Mosaic Windows

Chapter 31: Existential Crisis (In Tune With "It's the Final Countdown")

He still felt lightheaded as Janus walked back to the castle after grabbing what he needed. He stuffed a bag full of clothes and weapons before grabbing Saint and Dakota and leaving his home possibly forever.

When he returned he realized that there were more hunters here than he realized. He was startled when he realized that they were setting things up here. Already there was a red banner on the castle with the hunters symbol on it.

Instead of walking through the front doors, he found himself walking around the castle seeing what else they'd done. There were several carriages pulled close to the castle, hunters pulling supplies out and bringing them in. They were making this castle another base. Virgil's castle, a dragon witch. This was his home.

Guilt just continued to build in his chest as Janus continued to walk. The monster- the man was innocent. Virgil never hurt anybody and they shot him.

As they continued to walk, Saint sniffed the air when they passed the shattered windows of the dining room. The dog made a noise of worry in his throat but continued on with Janus. They walked around the round room on the corner before Janus froze.

There were hunters there with shovels in their hands, already tearing out the rose bushes. The beautiful soft red petals were crushed and covered in dirt. The bushes that were pulled out were thrown on their sides in a pile, leaving trails of dirt, leaves, and rose heads.

Janus remembered when he first attacked the dragon witch, it was in this garden. He was speaking to Roman, Janus didn't care to listen to their conversation but he caught the gist of it. Roman was apologizing for something, he must have followed Virgil out here.

If Virgil was upset, then the garden could have been his safe space, somewhere to go when he needs comfort. Perhaps he was looking too much into this, but someone had worked hard to keep these roses alive during the winter. Someone worked hard to grow them in the first place. And now these hunters were tearing the bushes out of the ground as if they were nothing.

Janus bent down and picked up a rose head. It was crushed and the petals were falling apart as if someone had just pulled out the seam that kept it together. How quickly something can be destroyed once the support is destroyed or gone.

"Good, your back," a voice near him startled him back to reality. Janus dropped the rose head and turned to see Sargent Fox. "Is that your horse and hunting dog?"

"Y-yes sir," Janus acted instinctively.

"That's a good breed you got there, smart and strong. Loyal too."

"He certainly is." He couldn't help but think about how Saint got Virgil and Roman to pull him out of the hole. Saint isn't a dumb dog, Fox got that right, he trusted the dragon witch. Perhaps it was because Roman was with him, or maybe just the closest person for miles to come. But he still trusted him.

"I hope you got everything, because we're gonna take the dragon witch back to headquarters. It's a long trip, you'll probably never see this place again. The monster certainly won't, he'll be lucky to see sunlight again once we got him locked up."

"I guess it's a good thing you have so many men with you, the dragon witch is strong." Janus was just trying to bait Fox to answer a question of his.

"Actually half of us will be staying here. We'll make this castle another base, it'll be a small one for now but we'll take control of the nearby town and expand it." That's what the young hunter was afraid of. "You don't need to worry about the dragon witch escaping and attacking though. With those crystals on its cuffs and that wound on its shoulder, it isn't going anywhere. Not to mention it's not a pure dragon witch."

Janus's blood ran cold. "What?"

"Yup. It's either a half breed or a cursed human, but it definitely doesn't have the strength of a real dragon witch. Our magic repressing crystals don't work on real dragon witches, that's why they're the most dangerous monsters out there. It should have attacked us the moment we got inside, but it didn't. It knew that its magic was repressed, that's why it didn't make a move."

"If he was human once, then shouldn't we try to figure out how to undo the curse?"

Fox shrugged. "No point. Who knows how long it's been like that, anything human about it is gone now. Besides, we can't undo that type of curse. The only one that can turn it back into a human now is another pure dragon witch."

~~~

They left the castle not very long later. Janus didn't bother to go see the others, the twins and their friends. He can only assume that they're being held in a room somewhere in the castle. Visiting them before he leaves would only make the situation worse. After all, he did betray them. Remus was right about that.

It did not help that Virgil wasn't put in a carriage where Janus would have been spared seeing him. He was put in a cage on a trailer with tight chains wrapped around his legs and the cuffs still on his wrists twisting his arms back.

His shirt was torn, exposing his right shoulder where white bandages were stained red. At least they had the decency to keep him from bleeding out, but his skin was still much paler than it was before and he seemed to be having trouble breathing.

If Fox knew that he was once human, or at least half human, then do the other hunters? And if so, how could they stomach doing this to him? To someone who lived so similarly to them? It was just one more thing that was eating Janus alive.

Should he help him? Should Janus betray the hunters to save the dragon witch? This treatment wasn't fair after all, and every glance at Virgil made him feel worse. However he could be killed himself if he's caught. No, he has to keep himself safe, even if it means sacrificing Virgil. Besides, he worked his whole life to become a hunter and now he's finally one! Everything is finally working for him, he should be happy about this.

Maybe he will be once he gets enough experience and reputation as a hunter. When that happens, and it will happen, he could advocate for dragon witches like Virgil. Even other monsters like him! The kind that aren't a threat to humans. It... won't be fast enough to save Virgil though... and Remus will forever hate him.

All his second guessing was getting on his own nerves. He can't save Virgil so he won't but the guilt was all consuming. The only thing holding him back from explaining how wrong this is to Fox is the fear that he'll be called a traitor and be abandoned in these woods. Or worse.

After a few hours of suffering alone with his thoughts, the hunters seemed to come to a stop. Sargent Fox turned his horse just slightly to look at them. "We'll make camp here tonight."

There seemed to be a collective sigh through the hunters as several got off their horse and into the carriages. Janus followed suit, taking Dakota over to a low hanging branch and tying the reins. He gently scratched her neck before leaving to help set up. Hopefully they'll have dinner, and something to eat for their horses.

He looked around trying to figure out how to help when someone called for his attention. "Hey new guy! Come help pull out some food for dinner," a man by the closest carriage called.

"Yeah and while he helps me out, why don't you go find us some firewood," a woman carrying a small crate told the other hunter.

"Why me?"

"Cause I told you so. Don't worry, if you get attacked out in the dark we'll hear your girly scream. Now come on, boots, we got a lot of food in here."

The hunter's banter helped ease some tension that was in Janus's chest and he went to go help out. Those two seemed like good friends, maybe working with the hunters won't be all bad.