The Witch's Retribution

Chapter 38

Basil collapsed against one of the rocks the moment he was sure no one could see him. He leaned his head back with a weary sigh, his magic moving sluggishly in his veins. He had long since grown numb to his injuries, not even the more recent one causing him much pain. While he knew it wasn't necessarily a good thing, he found himself grateful for the reprieve.

His eyes slid open when he heard the heavy footsteps of the knight, already knowing who it was before Owen rounded the corner and knelt beside him. "I'm sorry about your friend." Basil said.

"My friend died to protect you. It's what knights do. Lily...Lily shouldn't have said what she did."

Basil shook his head. "She was angry; it's already forgiven." He waved a careless hand, making a vain attempt at sounding unconcerned. His sister's words had hurt, but he couldn't blame her for saying them. They would go on like they always had, as close as always, once everything settled back down.

"Why didn't you tell her you tried to save him?"

"What difference does it make if he still died?"

Owen shrugged. "It's the thought that counts. He would've appreciated it, at least." He hesitated. "How are you holding up?"

"Poorly." Basil stared down at his bloody hands, knowing only half of it was his own.

"You know," Owen was trying too hard to sound casual, "you could just go exact revenge yourself. Track down the enemies that got away..."

Basil sighed and worked up enough strength to glare at the knight. "I can barely stand. How do you expect me to do anything else? Besides, I can't kill anyone. Never could."

"Your sister seems to have no problem with it."

"Mm. I'm not my sister."

"Yeah, you actually have a conscience."

"Stop it. She isn't that bad."

"I know." Owen hesitated, then said, "it should be easy to kill an enemy, shouldn't it?"

Basil glanced up, his eyes narrowed with suspicion, unsure where the knight was going with this. "I suppose it should."

"It's not always like that. I knew a girl who felt sympathy for her own murderer; some people are like that. Make better company too." Owen said. "I know you did what you thought you had to, and it probably kept us all from being killed, but you should cut out the Dark Magic. The black eyes you were sporting were a little creepy."

"What?"

"You didn't know? When I found you, your eyes were pitch black. Isn't that how Dark Magic works?"

"Well, yes, but..." He trailed off, biting his lip. If that were true about his eyes, then that would explain why Joseph had given him such an unsettling look and quick dismissal earlier. "It's different when you use the actual spells, or at least, it's supposed to be. My brother used his own magic when he turned to Dark Magic, but I never did. It was just simple symbols and spells. It's supposed to be safer that way. That's the only reason I thought to use it in the first place. It's supposed to be safe."

Owen didn't say anything for a moment, his eyes thoughtful. "Does this mean you're going to go crazy like your brother? 'Cause I don't see that ending well for anyone."

Basil shook his head. "I wasn't exposed to much. I should be fine."

"Should be?"

"If not, I'm sure one of our companions would be more than happy to kill me."

"Isn't there some other way to deal with someone who uses Dark Magic?"

"Of course there is. If you can overpower them enough to do it," Basil replied softly, "but I'd rather them kill me if it came down to it. Anything else would be far worse."