Townswoman

Townswoman

                "I'll let you in on a little secret: I'm not in charge of strategy," said Vanna. She and Tadyel had been discussing a rumour that had spread throughout town after their latest mission - specifically, that the Magi had agents in town. Quite unfortunately, the rumour was spot on.

                "So someone smarter and more important than you didn't see this coming?" asked Tadyel. "It seems kind of certain that people would suspect-"

                "I'm sure they knew. I think I mentioned it myself when I was receiving the briefing. Someone decided that nipping the formation of an army in the bud was worth it. And I don't know who, but it doesn't really matter either," explained Vanna.

                Tadyel sighed. "I guess I'll just need to be careful with what I ask," she said. "Or else someone put 'refugee on refugee violence' and 'Gel's came here recently as a refugee' together. Oh, and 'right after Gel showed up people started dying'."

                "Hah! People like you. People like me too, for that matter. They're not too scared of the Magi agents either; it's not like any townspeople have been killed. Just ... problem refugees. And since the town patrol don't care - it was outside town and not townsfolk - we don't need to worry about them at all," said Vanna.

                "What about the refugees, though? Especially Ormgus's remaining people?"

                "They'll probably be loud if they figure anything out, and they're more likely to go after each other - the rumoured agents are supposedly hiding amongst the refugees. Ormgus's people are should be no different. Relax, Gel. Being twitchy when the killings are mentioned is probably the most suspicious thing you could do," said Vanna.

                "Okay, okay," replied Tadyel. "Here's something else I want to ask you about: why the did you have to tell the Magi that those two turned on us? They helped us complete the mission first! They should have been free."

                "That's a technicality. Under no circumstances will I ever lie in my reports. They had not been released from service, and they betrayed us. They attempted to capture me and kill you. The consequences of such were made very clear to them before they were sent," said Vanna.

                "But turning their people into those... things... It's horrible. What are they? How do you even need people to make them, when they're made of rocks?"

                "The 'rocks' are the outer armour layer. What's inside is - different. I can't tell you the details. You might find out if you serve us long enough, but not for a very long time."

                Tadyel moped and seethed for a little while before speaking. "No, I know what the Magi do. I agreed knowing... it. If you can't tell me that, perhaps you can tell me if there are still any other agents alive? There can't be many after we lost three."

                Vanna smiled. "There are more than we lost. Now get back to work!"

                Tadyel rolled her eyes and returned her attention to what she was supposed to be doing - sewing something together. She had picked up enough to do the straightforward tasks she was supposed to do for her job as Vanna's assistant over the past couple of weeks.

                It was kind of nice, actually. The work was okay and chatting with Vanna was usually quite enjoyable. She even got paid! Her brief brush with having money (when she had first arrived in town) made her appreciate that fact a lot.

                But the real reason it was nice was because she wasn't toiling endlessly to feed the Thrath. There wasn't a constant spectre of getting caught hiding food and being beaten to death or hauled off for it (or worse). Even in her relatively quiet village Tadyel had seen the Thrath do some horrible things - and on the road...

                She shivered, and focused on the rhythm of sewing. Lift, poke, pull through, tighten, and repeat. The Thrath were monsters. True monsters. Killing and hurting without need. They did it all for some twisted joy they felt during the act. What Tadyel had done to save her people paled in comparison.

                Did it really, though? She had killed, and though she did not want to do it again she certainly would. She'd even consider worse, if it became necessary. None of it directly for her people, either - she could have left. Was it all more about what she wanted than securing a good life for her people? Perhaps. But what bothered her was that she was valuing their - or her - comfort over other people's lives.

                That was not a pleasant thing to acknowledge. At least she was on the right - no, at least she wasn't on the darkest side of the conflict. The constructs of the Magi damned them beyond redemption, in truth. But they were necessary to stop the Thrath; that, Tadyel was sure of. The vast armies of the Thrath against the constructs of the Magi... That would be a battle to see.

                Tadyel's attention snapped back to her sewing as she realised that she'd nearly managed to skewer her thumb. Enough worrying about this. I'm dedicated; I can't get out alive now. And as bad as doing it for things that seem petty compared to life and death is, the Thrath are... Wrong. So horribly, horribly wrong.

                She shuddered as her mind went back to one of the many atrocities she had seen on the road. A hundred people left for dead, impaled on stakes. A handful had obviously survived their impalement, a couple incredibly even managing to heave themselves free from the stakes before they died. Enough, she thought, shuddering at the memory. She pushed the memories away and focused on her sewing instead.