FrivYeti/CalinPg14
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"Well, that took a lot less time than I'd hoped." Bryce sighed sadly, sliding his dire lance into the spear loop on his back. Amanda was still watching him fearfully, and he looked around the clearing, organizing this thoughts. "Amanda, I know what this looks like. And it's sort of right. But it's also wrong."
Amanda continued to stare at him, and after a moment spoke. "What? Bryce - are you still Bryce? You're one of the Anathema now. Oh, gods..." She started to back away. Bryce made no move to follow her.
"Amanda, I'm still me. Look, this happened more than a week ago." He pointed to his forehead. "Remember the first time I was attacked, with Brewan? The reason the snake ran away then was that I Exalted. I'm not a demon, really."
"That's exactly what a demon would say!" Amanda pointed shakily at the golden disc glowing faintly on Bryce's forehead. "You're a Blasphemer! You're trying to undermine my faith!"
"I don't care about your faith!" Bryce growled the words out, and then turned away. "If you don't believe me, there's not much I can do. But I'm no demon. I am an Exalt, just like any Dragon-Blood. The old stories... I don't know how true they are. I don't remember much; it wasn't even me back then. I think, maybe, there were reasons for us to be destroyed then, but it has nothing to do with my soul and everything to do with our complacency." He sighed again.
Amanda was watching him suspiciously, primed to run. She kept one eye on the gleaming dire lance. "How can you be sure? Maybe the demon's just working on you slowly." She paused, realizing that this was perhaps the wrong tack to take. "What are you going to do to me?"
Bryce froze. For a few moments, he just stood there. Then, slowly, he turned around, and the expression on his face made Amanda wish she'd never spoken. After a few more moments, he turned back, and started walking. "Nothing. Go back to town. Tell them what happened." The bitterness in his voice couldn't be disguised. "Call the Hunt. You'll need them, and they'll respond faster against an Anathema that mere Fair Folk."
For a few moments, Amanda watched him walk, and then she burst out with, "That's it?" Bryce stopped, in shock. "You're just going to walk off? You calmly announce that everything is wrong and you wander away?"
Bryce turned around, his face a mask of bemusement. "Wha...? Isn't that what you want? The big bad Anathema gone?"
"No!" Amanda stopped."Um. Yes. But... no." She sighed, sitting down on the rock. "Damn it, Bryce. You always had this way of turning my life upside-down, but this takes the cake. I don't know what to think." She looked down at the ground. "You sound like you. You certainly act like you. But the Anathema are supposed to be devious beyond mortal ken. And the situation fits what the Immaculates teach. What am I supposed to believe?"
"I don't know." Bryce leaned against a tree, and sank to the forest floor. He looked at his hands. "I didn't ask for this. Nothing whispered to me. But I got it, and it saved my life. It saved Brewan. And it saved you. I don't want to get rid of it, especially not now."
"What are you going to do?" Bryce looked up to find Amanda watching him, an inscrutable expression on her face. "I mean, in general. If I'm supposed to go call the Hunt - and don't get me started on that particular problem - what's your plan?"
Bryce smiled. "Might be safer if you don't know." He stayed sitting, looking glumly into the forest distance. A sparrow flittered down onto the branch above him, as the animals of the forest slowly returned. "But... that Fair Folk lady spoke of her lord. And those hobgoblins weren't the last ones I fought. Which means trouble, big trouble. I need to deal with it."
"Hurt like that?" Amanda was walking up to Bryce; cautiously, but steadily. "You'll get killed."
"Makes your life easier."
"There you go again. Always moping when things aren't going your way." Amanda smiled a bit nervously, and knelt down next to Bryce. "Take off your shirt."
"What??" Bryce stared at her in confusion, and she rolled her eyes.
"Your wounds, Bryce. If they don't get bandaged, they could get infected. Take off your shirt." Bryce complied, more out of instinct at the edge in her voice than anything else, and she whistled softly. "You got more buff. And... huh. These aren't bleeding anymore." She bound up the wounds anyway, causing Bryce to wince.
"No? Huh. Guess it's another trick I didn't know about. I'm still getting the hang of this."
"Right." Amanda looked up at him, and then impulsively kissed him on the cheek. "We need to decide what to tell the townsfolk."
"I thought I said..."
"Yeah, I heard you." She mock-glared at him, sitting back. "And that's crap. I don't know exactly what to make of you, but I'm not giving up on you that fast. Let's see... we don't mention the snake. Just the hobgoblins. That spear's going to be a problem. Can non-Anathema use it?"
"I don't think so. Well, as long as it's attuned to me, maybe."
"Right. Well, we'll fudge it. The spear was held by a hobgoblin. We ambushed it, you took that big spear, I got the little one. The hobgoblins weren't so tough. Maybe they showed up in two groups? First one, then two more, and then the last one. We don't have to mention the one in the cave. Or the cave at all."
Bryce stared at Amanda in shock, and she surpressed a giggle. After a moment, he found his voice. "Why?" When she started to open her mouth, he cut her off. "I mean... why lie about this to the townsfolk? For all you know, I could be trouble. I could be trouble anyway, if the Hunt already knows about me. They knew about that Lunar last year."
Amanda nodded slowly. "Yeah, they did. But to hell with them. And to hell with the town, if they don't get it. We'll cover for you, and we can do it okay." She smiled, helping Bryce to his feet. He groaned slightly, and she hugged him lightly. "I'm not going to give up on you that easily. But if you start eating babies or something..."
"Got it. No baby-eating." Bryce chuckled, and the two started the walk back to town.
