9.1 : The Greater Good?

Serenity sat back in her chair, listening to the conversations around her. In her hand she slowly rotated a small mirror she had asked Destiny for.

“He seems a good person” she thought to herself. “But perhaps that is too simplistic for Barovia, what little good we’ve found always seems to turn out tainted”. She rotated the mirror again, playing with it, letting it pass between each of her fingers in turn. “He said himself, trust no one”, Serenity’s eyes narrowed, the mirror was suddenly held completely still. She waited until everyone was occupied in deep conversation and then lowered her eyes to glance in the mirror. In the murky, scratched glass she could make out a Half-Elf bard sitting across from Hoskgak, chatting away.

Serenity let her eyes close, the mirror once again began to play in her hand. “Not a vampire then, that’s a relief.” Serenity opened her eyes and looked straight at Rictavio. “There may be worse things than vampires in this land, but for now, this Half-Elf is the only reason I am still alive”

It had been Rictavio who suggested the sanctuary of the church to protect from the Night Hags. When the sacred bones that protected the church were taken, it was Rictavio again who suggested what magic could interrupt their nightly hauntings. Finally, the party was rested. It was as if a great burden was lifted from Serenity’s mind, she was also relieved to see Destiny and Hoskgak suffered less from their addiction and were growing in strength again.

“Who is this bard who can barely hold a tune, but has more knowledge of the terrors of this land than anyone else we have met?”

-

Serenity was glad for the distraction of the mysterious Ricktavio, it had taken her mind off the events of the day. But now her thoughts drifted back to the attic of the orphanage and Ireena’s words began to echo in her mind "this is just how thing are in Barovia... you can't save everyone". Even as the words sounded in her head, Serenity saw Ireena being struck to the floor by the demon of shadow in the attic, “We nearly lost her”. She momentarily glanced across the table at Hoskgak in the tavern, Serenity had spent a lot of time together with Hoskgak the past couple of days, just the two of them, she had seen how loyal the Half-Orc was to Ireena and how often he spoke of her, “That must have been hard for him to see her fall, he has really grown to admire her”.

The fight was chaotic, even thinking back Serenity could not make sense of it all. “Why did Hoskgak have to put the boy down near the knife”, “Was Destiny about to run from the attic and leave them?”, “Was everyone else really ready to make a deal with a monster that would have killed every child in the orphanage? Every person in the town?”. When the demon possessed Serenity and she was powerless to resist its control, she saw that the poor child must have witnessed everything. “Who knows how many horrifying acts and atrocities the child had seen? Killing that monster was for the greater good. Perhaps the child will be at peace now…”

Serenity’s brow furrowed and the mirror once more stopped its dance. “But what was it the demon said? The boy had no soul? How could that be possible and what did it mean?”

“There seems to be no one but us in this place working to fight these evils, I need to remember, we can’t save everyone and must work towards the greater good, even if the consequences are grave.”

“Cedrik, that was the boy’s name”, Serenity had carried him down from the attic and laid him before the headmistress. “Perhaps we could have saved him” thought Serenity, “the others seemed to believe so”, “But at what cost?”.