The Crimson (Re)Ascension

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

Prelude to the upcoming clan war. Closed to Lye.

"You're out of your goddamn mind, Madison!"

Hedge's outburst brought our weekly card game to a screeching halt. The three of us at there around the table, a small pile of gold in between us with smaller stacks still by our hands. Several empty drink glasses clattered as the Hand of the Blade's clenched fists hammered down onto the wooden surface. Diggs, always the non-confrontational one, wisely decided to bury his face into the cards he held and run some mental calculations on his chances of winning the pot.

I leaned back in my chair, my face unreadable. "No, I'm very much certain of my plans."

"The only thing certain is that you're going to damn us all within the month," he said accusingly.

"I've already taken steps to assure you that nothing bad is going to happen to any of you," I responded.

The mercenary's face soured from behind his greasy bangs. "The last time that fucker sat on his throne, he commanded all of us to fight each other to the death in order to make up for his own failures. This was after he sent all of us to that icy wasteland to fight for a lost cause."

"I'm fully aware of his failings as a leader back then," I reminded him harshly. "But a year has passed since then."

Hedge rolled his eyes. "Do you think a single fucking year locked away will change a man so set in his ways?"

I took a sip of my drink before giving the killer a reply. "When you're Aurelianus Drak'shal's personal plaything, one year can seem like a hundred."

That seemed to shut him up for the time being. While it was true that the tiefling and Right Hand of the Order under my command had worked his dark abilities and had a little fun with the imprisoned assassin Lichensith Ulroke, I had made it perfectly clear to him that it was to be business before pleasure when he was in the dungeon. We had a prisoner to rehabilitate.

I couldn't blame Hedge for his anger; the fact of the matter was, I wasn't terribly happy with the decision I had to make either. You see, when I staged the coup that inevitably saw the Crimson Assassin and Master Hand deposed and disposed, I had given very little thought as to what would happen next and the amount of time, patience, and responsibility I would have in order to turn this little gang of murderers and spies and sellswords into a legitimate organization that would serve the world from the shadows. As months fell off the calendar, I found myself slowly becoming more and more stressed out and aggravated. All I wanted was to quietly slip back into my laboratory, lock the doors, and never emerge.

"Why not just give control over to Aurelianus?" He asked.

I shook my head. "That was something he and I discussed back when we planned this whole thing. We would split duties of the Master between the two of us; but he did not want the notoriety and visibility that came with the label of Master hand. It doesn't suit his purposes."

Hedge opened his mouth to object once more, but I cut him off with a wave of a briar-knit hand. "I talked to him about releasing Lye from his bonds months ago, after I returned from the Red Forest. He was hesitant at first, until I told him how I planned to keep that bastard in line."

He arched and eyebrow. "And how do you think you'll do that?"

A malicious smile crept across my face. "A few weeks ago, when I last visited him, I implanted a length of briar in his chest. Right now, it's curled around his heart. With a simple thought, I can clench the vines together and squeeze it in my grasp. I've tested it out already; it causes him a considerable amount of pain and suffering that lingers for minutes."

The mercenary thought about this for a minute, and then nodded. "I still don't think that this is a good idea," he warned me.

Time will tell if he's right.


-~-~-~-~-

The length of hallway carved into the mountainside was cloaked in darkness, save for the small orange glow from the torch I held in my hand.

I was heading towards the secret prison where Lichensith had been held ever since the bloody coup occurred all those months ago. With each echoing footstep, my doubts grew like a heavy weight in my gut. Was I making the right decision here? There was a small chance that the bastard's breaking and reformation failed, and I would be unleashing a vengeful demon rather than a refined leader. I could be dooming all of those who had trusted me to slow and violent deaths. But, if I continued to be their leader, I would be dooming us to crumbling obscurity as I found myself with less and less time to focus on running the organization.

There was only one way to be sure that I was doing the right thing.

Eventually, I made it to the end of the cavern hall. With a heavy hand, I unlocked the door leading into the prison and pushed it open.

"Hey, Lichensith," I said once I had gotten in and shut the door behind me. "Do you have a minute to spare? I have things I need to discuss with you."

[Lye]

For most, a year in darkness can change a person. To Lichesith Ulroke, a man born of shadow, darkness alone could not break the rage created from loss and betrayal. The new masters of the Crimson Hand needed to get creative to break such primal instincts. Darkness only set the stage for the nightmares and horrors wrought within. His first reformation officer specialized in the crafting of flesh. The fallen assassin king possessed the ability to shift bones to his will, but Aurelianus brought to light the finer nuances of mutilation. The tiefling was one in a sea of millions the assassin trusted. So, when the torture began twelve months ago, it felt more like a conversation between like minds than discipline. Over the endless weeks, this line blurred as the half-demon demonstrated both his creativity and curiosity.

While he had reverted most of the damage wrought, the mind was not so forgiving of the past.

His other reformation specialist, a woman kissed by the darker side of nature, took a much gentler approach. While plunging a thorned vine into one's chest may be considered a mortifying experience, this was merciful by comparison. Of the two, Madison Freebird asked the provoking question: 'Why?' Why so much hate? Why so careless and vengeful? Why so... heartless?

In reflection, such questions from a plant in the skin of a woman seemed humorous.

Why...? Well... The tortured soul finally spilled the reason, but it never left these four walls. Something was forged that night. Through all the chaos, pain, and 'reformation', a well guarded truth was revealed. Did it bring he Briarheart and homicidal tyrant closer?

One might say that, but the word 'respect' comes to mind. Forgiveness? No... Regret? No...

Hatred...?

Not any more.

"Madison," came the eventual reply from a figure tucked in the corner.

The dim lantern fought valiantly to purge the shadow from the cold, damp room. Lye's pale skin, silver hair, and haunting green eyes caught glimpse of the soft flicker. A strange, euphoric sense put the hairs on his arms up on end. Each heated beat of his heart pushed up against the soulless thorns and foliage within his chest. The dog was never without its master's leash.

"You have my undivided attention."

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

As the light of my lantern struggled to erase the shadows within Lichensith's prison, my eyes quickly fell upon his clothed chest.

Several months ago, I planted something inside his body. It was my leash that would keep the assassin in check in the future. It was also my personal killswitch, just in case the work that Aurelianus and I have done in the past year was all for naught.

I could feel the pull of the briars wrapped snugly around his heart. I could feel each and every beat that pumped blood through his veins.

All it would take is one quick clench of my fist, and I could squeeze his heart into pulp. It would cause him agonizing amounts of pain before he finally died. I would get to hear his screams one last time as he fell to the floor, clutching his chest. I would savor the anger and betrayal in his face as he struggled against the iron grip of my vines.

I never forgot what he had me do in Eiskalt, and the absolute nothing that it was all for.

It would be so incredibly easy, and very few would actually know the truth. I could just do away with him right now, allow Aure to take his spies for his own dark purposes, disband the rest of the Crimson Hand, and retreat into the Skavian Wilds in order to continue working on my ever-growing list of things to learn and experiments to conduct.

But then I remembered the conversations we've had over the year. The silver-haired killer shared with me his darkest secrets. He told me stories about his wife and daughter, and how they made him complete. He told me about their death and disappearance respectively, and how his sense of loss and hatred of those who committed that horrible crime forged him into the monster that I had deposed and imprisoned.

Nell's death was fresh in my mind, and the wounds that her loss inflicted on me had yet to heal. When he opened himself up to me, we forged a bond based on the small flashes of happiness in our horrible lives that were snuffed out. I'm not sure I would call it anything more than an understanding and respect; but it was there. Mindful of that, I ignored the part of me that wanted to end Lichensith Ulroke as I drew closer.

I pulled a chair away from the table that the former Master Hand was seated at and set my lantern down. The light within gave color to my prisoner's pale visage, which was as sharp and cold as ever. He stared at me intently, waiting for me to make the first move.

Taking a deep breath, I broke the suffocating silence between us. "I'm not here today to ask you any more questions... Instead, I want to make a deal with you."

[Lye]

"Preferably, this one won't require making a floral arrangement out of my chest cavity? If so, I imagine the deal is between tulips or roses. How close am I?" Lye lifted a hand in a sarcastic gesture.

"I was thinking closer to pansies, actually," Madison replied without so much as wasting a breath. Her features remained straight faced.

"Touche, Freebird." Lye softly clapped his hands. "Were this a year ago, I'd be clawing for your throat right now. Times have changed, haven't they?"

"I didn't come here for playful banter." Madison folded her vine knit hands into one another and placed them against the table's surface. Her sharp, blue eyes corrected the tone.

"Quite the resting bitch face." Lye winced, a sudden pressure beating out his chest. He tried to remain unflinching through it, but found himself clutching at the scar over his heart. "To business then?" Lye managed in a half whimper, half grunt.

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

Were this a year ago, you would've been clawing at your own face as acid melted it off, I thought bitterly as I gave the bastard's heart a quick squeeze. As it turns out, the briar leash might have been one of the smartest things I ever did ever since Aurelianus and I staged the coup.

I did agree with him, though; it was time to get down to business... Before I changed my mind.

Releasing my hold on Lichensith's killswitch, I reclined in my creaky wooden chair. A thick, tense silence filled the space between us, the lantern casting off a dim light but no warmth. I thought about my next words carefully, but decided that it was best to just get to the point. "It has been decided between myself and Aurelianus that you should resume your role as Master Hand of the Order."

The Crimson Assassin's face betrayed no emotion, although his cocked eyebrow hinted at the utter disbelief that brewed inside. "Come again, Freebird?"

"You heard me," I replied as I sunk in my seat. "We are going to reinstate you as leader of the Crimson Hands."

As I waited for him to consider his options, I offered my reasoning. "To be honest," I began, "a lot of it boils down to simply not having the time nor fucks to give to run this group. I have... a lot of projects I'm undertaking; little personal projects, experiments, vendettas, hunts, and the like. So, really it's a matter of convenience for me."

Ulroke studied my face for a minute, his own still frozen in indifference. "And what about the tiefling?"

I shook my head. "Pretty much the same thing. He isn't interested in running the Order. He has his own work to attend to, and would prefer staying out of the top of food chain here out of fear of the attention it might bring to him."

"So then why not just disband the Hands, kill me, and be done with it?"

"Because," I said from behind clenched teeth, "if that's what I ultimately wanted, then I would have done it the night I killed Kyla Orlouge." I leaned in closer. "You see, this past year? It was less of an imprisonment and more of an attempt at re-education. I've always thought that you were capable of leadership; just a little..." I looked around the cave, searching in vain for the proper word before settling on "unrefined."

If the deposed leader was offended, he did not show it. "You were driven; just by the wrong things towards the wrong purpose." My mind flashed back to the conversation we had where Lichensith finally spilled his guts, telling me what had driven him down this path of madness and violence. He told me all about his family, what they had meant to him, and what happened the last time he saw them. His was a tale of loss and hurt and anger. His was a tale I could identify with. I used that knowledge to my advantage, working with him over the course of several months until I could break through his shell and help him hone his anger, as I have done with my own (to an extent).

I dug the key that kept him in shackles out of my pocket and dropped it on the table. His emerald eyes flickered towards it briefly, a flash of hunger coloring his face before quickly disappearing. "There's no time like the present to see if we've accomplished anything here, right?"