“And all I have to do is listen?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said. “The same as our last conversation. All that is required of you is to listen.”

I motioned with my axe. “Get on with it.”

She closed her eyes and looked to the sky. Her hair rippled behind her through wind I didn’t feel. When she opened her mouth it was black and rotten, revealing gnarled teeth that jutted from receded gums.

“Oh System, by the rules that bind and the powers that be, I solemnly vow not to strike against the one before me during our discourse. That what I speak remains true lest they be struck from mortal ears. Let my intentions remain true and unswayed, pledging harm only if betrayed or provoked. Let this oath stand as testament to my words.”

My cloak stretched and became rigid but her words didn’t feel like an attack. A static pressure swirled around me until it knocked once but was rebuffed by the shell. Her eyes narrowed and her staff remained standing on its own, as she exhaled slowly and the something settled around me.

Safe. Oathbound.

She still panted as the pressure faded, clutching onto her staff as if standing pained her.

“You did something different this time,” I said.

She ignored me and spat a wad of phlegm. “The oath has been made. Are you willing to listen, boy?”

“I haven’t attacked you yet, have I?”

I let the flames recede still engulfing my palm but no longer raging wild. My mana was surprisingly subdued, willingly complying despite me denying its want to burn. I stored the information away for later and focused on the crone’s posture.

Last time she threw out her back, but she seemed relatively fine, if not exhausted.

As she stood up straight she reached for one of the baubles hanging off her cart and snatched it from its hook. She crushed the small marble and I watched the dust flow into her skin. Her eyes pulsed red and a crimson haze built around her hand before it dispersed.

“Much better,” she breathed. Her shoulders relaxed and she stood straighter. “What an annoying cloak you have. Just like the other boy.”

“Get on with it, or I leave.”

She hacked up another phlegm ball before sighing. “I will give you a warning, one that the girl will not receive. This concerns you as much as it concerns her, so it should be more than enough of a sample.”

“How are you talking to Alice and me at the same time?”

“I am not.”

“Wha-” I started but she held up a hand.

“The me that is talking to you is not the same as the one talking to her. Enough. What information you want, you can pry from her head. I will speak no more of her. Do I proceed or will you walk away?”

I begrudgingly nodded.

“Then here is what I will reveal,” she said while leaning forward. “When the moon rises and reveals the heart of the blacken thorns, know that what you see is false. All that is is not what it seems. Accept not the veil that hides the truth.”

That’s it?

“What the hell does that mean?” I growled.

“I said what I said. You will know when the time comes. It approaches soon enough, boy! I said I’d offer but a sample, a sample is all that you will receive.”

“A sample should give me something! That’s a bunch of words with no meaning.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“And yet it will mean more than you wish.”

“For that, I’m supposed to agree to keep you safe?”

“And what do you know about the harvest?” she cackled. It wasn’t a fun laugh, she did so with a straight face while never taking her eyes off me. “Then I’ll give you one last seed of information, but nothing more.”

“What? More vague prophecies?”

“No. It is far simpler,” she mused.

“I’m waiting…”

“Despite what they say, you can trust the heartless one.”

My eyes widened. “Devon?”

“Mmmn,” she grunted. “Curious, no?”

I wanted to pace but I held myself in check. She stared at me with knowing eyes and a wisp of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. My reaction was no doubt feeding her, but I couldn’t help it.

“Tell me more.”

She shook her head. “No. I’ve told you enough. Do you accept my deal?”

Anger flared, and my nails grew. In response, she grabbed her staff and raised her chin.

Damnit.

“Protect you from what?”

“I already told you. From monsters that may come my way. Nothing beyond what you could handle, that I swear.”

She’s talking different. Why?

“How do you know that? You don’t know anything about me.”

“Are you sure? Cain Veldman?”

I growled and conjured more flames, feeding them blood. The brilliant emerald tinted the air and she finally reacted.

But it wasn’t fear. Her eyes were steady and a thin smile cut through the heat haze.

“I cannot lie under this oath. You know this to be true. What trouble I dare bring, is within your means.”

Slowly, I reached down and grabbed the necklace and held it up. “And this is just a necklace?”

“It is… and a means for me to find you again.”

“So you can track me whenever? How? You said you could do no harm.”

Unless the oath was a lie, but that doesn’t feel right.

“Me talking with you is not harmful. Despite what you may think,” she spat.

I can’t believe I’m doing this.

“Will me helping you prevent me from helping someone else? Will I be sacrificing one thing for another?”

“No.”

“If you’re wrong, I’ll hunt you down. I don’t care what it takes or how long.”

Her lips twitched upward. “Your more like him than you know.”

Before I could say anything she raised her staff and red energy surged, pushed back only by my flames that burned away the color around me. The wind picked up and and the trees rattled as she gripped her staff and the cart.

“Till the next we meet, Cain Veldman. I’ll have the information you seek as long as you keep your side of the deal.”

She slammed the staff down and a bright flash of light seared my retinas. I tugged my hood down and held my arm before my eyes till I felt the pressure disappear. Mana dispersed like the wind and my cloak shrank the shell and returned to feeling normal.

As I opened my eyes I stared at the empty clearing and moved to where Hildegrim’s cart stood moment before. I sniffed around but there was nothing. No cart tracks, no lingering smells, I couldn’t even find the indents in the ground where she slammed her staff.

What the hell did you agree to, Cain? Why? Are you stupid? Crazy witch wanted to make a faustian bargain and you didn’t walk away?

I sighed and paced. Her words made no sense. I had no idea what the black-heart whatever was.

But she mentioned heartless.

The Erlking called Devon that. And Garret did the same.

Both Neina and Garret said not to trust him.

I stopped and bit my lip.

I ignored the wiggling doubt in the back of my thoughts. The one that reminded me of what I said during Garret’s reveal in the parlour.

Hildegrim was under oath.

A moment passed and I growled.

This is maddening. Where’s Alice?

I waited another minute but there was no sign of her. A sinking feeling grew in my gut and I called to my mana. The shadows rushed into place and I pictured the void, swirling, devouring, pulling at reality.

The vortex barrier grew in my hand before a gust of wind pushed me back. Freki growled and I turned around, raising my fist, only to stop.

“Alice?” I asked carefully.

She blinked at the vortex and I quickly dismissed it.

“She was powerful enough to carry us into separate dimensions,” she stated.

“Yeah,” I said. “Crazy isn’t it?”

Alice nodded and examined me. She stared at the necklace still in my hand and cocked her head. “I forgot you had that.”

My fist closed around the necklace and I pocketed it. “Apparently that’s what the stone does. Makes you forget it’s there.”

I resheathed my axe and watched color return to to the grey spot in the air. As it did I glanced at Alice and did my own examination.

Outside of the contemplative look on her face, she was untouched. Her smell was the same too, no new additions.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I ventured.

She didn’t respond right away, and instead ran her hands through her hair, straightening it out.

“I don’t know,” she eventually replied.

Well that’s something at least.

“I can go first?”

“Okay.”

My eyes narrowed but I went into detail about what she wanted. I didn’t hold anything back, even telling her about the last bit of information. She didn’t react much outside of frowning, so I finished my story.

“You?”

“I asked why she talked to my brother,” she said while reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a necklace similar to mine, but darker and green instead of red. “She swore an oath, asked for a favor and gave me this necklace.”

I held out my hand and she passed it over. The thing smelled like apples, just like my stone though with a sour note added to it.

“What was the favor?” I asked as I handed the necklace back.

This time, Alice turned to face me and crossed her arms. Her eyes were dull red instead of brilliant blue as she stared directly into mine.

“To avoid you,”