Scorcher
“I want you to kill Scorcher.”
There was silence before Einheria signed and her interpreter said,
“Why? Why is your request for us to kill him?”
The lady scoffed.
“Were you not listening before? I have plenty of reasons to want him dead.”
Gerhman scratched his head.
“But why not tell the Jarl about this so not only could he take care of Scorcher, but nobody would have been captured in the first place?”
I shook my head.
“She’s obviously not doing this out of the goodness of her heart, so as far as I can tell she was just waiting for the ideal moment. When there would be the least risk for her with the most reward.”
As my fellow captives murmured their malcontent the spy smiled.
“You’re sharp. I like that. So yeah, I was waiting for a moment just like this to arrive. If I would have told Fiadhaich what I was doing there was no guarantee he wouldn’t try to use me as a ransom. If I tried to subtly drop hints there was the chance he’d see through my deception. If I left a note he might take it as a joke or as a lie. To be honest I was at my wits end as to what to do until....”
I nodded.
“Gerhman and I walked in.”
“Mhm. You’ve got it. I just had to make sure you guys got captured, but also inform Scorcher of your plans.”
Gerhman interjected.
“But why tell him? You knew the guards would be coming! Why not wait for them to show up!?”
“And get caught in the crossfire? Not happening. It’s safest for me to let you guys kill Scorcher while I lead the rest to your town.”
I crossed my arms and said,
“Where you’ll have amnesty as a part of our bargain.”
She nodded.
“After that it’s only a matter of disappearing.”
“Why not just ‘disappear’ now? If you’re so confident in your skill why say that Scorcher would come after you?”
She scowled.
“Let’s just say he has some dirt on me that gives him a certain... advantage over me.”
I smirked.
“Who is it?”
She blinked in surprise before a wide smile cracked her face.
“Wow, color me impressed. If I wasn’t certain you’d try to turn on me I’d offer to take you along as my partner. You’re sharper than you look.”
Well I have read a whole lot of mystery novels in my time, but she didn’t need to know that. Excuse time!
“It was simple deduction. You’re confident you can vanish without a trace. So that means you don’t fear that Scorcher will harm you, but rather that he’s going to hurt somebody you care about. Somebody you wish he hadn’t discovered existed. As such, you want us to kill him so you can make a clean break.”
She nodded.
“Pretty much. So do we have a deal?”
I looked back at Einheria.
“I’m leaving this choice up to you. It affects all of you more than it affects me.”
She nodded her gratitude before growing thoughtful. She signed and her interpreter said,
“She wants to know how we’re supposed to trust that you aren’t just going to betray us.”
The spy sniffed.
“I already told you.”
“She wants more concrete assurance. She doesn’t find you trustworthy in the slightest.”
I nodded my head and added,
“To be honest, good call on her part. Anyway, how about this. You give us collateral that we will hold until you fulfill your end of the bargain?”
Spy raised an eyebrow.
“Such as?”
I looked her over for something that might work. There was a slight gleam and I saw it. Hidden away in her neck/chest feathers was a golden chain and at the end was an oval locket.
“A trinket of some sort. Something you would want back. For instance... that necklace?”
She flinched back and held a claw over the barely visible gold pendant around her neck. What!? It was so shiny I’m surprised nobody else noticed it!
She growled,
“Keen eye you’ve got there. I’ve heard dragons could spot gold a mile away but I didn’t think it was true.”
Einheria quickly responded.
“You either give us the necklace or no deal.”
The spy grit her teeth (Wait?! Teeth!? I literally just noticed that griffins have teeth in their beaks! That is so weird!) and growled,
“There really is no need for this. I have no intention of betraying you to that pig Scorcher.”
Einheria’s translator responded,
“She says that you must take her for a fool if you think she’s going to trust you.”
“In that case... why don’t I find something else you can—“
Einheria shook her head and pointed at the locket. The determined look in her eyes made it clear she would have no substitute. The female spy let out an angry, rumbling growl and hesitated before spitting,
“Fine! We don’t have time for this! But if you scratch, dent, dirty, look inside it, or do anything to it I’ll tear you limb from limb!”
I stepped forward to accept the piece of jewelry.
“You have my word. I’ll make sure that the one who holds it doesn’t do anything to it.”
She hesitantly removed the chain and handed it through the bars. As she gave it to me she grabbed my wrist and pulled me close.
“You have no idea how valuable that is to me. I am deadly serious about what I said.”
“Ditto.”
I turned to Gerhman and gave him the necklace. I don’t know if he heard a word of the entire exchange given he was practically drooling over the griffin lady.
“You heard her, guard it with your life.”
He took it with a bizarre look of reverence and carefully put it on. He held his claw over his heart and looked at the spy.
“On my honor as a bard and me dear mum’s life I’ll keep it safer than a granny watching her grand-babies egg.”
The spy moved to the guard who was beginning to stir.
“You better, peckerhead, or else.”
She pulled back her hindleg and kicked the poor bandit extremely hard between the legs. We all winced, even the ladies who have never experienced that horror before, as his groans rose about an octave and a half and he curled into a ball singing soprano. Gerhman gulped and squeaked like he’d been the one who got kicked,
“U-understood miss.”
“Good, so let’s go.”
She unlocked the cage and motioned for everyone to follow her.
“Quiet, and in a single-file line!”
We all followed her out the door and started heading to the right into a darker, less cultivated part of the system. We stopped in a small, almost pitch-black cave. Our guide pulled a rock (now shown to be fake for cover) and revealed a hole big enough for us to crawl through. She turned to me and Einheria and said.
“Alright, so I’m assuming dragon boy is going to take care of Scorcher? I’ll escort everyone to a safe, hidden place where I’ll wait for your safe return after you’ve taken care of everything. You’ll find Scorcher in the farthest back cave to the right. If you stick to the far right wall you should encounter minimal guards at most. Everyone should be asleep so it shouldn’t take you too long.
I nodded before Einheria shook her head and pointed to herself. I turned to the scarred griffin and whispered,
“What do you mean!? You have to get your people back to town. I can manage... I think.”
She shook her head and gave me a defiant look.
“Well who’s going to lead your people?”
She pointed to her translator.
“Okay, I’ll give you that. But what are you going to use to—“
She showed me a sabre she had taken from somewhere.
“You ever use that?”
She nodded and inclined her head to me. I summoned my knife behind my back and showed it to her. She then held up two fingers and pointed to us both.
“Wait... huh? Oh, ooooooh! Okay. We’ll do it together!”
She nodded. Gerhman chimed in.
“What about me?”
“Go with the others.”
“But I—“
“Do you know how to fight?”
“...No.”
“Then go with the others and keep that locket safe.”
He sighed,
“Aye, I’ll do that. Best of luck to you.”
“And to you. Oh, and....”
I grabbed his head and looked him in the eyes.
“Head in the game. Stop staring at whatever-her-name-is and don’t lose that locket.”
He nodded and the spy growled,
“Can we go now?!”
I looked to Einheria and she nodded.
“Yeah, see you in a bit.”
We slowly slunk through the tunnels as the others left. We kept the right hand wall by us and followed it through dimly light cave after dimly light cave. Before long we emerged in a room barely illuminated by a single candle. In a large bed in the center was a softly breathing lump and hanging on the coat rack was my coat (which I immediately reclaimed.)
“Alright, let’s do it. Shall I stab him or shall you?”
She gave me a determined look and brandished her sword. I mock-courteously stood aside.
“After you then.”
She nodded and crept slowly towards the bed. There was barely a sound before she clamped her claw over his mouth and drove her blade deep into his chest. The griffin thrashed as scarlet blood soaked the sheets. Einheria drove her sword further down as his struggling slowed down before he stopped moving. I joined her and looked down at the still body. I wasn’t particularly squeamish but the blood was making me feel a bit sick. I took a shaky breath and whispered,
“Alright, let’s—“
*bzzz*
Without hesitation I threw myself onto Einheria and shoved us behind cover. I was just in time as a bolt of electricity exploded right where we’d been.
“Damn, I’d hoped you wouldn’t hear that.”
We both peaked out to see Scorcher accompanied by four bandits. His claw was raised and yellow lightning crackled from his fingers, causing his ring to gleam.
“How in the—“
“—Hades am I using magic? That’s a secret. But it is the reason why I got my name. Now then, I don’t know how you escaped or why you chose to try to kill me rather than run, but it doesn’t really matter.”
Einheria scowled and I asked,
“And why’s that?”
He gave us a wicked grin and the lightning grew in power.
“Cause you won’t be leaving here alive.”
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Does Drake McCain sound like Xigbar from Kingdom Hearts?
Ah. Laziness. Mankind's greatest weakness! Imagine all the shit humanity would get done if no one was lazy... such as finishing this story faster
8792226
If you want him to. I’m kinda partial to that voice myself, but I’m not going to tell everyone “YOU MUST GIVE HIM THIS VOICE WHEN YOU READ THIS!”
8792265
But doesn’t absence make the heart grow fonder?
Oh if only He knew what palpatine learned about lightning.
8792718
Do it.
Next Chapter:
Hey, he might not be super strong and shit, but he's still a dragon--that's gotta count for something.
8799848
Oh it will. I just want to not have the typical OP character that has the magic McGuffin and everything always goes a-okay for them.
good chapter hope to see more soon
8803311
*nervously begins to sweat while continuing to log 70hrs into Persona5.*
8809831
i understand persona 5 is addicting. just don't procrastinate to long... wake up, get up, get out there!
8809907
That song is so catchy. All of them are. Also, P5 is one of the most stylized games I’ve ever played and it’s so good.
8810533
I almost didn’t understand the last part but then I did. Don’t worry, I’d never do that. Everything I’ve done has a reason. I’m planning on having multiple continuity bombs.
8810675
i know again it's addicting so don't play to hard (aw who am i kidding in that game it's all or nothing)
8813002
I’m working on the chapter, don’t you worry.
8813704
ok then i guess i'll see you there
8813849
Until then!