Two months later, Dorian walks away from his hell. Never again will he willingly set foot in this settlement. Since this talk with their Elder, his fate was decided. No one ever seemed to see him as anything else than an errand boy. Worse, they didn't let him go until the very last day of his announced stay. He had to fight himself in order not to flee, time and time again. Whenever he wanted to be out of here, he felt as if something was tugging at his very being, in his shadows' direction.
Now, finally, he is out of here. He decides to follow the road in order to find another settlement. Despite his less than perfect first experience, he will continue to follow the mercenary way to present himself to any village. He is able, after all, to beat an adult bandit or even two without using his shadows now. Under the rising sun, giving him a well appreciated warmth, Dorian walks along the deserted road.
*Next time, I won't ask for anything, I'll camp out of town and just hint at my disponibility for any wild related problem.*
His plan clear in mind, our boy can continue his journey with more confidence. Like this, he will be able to earn some money for the next settlement and so on. However, as he reaches the new village and implements his plan, something goes wrong already.
In the eyes of the residents, there is a mercenary, no one knows him, and he doesn't even let them host him. How did this little boy expect them to trust such a shady setup ? Mothers keep their children to approach him, husbands eyes him wearily while shifting places to always be between him and their wives and, of course, everyone stares at this stranger each time he comes into the village. All in all, in two weeks, Dorian couldn't even talk to anyone, nor be handed over any job.
When, one other week later, Dorian believes that he overextended his welcome and that it is now time to go, a woman runs to him, tears pouring on her cheeks. Behind her, he can see others scoff at his appearance and even a man beginning to run after the distressed one.
— Stop ! We can do it, no need to…
The man stops in his tracks, nearly insulting this shady, autonomous stranger in his face. This hesitation leaves her with enough time to reach Dorian and grab his arm.
— Save her ! I beg you !
The teenager, fighting back against his reflex of yanking his arm out, looks at this woman with incredulity. Her disheveled hair and rasping breath tell him a story that he doesn't want part of, not after nearly a month of neglect, if not outright hostility, from them.
— Please… My daughter…
A face appears in Dorian's mind. He clenches his teeth before sighing.
— Talk.
His tone stays cold, his eyes unfocused, but for her it is of no importance. This mercenary is ready to help, no, to hear her. Just this is enough to ignite hope.
— She… This morning… I sent my little girl to my mother, to her grandma, to bring her some pie… She… She should've come back now… She…
— I'll go.
Dorian cut her off, his body already fully tense. A little girl, out in the woods, late ? He can't bear to let this child suffer more.
— Thank you ! Thank you ! I'll do anything, please bring her back.
As the boy disappears in the woods, the man who tried to intercept her finally speaks.
— Anything ? He's a mercenary, what if he asks for your body ?
— If he asks, I'll do it.
— We could've done it, Beth', no need to sell yourself to this… thing.
Unaware of this exchange, once deep enough in the woods, Dorian calls upon his shadows, all those from wild animals, shorter than the bear. Flying and walking ones, everything is called forth, time is of the essence now.
— We search for a girl, seven to ten years old, in the woods or in the cottage in this direction. She wears a hood, a red one.
Immediately, he begins to run to the grandma's cottage, his shadows spreading to cover every nook and cranny of the forest. Should the girl be lost, they will find her quickly. Unluckily, even with his wide net search, they still haven't found her when the teen reaches the cottage.
Teeth clenched, Dorian knocks wildly against the door, but no one answers him. He quickly goes to one of the windows, looking inside only to see a human-like wolf staying still, near a sleeping elderly woman.
As the wolf seems to listen to something, probably startled by Dorian's knocking on the door, the boy understands that he won't have any better moment to act. With the sun's position, his shadow is projected inside the cottage.
— Go and wreck it.
Inside, his shadow wavers before letting out the bear. No time is wasted, the thrall charges the human-like wolf without a sound and knocks it over a wall. This impact is loud. Loud enough to wake the sleeping woman who began to shout in panic. This high pitched noise, added to its surprise at being rammed against a wall, disorients the wolf long enough for the bear to end it in a single paw strike.
Seeing all this violence, the elder faints on the spot. Dorian calms down and calls back his bear, before finally being attentive again to his other shadows and freezing immediately. He feels three of them some feet behind himself, unmoving. This can only mean one thing.
As he turns back, he sees her. The little girl, her red hood on her head, her basket in her hand, looks at him with widened eyes. As they stay still, staring at each other, Dorian gulps. She knows. His worst fear happened. Someone else learned about his power, someone unrelated to him. She takes a step back.
— You're… The shady man that I shouldn't talk to…
Dorian nods.
— Yes. Your mother was scared about you. Enough that she asked the shady man for help.
She looks at the sky and pales. Her body shivers as she sends him a panicked gaze.
— Mom! She'll be angry… I'm a bad girl…
— Yes, she will be angry. But it is only because she loves you very much.
*Should I do it ? With so many animal shadows, they won't be able to tell it's me. I could say that I was too late, that's all…*
As the girl spirals in self blame, he steals a look at her grandma, still fainted inside.
— Your grandma was frightened, shouldn't you go and see if she's alright ?
*Two, instead of one, with the wolf's corpse already inside…*
The girl perks up and goes to the door to open it, unaware of the animal shadows' unwavering gazes on her. Once she opens the door, she hears a bark and turns back in panic, only to see a dog, who looks like the bear which has gone to the boy's shadow, turning its back on her and barking at the boy, who looks stunned.
— Gibbs ? Why… Why are you barking at me ?
Another bark sounds before the dog goes to nuzzle the little girl. Giggling, she crouches and pat the dog's head. Dorian sighs with a soft smile, Gibbs always had a knack to make him do so after all. His dark thoughts away, the boy still have some things to do, only to protect his secrets.
— Little girl ?
She stands up, tense, as she knows that the dog is the shady man's power and she patted it without care nor asking.
— You remember, I'm a shady man, right? And shady men have shady secrets. This, this is my shady secret, I want no one to talk about it. You think that you can keep this quiet ?
Dorian tries to keep his tone leveled and non threatening, but she begins to shiver then nods hastily. He smiles wryly.
— I'm sorry.
He crouches too, without approaching the girl.
— Do you agree to let me in ? I want to take the wolf out.
The girl looks at him, still shivering, then at the door. She does it multiple times. It's the first time that she has to do this, to make such a dangerous choice. If she says the wrong thing, the big bad bear can come back to do to her what the wolf received. If she lets the shady man in and he is really bad, her grandma will be in danger. Tears begin to roll on her cheeks.
Sighing, Dorian sits down against a tree. Even if this girl is seemingly the same age as Isa, the latter seems way more mature, he can't help but miss her and, at the same time, pity her for what had stolen her childhood.
At the same time, he feels his heart clench as he understands that he's doing the exact same thing to this poor girl. On the other hand, her childhood was bound to die this day, either now or by seeing her grandma eaten alive by a human-like wolf.
*I'm the lesser of two evils, at least.*
— I'll stay here, don't worry.
Seeing him like this, the child nods and sniffs. She goes inside quickly and, less than a minute later, gets out with a determined look.
— Mister… I… I can't pull the wolf…
Dorian stands up and approaches.
— Don't worry, I'll take it far away. Will you be able to put everything else into order ? Like this your grandma will think that she only had a bad dream and won't be too afraid for you. It will be easier than to explain everything after all.
As she nods, he finally put foot inside the building. His nose is already invaded by smells. The burnt wood, the still hot potage, the… Life inside all brings tears to his eyes. The last time he stayed in such a house, one that feels used, warm and, and alive, was more than a year ago, when he was still in his parents' house.
The girl, trying to be discreet, steals some glances at this dangerous man with all his secrets, only to freeze when she sees him cry. She opens her mouth, searching for anything to say, for the right words to ask what's happening to him, before closing it in fear. The man, still crying, now looks completely enraged.
She hears. She hears the growling sound of his breathing. She sees his jaw contracts and his fists clench. In front of this display, she once again takes a step back, only to hear a whimper. Looking at the source, she sees the shadowy dog shivering and, she doesn't know how she knows, crying.
Dorian completely ignores the child, now. In his anger, he can only hear Gibbs' whimpers and goes to it, crouches then pat his dog's head.
— Yes, Gibbs. She'll pay for what she did to mom and dad, I won't forget nor forgive.
He takes a deep breath before standing again, now realising that he completely forgot that he wasn't alone. This little girl now knows more about his past than even Isa and Garm, which makes him smile wryly once again.
— Well, since you know more than anyone about me, might as well show you the last thing, right ?
His tone, while light, keeps an edge of guilt that the girl misses however. She nods, unable to see if this will be the last thing that will finally push the man to kill her.
— Come to me.
Under the girl's incredulous gaze, the wolf's shadow takes form. It stands on its rear legs, bow, then goes right into Dorian's. Now, she knows everything. It's a leap of faith, but on the other hand he doesn't intend to stay here, so there shouldn't be too many risks involved.
— You… Will you kill me ?
The girl knows, since she heard some stories by traveling merchants, that those that lord over the dead are bad guys. Now, one of them just revealed everything to her. Her grandma's house, until now one of her safe heavens when getting scolded by her parents, suddenly looks like a cold, menacing pit ready to eat her whole.
— No. I promised your mother to do everything I can to bring you back safely.
*I won't ever tell her what I thought, it will not help her.*
— Then, I'll get out of here and, if everything goes well, you'll never see me again.
After cleaning the cottage, he leads her back to the village, where they are welcomed by a crying mother.
— Anything! I'll do anything. Thank you so much for bringing her back.
Dorian shakes his head.
— I don't need anything. I'll go, after all I clearly understood that I'm not welcome here.
— Please ! Stay one more night, I'll… I'll even let you use me… You… Please stay here and protect my daughter…
She immediately finds herself the target of incredulous looks, all villagers that were ready to go searching for the girl heard the desperate plea, and offer.
— No. Thank you for your trust, ma'am. And goodbye.
As he disappears in the distance, despite the judgemental looks that she receives, the mother looks more dejected that he left than anything. Her daughter tugs at her clothes.
— He promised me… When I was afraid. He's a bad man… But a good bad man mom.