I kept an eye on her as we walked inside the inn, reading her expressions as we walked through the carnage. I could see a flicker or two of sadness at this immense, unnecessary loss of life, but otherwise she was reacting very minimally. You've been at this for some time. It took years for me to get used to this kind of sight.
From what I could tell there were around 10 people in the main room when he attacked. Not much left of them now. He really wants to get me into trouble and out of his hair. As we rounded the corner into the hallway leading to the few rooms, I looked back to her again, "You sure you're okay?"
"I'll be fine. What kind of man is this that you're chasing? From everything I see here, he seems more akin to a beast or a demon, rather than a man."
I started walking slowly as I spoke, "If I called him a man, then I apologize. He's not a man anymore, per se. He may have the body of a man, but his soul... His soul may not even exist any more. He creates nothing but carnage and destruction, and yet somehow no one in the area can ever catch the faintest glimpse of him. I can't understand it, except for the use of some sort of magic, or even something akin to hypnosis. But at the root of it all, he's nothing more than a ruthless beast that needs to be put down, simply to put and end to his killing."
"If you think such of him, why put so much effort into hunting him down?" She asked, stepping over what remained of a elderly man. "Why are you the person hunting him?"
"Some time ago he tried to kill me. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't some deliberate, planned attempt on my life. I had done him no harm; just another possible victim, but probably not what he expected. You've bore witness to that. I didn't realize what he was, or how many people he'd already killed. I beat him back, and he ran away. A couple of days later, I found out about an entire village about 120 miles from here, out in the East. Every single person had been beaten, killed, and mutilated. He had killed all of them. His... style is unique. So that kind of set the wheels in motion. I decided that I had to do something about it."
"Did you think yourself to be responsible for their deaths?"
"In a way. If I had killed him, then he wouldn't have killed anyone else since. But he's fast. He almost seems to jump from region to region without rest. I've been chasing him for 3 years, at least."
"How is that possible? Could it be more than one killer?"
"I don't know, honestly. He travels too quickly, but I can never find anyone to give me a description. This is honestly the closest I've been to him in a while." I stopped at the door to the room I had rented.
"...I believe we have made it to your room, Torin." Diana said, peering around me. "Just a feeling." Spattered across the door were several bloody handprints, and words carved into the surface. 'YOU WILL FAIL,' dug deep into the wood and filled in with blood. I opened the door slowly to find a woman staring at me, cold and lifeless. He had done so much in so little time. She was attached to the far wall by several of the soldier's weapons and a couple large shards of wood he had driven into her limbs and torso. She was stripped and slashed open; strewn about as though he wanted to make her a part of the room. And embedded into her chest was what I had come for. My broadsword was glistening in the darkness with blood, and the blade itself had darkened as a result. I sheathed my short blade and walked to the body.
"...Gods. This is... What are you doing?" Diana asked as I reached up and gripped the handle of my sword. I removed the weapon from the corpse quickly, and set it into a set of small hook and clasps on my jacket. I scanned the room quickly picked up a lantern, then turned to my inadvertent companion and tossed the lantern over my shoulder. The lantern shattered on the ground, the oil spreading across the dry wood and the surface catching ablaze.
"Nothing else valuable of mine is in this room anymore. He could have taken my coin, but most likely someone else came in after him to rob the bodies. Might I suggest we leave?"
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