An incomprehensible hexagonal script [https://i.imgur.com/SxBWIhU.png]

— Veera’s notes on her enchanted cloak

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Fletcher’s body and mind were a drop of paint in a raging ocean, folding over itself until he reached a state of complete entropy. Formless, dissolved.

His proprioception was gone. He did not know where each part of his body was in relation to itself. He touched things with no shape, solid objects that melted between his fingers and reappeared on the other side of his hand. His eyes saw the world break apart and reunite kaleidoscopically into impossible geometry. When he arrived, panic and disorientation washed over him. He struggled to flee his punishment; he swam and struggled and screamed. But each moment that passed, each twitch of his body, further contorted himself.

He wondered if he was dead and this was his mind’s interpretation of his body losing boundary with the world around himself. Or maybe this was the Devoras’ Domain curse playing with his mind. He wanted to weep, but the tears had nowhere to go. They got stuck in the lacrimal glands.

Suddenly, light. Disperate chunks of him coalesced into the form of a badger once more. He crashed into something hard and smooth. Panicked, he tried to stand up, but soon found it was impossible — he struggled to even make a coherent effort to move. Each of his limbs had a different idea of what direction was up.

Fletcher felt pressure in his gut and threw up; the contractions on his chest only ceased after he was spitting pure bile.

This was enough time for his eyes to adjust to the light, but his mind was still expecting to see those abhorrent moving shapes again. His mind raced with so many thoughts that nothing coherent came out.

Everything became clear when he looked up. Above him was a lizard with iridescence purple scales and predatory eyes looking down at him. She was resting on a chair, casually eating a pastry. He remembered that monster. That thing did this to him! He wanted to scream and hit and claw at her, but only a garbled groan came out and he hit his hand on the ground.

“What did you do to me?” He stammered out.

“Cease struggling and your symptoms will improve,” Veera said, ignoring the question.

Fletcher tried to scream and hit her again, but he was useless. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. After a few minutes, once his breathing eased, he made sense of the world. He was in a bathtub with walls as tall as himself. It would be easy work to hop over it most of the time, but in his current state, he couldn’t even stand up.

“Water,” Fletcher swallowed. “Please.”

“Choking risk,” Veera replied, finishing the last of her sweet treat. “Answer my questions first.”

“You’re gonna be disappointed, lady,” Fletcher said, resigning himself to the tub, trying to ignore the glare from above. “I don’t know anything.”

“Who hired you?” Veera asked.

“No idea,” Fletcher answered dejectedly.

Veera scowled, and Fletcher tried to defy it. But he got a peek at the shifting darkness in the inner lining of her cloak. His heart raced. Perhaps there were worse things than dying.

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“Look, I was in Scaleshine Inn with my friends and this fancy looking guy hired us.”

“Continue,” Veera commanded.

“That’s it, that’s all I know. I was drunk. Money was nice, and now I don’t have to share them with my buddies…” He said. “Not that I’ll get to use it myself,” he mumbled.

Veera was silent for a few moments, considering something, then said, “I did not execute your companions.”

Fletcher’s eyes brightened up. He felt a little more like coopering now. “Do you know where they are?”

“Irrelevant. I left them where they lay,” Veera said.

Fletcher was hopeful they were alive, and if that was true, he had a chance of getting out of this. “Are you going to let me live?” He dared to ask.

“Contingent on your cooperation,” she replied.

“Why didn’t you say so sooner, lady?” Fletcher cleared his throat. “I remember a human with blue clothes. Ugh, I hated that guy. He kept calling me a ‘badger’ even after I gave him my name. We told him we weren’t in the business of killing, but he gave us real good money for it. Paid us in advance too.”

“Pathetic,” Veera said.

Fletcher had no idea whether she meant that toward him or his employer. “Call if what you want, lady, but we got to eat well.”

“Did they offer a description of me?”

“No, they said people would come asking about crystal whatevers and that we should kill them,” Fletcher admitted.

Veera pondered on it briefly. “Why did you lure me to the Coil Monument?”

“That’s just the place we were told people would come. We took you to that little island because we don’t wanna give chase to anyone in the underground,” Fletcher said, lifting his hands to seem harmless.

Veera tapped the sides of the tub with her claws. “Elaborate on your employer’s description,”

“Lemme see… That night is a bit of a haze since, you know, we got lots of money for drinks,” he joked but got no response. “There was a tree on his cloak. Silver, real nice embroidery. I remember thinking about stealing it.”

“Master Enchanter Percival,” Veera announced.

“Eh? Is that name supposed to put me in awe or something?” The badger said defiantly.

“He is inconsequential,” Veera said. “His incompetence can only be matched by his arrogance.”

“Yeah! Now you’re talking, lady!” The badger said, trying to gain some good will from Veera, but her face was stone.

“His presence means Archenchantress Celara ordered him to be there,” Veera concluded.

“W-wait, Celara? You mean the lady that vaporised that Old Royal with magic a few years back?”

“Correct.”

“The one people say can summon thunder and kill someone just by pointing her sword at them?”

“Exaggerated.”

“The one that can shoot a wyvern down from the sky mid flight!?”

“Irrelevant.”

“By the Empress and all the Spirits, lady, what did you get me into!?” Fletcher said. “I swear, lizards are always getting me into trouble…”

Veera got up from her chair and approached the tub. Her long neck inched closer to Fletcher. He turned away; looking at those sharp teeth made him imagine being mauled and torn apart.

“You are unwise to test my patience after your posse attempted to murder me. Test me again and I will toss you within my cloaks and forget about you,” Veera’s tongue flicked while she spoke. “The punishment shall be the same if you tell anyone of my involvement in this matter. You are the only one who knows, hence the only suspect.”

“A-alright, lady, you made your point. Sorry, sorry,” Fletcher mumbled, and Veera retreated presently. “I won’t tell anyone, Badger’s promise.” He also made a mental note of not calling her a lizard again. He had no idea what species Veera was, so he used a neutral term. Not so neutral, apparently.

After a moment, Veera reached for Fletcher. The badger was startled and tried to dodge, but he was still completely uncoordinated; it was like being drunk with none of the fun. Veera grabbed the badger by the scruff of the neck and lifted him up to eye height. For a moment, Fletcher believed he was about to be devoured. Being under Veera's scowl was like being under the gaze of a wild predator, ready to tear into your flesh at any moment.

Instead, he was taken out of the bathroom, into the foyer of a wooden house, and outside. There Veera dropped him on her porch.

“What is your name?” Veera asked.

Befuddled, Fletcher answered with more honesty than anything he had said the entire day, “It’s Fletcher.”

“Farewell, Fletcher,” Veera said.

“W-wait! This is it? You are gonna let me go?”

“Should I reconsider my leniency?” Veera asked so honestly and directly that Fletcher truly believed that if he said yes, she would kill him on the spot.

“No, I’m good,” Fletcher forced a smile. “Although, can I get my dagger back?”

Veera turned away.

“Do you still have it? Wait! How about that water?”

She closed the door.

The badger was left in her small garden, looking at the other dainty houses in the upper levels in the city. His legs weren’t responding.

How he would get home?