Note: I initially intended for this chapter to be set for a later point in the story. However, I decided to move this chapter forward with the intent of providing the reader with a better understanding of the forest. It was also a much better introduction to Tharja's role than what I originally had planned.


Night Shift

In a dark and lonely abode nestled deep within these ghostly woods, Ghiaccio sat on a dusty counter. The paralysis wore off shortly after Tharja had taken both him and Robin to this familiar place. The mansion in which the two had occupied as their own for a considerable amount of time.

The serpent observed Tharja from a safe distance with his body coiled in a defensive posture. He watched her with a cold and unforgiving daze. If she were just a few centimeters closer, he would have lunged forward and buried his fangs into her flesh. Unfortunately for Ghiaccio, she was not so eager to get anywhere near his striking range.

Tharja paced back and forth through this old room. She did not contrast very well in a room that was as pitch black as the outfit she wore. Tharja finally stopped her random walking and stood in the middle of one particularly dark corner of the room. With a smile on her face, she spoke to the serpent on the table.

"I am not sure how you've managed it," she announced with an emotionless glare. "But you seem to have Robin's ear. He listens to you."

"What's your point," the serpent hissed with a roll of his elliptical pupils. "You're clearly asking me for something even after paralyzing the both of us so just come out with it already!"

"I would like to make a deal with you, if at all possible," Tharja admitted. "It has become abundantly clear to me that you and Robin are attempting to achieve something. I have no idea what you plan on doing in the future, and it is of no concern to me. However, Robin himself is of my highest concern."

"Get on with it, woman," Ghiaccio growled.

Tharja sighed at the serpents agitated tone. As she let out a long breath, she recollected her thoughts before Ghiaccio's patience wore too thin.

"All I ask is that you help sway his opinion of me to a more positive light," she mumbled as she averted her eyes to the nearest window. "If you can do this, then I would be more than willing to assist you in whatever it is that you two are searching for."

The serpent snickered impishly at her request. "Aw, isn't that sweet," he mocked. "Personally, I like the idea, but it isn't fair. You may not realize this, but paralyzing someone and dragging them through a dark forest is not the best way to be making friends. It will be difficult, even for me. Luckily for you, I enjoy a good challenge, but I don't enjoy doing things for free. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"You want something in return," asked Tharja.

Ghiaccio's lips curled into a disturbing smile once she finally understood his intent. "Precisely. A little favor that shouldn't take too much of your time."

The snake turned away and slithered to the nearest window. He perked up and peered into the darkness outside. His attention immediately went to a narrow dirt road that led straight into a tree line covered in large thorny vines and fallen branches.

"Robin and I have run into a plethora of problems recently," Ghiaccio informed. "If you plan on staying here with us, then they will become your problems as well. One of these issues involves a thief who we've spotted recently but never could get a good look at him. He's been nabbing old junk from the back of the house. Most of what he takes is trash we have yet to burn, and I hate that kind of thing."

Tharja adopted a rather frightening grin at the mere thought of what Ghiaccio was alluding to. She gripped her tome tightly in her hands and glinted down to the numerous pages contained within it.

"I can take care of a lowly bottom feeder," Tharja commented with growing confidence. "Worry not. His fate will be slow and painful."

"Hey now," Ghiaccio warned. "Don't be so hasty. I don't want you to kill this person. A mere message to this individual should suffice. Robin and I had a plan to send this message but he never went through with it. Now I'm not sure if you know this but just down that road to the west is a woman's corpse. We stumbled upon her one day and neither of us knows what killed her. Robin thinks the Druids had something to do with it, but his paranoia is beside the point. What I want you to do is find her corpse and remove the head. Place the head on top of the burn pile we have out back. I'm sure he'll never come back if he sees that. If he does, then we will just have to find a more aggressive means of dealing with him."

"For Robin? It shall be done."

Her lack of hesitation caused Ghiaccio to laugh aloud. "Not so fast. It's too late to do it now. If I were you, I'd wait until the crack of dawn before heading outside again."

Tharja curiously tilted her head as she stared at the window behind Ghiaccio. Due to the thick canopy that covered the entire forest, it was almost impossible for her to tell night and day apart. It was not difficult to find the trail Ghiaccio was referring to as the glowing plants did a half-decent job of illuminating her environment.

She then glanced over her shoulder with slight apprehension. Ironically, it was far darker and unsettling inside this strange abode than it was outside.

"I do not understand," she bluntly muttered. "You have spoken several times of the horrors that lurk in these woods at night, yet I have seen none of it. I have wondered around at night before while I was still following you two around. Not once did I find anything dangerous."

"Robin was always more worried about it than I am," Ghiaccio sighed. "There are these beings we call Druids who occasionally leave their place of worship to wreak havoc on those who decide to wander from their homes in the dead of night. They normally kidnap these people and force them to perform in torturous or sexually deviant rituals. Afterward, they are killed off. It's the reason why Robin and I got into that argument before you paralyzed and dragged us back to this damn place."

"Well," the Dark Mage replied with an unfazed expression. "I shall take your advice and severe the woman's head tomorrow. For now, I suppose I will hunt for a place to rest up. Following you two on your creepy little adventures is rather tiresome."

With that, Tharja left the old kitchen and headed deeper into the manor in search of a comfortable location to dwell for the remainder of the evening. Ghiaccio rolled his eyes as soon as she left the room and whispered to himself.

"You are calling us creepy? Oh, the irony."


Ghiaccio slowly slithered up the winding stairwell until he made his way to the top floor. He slid through a nearby door that was just barely cracked open. Once inside, Ghiaccio instantly spotted Robin as he sat on an old bed.

He flicked his forked tongue a few times and smiled and whispered his name. No response came his way. Robin continued to mindlessly stare out the window with his thoughts lost in another realm altogether.

After several attempts to gain his attention, Ghiaccio sighed and lifted the tip of his tail high above his own head. He violently shook that small black rattle. The sound caused Robin to jump off of the bed and frantically turn towards the door. He gasped in relief at the familiar sight of the blue scaled snake that sat on the floor before him.

"Finally," Ghiaccio nagged after lowering his rattle. "I see you got control of your body again. How long have you been sitting there with your head up in the canopy?"

Robin glinted to the dark hallway behind Ghiaccio to ensure that the two were alone during this conversation. "Is she still here?"

"Oh yeah. Of course," Ghiaccio said with a detached smile. "But don't worry about it. I believe that you were right when you said she could be useful. Just recently I gave her a simple assignment to prove her worth and she eagerly agreed. That woman might just become the amoral drone I've been looking for."

"Please tell me this is a joke," Robin asked in astonishment. "Is it not enough that one of my former comrades is trying to murder us. Now, you want to allow that psychopath free rein in our house. She rendered our bodies useless and carried us all the way back here. Surely that is cause for alarm, Ghiaccio."

"Listen to you," the serpent said with a long sigh. "Just a few hours ago, you were insisting that we let her follow us. I must say, you were right when you claimed that she would do anything so long as I put your name at the end of the request. I got her dealing with that subhuman garbage who's been sneaking around here lately. We agreed that she could her join our little club if she succeeds."

Ghiaccio giggled at his own demented plot. "Just wait till you hear what I'm having her do to this poor sap."

Robin lowered his head into his palm to hide his frustration. A few seconds passed before his brain had a chance to fully process what was said.

The snake could easily sense Robin's distress and decided to intervene before he could offer any further resistance. "Look here, Robin. Because of you, we're being chased by that madwoman who obviously wants our heads. I think this is the best option for us. We need someone like Tharja. Someone who won't question the orders you give her. You were right the first time around, Robin. She's a useful tool so long as you take the time to work with her."

Out of everything Ghiaccio said, only one statement stuck out above the rest. Instead of addressing it, Robin ignored Ghiaccio's attempt to pin the blame on him. He averted his attention back to the floor and spoke softly.

"Please be right about this," he coldly whispered. "I would prefer not to wake up in the morning with a dagger to my throat."


In the darkest hours of the night, Tharja tiptoed through the derelict halls of her new home. Her legs brushed up against vines that were invading the manor through cracks in the floorboards. The further she moved towards the front door, the less she had to deal with cobwebs and overgrowth.

She reached the door after much frustration and exited the old mansion despite Ghiaccio's warning. Tharja then placed her hands on her hips and spent a moment taking in the nighttime atmosphere.

The air was cool and fresh. A far cry from the stale environment behind those rotting walls. Tharja felt as if she were the only living creature brave enough to wander outside at this hour. The silence was unnatural for such a lush world. The silence was almost unbearable. Not a single squeak could be heard in the surrounding area. None of the less, Tharja ignored the emptiness of the forest set off into the woods.

"No sense in waiting until tomorrow," she told herself. Tharja held up the knife she found on a counter inside the manor and stared at its dull blade.

With a look of worrying determination, Tharja marched on in search of the corpse Ghiaccio spoke of.


After spending almost twenty minutes searching down that same narrow path, Tharja finally managed to catch a whiff of death's vile stench. She followed it just off the dirt road and into a pile of thorny vines where she spotted her objective.

The corpse lied there underneath that pile of thorns. This body had been cut up by the sharp thorns that surrounded it. Tharja stared at it for a long time while she tried to determine the cause of death. The corpse had already gone through bloating and rigor mortis. Tharja could hear a strange chewing and squirming sound coming from the ground. When she knelt down she found several openings in the flesh where large amounts of maggots were feeding.

Tharja would not allow herself to be fazed by this disgusting sight. The smell was overpowering, but it was nothing she had not smelt before.

"They can have the head," she announced aloud as she held her knife high in the air. "But I can still make use of the rest of your body."

A crooked smile took form on her face as she brought the practically blunt knife down on her long dead victim's throat and began sawing at the hardened, rotting flesh. Tharja ignored the agonizingly slow process of cutting through dehydrated meat and instead focused on how many dark hexes she could weave after she found a secluded area to begin experimenting with the rest of the body. The Mage could tell that she had a rather long night ahead.


Ghiaccio spent the vast majority of the night watching Robin as he examined a map that illustrated the physical layout of the forest in between their current position and the river that acted as their target destination.

"I don't understand why you've busted out the map for this," Ghiaccio abruptly commented after about an hour of silent observation. "We know where it is so what's up with all of this tactical nonsense you're trying to employ?"

"You said Yvo's people are hostile to outsiders," said Robin. "With no reliable backup, I would rather not go marching into an area where I am not wanted."

Ghiaccio quietly hissed at what he deemed to be nothing more than Robin's paranoia. He stretched his neck outward until his head was blocking Robin's view of the map. He stared at Robin in agitation. Robin could almost see his own reflection in those heartless orbs.

"How many times do I have to tell you," asked the serpent. "We'll meet up with some of Yvo's friends who patrol a certain section of the river. They know me so they should ignore you. Once we find Yvo, he'll take us further into their territory. I've done this kind of thing before. Trust me, it's fine. No harm could possibly come of it."

"Do you realize that those mere words are enough to spell doom for our entire trip?"

"Please don't start with that superstitious nonsense," Ghiaccio sighed. "This can't get any more straightforward. The only way this can go south is if Yvo manages to mess it up for us. His job is the most simple part of the whole ordeal, so I find that highly unlikely. So long as we see no further interruptions… like being paralyzed and dragged all the way back here. That would kinda piss me off."

Robin nodded understandingly. He soon stood up and exhaled in defeat. Arguing with his reptilian comrade was clearly the only reward he would gain from studying the map. As he moved away from the desk and to his worn out bed, Ghiaccio perked his head up and scanned the room.

"Hey," he asked, causing Robin to glint at him from over his shoulder. He could see Ghiaccio repeatedly poking the air with his tongue. A curious sight that left Robin furrowing a brow in confusion.

"Do you smell that," Ghiaccio continued. "Ugh, did something die in here?"

The sound of an uncomfortably comical giggle distracted Robin before he had a chance to truly take in the smells around him.

He and Ghiaccio turned to the doorway to find a dark figure standing in the hall outside of their room.

"I do apologize for my odor, but it was unavoidable," Tharja's voice rang out through the darkness. "The task you assigned to me has been done," she stated after slowly stepping into the dim candlelight that barely illuminated Robin's room.

She had an odd smile on her face and the fact that Robin could not see her eyes which were hidden underneath the shadow of her bangs did not help with this rather creepy sight.

Ghiaccio seemed to have noticed the same sight as when Robin glanced towards him, he found that the snake had slithered to the opposite end of the desk with the intent on clearing as much distance from this madwoman as possible.

Tharja hid her strange smile behind her tome and peeked at Robin from the top of it. "It took me some time to find the burn pile you spoke of. However, when I did, I was sure to leave the head on top of the trash you two had yet to set ablaze. As for the rest of the corpse, I am… making use of it. I hope no one minds if I take over the cellar."

"Oh, yeah," Ghiaccio hesitantly remarked with a forced laugh. His tone was apprehensive and it was clear to Robin that the serpent was just as shaken up by this horrifying encounter. "You can do whatever you want with the body and feel free to use the cellar. We're really proud of you, Tharja."

Tharja's smirk grew at the sound of this appraisal. Despite Ghiaccio being the one to congratulate her, she never took her eyes off of Robin. "Nothing to it, really. As I said many times before, I would do absolutely anything for you, Robin."

"Thanks," was the only response Robin managed to muster.

"Well, I should go wash the scent of decay off," Tharja concluded. The Mage gave Robin a flirtatious wink and stepped back into the darkness. "I must say, though, this truly is a wonderful time. Being all alone with you… in the middle of an unknown forest… with no one else around. Is it not delightful?"

Robin smiled and nodded his head. Satisfied with his reaction, Tharja skipped merrily down the hall and out of his sight. As soon as she was gone, Robin slowly turned to Ghiaccio with a look of pure terror. They both had that same expression. For the longest time, neither one was willing to break the silence for fear that she might still be listening to them.

Eventually, Ghiaccio managed to muster up the courage to pierce this tyrannical silence. "Lock the door and blow out the candles," he promptly requested. "We leave at sunrise."

No resistance was met on the matter. Robin did exactly as told and the duo hid in that room for the remainder of this long, drawn out night with nothing more than the inevitable prospect of dawn to grant them comfort.