Who was this woman thinking she was fooling? Did she think that offer was something that would really benefit both parties? This assurance that she would dispel the fog without any mentions of working to resolve any of the other underlying issues that existed with the town as a whole was rather arrogant. In fact, the Spartan had to admit that the temptation to run this woman through with his spear spiked quite a bit with that statement.
However, he kept his wits about him and did not move forward. After all, he did not know if she was talking from a position of perceived power. Why would she be so confident sitting here, being such an open target? That had to be an attitude that was obtained from power, or perhaps a perceived thought of strength.
Perhaps she had some more slaves she could call upon to assist her in combat? Or maybe she had something up her sleeve, some sort of magical abilities that would enable her to let her come on top of any battle. Whatever the case, he would need to tread carefully. The best option would be to collect as much information as possible now.
“You say you can create an exit for us?” He probed, searching for any kind of hesitation or dead giveaways. Unfortunately, he did not get to see her stammer or blubber around.
He merely saw her smile maliciously as she lifted one of her fingers. Within seconds, the space next to her seemed to swirl and warp, the air shimmering in a myriad of blue and white before a portal twisted into form. The magical surface acted as a mirror, showing the foggy and crowded streets, with the monstrosities patrolling up and down the roads. The fog itself began to fill out from the roads and into the room at a slow yet steady pace.
That confirmed one of his suspicions: that the woman in front of him did have something up her sleeve. No, more than that: she had the capacity to commit to the mystical arts, perhaps far greater in terms of experiences and power. Though, that did not mean she was in control of the fog. Rather, he had a small inkling regarding that part.
“So, the fog. What about that?”
“What about it?” She sniffed, looking down at him with a scathing look, “We haven’t agreed to a deal yet. Why should I do anything when there is no decision yet?”
“Because that is the right thing to do.” The Crusader cut in as he stepped forward with a growl, “The people of this town are dying, and they need every last bit of help. Why do you sit around and do nothing? You should do something, anything, to help these people out!”
“What is the point of doing such a thing? They are fine.” The woman waved her hand. Within seconds, the portal disappeared and was replaced with a reflective surface that showed numerous different viewpoints. Each of them revealed a different group of people, some with a massive group, others by themselves.
She was right in a way. They were fine. However, that did not mean they were okay. From the looks of things, they were absolutely miserable. Several of them were huddled up together in order to avoid dying from the cold. Some of them were busy munching on sticks or chugging down bottles of mystery liquid. Whatever the case, they were all miserable, with none of them looking happy with the state of things at all. In fact, the Spartan would argue that they were all doing quite awfully, considering how they didn’t have any real food, access to water, or safety.
Though, he didn’t need to.
“You call them doing fine?! Look at them! They’re miserable, absolutely down and nearly sobbing. They are in desperate need for assistance of any type, why do you reject them like this?”
“They’re alive. They’re not being attacked by the monsters.” She waved off every single last one of the Crusader’s arguments, not bothering to respond to all of them at all, “That’s all that matters.”
“Why, how dare you–”
“More importantly than all of this, you can dispel the fog, correct?”
“What?” The woman turned towards the Spartan in shock, before quickly regaining her composure. “Why yes, of course I can. I need some time, but I can get that done in a heartbeat.”
“So then get started on it and once we see the fog start to disappear, we shall go ahead and leave.”
He had the moment to enjoy the sour look that started to sprout on her face, her green eyes scrunching up in annoyance as she was clearly trying to come up with an excuse. Quite simple to deal with and a rather obvious tell that he could use here and now. Something far more useful than before.
“Hm? What’s the matter? Don’t tell me that you were merely bluffing and that you cannot do something like that?”
“No, hold on. I said that it will take time, I–”
“Wench, you have stated that dispelling the fog will be done in a heartbeat.” The Crusader spat as he took another step forward, “Or were you merely lying in order to avoid being run through like the vile beast you are?”
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“Give me a moment to focus and concentrate. Figuring out how to dispel the fog is one that requires me to pay attention, and both of your incessant blabbering are distracting me from achieving my goal right now.”
“We can wait.” The Spartan said as he crossed his arms, continuing to keep an eye on the woman and her further actions. For the Crusader’s credit, he did seem to halt and keep his mouth closed. Though, he could see that the man was itching and dying to lash out with his tongue to harass the woman to go faster.
However, none of that particularly mattered. Despite how quiet they were and how much space they gave, the woman was not able to say anything to back up her claims. In fact, the more time she was given to work, the more her face began to turn pale and sweaty. She seemed to open her mouth up and down multiple times as she tried to figure out something, before finally breathing out and groaning.
“Can’t do it, huh?” He asked as he crossed his arms, “You seem to be unable to uphold your end of the bargain. It seems as though you have truly no feet to stand on, which means the only way forward is one where you end up falling here and now.”
“No, no!” The woman leaned forward as much as she could, a feat that was worthy of respect considering the fact that she was fused with the stone throne, “Give me more time! I can dispel it, I truly can!”
“Can you?” The Crusader spat as he stepped closer, “Or are you merely stalling to avoid inevitable death? Perhaps we should save the town here and now and put you out of your misery now.”
“Stop! Do not come any closer!” The woman cried out in fear as she raised a hand, “Killing me won’t lift the fog! There will still be monsters all around! The only thing you will succeed in is merely turning this tower back to normal and destroying all the mystical properties that maintain this sanctuary! You won’t be able to find any of those people you wish to save and–”
“I’m not hearing any good reasons not to.”
“Look, look!” The woman frantically waved her right hand, “You need me! You know I’m not responsible for the fog now, and that some other being is responsible for such a thing. You know that trying to find this being will take even longer and that I am not doing anything dangerous. Why waste this chance to get something done and help people? Think, think! I’m not a threat!”
“Vile wench. You–”
“Wait.” The Spartan put a hand on the Crusader’s shoulder as he did run through every last bit of information he had gathered. While true, the woman had wasted their time with all her incessant bluffing, there was still quite a good bit of hints dropped. Something that was necessary to move onwards to further their goals.
The fact the woman wasn’t able to manipulate the fog meant that there was someone else that had that power. Perhaps they were responsible for the capability of creating more monsters as well? But those seemed to be originated from humans, which meant that the people they were killing could be possibly turned civilians.
That meant the culprit of all of this was running around. Which meant one thing.
“Do you know who is responsible for all this fog?”
“Huh? Well, yes, I do, but–”
“Then why haven’t you done anything to kill them? Use any of your magical abilities to kill them and save the town? And don’t give me any crap about how it is not something you should be responsible for, we both know that you would do so if you could take control of the people.”
“That’s because my current lord, in all his glorious wisdom, decided against granting me any kind of capabilities to defend myself.” She spat as she glared at the duo, “Something he did either as punishment or incompetence, I know not. What I do know is that I am bound, trapped in this tower and unable to move. However, this other person? They have more abilities, though I do know that they are in the same state as I am: stuck in a cage.”
“Then you know how to get to them then.”
“Indeed I do.” The woman snorted, before blinking. Then, she grinned as she looked at the duo. “Actually, now that you mention it–”
“Don’t even bother. We have no reason to assist you at all in this blatantly clear power-grab. I would suggest you treat us with a bit of respect before we decide we’d be better off doing things our way.”
“Fine.” She scowled, “Then I shall tell you. The one you seek is somewhere else in the town, a place that is nowhere near the tower. If you were to go off on your own, then you would spend days, perhaps even weeks to find them. After all, it isn’t as if they’re stuck in a tower. No, they have made their place in the dark underbelly of this town, the corridors that were designed as a means of evacuation for the people should we ever fall to a siege.”
“Then you can do something about that then.”
“Why, it’s simple. As I have no capacity of fighting,” she waved her hand and another portal was formed, one that opened up to a dark corridor of some sort, barely lit with torches, “You two will have to go down and kill them yourselves. I can try to support you, but let this be known: you two will both need to go down there to succeed.”
“That sounds like a ploy. No, all of this seems like nothing more than a false means to get us away from you and head into our death.” The Spartan scowled, “There is no need to entertain her like this. We have the location in mind now, we know how we could possibly get there. We should take care of her here and now and free the people of this town.”
“Free them? Free them of what? Oh, woe is me, the one who dares to oppress the people by existing in a tower that acts like a prison! Oh, how I dare act as a vile tyrant for the poor citizens who barely even know of my existence!” She wailed mockingly, before leaning forward slightly, “That is what you propose. Killing a prisoner that cannot do anything to satiate your own ego. Why do you even bother opening your mouth if all you do is spout the most foolish thoughts?”
“Why you–”
“Enough.” The Spartan sighed as he massaged his forehead, trying to figure out a way to corral the two children in front of him. What was the best way to proceed from here?