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For more information on the entire series, read the "'Demon's Due' Defined" journal entry here faile35.deviantart.com/journal… or the "'Demon's Due' Plus" journal entry here faile35.deviantart.com/journal… .

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“Killing or murder,” Luther says after the sound of the brooklet has faded behind them. “To me, the difference between the two is an illusion, but I can see how that illusion can be an important one for some.”

Callista silently endures the pain in her legs a moment, staring at his back as she limps slowly forward. “Important for some?” she inquires at last, struggling to keep a painful groan from her voice. “Whether by lawful precedent or murder, how many have you killed, Lord Vandermoor?” She is refreshingly pleased with the mockery her voice delivers in his title and name.

Luther sighs. “At the risk of sounding evasive, what do you mean by ‘killed?’ Do you mean by my sword? By my fists? By the torch? By my command? By my counsel? By the lot I cast in the Assembly? By the food I ate that could have filled the starving belly of another? And are you only talking about other people I have killed, or are you also meaning gamefowl, or horses like this one? Cattle? Swine? Bugs I’ve swatted? Though our lofty laws say these creatures are different, do they really count for less in their own eyes than does a human being? Do these 'lesser' lives accept that it is their place to die by the hand and will of another being any more readily than does a human? I can tell you that they absolutely do not, yet you readily regard the killing of one human by another as murder and almost disregard the slaying of another creature.”

“You are dodging the question,” she mutters, her eyes rolling.
“Not at all,” Luther states. “I simply wish to show you how different it feels to me to address the issue than it seems to for you. But since you have asked for it, I’ll give you the answer you seek: Considering only the past ten years from the High Lady Maladyne’s departure, I can provide my tally of strictly human loss with some accuracy.”

Luther pauses, his eyes searching for faces in the clouds above and counting them. “By my blade, nineteen. By my fists, two. By my command or counsel, eight. By my order or consent, twenty and five. By my torch and by the torches of the Vandermoor House Guard, a number currently climbing toward ninety and destined to perhaps reach five times that before the winter is out. And if we were to reach further back when my time was spent more in training soldiery to kill, the figure could well climb into several thousand.”
Callista grows more unsettled as each number is related, finding herself thinking back on similar conversations had in intimacy with Annalae and being only horrified now. After a moment more in silence, she looks up at Luther’s back. “So, Lord Vandermoor," she says evenly, "if, as you say, I am a thug, what does that make you?”
Luther is silent a moment before turning back to glance at her over his shoulder.
“Evil,” he answers.

********************************************

Someone might take issue with the moral and ethical issues presented in these pages. Considering what's at stake (capital punishment, etc), I'll stand by the insights as holding some merit. But before anyone gets their shorts in a knot over it, please remember that this is a "dark fantasy," people.

This is the eighteenth page of the second-to-last chapter in the whole story, continuing a new scene which is really just a continuation of the previous one after Luther and Callista have made it most of the way through the Glimmerfalls on the map thumbnailed below.

Luther was drawn using the reference material provided me by Mistersneaky . Thanks, Sneaky!

Enjoy!

Note: Chain of Events and Demon's Due are a work of fantasy and fiction. The artist/creator in no way condones this kind of treatment toward any woman or man, by living person, gremlin, plant, assassin, ratman, viscous fluid, programmed device, animated home furnishings, or otherworldly spiritual beings. Furthermore, the artist opposes the marginalizing and restriction of women in general by any institution, political and/or religious, including those which have individual women amongst their membership touting/promoting their own happiness within that institution as evidence that ALL women should feel the same way. This includes the religion I was raised in and which I have utterly discarded from my life over this and other issues.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0la5DB…

Description

For more information on the entire series, read the "'Demon's Due' Defined" journal entry here faile35.deviantart.com/journal… or the "'Demon's Due' Plus" journal entry here faile35.deviantart.com/journal… .

Previous Page:

Mature Content

Next Page:

Mature Content

********************************************
“Killing or murder,” Luther says after the sound of the brooklet has faded behind them. “To me, the difference between the two is an illusion, but I can see how that illusion can be an important one for some.”

Callista silently endures the pain in her legs a moment, staring at his back as she limps slowly forward. “Important for some?” she inquires at last, struggling to keep a painful groan from her voice. “Whether by lawful precedent or murder, how many have you killed, Lord Vandermoor?” She is refreshingly pleased with the mockery her voice delivers in his title and name.

Luther sighs. “At the risk of sounding evasive, what do you mean by ‘killed?’ Do you mean by my sword? By my fists? By the torch? By my command? By my counsel? By the lot I cast in the Assembly? By the food I ate that could have filled the starving belly of another? And are you only talking about other people I have killed, or are you also meaning gamefowl, or horses like this one? Cattle? Swine? Bugs I’ve swatted? Though our lofty laws say these creatures are different, do they really count for less in their own eyes than does a human being? Do these 'lesser' lives accept that it is their place to die by the hand and will of another being any more readily than does a human? I can tell you that they absolutely do not, yet you readily regard the killing of one human by another as murder and almost disregard the slaying of another creature.”

“You are dodging the question,” she mutters, her eyes rolling.
“Not at all,” Luther states. “I simply wish to show you how different it feels to me to address the issue than it seems to for you. But since you have asked for it, I’ll give you the answer you seek: Considering only the past ten years from the High Lady Maladyne’s departure, I can provide my tally of strictly human loss with some accuracy.”

Luther pauses, his eyes searching for faces in the clouds above and counting them. “By my blade, nineteen. By my fists, two. By my command or counsel, eight. By my order or consent, twenty and five. By my torch and by the torches of the Vandermoor House Guard, a number currently climbing toward ninety and destined to perhaps reach five times that before the winter is out. And if we were to reach further back when my time was spent more in training soldiery to kill, the figure could well climb into several thousand.”
Callista grows more unsettled as each number is related, finding herself thinking back on similar conversations had in intimacy with Annalae and being only horrified now. After a moment more in silence, she looks up at Luther’s back. “So, Lord Vandermoor," she says evenly, "if, as you say, I am a thug, what does that make you?”
Luther is silent a moment before turning back to glance at her over his shoulder.
“Evil,” he answers.

********************************************

Someone might take issue with the moral and ethical issues presented in these pages. Considering what's at stake (capital punishment, etc), I'll stand by the insights as holding some merit. But before anyone gets their shorts in a knot over it, please remember that this is a "dark fantasy," people.

This is the eighteenth page of the second-to-last chapter in the whole story, continuing a new scene which is really just a continuation of the previous one after Luther and Callista have made it most of the way through the Glimmerfalls on the map thumbnailed below.

Luther was drawn using the reference material provided me by Mistersneaky . Thanks, Sneaky!

Enjoy!

Note: Chain of Events and Demon's Due are a work of fantasy and fiction. The artist/creator in no way condones this kind of treatment toward any woman or man, by living person, gremlin, plant, assassin, ratman, viscous fluid, programmed device, animated home furnishings, or otherworldly spiritual beings. Furthermore, the artist opposes the marginalizing and restriction of women in general by any institution, political and/or religious, including those which have individual women amongst their membership touting/promoting their own happiness within that institution as evidence that ALL women should feel the same way. This includes the religion I was raised in and which I have utterly discarded from my life over this and other issues.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0la5DB…