of the cave blackened and burned. A mortal man tracking the creature would have found defeat here, the trail colder than the wind blowing from the mountain to the west of the hollow.
For all his protests against the words of Signe and Rhain and Kaija, they were right, and he was wrong. He was neither mortal nor man, anymore. The creature's path revealed itself to him in figments of red, not unlike a path of blood that carved a deliberate path through the forest. The path continued in a careful stalk past the Magi-Vault, then a straight line towards the north of the Gloomrot, where there were scarcely any travelers or roads to be found. The Revenant was not so lucky as to avoid any prying eyes, as the Demon was. The woodsman that spied him through the trees knew better than to raise his hatchet to the pair of silver eyes in the forest, hooded and cloaked in black. He wanted to offer some words to the man, but he had fled before the Revenant had time to determine what to say.
Thou canst not fault the woodsman. Foul creatures worse than thee dwell within these woods.
"I know, Cadoc." the Revenant muttered, as the sounds of the fleeing woodsman faded into the rustling of the trees.
Nevertheless, the burden of his apprehension doth weigh upon thee heavily. Might I assume control for a spell?
"I ought to get used to it. And this–. This mission matters to me."
Cadoc offered respectful silence, as response to that. In the absence of food and drink and friends, there was little to keep him tethered to sanity, save for his duty. Duty was the only thing that kept him from a descent into the creature he was now hunting. His pursuit of the red path grew a little more desperate, at the thought of that.
Before long, the path came to an end before the might of Foghorn Rock. A hasty, desperate scratching of claws illuminated the rest of his path, up the slopes of the mountain. The creature was far larger than he had been led to believe, judging by the size of the claw marks. Such size had prevented the Demon from making it more than a quarter of the way up the mountain.
The warmth of a fire, and the cold of the mountain's wind were dulled to him. The taste of food. The rending of claws felt precisely the same as it had in life, as the Demon leapt from its place in a wayward tree. The Revenant had no explanation for why he had been caught so off-guard. Perhaps it would have been better to let Cadoc take control. Silver blood welled onto the snow, melting it away in an instant with a sizzle as he stumbled back with a pained hiss.
The bomb, Gwilym. The bomb!
Cadoc's words refocused him as his left hand dropped to the orange globe held on his belt, releasing it with a soft click. Rinasalle was drawn with the rasp of enchanted steel on leather. He was ready for the Demon's second swipe, throwing himself against the slope of the mountain to let it careen past. He responded with a shielding of his eyes with a right hand, and a deliberate toss with his left. A great screech came in reply, the orange light blinding him momentarily even through his hand. Eira's alchemy never failed.
The daze cleared from his eyes, the combination of the alchemy and his sight as a Revenant enough to see the stunned Demon through its illusions. It was hideous, to be sure. Over ten feet tall, with claws the size of daggers. Its dazed eyes flared with mutant green and blood-red, with a snout akin to a bird's beak, but beset with stinking teeth. Its two charred hooves stained the ground beneath which it stood, melting away the snow and burning the dirt beneath. Silvered gaze locked with mutant green, and the Revenant drove forth to slash against the stunned Demon's side, as thunder boomed overhead. The Demon's protection against mortal hands was powerless against the Revenant's steel, and Eira's alchemy. Rinasalle burned a new mark into the human torso of the creature, and another screech filled his ears. A warding swipe of the claws came for his side, which the Revenant barely parried, feet skidding against the snow. In its desperation, it spoke as it backed away.
"BURNS—. BURNS. HOW!"
What was once a ferocious monster was now a fleeing, terrified foe. He pitied the Demon, and hated it in equal measure. He had hoped for a great duel.
"Your protection doesn't work against your own kind." the Revenant replied, as a burst of dragon magic filled his palm, dragging the Demon towards him once more. Another slash was offered by Rinasalle, and received by the creature's back.
"WHY–. HUNT. YOUR OWN KIND." it rasped out as it fell onto its stomach in the snow, kicking an unguligrade leg towards his midsection that the Revenant was too slow to avoid. The armour beneath the hood and cloak buckled against the force of it.
"I am not–. What you are." he wheezed out, recovering his breath. Another warding slash from the fallen creature as it turned kept him at bay, for now.
"NOT. YET. NOTHING–. SEPARATES US."
It was preying on his fears, he knew, as all Demons do. But it was fear founded in an ounce of sense, just like the woodsman in the forest. There was no witty reply for him to offer, evading another warding slash to drive Rinasalle into the creature's gut with a ruthless stab. Not a word more came from the beast as its form melted away, and the remnants of Eira's bomb burned its mark into the snow. The Demon was fading into the land between life and death. The Revenant followed.
Cadoc was already busy at work, when his vision cleared. Ash took the place of snow, and a dead sky overhead had swallowed the stars whole. He was still on his knees, finding his feet at the sound of clashing steel.
"Thou hast provoked its ire, Sera Arnyn!" called a voice from the field of ash before him, as the Revenant drew forward. A figure was clad in silver plate, the armour stubbornly refusing the influence of the ash in the air. A house-sized Demon stood before Cadoc, but the Knight was as fearless as ever. Those same green eyes flared at the silver of Cadoc's beneath his helm, and steel was soon to meet claw.
The Revenant's approach was hampered by the layers of powdered ash that was strewn about the battlefield. Heavy boots made for a poor vehicle. The gash to his side still burned. Lightning coiled around his waist, pulling him through the debris toward Cadoc's side. It was a gesture mostly out of politeness; Cadoc was making short work of such a weakened Demon, brandin its legs and torso with half a dozen stabs of his sword. The creature faded away into that familiar red mist once more, and an emaciated, ash-hued Ailor took its place, kneeled into a waist-high mound of powder. The Revenant stepped forward, but Cadoc was quick to shove him back.
"Hold thy ground. It may be a ruse."
A meek voice followed from the figure, as it rose.
"Not a ruse, Knight. I don't–. Could you sheath your swords"
Cadoc refused, as was his way. The Revenant offered a slow nod, complying.
"Do you remember anything? Who you are? Where you've been?" he began, in the same line of questioning that he had used a dozen times before.
The withered man settled to a sit in the powder, itching at his arms. He fell into a long silence, listening to the roaring wind.
"I remember burning. Burning and drowning and slashing. I was–. I was with my unit. We were three columns deep on the field, before the burning started. There were flying monsters overhead, and a–. Some acid creature. "
A soldier. Tenpenny, maybe. The Revenant continued the questioning as Cadoc stepped to the side, once more falling into respectful silence.
"Were you in the jungles, soldier?"
"--Yes. Sendras. How did you-"
"I was at that battle. I'm sorry."
The tenpenny took the Revenant's meaning quickly, offering a nod as his hand ran through the ash. It was no surprise to the soldier that he had been slain.
"This isn't paradise. It's burned and dead."
"It isn't the paradise you were promised. Sometimes–. Sometimes these things happen."
"Is that what happened to you? Live and die for the Empire, and end up in this shit place all the same? Should've listened to my grandmother." huffed out the tenpenny, rasping out a chuckle at his own situation in a way that only a soldier could.
"It was no fault of the Empire that this happened to you, soldier."
"Chester. Name's Chester. How did this happen?"
"Whatever killed you prevented your soul from passing on. You were corrupted. Hurt people."
Chester's face grew even more sullen, at that.
"There's no fairness in this. I did my duty. I was a good man. I was a good soldier. I–. Why me? Why not some sinner or criminal?"
Sullenness was turning to anger, rapidly. Cadoc passed a slow glance to the Revenant, beneath his helm. He would need to measure his next words carefully.
"It's not fair. You're right. It's not fair that you and your friends had to die because of bad scouting. And it's not fair you're here now."
The Revenant's pity was a gamble; there was every chance it would just further enrage Chester. A gamble that paid off from the look on the soldier's face, as anger simmered back down to despair. Cadoc chose to sheathe his sword, still in silence, offering a hand down to the soldier. Chester found his own feet.
"You want vengeance?"
"Yes. 'Course I do. Don't you, for whoever made you like this?"
"I did."
"Did?"
"Does your grandmother want to remember you as a vengeful spirit, or a man who found peace? You cannot do both."
"You said I hurt people. It sounds like I have gone down that road already."
"You have. But not of your own will. Seeking this out will change you."
Chester grumbled, at that. The Demon wanted vengeance, it was clear. Perhaps there was a side of the man that wanted it, too. He took his time in replying, as he settled into the ash.
"..I could settle for peace." the tenpenny concluded.
And so the Revenant sat beside the Demon. He spoke of the hopes he had in life, and the things he'd left unsaid and undone. He spoke of his grandmother, and the parents he never knew. He spoke of his war stories, and the Revenant even gave some of his own in reply. In the end, he spoke of his hopes for what the afterlife might look like. Such hope was enough for Chester to find peace, and let go. Cadoc bowed his head, as the Demon was stripped from Chester, and the soldier passed on. Words of friendship were replaced once more with the roaring wind.
"How many is that now, Cadoc?"
"Six and ten, Sera Gwilym. A respectable count." Cadoc replied, setting his hands on his belt to look over the plains of ash.
The Revenant cleared his throat. A question was at the forefront of his mind, but lacked the grace to ask it. Cadoc spared him of the awkwardness.
"Nay, she hath not been discovered. I spoke earnestly on that bridge to thy comrades 'Tis time thou unsealed the gift she left thee." Cadoc continued, setting the clay vessel from his belt carefully down before the Revenant.
"Should I withdraw, whilst thou inspecteth it?"
"No. This frightens me more than that Demon did. Stay."
"Thou hast naught to dread. Thou didst inform me she was unaware of thy identity. It is likely a–.. curative ointment."
Cadoc was unskilled at concealing the truth. The Revenant wagered he knew more than he was letting on. Tremoring hands loosened the metal stopper attached to the clay bottle, drawing out its contents. Golden light flooded the air as it was opened, and Leif's magic kept the despair of ash and soot at bay, for the moment. The wisps of golden yellow caught hold of his hands, and formed a letter in them, written with Eira's pen. His ashen breath caught in his throat, and Cadoc, the brave fool as ever, offered his aid.
"I may recite it aloud, if it may prove beneficial."
The Revenant ignored his words, as Cadoc had expected. This was his mission to read it. The letters revealed themselves line by line, as his vision scanned down.
My dearest Wil,
If you read this, then I know that you triumphed against the Demon. I am overjoyed, but hardly surprised. I suppose that if you read this, you also know that I saw through your disguise. You had your reasons, and so I said nothing.
Above all, I know that if you read this, then the worst has happened to me, and the fate I have tried to avoid has come to pass. The reasons for such a fate, and the circumstances of our meeting, are one and the same. My uncle was an evil man, and evil men invite vengeance upon those they care for. The only person in the world my uncle still truly cared for was his niece. His final act before the curse took his life was to send me far away to reunite me with my parents, and fill my pockets with enough money for tutelage.
My uncle died alone, and there was no one to grieve for him. For a time, I wanted the same for myself. What point would there be for others to invest in a life that was doomed? But I couldn't keep to it. I wanted to help others with my life and my studies. Perhaps selfishly, I wanted memories to look back on from the halls of Eiliheim, and to smile on between Njal's songs. I justified to myself that if I cared and helped and loved enough, that it might save my soul and free me from the curse. I know now from the pain on your face in the stall that this was fated to fail, too. I have accepted this.
Don't weep for my tale, Wil. It was my duty to bear, and my Demon to fight. I lived a life as full and as beautiful as any other, and you gave me the chance to love and be loved before my time was up. I never told you of the curse, for I knew that you would try to help me, and you would blame yourself. I thought I was sparing you from guilt, but I was also sparing myself from the look in your eyes, once you learned the truth. I hope you can forgive me.
You vowed to me once that you would always look for me, whether I was in Drixagh, or Imellomgård. Break your vow, just this once, for me. Live for the both of us, so that Bard may tell me of your journey. Be brave enough to love again, and do all of the things that we couldn't. A holiday to Girobalda. A starlit balloon ride. A family.
Never lose sight of that clumsy, bright-eyed Squire who mustered the courage to give a girl a flower. And visit me in that stall, if ever you do.
Your best friend,
Your alchemy tutor,
Your loving wife,
Eira.
