Over a year ago a Firestarter had ridden through town and a priestess she had trusted had asked him for aid. While at the time she'd have much rather never had the man come near her, after he had pronounced that creature an Oathbreaker and hunted him down, she had burned incense for him and his Enforcer every day thereafter.
When the next package for their Temple from Sunhame included enough money for her to set up in another town, should she wish – well. She had burned more than a few sticks of incense that day. Rumors had been inevitable and while the true nature of what had happened to her had remained concealed, enough had become common knowledge that she couldn't walk into a room without silencing whispered conversations. The relocation money had been more than appreciated.
So she had traveled, her training as an herbalist and moderate skill with weaving winning her a comfortable enough spot in a small oasis town just outside of the badlands skirting the northern Morningrays.
She should have fled the country; at least she could anticipate demons being evil.
Anika ducked her head when one of the black-robes passed by where she knelt alongside the rest of the townspeople. Three short days ago five black-robes had ridden in and asked to consult with their chapel-keeper, the elderly man welcoming his colleagues without hesitation.
She had seen their eyes though, and had remembered that look. These five hungered, and in a way that made her skin crawl as it hadn't since the one now Nameless offered her a way to buy her brother's safety.
The children were safely away at least. She had persuaded the mothers to do that much, sending the children to a little-known and seldom-used spring in the badlands themselves, using the admittedly flimsy excuse of the goats being hard to manage to get the herders to agree to it. Signalling them to stay away wouldn't be difficult – those Oathbreaking scum had torched the Temple the very next day, their old chapel-keeper's screams the only warning.
The black-robe was walking back, taking his sweet time about it and by now they all knew what that meant. The bastard was choosing his next victim. It had been too long between screams, the last one they'd pulled had undoubtedly died, no longer enough entertainment for these scum. She refused to close her eyes, to shy away, and simply knelt there with a stoicism she had only become capable of after that assault all those moons ago. Murmurs of prayers, faint whispers of forlorn hope rushed along the lines of people, bound together by ankles and wrists and waiting like lambs for slaughter.
Anika held out no hope. Why should she? Hope would get her nowhere.
No, what she held onto, what she nursed against her breast like a child she'd never had thank the One God – was rage. Was a bone-deep fury that creatures like this existed, that of the priests she'd met, there had only been the extremes and the foul, twisted representations of that brotherhood now outnumbered those that were decent.
It was wrong. It was sick and she wanted every one of these Oathbreaking wretches to suffer for the wrongs they were doing, for the evil they were committing and for daring to wear the same robes as Sister Rhiane, as Firestarter Dinesh.
As Father Jak, who had paid for his welcome with his life.
The black-robe had picked his next victim, she noted, the matronly woman who had a gift for pastry crusts dragged away from her now pleading and crying husband, the black-robe's eyes half-shut with pleasure at the desperate tones. For the first time, she realized that there was a faint, sickly red glow about him and something of the stories heard round the fire, of the evils Vkandis turned his face from, came back to her and she knew this evil.
She knew this wretch.
"Witach," she whispered, horrified at the idea that any priest could fall so far as one of the first evils, as that false God-King Ari had slain. It was one thing to hear whispers of those beasts in Hardorn, Hardorn was a heathen land and while she could feel a distant sort of pity for those stuck under the yoke of monsters, she had her own overseers to deal with and dodge. But to see them here, in her home –
A faint flash of fire appeared in the badlands, just visible in the dusk, and Anika knew what she must do.
"Please," the black-robe had heard her and was giving her a twisted smile, "The witach of stories was nothing more than some jumped up heathen – we have gained true mastery, found the true source of power and we will crush that foul blasphemer in Sunhame with this power granted to us!"
"No," Anika said, voice shaking with rage as she slowly got to her feet, cords binding her to her neighbors unraveling to pieces, "You have found nothing worthy of praise, Oathbreaker."
The man's features contorted with an ugly fury and he shoved the shaking woman he'd chosen as a victim away, turning to her with raw power beginning to glow in his hands.
"You don't know what you speak of, woman!"
"I call you Oathbreaker!" she screamed, nails cutting crescents into her palms, "I call you Outcast! I call you Nameless, you absolute scum!"
The power in his hands had flickered as she roared, his face paling as her declarations echoed in the night, but that only lasted moments before the pallor and shock faded from his face and an entirely inhuman cruelty consumed it. Whatever faint traces of himself had remained – Anika knew she had just destroyed it, had taken it and deemed it unsalvageable, forsaken.
She could now die at peace, because some portion of her pain, of her fury, had been avenged.
He knew it too, and Anika felt a smile grow on her face even as the man began the motions to strike her down with the power he'd gathered. She had removed herself from his power with those accusations, with those truths. He would gain no power from her death.
No one would get power from her helplessness ever again.
***===***pagebreak***===***
The blood-magic was enough to blot out even the faintest traces of those who were trapped within the oasis town, unnamed on any map. Kir had already needed to pause to empty his gut as they descended at near ear-popping speed, hurtling down the slopes and across the badlands, the blood-magic overcoming his senses and leaving him reeling before he was able to block some of it out. Increasing in sensitivity was all well and good for tracking, but between the proximity and the screams still jangling between his ears it had just been too much.
But now they were within sight, bare minutes from hitting the town's boundaries at Aelius' node-driven speed, and he could still the screams.
Or at least replace their source, which would be just as good at this point.
A curl of flame behind him and he heard three sets of hooves break into a run, one far outstripping the others but not actually gaining on Aelius, thank the Sunlord. Riva managing to gain on a Companion at this pace would be something he could no longer ignore for a later day.
:Kari?:
:He's going to warn Jaina that the plan is toast, check in with Solaris on the scrying for the other party, and possibly break the news to her. He might also leave that to us, but I don't think so.:
:I have just made our lives much more difficult,: Kir thought, the very idea of the politics underlying the choices Solaris had made, the orders he had accepted, exhausting him like a day-long run never could.
:By making sure we could live with ourselves,: Anur refuted, :I much prefer this path.:
:As do I,: Aelius spoke at last, :And remember – Jkatha.:
:As much as we say we should flee there, I feel like we actually need to go at some point,: Anur commented idly, :Strung and ready, Kir.:
:Shoot anyone wearing robes,: Kir sent back grimly.
:With pleasure.:
The world narrowed as they entered the small settlement, Kir's entire focus honing in on the mage preparing to strike a villager down – she had dared to challenge him, if their postures meant anything. The arrow flying past him to lodge in the man's throat barely registered, Kir brushing past the already weakened protection spells the man had woven as if they were mere cobwebs before snagging that core of heat in his mind and letting it burn.
Then making sure nothing caught Aelius alight, as the witch-horse trampled the flaming corpse into the dust with grim pleasure before coming to a wheeling halt, Riva skidding to a stop alongside the woman that had been marked for death and Anur did a near comical double-take.
"Anika Brersi?" he asked, aghast, "You have the worst luck in the world!"
Kir ignored that for the moment, tracing the blood-magic that saturated the place back to its core – under the burnt out shell of a Temple. Why would they stop with one blasphemy?
"How many?" he asked as he swung down from the saddle.
"Five," the young woman said – indeed, Anika Brersi, what a horrid thing, to be in the path of more of these honorless wretches. "Four now, Father."
"He was out to drag a new victim in," Anur's face twisted with disgust even as he unstrung and secured his bow to Riva's saddle, drawing his sword as he dismounted. "So they won't be distracted."
"Good," Kir said shortly, not needing to look to know that Anur had fallen into pace beside him, heading for the Temple, "I want them to see this coming."
***===***pagebreak***===***
By the time dawn had come, the matter was finished and on its way to mending, witches nothing more than scorched husks, if that. Anur sat down on the steps of the burnt temple next to Kir, who had just finished leading an abbreviated Sun Rising service in the square. He had no doubt that while thanks to the Sunlord had been sincerely offered, there had been plenty of despairing demands as to why this had happened, why this evil had been visited upon them, even temporarily.
The children had been spared, at least, and Anur spared a glance for the small crowd of them that had gathered around Anika and the two Lieutenants, who had escorted her to fetch them once they'd ridden in. Her furious decrying had quickly become the stuff of local legend, and it was as well-earned as it was well-timed.
Hometown heroes were always more inspiring.
"She would have made a magnificent Firestarter," Kir murmured, having followed Anur's gaze with his own tired eyes.
"She still might," Anur chuckled, "Those cords that had bound her were entirely unraveled, Kir. A stitch-witch would be good for them – and now I can't use all those common phrases for magic users of lower power than mages, damn it Witach, why'd you have to have that name?" he let his voice trail off into a grumble as he ranted, knowing as he did that Kir found these conversational detours entertaining.
They were also entirely valid concerns, so it worked even better.
"No," Kir shook his head, a faint smile on his face, "A Firestarter wouldn't have served. We're expected to be strange, but her? Just a neighbor, a friend. These people will not forget that one of theirs stood up to evil and called it by its proper name – the people of Karse have watched horrors in silence for too long."
"A good lesson then, taken from this mess," Anur felt some of his remaining tension ease, feeling a contented crackle of flames he associated with Kir against his mind. No roaring firestorms, no sputtering candles – Kir was content with what they'd managed to do, even with those they'd been unable to save.
He could content himself with that.
"There always seems to be one," Kir said, unusually philosophical before shaking off the mood and nudging Anur with his elbow, "Now, for the matter of the southern cluster – any word from Sunhame?"
"Kari's said nothing," Anur shrugged, "Not that I've asked. I'll take care of that now."
:Kari? We've about finished here, any news from Sunhame on the other group?:
:Ah, good. We'll come to discuss it.:
:Wait who's - :
"Incoming!" Anur hissed, levering himself to his feet before offering Kir a hand, not liking the way his brother swayed slightly as he stood. Kalesh, Koshrio and he had been able to get some unsettled sleep, or at least rest, while Kir raced towards the town. He'd asked Kari to Jump them to Kir's location once he was only a few minutes out, so they'd had a few marks to spare, but Kir had been awake for a full day now and it had been far from sedate.
Worries about Kir's tiredness had to be brushed aside though, particularly given the gold-edged cream-and-scarlet robes that appeared from the flames of two Firecats. Solaris hardly gave them a moment to register the fact she had come personally before she was sweeping forward, hands extended to clasp Kir's in her own as she examined his features carefully.
Anur watched while Kir smiled slightly and said, "Apologies for complicating things, sister."
"You idiot," she said bluntly, before hugging him.
Kir actually flailed – his arms literally flailed around like a landed fish –
"Stop laughing!" Kir hissed, Anur already on the ground, tears running down his face as he struggled to breathe through giggles. "You flailed!" he managed to gasp before collapsing into laughter again.
"Why am I friends with you," Kir grumbled, Solaris stepping back from him with a chuckle of her own before offering Anur a hand back to his own feet. Accepting it with hardly a thought until after he'd already used the God-Chosen Son of the Sun as leverage to get himself up, it was too late to do anything about it and from the looks of it she preferred being treated as an actual person for once – so he'd just continue as if he hadn't nearly had a heart attack.
"I never intended for you to stand by as blood-mages wrought havoc," Solaris murmured, raising her voice slightly as she looked around with obviously guilt-laden sorrow, "I had thought they would content themselves with the slaughter they'd already completed – it should have been more than enough power for them to feel confident enough to face Sunhame."
"They are blood-mages, sister," Kir shook his head tiredly, "They may start practicing it for the power, but they quickly do it for sheer pleasure."
"And they were demon-summoners," Anur shrugged, continuing bluntly, "And of the sort we probably should have taken care of before this anyway, so it wouldn't be much of a stretch for them to find this sort of thing enjoyable."
"You two could hardly have been expected to track down every priest in Karse and determine their moral stance," Solaris retorted tartly and Anur smirked, raising an eyebrow at her and she quickly caught on and sighed, "You are exasperating."
"But of course," Anur smiled honestly this time, scooping Kari up in his arms and Kir stratched behind the Cat's ears, to his obvious purring pleasure. "Now, I think these nice people have spent enough time on their knees, don't you?"
Solaris and Kir both started, apparently only just realizing that the entire town had immediately gone to their knees upon noticing her arrival.
"Oh dear," she murmured, quickly stepping forward and letting her voice project clearly, Hansa at her side as she brought them to their feet and began to move among them, asking after their well-being – begging their forgiveness for allowing those who harmed them to go this far.
Anur watched Kir instead, watched as Kir watched her with a faintly wistful smile on his face. "They love her," Kir murmured, "They love her, and they only spotted her a few moments ago."
"They love her because they know she sent you," Anur murmured back, hearing the unspoken query, the whisper left over from years spent thinking his only allies were a slightly-too-clever gelding and the fires he could call. "Also, quite frankly, she has better people skills than you do."
Kir barked a laugh, the odd melancholy fading and Anur grinned at him, teasing, "Admit it! Your default expression is 'blandly attentive' with a dash of 'implacable authority' when you're around new people. I had to whack you over the head with it to get you to start treating the Firestarters normally, just think where we'd be with them if you'd stayed all stiff and formal!"
"Ugh," Kir shuddered, returning to his seat on the steps and bracing himself on his knees, "The matter doesn't bear thinking about. We'd be far worse off on that front."
Anur sat next to him and stretched his legs out, carding his fingers through Kari's fur as he looked up at the clear blue sky – it was going to be one of the bitterly cold days of the season, with no clouds to soften the chill. Tilting his head slightly as he listened to Kari speak, he said aloud, "The other group is three mages, less powerful. They haven't stopped yet besides resting and seem to be making for the Hardornen border – Hardorn itself is clouded. Tristan has a knack for scrying apparently, and has passed on some word of his new duties to the others – Colbern is more than ready to head out on a Hunt, and Jaina is pouring all her spare time into practicing with the halberd he managed to rustle up for her."
"A halberd?" Kir asked incredulously, "Where did he find one of those for her on such short notice? Did he raid an armory?"
"I wouldn't doubt," Anur chuckled, shaking his head, "Kari doesn't know. Rodri's gotten a set of knives from Axeli already, so who knows what other weapons they've managed to get their hands on? At least they're staying busy."
"True," Kir frowned, brow furrowing, "I hope they're not feeling forced into this militarization."
Anur sighed, nudging Kir's arm until he looked at him and only then saying, "Kir – you're not forcing them into anything. If they're doing this unwillingly, at this point it's their own damn fault and there's nothing you can do about it. They'll figure out that you don't want to be ordering them around eventually. All we can do now is do our level best to make sure they stay alive and sane long enough to get to that point."
Kir shrugged tiredly, "I know," he said. "But it doesn't mean I have to like it." Looking up as Solaris walked back towards them, he raised his voice slightly and said, "I assume you're heading back to Sunhame?"
"Unfortunately," she sighed, "I love the city, unlike you, but it's been years since I've so much as set foot outside of it aside from this excursion – and it's hardly some holiday."
"We'll have to fix that at some point," Anur said, Kir shuddering at the idea of being stuck in Sunhame for years at a time.
"I look forward to it," she said earnestly, continuing, "Now, what is it you need for a purification and how long will it take? Kari has volunteered to bring the necessary supplies."
"The taint is… concentrated," Kir shrugged helplessly, obviously not happy with the description, "It will be easier to set up a containment around the worst of it, and cleanse it separately from the rest – so the town itself will be free of the taint within a few days, but the Temple…"
"Longer," Solaris grimaced, examining the crumbled husk behind them. It had already been badly damaged by the blood-mages, so they hadn't worried much about causing further damage when they'd gone after the wretches – Anur was surprised they still had steps to sit on. "By a fair bit. Just as well they want to rebuild the Temple elsewhere when they have the supplies for it – I'll see to it that something is arranged on that front but it will go the standard routes, it's not truly urgent."
"Once we start on the purification and get a containment set, I was planning to burn the place to fine ash," Kir said and Anur interrupted at that, saying, "After you rest, of course."
Kir rolled his eyes and parroted, "Yes, after I rest, of course," before continuing, "As for supplies – consecrated sage and sandalwood, frankinscene if possible, wood to carve windchimes from, string for hanging said chimes, posts for the same, perhaps some proper knives and weapons while you're at it, as a reassurance – containment… salt is unwieldly, oil disperses… carving runes into the earth would be best, so a channeling stave perhaps?"
"We can manage that easily," Solaris agreed, "Very well. It shouldn't take longer than a mark to get the majority of it to you – Sunlord protect and guide, brothers."
"And to you, sister," Kir bowed his head slightly and Anur just nodded, the two Firecats and Solaris vanishing in another flare of heatless fire.
They had a few moments of simply sitting in silence, Kir rather obviously struggling with staying entirely alert, when the other two of their party approached, still rather awestruck at actually meeting the woman their unit had been working so hard for. "She knew our names," Koshiro murmured, inclining his head slightly at Anur's half-hearted wave towards the steps and sitting beside Kir, Jakyr dropping down beside him.
"Of course she did," Kir chuckled, cracking his back, "I told her about you two when I reported the bishra."
"She healed me," Jakyr said softly, eyes wide with wonder, "My lungs – she – they're fixed, she said!"
Kir went distant-gazed for a brief moment before smiling with clear relief, "They are," he confirmed, "That is truly wonderful, Lieutenant. It's like it never happened."
"Still never going anywhere near a mineshaft ever again," Jakyr continued, losing the hesitant tone and switching to a wry sort of humor, but there was still a quiet awe in his gaze.
"Ha!" Koshiro snorted, "I'm never going near a mineshaft again and I never even touched one of the cursed things!"
"Excuse me, but I think Kir and I have far more reason to never go in a mineshaft again, seeing as we were nearly crushed by one," Anur retorted, tossing a grin their way and both Lieutenants' narrowed their eyes with mock anger – they had clearly not forgotten their crushing defeat at his hands yesterday, one successful ambush aside.
Kir chuckled, swaying slightly before he visibly braced himself again and Anur had had enough of this. Grabbing Kir around the waist, he hauled him up to his feet and said, "As enjoyable as bantering is, you need to sleep Kir, or you're going to keel over from exhaustion and hit your head on the way down because that's just the way our luck runs. Let's find somewhere for you to lay down for the few marks Solaris needs to rustle up supplies."
"Place doesn't have an inn, but Mistress Brersi pointed out the priest's residence – no blood-mages went near it either, so it should be relatively clear," Jakyr said, Koshiro and he both getting to their own feet, "Headman mumbled something like agreement – pretty sure he's still in shock though."
"All of them are in shock," Koshiro snorted, before looking thoughtful, "Well, except for Mistress Brersi – you know her, sirs?"
"Encountered on one of our hunts," Kir said blandly, leaning heavily against Anur with hardly a pretense of keeping himself upright, "Helped us track down that Oathbreaker. Her story to tell, of course."
"Of course sir," they both agreed swiftly, Anur simply glad that exactly what the Oathbreaker had done had never made it to the stories that had spread – in Anika's hometown, undoubtedly they knew more of the matter. But these two? As far as they were concerned, she'd helped track down an Oathbreaker somehow, and that was that, matter closed.
"Now, where is this residence?"
