Bound To; The Wish of the Witch

XV

Fading sunlight peered over the horizon as dusk began to fall, the distant sound of the ocean's waves crashing against the foot of the cliff the castle sat upon. A strengthening breeze blew through the towers of the black stone castle, whistling as bleak storm clouds billowed overhead.

"H-hold on Locke. What?" Scinthia asked with a slight quiver in her voice.

Tori remained quiet and as he stared at the ground in silence, unable to think of what to say, he couldn't help but think back on his last mission as a ranger two years prior. He remembered the grey clouds slowly sailing across the sky with the warm, late spring's winds beginning to pick up. The trees around him shifting in the breeze and a young woman with long, dark auburn hair seemingly training with a sword near the bottom of the hill behind a mid-size house. Wrapped in his dark green cloak, Tori watched and waited. He was confident his target was hiding out somewhere inside this particular house, posing as a regular person, however he needed confirmation before taking action.

While pondering what he should consider confirmation, his thoughts diverged to whether it was right for him to simply kill this person just because they could use magic. Not that he particularly cared. He had killed human targets before; Sangrosian spies, radicalistic cult leaders, and other dangerous persons that would see harm to the kingdom or its people. Something about this however, just didn't seem quite right to him. It wasn't as if this witch was violent or had committed any crimes, yet he was sent to execute them all the same.

Just then, he noticed the bystander he had tipped off earlier about a witch being somewhere in town approach the door, undoubtedly attempting to spread the news. After a moment quietly passed, he saw the bystander walk away and head toward the next house. Tori thought for sure that this was the house and that the guy asking around would scare the witch into doing something hasty to give themselves away.

Tori began to think of an alternate plan on tracking the witch's whereabouts, but lost his train of thought when he realized the young woman was looking up in his direction. He froze, staring back at her, wondering if she could somehow see him, and looking for the change in her expression from her noticing him. However, after a second or two, she simply turned back around and continued digging up the post she had previously been training on. Tori let out a relieved sigh and began to relax before a quick flash of violet light followed immediately by a loud crack of thunder came from inside the house.

"Looks like I was right..." He mumbled to himself, watching the young woman rush inside and quickly wrapping an arrow in an oil soaked rag.

He quickly struck the arrowhead with a small slate of flint to light the rag, nocked the blazing arrow, and held it aimed to arc onto the roof of the house. Tori hesitated and quickly considering if he should confront the witch directly to avoid the collateral damage. Before he could come to a decision, a second clap of thunder suddenly cracked, catching him by surprise and causing him to prematurely release his bowstring. Tori swore under his breath as he watched the flaming arrow sore through the air and connect with the roof, setting it ablaze.

Despite having the longest confirmed kill list among the provisional rangers, he had only ever hunted people who also had blood on their hands or had intent to harm others. Never before had he claimed the life of an innocent person and as the fire quickly spread and engulfed the once peaceful home, for the first time in his life, Tori felt guilt and the weight of another person's life on his shoulders.

"Damn... so this is what Deine was talking about..." He muttered, standing up on the branch he was perched on and watching as the house he condemned was reduced to a smoldering pile of ashes and blackened wood.

As worried and curious town's people flocked around the wreckage, rain began to fall and helped douse the small embers that were still burning. Tori could see the townsfolk beginning to pick the ruble apart, attempting to find any survivors. After a few minutes of watching their rescue efforts, Tori felt he'd seen all he could stand and decided it was time for him to leave. Just as he went to turn and make his way back to Till, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed movement among the debris. He stopped and briefly starred, hoping the three innocent people had somehow managed to survive.