<div dir="ltr"><div>Not much to say on this one. Just some necessary push in the right direction. </div>-LurkingWolf ___________________ February 21, 708 CR Vincent Lois had never been accustomed to callers, even during his recent experiments with legal professions. When the rapping came on the door in the early afternoon that day, he couldn’t think of too many options for who it might be. Perhaps it was Paula, coming early in anticipation of the evening’s training. Perhaps it was one of his fellows from the patrol, come to inform him that they were finally being given a new assignment. Beyond those two options, however, the only other option he could come up with was some official news from the Keep. That would certainly be interesting. Sighing, the ermine stoppered the inkwell that he had been writing with, cleaned the quill, and left the writing supplies in a somewhat organized heap on the desk. He always answered the door personally out of force of habit. Despite having nothing to hide, his years as an assassin had made him somewhat paranoid. He slid the bolt lock open just as the knock came again. Stepping back, he opened the door to a comfortable width and greeted the person at the door. “Balrog!” “Ah, so you do remember me!” the large man said with a wry grin. Lois chuckled quietly. “I’m sorry I haven’t visited since I had you take me to the Healer’s.” Lois stepped back to allow the large man to enter. His friend did so, glancing about in a sarcastic appraisal of the contents. “I think I had expected something a little less… sparse,” he commented drily. “You think?” Lois shook his head as he stepped back over towards his desk. “You need to pay a little more attention to your own opinions, it seems.” Balrog shrugged stiffly. “I never know what to expect with you, so this really isn’t much of a change.” He turned towards the ermine. “How are you, Lois? Recovering well, I hope?” Lois nodded. “I recovered quickly,” he admitted. “I haven’t taken much time to do social calls, mostly because of training Paula. You remember her, or at least I hope you do. I’d suppose that you’re careful enough to recall which people that you’ve revealed your secret to.” The disguised lutin gave a lopsided smile, running a hand over the scars that hid his magic tattoos. “Of course I remember her,” he said. “Her reaction to my true form was quite satisfying. How is her training going, by the way?” “Very well,” Lois said, giving an approving nod. “She is a remarkable talent. She was originally training with two-handed weapons, but she is definitely more suited to light weapons. I don’t remember if I had mentioned it before, but she has shown an ability that makes her training extremely easy. She is clairvoyant.” The lutin raised an eyebrow. “I have never heard of that ability,” he admitted, sounding impressed. “I can see why lighter weapons would be preferable for her.” Lois nodded. “I am excited to see her develop, and to see her in the field as well. She should be joining a patrol soon, and I can only imagine that she will be a boon to whatever team she is assigned to.” “Is that confidence based on your training her, or on her skill?” Balrog asked. Lois chuckled and shook his head. “I think they are both important. She has skill, but she was working with the wrong weapons before. Provided that she is allowed to use a pair of daggers, or even a shortsword, she will do well.” Balrog nodded, looking around the room again. Lois watched him for a few moments, waiting to see if he would say anything else. Finally, he decided to break the silence himself. “So, you didn’t just come here to talk about my apprentice and me. Is there another reason for your visit?” The disguised lutin rubbed the back of his neck for a few moments before nodding. “There is another reason, yes,” he admitted. “I have thought about this since we worked together several years ago. I wanted to ask for a favor then, but I was never able to get it out. When I saw you again I started to think about it, started to stew on it, and I decided that I have to ask, even if you won’t help me.” Lois looked at his friend with a silent sort of appraisal. He wasn’t certain what his friend would ask him, but he only knew of a few things that could be involved with asking him for a favor. “I may be able to help you, but it will depend largely on what the favor involves. There are some things I can do, and there are some things that I will not be able to do.” Balrog nodded and sighed. The light in the room was low, so Lois could not see well what the expression on the man’s face was, but he could tell simply from Balrog’s voice that he was conflicted. “I confided in you years ago about why I left my tribe in the Giantdowns. The chief and shaman are both intense supporters of Nasoj, despite all of his failures. Many of the tribe have demanded that we stop serving the mage, but the shaman is too powerful, and has too much influence for anyone to truly challenge. He has mercilessly killed many who challenged the chieftan’s position. They have turned fear to their advantage, and the tribe does not dare to challenge them anymore. They need to die.” Lois kept his expression neutral for a few moments, but it quickly changed to a look of distaste. “You want me to assassinate them,” he said quietly. The lutin misunderstood the intent of the statement. “I have saved some gold since last we met. I can afford to pay you if you need money.” “No,” Lois said coldly. “I will not take money to kill.” He reached down and picked up a pack that was set by the desk. He searched through it for a few moments before hissing a curse and dropping the pack back to its place. “I have turned my back on that part of my life. I am not going back.” “Lois…” The lutin rubbed the back of his neck again, trying to find a way to rephrase the request to make it more attractive. “Metamor itself is at war with my tribe. It would not be an assassination so much as an act of war.” Lois hissed in anger again. He drew a bottle from where it had been deposited in a drawer beside his desk and poured himself a glass of the cheap wine inside it. He sipped slowly, trying to calm his nerves. “Act of war… That is how I always justified myself. Always nothing more than an act of war, justifiable by anyone who might challenge me…” He took another sip, glancing at Balrog as he did. The lutin was frowning, but did not seem to feel threatened at Lois’ outburst. “You already work with their patrols,” Balrog pointed out. “You will kill my people in acts of war whether you justify it or not. How much different is killing two lutins, two lutins who need to die to prevent further bloodshed, while they are in their tents?” “I cannot do it, I will not do it anymore,” Lois insisted. He took another sip, only to find that he had already drained the glass entirely. “I am sorry, Balrog. Our friendship remains unaltered, but I would not return to assassination if the Duke asked me to.” Balrog winced. He had truly hoped that he would find some help from his old friend, but he could not force him to perform an assassination if he did not wish to. “I am sorry for suggesting it,” he said with quiet sincerity. Lois shook his head as he retook his seat, a paw clasping his temples between two claws. “I am sorry, Balrog. I did not mean to speak so harshly.” He looked up at the man, watching as Balrog shifted. “You have confided in me; allow me to confide in you. I have sought to do away with my reputation as an assassin for years now. I can no longer justify the deaths I have caused, and I wonder how I justified them before. I hope that I can somehow make amends for the pain I have caused, but I fear that I can never do that now. The one thing I cannot justify is returning to that path after having left for so long.” He managed to look Balrog straight in the face for a moment. “I wish I could help you, I really do. I realize that having to leave your own people because of their decisions is difficult, but I am not the solution.” The lutin nodded. “You do not need to say any more. I respect your decision, even if I had hoped for something else. One day, I will return to my tribe, but I cannot do it while those two still live.” Lois nodded and sighed softly. “Then I hope that they both meet an untimely demise at the end of a Keeper’s blade. I can do nothing further.” Balrog nodded to Lois, even managing to smile. “And I hope that you can escape the shadow of your past.” He moved towards the door. “I do not have time to remain for long, I will be leaving with a patrol in the morning and I need to prepare.” The ermine nodded and stood to see his friend to the door. The latch was still undone, so the lutin had already opened the door by the time he arrived. Lois gave the man a solid pat to the back as he arrived. “Take care of yourself in the field,” he said. “We need you alive so that you can make your return to your tribe once things have changed.” Balrog chuckled quietly. “I’ve survived in the human world for far longer than most other lutins survive in our ancestral home. I think I will be fine for several days of work in the wild.” The two shared a final laugh together before Balrog left. Lois watched him until he disappeared beyond the bend. Sighing, he turned back to the rest of the room, looking around with quiet frustration. He wondered about what he had done since leaving the life of an assassin. What had he truly done that could redeem a man from such a long life of dealing death? Was there anything that could truly wipe away the bloodstains that covered him from head to toe? Such considerations lasted only a few moments before he silenced them. The silence in his mind was something he had become used to over the course of years. It was the only way to escape from the answers to his musings. </div>