Mother and I shared a quaint and quiet lunch together, Daniel must have elected not to come back for midday’s meal. He could be like that when he was upset, running through the forest around the village like he could sweat out his anger. He stomped his way back inside just before sundown, wiping himself down with one of mother’s good towels before he stepped too deep indoors. Dad groaned in protest when mother insisted he wash up properly before dinner, but went about it without delay. His grim demeanor lessened slightly when we sat at a table of roast beef and stewed vegetables. A shared favorite.
We sat in silence for much longer than I would have liked before the cold and dark began to seep into the windows. The food would not last forever though, and neither would father’s patience.
“I made a stop in the village earlier. No one’s seen Leigh since yesterday. Must be shut up inside.” He grumbled out, a barely restrained fury boiling in his throat. Dad was furious, mom was heartbroken, and we all just wanted this to end. For Leigh to be safe. For things to be under control.
“We have to do this tonight. It’s doing nobody any good just sitting around worrying about it.” I explained, having finished my food. “We come up with a plan, we make sure Leigh is staying with us tonight at least, and we don’t give her dad any chances to hurt her. Ever again.” Truthfully, this situation bothered me as much if not more as it seemed to bother mom and dad. We all loved Leigh, she’s a kind person that always seems to know just how to light up a room like a forge fire. She’s my friend though, my closest peer in this new life, even if I have memories to complicate things a bit. The more I think about what she’s had to go through, suffer through until now the more my blood feels like it’s boiling. No one deserves that, Least of all the people I care about.
“You’re right. We don’t have much time left so we need to decide how we’re going to do this.” Dad sighed, setting aside his dirty bowl and leaning against the table. I could tell we both wanted to be quick, so I wasted no time breaking down my ideas for him. I was eager to get every ounce of potential feedback I could, to ensure as little went wrong as we could feasibly manage. Dad made some good points, and between the two of us, there were many things neither would ever consider on our own. Shortly after sundown, when the town would usually finish closing up for the night with windows shuddered and hearths lit, we stepped into the cold air together. Ready to perform our grim task. I pulled a borrowed cloak tight around my shoulders, shutting out the cold and familiarizing myself with its weight.
I beckoned bonewolf out of the closed-off bedroom, and he joined us outside silently. Daniel and I had gone over the plan three times, making sure we wouldn’t need to talk with each other once we started. It allowed us to silently nod to each other, and set off towards the village square. Like we had already done during our trip to the forest, Dad snuck ahead of us to act as a scout. He’d call out with a sharp whistle whenever we needed to stop, and repeat the signal again to proceed. Most of the time I had no idea what we were avoiding, but if Dad could see something that concerned him I was willing to follow his instincts.
A decade or more of making this same trip during the day now meant my body reacted on its own to the small dips and bumps in the landscape. The path from our house into the village was ingrained in my muscles so deeply that I felt I could see it when I closed my eyes. I didn’t have the stats or skills to overcome the darkness of the night and relied on this instinct greatly, I briefly considered asking mother for a vision buff skill tomorrow before refocusing my mind. It wouldn’t serve to be distracted at this critical moment.
Daniel crept along almost silently, my comparatively much clumsier footsteps combined with bonewolf’s clicking and rattling made us far more noticeable than I would have liked. Thankfully, there was no one around to notice us in the first place, the entirety of the town militia’s command ‘patrolling’ some two dozen feet ahead of me, the rest asleep in their homes.
We made it to the edge of the village without having to stop too many times, and our path to Leigh’s house was thankfully short. We only stopped once, though it felt like ages, and when dad called out to resume it took but a moment for us to reach our goal. We stopped in the shadow of the partially rebuilt forge, I could already hear Leigh’s dad snoring heavily through the thin walls he’d neglected to fully patch.
Dad slid into position by the door, pressing as close to the wall as he could manage without making the old timbers creak. Bonewolf and I took position right behind him. Once things started, everything was going to happen fast, I took a deep breath to steady myself and nodded to dad that I was ready. He shoved the door with his stat-boosted physicality and the lock snapped. Dad vanished in a rush of air pressure as his speed carried him into the house at a near-dangerous velocity. I’d seen dad move fast before of course, but I’d never been this close to him when he did. It was striking. For a moment it reminds me of doing combat with Vincent Gildea by my side.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
For my own sake, I hurried in behind him while letting bonewolf take the lead. I could already hear Mr. Kisgrick, Leigh’s dad, stirring from a no doubt booze-fueled slumber. Even in his addled state, a high-level blacksmith would still be incredibly dangerous if he decided to hurt me, so I hurried as best I could and hoped for dad to do the same getting Leigh outside.
A tiny muffled yelp a moment later let me know he’d found her, her father’s mumbled obscenities of confusion told me he was awoken by the same move. Now or never.
I didn’t have time to draw out a full spell circle, but if I was quick with a chant and some more efficient gestures, I could up the power of a spell a little bit.
For the second time in twenty-four hours, familiar words filled my mouth, forming with effort in a new body as I parsed each syllable for a spell not yet cast. Every simple spell I did would become progressively easier as I rebuilt my muscle memory, but niche and uncommon spells would likely feel stiff and strange for some time. [Aura of Dread] was weak with such little mana to work with, but it would have to do.
When the spell finished I pulled the cloak tight around my shoulders, making sure it wouldn’t come off, and stood to my full height. No more sneaking and skulking. Striding confidently through the house, I motioned Bonewolf to stay at my heels, the shadows and flowing cloak partially obscuring them.
Wrapped in shadow and fear, I could already feel the spell twisting around me. Obscuring my features and lengthening the darkness to unsettle and terrify. At some point Daniel stepped back inside, likely having deposited Leigh somewhere safe. His backup would only be needed if the plan failed and he felt I was in danger. Everything else was on me.
I walked towards the only door that could lead to the single bedroom. A curtain dividing an empty threshold from the rest of the house, and likely the forge on the other side. I could hear someone stirring on the other side and knew what I had to do.
I gestured Bonewolf forward, pushing the curtain to the side and tearing the thin fabric with the jagged edges of his cracked spine. In the darkness, the dark purple embers that served as my minion’s eyes seemed to gleam in those empty sockets.
“What the fuhg?” Mr. Kisgrick slurred as I stepped into view, careful with steps in an attempt to glide smoothly across the floor. My cloak drug behind me slowly, silently, occasionally shifting in the night breeze as if alive itself.
Bonewolf growled, having no lips to draw back in snarl the beast only let out a low rattling of bones. The fear aura was filling the room, I could feel it. Kisgrick’s eyes went wide as I stared at the man. I don’t know how I appeared to him, but the shudder that rippled through his body told me everything I needed to know. Being half drunk and half asleep likely made my spell take a deeper root in his mind than I’d originally estimated. Small victories.
“Logga Kisgrick” I broke the silence, making my voice as low and echoey as I could manage physically and counting on the spell to do the rest.
“You have disgraced the memory of your wife, and in her death harmed that which she loved most. Your daughter.” I could see the look of confusion spread across his face, he recognized what I was saying, but not who I was. Bonewolf stepped further, his teeth glinting in the dark.
“In the name of your wife, I have come to end her final torment so that she may rest. I would claim your soul now if not for her love for you” I spit at the man, barely able to stand being in his presence this long. A rush of wind came from behind me, billowing the cloak deeply and drawing a thin cut deep along Logga’s face. Likely a skill of dad’s or some move he’d practiced. Thankfully Logga seemed to be a superstitious man, and the pain on his face was quickly sobering him.
“Thank you. Thank my Nora for me when next you see her?” He mumbled, a familiar pang of hurt in his tone as he dropped to his knees in shock.
“If you’re not going to- to kill me. What would you have me do?” Kisgrick stammered.
“Listen well. You will have one chance and one chance only. I will not repeat myself.” I stepped towards the broken man, disgust filling me as he shrunk further to the floor.
“You will leave this village. If you ever return, you will die. If you ever harm your daughter or bring harm to her again, you will die. You will run, and you will never look back. Disobey me, and your final moments will be painful. Am I clear?” When he stammered some noncommittal response, I felt a fury I can’t fully describe.
“Am I clear?” I bellowed, my emotions getting the better of me for the first time tonight. The house around us seemed to rumble in response to my anger, and I decided to thank dad for his theatrics when we got home.
The charade worked well enough, and the failure of a father scrambled to his feet to begin packing a few essentials. I gave him only a few moments to collect himself, considering it my final courtesy to a man I’d once respected.
When I was content, I gave bonewolf orders to follow him out of town, increasing the pace whenever the man got lazy. A night run ragged might do him some good. It was more than he deserved. Pain should be metted back ten fold.