Chapter 12

The man certainly looked the part of a hunter. He was dressed in leather and light armor with a sword on his back. His handsome, warm smile exuded confidence and reassurance to the people around him. But despite it all, the man had an air of superiority that Snow found grating. There was a smugness in his tone as the upset villagers around him poured out their pain and fear.

“What are you going to do?” a villager asked.

“When I find out what it is, I’m going to hunt it down and capture it,” the hunter explained.

“How?” was the next question, and the man was fully prepared.

“With this!” he said as he produced another metal collar from his bag. Like the one around Lia’s neck, it looked to be pure silver and encircled with runes, but this one had a hinge, loops, and a silver lock.

Snow had the full picture now.

After scaring the town with violent murders, this hunter would show up a few days later and pull Lia from her hiding place. He’d then parade her through town with the collar around her neck claiming that he had risked life and limb to do this for them. He could then march her out of town – likely saying he’d put an end to her somewhere else for fear of curses or whatnot. It was a profitable scheme that not only added to the man’s pocket but his reputation.

Snow was ready to step forward when Titus slipped in front of him.

“Waldron? What are you doing here?” Titus said loudly as he put on a big smile.

The hunter’s confident look faded at the sight of him, “Titus?” he squinted in disbelief before continuing, “I didn’t expect to see you in these parts.”

“Well, I heard about the problems these people were having and decided to help out.”

“Really?” Waldron tilted his head.

Before any villager could rattle off that the resurrectionist was in town, Titus nodded to the side and suggested they have a talk about it. Snow wasn’t surprised when the hunter so easily followed Titus’s lead and excused himself from the throng.

Snow hung back with a scowl as he watched them. He didn’t know why he was allowing this. The two could be plotting to attack him right here and now. He’d be forced to make a vicious display in front of the whole village and the sight would burn a hole in the fabric of his network. Did you hear what the Resurrectionist did? By the Highest, he’s a monster in human shape. The thought of such rumors made his blood boil and his fists clench.

Still, he somehow found the patience to wait, in hopes that the crowd might slowly disperse if given a few more minutes. Titus and Waldron continued to speak quietly before sharing a knowing smile. Snow cursed under his breath and gripped his sword pommel tighter, ready to draw.

But Titus then suddenly threw a fast right hook into Waldron’s jaw. The crowd gasped as the hunter went down hard and stunned. Titus looked down at him with a scowl before pulling the man up by his tunic only to land a vicious backhand strike across the other side of his face. Snow heard a sickening crack of something breaking in Waldron’s mouth before Titus reached down to pull off a medallion from around the man’s neck.

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Waldron was out for the count with his brain likely too raddled for him to walk straight for the rest of the day. The villagers looked on in stunned silence as Titus walked back towards Snow. His mouth was set in a grim line and his eyes squinted sharply as if caught somewhere between anger and pain.

Slowly, Snow unclenched his grip on his sword as Titus came close and offered him the medallion. It too was silver and inscribed with the master’s spell. He held it out and pushed it into Snow’s hand.

“Here,” he said, “You can do the explaining.” Titus gestured to the people who were still agape at what just happened.

✵✵✵

It took moment to explain the whole story. Many of the villagers didn’t want to believe that the man, still prone on the ground, had orchestrated these murders for money. Some exclaimed that he must be in league with the monster, but Snow held the collar and medallion aloft and explained that it was a vicious animal on a leash. That it was no different than a carter who managed to sabotage carts along the road so he would always have business when travelers limped into town. This man had chosen to end two lives so they would be frightened enough to pay any price to be rid of the beast.

After ten minutes of back and forth, the tanner and a few other heavy armed tradesmen were tying the man’s wrists behind his back and pulling him to his feet. Snow warned them that he believed the hunter capable of magic, but that didn’t seem to trouble Warin or his compatriots.

“Won’t take us more than a few minutes to set up those gallows,” he said grimly.

Snow turned back to see if Titus had anything to say about this swift act of ‘justice’, but he was gone. It unnerved him that the man had slipped away so easily, but he was sure where to find him. He left the mob to their anger as he turned back towards the inn’s tavern.

Inside, Titus was sitting before the dwindling hearth fire with a pint in his hand. He looked old in that moment. The firelight accented every crease of his face as he stared with a brooding look that Snow wore often when he was alone. He briefly wondered if he looked just as old in those moments as well.

“They’re going to hang him.” Snow announced. Titus didn’t look at him.

Snow came closer but kept a defensive distance. “You know him,” he stated, hoping for an explanation.

Titus nodded. “I even looked up to that arsehole.”

“He’s one of the Saviors?” Snow asked.

Again, Titus nodded with utter dejection, but then he looked up with a glare. “They’re not all like him though. They’re not.” He said it with conviction. “They’re good men too. Men who would never do something like this.”

Snow stood still a moment and took in what he saw. If this was an act, it was a damn good one. Snow knew the look of disillusionment, of coming to a fact you never wanted to acknowledge even though you might have known it for some time.

Snow softened his tone and said, “I never said they’re all frauds or criminals. I called them idiots. Even some idiots can have a good heart.”

Titus slammed down his pint on a side table and shot to his feet in one motion.

“Is it idiocy to stand up and fight?! Someone has to stand up! Someone needs to help people against vampire lords and monsters! If they’re such idiots, then educate them!” Titus barked it in anger, but there was also desperation in his voice.

Snow had taken a tense step back at the display, but nothing more. He stared into Titus now wondering profusely if this was all true, if he did in fact have a kind of ex-Savior on his hands. It was tempting to believe that one had finally come to the realization that the world isn’t simply made up of black and white. But a single light of truth cannot change a sea of dark ignorance. The Highest knows how Snow has tried to do just that.

“They have chosen their path,” he said as he held up the collar. “Criminal or not, they have chosen to become the monsters they hunt. You’re not honestly asking that I help you teach them this fact? They know it.”

“I changed,” Titus said. “Maybe there are others questioning all this.”

“Even if I could believe that. You’re one man, Titus. You’re one rogue wave against a dark sea.” Snow then sighed. “And so am I.”