Chapter 12: The Bandit Fortress

       The wind howled and the snow danced through the freezing air. The path was narrow, and Hobbies had to watch his step as not to fall. He would probably survive the fall, but it would cost him some time to get back up, and time was crucial. He did not know when his enemies would move out again, but he had to get them before they did. It would shame him to duel with an exhausted warrior. There was nothing honorable about such duels. As he spun his thoughts, he noticed a small light farther up the mountain.

“That’s it, eh, their hideout.”

With his goal in sigh he quickened his pace and he soon met the first lookouts.

“What do you want?” asked one of the lookout. “This is White Fang territory.”

“Oh, it’s nothing big; I just heard that your boss is supposed to be incredible, so I thought I’d challenge her to a duel.”

At first the lookouts seemed perplexed, then they gave a hearty laugh.

“We’re bandits, not warriors. Why should we care about such stupid things as duels?”

“So I take it I have to kill you guys until your boss shows herself?”

“You’re welcome to try, but I assure you that we are no pushover.”

One of the bandits readied his weapon and charged at Hobbies, but Hobbies sidestepped and hit the bandit on the back of the head. The bandit toppled and fell down the mountainside. Hobbies pulled his knife from its sheath, and pointed it at the other lookout.

“You’re next, come at me.”

The bandit made a frightened expression took a few steps back, turned and tried to run, but Hobbies was faster. He jumped towards the fleeing bandit and stabbed his knife into the bandit’s leg. The bandit fell and writhed in pain.

“You know,” said Hobbies. “This could have been a lot less painful if you had just taken me to your boss.”

The bandit gasped in pain, tried to speak, but was too shocked to actually say anything useful.

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to go and break some stuff.”

Hobbies pulled his knife out of the bandit’s leg and held it to his throat.

“Goodbye Mister Bandit.”

The guardsman at the gate was leaning against the wall, reading some kind of magazine when Hobbies knife pierced his heart. He collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. Hobbies searched the gate for a kind of opening mechanism, but was little successful.

“Well, nothing to do about it.”

Hobbies took a few steps back and channeled his magic into his hands. He let it flow around his body and back into his hands. After a few circulations he stepped towards the gate and pushed a wave of energy towards its center  The gate shattered with an explosive sound that likely alarmed every bandit in the entire fortress. Hobbies walked into courtyard, grinning and ready to pick a fight.

“This is going to be interesting.”

Chapter 11: meeting and leaving

Maria was just in the middle of her daily routine of staring at the walls when she heard a familiar voice. It wasn't too distant, maybe two cells away. She could hardly make out the words through the thick iron doors, but she was sure: It was him. Angrily she rose from her bed and hammered against the cold metal. „Hobbies, you damn idiot!“, she shouted loudly. Her fists hurt from hitting the door, but she threw some more punches. Not because she thought he hadn't noticed her already, but to show him how angry she was.

“Maria?”, he replied, now loud enough to be understood. He didn't even sound surprised, did he? Or was she just imagining that?

“What the hell are you even doing? You agreed to take a trip with me, not a crime spree! And now look where your stupid impulses brought us!”
“Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize that by taking a trip, you meant a trip with me on a leash!”, he screamed back, now obviously angry. “You brought that all over yourself, you know – If you had done what I told you, you'd still be free!”

“Oh, I should have just stayed with that psycho bandit woman? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea!”, she replied, raising her voice even more, although it made her throat hurt.

Suddenly another male, rough voice from a cell between them joined their heated conversation: “Is this stinking hellhole not bad enough? You two lovebirds can't even leave me some fucking silence?”

“Oh well sorry for interrupting your comfortable stay at this fine establishment, maybe you should talk to the management about a FUCKING REFUND?”, Hobbies shouted with so much anger in his voice that Maria became scared. He had never been this furious before.

To complete the chaotic scene, two guards came rushing to the source of disturbance, of course shouting while doing so: “Will you filthy rats shut your damn mouths? Who's responsible for this? Tell me and you might escape the beating you all deserve!”

“Him, the one to my left, it was him!”, shouted the unknown prisoner without hesitation.

Maria heard the guards approaching the door while Hobbies protested: “Yeah, go ahead, you fucking fascists! I have rights, you know! You'll regret it if you touch me!”

She heard the guards laughing, the sound of a lock opening and a heavy door that swung open with squeaking hinges. Then there was silence.

Silence. And no sign of him, as far as she could see in this moonlit landscape. How could that be? He had just left the motel's bar, and she had rushed after him after quickly paying the barkeeper.

Suddenly she heard footsteps on the stairs behind her, inside the house. It was Hobbies, he had fetched his traveling bag from their room.

“Where do you think you are going? And with your stuff, too? Are you just leaving me here?”

Maria was worried.

“Just wait here, I won't be gone long, I promise!”, Hobbies said to her reassuringly, but without paying much attention to her. It was obvious that he was somewhere else with his thoughts. With an adventurous look on his face he rushed past her before she could stop him.

Maria followed him out into the night, shivering from the cold. Hobbies now stood on the lawn next to the parking place, motionless, upright, staring into the distance where the hilly countryside stretched out for miles. He seemed very focused.

“Hobbies, please, just tell me what you are doing! And don't leave me here! Come on, talk to me!” Maria became upset. Why was he ignoring her? She waved her hand in front of his face, but he now had his eyes closed. “Hobbies!”, she shouted. And suddenly, from one moment to the next, he had vanished. A gust of the chilling wind blew some scattered snowflakes through the air. And then it was silent again.

Chapter 10:

It was cold. She tried to escape the cold by wrapping herself in her blankets, but that was hardly successful. The cold seeped into her bones, made her muscles twitch. She trembled. Fucking Prison, she thought. If only I could use magic. The prison obviously didn’t care for the wellbeing of its ‘customers’. It did not give them enough to live a decent live, but it did not let them die. It did not allow them to die. It was nothing Maria could not understand. It was said to be one of the worst prisons that existed. Oh what would she give for a pot of hot soup, a cup of fresh tea. She would probably even appreciate being burned on a stake.

If he had known, Hobbies Kraft would probably have laughed about it. The heat was now bearable, which did not mean that it was pleasant. The mind trap was still consistent, so at least his mind still worked properly. He sat down in the hot sand and let his magic flow. Expanding his senses he searched for errors, that would aid him in his escape. Errors that would reduce the amount of power he needed to destroy this illusion. Errors that would prevent him from using too much power and destroying his own mind. He did not find many, but he found some. Enough to let him be optimistic, but not enough to let him be sure. He did not know how long he had been trapped, but it was surely enough to be an annoying obstacle to his plans. “Well,” he said. “Let’s see if this can get me out.” He cancelled all his other magic and poured all his concentration in one big shockwave. The shockwave ripped through the illusion, like a sword through a cotton shirt and the twin suns shattered into a rain of a million sparkling shards.

As he began to feel the cold air in his lungs and the hard mattress under his body, he immediately missed the heat of the desert.  He looked at the grey walls and the meagre furniture in the small room. “Prison?” Hobbies stood up and walked towards the door. “Hey guards!” he shouted. “Bring me some food. I feel like I haven’t eaten in months.”

Chapter 9: held captive

It's been a long time.

Or has it?

Hobbies rose from the dusty ground, feeling dazed, confused and tired. His whole body was aching and he was thirsty from the dry heat.

Where was he? He didn't know how he got here, how long he's been here, he had even trouble remembering who he was. The thoughts in his heavy head were clouded and fuzzy, no matter how hard he tried to focus.

The featureless flat desert landscape stretched out seemingly forever, with absolutely no trees or hills to shield him from the glaring, torrid sun that sat in the sky in front of him, close to the horizon. Yet it wouldn't set, Hobbies realized. He turned around to hide from the bright light in his own shadow – Only to stare into another, mercilessly blazing fireball in the sky. It sat there like a mirrored image, at the same height, exactly opposite the first sun.

“Oh,” Hobbies thought, his fighting spirit coming awake. “Well, that's interesting...”

meanwhile...

The cell wasn't big, but it wasn't tiny either. It was spacious enough to contain a bed, a desk with a chair, and a small toilet, and left still some room for her to pace up and down, which she did often, in thoughts about the past few months. It's not that she was surprised by this outcome – after all, what could you expect when you travel with a potential personified apocalypse? Still, there was something odd about how the whole thing had progressed, and while she couldn't quite grasp what it was that bewildered her, she was certain that it existed – some mysterious background scheme, someone pulling strings to whatever end. She had never really enjoyed conspiracy theories, and being stuck in one sure wasn't great either.

“Oh Hobbies,” Maria thought, “why did you leave me alone in Ruskala? Was that part of your plan – and do you even have one? And most importantly, where are you?”

It's a mind trap. And a pretty solid one, too. It has taken him quite some time to realize that he was stuck in one, and that shows serious workmanship.

Hobbies had experienced one before, but back then he had only needed a few minutes to free himself. The premise was simple enough: Isolate someone from external stimuli and turn his thoughts inwards, giving him some simple “dream scene” to distract or confuse him.

The empty desert didn't leave much room for details to go wrong, yet it was seemingly physically and therefore mentally exhausting – a good choice.

Shaping these false realities doesn't take that much magical skill, but rather requires creativity. The scene the captive is held in is built by his own mind, and therefore quite tricky to shape from the outside. Some errors are unavoidable, but in this case, the double sun had played straight in the hands of his enemy, weakening Hobbies even more. Could this have been deliberate? Was his enemy so skillful that he could even use the errors to his benefit?

“Excellent handiwork,” he thought, “I'm actually looking forward to meeting my captor once I'm out of here – I wonder if he'll share my feelings?” Grinning, he straightened up, now no longer held down by this dream world's fake torments. Silent and motionless he stood there, preparing to tear this reality apart.

Chapter 8: the worth of information

The moon shone brightly through the window and illuminated the figure, which was sitting in the armchair in silence, waiting for its companion to finish her actions. “Why does she even unpack in such a situation?” thought Hobbies Kraft. “It’s not like we are going to stay long anyway.” The girl hummed a playful tune, as she finished unpacking the last of her trunks, allowing Hobbies to sigh in relieve. “I hope you don’t expect me to help you pack that up again.” Maria looked at him in surprise, then started to smile. “If you ask me like that, I’ll have to leave it to you.” “Just great,” answered Hobbies, as he noticed Maria heading for the door. “Where are you going?” “There is a bar in the basement, I thought about getting some information.” “You just want to get drunk, you profane nun.” Maria chuckled while opening the door. “Aren’t you coming?”

The bar was a bit shabby, but one could only expect so much from a motel-bar. There were few guests, and all of them were probably travelers, which would make them a possible source of information, alas not one with a standardized quality. Hobbies decided to use the most reliable source of information in this room, which was luckily identical with the most reliable source of alcohol. “Ho there, travelers,” greeted the bartender with an inviting smile, “what can I get you?” “Two glasses of vodka and some info on the road, if you please.” The bartender put two glasses in front of the couple and started to fill them with Maria’s favorite clear liquid. “Very well,” he said. “Where do you want to go?” Contrary to the bartender’s expectations, it was Maria, who gave voice to her thoughts, informing him of her intention to travel north. “The north, eh?” mused the bartender while stroking his beard. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. That damn White Fang bastards are attacking people all along the road to Ruskala.” Hobbies took a sip from his drink, before retorting to the bartender. “We’ll have no problem with simple bandits, I think.” “That’s where the problem lies, buddy,” said the bartender, leaning forward to the couple. “Apparently, their leader is some really dangerous bitch that likes to fight on the front lines.” Hobbies put down his glass and looked at the bearded man in front of him. “You don’t intend to let me have any more information for free, do you?” The bartender gave a short laugh at this accurate observation. “You’re a smart one, lad. Trade needs to flow, you know.” Hobbies Kraft silently pulled out some money and put it on the counter, showing the bartender his interest and will to pay. “Thank you for your business,” laughed the bartender as he put the money in his pockets. “Apparently, the White Fang have their headquarters not too far away from here, and their leader is a crazy bitch that freezes her enemies to death. And the worst of all: no magic shield seems to work.” For the first time this evening, Hobbies made an expression that could not help but betray his interest in the person in question. “A cursed one, eh?” 

The bartender looked at Hobbies Kraft in confusion. “What the hell is a curse?” Hobbies took another sip from his drink. “Although,” he started his explanation. “Although it’s called a curse, it’s actually more like some contract. A contract with some god.” Maria, being a nun made a pained expression. “Although the church does not acknowledge them, there are actually many gods, each with its own specialties and responsibilities. Such contracts allow humans to use the powers of the gods. And each time they use those powers they have to pay a price. Since that price is, in the most cases, outrageously high, it’s called a curse.” Having ended his explanation Hobbies Kraft rose from his barstool and put on his coat. “I’m going out,” said Hobbies Kraft, his voice betraying a hint of bloodlust. “I need some fresh air.”

Chapter 7: on the road again

It was dark night already when a sharp pain awoke Hobbies from his self-inflicted unconsciousness. “Ouch!”, he proclaimed as Maria carefully, but swiftly pulled the bandages from his head. He touched his face and was relieved to find his wounds gone. The only remnants were some scars and a lot of dried blood.

“Oh don't you even dare to complain, you idiot! To just put me in a situation like that, without asking me or even telling me beforehand...!” Maria was visibly upset and glared at him angrily.

“Well, but it worked, didn't it?” Hobbies flashed her a smile, opened the door and got out of the car to wash his face with a bottle of water. The car's engine was still running, and the headlights illuminated a bit of the road ahead. The moon, hanging above a small group of trees, provided an additional source of light for the scene. They were in the countryside now, Hobbies observed. The rain had stopped, but the ground was still wet and muddy. The air was cool and refreshing.

“Thank you”, Hobbies said with sincerity when he got back into the bus. “I mean it. I know I didn't made things easy for you, but I trusted you and knew that you would be able to deal with it. So thanks – And I'm sorry.”

Maria was speechless by that direct and sudden apology. She muttered “It's fine” and then focused her attention on the road, putting the vehicle into motion again.

The monotonic humming of the old engine was the only sound that filled the bus, until Maria broke the silence after a few minutes. “We should reach a motel within the next hour. Sleeping in the bus isn't really that comfortable, so I'd like to avoid it if possible.”

“Seems good to me!” Hobbies replied. After Maria remained silent, he resumed talking.

“So now, what exactly is your plan? I mean, on a bigger scale - How are you gonna make me change my mind?" Maria smiled. "Oh, you just wait, Hobbies..."
"Come on, I'm curious!"
"Well, Hobbies...", Marie replied after some time, "I've got some things planned. But to be honest, I think it doesn't really matter what I show you. Actually, I think you coming on this journey with me already proves that you don't really want to go through with that crazy plan of yours. You may be lost, you may be unhappy, but I sincerely doubt that you are that... well, evil."
"That is most cetainly a cute little idea you have there", Hobbies replied with a smile, more light-hearted than the actually rather serious conversation topic should allow. "But I'm sorry to let you down - My plan is already set in stone. If there was something that could change my mind, I wouldn't take any risks like travelling around the country - So, as a matter of fact, my joining you on this journey actually means that the world's final fate is irrevocable, quite contrary to your theory."
Maria didn't seem convinced. "Oh, hide behind your smart speeches all you want ... I know I'm right, and deep down you know it too... And if not, you'll realize it before all this is over."
"It's hopeless to argue with a believer, isn't it?" Hobbies chuckled. 

Chapter 6: the pains of traveling

The dim light in the tunnel made her nervous. Will they find out? What will happen if they find out? How will we get out of here? Those were the questions going through Maria’s mind. Hobbies Kraft gave a muffled groan. Contrary to Maria’s new found hope he was still unconscious. This may very well be a favorable condition in this situation.

A creaking sound suddenly broke the silence and a single soldier stepped into the tunnel. His face felt somewhat familiar, but Maria didn’t have the courage to ask. On the other hand, his face was the incarnation of the word “ordinary”. He smiled, then readied his gun. “Could you please step away from the car and put your hands on the wall?” Maria did as ordered. She was neither afraid of the soldier, nor did she fear his gun. She feared the situation may go out of control if she did not comply. 

The soldier lowered his gun, then walked around the bus. “Are you traveling, Lady?” Maria’s heart started to beat faster. “We were planning on doing so, but my husband got hurt, so we have to rearrange our schedule.” The soldier gave a wry grin. “I thought so, you got quite the luggage in there. May I ask you to open the door please?” Again Maria complied. The soldier looked through the luggage, then went to take a look at Hobbies, whose face was still covered in bandages. “He seems to be unconscious, how long has he been like this?” The soldier didn’t seem very concerned; maybe he was trying to do some small talk? “I don’t know, maybe about 30 minutes.” As she frantically answered, Maria grew even more impatient. 

The soldier looked at her with an expression that seemed to say “Don’t be so hectic girl; I’m just doing my job.” The soldier looked back at Hobbies, then at the small backpack by Hobbies feet. After a short look at the contents it was put back in its place, then the soldier turned back to Maria. 

“Lady, have you heard about the recent smugglings?” Maria was confused. “No, sir, I haven’t.” The soldier looked at her face and apparently found her expression to be genuine. “I haven’t found any questionable substances in your car, so you may as well pass, but please be vigilant.”

The soldier walked over to the barrier and saluted, which caused the barrier to be raised. As Maria drove past the barrier she thought she had heard the soldier mumble something. “Good luck, drunken nun.”