Blood Ties, Part 30
Threats from within you, and threats from without. For a moment it feels like the walls themselves are closing in, dangers hounding your steps without any chance for respite. You just learned the true extent of your curse. And now—before you could even properly appreciate the full ramifications of your predicament—the general shows up with a trap that could reveal you as an impostor in front of everyone.
Which, given what you know of Raxien, would most likely be followed by an arrest for espionage, if not summary execution.
You look down at the brand on your palm, with its three ominously glowing runes. The countdown to your annihilation. You don't actually have any clue how you can survive something like this... but that won't stop you from trying.
More importantly, it won't stop you from accomplishing what you intend to accomplish.
Unbidden, Lily's face appears in your thoughts. Much like you, she's also caught in a hopeless, horrific trap. Yet she's still hoping against hope for her demon to pull off a miracle. You don't intend to prove yourself inferior to the task. Whatever happens with this brand... it doesn't change what you need to do. You have a mistress to save. You have heroines to corrupt into debauchery.
And—most immediately—you have a shape-shifting, demonic killer to catch.
You clench your fist, obscuring the brand from sight, as your mind begins to work. It's obvious why Raxien picked this approach. Trial by holy water is just so simple that it would be hard to offer any excuse for why an ordinary mortal would refuse. Not without sounding suspicious as Hell.
But then again... even your "Niko" persona isn't exactly an ordinary mortal, is he? Danger may be coming at you from every direction... but perhaps you can leverage one impossible problem to help with the other.
As your group walks downstairs to meet with the new arrivals, you put your gloves back on to cover your brand. Then you slide up next to Ceriss, speaking in a whisper, pitching your voice to sound nervous. "Do you know what's going on? Why does he have holy water with him? Do you think he realized what I had to do to save Lady Kagan?"
Ceriss shakes her head helplessly. "I don't know," she whispers back, her expression unsure, her tone conflicted. "Maybe... maybe you should tell him what you told us."
You perform a particularly touching, soulful flinch. "Please, Ceriss, no! I trust you, but... I've... I've heard things about how the general looks at 'evil' races. People like him were part of why I was so afraid to admit it in the first place!"
That leaves Ceriss even more uncertain. Playing into the heroines' pre-existing disagreement with Raxien over the fate of the orcs seems to have worked. As you planned, it frames you in a context that aligns with a decision her friends had already made. A context where Raxien was already the adversary. She hesitates again, before finally speaking. "I... I don't know if we'll have much choice."
Your whispered conversation is cut off, however, as you reach the door. Ceriss opens it, and greets her latest visitors. "Why, general. I'm surprised to see you this early. Is anything the matter?"
"Perhaps," the general says. "I have received information suggesting... abnormalities... in Lord Calwen's recent actions in the matter of Lady Kagan. And while I expect that they will prove to be baseless... they are of a serious enough nature that I thought it prudent to put them to rest as soon as possible."
Even now, giving it deliberate, focused effort with all your inhuman perception, you still struggle to read him. Occasionally you can catch glimpses—especially now that you're suspicious of his intentions toward you—but the contest is so evenly matched.
Still, from Meska's information you already know that he's had far more information than he's letting on. And using that as a baseline, you think you're finally starting to pick up on Raxien's tells—impossibly minute though they are.
"Abnormalities?" you ask, affecting puzzled confusion. "I don't remember anything like that while I was running. Though... to be perfectly honest... a lot of it is just a blur in my memory. I was pushing myself so hard, through all my exhaustion, to the point where I felt on the edge of losing consciousness. As out of it as I was... if something strange did happen, I might not recall it."
"Fortunately, there is a simple way to resolve the matter," says the general. Then he gestures to the priestess, who walks forward with the covered chalice. "The description of the abnormalities suggested demonic influence. It can be disproved simply enough; simply allow an anointing with this holy water. And if there is no reaction, then you will have cleared yourself from the majority of suspicion."
"Demonic, you say?" You give a worried frown. "Then... perhaps the reports were not so misguided after all, general. I... suffer from a foul curse. While it was not my primary reason for coming to Vekmar... I did seek the help of Lady Zylnerios with it nearly a week ago. That is also why Archmage Wrancyne came here as well. To help consult with this problem."
Nevati pokes her head around from behind Janessa, and gives the general a tiny, tentative wave. She doesn't quite look him in the eye, like she finds his intensity intimidating. "H-hello, General Raxien, s-sir," she says, barely audible. "It's n-nice to see you again."
Raxien's eyes widen just slightly, caught off-guard by this development. "A curse?" he says, sounding skeptical. "How would that apply to this situation?"
"I've only just this morning learned the full extent of it, from Archmage Wrancyne's investigation," you say. "But according to her, it's... infecting me with a demonic essence. I don't know what your witnesses saw... but it's possible that when I pushed myself past the brink of exhaustion during the run... that influence came to the fore somehow, without my realizing."
The you sigh. "I would be perfectly willing to submit myself to the trial you suggest, of course. But... if this curse is truly infecting me in the way Archmage Wrancyne has said, then I fear that the holy water may now harm me either way. So such a test may not tell you much. Not until we succeed in breaking this horrible curse."
You glance over to Nevati, who ponders it for a moment, chewing her lower lip. Then she nods. "It's... certainly possible," she admits. "I would recommend avoiding holy water to be safe, until we can really study the effects on your body in-depth."
Raxien frowns, his brows knitting. Not just an unexpected excuse, one that two heroines are vouching for. You've taken the wind right out of his sails... and this time your inhumanly sharp eyes just barely pick up an almost-imperceptible flash of disappointment. He's clearly still suspicious of you, and it removes any lingering doubts you might have had that the friendly act from before was indeed false.
He really was intending to nail you to the wall with this trap, for all that he kept it velvet-lined. If you hadn't come up with this excuse, his soldiers would likely be dragging you to the dungeon even now.
Still, he rallies. "An unknown demonic curse is still a threat," the general insists. "And our nation cannot be lax in confronting threats. What is the nature of this 'curse', exactly?"
"I'm still st-studying it," answers Nevati. "The t-ten visible runes branded onto the palm are only the surface level. There's so much more to the enchantment than meets the eye! It's a kind of soul encroachment magic that I've only heard about in theory... and the power behind it is something on the level of a demon lord! Oh... b-but don't worry! Ceriss' seal is holding for now!"
A murmur runs through Raxien's assembled troops, and the priestess makes a religious sign with her hand. And yet... all that is nothing compared to the effect that the wizard's pronouncement has on Raxien himself. All through the conversation only the tiniest and most fleeting of cracks have ever shown in his composure.
But what Nevati says shakes him.
He turns toward you, swallows... and even then, it takes him a few moments to find the words. "Show me."
You hesitate, the hairs on the back of your neck prickling from the look he's giving you. "I... don't think that—"
Raxien moves.
You're a demon. While your fighting skills may be lackluster, your raw speed is definitely above the human norm. But Raxien covers the distance between the two of you before you can even react, grabbing your wrist and yanking Niko's smaller body off your feet. With his other hand, he rips off the glove, revealing your brand.
The general sucks in a breath. Then, after a few seconds, the tiniest, broken little laugh escapes his lips. His thumb traces the runes, even as he holds you dangling. His gaze is locked onto the brand at first, before turning to you and looking deep into your eyes. Studying. Questioning. Then he glances back to the runes that have so far come alight, then back to you, and you see a look of understanding cross his features.
Slowly, he manages to pull his composure back together. It is, however, clearly a struggle for him. And for someone so unflinching to simply lose control like that, the emotional shock involved must have been... almost beyond imagination. In fact, even now there is still one emotion lurking deep in his eyes as he continues to look at you. One simply too powerful for even his iron control to suppress.
A terrible, yearning hope.
"If this... curse... is as powerful as you say it is, it is too dangerous to allow Lord Calwen to freely move about in public," he says at last, his voice clipped. "I will be taking him into my custody."
"Like hell you will," bites out Ceriss, suspicion in her voice. Looking to your right you can see that she has her wand out and pointed at the side of Raxien's head. The general does not look intimidated, however.
Instead, he glances around the room. At his men, who have now drawn swords and crossbows. At Janessa, who doesn't have her saber, but has her fists clenched and ready to do what she can. At Nevati, the priestess, and the four elementals, who are looking back and forth between everyone else, trying to figure out just what is going on.
The situation is far too chaotic for you to determine who truly has the advantage. How will the soldiers react to a fight between the heroines and their leader? How willing would Ceriss be to harm them? How quickly can Nevati shake off her confusion and join the fray? How much can Nevati's familiars contribute? Raxien is outnumbered... but he's also already in close-quarters, and the two heroines he's up against are both casters. Neither of whom came into this with any battle enchantments prepared.
Only two things are clear to you. Raxien has no intention of releasing you without a fight. And if it does come to a fight... it's going to be a bloody mess.
On the other hand, you could convince Ceriss not to press the issue. To let Raxien take you without a fight. It might open the door for a more advantageous confrontation later... at the cost of putting you at Raxien's mercy in the moment. You don't think that he intends to kill you. In fact, you suspect that killing you may be the farthest thing from his mind.
You do not, however, know what he does intend to do.
There could be all manner of unknown risks in letting him take you, set against the potential gains of a showdown where the odds are more in your favor. Not to mention any information you can glean from him while he has you. The alternative is to stake everything on a ferocious, immediate confrontation, risking both the consequences of the worse odds. As well as Raxien taking any information he has to the grave with him, even if you do win.
The situation is balanced on a knife's edge. How do you act?
