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Last of the Ravens
Story Arc One: Weeping Willow
Chapter 12: Black Blade broken/The Awakened
As the raindrops kept falling out of the sky with ever greater ferocity, a thunderbolt suddenly roared not-too-far from Weeping Willow, casing distress to the sensitive ears of a certain scarlet-haired monster huntress who was otherwise sheltered from the Skyfather's wrath.
"What a night…" after letting out a heavy sigh, she resumed walking up the stairs, heading back to her room and to her newest, less-than-charming, companions.
Of all the groups Julia had the dubious honor of spending more than just a couple of minutes with, Jacek and Rena stood out by not only being both bothersome, but also incredibly obnoxious – A great achievement, considering they were only a pair, but humans have never failed to impress her with their unrelenting stubbornness. Between the large assemblage of incredibly varied and colorful individuals that made out the dragon hunting expedition that went after the Hellspewed Devil, the later Dark Steel mercenaries, and her chance alliances with the Stout Sentinels, the Raven somehow felt that the Angreri couple will give her nothing pleasurable to experience or remember about.
Standing finally in front of her room, she reached out and took the key from her belt. Slitting it into the keyhole, she unlocked the door and pushed it open.
Julia stood frozen in place as she saw Jacek on his feet, standing over the bed where the still-unconscious Rena was lying… uncovered.
With a slight delay as if he just took notice of her, the man without breaches turned to the Raven's direction "Where the hell you've been?!"
Hearing his far-from-grateful tone, Julia immediately frowned "I was taking care of our tracks." She answered whilst entering the room, extracting the key as well. Closing it behind her, she re-locked the door. "And keep your voice down."
""Taking care of our track?"" Jacek tilted his head questioningly as he repeated her words.
"You bled a lot." crossing her arms, Julia began to walk slowly towards him "Leaving a trail that anyone observant enough could trace here." Reaching the chair -three paces away from the bed- she stopped and turned her eyes towards the human's right leg.
Seeing as his stitched-up wound wasn't oozing or discharging blood like before, she concluded that 'destroying' the black dagger has indeed been the right course of action.
"What are-" stopping mid-sentence after noticing where her eyes were fixed, the human followed the direction of the Witch's blues.
"How does it feel?" asked Julia.
Shifting their gaze's at roughly the same time, they both looked at each other's face. It might have been for a fraction of a second only, but Julia couldn't help but notice Jacek's left eyebrow twist as he turned.
"Hurts a bit." The man answered, still sounding—as well as looking—far from pleased or grateful. "But since I can stand, I wager I'll be fine."
"You definitely seem better," Julia shrugged her shoulders "in comparison to an hour ago."
"Aye, a- Hour?" the human looked askance at the Witch. "I… thought I was out longer."
"Me too actually…" drifting, Julia uncrossed her arms.
Curious herself over the human's rather shift—one could say unnaturally so—recovery now that he brought it back to her attention, she decided to further investigate the matter. It wasn't like she knew what sort of powers were (or, are) at work here exactly. On the Path, the Raven had seen, fought and killed, or lived through many a creature or thing that would've either freak out or outright horrify many a hardened veteran of her profession, but a sort of living, 'venomous' dagger that once broken its victim will be cleansed almost instantaneously of the 'venom' and apparently -possibly- recover at an accelerated rate was something entirely different altogether to say the least. Baring Kornel who had always been evasive -when he wasn't coy- in matters regarding his past, his people, or his disturbing, nature-defying powers, everything else she had encounter up until now, no matter how abstract it might appear at first, could be explained in one way or another and eventually overcame. "Besides the leg…" Julia began "Do you feel anything… funny?"
"'Funny'?!" Jacek suddenly said with a snap, making a thoroughly unpleasant face despite smiling "'Funny'?!" he almost shouted the second time.
Speaking through clenched teeth, the Raven almost hissed as she repeated her earlier warning "Keep. Your voice. Down."
"'Funny'," the man said once again, in a considerably lower tone this time though "is the last word I'll use to describe my feelings at the moment Witchereta. Try 'confused'. Or 'angry'. For whatever happened to my niece was certainly anything but funny."
While the niece part was tempting to ask about, confirming the stability of Jacek's condition took priority. So, instead of answering him, Julia walked up in front of him, and, using her hand's index, presented to him the emblem shaped in like a snarling raven's head that hanged from the silver chain around her neck "Touch it." she told him.
"Why?"
"I, want to make sure, that there's nothing more wrong with you. So… please, do as I say."
The man shot one last mistrustful look before complying.
He touched the emblem without issue. "Satisfied?"
"Hmm…" Deciding that it was still too early to tell for certain, the Witch refrained from answering. With an abrupt stir of her finger, she slipped the emblem out of the man's open hand.
As she turned left, the human suddenly grabbed her by the arm. "Hey!" he growled.
Taking control of her instinctual action at the last second, Julia put enough strength behind her swing to merely force him to let go of her.
Letting out a groan, the man shut his eyes tight in response to the pain. "You bitch!- AH?"
Tightly griping at the human's right hand -feeling dangerously tempted to just go on and twist it without any provocation at all- the Witch locked eyes with him and, in a low, threatening whisper, gave him a cautionary advice. "Don't you touch me again like that. Ever."
Despite his otherwise pained grimace, Jacek was staring deep into Julia's eyes – as if in trance. Whether this was the result of simple appreciation or some other factor it mattered little to the Witch. Any sudden move the male human might make in the hybris so common of his accursed race will result in an immediate broken wrist or even forearm.
After a few seconds of silent hostility between the two, the human gave his answer whilst still grimacing "S- Sorry."
Hearing him, Julia loosened her grasp.
Against her expectations, Jacek didn't make any sudden moves nor withdraw his hand. And, for some reason, he maintained eye-contact.
Letting go of his hand, Julia turned left. She felt relieved to take her eyes off the man.
Inspecting the daggers previously left on the floor by herself, she took the cleaner one of the two and went to the nightstand. Lighting the candle on top of it with a snap of her fingers, she then brought the blade in close to disinfect it.
"Would you at least tell me what happened to her?" Jacek asked from behind her.
Without turning, Julia answered "She was naked, dirty, bloody, and at her wit's end. Me beside her, fully clothed, and standing. At our feet, two dead men – and in case you've missed it, one wasn't wearing any pants. All, in a distant, isolated part of the town, late in the night…" Matter-of-fact as her voice was up until now, her last sentence was delivered in a considerably somber tone "Put two and two together."
Since the man did not respond with either words or moves, the Witch concluded that he was still processing the disturbing information.
"If Rena is his kin… Could he had killed his fellows as a means to protect her?" Julia couldn't help herself from wondering, but since the blade was nearly ready, she decided to drop the issue for now.
As she turned around, the sight before her eyes made her lower her slightly raised dagger-holding hand for some reason.
Jacek's hand was on Rena's chest area. Relations or not, she would have immediately thought the act disgusting given the latter's state, had she not seen the tears that were running down his cheeks.
"Why is he crying now?" she thought, confused. The fear of death the human had experienced not too long ago almost brought him to tears, but, proud and stubborn as he was, he managed to fought them back. However, after she had landed the strike that shattered the black dagger's blade from point to mid-section, tears escaped his eyes, but then he could not help it as he was in terrible—quite possibly unbearable even—pain, but now… Why was he crying now? …For her?
Lowering her head, the Witch bit her lower lip. Hard. She may have drunk Stammelford's Philtre earlier, but the bitter taste in her mouth made her wonder if she had accidentally taken Black Blood instead. For her blood tasted like acid…
Pushing the ill-timed, unpleasant, and unproductive thoughts in a dark corner of her mind, the Witch raised her head and began slowly approaching the man.
Coming close enough to see, Julia noticed to her pleasure that Jacek had actually covered Rena back and that his hand while close, it wasn't actually touching her left breast but rather her sternum.
Seeing the man's hand move, the Witch stopped about a pace and a half away from him, her eyes followed the hand.
Reaching to the unconscious girl's head, he gently pushed the few strands of unruly hair away from her face and began to then caress her, all over the face, just as gently.
"…" Owning it to a certain Wolf Witcher's peculiar—but most welcome—habit of playing with her scarlet locks every time that she rested her head on his lap, Julia couldn't help feeling nostalgia looking at this scene… Nostalgia, and envy… And yearning…
"I'm sorry princess…" these soft, sad words made her take her eyes away from Rena and look back to Jacek "I'm so sorry…"
Whether he was the girl's lover or merely her concerned uncle, the Witch found herself unable to cut short the man's affectionate gesture. So, she decided to wait until he was done.
It did not long before the man withdrew his hand. Wiping his tears with it, he let it drop to his side.
"Can I have some of your blood?" Before these words manage to leave Julia's mouth, Jacek suddenly spoke "Have those two whoresons suffered?" he kept looking at Rena as he asked.
Having him on her sights for some time now, she took special notice of the subtly tense muscles of his face. Crying no longer, the man's expression was now one of fury stoical… Even on this weak, lowly primate, it still managed to evoke fear in the Witch, if only for just this one fleeting moment… It reminded her, just how much more terrifying this sort of rage was on Him…
Putting her thoughts together, she finally answered "Not nearly as much as they should."
Clenching his teeth in a grimace that was equal parts anger and torment, the man shut his eyes and shook his head, then turned it towards the scarlet-haired witch. "'least the fuckers' dead." He said "Guess I owe you for that one as 'ell."
While satisfied somewhat with Jacek's declaration of indebtedness, Julia could not help but find the very human way of which he delivered it to be nothing short of disheartening. The Witch was more vexed with herself than with the human however. She always disliked this part of hers – the one that hoped that people -humans and elves in particular- will come off as better than what their fundamental natures dictated. Many a time had Luke warned her of the peril that lies in projecting the positive qualities of a few exceptional individuals to the rest of their species "Mistaking the stars in the night sky with their reflection in a pond." As he once put it in an uncharacteristic use of rhetoric.
Without any attempt at masking off the bitterness in her voice, Julia said "Good of you to notice." Raising her spare arm, she opened her hand in exhortation "Now give me your hand. We can then begin discussing my payment."
Though impertinence was written all over his face, the man did comply with his debtor's wishes.
After successfully drawing blood, the Witch rejoiced at the fact that the only resistance she encountered from the human this time was but a really low bleat.
Bringing the blade closer to her face, Julia took a sniff.
She smelled nothing wrong with Jacek's blood, saw nothing as well. Had the situation been ordinary, she might have also tasted it to be more certain, but, far from ordinary as it was, she was unwilling to take the risk.
With her elixir enhancing her magical abilities yet -thus eliminating both the concentration effort or uttering of incantation that is required normally to redirect the energy flowing through the emblem- Julia retuned her medallion to magical detection with a simple mental command.
"Still nothing." Though it came as no big surprise to the Witch that her medallion was unresponsive.
Overall, on a temporal level at least, nothing seemed to be wrong with the man.
"'ave I not bled enough for one night?"
Hearing his voice, Julia looked back at Jacek. "Enough so that you should normally be dead." She told him.
"You're the one to talk." Sneered the human "Breathin and walking while you got a bolt though the 'eart."
Unable to recall where she last left the piece of cloth that she uses to clean her blades, Julia began looking around the room for it.
Founding it about a step behind from the right of her, she walked backwards to pick it up.
"You're correct." She admitted as she wiped the smear off the dagger's point "But I am no human." she sheathed the weapon in the appropriate scabbard behind her belt "And it's possible you're not one now either."
"What?!" the human uttered in shock. "W- What… do you mean?"
"We'll have to wait and see." Julia answered matter-of-factly.
"We'll have to wait and see WHAT?"
Not appreciative of the frustration she heard in his voice, the scarlet-haired woman narrowed her eyes at the man. Crossing her arms over her chest, she gave him her honest answer. "If you'll turn into a monster."
"W- What?" he shook his head in disbelief "…Are you, ppulling my leg of somethin Witcheretta?" and once again, despite being warned, the man raised his voice as he felt the need to add "I thought you fuckin fixed me?!"
"I might actually have." Julia shrugged her shoulders. Since the 'human' insisted in acting like a dullard, she'll treat him as one "It's also possible I haven't, I don't know."
"You…" uttering that, the corners of Jacek's mouth curved upwards into something that resembled a smile "Don't. Know? – You jest?!"
"No. I-" A thunderbolt that suddenly roared from outside gave the Witch's full answer a momentary pause. "I've never encountered a 'magic' dagger like the one that scratched you before, so I don't know what additional surprises may be woven into it – What I know for sure, is that you lost too much blood to be wide awake and standing so soon."
Apparently, Julia's point started to get across to the man – if the fear she saw building in his eyes was any indication. "You, say that I'll. T- turn into a werewolf or somethin?" he asked in obvious fear.
"That we'll know once the moon's full…" despite the monotone, Julia intentionally added an ominous note to her words "Provided you'll stay in town so that we can confirm this of course."
"What the fuck's that-!"
The Witch finally had enough of the man's inexorable shouting feats. Being the one on the outward, Julia unfolded her left hand and with it draw the Axii Sign without breaking posture. "Calm down. Then speak you mind." she commanded.
The intensity of the man's voice drastically decreased as he fell under the hex's influence. Mumbling something to himself, Jacek put his left hand on his temple, shaking his head slightly.
"He is still susceptible to magic that influences the mind." While aware that this might as well be irrelevant to whatever condition -magical or otherwise- the human might have, the Witch made a note of this in her mind regardless.
"Why should I leave town?" the man asked "And what's wrong with me? Tell me all now!" while his voice did rose towards the end, it was nowhere close to his previous near-hysteric volumes.
Before she began to answering his question, Julia let out a heavy sign "To answer your second question first." "A second time." she added internally in her exasperation "While I managed to destroy the cursed dagger responsible for your nigh-incurable bleeding wound, the rot-like blackness that it also left in your right thigh might just have also left something else inside you before it disappeared." The Witch paused for a moment, unfolding her arms, before continuing on "On the surface, there seems to be nothing wrong with you. But curses and magical diseases do not always have immediate results, and if you are indeed afflicted with anything maleficent, will have to wait for either any symptoms to appear in the meantime, or- …or till the moon fills up." the half-smiling expression on the human's face almost made the Witch pause a moment sooner.
The man's eyes never smiled, yet he began to chuckle as he put his left hand on his face.
"These two. Are definitely kin." Was all Julia could think as she struggled not to start laughing herself – not because she actually found his various predicaments to be amusing, but because of his reaction to them having a contagious effect. In truth, being a staunch supporter of the 'laugh so that you won't cry' approach to tragic events, she could just not stand seeing people break down into laughing feats when pushed over an edge. She much preferred seeing them in tears instead.
"Have you understood everything I've just told you, human?" asked the Witch. Despite hoping for a confirmation, she was less-than-confident "Or do I need to explain all again in yet simpler words?"
Before he withdrew his hand, Jacek's eye -visible between the middle and ring finger- turned to look at Julia. The half-smile the Witch saw on the human's face on when he took his hand off of it inspired anything but confidence in her.
Answering, the half-smile disappeared from his face. "Fret not." Before he went on, he clenched his teeth for a second there "I understood everything… You never had a fuckin clue what you were doin!" the man snapped suddenly.
While Julia managed to stay her tongue in the wake of the man's short-sighted and incredibly ungrateful words, she could not stop the fingers of her right hand from closing into a shaking fist.
""Might"? If"? Are you new to this or somethin?" as Jacek kept on talking, his panic was becoming more and more visible. "Ain't you witchers supposed to know of these things?" he began waving his hands around "How to cast off evil eyes and- and, sorceries and- so? Some witcher you are – you're a complete fuck-up woman!"
A NOTE TO ALL DEAR VIEWERS: Baring certain pieces of information, all samples of Enchantress Maleila's Guide from the Codex bonus stories are considered non-canon within this and all my other stories, and in time will be replaced with other clices of the "heroes'" lives. So, please keep an eye out for the chapters that housed these chapters.
Allow me to apologise for any inconviniences that this development change might present to you. Thank you very much. Be well. And good health, to you and yours.