Quoted By:
"Tell me, boy," you let out a drawl of annoyance that someone following an order to leave no survivors would throw down his arms and raise his hands to beg for mercy. You want to ask him if he has no shame, if he was not prepared for the consequences that follow the act of drawing his sword with the intent to rob another Hume of what little time they have upon this Earth. But you measure your words. It's clear to you that he is but a boy to the Humes, with not enough harvests behind him to reach the first coming-of-age, had he been born among the Children. "Do you wish to live to see tomorrow?"
He stares. Not at you, but at Shamhat's glowing blue spearhead, which is uncomfortably close to his eyes. You have the Divine Spear of Lust leveled at him, unmoving and ready to pierce through his skull the moment he makes the wrong decision.
"Y-Yes...?" he asks uncertainly. When you thrust the spear an inch closer, just enough to prick the place between his eyes, he gives a yelp of surprise. "Yes! Yes, I would very much like to live to see tomorrow."
"Then you will do exactly as I say," you pull back Shamhat, just enough that he's not worried that you will accidentally impale him. The spearhead dims, the blue light fading with Shamhat's bloodlust as her dreams return to thoughts of idle pleasure and eroticism. Your own eyes become as hard as emerald diamonds, brokering no argument from the boy. "Without even the <span class="mu-i">thought</span> of deviation. Understood, boy?"
"I- understood..." For a moment he looks like he wants to argue something, but a second glance at the blood pooling amongst the corpses of his fallen comrades nips that in the bud. He nods with vigorous desperation. "Whatever you say, ma'am! Though... I don't think I can stomach any killin', if that's whatcha need. I think I've seen me fill of death..."
"Then rejoice, boy," you intone with the voice you use when giving a sermon. With a twirl and a flourish, you return Shamhat to the folded space within the shadows of your cloak. You end the motion with your arms spread wide like a prayer, and give him an only <span class="mu-i">somewhat</span> sarcastic smile. "Your task shall be saving lives, not taking them. I have much desire to speak with those whom your mistress wanted dead, and <span class="mu-i">you</span> shall be the one to save their lives while I pursue your mistress."
"Y-You'd trust me not to kill 'em like milady wanted?" the boy stammers out, paling when he realizes what he just said.
You give him a bright smile full of teeth. "I trust that you would know the consequences of betraying that trust. That being said..."
Shaping the metals you have on hand into a proper locus of control over the boy would take more time than you would like to spend. Mind magics that forbid actions, or even simple contingent consequences require incredible and specific precision to make, on the order of hours of work. However, his naked fear of you gave you an idea that should be perfect for keeping him from doing anything too regrettable.
