Dramatic Irony (Sean POV)

You stand nervously next to Duke in front of two large iron doors. Looking closely at the doors you can see an image of who you assume is Wendel standing triumphantly over the images of burning cities. Just the intricate details of the doors themselves makes your greed tingle knowing how much they must have spent getting them made. You'd enjoy the sensation if it weren't for the fear washing over you. For the last few weeks you and Duke had been hunting down John Doe. You and Duke had been summoned before the leader of the Cult of Wendel, to unfortunately debrief them on why you haven't been able to deliver him. You stare at your stump of an arm, letting the hate you feel for that man replace the fear you were feeling. Not only was he responsible for your stump, but his evasion of you put you in danger of punishment, and kept you from the wealth promised you if you could bring him back.

You'd spent every resource you had tracking him, yet no matter what he remained out of your grasp. You closed your eyes and let yourself daydream about the things you'd do once you caught him, and a bitter smirk crept onto your face as you thought about all the ways you could cut off one of his arms. Fair was fair after all, and he owed you your revenge. You were startled as a loud noise signaled the two iron doors finally opening, and the fear you'd felt previously returned immediately. You couldn't shake the feeling that there was a chance you were about to be killed. Finally fully opened Duke started moving forward, and you nervously fell into step beside him knowing you couldn't avoid looking like a scared mouse next to a gruff lion of a man you'd come to know as Duke.

The two of you walked along a path of red carpet surrounded by fifty foot columns on either side. Between each column stood armored warriors standing with spears held upright. Each warrior's head and eyes turned to watch you walk past them. Some sneered, some smiled, and others just stared in what felt like hatred as you walked past them. You wanted nothing more then to just turn around and run, but you knew that was guaranteed death. Finally you and Duke came to the end of the path where a robed figure sat idly on a stone throne. You tried to see their face, but the cowl over their head didn't allow any light in, like a mask of shadows. Duke immediately put his fist to his chest and knelt onto one knee before the figure, so you quickly attempted the same, but you only succeeded in looking stupid as you tried the same with your stump. You heard laughter to either side as you stared at your stump as if it had betrayed you. Frowning at your own stupidity you quickly knelt down on one knee following Duke's example, and lowered your head. Mostly so whoever this was couldn't see you blushing. The figure remained silent as they stared at you and Duke. You dared not make a noise as waves of fear washed over you.

"You have been brought before me to explain how one man has been able to elude all the forces I have sent to find him. Why has this man been allowed to escape" the figure's voice boomed over the hall suddenly. The voice was clearly feminine which surprised you a little.

"My lady, our forces have been searching" Duke began explaining.

"SILENCE" the figure roared cutting Duke off. Duke immediately stopped talking and bowed his head lower. You allowed yourself a brief smirk seeing someone like Duke look afraid. "You will tell me the events as they happened, because clearly I am not getting the entire story from my own people" she stated. You were afraid to, but you looked up and swallowed loudly when you saw her pointing at you. "Start from the beginning" she added.

"I first met John at the slave auction in the town you sacked. He and his dino did this to me" you start and hold up your stump. "I was forced to flee the town, but I waited outside the town limits to ambush him when he left. That was where your forces found me. I volunteered all the information I had about him to Duke, and offered to help point him out, but he killed several of your men and fled with your Pachy riders following. He took a crossbow bolt and they tracked him by the blood he left behind, but he apparently gave them the slip somehow. He killed a scout in the direction of New Eden, so we traveled there to find him" you continue.

"When we arrived in New Eden we were informed that he was there, so your forces fanned out to find him. We put men at every gate, the ferry, and even at the small fishing village the ferry went to. It was just a matter of time, and we even learned where he was staying...but" you find yourself unable to speak the next words. Your voice caught in your throat, and it felt like if you said what happened next you'd be killed.

"But what" the woman asked. The words felt like snakes in your brain. You tried resisting, but the words fell out of your mouth.

"But he vanished. He didn't leave through any of the gates, and none of your forces reported seeing him again. We spent the next several days trying to bribe people for information, but the only thing we got was that he had been seen heading towards Nadine's house, and the owners of the place he stayed told us he'd left unexpectedly. We even tortured the butler he had, but even after he finally died from it we didn't have any more info then before. We tried scouting the area for days, but there was no sign of him anywhere. I believe he travelled south" you continue.

"It makes no sense for him to travel south" Duke snapped at you, angrily interrupting you. You want to snap back at him, but you hold back.

"So he has escaped my forces at every turn, my mages can no longer detect his presence, and no one has any clue where he has gone. Our one and only real chance of bringing Wendel back, and he's just gone" the woman says standing up abruptly. You can hear the anger in her voice.

"You have one chance to tell me where we should concentrate our search before I burn you alive right here" she states. The tone of her voice suggests you'd need to make a very good case.

"Er...I believe" you try to begin.

"I was not asking you" she interrupts you coldly. You swallow loudly and look up to see her move in front of Duke. Duke's eyes go wide as he looks up in almost shock.

"M-my lady, t-there are no settlements to the s-south. There would be nothing for t-them t-there but large predators and a lizard folk incursion. His s-slave was reported to be from the north, so he m-must be going north" Duke stammers.

"His slave is from the north so he must be going north" she says dryly. "Sean" she says your name getting your attention. You aren't certain if her knowing your name makes you feel good or not.

"Why do you think he's going south" she askes almost amused.

"North, east, or west he would have been seen by someone. He could stay off roads all he wants, but that...raptor...of his would get noticed by someone somewhere. If he isn't getting seen by anyone then he's somewhere where there isn't anyone to see him" you respond trying to sound as confident as possible.

"My lady...please, this idiot has no idea what he's AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Duke starts to rebuke you, but you scramble away from him as he erupts in flame. You watch in horror as he flails his arms around, spinning and turning trying to escape the flames until you can see the fight in him fade. He stumbles a couple more steps before falling to the ground. His arms try to pull him forward one last time, but finally he moves no more. The flames immediately cease, and his corpse smolders and smokes. The woman steps up to his corpse, and places her hand on it. As she draws her hand up a small blue orb rises with it. With both of her hands she grabs the orb and rolls it around in her hands examining it. Finally she opens a pocket on her robes that the orb sinks into. Patting the pocket with her hand she walks back to her throne and sits down once more. You quickly take your place kneeling in front of her again.

"Tell me Sean...why are you helping us, you are not a follower of Wendel" she asks you dryly.

"B-because you are the only ones looking for John" you reply unable to look up at her.

"And you think you can get your revenge for what he did to your arm" she asks sounding more amused.

"Y-yes" you reply. She doesn't say anything for a moment. Instead it feels like she is staring straight into your soul. A shiver runs down your spine.

"I'll make a deal with you. I will provide you with a brigade of my forces to search south. That should be more than enough to capture him. If you bring him back alive I will award you with riches and women beyond your wildest dreams. After we've used him for our purposes you can have him to do whatever you want with, but if you fail or bring him back dead...I will flay the skin from your body and keep you alive with magic for one hundred years. Do we have an agreement" she asks. You aren't sure how to answer immediately. Of course the reward sounds amazing, but what if he isn't south...what if he's dead in a ravine somewhere and that's why no one has seen him.

"Of course I could just kill you right now and be done with it" she muses to herself.

"W-WE HAVE A DEAL" you blurt out.

"Excellent" she exclaims giving the arm of the throne a slap. "I feel like being generous" she says standing up and walking over to you. You feel like you want to fall to the ground and prostate yourself in front of her, but you remain kneeling. Looking up she opens the pocket the orb had gone into, and starts wiggling her fingers over it. Slowly the blue orb rises out following her hand. She points at you and the blue orb slowly makes its way towards you. It hovers in front of your eyes for a moment and then quickly dives into your chest. An icy chill flows through you for a moment before condensing into your stump. Your jaw drops as a forearm and hand slowly grows out of your stump, until finally you are wiggling fingers where you had none before. Of course it was translucent and glowing blue like the orb, but it was like you'd never lost it to begin with otherwise. It even appeared to have the weird little mole on the back of your hand as you rubbed your other hand over it.

"I-I don't know how to thank you" you say.

"Then don't, as I have no use for a one armed thief" she replies "just use it to capture John and when you return I will make it flesh and bone like your other arm, and we can discuss the other rewards I promised" she says taking her seat on the throne again.

"Now sleep here tonight, enjoy our food, enjoy our slaves, and tomorrow you will head south with a brigade of my troops at your back. Do not disappoint me" she says coldly.

"I-I won't. I can't. You'll see" you tell her. She waves her hand to dismiss you, and you slowly back away bowing with every other step until you turn and briskly walk away to where you can smell the kitchen is.

The woman watches Sean quicken his pace and disappear behind a door. She lets out a sigh, and waves her hand over the arm of the throne. Slowly a large black orb rises out of the arm.

"Do you think he will succeed" a gravely voice asks her.

"I don't know, but you can never underestimate a man like that" she replies.

"Why are you putting so much faith in him then" the gravely voice asks.

"Because of all my forces he has the most motivation to succeed. None of my forces have met you. To them you are just someone in stories they have heard, with vague promises about how much better it would be with you around. They only care about their positions in this cult...no ambitions beyond that. Sean wants John, so he can see him suffer. He doesn't care about being one of your generals, or what your return will bring. He doesn't care about you at all...none of them care like I do. So Sean will get what he wants if he succeeds, or suffer greatly if he fails. The perfect agent for us, and easy to track with his new arm too" she responds idly stroking the black orb. The black orb chuckles.

"To think that I did not recognize your abilities and wit when I was a man. What a fool I was in my arrogance" the orb ponders.

"No one is perfect my love" she laughs. The orb joins her laughter for a moment.

"I grow weary my love, I must return" the orb finally says.

"Of course. When next I summon you it will hopefully be when John is in chains before you" she says with a wicked grin. The orb slowly sinks back into the arm of the throne, and the hooded figure lets out another deep sigh.