Chapter Text
The flame of the candle flickered inside the backrooms of the church of the Watcher as the full moon was bright in the sky. The whine of a horse coming to a stop at the back door of the church, reserved for clergy, could be heard followed by a knock-knock on the door. The door opens, revealing a rather short young man with hair as blond as the sun and eyes as black as night wearing a light lightweight yet sturdy armor made of mythril and gold that reveals the identity of the wearer.
“Grian Xelqua, Inquisitor of the order of Xelqua. I assume. Thank you for coming.” said the priest letting the other man come inside.
“It’s me, Father.” Grian followed the priest inside the church, letting the priest sit at his office “May I ask the reason why you have called me?”
“The explorer Martyn Wood has found a witch during the trip to the Red desert. He returned alive with no curse upon him. He tells us that the witch is named Scar and is powerful enough to manipulate climate, the mountain where his lair is located being described by having a forested climate even though it was located in the middle of the desert. Also, the witch was described to be friendly or at least pretended to be. She invited him to come inside to have tea and get more provisions. But Martyn ran away. And that was the right thing to do, after all, we're sure the witch wanted to trap him for her spell. I summon you to exterminate this witch.” The priest handed him the scroll with all the details on it.
“Your will be done, Father. I will begin the journey to the witch lair tomorrow at sunrise.” Grian clenched his fist to hold back his rage, which was fueled by a desire for revenge. “I, Grian, will kill every witch and protect the people of the Holy kingdom Evo.” took an oath Grian, kneeling down before the priest.
The priest invited him to sleep inside the church for the night. The next day, the priest gave him some provisions, and Grian set off.
The journey was a long 4 days wandering in the desert. Grian stopped when he saw something in the distance that could only be a mirage, a mountain covered with a lush forest. But he knew by the fact that it was real. He had finally found the witch's lair.
Grian galloped all the way to the bottom of the mountain. The place was beautiful, or at least would be if it wasn’t made by magic. The place looked like a painting where each tree, each bush, each flower and each river was carefully place to be in his perfect place. Grian had the dreamlike sensation of seeing different biomes so close to one another. He was currently in a temperate forest, but when the trees parted enough for him to see beyond them, he caught a glimpse of a tropical jungle not far away and even a taiga on the other side.
But he couldn’t let his guard down because of the scenery. I was at the witch's lair, an old sandstone tower at the top of the mountain. Even though, that was weird, he didn’t get attacked by any chimera during the ascension. Generally, the witch’s lair was full with his monstrosity, a blend between the human corpse and animal, created by the witch to defend her. Witches weren't supposed to be foolish enough to believe they could deceive an inquisitor with feigned kindness, as an ordinary person might. He hadn't tried to be particularly discreet; there was no doubt he was bound to be attacked. But no nothing. Grian left his horse close to a body of water to let him rest and drew his sword.
He opened the door and he wasn’t in the sand tower or a mountain or even the desert. He was in a manor. Intricately decorated tapestries covered the walls. A chandelier illuminated the room. An imposing staircase in the center led to the upper floor. One doors on the first floor and two other in the upper floor. The door behind him closed.
“Well, Hello there”
Grian looked up and saw a man. He was muscular and wearing a long green toga loosely open on his chest with a confident smile fitting with his demeanor as he leaned on his cane. Grian sighted stop at his eyes shining like emeralds. He was the witch. Grian blinks in confusion for a moment; that was rare for a witch to be a male. But in any case, that didn’t make any difference.
“Prepare to die, witch!” shouted Grian.
“Witch? I’m a wizard! Why is it so hard for you all? A witch is a woman and a wizard a man, it’s not that difficult!” said the witc..wizard.
Grian stood there, stunned; he hadn't expected his target's first reaction was to argue about semantics. He tilted his head. “What do you...? Whatever! Prepares to die WIzard…” he replied.
“Okay... and it would kill you to say hello before threatening my life?” said the wizard pouting.
Grian was done with this absurdity. “I have no courtesy to show to a monster!” he said before charging at the wizard.
Grian closed in within striking distance, concerned that the sorcerer wasn't trying to fight back. He researched for a trap or any magic circle but nothing until his sword met a magical barrier. Grian took a step back to inspect the barrier. It didn’t come from an object so he just had to continue to use the wizard magic. The wizard could reform his barrier infinitely, he knew it. That was just a battle of endurance.
Grian began another strike but the wizard summoned a demonic hand and stopped the blade before he came in contact with the barrier. Grian tried again and again, but every sword strike was blocked by the hand and yet the wizard never retaliated.
He stepped back to take another look around searching for a weakness. This wizard was incredibly powerful, as proven by Grian's inability to break even a spell as minor as a demonic hand. And yet, again, he didn’t attack a human that clearly tried to kill him. He didn’t even summon a chimera to deal with him.
“So… are you done?” said the wizard with his confident smile that taunt Grian even more.
Grian forgot every caution and charged at the man with a battle cry. The wizard let out an exasperated sigh and blocked the blade again. But this time Grian could step back or try again because the enemy grabbed his blade. Grian tried to pull his sword free but he wasn’t strong enough. The wizard stepped closer. Grian felt a fear of death that he thought he had lost since the most tragic day of his life. The wizard gave him a little pinch on the nose
“Personnaly, I’m done. So… For what reason are you attacking me, my dear?” The wizard bent down to be at the same eye level with Grian. Grian couldn’t stop to think how beautiful the Wizard’s eyes were. He immediately pushed that thought aside and looked away. He was sure the wizard was trying to cast a spell on him with his eyes. There was no other reason he would think that.
“You’re a witch or wizard, I don't care how you like to be called. That's reason enough to kill you.” snapped Grian, filled with hatred.
“That's rude. You are a human but it’s not a reason for me to come in your home and kill you”
Grian let out a scornful laugh. “ As if that's not exactly what you're doing!”
“Seriously, was that really the best argument he could come up with? Humans kill each other every day, but that doesn't mean you should all be wiped out.” argued the wizard
“Unlike you, humanity is not irredeemably evil. I can’t grasp how many lives you have destroyed to become so powerful.” Grian pressed down hard on the blade in an attempt to free it, but to no avail; the wizard was stronger than him.
“Fine. And what I, Scar Goodtimes, Wizard of landscaping, have done of evil except being born?”
Grian narrowed his eyes. “You literally tried to trap an innocent person by inviting them to your house”
Confusion was written all over his face “What are you talking about? I never tried to trap anyone… the last person that came into my home before you was that thief… Marlin or something like that. I invited him to hydrate himself at my home and this man stole one of my precious paintings before fleeing when I confronted him. I am more the victim than anything in the story.”
“It’s Martyn not Marlin! And you tried to trap him! He reported the fact himself!” said Grian, flustered.
“What are your proofs, sunny boy? If I am as powerful as you said. Do you really think that I would let a man leave like that? If I really wanted to trap him and not have a pesky inquisitor like you at my door them this guy will be dead the moment he steps into my home. But he is alive and safe. Right?” he said with a serious look on his face.
And at that, Grian was unable to reply because his enemy was right. All of this didn't make any sense. What was the goal of the wizard?
“I guess you have no other argument.” The wizard took the opportunity to snatch the sword from his hands.
“Give me my sword back you monster!” said Grian but the sword was too high in the air for him to catch it.
“I’m sorry but no. I am tired of this nonsense of a fight” This confident smile was back “ Let's make a deal. If you found anything monstrous about me, I would let you and your stupid order kill me without defending myself; but if you find nothing to hold against, which you will, because I am innocent, you will let me live and leave me alone. After all, you would never kill an innocent person, would you, my dear? Oh, and take your time, you can come here to find evidence as much as you want. I never say no to some company.”
“Fine, you’d better keep your end of the bargain when I kill you, you monster”
Scar reached out his hand toward Grian. “I always keep my word. You can count on that... Come to think of it, I don't remember hearing your name, my dear. May I ask what it is? We’re bound to be seeing each other quite a bit from now on.” Scar gave him an amused wink. Grian slapped his hand away before turning on his feet.
“I will never give my name to you, wizard. I don't want to be cursed!” Grian said before leaving the manor and reappearing at the entrance of the sandstone tower.
The wizard ran after him all the way to the door "Wouldn’t you like a cup of tea before you go? It’s hot in the desert at this time of year.”
“You really think I'm an idiot if you think I'm going to drink your potion.” shouted Grian angrily. Not leaving the time to Scar to reply, he mounted his horse and galloped off into the distance.
He could hear the wizard tell him goodbye but he paid no mind.