You Ever Get That Super Charged Feeling?

Ordinarily when I wake up I wake up in a foul mood (shocking right?) I'm not a morning person, or an afternoon person or a night person; I'm a "sleep was better than this shit" person. I know as soon as I wake up the worst part of my day is about to begin. It's weird for someone who clings to life I hate living it at times. Anyway I say all of that because when I woke up after being released from prison I felt more spring in my step. It wasn't just because I wasn't going to be arrested. It felt like I had touched some really potent magic and came away with that power instead of just scorched. I figured it was due to my connection to the Fire God and some lingering gift of hers, or maybe from when I was touched by the wind whatever (is it weird I've so much interaction with the gods and yet at the same time do not want to believe in them? Kind of weird right). I would have kept thinking that until well Hanlon came to see me, to gloat or whatever it is Hanlon does normally when he's not leading rebellions or whatever.

"Something feels different about you." Hanlon had swung in to check up on me so he claimed. I think he just wanted to know if the Fire God was hanging around.

"Well I did feel more peppy when I woke up this morning, maybe I ate something good last night."

"Right food can make you surge with magical power that's for sure." Hanlon's dry sarcasm wounded me.

"Could be something residual from the fire god."

"Or it could be you have used necromancy haphazardly for so long it was bound to bounce something bad back at you, and now it has." He got to the point and I appreciated that, but at the same time, what????

"But I feel fine, better than fine!"

"For now Trezlan, but be careful what you are dealing with now could possibly destroy you, or empower you, you know either way." He left and I glared angrily at the door. As usual he told me something I didn't know and then left me with something to think about that scared me. Because Hanlon is a prick! And he wasn't wrong and things were about to get a lot worse.

New Partners Same Dance

Seated at a table shackles locked on my wrists an interrogator in front of me I realized I'd been here before. Several times before, the people change positions, the charges change, but ultimately its the same dance. I've become such and old hat at it I mentally critique my interrogators. I don't outwardly do it since that's a good way to turn a charge into something I might actually be arrested for, but this guy was kind of a loser. Rumpled outfit, smelled slightly. If I didn't know any better I'd figure the Guard didn't actually want these murders solved (they actually didn't because they suspected the Fire God herself did them and yeah you don't screw with a god, let alone one with Fire in her name). Still I couldn't help but feel disrespected.

"Thanks for coming down Mr. Lorentino." I held up my shackles as if to show it wasn't my choice.

"Well you guys were so polite in your invitation."

"Do you have a reason to want to kill members of the Followers of Fire?" His way of talking was that of a clerk asking names off a sheet.

"Are you trying to get me to admit to why I would be guilty of crimes? Guardsman that is insulting." He had a sheet he was reading, when I mentioned the insulting bit he looked up briefly, I couldn't really see his lips through an unkempt beard but it appeared he was chewing on something.

"Forgive me sir, but I'm just trying to figure out what happened, there are twenty people dead and you are known to use fire magic."

"Yeah magic not incineration! You know how hard it is to burn something to ash? Extremely difficult, doing it twice would push me into corruption alone. I get that you non magicals think that magic is well magical, but it has its limits, and the bodies the papers have reported on would be literally impossible for me to do, I could take you to the morgue to show you if you want to see a body burn in person." I was frustrated, though you have to remember I did kill those men, so I was angry about being accused of doing a crime I actually did, just not in the manner that I did it.

"That'll be all Mr. Lorentino."

"Well then unshackle me and let me go."

"When you're story checks out." It took me a few hours for my story to "check out" whatever that means. They gave me crap about not leaving town but its not like I was going to leave anyway. All the same I tell you authority sucks! I was glad I got out of jail when I did, because it was cold in town and the prison had poor heating!

Thanks For the Warning

I was alone in my office just waiting. I knew she'd be around, either to gloat or thank me, I just had to wait (its not like I could summon her or anything she was a god, possibly going to be THE god according to Hanlon, so I waited). I waited a long time it felt like hours since the last murder, but she showed up, not there one minute there the next, I'd gotten used to the trick with Hanlon, though he at least did it out of my eye sight to create the possibility I just didn't notice him, she appeared out of thin air, though I could feel heat in the room, so where ever she came from it was hot, which made sense.

"Glad to see you can do as you are told Trezlan."

"No thanks, no good job, just happy I followed your orders?"

"I'm a god what do you want a pat on the head?" I didn't actually want a pat on the head, not from someone who had threatened me with burning alive.

"Didn't bother to tell me they were working for Morley?"

"Figured that out on your own did you? No of course not one of them must have confessed in some misguided attempt to keep you from killing them."

"No I figured it out." She smiled, it was an actual warm smile (pardon the pun), but it was still upsetting.

"Sure you did of course Trezlan, as to answer your question, I wanted to see how dedicated you were to me, you killed those people because I told you to, not because you wanted to harm Morley. And you did that perfectly, so thank you Trezlan I'll remember this next time I ask of you." She turned around as if to leave.

"That's it we're done?"

"We're done, well I'm done you're about be arrested on suspicion of twenty homicides, oh and keep the hand, but keep it safe ok? I'd recommend hiding it the unworthy as you have found are devoured by it."

"Wait I'm about to be arrested?" And then she was gone, and the police were there and I was arrested. I was able to hide the hand (a box under my floor boards next to the other pistol that was a god hand, I had to laugh about that because it seemed silly, like I was collecting the damn things for some reason). Thankfully I wasn't actually charged but I'll get to that, you know I will... Probably. I might unleash that entry about economics I've warned about!

The Grandest Plan!

"You're a dumb dumb person." Iris had four of her goons behind me, I still had the hand though, because no one wanted to touch it. The office had a nice view of the city, though I had to wonder how strong the windows were in case I had to leap out of one (even though it was a fairly far way to fall, I could have gotten lucky and like hit a cart full of hay or something). Iris was a fairly attractive older lady, pale skin regal features, short hair, I didn't see a ring on her finger, but perhaps when interrogating people she took it off.

"I've heard that before, it never usually ends well for the person telling me that." I heard a laugh from behind me, but I was being deadly serious (well as serious as I could be). I did have my hands in front of me, they gave me that much of a courtesy. I was also seated and not restrained to the chair, not that it would have made much of a difference either way.

"You're shackled in a chair and I have four guards all armed, I don't think I'm in any danger from you." There was a certain air of arrogance about her statement, I was going to love to prove her wrong.

"Sure sure, all of your guards and still you're terrified of me I can see it in your eyes." I could not actually see it in her eyes. She laughed of course.

"The only thing I'm afraid of is how you figured us out. Morley chose us for how unconnected to each other we were, and yet you methodically wiped us out without a single miss, that's impressive, so who helped you?"

"Helped? Please, Morley for all his intelligence makes mistakes all the same." This was a total bullshit bluff, but man alive here I thought I was just killing people who were trying to ruin the Fire God's reputation, turns out they were double agents (and none of the legends mention this facet at all, proving once and for all how bullshit legends are).

"Right the great Trezlan Lorentino, someone so stupid Morley specifically said not to kill you because you as it would be a waste of time? I'm shaking in my boots." Arrogance is my thing gods damn it! It was insulting to see it thrown in my face like this.

"I am Trezlan Gods Damned Lorentino lady, and you're just one more name on a list." The shackles melted away (a great effect, but gods damn did it hurt) and I pulled the Hand, despite having unloaded it earlier it was fully loaded when I pulled the trigger and Iris disintegrated. The four guards were too stunned to even pull the trigger so I shot them all to death as well. My task completed I took the stairs down, I'm sure the guards that were left in the building didn't expect me to get free, let alone kill their boss so they didn't even react or rush the stairs or anything. I was able to leave the building as non chalantly as I had arrived.

See I told you I had a damn plan!

A Little Harder Than Expected

The final name on my list was the current head of the Followers of Fire, which meant that I couldn't just like sneak up on her in an alley and shoot her dead (my preferred method for killing the names on the list, hilariously even as I killed a bunch of them they didn't prepare very much, I believe because I did it pretty much all in one week, and they didn't even know people were dead until I'd killed several of them). No she had a whole retinue of people around her at all times, it was kind of annoying. I was thinking I could just burn her to death from a distance instead of shooting her with the hand, but her damn army people kept one of those magical canceling things around and I didn't want to roast my stupid ass (also the hand was leaving no trace other than ashes, using my magic would cause a direct link). So instead of trying to arrange a murder like a normal person I decided to just swing in to her main headquarters and kill her there. Yes that was my plan, no I'm not that smart at times.

So I strolled into the main headquarters hand of the fire god in a shoulder clutch, big jacket on to try and hide that and not much else. I did like that the Hand for whatever reason despite being intensely magical did not trip any magical sensor at all (there were stupid little magic checkers all over the city to try and dissuade people from bringing in artifacts of unknown magical origin, they were easy to bypass though err I have no idea how to bypass one, never mind moving on). The man at the front desk was clearly more bodyguard than secretary, the fact he had a rifle near him kind of gave that away.

"Trezlan Lorentino loremaster here to see Iris Shade."

"Names not on the list." He didn't look at a list that I could see.

"Well its more of an impromptu thing, I want to document the church's ascension from lowly worshipers in the dirt to the big religion you are today." He didn't flinch at the insult to the church, they don't actually recognize their roots much anymore, which told me he wasn't a follower.

"No you aren't."

"I'm not?"

"No you're here to kill Iris Shade." I could hear boots tromping through hallways.

"What ever makes you think I'd want to do that?"

"Because we aren't idiots Mr. Lorentino." He went for his rifle and I drew the hand and burned him down.

"Sure you aren't." He was dead but you know the pithy one liner demanded to be said anyway! I turned around and there were a lot more of them than I expected (twenty by a quick headcount).

"Put the pistol down and get down on your belly." At least they didn't just shoot me, this was amazingly enough part of my plan. I let them shackle me and they took the hand (or they tried to, the first person who touched it was vaporized, after that they made me unload the magazine and let me keep it in my clutch). And then I was on my way up to see Iris. All part of my plan. Serious! Read next entry and then try and tell me I wasn't completely brilliant!

A Legend in the Making

One nice thing about living a long time is you see how full of shit legends really are. I don't mean like "Oh that's not exactly true but mostly right." No I mean how completely made up and not at all truthful they really are at all! And I don't mean just the ones I created (its a hobby of mine to plant made up stories over the years, and when I say hobby I mean complete accident brought on by me being a huge liar and story teller... but not this journal everything in here is 100% truthful!).

Like there is a legend about a man who found cursed treasure and his entire family was killed as a result of the curse. Its a nice simple legend, has a moral be careful about treasure etc etc. Not true at all! What the actual story was, was complete asshole thief robbed a bunch of people in town, the towns folk got up and murdered his entire family! The legend actually obscures horrible vigilante justice! That's generally what real legends are, they hide history people don't want to confront!

I bring up all of this of course because my work for the fire god caused an entirely new legend to emerge. The first couple kills just had people wondering what could make someone disintegrate like the hand was causing them to and who was killing followers of fire. Then shortly after I was about halfway done with the killings it came out the Fire God herself was smiting her followers for not respecting her, towards the end the legend had mutated that it was actually a creature who hated the Fire God destroying her worshipers trying to punish the fire god (I may have started this one...)

It was an interesting example of how over the course of twenty people being murdered how the legend twisted and turned. Eventually I'm sure it'll be that the Fire God herself struck down the unbelieving in the streets during a reign of blood! Maybe I'll spread that one. All the same I only had one person left on my list, but it was the current leader of the church, and crazily enough she actually prepared for my arrival. What a jerk!

No One is a Good Man

I had the hand of the fire god in a shoulder clutch (it looked like any modern pistol now, it was weird how it changed appearance almost as if to disguise itself). I had the list of names in my pocket and a drink in my hand, because getting a quest like this necessitates drinking. Valrym kept his distance, I was pretty sure he could sense the power I had with me. I was about to say something to him to try and start the dialogue when a hand clapped down on my shoulder, it was Hanlon. Thankfully I was seated at a table and not the bar, though I don't care that other people hear me, I don't like talking with Hanlon in public, if only because I'm afraid he'll kill me for disclosing some secret I didn't know was a secret.

"I love the smell of a god in the morning, smells like trouble." I continue to be amazed at Hanlon's ability to sense gods I'd almost think he was one, but what would he be the god of? Smugness? Secrets? I don't think there is a god of weaponry.

"You're always so chipper when you know I'm screwed."

"You're not screwed I'm sure, I see a list of names and you've got the hand of the fire god, I'm going to make a quick assumption and guess she wants you to kill the men on the list?"

"And one lady." Her name was at the top, I assumed that meant she was in charge (I was right).

"And you're thinking you're screwed because?"

"They're high ranking church officials, a church that was recently one all about combat, which tells me these people will be highly protected."

"Recently is a matter of opinion Trezlan, but I can assure you their protection isn't that good, its a side effect of being all conflict can be personal like they went to, means you stop thinking people will try and kill you." Of course Hanlon would know about the types of body guards that a member of the church would have, I should not have been surprised at all. Still despite him saying that I didn't exactly believe it.

"So I guess I should go out there and get the job done and stop delaying?"

"Unless you have some kind of conscience about killing people or something? Which I can't imagine you do. Might think they are innocent or not bad people."

"No on is a good person, not here, and especially not people who run a religion, I'm just trying to decide if I do this if I'll actually be free and clear."

"What you should be worried about is if the entity you were talking to is the fire god. Otherwise you'll just be killing the fire god's followers for some thing else thus pissing off the real one." I admit I hadn't thought of that particular issue. I took the Fire God at full face value.

"Wow thanks now I'm all the more terrified of doing this."

"I'm just screwing with you, though you do tend to take entities at their word and you really shouldn't. Though I'd recommend doing this for the good fire lady because her power is exponential and soon enough we'll stop thinking about gods and more about god, if you take my drift." Hanlon was the master of making you feel better one moment and then crushing you with depression the next. I finished my drink nodded at Hanlon and left, I had some killing to do.