Mark of the Fool

Chapter 378: An Interrogation Professor Jules Wouldn't Like Very Much

What are your names? the elder asked.

Llyworn, the young woman said, her tone distant.

Rhodri, the male witch spoke without emotion.

Both were now freed from their gagsbut their hands and feet were still bound. They were sitting in the middle of the chamber, near the cauldron. Elder Blodeuwedd and Drestra stood before them, while Alex and the others had positioned themselves behind the Sage and the old witch.

Looking into the prisoners eyes, and seeing no light, no spark of free will, was chilling. Even fear had been replaced by nothingness. Alex finally understood why such magics were forbidden in Generasi. Unconsciously, he reached for Theresas hand and squeezed it.

Harts eyes were everywhere but on Rhodri and Llyworn, while Cedrics jaw was tense, his arms crossed over his chest.

What were you doing out in the swamp, Llyworn? Drestra began the questioning.

Wewere hunting for those who made us leave our outpost, the young woman said.

She went silent. The Sage waited for her to continue, but no words came.

You have to keep pushing for answers, Drestra, the elder witch said softly. With the will unravelled, free thought is absent. You have to lead them through your questioning.

The Sage gathered her thoughts, Was this outpost held by cultists?

Yes.

Are you working with them?

Yes.

Silence followed a deep breath from Drestra.

When did this happen, Rhodri? She asked, a hard edge to her voice.

Six weeks gone.

How did it happen?

People came, offering an alliance, the man said, then fell into silence.

Was this offer of alliance accepted?

Elder Gethin made them leave, but Osrian met with them secretly and accepted their offer.

Go on, what happened next?

Osrian killed Gethin, then we helped the cult capture the others.

Drestra paused, her jaw clenching.

The others, Llyworn?

Alex focused on that part, wondering if every witch from deep in the swamp had allied with the cultists, or if there were some in need of rescue.

Many didnt join, Llyworn said. So they were taken. Some joined us later, but some are used in demon rituals.

What rituals?

Llyworn recounted the demons baser habits with a flat tone, like she was telling a tale of eating gruel for breakfast.

Theresa gasped, her gloved hand covered her mouth. Alexs jaw tightened. Cedric grimaced. Hart gave a low growl that rumbled from the bottom of his chest, and Drestras breath caught. She stepped toward the prisoner, her eyes like stone, but Elder Blodeuwedd reached for her daughters arm, hissing something beneath her breath.

Weve got demons to kill, Alex thought.

Stop! Drestra cut the witch off. Osrian allows this?

Yes.

Why?

The cultists promised to help us drive Uldar and his followers away from here, she said.

Alex snorted. Even if those demons did make good on their promise in some way, he knew they wouldnt leave these traitors very happy about it. Demons were pure chaosand their whims were nasty.

What did they want in return? the elder asked Rhodri.

They wanted us to shelter them, he said.

Is that all?

No, we have to guide them through the countryside so they can capture dungeon cores.

What? Why would they want dungeon cores?

They believe theres hidden power or treasure in them.

The Heroes, Alex and Theresa looked at each other.

Drestra leaned in closely. Where are they camped, Llyworn? Describe it to me.

Hold on, Alex glanced at a desk nearby and took a folded sheet of parchment and threepens from his bag. Mind if I use that?

Elder Blodeuwedd nodded, and Alex set the paper down, then concentrated, conjuring a pairofWizards Hands and handing them each a pen.

Go ahead, Drestra, Im ready for that description of the camp, Alex said. Ill draw us a map and write everything she says down.

Alright, Llyworn, Drestra said. I'm going to ask you to describe your camp in detail. Lets start from the beginning. How would I get there from the village?

The questioning continued, Drestra was thorough, making Llyworn break down every twist and turn to get to the cultists camp. She asked about landmarks, where outposts lay, and the specifics of the cultists defences.

Alex wrote down everything, then put the details together in his mind so Wizards Hands could sketch out a rough map. Drestra and Blodeuwedd focused their questions well, andonce they had finishedAlex had questions of his own.

With the answers he was given, he mapped out the route to the enemy camp, and the details of how it was set up, but there was one important question still to be answered.

Where are they keeping the prisoners? Drestra asked.

In the centre of camp, behind a palisade, Rhodri said.

Are their mouths gagged to stop spellcasting?

Yes.

Whos guarding them?

Demons.

What kind of demons?

I dont know that.

Describe them, Alex said.

He listened to the witch, carefully noting his description of the demons guarding the prisoners, as well as the other ones in the camp. As he wrote, he called on the Mark, focusing it on the task of identifying demons. It brought back memories of all the demonology and summoning books hed read, and the illustrations in them.

Unfortunately, there were somelike the beam shooting bastards and the demon leaderhe'd never seen before.

Describe the leader in detail, Llyworn, Drestra told her.

Its an enormous frightening creature, around three times the height of a tall man. Her eyes shine like fire and her skins a similar colour. She has four arms, the lower ones have claws like crayfish pincers at the ends, and when she opens her mouth, it's full of teeth and tentacles. Its said that spells and spear-tips dont seem to damage her.

Alex grimaced. Oh shell be loads of fun.

What is it? Cedric asked him.

She sounds like one of the higher demons. Some of them can resist mana and divinity. Nasty bastards. Shell be a tough one.

He tapped the page with his pen, circling a couple of numbers.

Looks like well be up against maybe a few hundred cultists and half that number in demons, and many of them arent exactly weak like the ones first-tier spells can summon, and that doesnt take into account those I cant name.

Hundreds aint too bad, Hart said. We fight hundreds of Ravener-spawn all the time.

Aye, but thats without havin hostages ta worry about, Cedric said. Cant exactly have Drestra drop a tornado o fire on the camp an call it a day.

Yeah, Theresa said. And if we attack in the open, they could kill the prisoners. Remember, they killed themselves rather than being captured, but they killed our prisoners first. Its like Hart said, theyll slaughter everyone if it looks like theyre gonna lose.

Drestra let out an inhuman growl. Did you see Ffion, Llyworn? You talked about sacrifices, is she still alive?

Alex could hear the tension in her voice, and realised she mustve been holding back from asking that question.

I saw her yesterday when I took food to the prisoners, the witch said.

Relief went through the Sage in such a wave, she looked like she was going to collapse.

Im happy for you, child, the elder said, patting her daughters arm.

Is that your friend? Theresa asked.

It iswe need to get her out of their clutches, and we need to kill those invading filthy creatures. The Sages hands balled into fists.

No argument here, Cedric said. We couldstrike hard an fast, get the prisoners out before they can hurt em.

Not with those beam demons, Alex said. Theyre so many of them that theres no way we could get the prisoners without a lot of casualties.

Yeah, Hart agreed. They could just spread out into the swamp and shoot us as were leaving. We have a lot of folks to rescue so we wont be moving fast eitherah shit, the water. Wed need boats to get everyone out. Lots of places for a lot of people to die. He scratched the back of his head in thought. Im wondering if maybe we should wait for Baelin to come back. We know right where these cultists and demons are, so we wait for him, he turns us invisible and then, we cut the heads off the snake before they know what hit em.

Theres too many, Drestra argued. All it would take would be for just one demon to go after the prisoners, who knows how many lives would be lost? And She looked at Rhodri. How often do these sacrifices take place?

Everyday, Rhodri said. In the dawn ritual a beast from the swamp is sacrificed on their altar, and in the dusk one, a beast and a witch are bled together, mixing the blood.

A heavy silence filled the room.

And you let this happen? Why? the elder witch asked.

They wouldnt join us, Rhodri said flatly. And their sacrifice is for our peoples greater good.

You mad bastard, Alex swore at the witch. Anger surged through him.

Now I understand why Baelin hates fanatics so much, he thought.

We cant wait for Baelin, we have to get them out of there, Drestra said, her eyes on Llyworn. And what about this camp? Is it permanent?

No, it moves every few weeks, the other witch said.

Has it moved recently?

They were preparing for their next move when we left.

Shit, Drestra swore. We cant lose them again. When Llyworn and her ilk and those demons dont come back, everyone will run, and they might kill our kin when theyre breaking camp. We cant let that happen.

Youre right, Cedric said. Demons or not, weve beaten worse odds. Takin the fight to emll be easier than tryin to track em while theyre spreadin out and hidin.

We should thin their numbers if were going to try a rescue, though, Alex said.

Thats probably the best way to do things. Normally, itd say we pick them off over time. Theresa frowned, organising her thoughts. Like wolves picking off a herd of deer, but while were doing that, theyll be killing prisoners.

Alexs mind was working.

Think. Adapt.

Okay, we know the layout of their camp, right? So, what we need are ways to get in and ways to get out. You Heroes could probably break them by forcebut that big demon worries me.

Think we cant take it? Come on, man, youve seen us fight! Cedric said, sounding hurt.

Youre all powerful, Alex said. Buthigher order demons and devils are on a level all their own. Im not exaggerating when I tell you theyre terrifying.

He thought about Hobb. The carnage one devilalonehad unleashed on those demons in the arena, was the stuff of repeating nightmares. The aftermathand the stories spectators told, were cautionary tales Alex remembered well.

I just dont like unknowns, he said. And besides, itd be one thing if we had her alone and surrounded, but shes going to have a ton of reinforcements with her; demons, spellcasters and the Traveller knows what else. And we have to worry about rescuing prisoners, while all she has to worry about is, yknow, gutting us.

aye, I still think we could take er: we fought some nasty shite, an even witout Merzhin witus, theres few things in the land weve got tfear. The Chosen grinned and there was a light in his eyes that reminded Alex of their first meeting outside Coille forest, when Cedric had slaughtered an entire horde of Silence spiders all by himself.

Buttruth is, I dont think were gonna be able to do that witout losin a bunch of people we need to be rescuin. We gotta break em up. Lure em out.

Right Alex said. If there were less of them in that camp, wed be fine, but, what could lure them outwait

Inspiration struck. Hey, you said the cultists are going after dungeon cores, right?

Yes, Rhodri said.

Alex stepped closer, an idea brewing. He remembered how Burn-Saw had recognized him. How are they supposed to find them?

By tracking Ravener-spawn, he said. And they have demons that can sniff out a dungeon cores mana, like bloodhounds.

Oooooh, thats great. Alex grinned, his eyes twinkling.

Drestras eyebrow rose. Whatre you thinkiOh. She began laughing.

And lets say they find a dungeon core fairly close to their camp. Alex pushed, watching the captives closely. What would they do?

They would send a war party, Llyworn said. It was our job to guide them.

How many in a war party? Alex asked.

At least half theirnumbers, she said.

What does that mean? the elder said. Whatre you talking about?

But the companions were all smiles.

Divide and conquer. Hart grinned. I like it.

Yeah, if this works, we can split their numbers in half, Alex said. And maybe lure out that big boss of theirs. If it works, we can save as many people as we can, and tear the cultists and their demons apart. But well have to act fast. Theyre getting ready to move, so they wont be as organised, and if we divide them, theyll be vulnerable.

Is there anywhere in the swamp that would make a good ambush spot?

Elder Blodeuwedd gave it some thought. There are the Skull Pits.

Skull pits? he asked.

Its someplace we rarely go, and with good reason.

Alex raised an eyebrow. Why?

Theres quicksand there.

Well, Cedric said. Dont that just sound bloody perfect. Right, so lets get done wit these prisoners an get to work. We got a trap to set.

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Author's Note

Hello eight cool fools, mighty champions, wise sages and almighty chosen! Thank you for your support!

So...I think this is my favourite chapter title in all of Mark of the Fool so far, hahahaha. Oh poor Professor Jules.

Cya tomorrow!