Triss smashed into the rough wooden floorboards, sending up a plume of dust. She coughed, as much from the impact as from the dirt now coating her throat.

"Where is it?" The woman, who was obviously a wizard, said with a snarl. She had dropped Triss, her arms and legs bound with magic, onto the floor of Tom's house. Now she was now looking in the rooms of the small one story. "Ah. Perfect." She purred as she looked in one room.

She went into the room, then came back holding up a skull. Both were grinning. "He'll be back for this, and then I'll have him." She looked at Triss, then tossed the skull at her. Triss screamed as the bony missile flew at her. It smacked into her chest then rolled away. Triss scrambled back the best she could, inchworming away until her back hit a wall.

"What is wrong with you!" Triss screamed at the wizard. "You don't throw skulls at people! Why does he even have a skull!"

The woman laughed, deep and throaty as she headed outside. The skull sat on the floor a few feet away from Triss, staring up at the whitewashed boards that made up the ceiling.

Triss struggled to sit up. She slipped once and got a face full of dust as a reward, but after a couple minutes managed to get herself sitting with the back against the wall.

"This is stupid." She complained. She looked at the grinning skull. "Stupid. Not even two months here and I've been threatened and tied up more times than I can count. This world is stupid. I want to go home."

The skull said nothing, of course. "I must be going crazy." Triss muttered. "Now I'm talking to a skull. " She laughed bitterly. "So he's crazy too. Who keeps a skull?

She sat in silence, waiting for...well she wasn't sure what she was waiting for. Tom? Death? "This is stupid." She repeated. She took a deep breath and spent a few minutes cursing. That made her feel slightly better.

"Impressive. I don't know what all those words mean but not many people can string that many curses together so well." The woman said. Triss hadn't noticed her standing in the doorway.

"It's a hobby." Triss said with a shrug. "So, what's the plan? Wait around and hope that Tom is dumb enough to come back for the skull?"

"He'll be back. He's carried that skull with him everywhere. And when he comes I'll kill him." She said with a shrug.

"Why? Why do you want to kill him? And why did you try to kill me? What did I ever do to you? I don't even know you!" Triss ranted angrily.

The wizard looked at her, considering. Then she shrugged. "We have time. I've set wards that will alert me if Thomas approaches." She went into another room and came back dragging a wooden chair. "My name is Portia Den Hedden." She said as she sat. "I am an assassin sent by the wizard's council - you know of the council, yes?" When Triss nodded she continued. "Thomas Crest is a dark wizard. The council has ordered that he be... eliminated. That is what I am here to do."

"Why? What did Tom do that made you want to kill him?" Triss asked angrily, though she knew that with the council's rules there barely had to be a reason. Drinking coffee was a death sentence after all.

"There are many reasons the warrant was issued. But the primary one was murder of a wizard. He's killed six at least now."

Triss felt her blood run cold. Tom was a murderer? She couldn't believe it. She said as much.

Portia only shrugged again. "I really don't care if you believe it or not. You're not a member of the council, so your opinion is quite inconsequential."

"Why did you try to kill me then?" Triss snapped. "I'm not a dark wizard."

"I didn't try to kill you. I was planning to leave you injured and unable to defend yourself."

"What? Why?"

Because it would have hurt Thomas." She smiled darkly. "And that would have added to his pain as he died. Knowing you weren't safe. At least, that was my intention."

"You're evil."

Portia jumped to her feet, wand pointed threateningly at Triss. Rage burned in her eyes as she spoke.“Speaking ill of the council or its members is a crime. I should kill you now for a statement like that.” She seemed to regain her composure then, and took her seat. “Not now, though. Not until there’s an audience.” The wand wasn’t put away, Triss noticed, but instead held loosely on Portia’s lap, pointed at Triss.

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After an hour or so of waiting Portia got up and rummaged through Tom’s little kitchen for some food. She found a few flatbreads and some dried meats, and made up a plate for her and Triss. “I find the sound of empty stomachs annoying.” Portia explained as she gave Triss the food. She released the bonds holding Triss’s arms so she was able to feed herself.

“So, if Tom killed six wizards, how come you’re so sure you can take him?” Triss asked around a mouthful of flatbread. “I would thing you’d want like, backup or something.”

Portia waved her hand dismissively. “They weren’t like me. I’m trained to defeat wizards. Our order has forms no one else knows about. The other wizards sent after him were better at talking than fighting.”

“That doesn’t make sense. If Tom’s as bad as you say - which I don’t believe - then why wouldn’t you send someone like you the first time?”

“It’s just the way the council operates. They send a team of councillors first to try and talk the wizard into turning away from whatever has got them in trouble. There are consequences of course, but it’s usually mild. About nine in ten are brought back this way.”

“And the one?”

“Usually killed by the councillors. One in ten of those escape. Thomas is the only one in recent memory to kill the councillors instead.”

“I thought Yorun said he killed his, and that couldn’t have been too long ago.”

Portia jumped to her feet. “Yorun? You know Yorun?”

Triss cursed herself, and promised herself again that she would learn to get better at holding her tongue. “Um, I met him once?”

“Where!” Portia had the wand in Triss’s face again. “Where did you see him!”

“Here. He stopped through as he was travelling with his Horde.” Triss had an inkling of a plan forming. Portia seemed quite concerned about Yorun. If she played up the horde angle without telling her that they were all dead then maybe Portia would think it more important than staying to find Thomas.

“Horde?”

“Yeah. Yorun had a big group of Hordeland creatures with him, heading inland. Spikewalkers, Groundlings, even a couple bereaved.” Triss said, as though it were no big deal that an army of nightmare beasts had travelled by the town.

“When was this?” Portia nearly shouted. She had grabbed Triss by the front of her yellow dress, lifting her a little off the ground.

“Hey, put me down!” Triss said angrily.

“Answer my questions!”

“Put me down first!”

“Bah!” The woman dropped Triss on the floor and stalked away, pacing up and down angrily. Her boots stomped on the old floorboards like they owed her money. “You don’t know anything. Rumours. No one controls the bereaved anyways.”

“Yeah, that’s what most people thought.” Triss said. She shrugged. “Yorun found a way to do it.”

“When. I swear to all the ancient gods, you will answer me or you will die screaming.”

“A little over a month and a half ago.”

Portia continued to pace. “No. I don’t believe you. What did he look like?” When Triss described Yorun, Portia swore. “How many in this pathetic little group of his?”

“A few hundred.” Triss replied. “I think. He was mainly just passing through, I don’t know if we saw all of them.”

“Lies. It must be lies. Yorun wouldn’t have left you alive. Not in those circumstances.” She paused to consider, then stopped pacing and turned to Triss. “Either you’re lying about Yorun, or else you’re working with him.”

“Um. Uh.” Triss smiled weakly. “I’m lying?” Well, that plan backfired horribly. She thought.

Portia stared at her for a long, uncomfortable moment. “You are lying. And telling the truth. Which is the lie, and which is the truth, I wonder.” She flicked her wand at Triss.

The bands around Triss’s arms reformed, pulling her arms painfully tight against her body. Another flick of the wand, and suddenly every nerve in Triss’s body felt like it was on fire. Agony coursed through her, waves of hellfire racing up and down. Her ears were filled with high pitched noises.

As suddenly as it started, the pain stopped. She lay on the floor, forcing herself to breathe. The dust filled her lungs, and she coughed, burning her raw throat. Her eyes were caked in mud, a combination of involuntary tears and the dirt of the unswept floor. Portia was beside her, rubbing a hand over Triss’s hair. “That was two seconds.” She whispered. “Two seconds only.”

Portia stood, pulled Triss to a sitting position, then reclaimed her spot on the stool. She waited patiently for Triss to recover. When Triss finally was able breathe normally, Portia continued. “Every time you lie to me, I will add a second. Three seconds next, then four, and so on. I assume you can count past four?” She actually waited for Triss to nod before continuing. “Where did you meet Yorun.”

“In town.”

“Why didn’t he kill you?”

“He was too busy.”

“With. What.” Portia said, gritting her teeth.

“His army started attacking itself, the different creatures weren’t getting along. Some ran off and he chased after them.” Triss lied desperately. She didn’t want to die, and she didn’t want to suffer that pain either. But she couldn’t tell Portia about Reginald.

“I don’t believe you.”

The afternoon skies were filled with Triss’s screams.

“It’s true!” Triss wailed ten minutes later when she had recovered enough to speak. “A few of his spikewalkers attacked the town, but he took them with him when the rest ran off.”

“I don’t believe you.”

When they reached eight seconds, Triss was taking nearly an hour to recover enough for questions. Every time she coughed now she was spitting up blood. Her ears were ringing from the noise of her own screams. She had bruises and scrapes all over herself from thrashing violently during the pain episodes, and one particularly nasty gash on her leg that hadn’t stopped bleeding until Portia had ripped a strip of Triss’s dress and bound the wound.

“Interesting. You’re sticking with this ridiculous story. I’m almost inclined to believe you.” Portia said.

“It’s true.” Triss nearly sobbed. “He left. Most of us hid in the caves below the council building, only the elders were out there.”

Portia shook her head in mock sadness. “How much of this do you think you can stand? The record is twenty-three seconds, but I doubt you’ll survive that long.”

“It’s true!” Triss cried. “It’s…true.”

Portia knelt beside Triss. She cupped Triss’s chin with her hand and gently pulled until they were looking eye to eye. She moved the sweaty hair out of Triss’s face with her wand. “How do you know he killed wizards then?” She whispered, and Triss’s stomach dropped.

The pain had barely started, triss had only begun to scream when it suddenly stopped. Portia stood, alert, as though she were listening intently. Then she smiled darkly. “He’s here.” She looked down at Triss. “I’ll be back for you.” She laughed, and strode out the door into the dark evening.

“Oh.” Triss heard Portia speaking outside. “This is wizard council business. Go back to town. Nothing to do with you.”

“Oh, I don’t think that is true.” Another voice said, a male voice. “I believe this is very much my business.”