VIII: Suffering

Before

"If you've a problem with how things are really done, let's have it," Dace said, pulling on the reins of his steed.

Loynis frowned and did the same, bringing his horse to a stop in front of a hitching post. He exhaled and glanced around. They were just outside an inn, the last one for miles along this stretch of the Sword Coast. That made it the best staging ground for the next bounty target - who might also be the last, with the way things had been going over the past few weeks.

Loynis began, "You always act like you are so much smarter than everyone you meet. Like only you can see that ruthlessness is the way to accomplish anything. That ego will be your downfall some day."

"Oh?" Dace dismounted and began tying his horse to the post. "You're still complaining about how violent my methods are? And in your boundless wisdom, you're going to tell me to... what? Try the carrot instead of the stick? Use honeyed words to sway our targets into giving up? And here I thought you were starting to learn how things truly are. By all means, tell me how it really is."

"You enjoy doing this, far more than any normal person should. Those bounty posters," Loynis said, pointing at the ever-present scroll case hanging from Dace's belt, "Are merely an excuse. Every person you bring in, alive or dead, you're not doing it out of justice or even for coin. You just take a perverse pleasure in hurting people. Every single man or woman you captured thus far has ended up in pain."

"Isn't that the way of things? Each target that we brought in, they forged every link in their chains themself. Each one that ended up dead? They dug their own grave. I thought you'd have realized by now; no one is innocent. And sooner or later, they all get what they deserve." He raised a hand in the air and tilted his head to the side, miming a hanged man on a noose.

Loynis looked on silently as Dace continued. "And when the bill for their actions came due, it's their own fault if they couldn't protect themselves from us when we came knocking. Haven't you figured it out yet?" He raised his right arm in the air, then made a quick motion with his wrist, keeping his hand back as a stiletto blade shot out of its hidden slot on his leather bracer. He deftly caught the blade and brandished it as if it accentuated his point. "Those who survive, deserve it. It's never been about justice, it's about nature."

Dace stepped around to the other side of the post and leaned forward, planting a foot against the wood as Loynis secured his own steed. He flipped his stiletto over in his hand a few times, then pointed it at his friend. "I can see it in you, too. I've known it since back in Cormyr. Don't act so high and mighty. Deep down, you want to see people fall and suffer for their sins. You enjoy it. Call that what you will, but underneath that stoic face, you derive your own pleasure from what I've been doing."

Loynis frowned at his friend and shook his head. "Preposterous."

"Deny it all you like." Dace pushed off from the hitching post and started walking down the dirt road, away from the inn and toward the forest. "While you wrestle with your conscience, I'll be taking a leak. Sign in for me at the inn and put it under my name, would you? Even if you're going to cut and run from this last bounty, I'm still going to see it through."

Grumbling to himself under his breath, Loynis entered the building and quickly arranged with the innkeeper for two rooms, which he then paid for. Between yawns, the innkeeper gestured to the guestbook, and Loynis scrawled Dace's name in the registry.

One more bounty left. One more venture with Dace. Then, he decided, it would be time to part ways.

Later that evening, he was beginning to regret not leaving sooner. Loynis barely ducked his head in time to avoid a spray of magical acid that flew by. He kept low, taking refuge behind an overturned table as he heard the wallpaper start to hiss and sizzle behind him from the arcane attack.

"You're dead, you hear me? You're a corpse!" bellowed a voice from the other side of the room. "You dare to come into to my home, threaten my livelihood? Try to take me away from my family?!"

A plate smashed against the wall overhead, causing Loynis to flinch as the shards of ceramic went everywhere. He briefly peeked over the edge of the table, and saw his quarry shifting his hands in the air, weaving another arcane spell into existence.

"Did you actually think I wasn't prepared? Every few months, another new fool tracks me down, and I've no choice but to set yet another example for the would-be hunters that follow. Were their corpses not enough? Why can't you morons leave us alone?!"

Loynis was trying to control his breathing, ignoring the stench of the wall behind him as the magical acid continued to eat away at it. Things had escalated far quicker than he anticipated. Their latest bounty target was a spellcaster, they knew that much in advance. What blindsided Loynis was the overwhelming amount of fury and vitriol, both in the man's magic and in his verbal threats. Not only that, but Dace never mentioned anything about previous bounty hunters being slain by this spellslinger.

The plan was for Loynis to confront the wizard directly in his cottage and scare the target into fleeing out the back, where Dace would be waiting to catch the mage unaware. So much for that strategy.

There was no telling how much power the wizard had in his arsenal, and Loynis was not willing to just sit and let the fugitive throw spell after spell at him. As he began the mutterings of another casting, Loynis grabbed a ceramic shard that lay nearby, then pitched it over the table in the direction of the mage's voice.

Upon hearing the target let out a curse, interrupting the words of the spell, Loynis leaped over the side of the table, throwing a knife at the man. The dagger sank deep into the target's open palm, which was raised in the air, mid-casting ritual.

"Gah!" screamed the wizard, clutching at his wrist.

Behind the spellcaster, at the far end of the hallway, Loynis briefly noticed two figures, a woman and a young boy, escaping the house through the back door. The wizard's family, no doubt.

As he warily stepped toward the mage, the target grimaced and yanked the dagger out of his own hand. Clenching his wounded hand into a fist, the wizard brandished the blade at Loynis, warding off the young man.

"You black-hearted Zhents are soulless monsters," hissed the wizard as he backed up toward the door, still pointing the dagger at Loynis' face. Blood ran down from the closed fist at his side, leaving a trail as he followed in the direction his family had fled. "After all these years, you're still trying to murder me and everyone I care about."

Zhents? Loynis had no idea what the man was on about. He drew his other dagger from his belt and continued to advance on his quarry.

"I am no Zhent, just here to capture a fugitive. You are the one wanted for murder, and I intend to bring you in alive for the reward," Loynis said, keeping his tone even. He had to keep closing in, forcing the mage into Dace's ambush. "This is a matter of justice."

The wizard kicked backward, shoving the door open. "If you truly believe that, you're either deluded or a fool. You're doing the work of Zhentil Keep, collecting a blood debt for foreign invaders. That's treason. Pray that you never see your own face on a bounty."

Stepping outside, the mage quickly slammed the door shut, and through the window Loynis could see him wedging the dagger into the door jamb. Rushing forward, Loynis pushed against the door, but with the weapon jamming it on the other side, it only gave by a few inches.

The wizard glared at Loynis through the window. "I spent years hunting blackhearts like your Zhentish masters: slavers, killers, deviants of the lowest nature. I won't be taken by the likes of you. If you're truly not one of them, then hear this; those you serve will turn on you. Some day, you will need to stop thinking about how to please them, and start thinking about how to outlive them."

With that said, the mage turned and fled into the darkness of the night.

Turning his head away, Loynis raised his arm and struck the window with his elbow. The glass cracked, and after a few more strikes the pane broke and shattered outward, affording him enough space to fit his hand through the opening. Reaching around, he was able to locate the dagger and pulled it out of the jamb with some effort.

With a blade in each hand, Loynis shoved the door open and hurried into the garden, where he hoped Dace had managed to delay their bounty's escape. As he moved past some trees into a small clearing, Loynis suddenly halted. Lying face up in the grass was the wizard, now unmoving and with a crossbow bolt protruding from the centre of his chest.

Not far from his body were his family, the woman and child. Both were on their knees crying, as Dace loomed behind them, brandishing his sword in his right hand. Dace suddenly chopped down, and the woman collapsed to the ground, dead. The child screamed even louder in anguish, still gripping his mother's hand.

"Why did you do that?" Loynis yelled, entering the clearing. Something about the wild look in Dace's eyes gave him pause. He kept a distance away, blades still in hand. "You said we would take the mage alive!"

Noticing Loynis for the first time, Dace raised his chin slightly and appeared unperturbed. "I took him alive. Then I decided we can deliver him dead."

"But why kill his wife? There was no bounty on her. That... that was just murder!"

Dace gave his partner a look of disdain, ignoring the corpse at his feet and the child next to it. "Those who placed the bounty won't complain. Hells, maybe they'll give us a bonus for ridding the witnesses."

Loynis suddenly became aware of how hard he was breathing. He recalled what the wizard said to him inside the cottage. "Who are we really working for, Dace? Are you taking these bounties from the Zhentarim?"

Upon hearing his name spoken out loud, Dace sneered. "Oh, now you care about who's footing the bill. The violent acts we do have no regard for the banner behind the gold. We're just instruments for those with greater ambitions." He reached down and grabbed the sobbing youth by the hair, then yanked the boy's head back.

Dace still didn't take his eyes off of Loynis as he continued, "So yes, we have been carrying out work for the Zhents, among others. What difference does it make? Whether it's the Zhents, the Harpers, the local yokels, it all ends the same. With a corpse watering the earth, or dangling from a rope. And that is why we can't leave witnesses for this particular job. How long before this kid decides to place a bounty of his own, or come after me seeking revenge?" He raised his bloody blade to the sky, as if to illustrate his point. "Or you, for that matter, Loynis."

The emphasis he placed on Loynis' name was an implied threat. Dace was telling him that the child now knew both their names.

The child's sobbing slowed, now replaced with a visage of seething rage as he glared up at the man who had just slain his parents.

Loynis cautiously advanced on his friend, his right hand raised in caution, pointing his dagger out to the side. "Hold on now, there is no reason to take this further. He is but a child." His left hand was behind his back, gripping his other dagger tightly.

The killer scoffed. "Children have eyes and ears. He has seen my face. And you went and said my name out loud. If he lives, he will prove to be a threat to me some day." Dace lowered the blade toward the boy's neck.

"No!" cried Loynis. Without thinking, he hurled his knife at his friend.

Dace was able to turn away before the weapon struck, and the blade plunged into the back of his shoulder, prompting an angry scream. A moment later, Loynis tackled Dace to the ground and began raining blows, using the pommel of his other dagger to strike the blackheart in the side of the head.

As Dace remained down, stunned from the sudden attack, Loynis got up on one knee and turned to the side, grabbing the young boy by the shoulders. The child flinched, but didn't break his gaze from Dace.

"I am sorry this happened," said Loynis. "I did not know how far he was planning to go. I will hold him off as long as I can, but you need to run, boy. Is there a place of sanctuary nearby?"

The child finally looked up and glared into Loynis' eyes. "Th- the temple of Helm..."

"Go, then. Survive. And do not stop until you find what you seek."

With one final, venomous look at the killer on the ground, the boy broke away and ran off, disappearing into the treeline surrounding the cottage.

Loynis watched to make sure the child was out of sight, then turned back toward Dace in time to glimpse a handful of mud fly up and strike him in the eyes. Swearing aloud, Loynis stumbled back in surprise , trying to clear the dirt from his vision.

Dace tackled Loynis at the waist, knocking him to the ground. Now down on his back, Loynis couldn't get his arms up in time to fend off an incoming rain of blows on either side of his head. Mud spattered across his face each time Dace punched his former ally. Loynis' vision was blurred and spinning so much that he couldn't focus on his opponent.

"I've killed men for doing less to me," Dace growled. He made a snapping motion with his wrist, and his stiletto blade emerged from his bracer. He held the blade in his hand for a moment, staring at Loynis with icy contempt. But he relented, and instead stuck it back into its slot. "You're lucky I need you alive."

Taking one final right cross to the temple, Loynis blacked out.

Dace let out a final frustrated sigh, then got up and left his friend behind in the mud. It wasn't over yet.