The True Face of Evil

A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️

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In a world where evil has many faces, openly punishing evil was a sort of public amusement. Beheading outlaws, burning witches, and whipping criminals were ordinary and welcome sights.

Hagravens are notorious for their ways in witchcraft and many simpletons would usually go and secretly meet them for all sorts of spells and potions. Things like a spell to make a man love a woman over another woman, a spell to kill the child of a certain couple, a spell to destroy a relationship between two lovers, and even spells to make men or women impotent. These were the sorts of shitty services Hagravens were happy to offer.

However, the more shocking thing was the number of people who were willing to pay for such services. As if the entire world has lost all of its humanity, the number of spells gathered by the Guards was just innumerable.

"Lay them on the ground over there. Don't touch them with your bare skin and wait for the Priests to come and do their proper work." Thane Bryling commanded the guards following her as they entered the Plaza together.

In there, the one frowning upon such a situation was General Tullius and Thane Brina Merilis who were in town for similar reasons as Jon Dare and Thane Bryling.

"I am terribly sorry but this place is locked for an execution an hour from now." An Imperial Legionary advanced towards Bryling and tried to stop the guards from entering the execution grounds.

"It's alright. We'll be taking things from here on out."

However, a big hand held the Legionary's shoulder and almost threw him off balance but kept a good grip on him still.

"Who's…" The soldier wanted to get his hand on his blade but as soon as his eyes spotted the owner of the hand holding his shoulder, he knew there was a big problem.

A smiling redhead with immense power… or rather, THE smiling redhead with immense power, Jon Dare. A man who tends to solve his issues with power and money. In other words, something beyond a normal legionary's pay grade.

"I believe you are putting your hand on a Legion Soldier's body during his duty, Thane Jon of Winterhold." A voice came to Jon's ears.

"Is there a law against that…" Jon asked as he turned around and recognized the one who spoke, "Thane Brina of the Pale?"

"Actually, there is." She said.

"Actually, I didn't know." Jon replied before letting go of the Legion soldier.

The soldier moved away immediately as he kept rubbing his shoulder but he seemed fine.

"And please, evacuate this area since it is reserved for official business." She said and turned away.

"I am sure a normal citizen has no authority to convey official orders." He said.

"Oh!" She turned around with an amused face, "I happen to be a Civilian Advisor of the Imperial Legion. So, from a Legion Official to a normal citizen of Skyrim, please leave this area as you happen to be obstructing official business."

"Oh!" Jon returned the same amused face, "And I happen to be a Deputy for Thane Bryling working with the City Guards. You know… I am something of an Official myself."

"You're a Thane Deputy?" She asked, looking at him up and down.

"And you're a Civilian Advisor." Jon smiled, "We're both moving up in the world, ain't we?"

"You're still obstructing official busi…" She joined her arms together but Jon cut her words short.

"Piss off!" He said while still maintaining his cool smile before turning immediately perplexed, "I am sorry, did I just speak my mind out loud! God! This witchcraft has some nasty effects."

Brina's face hardened as Jon kept fooling around. She failed to stop his entourage of guards from entering the place and laying out all the spells and witch hexes on the ground.

General Tullius had to intervene himself at this point.

"I see some intruders are still here." He came from behind Thane Brina, "Thane Bryling, Thane Jon, please take your business elsewhere."

"Wow! You're really so short up close." Jon said once he saw the General before holding his mouth as if he said something that he wasn't supposed to say.

Everyone lost their words as Jon made an awkward face and the General's expressions turned dark.

"I am sorry, General. Thane Jon was infected by some Witchcraft that…" Thane Bryling immediately intervened as she looked at Jon and not believing that she was following up on his bullshit, "… he speaks out what he thinks without restraint."

"That's a dangerous curse." Jon added.

"Indeed." Bryling nodded, "Very… bad… curse."

"The execution grounds are closed." The General said as he turned expressionless.

"Well the area is wide, we can have joint executions. Celebrate together!" Jon said cheerfully.

"After the official business is done, you can do whatever you want with those things." The General refused to give Jon a leeway as he looked disdainfully at the Hagravens.

"Actually, we are here officially." Bryling came forward, "We are using the Execution Grounds."

The General was displeased with Bryling talking that way.

"You're overstepping your position, Thane." He said.

"My position is to enforce Law and maintain Order, General." She replied, "And from where I stand, your actions of occupying the Execution Grounds for a few criminals you caught in my hold is vulgar and overstepping the jurisdiction of the Guards of Haafingar and the Court of Solitude. By Law, a Legion Soldier can detain and arrest but the criminal would be handed to the local authority to be tried and passed judgment on."

Thane Bryling spared nothing against General Tullius which was wild compared to how things used to run in the past even during the days of Elisif.

"Damn, gurl." Jon spoke then acted as if he said that unintentionally.

Everyone ignored Jon trying not to fall to his provocations but it seemed that Bryling was ready for a brawl.

"Those criminals are pirates who attacked a Legion ship." Thane Brina said, "Therefore they are to be punished by the Legion and within its jurisdiction."

"Hoax!" Jon spoke sarcastically but covered his mouth again, "Truly sorry!"

"Perhaps the witchcraft infecting Thane Jon Dare is going to be problematic. Shouldn't you be escorted to a place to rest?" General Tullius asked.

"And miss all the trash-talking? No way!" Jon said happily but acted as if he shouldn't have said that.

"Last warning! Take your business away." The General almost became too annoyed by Jon's act.

"I wonder why the Legion is occupying these execution grounds when they have their castle ground!" Jon asked.

"It is closed for secret drills." Thane Bryling mocked them alongside Jon.

"Last warning, Thanes." The General had enough as he put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Lord Jon, Lady Bryling."

But immediately, the place was swarmed with hold guards led by Captain Aldis. They came in numbers and seemed serious and ready for business.

Brina Merilis immediately held the arm of the General away from the hilt and started whispering something to the General that if they were to act hostile in front of some guards, this would nip her run for the Jarl position in the bud.

"It seems that our Imperial Friends are denying us the public execution grounds." Thane Bryling said, "Fine, we will move over there."

Bryling pointed at a vacant spot in the middle of the road not too far from the execution ground. The thing which made both Thane Brina Merilis and General Tullius feel very proud was that they pushed their opponents back.

"Plant the burning poles." Captain Aldis ordered the guards.

"Sir, the Priests have arrived to purify the curses." A guard reported.

"Fine. Don't hold anything back! Tie up the Hagravens to the poles and get the Priests to work."

The moment both General Tullius and Brina Merilis celebrated the fact that they managed to chase away Jon Dare and Thane Bryling, they noticed that where the burning poles were located was blocking the way to the execution grounds.

Complaining won't work since it is not against the law to occupy the street by an official for any matter they see fit, especially if that official is a landlord with the scale of Thane Bryling.

But the situation has escalated too fast to stop at the moment. With the arrival of the Priests from the Temple of the Divines, a chaotic situation occurred.

"This Hex was laid by the Hagraven Anthonotha in the name of the Lady of Rot Namira that Elka of Dragonstone loses her sight. The hex carries desecration for the name of Lord Akatosh and is considered sacrilege." A Priest announced.

"No!"

"How could this happen?!"

"How evil!"

The situation was merely beginning and many people started to crowd around the burning sticks while the Priests started unsealing the Spells and going over them.

A Witchcraft Spell is done differently from usual spellcasting for it to have its effects. A Witch would gather power through many mediums but she always needs a trace of her prey, be it a few strands of hair, some clipped nails, blood on a sheet of cloth, or even broken teeth.

The witch would then start putting those traces in a spell and draw power from Oblivion. They would use rituals in the name of certain Daedric Princes to let this magic flow from Oblivion to Mundus.

After that, the contract happens. The contractor, who is usually a person, specifies the kind of harm they wish to fall on the victim and the Witch writes it with Daedric Script. They also must insult the Divine which the victim worships and praise the Daedra that will be the source of the curse.

In other words, the Contractor and the Witch must commit sacrilege against the Divines and do a ritual for the Daedra in order to let this curse befall.

The name of the contractor is always written in the spell but the Priests couldn't utter it out loud. Obviously, it would cause public disorder if such secrets were revealed. However, some could guess who is who. The Contractors' names were listed and sent to the Guards Headquarters in order to detain them later on.

Either way, the situation continued until nightfall. Half of the city was crowded over the place and no one even glanced over the boring Pirate execution held by the Legion.

Still, it was a depressing display for humanity at its worst. A brother cursing his brother with impotence in order to hog out the inheritance with his kids, a sister cursing his sister to make her skin wither so that she can marry instead, a woman cursing another that all her children die at birth, a woman cursing another that she would never marry, a merchant cursing his rival with poverty, a fisherman cursing another with bad luck.

Too much ugliness, too much unfairness.

Between the victims, not everyone knew who would wish them this much harm and they kept wailing and screaming for the Priests while demanding to reveal the Contractors.

Among the gathering people, many hid their faces as they knew what they had done and wished not to be recognized.

But the High Priest eventually came out to address these matters.

"Whoever has contracted a Witch for a Hex, may the Divines curse you and kick you out of their mercy. Oh, good people! Those who contract the power of the Daedra will always receive a backlash once that contract is broken and the Divines will punish them greatly for disturbing the natural order and insulting the Gods. Rejoice, brothers and sisters for the Divines are as Just as they are Merciful."

"Thank you, High Priest." Jon jumped on the stage behind the Priest right away, "I was also contacted with a Hex and it was no joke, folks, it was no joke at all."

Jon turned around and winked to Brina Merilis who was watching from far away. Of course it was no joke at all since he wasn't joking when he threw some insults at her earlier.

"Either way, I think it is time for you to heal and get back to your lives. Thanks to the good gesture of Lady Bryling…" Jon dragged Thane Bryling closer and raised her hand that was holding Dawnbreaker, "… the Dare Dragon Company's Dare Pharmacy has been ordered to cooperate with the Temple of Solitude to offer high-grade healing tonics and medicines for the victims of this vile magic. We are now ready to punish the Evil Witches with the power of this mighty Holy Sword."

Jon grabbed the sheath and removed it off the sword to show the beautiful and elegant Dawnbreaker.

Bryling held the blade upwards and contemplated its beauty for a while thinking of the actions she had taken while accompanying Jon.

It was nothing wrong at all but she employed many things to her benefit. She has gained popularity and achieved enough merits but it wasn't as selfless as she would always do.

But it was fun.

Now all she needed to do was to light the mounds of firewood under the burning poles with the fire that comes from the sword's enchantment and deliver justice upon the enemies of the Divine.

"My Lady! My Lord! WAIT!"

But something out of their plan happened.

A Priest of Akatosh, who was one of the eight Priests working on unsealing the hexes, rushed from his spot towards Jon and Bryling.

"What's wrong, brother Varek?" Bryling asked.

"You… You need to see this!" He said and opened one of the hexes to Jon and Bryling.

It was thick with the smell of urine which the witches would use as an ingredient in their unholy contracts but the nasty smell meant that it was not an old one.

It was also written in Daedric letters, had a lot of blonde strands of hair, written all in circles, and centered with the sigil of Boethiah. On its edges, it has the sigils of Talos, Kynareth, Arkay, and Mara all drawn while flipped over indicating disrespect.

"Holy Shit!" Jon couldn't help but curse.

"What does it say?" Bryling asked as she was incapable of reading Daedric.

Jon looked around and saw that the noises had died down. He must announce what's written now that the Priest knows what's in it too.

"Curses and bad omens! Death befalls all but the timeless! Bring Disorder by Death. In the name of Boethiah, Prince of Deceit and Conspiracy. Let Talos who offers kingship topple off his throne, let Kynareth who offers healing be blinded away from the sick, let Arkay who carries the souls offer no rest, and let Mara who offers protection wail over… Elisif of Solitude… as she dies a horrible death."

The words were so sacrilege but Jon realized how awful this all turned out to be.

Someone cursed Elisif with a Death Curse and he was the one who sent Jullanar to deliver the killing blow.

It almost shocked Solitude to its core… not almost… it completely shocked Solitude as the people looked at Jon with pale faces and sunken hearts.

Even Brina Merilis who stood watching it all from afar and General Tullius who was returning to the castle all turned towards him.

And they all waited for the name of the killer.

The contractor.

The one that played this whole situation from the backstage and instigated disorder.

"The Contractor is… the Great Hidden One… LOT-SOVEN-GEIN!"

Jon immediately snatched Dawnbreaker from Bryling's hands and aimed the sword at the night sky with a terrifying amount of Magicka.

A beam of light rose from the blade and formed a pillar that pierced through the skies. The light hit a certain height and then expanded in a circular burst that illuminated the night sky as if it was the time of day for a short few seconds.

These few seconds were enough… enough for the entire Solitude to witness it all.

A Dragon far in the sky… a dark one similar to the color of night flying gracefully in the sky without a single roar.

It was there for a second before flapping his wings at maximum power and disappearing back in the darkness without a trace.

Was it an illusion projected by Jon Dare?

No, it is not. It was a true dread hidden in the sky that they all felt equally.

Leader of the Dragon Cult's Secret Dragon Horde, the fifth in line from Alduin in the chain of command, the cunning Dragon that fights without a shred of dignity and manipulates kings and jarls to fight against each other. The Great Hidden One, Lot-soven-gein.

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A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️