2Qiana's muscles were cramped as she lay quivering with fear in the small cedar cupboard in which her mama had put her. She stared at the woman in front of her. Her mama's beautiful green eyes pleaded with her as she said softly, "Qiana, my little one, stay still, stay quiet."
Qiana smiled tremulously as she heard the shouts and screams from outside. "Mama..." she licked her lips and tried again. "Mama come too?"
"No sweetling. Mama must go," the woman pulled Qiana forward and kissed her forehead. "Oh my fiery little daughter, be brave!"
Then she shut the door and Qiana heard quiet steps head for the living room and the other safe compartment. She had not quite reached it when the door was thrown violently off its hinges. Qiana heard the men's rough voices as they tramped through the house, leaving a trail of destruction. She froze as they entered the living room and she heard a man growl, "Hey look, I've found one!"
There was a short piercing scream, and the men left the house laughing.
Qiana sat in her small cupboard and cried steaming tears. She knew what the scream meant. It meant her mama was dead. As the strong cedar smell pulled her into sleep, she remembered her mama's kind laughing eyes. She remembered the curtain of flaming red hair that had so often surrounded Qiana as her mama held her. She remembered her mama singing her to sleep in a soft sweet voice Qiana would never hear again. The last wisps of consciousness left her.
Mama...
Quid woke with a start, her hands darting towards Karma and Keahi reflexively. She drew back from her twin spider daggers as she realized she was still safe in the inn. The walls whispered to her soothingly as her heartbeat slowed.
No one had called her Qiana since her mentor had been hanged. It was just a dream. She was Quid now, or Quiddity, and her days in the village were over. She had sworn never to think of it again. Every living thing she cared about was gone. Now she had her daggers, and all the other inanimate objects of the world. They were her family now.
Sleep would not come after that nightmare. Quid got up, and, mentally saying goodbye to the objects in the room, went to get breakfast. As she chewed on the stale bread the inn provided, she thought about what she could do now. Her quest to rid the world of living things required the help of those living things, and she was not able to convince a person to give up his life for the objects they could not hear. She did not know why other beings couldn't hear the objects she talked to, why when they broke something, they could not hear the screams of pain that she felt searing her mind, why people stored things away, leaving them to collect dust, ignoring their cries that they had to do what they were meant to do, why some people deliberately tried to break things, just to show how strong they were. Those people deserved to die!
Filled with angry energy by this line of thought, Quid went for a walk in the forest. The forest. Quid loathed trees, for they were alive but tried to seem like objects. Deceiving, disgusting things! Hiding small living animals while trying to look like the things Quid talked to and knew and loved. They should be burnt down, all of them!
Quid paused to glare at a passing squirrel. It met her eyes, and burst into flames. In a few seconds all that was left was a charred skeleton lying on smoldering leaves.
"And so should all living things pass," whispered Karma.
"In the fires of purity," continued Keahi.
Quid finished so softly she could barely be heard: "So the world shall be cleansed and restored."
All the life in the nearby forest heard Quid's words and quietly retreated to their nests, where they shivered with fear as Quid left the forest, burning those who dared watch as she went.
After some thought, Quid decided the best way to further her quest was to get money. With money she could pay for the destruction of forests and the like she was sure. And she was a skilled thief, so money should not be that hard to come by.
Pick pocketing was a specialty of hers, and by the end of the day she had acquired several wallets full of money. Most of them were mistreated, with broken seams and torn fabric. More of the living's cruelty. She stitched them up as well as she could before sinking into the darkness of sleep.
The day after the attack on her village, Qiana was called out of the cupboard by a ravenous hunger. She crawled to the pantry, stiff muscles aching. She ate some bread and cheese and fruit, then got up and went outside. Other than her quiet footsteps and breathing, the only sound was the wind in the leaves of the forest. She was alone in a wasteland of destruction. Only a few cottages had not been burnt to the ground. The breeze picked up the ashes and stirred them around. There was nothing left alive here but Qiana and a vortex of memory. And, crying in the midst of the rubble, she remembered...
She was 2 years old. She saw her mama say goodbye to her daddy. Her mama was crying. Qiana became upset. Why were Mama and Daddy unhappy? She searched her daddy's red eyes for some clue as to why there were tears on her mama's face. He bowed his head, and she could see his tiny horns as he explained, "Qiana, I must go to the capital. There is a war being fought. I need to help."
This was nonsense to her. She knew some words, but what was "war"? Why must he go? He had always been here. What did this mean?
"Mama?" she queried. "Daddy? What, what mean?"
They could not explain.
The scene changed: She was 2 and a half.
Qiana had asked her mama a question. "Mama, why I have horns, and you not have horns?"
Her mama answered, "Your Daddy was a tiefling, Qiana, a part demon. His great-great-grandfather was a demon. A rather powerful one. But the blood has been watered, because the demon and all of his descendants married mortals like me. You do not have very much demon blood, Little One. Just enough to give you your red eyes, and your horns."
Qiana looked at herself in a mirror. She had flaming red hair, which she got from her mother. She also had red eyes, and tiny horns almost hidden in her fiery hair.
"I like them," she stated. "They nice."
"I think so too, Fire Eyes. They suit you." But her mama knew that they meant she would be singled out, and she wished her daughter would have an easier life.
Now she was almost 3 and a half. She was mad because one of the village girls had laughed at her horns, and called her names. Qiana had no idea why they had been so hostile to her. She looked on her differences as special, not as strange. So now the little tiefling was bewildered and angry as she tromped through the village back to her cottage.
As she got to the house, she glared at a robin that was searching for worms in the grass. It met her eyes, and flames sprang out of nowhere to consume it. She stared at the remains in horror and ran for the door.
"Mama!" she screamed. "Mama!"
She explained everything that had happened. Qiana dared not meet her mama's eyes. She was terrified of this new ability.
"Shhhhhhhh, it's okay Sweetling. It's okay. This must another part of your demonic heritage. You can control it. Does it happen when you look at people?"
"No, it only happen when I glare at robin."
"Then never glare at people or animals. It is probably your anger that burns them. Promise me you will try to keep this ability in check."
Qiana promised. Then she started to cry, and the tears fell from her eyes, and turned into steam on her face because of the fire within her. Why did it have to be her who had this gift? Why couldn't-
Quid woke quickly, taking Karma and Keahi- Fate and Flames- out of their sheaths, and turned to face the intruder with a spider dagger in each hand.
As Quid swiftly turned, she got a good look at the person she was facing. He was young, maybe 20, with steel gray eyes and short, coal-black hair. She could tell from the slanting of his eyes and the tips of his ears that he was part elvish. He was also wearing a holy symbol of some sort, and carrying a long sword the gleamed with an inner light.
His items shouted hatred at her; he had probably turned them against her by "blessing" them. Well, people called it a blessing. Quid viewed it as a curse.
These things said one thing in her mind. Demon-hunter.
She had memories of demon-hunters...
No! Now was not the time for idle memories. There was determination on the face of this interloper, and he was skilled with that sword of his. She dodged a strike and flipped so Keahi had a clear shot of his throat. Then he flung himself around with uncanny speed, and caught her dagger on his blade. Quid narrowed her eyes. This was not normal. If he was that fast why was he toying with her? She caught his eyes, and glared with all the anger she could muster. The battle of wills showed on the expressions of Quid and this elven swordsman. Then he broke the eye contact and backed away towards the window. He was not even sweating.
"We shall meet again, milady," he said a bit breathlessly, "Good night."
Then Liam smiled and disappeared over the sill.
Liam? Why did she think of that name? She had once known a Liam maybe, but she could not find him in her memory. How strange. But no matter. If he was not dead now, he would die with all the living beings soon enough. She turned her thoughts to the time she first met a demon-hunter. The circumstances had been quite different.
Quiddity had been with her mentor, Sanjiv, for 4 years, ever since he had found her, a little girl of five, wandering in the ruins of an abandoned village. He was a tiefling like her, and remembered what it was like, alone in the world, because he was different. Of course this girl had had more problems than he, and was more than a bit crazy. She believed that inanimate objects had thoughts and feelings, and that they could speak to her. But she was like him, and he was kindhearted, so he brought her up and taught her his trade: thievery. She had been born Qiana, but he changed her name to Quiddity, because when called her birth name she remembered her parents, and he hated to see her upset. The name Quiddity would eventually become Quid. He had just bought her two spider daggers, the best he could find. Spider daggers were the best tools for their kind of thievery, and as she was ambidextrous, she needed two. She had named them Karma and Keahi. They would last her all of her life if she was careful.
A test for her ability with them would come sooner than either of them knew. For at that moment an aasimar with a gleaming broadsword flung open the door to their room. Aasimars were the opposites of tieflings. The blood of celestials flowed in their veins. The two races were born with an intense hatred for each other.
Quiddity crouched in the shadowy corner, murmuring to her spider daggers when he came, and he did not see her. But Sanjiv was in the middle of the room, whittling a piece of wood into the shape of a lonely, howling wolf, and the aasimar charged straight at him.
Sanjiv was caught by surprise, but he dropped his carving and his whittling knife and drew his own two spider daggers. But he was barely on his feet when the aasimar attacked. If he hadn't been good at acrobatics and dodged away quickly, he would have died then. As it was, he got a nick on his shoulder.
Quiddity watched in horror as her mentor was pushed father and farther towards the wall, and when he tripped over the wolf sculpture and fell, she only just bit back a cry of terror. As the intruder lifted his sword for a last strike, Quiddity leaped out of her corner, Fate and Flames shining in her hands. As he turned to see what the noise was, he saw her eyes and went up in flames. She stabbed with her daggers into the fiery mass and killed him. As the flames burnt out she trembled and looked at Sanjiv, worry in her eyes. He was wounded, and had some burns from her attack on the aasimar- the fire did not harm her. She sheathed Karma and Keahi and ran to fetch a healer.
Sanjiv did not die that day, but he lost his left arm, which later caused him to be caught in a burglary and hanged. That day was the day Quiddity started to turn into the person she was now. Quid, who cared not for living beings but only for those were not alive, those who could not kill or destroy people that she had loved unless in the hands of the evil life that had killed the only ones she cared about.
Liam walked down the deserted street away from the inn where he had sparred with the tiefling- what was her name? - Quid. She seemed so familiar. The fiery red hair, those proud, crimson eyes. Where had he seen them before?
The answer came back to him from his memory of childhood, 13 years and an eternity ago. He had known a Qiana, back in his village. She had been just like this Quid, except for one thing. She had been laughing. He remembered her, pretending to be, of all things, a newt. And she did it perfectly, too, other than the fact that she was giggling so hard she nearly fell over. That was the tiefling he had just fought with? The one that he was sure would kill a creature just because it happened to be there- like that innocent squirrel that day in the woods? He knew she was; he had been there, well concealed.
He had been stalking his prey for months now. He had thought he knew everything about her. Her habits, that strange way she mumbled to her daggers, her favorite fighting techniques, everything. But now he was not sure he knew Quid at all. Could someone go from imitating newts to ruthlessly burning squirrels in just 13 years?
He cursed Quid. Life had been so simple when he just had to worry about how to kill the next demon. All of them had been cruel and heartless. But now he was wondering why. Surely such a small amount of blood would not make that much of a difference. If he were part tiefling, would he be evil, too?
Liam shook his head as he walked into the inn where he was staying. This was not his problem. No matter what she HAD been, now she was a menace that had to be taken care of.
"My problem is killing her," he told himself firmly. "And that is what I will do."
He stayed in his bed staring at the ceiling for a long time before he could sleep, trying not to think about Qiana.
The morning sunlight streamed into his eyes. He groaned, picked himself up, and staggered into the bathroom to complete the wake up with some ice-cold water. Then he walked to the nearest pub for a cup of coffee.
As he sat down in the corner, he watched the other customers enter. A tall, willowy nymph sat at a small table, eating a muffin and talking in an unknown tongue to two tiny, electric blue lizards that rested in her long, white-blond hair. A maroon micro-dragon sat at the bar, drinking a shot glass of Dragon Vodka. Next to him was an exceedingly short, young half-elf. The youngster appeared to be arguing with the micro-dragon, who was paying him no attention whatsoever. Must not be a morning person.
The door creaked open again, and when Liam saw the person who entered he froze. Concealed by a long, dark cloak and hood, a person, her fiery hair almost hidden, strode up to the counter. It was Quid. He watched while she asked for a glass of water and some bread, spitting out the words as if ashamed to be talking to the bartender. Then she stalked over to the darkest of the three unoccupied corners and sat down to eat her meager breakfast. She seemed to be talking to something, but he could not hear what she was saying.
He felt himself drain the last of the coffee and get up to walk over to Quid's table. He proceeded across the room, as if in a dream, not thinking about what he was doing. Liam saw her lift her head, as if in slow motion. Their eyes met.
This time when he saw her flaming eyes, he didn't see hatred. He saw surprise, annoyance, confusion, and… Something else. He didn't know what it was. He sat down, and the spell was broken.
"What are you doing here?" Quid snarled. "It's too early for a fight."
"Oh, please Quid," Liam retorted. "A fight in the middle of a crowd of people? I'm not that stupid."
"Aren't you?" Quid took out her two daggers, glaring at him suspiciously. "Karma? Keahi?"
What was she doing? Why did she keep talking to them? I seemed as though she was consulting with them. Were they magical? Liam reached out with his senses; he did not find any power. They just sat there, shining malevolently.
"We know of no reason for you to have come then," Quid stated, cutting into his thoughts. "Why are you here?"
"I... I wanted to know what happened last night when you glared at me," Liam explained, masking his confusion. "It was... different than any psionics I've ever fought before."
"It was not psionics," was the curt reply. "It was a demonic ability." She flaunted the word demonic in front of him, daring him to do something about it.
"Oh..." Liam sought his usual hatred of the demon-spawned, but found nothing. "Um..." He searched for something to say, and realized something about what she had said. "Who's 'we'? You said 'we know of no reason for you to have come'. Are Karma and Keahi your daggers?"
"You cannot hear them. We are me and my associates, whom you demean by referring to as mine. Yes, they are these spider daggers; Karma," She pointed to the one on her left, "And Keahi." Quid indicated the other blade. "Now if I may eat my breakfast without further interference from annoying demon-hunters?"
"You can hear them?" he asked, ignoring her last sentence. "Are they spelled?"
"Spelled? Of course not. Despite the greater size and shape of your ears, you are deaf," she said bitterly. She shook her head, her sanguine hair catching the light of the morning sun. "Goodbye Liam." She sheathed Karma and Keahi and left angrily, her feet making no noise at all on the rough wooden floorboards.
Liam watched her go, thinking about the conversation he had just experienced. It told him so little, and made him wonder so much more. Yet if he did his job, he might never know the answers. He had never really known why he did what he did. He had just gone along with what he was told. Maybe it could have been him that had been wrong the whole time. Liam stood up, and came to a decision.
Quid stalked down the street. What right did he have to interrupt her breakfast so he could have his ignorant questions answered? She was still hungry, but she could not have stayed there to finish her meal. His questioning would have gotten painful if he asked about her past, and she was not sure that she could keep herself from attacking him if this happened. And attacking him would be stupid with that many people there to defend him.
They certainly would choose his side rather than the tiefling's, Quid thought sourly. Why she had bothered answering him in the first place she did not know. Something of his innocent wondering had reminded Quid of herself when she was small. When her mother had still been alive, before the raiders who had been paid to kill the villagers and destroy their homes had killed her. Just because they were "hiding" tieflings…
Quid took a deep breath, calming herself. Such thinking made her eyes burn, and impaired her vision. As if she wasn't blinded enough by the brilliant sun coming over the horizon. It shone on the small shops in the town square, and the busy people walking through them.
She had had enough of this place. It was time to move on. All she had to do was get the few items that she had freed, and find a party that was going to a different area. Fighting for them was a good way to earn money, they fed mercenaries, and she could usually save a few inanimate objects that would otherwise be destroyed. Quid meandered back to the inn.
Liam watched Quid enter the small room from his shadowy hiding place in the corner. She seemed to be gathering up her few possessions, and getting ready to leave. He stepped into view.
"Hello, Quid."
Quid did not hesitate, but turned and attacked. Liam drew his longsword quickly and leaped out of the way as a large knife went whistling past his ear and into the wooden wall behind him. Quid grabbed up her daggers and launched herself at Liam. He stumbled as he parried her first few attacks, then regained his balance and started pushing her back towards the door. He did not meet her fiery gaze.
Quid threw herself into the fight, using all the techniques she knew, and her anger gave her speed and power. But Liam had many more years of training, an advantage Quid just didn't have. He drove her back towards the wall, waiting for the right moment. Finally, he found it. Liam parried a swing, and ducked under a thrust, delivering a sidekick to Quid's stomach. Winded, she hit the wall. Liam's sword was at her throat before she could do anything. Now he looked her in the eye.
"Well?" Quid spat, waiting for the killing stroke.
"I'm not going to kill you," stated Liam. "Or at least, not yet. I need to find something out." He looked seriously at Quid, wanting to know what her reaction would be.
Quid stared at him. "You're a demon-hunter! You aren't going to kill me? I have failed! I should be put to death!"
Liam waited patiently for her to calm down. "I want to understand something. I need you for that. If I can prove that tieflings aren't evil by nature, then this whole demon-hunting business can stop. I do not think you are born inherently evil, and I do not wish to kill if it is not necessary."
"Oh yes? And how am I supposed to help you with this proof? If you're not going to kill me, can you please just leave and let me get on with my work?"
"Please Qiana! If we can do this, then you may never need to fear a demon-hunter again! Do you see how much easier your life would be then?" Liam stared pleadingly at Quid, praying to whatever god happened to be listening that she would accept, for he had no idea what he would have to do if she said no.
It was too good an offer for Quid to turn down. Stopping the demon-hunters would make her quest much simpler to complete, and she had nothing she could do right now to further it otherwise. So she had agreed to join a adventuring party with Liam, and go to the Bjornsten Mountains in the next country, to see a man Liam said would be able to prove that she wasn't born evil. Quid did not know who he was, or how he would do that, although she assumed he was some kind of cleric or mage. She just had to trust Liam.
The party's trip was very uneventful for an adventuring group, they only ran into one monster, and it was a weak vampire, easily gotten rid of with a few mirrors. Quid wished there was more action- she wanted to sink her daggers into something- but she couldn't do anything about it. They got to the mountains before she was quite ready for whatever it was that was going to happen.
Quid stared up at the ancient ruined castle that was nestled between the cliffs of the enormous mountain. Then she looked back down at the small but well-built cottage that sat in the shadow of the looming behemoth. Despite the normality of the little building, the dilapidated glamour of the surroundings made her cautious.
She followed Liam across the dirt in front of the cottage, placing her feet exactly where his had been. He turned around, amused, and watched Quid make her tedious way towards him. He raised an eyebrow, and started to run around the yard, paying no attention to the ground, and stopped in front of the copper-colored door, the whole yard now covered with dusty footprints. Quid scowled at him as he gave her a sarcastic look, but followed him in a more normal pace.
As they entered through the unlocked door, Quid's eyes took a second to adjust to the dim interior. There was a wooden chair and table, a cupboard, and an old, sagging bed. There was nothing else in the room but a very elderly man on the bed, whose white hair stood out sharply against the dark wall. His pitch black eyes were open, but looked through Liam and Quid; he did not notice their arrival.
"He is meditating," whispered Liam. "We shall wait; disturbing his thoughts would be a very bad idea indeed."
So they waited, sitting on the floor, for neither would take the only chair. The last light of day filtered out of the sky, and the darkness of night claimed the world. When all the light was gone, the man blinked and looked at them, his eyes a light grey now. He turned his head stiffly, as if he hadn't moved for a long time.
"Morathi," Liam said respectfully. "I have a favor to ask of you."
The old man looked at Liam. "Liam, the little demon-hunter. I had never thought you would come here again. You were so eager to go hunting, it was likely you wouldn't have the time or desire to visit. And what brings you here now?" His eyes slowly made their way to Quid. "A tiefling, Liam. And I had thought it was against the rules to communicate with them? How very interesting…" His emotionless voice trailed off.
"Morathi," Liam repeated, "We want to know something that perhaps only you can find out. Will you help us?"
"We he says. Of himself and a tiefling. Hope springs eternal… What do you need helping with? Let the little tiefling speak. I would like to know her name and voice if she has one…?" Morathi's piercing grey eyes met Quid's crimson ones.
"My name is Quid, now." Quid replied fiercely, unnerved by the man's demeanor. "We are here to know if I 'was born evil'. Liam tells me you can help. I only wish to get rid of demon-hunting so I can finish my quest." Quid stared back into his eyes, until she was forced to look away, her flaring anger smothered by his indifference.
"That is your wish?" Morathi asked blandly, "That is all?"
"That is our wish," answered Liam. He locked eyes with Morathi, and then looked back down at the floor.
"Follow me."
Quid looked around the huge room Morathi had brought them to. They were in the fortress in the mountain now. The inside of it was almost as derelict as the outside, but this room was well kept. It was circular, with an enormous and intricate pentagon in the center, surrounding a carved stone table.
She looked at the table, then back at Morathi and Liam. "Am I supposed to go there and sit quietly while you cast spells all around me?"
"If you want this to work, you have to lie on that, while spells are cast at you, yes. Do not worry, it will be painless." Morathi gestured towards the stone.
Quid glanced at them again, opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it resolutely, and walked to the center of the pentagon. As soon as she lay down on the cold stone, she fell into a deep sleep.
Liam cleared his throat, but didn't get any further before Morathi asked him, "That is not all is it? You did not say so. What is it you wish, Liam, what really?"
Liam looked down, then back up at him, determination in his gaze. "Qiana- Quid has a disease that causes her to think that object talk. She hears them, and she wants to help them. So she has set herself a quest to rid the earth of life. I do not think she can accomplish that, but I would rather she return to her old self, where she can enjoy the wonder of life again. I still want you to do as we asked, but if you could do one more thing, and cure her, then I would be eternally grateful, and in your debt." His short speech done, he looked away from Morathi, looking at the halo of fiery hair surrounding Quid's face.
"This is what you want." It was not a question, he knew. "Very well, for you I will do this. You may stay, but be silent."
Liam nodded thankfully, clamping his mouth shut and watching with wide eyes as Morathi began his spells.
Liam was almost asleep himself when Morathi finally finished his spells. The old man sat down creakily on the floor, exhausted. Quid was still asleep.
"I have finished," Morathi declared. "This is it." He held up a piece of parchment. "If one would know the alignment of this tiefling when she was born, all one would need to do is to cast a truth spell on this, and you would have your proof. As to your other concern," he took a breath, glancing sideways at Liam, "I have removed the madness from her brain. She now knows whether objects can or cannot speak, and will not hear the false voices. However, she also knows that she was mad; I cannot know what the consequences for this-"
Morathi was cut off when the door was kicked open with force. He stopped and looked gravely at the angry face of the man that entered. His cloak had on it the symbol of a head demon-hunter. Liam recognized him; it was Bohdan, who had been his teacher when he was training.
"Sir!" Liam exclaimed. "Sir! I have something to show you…"
"LIAM!" Barked Bohdan, "What is this? Why have you been traveling with a part-demon? This is a demon we're talking about! You should have killed her the first chance you got!" There was rage on his face, and Liam had never known Bohdan's rage to be directed at him.
"But sir! I made a very important discovery! The tiefling over there wasn't born evil! They aren't evil! We just make them fugitives, and they are forced into crime." Liam rushed on earnestly. "See it shows you here right on this parchment, if you just say a truth spell…" Liam broke off with a cry of pain and fell to the floor. Bohdan had sent a fireball at the proof, and all that was left was a few ashes and Liam's burned right hand.
"But…"
Bohdan's eyes were cold, angry. "You have violated the law. You have gone to the other side. You are one of them now."
"For trying to tell you the truth?" Liam cried. "For trying to explain that we are wrong?"
"Do not tell me who is wrong insolent brat! I have been doing this for all my life, for longer than you have lived." Bohdan strode forward a lifted his broadsword, positioning it over Liam's neck.
"Morathi!" Liam screamed. "Morathi! Help me, you know this is wrong!"
Morathi looked sadly at him. "I know Liam, I know. But I cannot save you. They cannot harm me, but I have no power over them. Please, you are in my debt. Do one thing for me: forgive me."
The broadsword came down.
Quid woke up groggily as a door slammed somewhere. Where were Karma and Keahi? Wait… The realization flooded her brain. She had been mad, crazy. The objects had never talked to her; it had all been some insane delusion… All her life was for a non-existent cause… She was alone. All her friends, all the objects, they had died. Their voices were stilled forever. So it had been a delusion. It was her life. I was how she had lived. And all of that was gone, taken away in one night. Her life was gone, her purpose was gone, everything was gone. The only person left who cared even a little was Liam…
"Liam."
Someone had said Liam when she thought his name. What was it? Quid picked her head up from the stone, and saw a large man talking angrily to Liam, almost yelling at him. Liam was trying to talk, trying to explain something. Now he was holding up a piece of parchment… No wait the demon-hunter burned it and his hand- his fighting hand. Liam had fallen. Now the man was going closer… Liam was screaming at the man, trying to appeal to Morathi. Morathi just stood there doing nothing. The broadsword came up… It was coming down…
"No!" Quid screamed. "Don't…"
It was too late. The demon-hunters sword was red with Liam's blood, and now he was looking her way. Quid didn't even care anymore. Gone… Everything… Everyone… Gone. She looked up mutely as he came over hefting the bloodstained sword. It didn't matter. The demon-hunter brought the sword down on her neck.
It doesn't matter anymore…