IV: Negative Influence

Before

His heart raced as he charged through the brush, ducking branches and weaving between the trees as swiftly as he could. Glancing up and squinting in the moonlight, Loynis could barely make out the form of his quarry, leaping from tree to tree against the backdrop of the night's sky. The target was an elf, but by the way he moved, he could very well have been a monkey.

As he approached an area where the ground seemed to level out, Loynis shortened his strides but kept his pacing as quick as he could. He swung the crossbow off his back and frantically loaded a bolt. He had to stop a moment to pull back the string, then aimed high and tried to lead the target before loosing. The bolt went wide and he heard a crack echo through the forest as it struck one of the trees instead.

The elf paused his movements and glanced back down at Loynis for a moment, before flashing a rude hand gesture at the young man. Then he kept on bounding away across the tree-tops. A small white object seemed to fall from his pocket as he turned away.

The round object landed a few metres ahead, directly in Loynis' path. As Loynis charged closer, a spray of red smoke and light erupted from the spot where it fell, startling the young bounty hunter. He slapped the sleeve of his tunic over his nose and mouth, but the flash of fire obscured his vision and made his eyes sting all over.

His eyes squeezed shut on reflex and Loynis quickly lost his footing. He stumbled forward and hit the ground, crushing the crossbow beneath his chest. He wasn't sure how long he had been there when he heard someone clearing their throat nearby.

"So... did he surrender peacefully when you asked him to?"

Groaning in pain, Loynis pushed himself off the ground and looked to the right, blinking repeatedly as his vision slowly started to clear. Dace stood in the distance, and in his hands was a burning torch.

"We tried it your way not once, but twice," he shouted to Loynis. "You tried talking to the local villagers, and they laughed at you. Hells, they refused to even tell us if he was here! Backwater yokels and their romantic notions of having an outlaw living in town. Then you tried asking the criminal to give up, and now here you are, flat on your face." He casually spun the torch around in a circle. "I spent a great deal of time setting things up while you were off on your merry chase. Now we try things my way."

"Wait," Loynis tried to yell, but it was no use.

Dace casually lowered the torch to the ground, lighting a trail of white powder. Loynis watched as a small, steady stream of flame shot across the forest floor toward the village in the distance.

"If your target seeks safe haven, leave no haven standing."

Loynis forced himself to his feet, and hurried over to Dace. "I told you before, this might burn the whole town down! The flame will-"

"It won't, but it will resolve the... reluctance of the townsfolk to assist in the course of justice." He narrowed his eyes at the village and watched as the trail of fire, now moving into the distance and fanning out around the trees, began to spread. "Back to the camp for now. We'll stop by the town after a day or so. Trust me, things will look better in the morning."

"There, you see? Much better."

Loynis frowned but said nothing. Instead, he stared at the elf, now barely recognizable from the figure they were chasing a few nights prior. Their target was held in a pillory near the centre of town, his head and hands locked into the wooden frame. His cloak and clothes were torn and stained, having been pelted with garbage and some burnt vegetables. More unsettling was the prisoner's face, now beaten bloody and bearing heavy welts over both eyes. But it did little to hide the old identifying scar running across his face.

"The townsfolk really went at him today, didn't they?" Dace held up an iron key and pointed a thumb across the square at the lone guard standing outside the sheriff's office. "Anyway, it took some convincing, but they're much more amenable now to having us take him off their hands and away from their lands than they were a few days ago. I had to grease the officer's palm a little, but we'll collect more from the bounty contract." The bounty hunter began removing the elf from the pillory.

"You burned their entire season's crop harvest," hissed Loynis. The smoke from the community's fields still stung at his eyes and made him wheeze every so often.

"No I didn't. He did. See?" Dace pointed at the prisoner's forehead, where someone had scrawled the word 'ARSONIST' in messy black letters. To their credit, it was actually spelled correctly. "That's mob justice for you."

"This town might very well be ruined for seasons to come, even. And with winter approaching-"

"Don't give me that," snapped Dace. "I told you when we first came to town. All we needed to use was a bit of force and a blade." He raised his right hand and pointed to the leather bracer that covered his wrist and forearm. With his arm, Dace made a quick snapping motion to the side, and a glint of metal shot out of a barely visible slot in the bracer, just below the wrist. The weapon, a thin stiletto blade, had emerged so suddenly that Loynis was surprised that Dace was even able to catch it without cutting himself.

He went on, "This could have saved the town's precious harvest that you're suddenly so worried about, had we done things my way first. There isn't a problem in the world that can't be solved by killing the right fool." Dace suddenly seized Loynis by the shoulder. "So don't act like a child. No one died, and they will have their own food stored away, have they half a mind among them. Any lean times from this," he said as he waved a hand at the blackened fields to the west, "are what they brought on themselves for harbouring this fugitive. It's no less than they deserve. Especially with how far they went here." He prodded hard at one of the elf's bruises, but the prisoner was still unconscious and gave no reaction.

As he started to bind the elf's wrists and ankles with rope, the bounty hunter continued, "You see, these folk, they don't care about rules or order like you do. When it came to this outlaw, they didn't mind his presence, sure, because times were good. Because they were comfortable and lax. But when times are scarce and desperate enough, people will turn on each other in an instant. They'll eat each other alive if they need to. That's a truth for you."

"This is ridiculous. The only truth they need to hear is what really happened here. Or at least something to help them get back on their-"

Dace tilted his head toward the temple of Mielikki that stood atop a hill in the distance. "Most of the villagers are meeting up there right now, arguing about their fields of char and practically at each other's throats over what scraps remain. If you want to go in there and tell them, I won't stop you. But don't forget; these are the same people who smirked and turned their noses up at you when you came asking about the dangerous criminal hiding among them. Do they really deserve anything from you?" He hoisted the prisoner's arms and unceremoniously dragged the captive over the rocky dirt thoroughfare toward their horses. "You still have that inheritance your mum and pa handed to you when you left home, don't you? I hear you didn't do anything to earn it, so maybe you should just hand it off to the locals if you really want to soothe your conscience. But do you expect the simpletons around here to be grateful if you try to pay them off?"

Loynis bristled at Dace's words. Not just at his cavalier attitude, but at the insinuation that Loynis had not earned his inheritance.

"Yes, there it is," added Dace, seeing the look on his friend's face. "You always were big about earning your piece in life. Every decision matters and all that. Well, make your choice, Loynis. We have a bounty to turn in, so you can either ride alongside, or stay and appease these backwater abettors." Dace finished securing the prisoner to his horse, then mounted and began trotting toward the road out of town.

Loynis stood in the otherwise empty square and stared at the temple on the hill. It didn't seem just at all, but he could not deny that Dace was right on some level. The locals chose to shelter and protect the outlaw. Their choices led to what happened, albeit indirectly. And the fact that they would so easily turn on each other made him wonder if this really was what they deserved.

The church doors burst open, and Loynis watched from afar as two men spilled out of the building, beating each other bloody with their fists. A crowd of other peasants came out surrounding the pair, angrily shouting and jeering at each other.

He felt his lip curl in disgust. Perhaps he could return later, once their anger had subsided. Maybe then he would provide aid, if they truly needed it. But for now...

Letting out a sigh, Loynis turned his back to the hill and went back to his own horse. For now, there was so much else left to do.