Koe had woven more than one story through time, more than one tale of excess and combat. Nothing that he'd woven compared with what he'd seen. A creature who cut time and space, who took mortal wounds without seeming to die, who was casually cruel in the magic that it used. Such a thing was not something that Koe wanted to fight more than once. But he was also not sure how to kill such a beast. Horon was not asking for their help. Mirram seemed to be on the verge of it and yet she was silent, at a glance from Horon. What did all of this mean? What could these two fools possibly have become embroiled in? And why was Horon seemingly unwilling to ask for their help? Koe decided the most direct way to find out was simple.
"I cannot," Horon began.
"But you want our help," Koe did not make it a question.
"Yes," Mirram blurted quickly.
"No," Horon said in the same instant.
Both of them glared at the other for a half-second. But it was Horon's will that won. Mirram looked away with frustration on her face and in her heart - Koe could feel it from across the room. Horon for his part was examining Koe's face. Such an obvious trick worked on the emotionally raw - and whatever this creature was, it was driving Horon to the breaking point. Koe could sympathize and understand. He had his own troubles to deal with - renegade dragons devouring pour souls in the hills - but this nonsense was equally disturbing. And he wanted to know why it troubled him so. Horon's sigh blew out his great white mustache, and the knight finally resigned himself.
"A long time ago," Horon began anew. "There was a witch who drew on powers denied to mortal men and women. She did this by sealing a pact with Lolth herself, though the witch was not of the Underdark. The witch made a man fall in love with her, and had with him a child. Took this child to the altar of hate she constructed in the hills and sacrificed the child. From this pact the witch became something else. A herald of darkness, able to do what darkness can. To twist men's minds. Distort reality. Traverse from one space to another in the blink of an eye, without being the worse for wear. This witch I unknowingly released from her prison. This witch torments me, and the people I protect, because she is still weak yet from being imprisoned."
"How do you know that story is true?" Koe asked quietly.