The Lesser Evil - 5. The Hermit

As he woke up in his bed at the break of dawn, Edwin wondered what the new day would bring. It seemed as though the period of peaceful, yet somewhat dull life was over, and each new day brought with it something unexpected. Still, he was not sure if he appreciated this change or not. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to even think about himself when he knew that Ida was somewhere out there, needing help.

Lothar’s presence was equally distracting. He would pop in whenever he felt like it, unannounced and always in a different mood. And although he always claimed he was there to help, Edwin was not sure how much he could trust him. After all, he was only a demon - although a very convincing one. He always seemed to know Edwin’s every desire, sometimes even before Edwin himself realized it. The shopkeeper found it unnerving, yet strangely arousing at the same time.

The biggest question that weighed on his mind was that of his soul. Even though he had never been one for religion and superstition, all of the recent events made him start thinking in a different manner. What would Lothar do with his soul once he passed away? Maybe the demon would forget all about it by then. Edwin could only hope so, although he was certainly not ready to bet on the demon having a poor memory.

The shop owner had barely opened his little trinket store that morning when Lothar blinked in, standing just a few feet away, startling the other man.

“Can you please stop doing that?!” Edwin raised his voice, having almost dropped the delicate earrings he was holding. “If you must blink, do it in front of the shop so I can hear you come in.”

“Fine, I’ll remember it for next time,” Lothar replied, seemingly amused. “Now, come on, let’s go find the hermit. Unless you’d rather sit this one out?”

“In your dreams. I’m coming along,” Edwin quickly retorted. There was no chance he would be left out as long as his friend was missing.

While the demon amused himself by inspecting the collection of crystals on the shelves, Edwin rushed to clean up and lock the shop, flipping the sign on the door.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked after he was finished, eyeing Lothar with doubt and just a sliver of fear. They were standing face to face in the middle of the shop.

“Of course. I do it all the time,” the demon replied casually, taking the other man by the hand. “Leave it all to me and you have nothing to worry about. All you have to do is hold my hand. Think you can do that?”

“I think I’ll manage,” the black man pursed his lips, squeezing Lothar’s hand tighter. “Alright, then. I’m ready.”

“On the count of three. One… two…”

Edwin gasped and instinctively closed his eyes. This was without a doubt the craziest, wildest thing he had ever done. What if he ended up dead, decapitated, disintegrated? He would come back to haunt Lothar for all eternity.

“...three!”

He didn’t have much time to worry about death, though, as just a moment later he opened his eyes, and saw that the interior of his shop had vanished. They were now standing in a small, dark alley near the docks. Lothar had blinked, taking Edwin with him for the first time.

“So, how did it feel? You still have the correct number of arms and legs? We wouldn’t want any part of you missing,” the demon said, glancing at Edwin’s crotch.

“I’m fine,” the man rolled his eyes, letting go of Lothar’s hand. He quickly groped himself all over, just to make sure everything was in its place. “Wow. I can’t believe we’ve done this. It wasn’t that scary after all.”

“Told you. Walking is for mortals,” the demon winked. “Now come on, let’s go find that man. This time, I’ll make him talk.”

The two men stepped out of the alley and made their way toward the docks, filled with the usual mix of sailors, merchants and fishermen, everyone going about their own way. Over a dozen ships were docked, some getting repaired, while others waiting for new merchandise to transport to other kingdoms across the Pearl Sea.

They looked around, going through the wooden stalls with fish, linen and other products, but Reiff was nowhere to be found. Finally, they moved away from the docks and to the rocky beach to the south. Save for a few old fishermen sitting in the sun and drinking ale as they waited for fish to bite, it was deserted.

“Look, over there,” Lothar pointed out far away in the back, where a hooded figure sat in the shade of a large rock, eating something.

“That is definitely him,” Edwin agreed.

“You start approaching him from here, but be quiet. I’ll blink from the other side, so he doesn’t escape,” the demon presented the plan.

That was exactly what they did. Trying to stay hidden behind the rocks, Edwin made his way over as quietly as possible. As he got closer, Reiff noticed someone moving and got up, but Lothar was faster - he blinked behind the hermit and held him in place, preventing him from escaping.

“Let me go!” Reiff growled, trying to shake off the demon, but it was pointless. No matter how much he fought, Lothar’s strong hands held him tight.

“Not until we talk. And this time, no running away,” Edwin ran over and stood before them. “We just want to talk… We need your help.”

“Why would I help you?” Reiff’s eyes observed him from the shadow of the hood that covered half of his face. He reminded Edwin of a turtle, as if he was trying to retreat into his shell until he was left alone.

“Because a woman I trust told me you’d have some answers for me. My best friend is missing, and I don’t know how to find her. I don’t know where to begin looking for her. You might even know her. Her name is Ida, she’s the daughter of High Priest Agilmar. I saw you at the temple…”

“Agilmar’s daughter?” Reiff asked, suddenly staring at Edwin with full attention.

“Yes. Do you know her? She was training to become a priestess.”

“I… This cannot be,” the hermit shook his head, muttering to himself. “Just like Helga...” As if all the strength and will to fight had left his body, he slumped against Lothar, dropping his gaze.

“Who’s Helga?” Edwin asked cautiously, stepping closer. “Please…”

“Helga is… was my wife.”

“Ohh,” the shopkeeper sat down and eyed Lothar, letting him know to let the man go so he could sit down as well. “What happened to her? Please. I promise we mean you no harm.”

“Helga… She was a priestess at the temple, one of the best there ever was. She was Agilmar’s right hand. Everyone loved her. The very sight of her beautiful face made people feel better. She loved helping them, always listening to their woes, praying with them and for them. To think that she could fall in love with me, a simple carpenter… I could not believe it. But she did. We were wed, and then started living together. I cherished every day with that wonderful woman by my side until… Until one day, eight years ago, when she just vanished.”

Lothar and Edwin instantly looked at each other. Was Helga’s disappearance another case of angels getting involved in human affairs? Edwin was willing to bet his life on it.

“Did you manage to find her?”

The hermit shook his head sadly, looking defeated. “I looked everywhere, never giving up. I spent years travelling, searching for her, asking help from everyone. It was all in vain. I neglected my job, I lost my home, everything. No one could help me. And yet… I still have hope I’ll see her again. If not in this life, then in the one after.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that, I didn’t know,” Edwin replied, his heart breaking for the man. “Did you manage to find out anything at all? Any clues as to who might have taken her and where?”

“No, nothing. It was as if she vanished into thin air. I was in my workshop, and she was inside the house. When I came back inside, everything was as she left it, but she was gone,” the man’s voice cracked, and Edwin felt a pang of sadness for him. Even though Ida was his friend and not wife, he loved her dearly and knew exactly what the poor man had gone through.

“Look, this woman I mentioned, she is somehow able to communicate with spirits… I think. She is a mystic, and she told me I should look for you. I think we were meant to meet. Maybe we can help each other?”

“I’ve spent so many years all alone, searching for my wife in vain,” Reiff said, finally looking up at the younger man. “If there’s even the smallest chance of finding her, I have to take it.”

Edwin nodded, giving him a look of compassion and understanding, before turning his head to Lothar, still sitting beside the hermit and keeping an eye on him. “Then I think we should tell him what we know.”

“I agree,” the white-haired man nodded, turning to face Reiff. “Now tell me, what do you know about demons?”

As he listened to Lothar’s revelation, the hermit seemed almost as shocked as Edwin had been. Learning that there was another world, other than the one visible to humans, was hard to accept, Edwin knew that very well. Still, Reiff seemed to take it quite well. The shopkeeper observed him the entire time, wondering if the man was going to call them insane and try to escape, but he did not. After all, Lothar’s powers seemed to have been enough proof.

The hermit then revealed that he had been quite a religious man in his youth, fully believing in the church doctrines. Needless to say, Helga was even more of a believer. But then, when his whole world came crashing down, and no church, priest or religion was there to help him, Reiff had to rely only on himself. “I abandoned it all. I used to think, what use is my faith if it can’t bring Helga back. And now you’re asking me to have faith in a demon. Why should I believe anything you say? Isn’t that exactly what your kind wants? To deceive us with your evil and your lies.”

“Because right now, I’m the only chance you have of finding out what happened to your wife,” Lothar replied immediately. “And if you don’t think that’s worth the risk, then I don’t care. But if I find anything out, don’t expect me to lift a finger to help you.”

“I… Very well, I’ll help however I can,” the older man conceded, hanging his head. “But I just don’t understand how angels could be behind it… Why? Why would they do this?”

“I don’t know,” Lothar was honest. “But… I have my suspicions. Helga was a priestess, and Ida was about to become one. I believe that means they are targeting people of faith - church members. And to be able to abduct people, they must’ve had help here on Earth. We need to find out who. Angels don’t care about humans as church would have you believe. For them, you are expendable. Something they can use in the war against demons. And don’t get me wrong, demons are the same way. If we could use humans to fight for us so we didn’t have to die in battle, we would. We would sacrifice this entire continent with no second thought if it meant we could win the war and end the angels once and for all!”

Edwin stared at him, surprised at his bluntness. If it came to that, and angels and demons moved their conflict here, would Lothar really be able to participate? Would he sacrifice human lives just to eradicate the angels? Edwin realized he couldn’t answer that, he didn’t know him well enough. No matter how seductive and convincing Lothar was, he was still only a demon.

The shopkeeper didn’t fail to observe how Reiff eyed Lothar warily, clearly unsure if he could trust him. As if noticing the same thing, the demon quickly continued. “But the point is, the demons have always respected the pact. We’ve steered clear of humanity the entire time. It is the angels who have broken it, and we have to stop them.”

“I just want to find Helga… Or at least find out what happened to her,” Reiff said.

“I don’t think any of us want to get in the middle of their conflict - no offense, Lothar,” Edwin spoke, “but if that’s the only way to find Ida and Helga... I’m prepared to do it.”

“Good. I don’t know if that’s something you’ll have to do, but it’s good to know you’re willing to do whatever it takes,” the demon replied, standing up. “I’ll have to go back to my realm and ask about Helga’s case. They must have sent someone to investigate back then.”

With a glimmer of hope finally visible in his sad eyes, the hermit stood up and faced Lothar. “If you find something about her, anything at all… please, let me know.”

“You can count on it,” the demon promised.

~~

With Lothar somewhere in the Demonic Domain, and Mildburg still not coming to his shop, Edwin found himself restless, impatiently waiting for any news to come his way. Business was less busy than usual that day, which did not help get his mind off of his problems at all. As soon as he closed the shop and had something to eat, the shopkeeper decided to head to the Western Quarter and pay Isolde a visit. Perhaps she had managed to learn something new.

As he walked through the adobe houses of the old neighborhood, most of them painted in dull yellow and brown colors, Edwin wondered if he should tell Isolde about Lothar. What would she say if she knew he was associating himself with a demon? Would she even believe him that they existed? He couldn’t come to a clear decision, so he decided not to say anything for now, at least not until he spoke to Lothar again. Maybe it was best if as few people as possible knew about him.

“Edwin, hello,” the young woman greeted him as he entered her blacksmith shop. She stood in front of one of her anvils, working on a short sword. It already looked rather good to Edwin, but then again, he remembered he had little knowledge of weapons. “What brings you here?”

“I’m not sure, to be honest,” he was still standing by the door, looking around. The furnace in the far end of the shop burned hot, making the place very uncomfortable and stuffy. “I was in the shop, going out of my mind. Still no news from Mildburg, and I feel so useless, sitting there and waiting. I have to do something...”

“So, you wanna go and pay her a visit?” Isolde got straight to the point.

“Yes. Do you want to accompany me?”

“Hell yes. Let me just finish this up,” she nodded, getting back to her work.

It was merely a few minutes later that the two of them were on their way south, approaching the Valfell river that separated the town from the neighboring villages. Situated in the fertile delta where the river flowed into the Pearl Sea, all of the small towns and villages were mainly inhabited by farmers, whose cereals and other crops were exported through the port of Ossvale to distant towns and cities across the sea. Edwin had visited many of them when he moved to the kingdom, but quickly decided to settle in Ossvale. Living by the sea always seemed attractive to him, and it was the biggest change from the mountainous area of Ahrabet that he used to call home. He wanted no reminders of that.

As the familiar green house came into view, Edwin didn’t move his eyes off of it, hoping the old mystic would be home, and that she would have the answers he was looking for. Anything to help him figure out where Ida was taken and how to get to her.

There was no answer when he knocked on the old wooden door, so he decided to just knock again and wait. “Ugh, if she’s out…”

“Maybe it’s…” Isolde came over and grabbed the door handle, pressing it. The door opened with a long squeak. “...unlocked.”

“Do you always do that? Enter people’s homes?” Edwin frowned, but followed her inside. “Remind me to never leave my…”

“Edwin, look,” the woman abruptly stopped in front of him and grabbed him by the arm.

When the shopkeeper turned his head, he froze in the spot. On the floor in the corner of the room was the lifeless body of Mildburg, lying in a pool of blood.

“No, no, no…” he muttered, rushing over to kneel down next to her, while Isolde opened the curtains to let more sunlight in.

Edwin looked at the old woman’s dead body, as a chill enveloped him. As she lay on the side, he could see a large stab wound in her back, dried up blood painting her dress dark red. This was no coincidence, he thought, feeling his heart race. Mildburg herself was the one who told him that - there were no coincidences. Whoever did this, they didn’t want her to help Edwin.

Moving away from the gruesome sight, the young man accidentally kicked a small object and heard it roll across the wooden floor. Curious, he turned around to pick it up.

“What’s that?” Isolde whispered, still in shock.

“It’s…” Edwin gasped as he brought the small item to the window to inspect it. In his hand was a little black stone with light cracks all over its surface, similar to the one Mildburg gave him just a few days ago. Black tourmaline.