The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

WM [37] The Stronger Path

The room was quiet, save for the constant sniffling sobs of the young woman sitting on the floor with her back against the wall. Nightfall was creeping in, the last remnants of daylight fading into the encroaching shadows. Though a window and a door offered the illusion of freedom, she knew there was no real escape. Her prison had changed its form—from the dank, oppressive cellar where she had been bound to a pillar, to this slightly more comfortable room—but the chains still held her just as tightly.

As the final rays of the sun disappeared, plunging the room into near total darkness, Adelheid's hand instinctively moved to the black chain around her neck. It wasn’t really a chain anymore, but a delicate-looking necklace, a disguise crafted by the demon who so easily defeated her. The construct looked like metal but didn’t feel like it. Instead it felt like some deep cold that was a constant reminder of her subjugation, its once menacing form now deceptively beautiful, but no less binding.

Her thoughts went back to the moment her father had come to the cellar, she thought they had won, that they had come to rescue her and Falko. But that hope had been cruelly snuffed out. He didn’t return as a victor, he had lost. He was beaten and only saved from death at the cost of his pride. The Golden Striders had been soundly defeated, many of their best hunters slain during the hunt for the hydra. The names of the fallen, friends and mentors she would never see again, haunted her like specters. 

Worse still, she was left behind here with nothing her father could do. She would have to endure whatever tortures her captors devised for her. She was no stranger to pain, but this was different. The thought of the tortures they might inflict upon her churned her stomach, filling her with dread.

The sound of approaching footsteps snapped her out of her thoughts, and she flinched involuntarily. She had come to recognize the distinct cadence of each of her captors—the tiger demon’s heavy, deliberate steps, the wendigo girl’s light, almost ethereal tread no doubt due to noble training, and the soft, rhythmic tapping of the hydra pup’s claws on the wooden floor. They were coming for her, and she knew that whatever they had planned, it was about to begin.

Adelheid took a deep, shaky breath, forcing herself to stand despite the terror constricting her chest. She was a warrior, after all, not some frightened child. Wiping the tears from her face with trembling hands, she straightened her back, summoning what little courage she had left. 

“I think I should be ready by then. Two days seems good.” Tanisha said.

“We can set up in the Jackrabbits’ camp tomorrow.” Joha responded. “I had no idea how large their claim on the land was. It should be classified as a village of its own at this point. But first let’s get your new sparring partner.”

The door creaked open, flooding the dark room with light from the hallway. Adelheid tensed, her heart pounding in her chest as the tiger demon was the first to step inside. His presence filled the room, towering horned tiger demon against the sudden brightness of the hallway. He reached out and touched one of the two light crystals beside the door, causing it to flare to life. The sharp, crystalline light revealed the details of the room that had been hidden in darkness. Joha's gaze fell on Adelheid, who stood pressed against the wall, her posture rigid, trying to conceal her fear. His eyes swept over her, then shifted to the room itself, noting its virtually untouched state. She hadn’t even sat on the bed not wanting any of their fake kindness.

Following closely behind him, Tanisha entered, carrying a tray of food. She moved with a casual ease, setting the tray down on the small nightstand without a word. Bjorn was sitting outside the door, and he didn't walk in to not crowd the room. There was a brief moment of silence before Tanisha looked at Adelheid, her tone matter-of-fact as she broke the tension. 

“Oh, good thing you didn’t try to run.” Tanisha said, her voice almost teasing. “We have training every night so eat up. I’ll come get you after we change clothing–” she paused, as if a sudden thought had struck her. “Joha, you never showed me how to change my clothing with maya.” 

“It is an advanced form of maya manipulation that you are not ready for at this stage.” Joha responded.

“How do you know if I am not ready if I never tried it?” Tanisha questioned.

“By how you manipulate the odd form of magic you have now. Enough of it is maya for me to get a good sense of how you move it.” Joha responded.

“I can pull out the aspects of it to change its properties. So, I can make it act more like maya, mana or aether.” she explained eagerly. “So my manipulation of it has to be pretty high, right?”

Joha thought about her words for a second before responding. “Hmm, you do have a point. How about this, we will test your manipulation of the maya aspects of your magic in the morning. If it looks like you are ready for more advanced manipulation I will advance your training to incorporate the first form, MayaMundra which will be your first step to learning things like changing the appearance of clothing.”

Tanisha’s face broke into a wide grin, her sharp teeth glinting in the light as she squealed in excitement, unable to contain her joy. “Okay-okay, I’m going to go change then, let’s go, Big Man,” she said, her voice full of enthusiasm as she quickly exited the room, with Bjorn lumbering after her.

Joha watched them leave, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth as he let out a small, amused chuckle. The room seemed to grow quieter as their footsteps faded down the hall. His smirk faded, replaced by a more serious expression as his gaze finally landed on the only other person left in the room—Adelheid.

Adelheid stood strong. “What do you want from me?”

“Honestly, I don’t want anything to do with you.” Joha said. “If we were under different circumstances or if you had met me fifty years ago you would be in the ground along with everyone else involved with hurting my apprentice. You are an experiment for me. To prove that I can show mercy when everything in me tells me not to.”

Adelheid’s lips curled into a sneer, “why would you do that? So, you can torture me? Is that the plan? Hurt me because you let my brother go?” 

“Torture? Sure, that’s exactly why we brought you up from the cellar, paid for a room, and made sure you were comfortable—just so we could get thrown out of this inn. That’s what a demon would do, isn’t it? Lure you into a false sense of security, make you think, ‘maybe this won’t be so bad,’ only to shatter those hopes with cruelty.”

Her eyes narrowed, doubt lacing her voice. “And you’re saying you won’t? You expect me to believe that, demon?”

“Yes, I am,” Joha said firmly. “I made a promise to your father that I’d return you as intact as possible, and I intend to keep that promise. That includes your mental state. You may not believe this, but I’ve seen and caused more death than you can imagine, especially on the demon continent. I wasn’t the strongest, but I was one of the most ruthless, and I reveled in it. But through all the death, destruction, and cruelty, I realized something—none of it brought peace. It only led to more death, more atrocities and suffering. That’s when I decided to try something different. I tried mercy.”

He paused, letting his words sink in before continuing. “Mercy is a currency that’s far too scarce where I come from. If all I do here is kill, then what was the point of it all? What do I gain? If all I teach my apprentice is to take life, then she’ll grow up carrying the same burdens, the same regrets, that I do. I want better for her. I want her to know that sometimes, choosing not to kill is the stronger path. That’s why you’re still alive, Adelheid. That and I think you will make a good sparring partner for her.”

“What happens when this is over? What will you do with me then?”

“You go home, and if you pay attention during my lessons, or when you’re helping Tanisha with her alchemy, you’ll return stronger and smarter than you were before. This isn’t just about survival, Adelheid. It’s about growth. You have the chance to learn things that most in your pack never will. If I were you I would take it.”

There was a long pause as Adelheid absorbed his words, her mind raced with doubts and questions. She didn’t trust the demon. She was practically a slave at the moment and as long as she had the black necklace on he could kill her at any moment. It wouldn’t even be difficult for him to do; less than a thought, and she would be a headless corpse. But what if it were true, what if they would just let her go once this was over she would know how to heal people with alchemy, and some of the demon’s fighting techniques. Either of those skills would be valuable. Tanisha did manage to escape her and Falko while she had her magic suppressed with just her fight prowess alone.

“Let’s say I believe you. That you will let me live once this is over and that you are not going to torture me.” She said with apprehension. “Why me?”

“Tanisha needs someone at her level who can push her limits, someone who isn’t afraid to challenge her. I believe you can be that person for now. You have a lot you can teach about hunting monsters which is something she is somewhat interested in because of Bjorn. Finally, I don’t want her going alone. Your people and the druids were a wake up call. There is no guarantee of safety, but with numbers survival is higher.” Joha’s gaze shifted to the untouched plate of food on the nightstand, his expression softening for a moment before he returned to their conversation. “Now, eat, you’ll need your strength for what’s ahead.”