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Chapter Four

The hot spring spoken of by Blair was not as she had described.

Gottric now stood before an ancient grotto seeming to be from the age of devils, a time long passed when Gods and Devils were a thing of reality.

Steam swirled lazily above the clear water which bubbled from a hole at the bottom of the spring, causing a continuous stream of bubbles. Tropical vines grew over the walls, blooming with mottled blue and white flowers the size of dinner platters.

An air of safety presided over the area, calming the unease that had gripped him since he awoke in the early hours of that morning.

Löwe suddenly darted past him and leapt into the water with a happy squeal, "Ah! Bubble pool! Master! This one has found a bubble pool!"

Gottric chuckled quietly as he shook his head, then Blair sighed, "How can you put up with him...?"

"He is my Löwe...my partner." Gottric replied softly, watching the chimera play.

She crossed her arms, looking at the man, "So you truly are a Henker...?"

Gottric rubbed the back of his neck with a hand, "The proper name is Scharfrichter, but yes, I am a Henker, as you call it."

"But that is an Earthen occupation. We are on Vesper, not Earth."

He sighed, "Be it on Earth or on Vesper, a keen judge must always be there to lay the evil to rest..." his fists clenched as a sudden feeling of hate came over him like the lash of a whip. Gottric heard the witch's voice grow muffled as he dropped to his knees, crying out as his muscles painfully knotted.

Löwe hopped out of the hot spring, not caring that he splashed water everywhere as he scrambled to his master, but his words, too, were lost as the stone came up to meet him at an alarming rate...

OOO

Blair watched the change in him, confused and somewhat intrigued by it. His once pained features relaxed and he soon looked up at the sky with those ghostly eyes void of emotion. Löwe whimpered as he pat his master's cheek, "Master...don't lose to the new master...this one needs you..."

A smirk formed on Björn's face, making the chimera recoil as if he'd been burned, "I'm afraid he won't be winning anytime soon..." He slowly sat up, putting a hand to his head, "Urgh...why'd he have to hit his head so hard on the way down...?"

"That was no doubt your fault." Blair commented bluntly, "You are rather bearish after all."

He narrowed his eyes at her with a soft grumble. Then Löwe giggled to himself, "Oh! This one sees what you did there! Björn means bear!"

The witch smiled, pleased to be cheering him up.

Björn growled at them as he stood, moving past the giggling chimera and pulling off his tunic, revealing thick scars crisscrossed across his back and hooking around his sides along the ribs, "Hilarious..." He said dryly.

He dipped a foot in the steamy water and sighed in obvious relief as he climbed in fully, leaning back against the sloped wall of the pool with his eyes closed, "Wow..."

The witch approached, sitting near him and dipping her feet in, "Do you like it...?"

The man nodded, smiling, "It brings me back home...the Scottish Highlands once welcomed me...but now..." His smile faded, "I am never to return..."

Blair frowned, "What do you mean...? There are no Scottish lands on Vesper."

His frown deepened, "Aye...nor are there on Earth...most land was swallowed by a great deluge back in their 22nd century...I could only watch this..."

"How is this possible...? Over a millennia has come and gone..."

Björn raised a hand, watching the sun's light reflect off the water droplets clinging to his skin, "I was nestled in the ancient blade wielded by Gottric of Rivernwood...trapped and bound by the magic it was imbued with..."

She watched him, at a loss of words.

His glowing eye looked to her, an amused grin forming, "You are at a loss...? That is surprising...witches are said to be well versed in the ways of binding spirits to objects..."

He turned his hand over in the light, inspecting the rough calluses across his palms and fingers as well as on his knuckles, "Hm...seems our little executioner has a past in servitude..."

"What makes you say that?" She wondered, "From just seeing his hands?"

Björn brought the hand down, stroking one of the thick scars over his shoulder, "These are lash scars...no doubt a studded whip heated to scorch the flesh and muscle tissues..."

"That's awful!" She blurted, "Who could do such a thing?"

Löwe neared, hunkered down like a beaten dog, "This one saved the master...from his many years ago..."

Both Blair and Björn looked to him now, intrigued.

The chimera shrank under their gazes, looking like he wanted to curl into himself, "Th-the master was a child then...this one was as this one is...the master's mind and body were stripped of their purity..." He trailed off, clearly growing unnerved, "Leaving only the pain meat to let the lights come in...spoiling the master forever...!" The sound he made afterward as he clutched his head was an unnerving mix between wailing and a lunatic's raving.

Björn's brows furrowed and he hesitantly extended a hand, placing it on Löwe's trembling shoulder, "Dry your tears...the lights will not come for him..."

"B-but the...n-new master..." He stammered.

Björn gently pet his head, ignoring the rough, leather-like texture of his flesh, "Forget the new master...keep loyal to your master...I can handle myself..."

Löwe raised his head a little, his eyes dimming in sadness as he looked to him, "This one...misses the master..."

Blair saw the hatred in Björn's eyes fade for a moment as a ghost of a smile momentarily crossed his face, "I understand..."

The chimera then reached out as his master slumped over, losing consciousness. Blair frowned as Löwe lifted him from the pool, laying him out and placing his ear to his chest, "The chest melody hops on..." He murmured lifting his head, looking to Blair in mild hostility.

"What's wrong?"

"You did this..." He hissed deeply, his glowing eyes narrowing to slits.

"I didn't do a thing..."

Holes opened along his ribcage and hooks on writhing tendrils shot out, lashing around as he stood, "The master wasn't like this before you got him..." He began to snarl as he stalked toward her, "You are the lights this one was warned about..."

Blair paled, stepping back as her hands raised in surrender, "Hey...calm down...I didn't do this to him..."

The chimera suddenly roared out as his hands and lower arms were torn apart, revealing warped iron talons as he lunged. The witch took off running, frantically darting to and fro as his hooks lashed out at her.

"Gottric! Björn! Anyone!" She dodged his talons, "Please help me!"

She cried out as a burning pain erupted through her leg and she was dragged back, a writhing iron beast with gnashing fangs four inches long was pulling her toward it. The witch could only look up into its burning eyes as iron tendrils surrounded her in crushing coils, tightening with every breath.

"You will pay for hurting the master...with your life!" A harsh metallic voice roared from it as the maw opened wider than she thought possible.

Black spots began to form through her vision as the air was crushed from her lungs, "G-Gottric...help..."

A booming roar filled the air as her troll rammed into the chimera, causing him to cry out as he dropped the witch and began clawing at him. She could not remember much more of that as consciousness faded away...