The daily life of monsters

Chapter 20: End

"What I'm hearing is that he's not a murderer, he's a corpse defiler."

The three 'comrades' huddled around in a circle, leaving the stranger to look towards them, eyes filled with intrigue and curiosity.

"Defiler is strong language..."

"He took corpses and skinned them to make costumes. How are they supposed to rest in peace knowing their image is being paraded around by beasts?"

Marion fell silent, not entirely sure how to deny Pala's claims. After a pause to stare at Marion and assert her dominance, Pala turned back towards the pair of them, her tone having a sense of finality to it.

"So, what we're going to do is we're going to kill him off. You'll let me take his corpse to lighten my brother's sentence. I'm sure the magic that runs in his veins is enough to convince them he's the real culprit."

"You mean we'll be taking him to the capitol for a trial. No matter the crime, if it cannot be negotiated between the parties involved, will be taken to the court. It's standard procedure."

Xerut's croaky voice cut through Pala's finality like a knife through butter, his 'matter of fact' attitude seeping through his stare.

"Of course, I forgot you were such a royal mule. Your obsession with the rules is almost as repulsive as... well, you. You're a witched child, don't go around pretending like you care about being normal."

"What does being a witched child have to do with anything?"

"Your kind is cursed, destined to bring misfortune wherever you tread. I hope you haven't forgotten that."

"Sounds like you're following the exact same beliefs the royals follow. You're scared of things you can't understand, so you have to eliminate them. Makes me wonder which one of us is the bigger mule."

Pala tightly gripped the hilt of her sword, fighting her instincts to bring it down on Xerut's head and slice him in half.

"I hunt those who hurt others, no matter who they are. Witched or royalty, man or woman, adult or child. I will not have you reduce me to your level."

"So you're judge, jury and executioner? Sounds rather savage to me."

The pair glared at each other, simultaneously coming to the conclusion that the only way they would win is through numbers. They turned to where Marion was, finding her seat at their spur of the mill conference completely empty.

"Hello Nem, my name is Marion. We've actually met before, but I never gave you my name."

Marion reached her hand out towards the stranger and he took her hand, letting her pull him up to his feet. He didn't seem particularly interested in getting his cuffs taken off, instead being more intrigued by the extremely large sword on Pala's back.

"Do you mind if I search through your memories a bit?"

Without hesitation, he answered.

"Sure!"

Pala and Xerut watched as Marion reached out towards something they couldn't see and begin to stare off into the distance for a split second, repeating that process about fifty times before she finally turned back towards the pair.

"He's been alive for nine hundred and forty-eight years. He's been in this forest for nine hundred and twenty-four."

"So, which is it. Are we going to kill him off, or are we going to... give him a 'fair' trial."

Pala rolled her eyes at Xerut's suggestion, which was returned by Xerut sticking his middle finger up and letting it hover directly next to her head, which she paid no mind to.