Demonic Magician

Most of the Crimson Shadow had been easy to erase from this world. Even when faced with what they had done, or stood for, they continued to be unrepentant. Would squirm and claw their way from under your thumb to gnash and bite at you. Rabid animals.

Now that we had met someone only one foot in the pool of blood, it made our usual binary approach a lot more difficult.

I looked back at the corpses we had created. A harsh punishment for those whose only crime was… oh, no - they had abandoned us to die in the camp. Trying to keep themselves safe was one thing, but knowingly putting us in danger was nearly unforgivable.

Ren was waiting for me to proceed, to see if I changed tact with this new information. In all honesty, I wished I could make the decision to just kill the paladin and move on. It was only by virtue of how the fight shook out that she was even alive - the plan was to kill them all.

Then what were my choices? Give her up to Fiona to decide her fate? Let her go and atone for her terrible choices? Start a prison and judicial system to put these sorts away for their crimes? None of those really ticked a box that made me comfortable. Neither did killing her in cold blood.

With a sigh, I clicked my fingers, and my hound went to sit in front of her. I turned and gestured Ren and Fiona off to the side.

“What’s the matter? Cold feet?” The fighter raised an eyebrow once we were partly out of earshot of the paladin.

“Eh.” I pulled a face. “I kill the Crimson Shadow and demons. She is neither.”

Ren had a scowl upon her face, but she gave me a nod. “The nuance is important.”

Fiona sighed and rubbed at her short hair. “So you’re trying to think of a humane option that doesn’t leave us with a potential enemy? She can’t be trusted, though.”

I looked back at our captive. She looked miserable and withdrawn; her face lowered and gloomy. Resigned to joining her companions across the ground in short order.

“Take her into your Party,” I said.

“Fuck you.” Fiona shook her head. “Take her in your Party.”

“I can’t. The paladin seeks safety. We aren’t about that.” I looked toward Ren to see her reaction to my proposition. Not overly eager, but she understood my angle.

“She betrayed us,” the Fighter seethed. “Strung Clive’s corpse up.”

I leaned forward, closer to her. “And how many lives did you doom with your inaction? What of your own sins in trying to do your best?”

Anger flared up in her eyes, and she bared her teeth. “You fucking dare?”

“Yeah, I do.” A wave of cold passed through me. “What you have now is a chance to prove you can lead, can do better than the Shadows. Or are you a monster like them? Like me?”

I could see her tense up, trying to decide if hitting me was a good idea. Her incensed eyes went between me, the elf, and the paladin.

“You don’t have to bend over backwards for her,” Ren said. “Allow her the safety of the first area and time to grieve. She will repent, in time.”

“And if she betrays us again?” Some anger had died down in Fiona’s expression.

I stood back up, away from her. “Kill her and mail me her head. Or don’t actually, that would be weird.” I shivered as my body temperature returned to normal. “Feel free to exact your revenge on me personally.”

Her eyes rolled. “We both know how unsuccessful that would be. Let me talk to the others… but this is fucking stupid.” She left to go meet with Magnus and Ruby.

“I think it’s the right call, trickster.” She watched the woman leave before turning to me. “Also, threatening her was amazing. I was almost giddy.”

I raised an eyebrow and smiled at her. Her expression hadn’t really changed throughout the whole exchange, but I believed every word of it. “I’m starting to think you like that side of me.”

“Every side of you.” She pursed her lips. “Now go sort this mess out.”

With a brief bow, I turned and walked over to the paladin. How funny that the parts of us that changed for us to be a better Party and companions were also the things that we loved about each other. Oh, the L word. Better keep my head in the show.

I crouched down in front of the seated woman and gave my dog a pet. Lower than her to be less threatening. I looked up into her dissociating eyes. Although I hadn’t gotten the go ahead from the other team, I had a feeling they were following my stage directions. It was the only way things could work.

“Do you know how many Crimson Shadows my group has killed?”

She didn’t meet my gaze, but shook her head.

“Me neither. Three or four dozen by now. Cleared the first area of them, as far as I know.” Crouching this way was actually slightly uncomfortable. “I have a proposition that you might not like.”

Her amber eyes rose to meet my own. “My life is already forfeit.”

“No. You have one last chance at penance. At safety.” I sent the Hellhound+ to get pets from the elf before he vanished away.

The paladin just looked confused.

Footsteps came up beside me. Metal boots. A gloved hand rested on my shoulder and gave it a brief squeeze. Fiona had accepted my proposition. Either that or she was about to lop my head off, which would be rather amusing in retrospect.

“Fiona here is willing to accept you into her Party. They are heading into the first area to rest and recover. Taking time away from the conflict.”

She looked up at the fighter, even more confusion and sadness in eyes that didn’t understand, her lips unable to get out any words.

Fiona shifted from behind me and crossed her arms. “Strength is repairing those broken around you, not discarding them. You will have to earn your place, and our trust… but if you truly seek it, we can offer you a second chance.”

The paladin burst out into tears and held her hands up, practically praying for the opportunity.

I stood and walked around her to retrieve Quinn’s boomerang. The man had been leaning against Wolf, the bear close to napping and seemingly unbothered by the fencer’s casual closeness now.

Stepping back over to Fiona, I gave her a brief nod. “This is where we part ways, then.”

She grunted, and tiredness filled her face. “I still hate your fucking guts, Max. But I respect you.”

I grinned. “I won’t ask for a hug then.”

“No, fuck off already.” She smiled and shook her head, before turning to the paladin.

My feet took me away from the situation. I shook the large hand of Magnus, and got an awkward hug out of the goblin. We waved the group of four off as they started to cross the bridge.

“Thought’s, Ren?” I asked.

“Things sure were easier when it was us against the world. I almost feel guilty for the four we killed.”

Almost.

Under different circumstances, they may have all lived and followed a path like the paladin. This was the crux of it, though. Much like Fiona could become a good leader if she wasn’t so afraid to make mistakes, the would-be Crimson Shadow group had reaped the consequences of their actions. Not an easy lesson to swallow, but the stakes were high.

“They had opposed us,” I said, flatly. “Perhaps soon the world will run out of fools.”

“If only,” she replied, undressing me with her eyes.

I really needed to keep up this false bravado stuff. Instead of buttering up the elf more, I turned to the other two in our group. “Pole and bodies into the river. Best not to leave such a mess.”

“Don’t forget to loot,” Ren jabbed me forward with her finger.

Relenting to peer pressure, I joined the others in clearing the stage. Not usually one for the dirty work, I at least gave it my all when roped into lending a hand. The blood would hopefully wash away with rain or scour away under the glare of the sun. Pockets thoroughly shaken out, we dropped the bodies and pole over the edge of the bridge and into the fast-flowing river.

“Anything good, trickster?”

[6343 Gold]

[Brilliant Robes] [+3 Int, +3 Wis, +5% Magic Damage]

[Cloak of the Caster+] [+5 Int, +5% Magic Damage]

[Warrior Ring] [+2 Str, +2 Con, +5% Health]

[Health Potion (8)]

[Antidote (4)]

[Note]

How sad it was that breaking open Players like pinatas was the surest way of getting good loot compared to doing Quests or Dungeons. No wonder the System was in such disarray. I moved my current cape to my Cosmetic slot - the ability to hide the movements of my left hand was worth more than any Stat in the same slot.

“This,” I said, withdrawing a piece of paper to hand to her.

Her brow furrowed further as she read it. “Where they planned to meet someone from the Shadows to get their blood and proper introduction?”

As much as she was good at reading between the lines, those were the actual lines of the letter, so she was equally as good at reading those as well. Hmm, something had come loose in my brain, perhaps.

Quinn stepped over and stretched out his back. “What’s the location? Far from here?”

She handed it over to him, and his eye ran through the text.

“Tomorrow.”

I nodded. As much as I liked it when the bad guys put their intentions down with ink and paper, this didn’t add up quite nicely. The thought swirled around in my head, but I couldn’t put a finger on it to keep it in place.

“You know,” I said, instead of letting the thought fester. “You could have joined them. Fiona's group, I mean.”

He cast his eye back down the bridge, the wooded first area visible just past the heap of broken fort parts. He turned back to me and passed the note over with a smile.

“No. I feel my destiny lies with the three of you. Hopefully to die saving your life, Max, to fully repay my debt.”

I groaned. “You know, saying things makes them more likely to come true, right?”

“Superstitious, trickster? Or overly pessimistic?” Ren stood with her arms crossed.

“Neither.” I shrugged them off and gestured for us to get moving. “It’s a subconscious thing. Makes you head toward paths that your mind has already cleared.”

“Like how you can force a card pick?” Her eyebrow raised.

“Yeah.” I smiled.

Wolf grunted. “That’s why I always talk about food.”

As if he didn’t get enough already - even with his debuff causing him to require sustenance more often. Still, it had been a tiring morning already, and we hadn’t gotten stuck into our original plan for the day yet.

“Let’s get somewhere less painted with death and take five for elevenses, then?”

They agreed, and Quinn pointed out a location closer to the coast that had a Quest that might help unlock the Chat function. Plenty of tired disdain in his eye that we had managed to skip that on our way here.

Still, power had been more helpful, and Ren and Wolf were never too far from me if I wasn’t getting kidnapped. Now that we had cautious allies, someway of telling them our last will and testament before we dashed ourselves on the rocks of our hubris could be helpful. Quinn especially seemed happy to have the details of Magnus, compared to Wolf, who was indifferent to the notion.

“Going to be a long day,” Ren said to me, as we walked side by side. The other pair were slightly ahead, Quinn again delivering an animated tale loosely food-related to capture the bear’s attention.

“They all seem to be, lately.” I smiled at her, another pang of brief panic as her hand held onto mine again.

“We’re growing though. Maybe not in power, but in strength.” She had a calm to her expression, as she looked at the pair ahead.

Quinn had been an unexpected addition. That much was true. Our morality had been tested, and I’d like to think we made the best choices for a pair of killers. Although penned in by the framework of the System, our comaraderie and personal character growth had clearly found a good place to farm experience… as we were thriving in that respect.

I felt more confident in taking the role of a decision maker. Ren had swallowed her pride to put on an act or two to support me. Wolf was the glue that kept us stable. Quinn had his flaws, but he was open with his feelings in a way that was admirable, when not annoying.

It wouldn’t last, I was sure of it. Even as the breeze brought across a smell that signaled we were near the shore. The daylight was soft and comforting, and the scenery seemed calm and lush. This was just another quiet stage before the bubble popped.

Conflict rose from the meagre shadows to follow us wherever we went. Sure, today might just be a day of beating up System-created… but tomorrow we knew where Crimson Shadows would be meeting the Party we had just ruined. The necromancer, Tyler, and his ilk might make a move south of the road knowing that the camp was all but overrun. There were probably more enemies just waiting in the wings for us to make a misstep, that we hadn’t even heard of.

But looking into those bright blue eyes, and holding Ren’s hand… I-

“Hey Max!” Quinn called from ahead, the clouds of rosy pink surrounding me dissipating. “You should come see this.”