The man’s muscles bulged as he attempted to overwhelm whatever power was holding him in place. Victoria glowered at the man, seemingly unconcerned about the naked steel that stood poised inches from her neck.

“We’re on the same side, you oaf,” she said before turning her back on the man and giving the street her full attention.

“How could I ever be on the same side as a witch?” the man spat, saving particular venom for the last word.

“We both serve the Empire, for one,” Victoria replied.

“The likes of you, serving the Empire?” the man scoffed. “Do I look like I was born yesterday?”

Victoria rolled her eyes and began undoing the laces around her throat.

“Please stop,” the man snorted. “You’re embarrassing yourself.”

Victoria paused. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t think you can tempt me with your body,” the man smirked, and Victoria marvelled at how he could look so smug while being frozen in such a ridiculous pose. “I’m not desperate enough to be tempted by the likes of you, little girl.”

“Oh for pity’s sake, do you men ever stop thinking with your rods?” she exclaimed. Hurriedly, she finished undoing her laces and pulled the neck of her dress down to reveal a slender metal collar around her neck. She turned it so that the glowing rune was visible to him. “Do you know what this is?”

There was no doubting what the material was as it glittered like a diamond under the morning sun. It was mithril, an exquisitely rare and difficult to work material. It also meant that the collar was all but unbreakable. It would be easier to remove the neck it was attached to than to remove the collar by force.

The man narrowed his eyes and grunted. “A pretty trinket. So you’re a lord’s whore.”

Victoria made a face. “Something like that. See the twin dragons?”

“So you’re an Imperial’s whore.”

“Good enough,” she grunted. “If I’m an Imperial’s whore, it would be a very wealthy and powerful Imperial to be able to afford one of these, no?”

The man nodded slowly. One would have to be wealthy indeed to be able to afford that much mithril.

“So we’ve established that I work for a wealthy and powerful Imperial,” Victoria said slowly, assuming she was speaking to a complete dullard. “That puts us on the same side doesn’t it?”

“Say I believe you,” the man began.

Victoria saw the man’s eyes linger on her collar, and a sly smile spread across her face. The man infuriated her to no end, and the little girl remark had offended her. She attracted the stares of men everywhere she went and had for years. She would soon put this ape in his place. She undid a few more laces and pulled her dress down further, exposing the top of her chest. She felt a surge of triumph when he saw his gaze lower involuntarily. Men, so easy to manipulate. She was about to goad him when a look of disappointment that would forever haunt her crossed the man’s face as his eyes settled on her chest.

“I’ve seen more voluptuous boys,” he muttered.

Victoria felt the blood rise to her face and in her fury, punched the frozen man as hard as she could in the midsection. It was like striking a brick wall. Tears welled in her eyes, but her pride wouldn’t let her cry out. To make matters worse, the man didn’t even flinch.

He grunted. “You brought that upon yourself.”

Victoria did her laces up furiously and was weighing up the pros and cons of killing the man when she heard footsteps approaching from the street.

“We need to go,” she said. “On your honour, do you swear not to make another attempt on my life if I release you?”

The man made a face. “Until we get to safety.”

Victoria cursed under her breath before saying, “Good enough.”

She stalked past the man before releasing him from her spell. “Follow me.”

“Where are we going?” he asked suspiciously as he fell in step behind her.

“To safety,” she replied.

“He’s escaped!” came a cry from the street.

“Hurry!” she called out over her back.

She sensed the man following close behind and quickened her pace deeper down the side street. As she turned a corner onto the next street, she sensed the man had paused and cursed again. He had been chained for days, and running must have been too much for him. Losing him here after she’d already risked so much to release him would be a blow, but it couldn’t be helped. She had to escape, or it would be the end for her as well.

Victoria took a moment to get her bearings on the next street and heard the thundering of hooves coming from the side street. Then, a horseman came charging around the corner. She prepared an attack but saw that he was bare chested and stayed her hand. Moments later, the horseman’s powerful arm hauled her up onto the horse.

“I thought this might be more expedient,” he explained as he deftly positioned her so that she was riding between his arms.

“Good thinking,” Victoria gasped.

The man whipped the horse with his reins and its pace quickened. Victoria saw the ground whizz by underfoot and fought off a faint wave of nausea. She’d never felt that humans were meant to travel faster than the pace of a brisk walk.

“So, how does a Witch of Ir come to work for the Empire?” she could barely make the words out over the roar of the wind and the pounding of hooves.

“You’re asking me this now?” Victoria gasped as the man took a turn so quickly that it turned her stomach.

“It seems the playing feel is level here, you cannot control me with your vile magic now,” he remarked.

“Can’t I? Victoria shot back.

The man grunted derisively. “No, play it wrong and I might lose control of the horse. You could fall off and break your neck or get caught by our pursuers. I’m not sure which is worse.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Victoria bit her lip, and the man took another corner quicker than he needed to.

“Answer me,” he ordered. “Why is an anointed of the Pantheon’s Blood God working for the Empire?”

“Fine,” she sighed as the horse thundered down the road leading out of the town. The Parlour was visible to the right and Victoria dearly hoped that the matron didn’t happen to be looking out the window just then. “My coming of age was incomplete, and I was brought into the Imperial fold as a child!”

“How could they possibly trust you?” he scoffed.

“This collar is proof that they don’t,” she shot back.

The man grunted again. “What do you hope to achieve here?”

“I’m here to destroy their distillery in the Mud Flats,” she replied.

“You will have to explain in more detail.”

“I will when we stop,” she shot back. “We risk biting our tongues talking like this!”

The man considered what she’d said for a moment before grunting. He rode the horse hard down the road and into the fringes of a forest. He looked over his back to see if they were being followed before bringing the horse to a stop.

“You did well to get here,” she remarked and attempted to slide under his arms to climb down from the horse. “Now let me off.”

“Oh no,” the man said, holding her in place with his powerful grip.

“I can force you to release me, you know,” she warned.

She gasped as the horse shot off like a bolt.

“Let’s not play this game, shall we?” the man suggested.

She looked up and scowled at the triumphant smirk on his face.

“I still can’t trust you,” the man stated.

Victoria’s eyebrows shot up. “I rescued you!”

“A trick.”

“You must have a very inflated opinion of yourself if you think I did all that to trick you!” she exclaimed in exasperation. “You were already in their clutches! What possible good could tricking you do me?”

The man slowed the horse down again as he thought it over. At length, he nodded. “I suppose you have a point.”

“Good,” Victoria sighed. “Now, can you let me down?”

Reluctantly, the man nodded and released his grip on her arm. Victoria climbed down quickly, grateful to have firm ground under her feet.

“Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot,” the man observed. “I have spent years in the fallen kingdom fighting these foul heretics, and it has made me… mistrustful.”

Victoria shrugged. “Now that we are the best of friends, might I suggest we get off the road?”

The man looked around and nodded. “A wise suggestion. We are too conspicuous on horseback.”

“So, do we have a pact?” Victoria asked.

The man slapped the horse on its flank, and the beast thundered off back in the direction of town. Victoria couldn’t say she was sad to see it go. At length, Leryn looked back at Victoria and shook his head. “A temporary truce.”

“Did a witch destroy your province?” Victoria goaded, more irritated than anything else by the open animosity in the man’s eyes.

“I lost many good men to one,” he replied as he walked into the undergrowth. He winced as his bare foot snapped a twig. “Perhaps I should have taken the time to steal a pair of shoes.”

“Oh stop your whining,” Victoria said with a smirk.

He put his hands to his lips and Victoria fell silent. Voices were coming from nearby. She couldn’t tell if they were those of their pursuers but didn’t want to stay around to find out. On an unspoken agreement, they plunged deeper into the forest. Leryn moved quietly for a man of his size, and Victoria had trouble keeping up.

It wasn’t long before Victoria lost sight of the massive man, which she found infuriating. She had spent plenty of her youth playing in the hardwood forests surrounding Washpool and fancied herself fairly capable at navigating the woods, but this man would have been the hide and seek champion. Victoria bit her lip and considered using her power. The man had been brutishly strong and holding him in place had used a lot of her power. She wasn’t sure if she had enough left to do it again. Killing him would be easier, but then she would have to start over. This man had potential, and it could take time for another of his ilk to come along, if ever. She shook her head and touched the collar around her neck. Time was something she didn’t have.

She decided that losing track of the man was something she simply couldn’t afford and began an incantation to invoke the power of Ir. Before she could complete it, she felt a sharp pain as something struck her in the back of the head. Then, her world went black.

Victoria was unsure how long she had been out, but she had a pounding headache. She felt strong hands cross her wrists behind her back and bind them tightly.

“That hurts,” she began and was cut off when someone jerked her head back and wedged a thick wad of cloth in between her teeth. It was then tied off mercilessly tight, making her words unintelligible.

She was still completely disoriented as the hands hauled her up and propped her against a tree. She struggled to focus her eyes and saw the outline of a huge man towering over her. She attempted to speak, but the gag turned her words into muffled gibberish. The figure bent over so that his face was inches away from hers. He prised her eyes open roughly with his thick fingers and peered into them.

“Good, you’re awake,” the man began. “I apologize for getting rough with you, but I wasn’t about to let you finish that spell. Now that we appear to have lost our pursuers, we find ourselves with the opportunity to have a proper heart to heart.”

He then held up his sword for her to see. “I hear any of your incantations or an answer I don’t like, and I run this through your throat, do you understand?”

Victoria glowered at the man. He sighed before grabbing her roughly by the hair and jerking her head back to expose her neck.

“Listen, witch. I think the world would be better off if I ended you here, but you did save me, so I’m giving you the opportunity to convince me otherwise,” he warned. “The choice is yours. Will you answer my questions?”

Victoria nodded slowly and Leryn pulled the gag out of her mouth. She glared up at her captor and saw that he had obtained a threadbare vest and shoes from somewhere. Both looked far too small for him, and he looked like a father trying to wear his son’s clothes.

“Let us start anew. My name is Sir Leryn of Bastrick.”

“Victoria Ingers,” she replied. She paused and furrowed her brow. “Bastrick, that was one of the first provinces to fall, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” he replied before looking off into the trees. “My father was the first to heed King Argelene’s decree to crack down on the heretics. We were also the first to taste their fury. To think that it had festered under our very noses to that extent…”

Leryn shook his head and turned his gaze back to Victoria. “No, that’s not important. Who is this rich and powerful employer of yours?”

“Lord Fenworth,” she replied without hesitation. “By order of the Emperor.”

Leryn nodded slowly. “I thought that rune looked familiar… How did you trick them into trusting you?”

Victoria rolled her eyes. “As I said, they don’t. At Lord Fenworth’s command, or if he does not renew the incantation every two months, this collar will explode, taking my head off.”

The big man raised a bushy eyebrow. “Let’s say I believe you. What did they send you here to do?”

“I told you that already,” Victoria snapped.

“A distillery?” Leryn grunted as he scratched the side of his nose. “Why?”

“Because it produces the liquor that changes whoever drinks it into a mindless follower of the New Gods,” Victoria replied.

Leryn frowned. “I haven’t heard of such a thing.”

“Then you don’t know much about these lands,” Victoria sniffed. “Small wonder you were caught.”

“Destroying this distillery could cripple the Heretic King,” Leryn mused before casting a suspicious eye on Victoria. “If what you say is true.”

“It is…” she began.

“Which is why I find it difficult to believe they only sent you,” Leryn continued, cutting her off.

“They didn’t send only me,” Victoria replied. “They sent a whole team. They got caught and killed, which is why I had to rescue you.”

“Sell them out, did you?” Leryn smirked.

Victoria rolled her eyes again. “We’ve been through this. You were already in their clutches. I saved you.”

“How did your fellows get caught?” Leryn asked without missing a beat.

“They refused to listen to my advice,” she replied. “I grew up in these lands and they thought they knew better than me. It got them killed.”

“Explain,” Leryn ordered.

Victoria was about to answer when she noticed that the light was fading quickly. She had initially thought the dim light was due to the thick forest canopy overhead, but now it was unmistakably getting darker.

“How long was I out for?” she demanded.

“Don’t change the subject,” Leryn snapped. “How did your fellows die?”

“They thought it safer to spend the night in the forest instead of finding shelter in a village!” she cried. “There are things out here that…”

“Nonsense,” Leryn scoffed. “I’ve spent plenty of nights under the stars.”

“Bastrick’s out on the fringes!” Victoria cried, her eyes wide with fear. “Things are different here in the heartlands!”

“Your acting is commendable,” Leryn said, shaking his head. “But you will have to do better…”

A long, loud shriek pierced the air, cutting the big man off. It came from high overhead and sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Victoria’s face was ashen. “We’re too late. It’s here…”

“What’s here?” Leryn demanded.

“The thing that killed my companions. A Night Stalker.”