Helena pulled whatever scraps of stealth she could muster over herself as she moved through the forest. A light rain was making everything cold and miserable, but they were getting close to their quarry. She could see the ruined low walls through the trees.

The plan had been very simple. Approach the monastery from three directions, move in as one, and capture the target. Unfortunately there had been one problem; Alexis had insisted on coming along.

Helena had tried to get her to stay away. Alexis was the only one of them who couldn't fly, and she could be killed by a single stray arrow or brick. But the woman had been insistent, and Lyudmila and Kseniya had both agreed. They were certain the curse would strike if she wasn't nearby.

Which meant Helena had to guard someone. This was going to be trouble.

Still, there was no time to worry about that right now. Helena moved to the tree closest to the hole she'd picked as an entry point, then pulled out the pocket watch Lyudmila had let her borrow. They had two minutes and eight seconds. Less than Helena had hoped, but still good.

Helena closed the watch and began her preparations. First she stretched, letting magic well up from within her and push out the stiffness. Then she reinforced that power, flooding her body with strength, speed, and most importantly quickening her mind. Her eyes flitted around, from the squirrels moving between the trees to the birds watching from above.

The stimulation was starting to get overwhelming so she made a mental wall inside her mind to block off the less important information. She still felt jittery, but that would be a help in the fight ahead. She took another second to let the power within her bleed out and strengthen her personal wards.

She felt Kseniya and Lyudmila complete their own preparations a second after she finished. Taking that as her symbol, she hopped up and flew low to the ground through the hole, Alexis dashing behind.

A massive roar resounded through the area as she zipped through the broken wall. Helena grimaced as she saw a dog as big as a house facing off against Kseniya. Behind the mastiff was the woman they were hunting, already trying to flee.

Helena fired seven homing shots at the woman, abandoning attached curses for rate of fire. She started summoning lighting next, not waiting for a hit.

A number of blue flames exploded around her, shrill voices screaming curses. Alexis' pistol echoed through the monastery as Helena leaped backwards. One of the kobold spirits flickered and vanished, but the rest transformed into their hunched humanoid forms. A volley of blue flame and picks flew towards her.

Helena held her breath to avoid the deadly fumes. She crafted a set of runic circles in her mind, blazing brightly. With the snap of her fingers the vision flared into reality, and a freezing beam swept across the kobolds. Angry wails rose as the kobolds either fled or were blasted to the ground.

She palmed a card to fire out a stream of homing bullets while she took stock of the fight. Alexis was behind a wall reloading her pistol, so Helena didn't have to worry about her. Kseniya was battling two dogs now, but her birds were holding them off.

And there was no sign of their target. Helena swore and rushed forward. If the woman escaped again they'd be in serious trouble.

Helena skimmed past the church, firing another spread of frost bolts behind her to keep any kobolds on their toes. She passed the chapel and started to climb into the air, when a whistle to her side caused her to turn.

She had just enough time to see the arrow as it sliced right through her outer wards and exploded.

The world spun then abruptly stopped in a burst of agony. She found herself on the ground, aching. Helena ignored the pain and forced herself to her feet, holding up a barrier while her vision cleared.

Their quarry had hopped another wall and was running towards the forest. Helena hissed and forced herself back to the air. She needed to catch the woman before she got to the woods! There was no way they could track the woman if she escaped.

But the distance was too far. She'd lost too much time. Helena felt despair well in her heart as the woman reached the tree line.

And then a net dropped out of the canopy. The woman hit it at a full sprint, falling entangled in the mesh. A second later ten mystical spikes slammed down at the edges of the net pinning it to the ground.

Lyudmila floated down out of the trees with a self satisfied grin. "So how did just blasting everything work out for you?"

"It succeeded in driving her to my sarcastic friend who's good with traps," Helena replied dryly. Lyudmila conceded the point with a shrug. "Where did you get the net though?"

"I keep one in storage. It's very useful," Lyudmila said. "You should consider one too."

"Filthy dogs!" the trapped woman screamed as she struggled. "I swear you'll pay for this!"

Helena glared at the woman. "You should save your breath and start thinking of an explanation that will convince my employer not to kill you. Try to convince me too. I'm not really pleased with what your curse has done."

She rapidly strode away, ignoring whatever muffled protests the woman gave. Helena had to check to make sure Alexis was okay. Especially since she'd run off leaving the woman alone. Not her best guard work.

As she rounded the chapel she saw both Alexis and Kseniya. Kseniya seemed to have banished the dogs she had been fighting, while Alexis had both her pistols ready. The kobolds were gone.

Helena waved to her friends. "Lyudmila finished the job."

"Ah! That is great news. I admit, I was a little worried when I saw the explosion knock you down," Alexis said.

Kseniya smiled. "It would take more than one explosion to hurt Helena." Her expression grew more serious. "Are we sure the woman is secure? She seems to have a lot of artifacts and allies."

"Lyudmila caught her in what looks to be a sardine net," Helena replied. "At this point there are only the kobolds, and they won't attack where their arsenic fumes would hit their friend."

"Big sister was always the practical one," Kseniya said.

Alexis strode forward. "Now. Let us see if we can get some answers." The woman's eyes hardened. "For I have many questions."

The trio walked over to where Lyudmila had their prisoner, Helena and Kseniya letting Alexis take the lead. The woman stiffened as she saw Alexis; then she tore at the net, drawing blood on the unyielding mesh. "You! Has your family not caused me enough grief? Why does God let you live in luxury despite your crimes?!"

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Alexis peered at the woman. "I do not know you. And I do not know what madness made you hate my family so much that you would kill indiscriminately just to bring us harm. But I find it very hard to care." Alexis pulled the hammer back on her pistol. "I am tempted to bring justice right now. Still, I swore before God I would listen to your story. Explain the reason for your hate."

The woman didn't seem to care she was seconds away from being shot. "You ask me why? You claim you don't know? Then let me tell you! I am the vengeance of Selzen! The village your father and his pet wizard murdered! My family, my friends, my love! All burned alive so your father could mine the earth beneath their ashes!" She twisted at the mesh and spat on the ground.

Alexis rocked back. "What... what nonsense! Selzen was destroyed during a raid from outside the county. It is true magic was involved, but how could you pin it on my father?"

"I was there," the woman hissed. "I saw. Raid? There was no raid. Just a passing mercenary band, looking for work to the south. I saw the dragon come. The dragon that lives in your castle. I saw it burn everything. Soldier and townsman. Man, woman, and child." The woman glared up at Alexis, hateful curses swelling around her. "I only survived because I fell into a sinkhole and the kobolds took pity on me.

"From there I saw your father's men bury the dead and scatter the ashes. I saw them come back in the dead of night and set up a mine. I saw your pet magician enslave my kobold saviors with his dark spells to find the silver he so desired."

The woman's face fell. "I thought once to use that silver to get my revenge. But a wizard’s stronghold is too much for a mortal." She closed her eyes, but her hands tightened on the net. "All I have is my hate. But my hate cannot be stopped. I swear even if you kill me here, it will live on."

Silence fell as the woman finished her story. Helena slowly shook her head. The woman believed what she said. Believed it so much it hurt. Things had gotten a lot more complicated.

Alexis was the one to break the silence. "You fool," she snapped. "You claim those are my father's men? I've never seen those mercenaries in my life." She raised her pistol. "Enough of this madness. I will-"

"Stop," Helena said softly, putting her hand on Alexis' arm. "Reality isn't always what people think it is. But that goes for all of us. Let's look for the truth." Helena looked down at the woman. "You saw the dragon? What did it look like?"

The woman's eyes grew distant. "It had scales like dried blood. That ugly brown and red. It was long, and twisted, like a serpent. And its wings made no sense for its body."

Kseniya's eyes opened wide. "Did it glow as if it was burning inside?"

"Yes," the woman replied. "Like the fires of hell were with it."

Alexis hesitated, but shook her head. "So what?! It looks like the dragon Nedvarious commands. Dragons are not unique creatures!"

Lyudmila winced. "Yes, but it must have been under a magician's control. That's a dragon of wrath. More a devil or force of nature then a magical beast. They don't just burn part of the countryside, they destroy until they are slain in turn. Magicians like them because they're easy to bind."

Alexis looked at them in shock. "What is this?! You cannot possibly believe this woman's slander?" She glared at Helena. "My father is not a murderer! He would never destroy his own people!"

"I believe you," Helena replied. "He found a silver mine. So what? He's already got silver mines. But this mine doesn't have ordinary silver. As our friendly captive here has shown us time and time again this is purified silver." Helena looked Alexis straight in the eye. "And true silver is worth more than five times its weight in gold to a magician. Especially to an alchemist. Like your court mage."

"But my father would not allow it," Alexis exclaimed.

Helena sighed. "Your father would never know. We've only been together a little while Alexis, but you've seen some of my power. How easy would it for me to keep something secret from you?"

Alexis gasped, then slowly lowered the pistol to her side. "You mean to say... Nedvarious has betrayed us?"

"It has to be him," Lyudmila said. "There's no way he could have missed a dragon being summoned so close to his domain."

Kseniya nodded slowly. "And the silver has to be transported via magic if no one else saw it. Silver shipments are heavy."

"But he's always stood by my father," Alexis shook her head. "Why should I trust the words of a madwoman over my father's closest advisor?"

"Well, we can get some confirmation to that rather quickly." Helena pointed to where the town of Selzen once lay. "We go there, grab one of those mercenaries and pump them for all the information we can." Helena looked down at their captive. "However, before we can do that we need to deal with another problem."

The woman simply glared at them. "I don't care what excuses you make up. Your father murdered my village. I won't rest until all that he holds dear is gone!"

Helena shrugged and her eyes narrowed. "Alright. I guess that means you can shoot her, Alexis."

"Helena!" Kseniya glared at her. Lyudmila and Alexis were frowning but less judgmental. Helena sighed and rolled her eyes for effect. To be honest she wasn't invested in the idea of killing the woman. But it was the smartest option by far. The curse would strengthen, but it was better then having a well armed killer about.

Alexis shook her head. "If Nedvarious is a traitor, then my family owes this woman a great debt for the troubles our subject has caused her." She looked down at the prisoner with cold eyes. "However, given I cannot trust you when unbound, it sounds like Helena's option is the only option available. Unless, of course, you are willing to swear on your immortal soul to leave my family out of your vengeance and dispel your curse upon me."

"I will swear no such thing," the woman snarled. "You can lie to yourself to assuage your father's guilt, but I will not be fooled!"

Helena was about to respond when she felt a presence behind her. She whirled around to find the blue flame of a kobold a distance off. The blue spirit bobbed up and down before speaking in a strange echoey voice. "I would hear. Why ruler is innocent?"

"What?" Their prisoner clawed at the ground. "Why are you listening to these witch's lies?"

"Understand hate," the flame replied. "But friend's freedom more. Revenge less. Listen to witch. Explain."

Helena nodded. "I should have realized. You did not help this woman just out of friendship. You are being exploited here too. That's why you'd give up your silver."

The flame bobbed up and down. "Silver precious. Lives more precious."

"Let me make a guess then," Lyudmila said. "Humans tried to mine the silver before, but you drove them out." She began to pace. "It would be simple. Since only you kobolds can find the purified silver, the poor returns on the mine combined with the danger would convince any peasant miners to give up easily."

"This is truth," the kobold replied.

Helena realized where Lyudmila was going. "But a Pfalzgraf wouldn't care. They could simply order people to mine. With Nedvarious enslaving the kobolds, the accidents would become rarer. Sure the locals would be unhappy, but that's hardly a reason to stop mining silver. And with his other mines he could conceal how small the profits are from this one, while still gathering all the true silver he wanted."

"Exactly," Lyudmila said. "The lord of a land has a million different tricks to keep his actions secret. Especially with a powerful wizard on his side. Tricks that don't involve murdering his workforce and turning part of his lands into cursed ground. There's only one reason to go through the effort of driving everyone else away from the mine."

Alexis started. "To hide matters from my father himself."

"This sounds of truth," the kobold slowly said.

"What?" Their captive looked at the flame with tears in her eyes. "You can't believe them! You can't abandon me too!"

"Calm," the kobold said. "Anger blinding. We will protect. But they sound of truth."

Helena looked at the spirit with a raised eyebrow. "So you will take responsibility for her?"

"They will do no such thing," the woman screamed.

"Please." The blue flame moved forward, bobbing before their captive. "Please help. Free others. We protect. We seek truth. Our promise."

The woman stared at the ground, thinking over her options. Helena felt a bit of pity. She had to be reeling from the shock of being captured, the confusion of having her worldview torn into, and the shame of having to ask her foes for help. The kobolds must have a strong connection to the woman, for her to even consider making a bargain with the people who she hated so much.

Finally the woman closed her eyes and relaxed. "Alright." She swallowed, then said, "I Grete Klisch, swear on my soul that I will not harm Pfalzgraf Holdst Von Strausfen or his family, until after the truth of the destruction of Selzen is known."

"Until a full day has passed since the truth is known," said Helena.

Grete shot her a dirty look, but nodded. "Until a full day after. On my life and soul."

Alexis hesitated then nodded. "Before God, I swear that I shall grant you reprieve from any judgment until that time, on my immortal soul."

Helena nodded and held up her hand. Since Alexis had sworn as well this would be easier. "I ask Hecate to witness and enforce this oath."

She doubted the two humans noticed, but Helena felt the light touch of her goddess on the oath. Lyudmila and Kseniya lightly nodded their approval. Given how quickly people were willing to violate oaths, it was best to get some magical assistance.

The kobold's flame moved to join the circle. "Oaths made. Free ally."

"Right." Lyudmila dispelled the spikes and began helping Grete out of the net. "I guess we're going to be walking to Selzen then."