"Dead for at least a day." Lorissia was hunched over a smouldering pair of corpses. It appeared like a parent melded with a child. Probably the parent attempted to stop our murderer from killing the child, it had not worked out for either of them, but thought that counts right?
"Well he definately doesn't like people." I was at a loss really, I mean I'd been reckless with power, I'd been angry, but I'd never just been a cold hearted murder whoever gets in my way kind of guy. Despite the stories of me doing exactly that (its odd being this old, Valrya also had this, that she lived long enough to actually hear the legends form about her, though honestly her legends and mine are way different, and half of the ones about me are completely made up, where as the ones about her are being polite way way polite).
"Get off your horse and get down here." I had remained mounted because frankly being down next to two dead bodies not my favorite thing, especially not the way that Lorissia was almost arm deep in the corpses. I hopped down and walked up, I couldn't make out the sexy from either body, but if I had to guess I'd say two women, just from the way the bodies looked.
"Still dead, lets move on."
"Use your damn magic and figure out where he's gone." I swear people never have any idea how magic works with regards to things in the world, its not like I can wave my fingers and bam know where people are. Well I sort of can, but damn it I'm not a hound!
"Are you sure we want to go after this guy, I mean he's killing indiscriminately, maybe he'll uhh kill himself out you know, tire of it?" I had sort of lost my nerve to keep pursuing the dangerous fire user seeing what happened to two people he just ran across.
"I thought you were all 'Its my duty to stop someone like myself' getting cold feet now Lorentino?" She had picked the adult of the child and I could see some clothing and flesh had not been burned, it was a young woman child, clutched in her dead arm was a childs doll, the only surviving member of this group.
"Duty only means so much when you're dead, and I really don't want to be dead."
"Then you should help me now or I'll kill you myself." Subtle Lorissia real subtle. I kneeled down next to the corpses and scrolled some sigils I recalled from Valrya (she was blissfully quiet in my head, its rather difficult to scry when some harpy is shrilling at you within your own mind). They were not the traditional tracking sigils, Valrya knew magics that were long forgotten (for good reason at times, this spell utilized well lets just say the dead bodies weren't really dead all the way and I kind of borrowed some of the remaining life), I was able to not only see where the killer had gone but got an impression of the final moments, the mother did die protecting her child, her great crime? Not answering fast enough, and the biggest shocker was that the killer was a child no older than ten.
"You said the killer was a child, you didn't tell me he was barely out of his mothers arms."
"That's why he needs to be killed, I heard as much from the family he murdered, but I'd hoped they were mistaken and it was something else, I assume your scrying can tell us where he's going?"
"In a manner of speaking, he's going north to the Red Hand and we better get to him before they do." I had resaddled my horse and wanted to be away from the dead.
"Why can't they handle one corrupted?" She paused next to the bodies I know she wanted to give them some kind of ritual, some kind of peace, but I knew we didn't have the time.
"They can, but not in the way you'd want, corrupted to the Red Hand are tools, they would enslave the boy and keep him on a chain, or worse use him for study or any other horrible things."
"He wouldn't be our problem anymore though, and a life of enslavement might do him good for his crimes." Did I mention that the followers of the fire god are vindicitive people? Yeah they are the most vindictive.
"Depending on who finds him they might simply unleash him back down here to kill again, kids fully corrupt barely a person anymore, you don't want this loose anywhere." We rode on, he had a days head start and from what I saw also was on a horse (probably some farmers son damn idiots teaching their kids to be more mobile). I had hoped we'd catch him before he made the Red Hand lands, sadly we did not. And we suffered for our inability.
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