Campaign Log: Confessions of a Forked Tongue

[coronatiger]

We returned to the totem pole. Xipil joined us. Behind the wall, the voice kept calling for someone or something, and Xipil said he was gathering all the spirits inside the garden shed. I had Wolfram give me a boost up the wall. Xipil and our larger companions got up on their own.

As Xipil had mentioned, there was a corpse on the ground below us. I jumped down, followed by the others. I sometimes get a sensation when I go near a corpse or where someone has died. It might indicate Your approval or disapproval in how they died, or if the death was violent or peaceful, but I felt nothing from this corpse.

I wove through the bushes, looking for the entrance to the garden shed. Putting my ear to the door, I heard calm movement inside. I lifted my fist as if I was going to knock and looked at my friends. Nobody asked me not to, so I knocked. “Come in,” said the voice from before. I put my knives away and tried to open the door, but it was barred, so I drew one of the knives again and slid it into the gap between the door and the jamb. I found the bar and lifted it up; it crashed to the floor. I opened the door.

The shed looked like a potter’s workshop. The most prominent sculptures were a horse and a troll, both of which were in real size. An elderly man sat at a workbench at the other side of the shed with his back turned towards us. Wolfram hefted his flail and his pick as the Kabalist plucked a tiny spirit from the air and pushed it into a small block of clay.

I crossed the room and stood behind the Kabalist. “Hi, what are you doing?” I asked. “Did you come to help me?” he replied. “Are you the enlightened one?” I queried. “If you need to ask, you don’t belong here,” the man warned, “but if you’ve come to help me, you know what to do.” “You’re picking spirits out of the air and trapping them in those clay blocks,” I said. I glanced back at Wolfram to see how he reacted, but he was too focused on the troll statue to notice.

I sent a silent prayer to You, asking for instructions, but this place wasn’t right for praying. Since Wolfram didn’t act on my description of the man’s actions, I just stood there watching as he finished gathering up the last few spirits from the air and locking them away. I thought they were bird spirits. Maybe that was why Wolfram didn’t snap the Kabalist’s head off.

Wolfram totally ignored the Kabalist, but he smashed the troll statue’s head with his flail. The statue was sturdy, and the head didn’t come off, which irritated Wolfram, and he hit it again. This time, the head tore off and flew across the room. Then, Wolfram asked the Kabalist why his statue didn’t have a head. As he stood up, the man grabbed a staff, but he didn’t look as if he was about to attack. Instead, he looked at the statue with shock. Grogg and I stood ready to attack if he tried anything, but he only asked Wolfram why he broke the statue.

“Answer the woman,” Wolfram demanded, but I told my friend that I would leave the talking to him, since he had the strongest feelings about what was happening here. I was reluctant to initiate action, for I had no orders from You.

Wolfram was calmer than I had expected. He explained that we had come to reverse what Kabal was doing. While the two of them discussed that, rather amicably, I might add, I picked up one of the clay pieces where the Kabalist had stuffed spirits and scraped it with my knife to see if I could provoke a reaction. The old man frowned at me, but then he turned back to Wolfram and approached him. Putting down the block of clay, I followed the old man to keep him within striking range, should he suddenly turn hostile.

After instructing the Kabalist not to come too close, Wolfram asked if he knew if it was possible to undo the coloring of the souls of living humans. The Kabalist declared angrily that soul coloring was an abomination, and he would hear nothing of it on the most holy ground. Wolfram explained patiently that it was Tivito who committed such evils. For some reason, the old man seemed to associate me with Tivito or soul coloring, for he turned to look at me. Since he was old and slow, I had no trouble ducking aside to stay out of his field of vision. The Kabalist forgot about me immediately and turned to face Wolfram again.

The two of them talked about this a little longer. The Kabalist asked us to retrieve the “containers” of the colored souls; he believed he could take away what was coloring them. He informed us that the door through the garden wall was now open, so Grogg, Wolfram and I exited through the outer shed. Xipil climbed the wall again.

Xipil and I stepped aside to pray. I asked if You permitted that we put Korro and Nillet in the old Kabalist’s care, but You answered with silence. Standing up, I began to tell Xipil that You had left it up to me to decide what to do, but then Hylda came running. “You mustn’t blame Yana,” she cried despairingly. “It was my fault for going to find some fruit for Grogg!”

I sprinted south to find Yana. The others thundered after me. I didn’t dare to slow down to interrogate Hylda. It was clear that something terrible had happened, and that Hylda blamed Yana for it. She just didn’t want Grogg to kill her friend.

Yana was on her knees, covering her face with her hands, but when she heard us approach, she got up and rushed to meet me. “It was my fault,” she wailed. Hugging her, I looked over her shoulder to see what had happened. On the ground beside the cart was the teleportation circle, with Darvan’s crystal in one of the sockets. The crystal wasn’t glowing anymore, and there was no sign of Korro or Nillet, so I could just assume that they had teleported away.

I pulled back from the embrace so I could look at Yana. She was afraid and confused, and she struggled to focus her eyes on me. I put an arm around her waist and walked off the road, into the field. Yana explained frantically that she tried to prevent what had happened, but she was just so confused. When I estimated that we were out of earshot from the road, we sat down, and I put my arms around her.

I asked Yana if she was the one to put the crystal in the teleportation circle, but she wasn’t sure. Suddenly, everything around her had become terrifying. It was as if the whole world had become one of Xipil’s illusions. I stroked Yana’s hair and comforted her with my presence. When she had relaxed a little, I asked what Korro and Nillet had been doing before the incident. Yana explained that they had seemed better. They had started talking again, to each other, so Yana and Hylda had given them privacy.

Wolfram bellowed for us to return so we could discuss how to deal with the situation. I took Yana’s head between my hands and looked deep into her eyes. “What happened was absolutely not your fault, no matter what the others might say. You know they speak without thinking.” I moved my hands to Yana’s shoulders. “Are you ready to go back?” I asked. Yana nodded.

When Yana and I appeared out of the darkness, Hylda wished Yana welcome back and declared again that it wasn’t her fault. Grogg, Wolfram and Xipil had heard Hylda’s story, and she had seen a light shoot up from the teleportation circle when Korro and Nillet disappeared. This had to have happened while we were inside the shed; otherwise, we’d have noticed it too.

Since Yana hadn’t been conscious of her own actions during her spell, I decided I should get Hylda’s testimony, but I didn’t think it was urgent. The attack had clearly passed, and I meant to keep Yana safe in the future. I was increasingly certain that Darvan had possessed her and I intended to be there for her as a beacon of truth when the demon next decided to weave its lies before her eyes. I was glad we were going to Sam, for in Your temple, we might find healing for Yana.

Wolfram wanted to know if we could go back to the garden and kill the Kabalist. I prayed on it, and You instructed me that if I participated personally, I would have to “take a job”. Normally, I wouldn’t hesitate to mantle the responsibility of enacting Your will, but several factors made me decline. First and foremost, You allowed me the choice. Second, I was already tasked with locating Your brother and restoring him at Your side. Third, I had committed myself to stay with this group that had made plans to explore ancient ruins, and I didn’t think they’d like it if I proposed a detour, especially not if I explained why. Despite being experienced killers themselves, Xipil, Grogg and Wolfram could be quite squeamish about it. Last, but not least, I had to consider Yana. She had need of me, and while I would never prioritize anyone’s wellbeing above Your will, this time, You had given me the choice. You knew, of course, that I wouldn’t be at my best while worrying about Yana.

I explained to my friends that I couldn’t join them in the strike on the Kabal garden, but I wouldn’t oppose them either. Xipil decided to follow my lead, and he lent the spirit-seeing ring to Wolfram. Wolfram hesitated to go without us, but ultimately concluded that he had to follow his faith. He and Grogg started walking. “Should we follow them in case everything goes horribly wrong?” Xipil asked under his breath. I nodded. “Make sure Yana is all right while we’re away,” I instructed Hylda.

[coronatiger]

Grogg and Wolfram wasted no time. Unaware that Xipil and I were following, they didn’t wait for us to reach the wall before they attacked. We could only hear what they were doing, but we didn’t have to see to understand. First, there was a crash as Wolfram kicked down the door to the inner sanctum. Then, a scream: “Aargh! The pain! They didn’t tell me about the pain!” The voice suddenly stilled, and it was silent for a second or two before Grogg and Wolfram began demolishing Kabal’s sacred space.

Xipil and I picked up the pace. Grogg and Wolfram seemed to have everything in hand, but their noise woke the village. You blessed me with a flash of insight. “Do you have the daylight stone on you?” I asked Xipil, referring to his little stone that shone as bright as day. We transferred it from his pouch to mine, briefly illuminating the surroundings. I instructed Xipil to get Grogg, Wolfram and the Kabalist’s corpse back to the cart when they were done in the garden. I would deal with the villagers. Xipil wanted to know why I needed the daylight stone. “To prove we were sent by Mitra,” I grinned.

I jogged towards the center of the village. Most of the houses were silent, but several windows revealed candles or lamps. In one house, a young man’s voice insisted on going outside, but an older woman, clearly his mother, prohibited it. I thought it would be easy to trick these poor sun-god-deluded fools.

I looked around, but nobody emerged to check out the noise. The villagers were taught to stay indoors at night, and they adhered to that. I noticed the innkeeper watching from his window, so I expected others to be doing the same. I produced the daylight stone from my pouch and held it up, flooding the village with light. The innkeeper ducked aside as if attacked. I studied the houses around me, but saw nobody in the windows. They were probably terrified of the sudden light.

The mother and son I had heard just before resumed their argument. I followed the sound. The shouting cut off abruptly when I knocked on their door. “Open in the name of Mitra!” I called. I smiled inwardly. You had named me Subduer; now I meant to live up to it. I would subdue this entire village with my forked tongue, in Your glory.

A boy in his early teens opened the door and peered out the crack. I beamed at him with a big, open smile and the daylight stone lifted up high. “May the sun always shine on your face,” I intoned, making up a greeting that sounded like something a Mitra priest might rattle off. The boy’s face disappeared, and from the house came his excited voice: “Ma, Ma! It IS the day!”

The boy’s mother wished me welcome and ushered me inside, seating me at the head of the table. I put away the daylight stone so as not to blind my hosts. The woman offered to bake sun buns, which I accepted, and she went into the kitchen. The boy looked expectantly at me, and I told him to sit down on the chair next to mine. His father and younger sister entered the room and I greeted them too with my made-up salute.

I told the boy that he was called to serve Mitra, a statement that made his parents so proud that the mother had to put aside the dough to come hug her boy. I said his first task was to spread Mitra’s message to the village. His parents thought I would bring him with me to the temple where he would serve, but I informed them that I could not. My quest was elsewhere, but a messenger would come one day, to escort him to the temple.

I led the family to believe that Mitra had heard of a great evil in this village, and my companions and I had been dispatched to neutralize it. If they listened, they could hear my companions at work. Since the village had already suffered enough at the hands of this evil, it was decided that my team should disturb the villagers as little as possible. Preferably, we should pass through the village like a ray of sunlight, shining the light of truth and goodness into the dark cracks, but unheard by mortal ears. Doing any kind of work at night was of course forbidden for all good people, but because of the importance of our mission, we had been granted the use of the most holy relic, the Sunstone, so that we might banish the night and complete our task while the villagers slept.

Unfortunately, there was more evil here than we had anticipated, and we couldn’t help but make noise. Thus, I had come to explain our activities. The villagers had rightly chosen not to come outside at night, so I tasked the boy here with relaying my message to the rest of the village. But not before the sun rose, obviously, I added with a stern look at his parents.

The housewife offered beds for the night, but I told her we had to move on, and I reminded her that we were allowed to travel at night, since we carried the Sunstone. I brought it out and made up a blessing that I invoked over the two children. The short ritual included having them touch the stone, of course. “Feel Mitra’s presence,” I intoned before each of them put their hand on the stone. I seemed to remember that Xipil said the stone was infused with light from the stars, but the villagers couldn’t discern that this wasn’t sunlight.

I instructed the father to nail shut the shed outside the unholy garden so nobody went inside there in the near future. I explained that my team was taking care of anything truly dangerous, but some small evils might be missed. These would evaporate under the mighty sun’s rays over the next few weeks, so by the time the messenger arrived to escort the boy to the temple, the garden should be safe, and the villagers could do with it as they pleased. Until then, it would be best if nobody ventured inside the garden.

I spoke to the family for more than an hour, and Grogg and Wolfram’s demolition work sounded like it was nearing its conclusion when the sun buns were ready. I received a basket full of them. When I saw that the little girl was sad that she wouldn’t have any, I took out one bun for her and one for her brother.

When I came outside again, I stopped on the porch and looked around for the sunflowers the housewife insisted I take. A flash of moonlight briefly lit up the Kabal garden, and tiny motes of souls vanished. Wolfram had done his job.

I met my friends by the cart. Yana seemed quite composed, and Hylda didn’t speak up, so I knew there hadn’t been another incident. I threw the sunflowers unceremoniously onto the cart, handed out sun buns and gave Yana a hug.

We took a few minutes to rest and eat. Xipil said he had learned that Korro and Nillet went east, possibly to the ancient city in the mountains. Hylda kept glancing worriedly at the cart, and she finally said she wasn’t comfortable traveling with a corpse with a crushed head. I assured her that the corpse wouldn’t be discovered if we wrapped it in blankets and hid it under our luggage.

When we started moving, Yana and I walked behind the cart so I could have the corpse in my field of vision the whole time. I had no indication that a wraith would emerge, but it was better to be safe than sorry. I held Yana’s hand and we plodded along.

It was clear that Yana was dwelling on the incident with the teleportation circle. It wouldn’t help her if I apportioned blame elsewhere, so I didn’t say that I felt guilty for not taking care of the crystal myself, nor that I was annoyed at Xipil for beginning this whole debacle by trying to filch the crystal from Wolfram.

I gave Yana’s hand a gentle squeeze. “You never told me the full story about your stay in Byblos,” I prodded, wanting her to think about something else. “You were quite young when you left your uncle’s ranch. Sixteen, I think you said?” “Yes, that's right,” Yana replied hesitantly. We walked on in silence while Yana considered what to say.

“You know, I watched you from a window when you first arrived at the Evening Fort. Lady Isa believed I was smitten with Lunari, the handsome elf, but I only had eyes for you. Who was this beautiful, innocent-looking girl, and why did she keep so strange company? I talked to the servants, for I wanted to know everything about you. I learned that your name was Nuur-Karif and that these foreigners had hired you as their guide. You had brought them to the Evening Fort as guests of Lord Lunas, who was my friend, so I intended to pick his brain when he returned from his travels, for the servants didn’t know much. My hope shattered when I heard rumors of you and Lunari being lovers. Insisting to myself that these rumors were unfounded, I sought to contrive a way for us to meet, but then Lord Madan was attacked by the demon Tusa and the entire fort was in an uproar. You vanished soon after.”

I felt Yana wasn’t answering my question, but as long as she kept talking, I wouldn’t interrupt. I could listen to her melodious voice for hours and hours, and we still had a long walk ahead of us. I reminded myself that my purpose was to take Yana’s mind off Darvan’s crystal.

[coronatiger]

“I had a long talk with Lord Lunas after he returned. He found it strange that I was so curious about his guests. I tried to hide my infatuation, but when he said he didn’t think you and Lunari were a couple, my heart rejoiced, and I couldn’t hide it any longer. Lord Lunas warned me that in all likelihood, you weren’t into girls, although from what he had seen, you had given no clear indication about which way you leaned. He also cautioned that you were far from as innocent as you looked. You carried concealed fighting knives, you knew how to use them, and you wouldn't hesitate to leap into battle. Lord Lunas even suspected you of using poison; he thought he had seen you put some liquid on your knives, but he couldn't say for sure since he had been paying attention in another direction at the time. You might be an assassin, he acknowledged, but if so, it was highly unlikely that Amrosh had sent you after me. Lord Lunas had heard about your deeds at the Loyalist tower following the attack on his father, so he didn’t think your target was an Aldera either. Being in the company of Lunari, Grogg and Xipil, you were probably playing a long game, possibly aimed at some acquaintance of Lunari, back in the Prince’s Cities. You were clearly a dangerous young woman, but Lord Lunas promised to introduce us if I still wanted him to, when and if you returned.”

Yana took a few moments to catch her breath, before she continued. “I thought long and hard on this. Were you a person I wanted to know? When I learned you were back, I decided I would ask Lord Lunas to introduce us, but when we spoke, he said that you had hooked up with Lunari. I told him it was probably for the better. We wouldn’t be a good match, anyway. Someone as prone to violence as you would only make me uncomfortable, even if you never directed your tendencies towards me.”

Yana’s voice carried a slight tremble, as if she worried what I might do, hearing all this. I pulled on her hand to make her stop and face me, then I wrapped my free hand around her. Yana hugged me back until the rumbling of the cart had faded considerably. We pulled apart, both smiling, but Yana glanced after the cart. “Shouldn’t you keep an eye on the corpse?” she reminded me. We ran to catch up with the others, our hands still clasped together.

“Then, as if to make it clear you weren’t beholden to Lunari, you went ahead and slept with Lord Lunas, on the very night of your return. He tried to keep it secret, mostly from his sister, I believe, but when he told me you needed my help to create a disguise, he couldn’t conceal from me what the two of you had done. That made for an awkward first meeting between you and me. You were nothing but nice and pleasant and you showed a sincere interest in my work. Your interest appeared purely professional, though, and you had enough opportunities to indicate that you were interested in more, in me, so when you didn’t, I decided that I wouldn’t get between you and Lord Lunas. When your friends left because they didn’t want to sit and wait for your hair to dry, it wasn’t so easy anymore. I fought an internal struggle not to act on my tender feelings for you. I didn’t know how it was possible to become so smitten so quickly, but I realized I had fallen head over heels for you. I couldn’t have you alone in my workshop longer than strictly necessary, for I feared I would ruin my friendship with Lord Lunas at any moment, making a pass on his girlfriend. I was also afraid that you might take offense if I tried anything. Another woman might have rewarded me with a slap if she thought I was being inappropriate, but you carried poisoned knives, and from what I had heard, it wouldn’t take much to bring them out.”

It was really interesting to hear Yana’s side of the story of how we met, but some impatience or annoyance had to be shining through. She hadn’t even begun to answer my question, but now she took a deep breath and gathered herself.

“My point is,” Yana said, “that you owned my heart from the first time I lay my eyes on you. As I got to know you, the fear that you might turn violent was gradually replaced by a fear of rejection. During my labors to convince you that you loved me too, I didn’t think it was wise to mention my old flames. There were enough things we could talk about without having to bring them up, so I glossed over my entire Byblos experience, which could rightly be described as a tragic tale of romance.”

Yana stopped and looked deep into my eyes. “I feel that there is enough trust and love between us now that I can tell you about Byblos, if you still want me to.” I gave Yana a peck on the cheek and a nod. “I can’t describe how happy I am that you figured out I might be inclined to love you back. I certainly wouldn’t have found out on my own. Now, as for your story: Tell me only as much as you are comfortable with. You don’t have to go into detail about your … ahem … romantic encounters.” I felt myself blush, but Yana just hugged me. We picked up the pace to catch up with the cart again.

“Well then. Growing up on my uncle’s ranch …” Yana paused to ram her elbow into my side. “Don’t you roll your eyes at me!” Despite my hidden cloth armor, my ribs hurt, but Yana smiled, so I smiled too, and then it suddenly didn’t hurt as much anymore.

“As I was saying: Having noble blood didn’t count for much among the village kids, not when the circumstances of my birth were so dishonorable. Frankly, most of the other children were mean, so I seldom went into the village to play. There was one girl, though, who I counted as a friend. Hesera was the daughter of one of my uncle’s workers, and she didn’t care that I was born on the wrong side of the sheet. We did everything together. When we were around twelve, we started sneaking out of bed at night to meet at the stables.”

I commented that Yana began quite young, but she shushed me. “Oh, get your mind out of the gutter, Nuur-Karif. It was quite innocent. We just talked, about horses and about my annoyances with my tutor, who got cranky when I fell asleep during her lessons after staying up all night, talking to Hesera. We didn’t bother going back to bed when we grew too tired to keep chatting; we just collapsed into the hay.”

I squeezed Yana’s hand, urging her to continue. “Of course, as we got older, talk of horses gradually turned to talk of boys. In particular, there was one boy in the village that we both found attractive. In hindsight, I can see that he wasn’t really nice to either of us, but our youthful infatuation blinded us to that. We had the wisdom to swear an oath to each other, never to let him come between our friendship. So, we stayed distant, but we dreamed. We practiced kissing on each other, and other things, and although it was Hesera’s idea in the first place, I realized that I had some feelings for her that weren’t returned. I don’t think she ever found out.”

Yana paused for a moment, her eyes distant. “My tutor found us in the hayloft one night. We were just kissing, but she flew into a rage, screaming incoherently at me as she dragged me off by the ear. The next morning, she told me my mother had sent word that it was time for me to learn a trade. Before I knew it, I was sitting in a cart headed for Byblos. On the way, my tutor asked what trade I would like to follow. It wasn’t a difficult question. I had always loved making clothes – sewing, knitting, weaving and so on – so I said I wanted to be a seamstress.

“When we got to Byblos, we took lodgings at an inn while my tutor found an appropriate master for me. It had to be someone who was both willing to take on an apprentice, and someone with loyalty towards Amrosh. It took a couple of days, and I was surprised to find, when I moved to Master Elden’s workshop, that my tutor left. She had other things to do than babysit a grown woman, she said. Someone would come with instructions on how I could serve my family.

“Master Elden was the official Amrosh tailor in Byblos. He was very skilled, and during my years in the capital, I learned a lot from him. He was also terribly old and frail, so he always sent me to buy supplies and to make deliveries. I got to meet all kinds of interesting people!

“After a few weeks in Byblos, I received instructions to acquaint myself with a certain goldsmith named Darrun. He was originally from Amrosh, but like me, he had moved to the capital to learn a trade. Darrun’s master had died unexpectedly, and the Moon Shadows were concerned that Darrun might have had something to do with it.”

Yana hadn’t been speaking particularly loudly, and she lowered her voice so much I nearly didn’t hear what she said when she mentioned the dreaded Moon Shadows. Yana feared for her safety, should she ever encounter the Amrosh intelligence agency again. I squeezed Yana’s hand to remind her that I would never put her within their reach. I didn’t know the details of Yana’s trouble with the Moon Shadows; I only knew that she had stopped sending information to them. That should only earn her a stern talking-to in my estimation, so there had to be more to it. As for me, the Moon Shadows might very well try to kill me on sight, so no, I wasn’t likely to go near them. Not unless You ordered me to.

[coronatiger]

“Darrun was an easy man to befriend. It didn’t take long for me to discover that his sorrow for his master’s death was genuine. When I reported that he wasn’t to blame for the accident, they ordered me to remain close to Darrun, and to pass on anything I learned that might indicate that his loyalty towards Amrosh wavered.

“Over the years, our friendship grew to fondness and love. Our other friends in Byblos wondered when we were going to marry, but I didn’t feel right about that, since I was spying on him. Darrun also didn’t bring up the subject, for which I was thankful.

“Since Darrun had a place to himself, that was usually where we met. I seldom slept at Master Elden’s place anymore. After work, I would go to Darrun’s instead. Then one day, I arrived while he was out. He had left a note that he had gone to the market. I was about to go upstairs to make myself comfortable in the bedroom when a faint noise made me turn. Someone was slipping a sealed envelope under the front door. I rushed to the door and looked outside. A woman hurried away. When she turned the street corner, I saw her face. It was my old tutor!

“I ripped open the envelope. It had Darrun’s name on the front, but I couldn’t read the contents. I recognized the all-too-familiar Moon Shadow encryption, but I wasn’t able to decipher it. When Darrun returned, I showed him the letter and asked what it was all about. When he didn’t answer, I accused him of spying on me. He didn’t deny it, so I fled. That was when I met Lord Lunas, or rather when his meal accidentally met the back of my head. Since I didn’t want to have anything more to do with Darrun or the Moon Shadows, I accepted Lord Lunas’s offer to come to the Evening Fort a couple of weeks later.”

We were coming up on a village. We passed it in silence; only the rumbling of the cart’s wheels could be heard, and nobody came outside to see what was going on. Maybe the villagers slept through it all. When Yana didn’t resume her story, I understood that she had said as much as she wanted to about her stay in Byblos.

I worried that her mind would return to the terror she had just gone through. When I opened my mouth to speak, to distract her once more, Yana beat me to it. “You know, sometimes I think he did it on purpose,” she asserted. My thoughts were on Darvan, but there was a tiny smile on Yana’s face, so I had to ask. “Who did what on purpose?” “Lord Lunas,” Yana explained. “When he threw the fruit at me. Our conversations made me think he knew who I was already, and I quickly picked up that he had quite the playful nature. I can be a prankster, myself, and I don’t fault anyone for pulling one on me either, at least when it’s as harmless as that. Anyway, Lord Lunas offered me a ticket out of Byblos, and I would have taken it, even if we hadn’t become friends. I might not have stayed at the Evening Fort for as long as I did, though, but I’m glad I did.” Yana’s expression when she looked at me said it all. We wouldn’t have met if she had left too soon.

We walked on in silence. I kept one eye on the cart and the other on Yana. She stared into the distance, clearly deep in thought, but I didn’t worry. Yana’s slight frown spoke of determination, not fear. The cart hit a hole in the road and made an ominous creak when Grogg pulled it out, trudging along as if nothing had happened. The noise snapped Yana out of her reveries.

“Listen, Nuur-Karif. When we leave Sam for the ancient city in the mountains… That’s the plan, right, to go there when we pick up Pak and Groman?” I nodded, and Yana continued. “Even if we avoid the core of Amrosh’s territory, we will be passing through lands where the Moon Shadows hold sway. I hope we can slip past their net undetected, for I don’t think I can withstand their questioning. They have ways of getting the truth out, and I know things that I don’t want them to learn, things about the Alderas, things about you and the Foreigners…” Yana’s glance at our companions told me she didn’t mean Nulius and his countrymen. “Before we go east, you must help me get through to them that they’re putting their lives at risk by associating with me.” I lifted Yana’s hand and kissed it. “I understand. You can count on me.”

[coronatiger]

4th of Tityra, year 412

We traveled until the sky began to brighten in the early morning hours. The icy fog still lay thick on the river, but up on the road, the temperature wasn’t that bad. We found an orchard on the left side of the road and decided to camp there.

I offered to keep watching the corpse, so the others could get some sleep. Xipil thought we should move it from the cart since there were magical objects in our luggage, and we knew wraiths were attracted to powerful items. We carried the corpse through the orchard. If anyone came out to work the fields, they might see me from a distance, but I could easily hide from eyes on the road.

When the others had gone to bed, Xipil approached me. He asked if I thought Darvan had something to do with Yana’s current difficulties. Someone else might have believed he was genuinely concerned for her, but I discerned that he was worried she might become a liability. I admitted I was worried about Yana and that it was possible that Darvan had possessed her, but I was confident we would find healing in Your temple in Sam. Xipil reminded me that I had been banned from holy ground while I was possessed by Gritt. I told him I would find a solution.

Xipil asked if he could study Yana’s aura. I gave him permission, as long as I could watch and Yana never learned that he had cast the spell on her. I could just make out Yana’s tent through the trees, so I wouldn’t have to leave the corpse unattended. I felt bad about the whole affair, but I was desperately worried about Yana, and I hoped Xipil could learn something.

When Xipil returned, he told me there was nothing wrong with Yana’s aura. I told him I took that as a good sign but refrained from mentioning that Darvan was known for trickery and deception. Instead, I instructed Xipil to go to sleep. I promised to wake him if I became too tired to keep watch.

I checked the contents of my belt pouch. My own venom was there, as was the wraith-prevention venom, the belladonna and the river thistle. Good. It was all there, except the anti-spirit venom, which I had lent to Xipil. There was quite a large amount of gold as well, but that was less important. I fished Hope out of her resting place inside my bodice. “I need you to guard my venom. Let me know if any hand but mine opens the pouch,” I instructed in the hissing snake tongue of Shamara. It broke my heart that I couldn’t trust Yana with my most cherished possessions. After settling Hope in my pouch, I patted my four knives. They were exactly where I expected them to be.

The chill seeped slowly through my cloak, despite the sun’s rays, so I had to move to keep warm. Through the trees, I could just make out travelers on the road. They seemed to mind their own business, so I didn’t have to leave my post. There was no spiritual activity around the blanket-wrapped corpse, and quite the boring watch, overall.

Xipil and Wolfram were the first to rise in the afternoon, and they came over to check on me. I reported that nothing had happened while they slept, and then we discussed how long we should remain at the orchard. We decided that Grogg needed to catch up on his sleep after his use of the healing needle, and I said I had no qualms about traveling at night. Hylda appreciated our concern for Grogg and rewarded us with breakfast.

Since I had the ability both to detect a rising wraith and attack it, I stayed with the corpse. Wolfram took the opportunity to get in some exercise, and Xipil went aside to analyze the two magic staffs we had recovered from the Kabal garden. Yana kept me company for a while before returning to the camp for some sewing. It wasn’t like her to up and leave just like that, not when we were chatting, but I read on her that there was something she had to do, something urgent. I guessed she knew someone in Sam and that she was doing her flower project for them. Yana had made it clear she didn’t want to discuss it, at least not before she finished it, so I didn’t pry.

Xipil and Wolfram rejoined me after a couple of hours and Wolfram offered to take over the watch duty; I told him I had it covered. Xipil unwrapped the corpse and studied it while holding one of the staffs. He said there were spirit traces around the corpse’s mouth and nose, but he didn’t know what that meant for us. Wolfram suspected the Kabalist of having swallowed one or more clay tokens containing spirits before he died. He thought we should check the stomach contents, but he suggested that we waited until twenty-four hours had passed since time of death. That was how long Ebsalon had said we needed to wait to see if a wraith would emerge.

Xipil felt the corpse’s stomach and was about to cut him open right then, but I halted him. “Are we going to wait as Wolfram suggested, or not?” We agreed to wait until the moon had come up, so Wolfram could easily set up a protective circle. It wouldn’t be long.

Xipil wanted Grogg to cut up the corpse, as he apparently had some skill at butchering animals. Grogg would probably have done a decent enough job, but I thought I could do it better myself. I didn’t believe Grogg was as knowledgeable as me about the human body. Anyway, Grogg could use the additional rest; he was currently sitting by the fire with Hylda and Yana, but I didn’t want to prevent him from curling up under a blanket.

I guarded the corpse while Xipil helped Wolfram draw the mystical symbols on the ground around the erected totem pole. When we were ready, Wolfram cast his spell to hamper any spirits that might emerge.

Glancing at Wolfram and Xipil to ascertain that they were ready, I sliced open the corpse’s abdomen. I stuck my hand inside and extracted the stomach. I made a careful incision and saw that it contained bird’s bones and five clay tokens. “What should we do with these?” I asked, referring to the tokens. Wolfram told me to destroy them. I looked around for stones on the ground. There weren’t any within reach, so I asked Wolfram to fetch one from outside the magic circle.

I poured out the contents of the stomach, and Xipil noticed that one of the clay tokens had spirit traces on it. He thought there were several spirits inside it. After the closer look, Xipil believed there were spirits inside all the tokens, but probably just one in each of the others.

I placed one of the tokens that hopefully only contained one spirit on the stone and struck it with the pommel of my knife. For a fraction of a second, I felt something resist the force, but then the token exploded in a small cloud of dust. A spirit horse suddenly stood over me. I quickly got out from under it. I stood up, and in the same fluid motion, I stuck my knife in the horse’s side and forced it to manifest physically before it could react. “Hey, Grogg! Horse! Come get it!” I shouted.

The horse reared up and tried to stomp on me, but Wolfram and I put it down with knife and sword; Xipil poked it with the magic staff he had in his hands, but he did little damage. As it crashed to the ground, the horse took the totem pole with it.

Wolfram wasn’t happy. Xipil had used the magic staff before learning all its properties, and I had made the spirit horse able to topple the totem pole and thus breaking Wolfram’s spell. I agreed not to manifest the other spirits that were going to appear since Wolfram knew a spell to pass them along.

My energy reserves were slightly depleted due to my lack of sleep recently, and the spirit manifestation had also taken its toll. I sat down, leaning against a tree, while Wolfram righted his totem pole and Xipil refreshed the magic symbols on the ground where the horse had scuffed them.

I called Yana’s name, and she came sneaking through the orchard with Hylda. I asked if she was all right, unsure how much of the brief clash she had witnessed. “Yes, but what have you been doing?” she responded. Yana hadn’t seen us fight at all, but the screams of the spirit horse as we attacked it had upset her, and she was concerned that travelers on the road had noticed. I explained what we had done and what we planned. Yana thought it would be best if she and Hylda returned to the camp. Before they left, Hylda said she had heard suspicious noises from the direction of the road, and Xipil asked if he should check it out. I told him to go ahead.

[coronatiger]

Xipil returned after a short while. There had been three riders hiding in the fog, but they had gone north. Based on their behavior, I thought they seemed like Night Riders, but according to Xipil, they hadn’t come close enough to the camp to identify Yana. Whatever the Night Riders learned soon became known by the Moon Shadows, so I breathed a sigh of relief.

We crushed the next clay token. Everyone stood outside the magic circle while Wolfram smashed his flail down on the token that I had placed on the stone. Nothing happened that we could detect, but we waited for a few minutes before destroying the next token. Again, nothing happened, so Wolfram smashed the last of the tokens that had few spirit traces.

As the clay token shattered, a man appeared inside the circle, screaming and grabbing his shoulder. “The pain!” It wasn’t hard to identify this man as the dead Kabalist. Grogg swiped a burning log in the direction of the sound, but it was clear he couldn’t see the spirit. The spirit looked at Wolfram and asked where his horse was. Wolfram just said to Grogg not to provoke him.

“My staff!” the spirit exclaimed and tried to run to where Xipil stood holding it, but Wolfram’s spell made a barrier that the spirit couldn’t pass. The spirit howled with despair, and we agreed that it wasn’t good that he made so much noise. I offered to do what I had done before, but Wolfram wanted to try his spell.

Wolfram had to enter the magic circle, as he needed to be close to his totem pole to cast the spell. Luckily, attacking seemed foreign to the spirit, but he knew what was going on around him. He begged Wolfram to overturn the totem pole. Wolfram ignored him and cast his spell, but it didn’t make the spirit go away. I saw determination in Wolfram’s eyes; he cast the spell again, drawing on more power to overcome the spirit’s resistance. This also failed.

The spirit seemed to realize Wolfram wasn’t a threat and turned towards me. He tried to win me over, offering “the most delicious woman’s body I could imagine”. I met his eyes without speaking and without giving away my emotions. I wasn’t sure if he was offering to enhance my own body or if he was trying to sell me a prostitute’s. In either case, I wasn’t interested. The body You gave me is more than adequate, and the most delicious woman I could imagine sat by the campfire with Hylda, and she was mine already.

Getting nowhere with me, the spirit tried its luck with Grogg, also to no avail. Xipil had withdrawn to the trees and asked Wolfram if the protective circle would be broken if magic passed through it. Wolfram was too busy to answer, so Xipil began charging up a star bolt. Before Xipil could shoot, Wolfram finally succeeded, and the spirit faded away.

I had lost track of how many times Wolfram had to try his spell against the spirit. He sank down on the ground, exhausted. Xipil came out of the orchard and repeated his question. Wolfram explained that it would be all right, as long as Xipil’s magic didn’t disturb the totem pole. The two of them had a short discussion about magic before Wolfram decided he needed to lie down for an hour or two.

Wolfram returned to the camp, but Xipil and Grogg stayed with me and the corpse. They decided to dig a grave so we could bury the corpse, but I insisted we waited until twenty-four hours had passed before we covered it up. I kept an eye on the corpse and the last clay token while they prepared the grave.

Xipil followed Wolfram when the digging was done, but he returned after a few minutes to tell me someone was spying on the camp. I asked him to retrieve the spirit-seeing ring from Wolfram so he could watch the corpse while I investigated, but he wanted to come with me. I told him someone had to guard the corpse, so he would have to wake up Wolfram. I didn’t say it out loud, but I didn’t trust Grogg with this task. Xipil understood and fetched Wolfram. I gave Wolfram the clay token and told him what was happening.

Xipil explained that he had seen a shadow behind a certain tree, and we split up to approach it from opposite directions. We searched but found nothing. Xipil even climbed the tree to look for tracks, but of course he found nothing. It wasn’t until Xipil fetched the magic staff that allowed him to track spirits, that he discovered something. There had been some kind of spirit there recently. Xipil asked if the Moon Shadows could have sent it. I told him they were connected to Kabal, so I didn’t find it unlikely although I had never heard about them using spirits.

We went back to relieve Wolfram, and I got the clay token back. Wolfram and Xipil took the totem pole away, for Wolfram might be able to follow the spying spirit with it. They returned after a while. They hadn’t found out anything new.

Wolfram set up the totem pole again and crushed the last clay token. I was ready for danger, but all that came out was a flock of sparrow spirits. Most of them accepted Wolfram’s spell, but a few escaped through the protective barrier and into the orchard. Wolfram dealt with those too, casting a spell to lure them to back to the totem pole, and then he sent them on.

Kraa was annoyed that Wolfram had cast a spell that it had to resist and made lots of noise, flying off. Grogg followed his familiar into the orchard. Wolfram went too, to go to bed, he said. With the realization that twenty-four hours had passed since the Kabalist died, which meant the corpse was now safe, came a profound feeling of sleepiness. I asked if Xipil would fill in the grave.

When I crawled inside our tent, Yana woke up and asked if we should be leaving. “We probably should,” I replied, “but I’m too tired.” I had only had a few hours of sleep yesterday afternoon, and I hadn’t slept well the night before. I wasn’t too tired to brush my teeth, though.

O Ashtar! We surrender our lives to Your coils. Take us while we sleep, or grant us another day in Your service, as You will.

[coronatiger]

5th of Tityra, year 412

O Ashtar, Mother of Snakes, Keeper of Death’s Door, hear my confession!

It was still dark when Xipil began waking the rest of us. For some reason, he wanted to know if the anti-spirit venom that the priestess in Guling had given me was made by her or by someone else. I didn’t know the answer to that. This was the same priestess that had taken over the burden of bearing the demon Gritt, and Xipil said he wanted to find her. “Aren’t we supposed to go to Sam to meet Pak and Groman?” I asked, rubbing sleep from my eyes.

Xipil meant that he would try to track her with his star magic. Still half-asleep, I stared at him while he danced his spell dance, but when he began to wobble, I steadied him before he fell. “Death to Sam!” he hissed. That caught my attention. “What did you see?” I asked. Xipil related his vision: He had seen someone running through slum-like streets. I asked if he had seen any landmarks, anything to identify where the person had been running, but Xipil said it was all blurry. He couldn’t even say who the runner was. From his ejaculation, I thought the city might be Sam, but it could just as likely be somewhere else.

I knelt down to pray on it, and Xipil joined me. After a couple of minutes, I felt Your calming presence and a sensation that what Xipil saw was not what I was looking for. I said as much to Xipil but added that I was still eager to get going. Yana and Hylda had already begun packing up, so I joined them. Xipil kept meditating.

Yana said she was glad to leave this place, but there was one thing we had to do before leaving. I told Wolfram that Yana and I were going to the grave to take care of it. Xipil had done a good job of replacing the turf over the grave, so I didn’t think I would have found it if I hadn’t watched him and Grogg digging it. I performed the proper burial rites over the dead Kabalist. No matter their faith, everyone has to pass Death’s Door when they die. I felt bad for Lunari, that I hadn’t been allowed to say the prayers over him when he passed away. I hoped You had welcomed him anyway. He had been a good friend.

When Yana and I got back, Xipil stood up and asked it we should send Kraa with a message to Pak and Groman. I told him – and Grogg – that this was Grogg’s decision to make. Grogg said he’d think about it. The cart was packed with all our luggage, and Grogg and Wolfram maneuvered it through the trees and onto the road.

We soon came upon a village, presumably the one that owned the orchard where we had stayed. The villagers had yet to start the day, and the lack of people outside pleased Wolfram. When we had walked about an hour, Xipil commented that it we should have started to see the sun’s morning light. Looking around, I saw that it was still dark as night. Both Yana and I saw just fine despite the darkness, so I hadn’t even thought about the lack of light.

Grogg explained that Kraa didn’t know where Pak and Groman were, but it might figure it out if someone apologized. He stared at Wolfram. Wolfram said he didn’t believe what he had done last night, banishing bird spirits, was wrong, but he was sorry for not allowing Kraa the time to get away before he cast his spells. Kraa made its usual inane ruckus, and it was impossible to know what it thought about the apology, if it indeed understood Wolfram’s words, but Grogg interpreted the chatter to mean that Kraa accepted the apology and might be able to locate our acquaintances. Xipil wrote a note to Pak and Groman, saying that we’d be in Sam by the eighth of Tityra. I suggested the Lazy Hound Inn for a meeting place. If the note fell into the wrong hands, I didn’t want attention drawn towards Your temple, so the inn across the road, the Croaking Toad, was out of the question.

Grogg gave the note to Kraa and whispered, “See if you can find a pretty ring for Hylda after you’ve delivered the letter.” Hylda pretended not to hear. Kraa alighted from Grogg’s shoulder, but circled over us. Grogg thought Kraa hesitated to go near the fog. I asked why it couldn’t just fly over it, high enough that the cold wouldn’t bother it. Grogg told Kraa to do as the “dragon worshipper” suggested. The term offended me, but I was more disappointed in myself, that I still haven’t been able to teach Grogg about You. Kraa flew off towards the south-west.

The sun had still not made its appearance, and Xipil sat down to meditate. I wasn’t worried. I had witnessed several similar occurrences lately, and the sun had always returned in the end. The darkness, once I was aware of it, gave the feeling of night, and I had only had about four hours of sleep since my long watch. I put my arms around Yana and rested my head on her shoulder, but just then, clouds and shadows whirled up on the eastern horizon, and the sun broke through. Yana and I joked about how frightened the poor Mitra worshippers must have been, and how relieved they had to be when the sun started shining again.

Despite the sudden light, I had trouble keeping my eyes open. Since Grogg currently was the one with cart-pulling duty, I asked him if it was all right if I went to sleep while we traveled. Grogg muttered something about my scrawny carcass making no difference to him, so I yawned and crawled up among the luggage. Xipil warned me not to touch the two magic staffs from the Kabal garden, but they were wrapped in blankets, so I should be fine. I dozed off almost immediately.

The light touch of Yana’s hand on my shoulder woke me an hour or two later. “Keri is coming,” she informed me. I sat up and jumped off the cart. Indeed, on the horse approaching at a trot sat a familiar dwarf. It had been a while since we saw Keri. He was still at the Evening Fort when we left, although I didn’t think he’d stayed much longer than us; Queen Isa had ordered him to escort Pak, Groman and Ebsalon to the Kings’ Crypt.

Keri seemed just as surprised to see us as we were to see him. He dismounted and jumped to give Grogg’s belly a hug. Keri knew we were going to meet Pak and Groman, and while he would come with us, I noticed he wasn’t too keen on seeing them again.

Keri quickly lit up again, and he rushed to pull a small barrel from his saddlebags. It was a gift for Grogg, dwarven ale that he had brewed himself. Grogg smelled it excitedly. As the two of them spoke of the alcoholic beverage, it struck me that I had never seen Keri as sober as he was right then. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to last. Keri retrieved a pocket flask from inside his coat and shared it with Grogg.

Since we would be traveling together and Keri didn’t appear to have any urgent news to share, I returned to my bed on the cart. We could catch up later, when I wasn’t as tired. Keri attached his horse to pull the cart, explaining that we would be going to the desert. Xipil asked if we had enough food and drink, but Keri said we could stock up provisions in Sam.

Grogg and Wolfram began to speculate what the realm of death was like, probably instigated by Keri’s visit to the Kings’ Crypt. They had some pretty wild theories. I pretended to be asleep so they wouldn’t ask me about it. What I knew was not to be shared with infidels.

[coronatiger]

I woke with a start as Keri began shouting about parking the cart. I sat up and looked around. We were at the edge of a village, outside an inn with an adjoining wagon shed. Keri and Grogg were both drunk. I was disappointed with them. I wouldn’t fault them for enjoying a few mugs of an evening, but they had taken it too far. At least Grogg wasn’t as loud as Keri.

Keri asked Yana to turn the cart around and back it up towards the wagon shed. “I’ve heard you’re good with horses,” he told her. I got out of the cart and smiled encouragingly at Yana when she glanced at me. She wasn’t comfortable with the loud drunk.

It was clear Keri had stayed here last night, for a serving man came outside and welcomed him back. Keri ordered soup for everyone, loudly enough that half the village had to hear. The serving man welcomed the rest of us, but warned us not to stare at some of the other guests even if they stared at us. His tone made it clear we would know which guests.

Yana had the wagon shed open, and she bade me look inside. Three large, black horses stood there sleeping. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so impressive mounts as these. Xipil whispered that they looked like the Night Riders’ horses. Raising his voice so Grogg and the others would hear, he said it smelled so much of horse here, we should move on. I completely agreed. We shouldn’t let the Night Riders see us.

I called Keri over, but he was too drunk to understand my hints that Grogg was hyperallergic to such horses as these. Grogg didn’t understand either, and Xipil tried to convince him that everyone inside probably also smelled like horse. Grogg decided to send me inside to get the soup, so he wouldn’t have to go in there himself. I told him I would, but I signaled to Yana that I was lying.

Rounding the corner with Yana, I saw that Wolfram and Hylda had followed the serving man inside. I grimaced at Yana and hurried to the door. I pushed it open and looked inside. There was only one other guest in the common room, a bard by the lute in his lap, and I waved for Wolfram and Hylda to come outside. They ignored my stern face and Hylda waved me inside. To make them realize how serious the situation was, I drew two knives and waved again.

Wolfram and Hylda stood up and joined me. Hylda asked me to put away my knives. They had done what I drew them for, so I did as she suggested. I gathered everyone outside the wagon shed. I claimed I saw one of the Night Riders through the kitchen door, slipping something into the soup, something that smelled of sleeping medicine. Grogg snarled something about horse people. I suggested we snuck off and discussed what to do when we had put some distance between ourselves and the evil Night Riders. Keri didn’t want to leave before we had eaten, and I had to remind him that the food wasn’t safe. Wolfram, being a foreigner, wondered what Night Riders were and why they would poison our food like this; I promised to explain once we got away from them.

Yana was anxious to leave. I thought she knew I had fibbed about the poisoned soup, so there was something else she worried about, beyond risking being seen by Night Riders who possibly had seen her already. Since I had dealt with everyone’s objections, we started moving through the village, towards Sam. Xipil alerted me to a watcher in the upper story of the inn, although I couldn’t see them myself.

We found a place to stop, out of sight of the village, and I explained about Night Riders and Moon Shadows to Wolfram. I said the Moon Shadows wanted Yana and me dead and that they would extend the courtesy to anyone found in our company. That wasn’t entirely true, but close enough. They would probably want to interrogate Yana before they killed her.

As I was speaking, I read in Yana’s face that I had underestimated our foes. The men at the inn, the men who had spied on us last night, they weren’t simply Night Riders. They were in fact Moon Shadows. I said as much. Keri complained that I should have told them back at the village; we had to stay away from Moon Shadows. Grogg and Wolfram spoke on top of each other, both proposed to go back to the village to kill them. Keri got his crossbow from the cart and inspected it.

I announced that I was going to pray about it, and Xipil and Yana joined me a little away from the others. You didn’t tell me whether to kill or not, but You said that if I turned back to the village, someone was going to die. I asked Yana and Xipil if You had spoken to them. Xipil didn’t say anything, but Yana said she saw violence in the future, no matter what choice we took.

When we got back to our friends, Grogg was telling the story about the time dragon lightning struck his maul (and destroyed his arm). Keri, Hylda and Wolfram were completely spellbound by his inspired oration, and I had to admit to myself that this was an unknown side of Grogg. Usually, he doesn’t have a way with words, but this was really impressive. I wondered if it was the alcohol that had lubricated his tongue.

We took a vote and then Grogg, Wolfram, Xipil and I started walking back to the village. I felt that the drink had made Keri too undependable to join the action, so I instructed him to stay behind and guard Yana and Hylda. Grogg was drunk, too, but at least he wasn’t acting out the way Keri did. Keri was disappointed and Yana was wringing her hands, but they didn’t protest.

I put venom on my knife tips as we walked. A couple of small traders had come by on the way to the village while Grogg was telling his story, so we picked up the pace and passed them. They were likely headed for the inn, and we preferred as few people being there as possible. It took us nearly half an hour to get back to the village.

Xipil noticed that the window where the watcher had been was still slightly open, but we couldn’t see anyone there now. As we walked through the village, going straight for the inn, Xipil said he thought they had seen us.

In the inn’s common room, two serving men sat with the bard at the table Wolfram and Hylda had occupied earlier. They scrambled to their feet when we trooped inside. One of the servers welcomed us back and promised soup. I told him we required rooms, that we wanted to put down some of our gear before eating. He didn’t want to tell us where the Moon Shadows had rooms – not that I asked directly – but I tricked it out of him anyway.

There were mugs, presumably containing ale, for us on the table, and Grogg grabbed one and poured it down. “Do you think he’s afraid of the horse smell upstairs?” I asked Wolfram. Grogg glowered and raised his voice, asking the staff for snake soup, but he joined us anyway, another mug in his hand.

I led the way upstairs. I mimed that we should move silently down the hall. Rounding a corner, we saw that there was a door at the end of the hall. I gestured for Grogg to kick it down. Xipil conjured an illusory Nuur-Karif while Grogg positioned himself in front of the door. The door flew in, and I saw that the hallway continued behind the opening. I cursed myself for being so tired I hadn’t understood the serving man’s directions correctly.

Wolfram and I rushed down the dark hall to the door behind which the unseen watcher had looked out at us. They surely knew we were coming, but there was nothing for it. I looked at Wolfram and pointed at the door with my knife. In the darkness, he hit the frame more than the door itself, and bounced back. The look in Grogg’s face said he would show us how it was done, and I had to squeeze against the wall so he didn’t run right over me.

[coronatiger]

The door broke in several pieces. The room inside was dark, unnaturally so, but I could still see, except that Grogg blocked most of the view. An arrow suddenly protruded from Grogg’s neck, and I could tell it was poisoned, for Grogg seemed even more drunk than he had been before he crashed through the door.

Grogg continued forward. Seeing nothing in the darkness, he flailed about him with the maul. I could see three figures, one in each of the two corners on the right-hand side of the room, and one retreating from Grogg to the wall between the other two. I rushed the nearest opponent. He fired a hand crossbow at me, but I ducked under the bolt and hurled my throwing knife at him. The hilt blossomed from his throat and I tried to follow up with my melee weapon once I was in range, but I missed. Xipil threw the daylight stone inside the room as Grogg followed the retreating foe. Two more bolts struck his neck.

I was furious with the Moon Shadow for resisting my holy venom, but at least the shock of my attack made him miss when he drew a falchion and swung at me. Feinting with my empty hand, I planted my long knife next to the throwing knife, and the Moon Shadow fell. Your voice boomed inside my head, repeating the promise that someone would die if I chose to go back to the inn.

On the other side of Grogg, Wolfram joined the fight against the third opponent. Xipil cast another spell, and this one made the room even brighter. His light spell struggled against the darkness the Moon Shadows had created, but I thought it was bright enough for Grogg and Wolfram to see who they were fighting. With an overhead blow that scraped across the ceiling, Grogg brought down his maul on the second Moon Shadow.

I ran around Grogg to help Wolfram. His opponent was still standing, but his grip on his falchion didn’t look right. The Moon Shadow ducked under my second throwing knife. Focusing his defense on me might have been a mistake, for Wolfram buried his pick in the man’s chest and his knife in his eye.

I made sure Grogg’s opponent was dead, too. Xipil opened the window to let in more light, but he also let in the sound of three horses neighing distressedly. The horses had to be linked magically to their owners. Picking up my knives, I asked my friends to take care of the horses while I talked to the staff.

Wolfram didn’t see the gravity of the situation. We could hear the horses trying to break out of the stable. I saw he had a gash across his chest and he asked for first aid, but we couldn’t let the horses get away. Who knew what message they might bring back to the other Moon Shadows?

Grogg stumbled out the window, but he landed on his feet and lumbered towards the horses. I felt I didn’t have the time to convince Wolfram that his bandaging had to wait, and I dove out the window, landing lightly and rolling to my feet. Rounding the corner of the building, I saw Wolfram follow, no less acrobatically. Xipil scampered up on the roof, bow in hand.

Grogg swiped his maul at the nearest horse, breaking both of its front legs. Another horse came in my direction, but it stopped rather than trying to trample me. The third horse bolted to the side. Wolfram threw two large throwing knives after it, and one of them hit. Grogg tried to throw his maul at the fleeing horse, but he didn’t even come close.

I swiped both of my blades towards the horse in front of me. It dodged the first attack, but not the second, and my venom felled it. I ran after the last horse, dropping my melee knives to draw throwing knives. I didn’t have a chance to catch up with it. One of the knives scratched the horse’s flank, but I felt venom rush into the horse’s veins. Wolfram hurled his longsword after the horse and Grogg tried with his helmet, but they both missed.

The horse increased its speed more than I had thought would be possible, even for such an impressive steed, but Xipil planted an arrow in the horse. The accumulated injuries slowed the horse down. I ran to gather up my knives, biting each ritually before sheathing it, then I set after the horse along the road. Even injured, the horse was faster than me, I realized, but I couldn’t give up. Xipil kept sending arrows after the horse. He didn’t seem as sharp as he used to be when he used his bow, but he did bring it down eventually. I slit the horse’s throat, and a shadow of death lifted from my mind. It was Your way of telling me that nothing else here needed to die. “Praise be!” I exclaimed, making Your sign in the air with my bloody knife. I realized I was so tired I had to be hallucinating, for it seemed to me my knife had rent the very air and a serpentine line – Your sign – hovered in front of me. I blinked and it was gone.

Jogging back towards the village, I saw that the locals were hiding indoors. They wouldn’t bother us, but I didn’t think we should linger any longer than necessary. Xipil climbed back inside the Moon Shadows’ room and threw out a bedsheet when Wolfram asked for bandages.

I told Grogg he looked strapping with three arrows in his throat, and that Hylda surely would have liked drawing it, but we had to do something about them. Dazed with drink and whatever poison the Moon Shadows employed, Grogg grabbed the arrows and pulled them out before I could stop him. Blood spurted from his neck and I ordered him to lie down so I could deal with it.

Wolfram was also not quite himself and he struggled to apply the makeshift bandages correctly, so I took over. I asked if it was all right if I tried to identify the poison used against him and warned that I would lick his wound. Wolfram frowned at me but said it was all right. The tingling on my tongue told me he was afflicted with a nerve agent. I didn’t recognize the taste, but I could tell that both Grogg and Wolfram would pull through. The poison had already inflicted as much harm as it was going to. They only had to walk off the effect that made them tremble slightly. Being as big and healthy as they were, the poison hadn’t affected them as much as it could have, like if Xipil had been struck.

Xipil searched the Moon Shadows’ room and asked if anyone wanted their weapons. All three of them had two hand crossbows, a falchion and a knife. Wolfram said we could get a good price for them, so we brought them along. Grogg ripped the leg off one of the horses and brought it with him. I wondered silently about that. He dislikes the smell of horses so much. He didn’t seem to have a problem with Keri’s horse, though.

Going back down the road took us longer than when we went the other way. Both Wolfram and Grogg were reeling from their injuries. We might want to use the healing salve on the two of them, I thought to myself. We could talk about it when we rejoined Yana, Hylda and Keri. Even at a distance, I clearly saw the relief on Yana’s face when we finally spotted each other.

[coronatiger]

5th of Tityra, year 412 (continued)

Hylda rushed to meet Grogg, and Yana was no slower to meet me. She practically threw herself into my arms, worry and concern oozing off her in waves. I asked if anything had happened while we were away, but Yana was only interested to know that I was all right. I assured her the Moon Shadows hadn’t even put a hair out of place on my head. Yana smiled then and tucked a few loose strands behind my ear. “No, you managed that all on your own.”

We entered the trees to where Keri waited by the cart. He asked how it had gone at the village, and I replied that it went well; we had taken care of the Moon Shadows. Wolfram commented that they had been ready for us. I mentioned that they had seen us return to the village after leaving only an hour earlier, which would put them on guard, and they did have a few seconds from we broke through the door between the hallways and until we entered their room. Wolfram didn’t think they would have time to load six crossbows with poisoned bolts as well as casting the darkness spell. Xipil thought the Moon Shadows must have recognized me. As I had explained, they wanted me dead on sight, so they could have been preparing their own attack when they heard us approach.

Only Grogg and Wolfram had been injured, but Xipil was exhausted from his spell casting and I was still dead tired; the drowsiness had come back with a vengeance after the adrenaline wore off. I didn’t think it likely that there were more Moon Shadows around, but if we had to fight, our party would hardly be at its peak performance. I suggested using the healing salve on Grogg and Wolfram. Wolfram said he didn’t need it. He had only been hit once, and his armor had dampened the blow. I told Xipil to rest on the wagon when we moved out. An hour of rest should have him fit to fight again, while I needed a long sleep.

Keri said there was a village only minutes to the south. I offered to talk to the villagers to procure water for washing; both Grogg and Wolfram were drenched in blood. I had blood spatter on my hands, but the water in my skin would suffice to get it off. The fog wasn’t as thick on the river as before, and we could see the water closest to the bank, but I thought that water would be too cold. Keri said that as a dwarf, he wasn’t afraid of a little cold. Grogg and Wolfram wouldn’t be any less macho, so they followed. Hylda went with them.

Xipil lay down under the cart. I said there was probably room for both of us in it, but he liked where he was. I washed my hands and climbed in among the luggage, telling Yana to wake me if anyone approached us, or if she had need of me. I phrased it so she would know I’d happily stay awake just to chat, if she wanted company.

Yana leaned on the cart and hummed softly while stroking my hair. The tune cut off abruptly a second or two before Keri poked me in the side with an icy finger just to tell me how cold the river was. I opened my eyes long enough to see Yana glaring daggers at Keri’s back while he jumped up and down and flailed his arms about him to banish the chill.

I heard Wolfram’s voice saying he was going to get the healing salve to put on Grogg. He didn’t need me for that, for he knew where I kept it, so I didn’t bother to get up to fetch it for him – that is, if I wasn’t dreaming.

When Yana woke me, the cart stood inside a barn. She thought I should find somewhere more comfortable to sleep than on the cart. I ate a travel ration and washed it down with some water before settling into the hay. It was still bright outside, and I didn’t get the impression that I had slept very long. I wasn’t sure how secure this barn was, so I asked Wolfram to organize watches. He wrote our names on the wall with chalk so we’d remember the order. Keri liked that Wolfram forgot about him, but when he opened his mouth to gloat, Wolfram added his name on the wall.

O Ashtar! We surrender our lives to Your coils. Take us while we sleep, or grant us another day in Your service, as You will.


6th of Tityra, year 412

O Ashtar, Mother of Snakes, Keeper of Death’s Door, hear my confession!

A familiar fragrance tickled my nostrils when Xipil woke me. Yana had insinuated herself into my arms while I slept, a most welcome surprise, but I startled when I realized my hands could be where nobody should see them. Luckily, the weather was cold enough that both Yana and I had gone to sleep fully clothed, and if my hands had been clinging to Yana’s breasts, Xipil gave no notice of it. Yana stirred when I extracted myself from her, but I whispered that I was getting up to take watch; she could go back to sleep. Yana mumbled something incomprehensible that I took for acceptance.

The stars were still shining, and Xipil went outside to watch them. I glanced at the wall. Only Keri’s name stood after mine, which indicated that I could begin to see the early morning light sometime during my hour, depending on when the others had gone to bed. I realized I was more awake than I had been for days, but I wouldn’t have minded another hour or two of sleep.

I went outside to familiarize myself with the area. The farm was silent; both people and animals were asleep. Xipil danced on the roof of the barn, eyes glowing, so I took the precaution of checking the windows on the farm house. They all had their shutters closed, and in the cracks, I could see that curtains were closed too, so even if someone woke up before Xipil finished his spellcasting, they shouldn’t see the mystic light and freak out.

After what I estimated to be an hour, I went inside the barn again and poked Keri. He sat up and looked around, asking grumpily where Xipil was. “He’s on the roof,” I informed the surly dwarf. “Is he keeping watch?” Keri asked hopefully. I said he was not, and Keri grumbled.

I found a corner in the barn and meditated during Keri’s watch, starting to replenish my venom. When I stood up, Keri roused everyone and said it was time to get going. I grabbed some food from Grogg’s sack while Keri readied the cart. We could have breakfast while walking; Keri seemed in a rush to be off, and I wondered if we had “forgotten” to ask permission to use the barn. Xipil asked Keri if he had paid the farmers for our stay. The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.

The sun struggled this morning, like it did yesterday, but as we were walking through a village a few minutes after reaching the road, it was suddenly bright, as if a veil had been pulled back from the sun.

When we reached the next village, the people were up and about. There seemed to be a small market there today, so Yana and I went to buy food. We would meet the others on the other side of the village; Wolfram would likely have them go around.

The woman selling bread and vegetables returned our smiles. As we loaded our packs with food, I asked what news came from the south. The top story was that Aldera had gone to war against Larma. The woman didn’t understand why they would do that, for she had also heard that Aldera was leaving the fellowship of the kingdom and staking their own course. I knew that these conflicting rumors were based on the actions of Queen Isa and Lord Mir, but I pretended I understood no more than the saleswoman did. It’s easier to make friends with someone who think you are like them.

Mercenaries were flowing to the south, the woman told us. She advised us to keep our distance from them, being young and beautiful girls alone on the road. I said we had to continue on our way, but we would certainly heed the warning. I paid for the food and put in a little extra for the information. The woman revealed that she had charged extra from the traveling mercenaries because she opposed their way of life. Decent people didn’t go around killing others for money. I couldn’t agree more, and said as much, but I kept silent about my beliefs as they would only upset her. Technically, I had killed for money more times than I could count, but I wasn’t like the mercenaries, who took up arms to enrich themselves. When I received payment for taking lives, the money went to You.