Meet the Author [Goody + incendo]

Green eyes widened with affronted incredulity as he stared at her. He simply couldn't believe it. How dare she tell him "no"?

Mahon's frown deepened, his chin dipping low as he glared balefully at her, jerking his sword at her in a heated pointing gesture. "You said you would help me! You said, we would watch the tv and the internet for signs of him! You said you would help me stop him! Now, you refuse...because it is a long time to travel there?! Because you fear these police and their arrows? I do not fear them! I will cut every man down who dares stand in my way!"

His words came out on a ragged growl of fury, his sword lowering as he closed the distance between them, standing nose to nose with Mara, glowering down at her. "I fought through the hell of Inovok and Tyagana," he said, his voice going low as he invoked the names of Gammon's deadliest outposts. "Filled to the brim with demons, goblins, and flesh eating monsters, I sliced through millions of them, flayed them where they stood, gutting the vilest of his forces." Sometimes on the point of exhaustion. They had been hard, gritty, nightmarish months fighting through the darkest parts of Gammon's kingdom to the shadow keep, the center of it all.

"Don't pretend to protect me, m'lady," Mahon said softly. "Especially when this world possesses no warriors such as myself. Demons couldn't keep me from Gammon, I doubt men can. Now, you will do as you promised me and take me to Lafayette to face my destiny."

He was hard and stubborn, glaring down at her, his chin jutting obstinately, sword gripped at his side. Claw's moonstone flickered as it hummed in his hand, urging both people to bring it to the enemy it so desperately wished to taste the blood of.
 
-it wasn’t the glare that made her flinch this time, it was the jerk of Claw in her direction. She took a small step backward, her eyes blinking at his words.

Drawing in a ragged breath, she licked her lips. Shaking her head quietly. Her hands clasped in front of her, fingers fidgeting with the soft material of her robe.

She let him speak, let him rehash the tale she knew all to well of what he’d done, what hell he’d gone through. What she had put him through. When he closed the distance, she took one more step backward, her back pressing softly against the edge of the wall behind her, the television still flickering behind and over her shoulder.

She squared her shoulders softly and shook her head again. Her voice coming out soft, a touch of fear lingering against her tongue but she spoke with a quiet, concerned conviction.-

“No, Mahon. I will not. Because whether you want to believe anything I’ve told you or will tell you or not, I’m not pretending to protect you, no more now than when I stopped those men when you first arrived. This is not your world. Those police are not demons but they will do their job and it won’t be with arrows, it’ll be with bullets that could very well kill you instantly. And I won’t be able to stop them this time, Moe.”

-she stepped to the left and out from between him and the wall, her eyes dropping to Claw, shaking her head again as she felt the hum, clearly this time. Her gaze darting back to his face, she sighed.-

“I will help you, Moe. But not like this. Not when the chance and risk of you dying is far greater than your brothers is right now. And I’ve already told you, not in a place that other innocent people could die. No. You can be mad at me, you can glare, you can become cold, you can hate me. But I will not let you or anyone else die today, it’s not what you’re supposed to do.”

-she started to move past him, her lips pursing softly.-
 
It’s not what you’re supposed to do.

He visibly flinched from those words, as if she struck him, surprise and epiphany bleeding into his expression as he processed everything she'd said. Mahon had been somewhat cowed by her reprimanding tone up to that point, admitting, at least to himself, that he didn't understand the magic of bullets and how they could kill a man instantly. It was quite possible, with no warriors in this land, it instead was populated by warrior mages, soldiers who wielded deadly magic forces rather than trained in weaponry. Which might explain why all the police guards he'd seen didn't seem to possess any notable weapons when they'd come to engage him. How close had he come to destruction before Mara had arrived to claim him as her lost friend?

But even worse than this gut-souring revelation was the shame that bit him over her categorizing the men who held Gammon prisoner as innocents. It was like a rock to the temple, suddenly understanding how wrong he'd read the situation, what his relentless pursuit of his brother had almost made him become. Long ago, while fighting through the worst of the hordes in Inovok, the first outpost, Mahon had accepted that in order to defeat his brother, he needed to submit to and become a monster just as formidable as the evil Demon Lord. It hadn't occurred to him until now how much of justice and the moral good he'd sacrificed for this vengeance and peace.

These American soldiers had done nothing wrong. They swore no allegiance to Gammon and likely wouldn't, paying with their lives if the Demon Lord turned his power against them for their rejection of him. And yet Mahon had been perfectly willing to slay every single one of them...simply for standing between him and his brother.

Looking down at Claw, Mahon frowned softly at the blade that had been silenced by his overwhelming shame, the moonstone no longer glowing as it withdrew to sleep. There would be no bloodshed today and now knowing the guilt he felt, Claw would not help him kill innocent men just to stop the evil of the Demon Lord. Contritely, Mahon sheathed the blade back into its scabbard, stroking apologetically at the quiet moonstone in the hilt, before lowering it back beside his thigh and looking at Mara.

This woman... With a will of steel, both soft and vulnerable, yet stubborn and full of authority, she'd proven herself more worthy of the task than he was himself. Blinded by his all-consuming pursuit of this goal, he hadn't seen what he was willing to do to rid the world of evil...the evil he had been willing to visit upon this strange, magical, peaceful land. She'd seen it and she'd held her ground, demanding better of him. ...because she knew he was better than that.

Before she could get too far away, Mahon reached for her, pulling her back to face him. "Mara, wait... I'm sorry," he said softly, his anger wilted now, his eyes looking everywhere but her face, searching for a way to explain. "I don't wish to kill innocent men...who's only crime was being in the way. You're right. That's not who I am and this conflict doesn't involve them. I guess...I just got so used to battling monsters, of Gammon being just out of reach..."

His shoulders slumped heavily with the weight of these admissions, baring himself to her. Tipping his head slightly, he searched the ceiling for a moment before finally letting his tormented gaze fall to her, finally daring to look her in the eyes. "I can't lose him again... If you truly are still willing to help me, I accept it. I am sorry I doubted you. You have been lovely and supportive, teaching me so much. I have no reason to besmirch your character, like an infant throwing a fit." The hand on her arm stroked her through her robe as he held her and he stood close enough to feel the heat coming off of her, her softness so near and enticing. He was tempted to fall into her again, just to save himself from this embarrassment but he resisted, waiting to hear what she might say.
 
-she tensed when she felt his hand grasp her from behind and she almost pulled away with a jerk but she realized his grip wasn’t harsh or harmful.

She turned emerald eyes upon him that held an immeasurable amount of understanding, understanding how important it was to find and stop Gammon. She knew, she truly knew because she’d made him too. She’d created him on the other side of Mahon’s cloth as it were. Mahon was the Light and Gammon was the Dark. Just as she knew that she’d driven Mahon to the brink and it was no wonder he’d almost gotten lost in his brother’s very own darkness in a way.-

“I know....and I’m sorry. I did that to you, I’m sorry.”

-she said quietly. Her gaze dropping apologetically to the floor beside his feet. He didn’t have to finish, he didn’t have to verbally admit to anything else. She could see it all. She cleared her throat softly and drew in a breath, letting her gaze rise again to watch him quietly. Her brow tight partially in thought and worry. Finally she simply nodded before she spoke.-

“I am. I said I would and I will. I’m just....not sure how right now, so your doubt isn’t entirely misplaced. We can’t just walk in and demand they let him lose so you can take care of him, that’s not how it works here. I knew how it would end, how you would defeat him, before but....things have changed. I don’t know how or why.”

-her voice was quiet and she could hear the confused, desperate uncertainty in her own words. This wasn’t something as simple as a little writers block. This was wildly different.

Her gaze fell again, this time landing on his hand as his fingers curled around her arm, sweeping soft and warm and strong. She wanted to fall into the rest of his warmth and strength but she knew she couldn’t. She shouldn’t. Not again. She didn’t move either. Her lips pursing together softly as she tried to turn her thoughts back to just how she could help him end this with Gammon, once and for all.-
 
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