The Return of Lash pt. 4: An Epiphany

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Bal Vyr decided that he wanted to study Lash’s journal for the remainder of the day. Abu went with the Drow while Cloudbreaker and I went to the armorsmith. The Goliath needed a set of armor and would have to be fitted considering he was not the average human size.

The armorsmith was daunted by the task, but he agreed to service the Goliath nonetheless. Part of the measuring included Cloudbreaker going into a rage. He had warned the armorsmith about that and though the smith had put away all valuables, the Goliath still punched some holes in the walls and ceiling. I wasn’t sure if I was more nervous by the idea of leaving the room or staying in the presence of his anger.

Once the fitting was finished, Cloudbreaker made it clear with the armorsmith that he’d pay for the damages and thus another debt was made.

We retired back to the Larland’s Chalice Inn and made some small talk with Dale. It was clear he wasn’t happy with us still, but he was cordial. I figure it’ll take a week or so before he warms back up to us.

As Cloudbreaker and I ate dinner, I could see that his face was too stern. It was no surprise considering all that went down today. We didn’t obtain our reward, were accused of not killing all of the vampires, setting one of Dale’s rooms on fire, the incident with the gravekeeper, and creating a greater debt for damaged property... What was there not to be frustrated about?

I recalled how passionate Cloudbreaker was when he spoke about his tribe the other night. I felt if I asked him about the Goliaths, that it would lift his spirits. And considering I was to follow him wherever he was to go, I figured I’d best learn more about what tribe life was like in case we ran into his people once more. I guess in essence, and it’s probably weird of me, I’m wanting to become a Goliath. I’ll need to be tough, strong, and quick in my own way, and if I can do that, then just maybe I can keep up with him and his people.

“Cloudbreaker,” I began, “What was tribe life like? What did you do for fun?”

The Goliath gave me a confused look. When I continued to look at him expectantly, his eyes became thoughtful. A soft smile played at the corner of his mouth as he pondered.

“It was... home,” Cloudbreaker finally said with longing. I waited patiently for him to continue, “Life was hard, but simple. My people are so different than humans. You see, your tribe is your family. You trust each and every member with your life. There is none of this... selfishness that seems so rife in humanity.” I nodded in agreement. People were selfish, even myself. We ate a few more bites in silence. I had thought Cloudbreaker wasn’t going to say any more when he continued.

“As for fun” he began with a fond smile, “we’d dance, sing, tell stories, play games. Oh how I miss a good game. We’d wrestling or play goatball. Ah, goatball! That was my favorite!”

“Goatball? Never heard of it,” I piped in. Cloudbreaker looked at me in disbelief.

“Really!? It’s a wonderful game! See you throw a ball around made of goatskin. The lumpier, the better. The object of the game is you have to throw it past the other team,” Cloudbreaker explained.

“That doesn’t sound too difficult,” I responded. Cloudbreaker laughed.

“Maybe if there wasn’t a river involved. You see you play it across a river with rocks and trees trunks. Typically you hop around on the various debris in the water to get a better shot at throwing the ball past the other team.”

“Ah, so the perfect game for me,” I smiled all cocky like while helping myself to a drink of ale. The Goliath looked me over and nodded his head.

“Yes, I suppose it is. Hopefully one day we can play it,” Cloudbreaker said, “Another game- well sport, I enjoy is climbing. I’ve always loved to climb.”

“Me too!” I blurted a little too enthusiastically, “I mean, I’ve become fond of heights and have had a few adventures involving climbing up cave walls. It’s exhilarating to reach the top,” I explained. Cloudbreaker nodded in agreement. An idea then came to mind, “I know! Maybe when we find some normalcy in this life we can go scale a mountain together. Or maybe we can go climb the bluffs when we get some down time in this town,” I said with excitement.

The Goliath gawked at me. “Yes Blackwing! That sounds amazing!” He placed his hands on his head and leaned back as he beamed. Yet just as quick as the smile came, it faltered.

“What’s wrong?” I prodded.

“I was thinking of my brother. He loved to climb too...” A long sigh escaped Cloudbreaker’s lips, “It’s hard to believe it's been five years since I last saw any of them. I've spent so much time amongst humans I can barely remember what life with the Vath'ul-Mak'ai was truly like anymore. Remembering just feels like a dream...I wish I could return every day,” he said, longing in his voice once more. I too missed home. I even longed to go back, but my hate toward Heironious and His corruption with the mark prevented me from yearning for too long.

Interestingly enough, I had an epiphany about the mark. Once Cloudbreaker and I had retired for the night, I went about journaling while he got comfortable on the floor. As I wrote about the two new qualities of the mark, I realized I had seen the mark turn someone into something else! I’ve witnessed what happens when the new form is killed and reverts back to the original body.

It was Meryth!  It explains how it was she was alive when I most certainly had killed her; how terribly dark she had become with her desire for power and this notion of uniting the God heads into one being. That explains why she turned back to her 12 year old self when I killed her again.

As that realization set in, before I could stop myself, I exclaimed under my breathe, “I’ll be damned!”

“Hmm? What are you fussing about?” Cloudbreaker asked as he shifted under his blanket to look at me.

“Oh, um... sorry,” I began, feeling a bit embarrassed for disturbing him, yet I had to explain. It was too good to not tell him, especially since it had to do with the mark, “It’s just earlier, when you mentioned Bal Vyr turning into some monster, you said after destroying him, he reverted back to his Drow form, right?”

“Yes,” Cloudbreaker exhaled, clearly tired.

“And with Lash having turned into some demon, I was contemplating that it was a new development with the mark- I mean, I thought I had never seen it before!” the excitement in me was on the verge of bursting. I sat up and faced toward the Goliath. He propped his head up on one hand as I went on.

“My sister was a victim of the mark you see. When she died... she wasn’t Exalted like I was. Then some time back, what I assume to have been only a couple months ago, I saw her; but it wasn’t her. She had grown up and the way she talked to me... she was obsessed with power and had this crazy idea about uniting all of the deities together as one supreme being.

“Yet despite her hunger for power, she let me kill her. When she died, my sister turned back into her 12 year old self, looking exactly how I’ve always remembered her; being innocent.”

Right in the midst of saying that, some thoughts came into my mind of, so who was Malfeiya? Why was she Exalted? Why didn’t Heironious explain any of that to me?

“What happened to Bal Vyr gives me hope that my sister was just a victim of the mark’s curse when she first died,” I spoke aloud. I then pursed my lips together as my voice became bitter, and more to myself than to Cloudbreaker, added, “But it doesn’t explain why Heironious never told me any of that.”

I brushed away my traitorous tears. I could feel my anger bubbling under my skin. How dearly I wanted to trust Him again, yet how stuck I was still trying to figure out the mark. When I looked back at Cloudbreaker, I felt stupid for having bothered him. I hadn’t learned anything pivotal to our situation.

With an exasperated sigh, I buried my face in my hands, “I’m sorry Cloudbreaker. I guess I’m still trying to sort this mark thing out. I feel like I’m so close to understanding it, yet still getting nowhere! I didn't mean to keep you awake...”

“You’re fine Blackwing,” Cloudbreaker responded, “I’m just contemplating what you have said.”  I removed the hands from my face and watched him as he thought a moment longer. “Bal Vyr certainly did not let us kill him when he took the form of flame and shadow... I doubt he could have been reasoned with. Plus what Bal Vyr and Lash transformed into were monstrosities... That doesn't sound like what happened to your sister."

I furrowed my brows as Cloudbreaker said that. It was like a knife in the back.

"Blackwing, I don't know what all happened to you before we met, but it does not seem to me that the mark we bear has any link to Heironeous or to Erythnul,” Cloudbreaker continued on despite my look of hurt, “The other night when you went into a fit and I took you to the Temple of Pelor, the priest said that the mark we bear is very old and has not been seen in a long time. I suspect what we bear is at the hand of something long thought dead, like an old God or demon. Something that pre-dates the God Wars certainly."

My eyes burned. It was frustrating to listen to Cloudbreaker trying to alter what I knew to be right. He was naive like everyone I’ve met since my return to the mortal realm, and it made me so mad. But at the same time, how I wanted it to be different. How I didn’t want this to be the same dreaded mark from my past. But I felt so close to understanding what happened to my sister and though I wanted to believe Cloudbreaker, I couldn’t.

“No,” I clipped out, “That has to be what happened to her. This has to be the same mark! Erythnul has been the culprit from the beginning! The mark took my sister’s Exaltation from her and turned her into a monster!” I began to shout. I took a deep breath and wrapped my arms around me, “When I saw her all those months ago, it wasn’t my sister I talked with. I don’t understand why she allowed me to kill her again, but she did...”

I wiped at my eyes, angry that I was crying in front of Cloudbreaker. Another point quickly came to mind about the mark to which I added, “And it’s not the first time the mark has been dormant. My town was among the first raided after a millenium of peace from it.”

Cloudbreaker sat in silence. It was remarkable how calm he was considering how angry I had become. It was as though we balanced each other. Both of us were quick to anger, but typically one of us managed to remain level headed when the other wasn't.

"I don't know then. Part of me suspects that this is a different mark than what you know... yet you're the one who seems to know the most about it," Cloudbreaker finally said. I nodded in agreement, but said no more.

“Blackwing...” the Goliath continued more cautiously, “since you are the only one with a history with this mark, have you thought about what this could mean?” I furrowed my brows wondering what he was getting at. I shook my head slowly as he continued, “This mark has followed you. So me, and all other marked beings, are marked because of you. You brought the curse to Athvala.”

My eyes grew wide at the accusation Cloudbreaker made. Guilt didn’t even begin to describe how I felt. It explained why the mark was in this world. It must have followed me. Yet why was I bearing the mark too?

“Hey,” I heard the Goliath say as he tapped my shoulder. My eyes met his and was surprised to see a soft smile on his lips, “Good thing I don’t believe this to be the same mark.”

A laugh escaped me in disbelief. Still I forced a smile. “Yeah... good thing,” I responded. I then said goodnight to Cloudbreaker and went back to journaling.

With this realization, it's been distracting to recount the day. How much I wanted to write the epiphany out. However given the time before writing, I've contemplated some thoughts about who I saw all those months ago in a lone tree. I know I saw the demon form of Meryth. Now what I need to figure out is why didn’t Heironious explain that aspect of the mark to me? And Meryth said she was Malfeiya. If that’s so, why was she going around doing so much good? Why did Heironious finally decide to Exalt her despite the mark she bore?

On top of all of that, now I have to wonder if Cloudbreaker is right. He may not believe the mark to be the same, but what if I am the one responsible for bring the mark here?
...My head hurts. I’m done writing for the night.

Next Entry

The Return of Lash pt. 3: Boom! Smack!

Previouse Entry

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“Well, that went well,” Dunco said as we walked out of the Guard Captain's office from our unsuccessful meeting, “And might I add that I’m quite interested as what that dark, winged creature is.”

“We are too,” Bal Vyr lied.

“We’ll keep you updated,” Abu added.

“And I would expect you’ll do the same in whatever you might find on the Orcus cult,” Bal Vyr said to Dunco. It was briefly discussed that Dunco could do some research on the cult to see what he could find about it.

“Indeed I shall,” the wizard replied.

The men then discussed with Dunco if he was able to scry. He confirmed he had the capabilities but he had a hefty price for it: 500 gold pieces. He added that if we were trying to locate the demon, that we’d need something of the creature’s for him to scry with, like a body part, hair, or an item.

Once Dunco left, we discussed among ourselves about going to the graveyard to see if we could locate anything of Lash’s. Then it was the discussion of if we did find something, where were we going to get the money for the scrying? I suggested perhaps the scrolls could be of value. The guys agreed and suggested we go back to mine and Cloudbreaker’s room to examine them before handing them over to Dunco.

In the back of my head I thought that perhaps the Inn wasn’t the best of places. What if one of them was cursed and something bad happened? Then again I knew there really wasn’t an opportune place for us to examine them. So I hoped for the best in the privacy the Inn’s room.

I pulled the scrolls out and presented them in front of Bal Vyr. Abu hovered close behind him. I also retrieved this journal and took notes. It was immediately made clear by Bal Vyr that the scrolls were written in blood and by someone quite wicked. We discovered that the first three were scrolls of Summon Undead III, Clutch of Orcus, and Suspend Disease.

Then Bal Vyr opened the 4th scroll and sure enough, our luck ran out. A fireball erupted from the scroll as the Drow unrolled it. For a moment we were completely engulfed in fire and thrown against the walls. The sound of glass shattering and the smell of wood, clothes, and flesh burning filled my nose. We all looked around at the destruction and a sick feeling formed in my stomach.

Where was Hubert when I needed him...?

I barely had a moment to examine myself, and those standing about, when footsteps thundered up the stairs. My tunic was hanging on me in scorched pieces, the leotard charred and blistered over my arms and legs while my chain shirt felt uncomfortably warm against the leotard that was underneath it. I noted the patches of blistered and blackened skin, the pain seeping in. The others were in a similar form of disarray. Of the magical items in the room, only one scroll was destroyed.

The door to the room busted open as Dale came barging in. The look on his face matched the guilt I already felt for what had just transpired.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY INN!?” he thundered in disbelief. I hung my head like a shamed child.

“Well,” Bal Vyr immediately responded, ”I came up here to read a letter from my aunt... and clearly that was not from my aunt-”

“You’re going to have to pay for this!” Dale declared as he continued to look about the room in horror. He placed his hands on his bald head and squeezed as though his head were about to explode itself.

“Yes we will,” I quickly stated. There was nothing more I wanted to do right then. I wanted to fix what we had done immediately. Dale began to shake his head. I had to wonder if he had heard anything that we had said. He then looked down at Bal Vyr’s feet and his face contorted in anger.

“Why would you read scrolls in my Inn!?” He demanded while gesturing to the parchment.

“We read a letter,” Bal Vyr responded without missing a beat, ”Those are scroll, but this,” he shook the minuet piece of paper left in his hand, “was a letter!”

Dale pursed his lips before looking at me and Cloudbreaker. Though his eyes were still hard, his mouth softened a bit.

“You’re very fortunately that I like you,” he said.

“We are very sorry Dale-” Cloudbreaker apologized before Dale put a hand up to stop him. He then fished in his vest and pulled out a key.

“Here’s another key for room 14.”

“Could we help clean up?” I offered.

“No!” Dale clipped out, before more softly responding, “No, don’t worry about it. Just don’t read any more scrolls in my Inn!” He then turned on his heels and stormed back down the stairs.

“Well, if you think about it, it’s the cleanest room in the Inn minus the soot,” Bal Vyr stated, “Only the Gods know what’s happened in the bed alone,” I heard him mutter. My cheeks flushed as I pursed my lips. My ears couldn’t believe that he had implied Cloudbreaker and I were having romantic escapades there. I made no retort to the Drow’s comment only because when I thought about it, I was sharing a room with another man. How often did men and women share rooms on innocent terms?

Abu healed all of us with our wand of healing. I went about changing into my new clothes and washing the soot off my hands and face. The men had managed to fix their outfits appropriately as well.

We then directed our attention to the graveyard since we needed to see if we could locate anything of Lash’s. While there we examined the last two scrolls with no consequences. The last two were scrolls of Love’s Pain and Quickened Expeditious Retreat.

Bal Vyr went about digging up the graveyard in his search for our fallen friend’s items. At least that’s what I assumed he was doing when he pulled out his shovel. The rest of us wandered about the graves before I suggested that we ask the gravekeeper if he found any of Lash’s things.

Abu and Cloudbreaker followed me over to the hut. I warned Abu of the huts smell as we approached. I then knocked on door and from within, a familiar, stammering voice answered, “Oh I-I-I’m not falling for that one again! Y-you stay away from me!”

“We only have a few questions to ask, that’s all,” I said as warmly as I could.

The sound of furniture being moved from the door was heard. After a few minutes, Cloudbreaker tried to kick the door open.

“I-I knew it! You meant t-t-to trick me!” the gravekeeper cried out.

“Cloudbreaker!” I snapped at the Goliath for thwarting our efforts, “We need him to give us answers and scaring the guy will send him into a babbling fit!”

“I have no patience for that man!”

“Then go take a walk!” I ordered. Cloudbreaker eyed me while taking some deep breathes. Thankfully he only moved a few feet away while Abu and I attempted to assure the gravekeeper that we weren’t there to hurt him.

It was infuriating how little he trusted us. I walked over to the window of his home and peered in. Sure enough the gravekeeper was cowering behind the furniture he assembled in front of his door. I rapped on the window and waved to the the man once he met my eyes. He was clearly surprised that I could see him. He began to move his bookshelf over to the window.

Feeling strongly that he could help us, I teleported into the home. Entering uninvited was wrong, but I had figured my submissive and peaceful approach would prove to the man that I was friendly. How wrong I was.

The gravekeeper squealed in surprise to my sudden presence in his home.

“I’m sorry to intrude,” I stated, holding my hands up in surrender, “but I have a few questions I need answers to.”

It was understandable for the man to attack me. I had just entered his home unannounced. However after knocking me to the floor, without any resistance from me, and climbing on top to bite me, I finally retaliated. I pushed the man off of me and stood up. With a flick of my hand, I pulled my halberd in front of me and stated again, “I only have a few questions. Please! Hear me out and I will leave!”

The gravekeeper either wasn't litening or was in too much of a rage to think clearly since he continued to attack. So I knocked him in the face with the pole of my weapon. His nose began to bleed after a sickening crunch was heard. My stomach knotted up as guilt set in. I didn’t want to hurt him!

“Please,” I tried once more, “I just need a few answers. I don’t want to hurt you! Please stop fighting me!” I pleaded. I dodged a few attacks and tried to fatigue the man, but to no avail.

“Fine!” I shouted, “I’ll leave!” I then turned and marched over to the door. As I moved some of the furniture from the exit, I felt the gravekeeper bite me once more. I jerked my shoulder back to push the man off me before swinging the pole of my halberd around and hitting my attacker in the face again.

Finally the gravekeeper gave up the fight as he fell to the floor unconscious. For a moment I looked at him in disbelief. Had I killed a mentally unstable, old man? My anger however justified what I had done. I had defended myself. He was the one who attacked me! I might have entered his home, but he could have asked me to leave since I made it clear I meant no harm before he started attacking.

I quickly returned my attention to getting out the front door. As I finally squeezed through, Abu stood there with a worried look on his face.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Blackwing, what happened?” Cloudbreaker prodded as well. Bal Vyr was beginning to walk our way as I looked about wondering how to explain what had happened.

“I teleported into the man’s home hoping to get some answers,” I began, hating every word that spilled from my mouth, “Once in, he began to attack me. I don’t blame him for I did enter uninvited. However,” I then folded my arms protectively in front of me while shifting my weight, “after telling him I only had a few questions, the man continued to bite and hit me, I hit him with the pole of my weapon. Even when I said I was leaving he kept attacking me! So in my frustration I hit him again and now I can only hope that he’s not dead...”

It would have been truly troubling if it turned out that the gravekeeper was dead. The guilt continued to seep in while my anger relentlessly justified my actions. All the men gawked at me and I knew I was a fool to have ever tried to talk to the gravekeeper.

“He started biting you?” Cloudbreaker questioned.

“And punching me.”

Without another word, the Goliath stormed off into the gravekeeper’s home, Abu and Bal Vyr close behind him. The two watched from the doorway as the sound of the house being trashed ensued.

Once silence fell upon the home, I barely caught word of Bal Vyr asking if the Goliath was finished as he and Abu entered the home. I clenched my fist together as my angry toward the gravekeeper continued. Many minutes passed before Cloudbreaker stomped out of the home and sat down next to me.

“I honestly can’t believe I did that,” I spoke as the Goliath sat down.

“That man deserved nothing less,” Cloudbreaker retorted.

“No, it’s that kind of stupidity that I catch myself doing that makes me question my morals. It’s no wonder why people hate me... why I hate me...” I paused for a moment partly suspecting the Goliath would respond, but instead he stood up and began to pace. “Heaven’s I must sound angsty,“ I muttered under my breath.

“I did find Lash’s journal,” Cloudbreaker finally said. I gave a nod to show I heard. That was definitely good. Now to figure out what we’d use in the form of payment to get Dunco to scry for us.

Abu and Bal Vyr finally come out of the gravekeeper’s home, closing the door behind them.

“He’s definitely heard the screeching before-” the Drow began to say when Cloudbreaker cut him off. I latched on to the notion that the gravekeeper was alive and felt relieved that I hadn’t murdered him.

“What are we even doing here any more Bal Vyr!?” Cloudbreaker demanded.

“What do you mean?”

“This town! These humans! With all their problems that aren’t our own! We didn’t come here to stay! We came here to get out! And now we’re dealing with cannibals, blackmailers, and kidnappers!”

Bal Vyr squinted his eyes as he appraised the Goliath’s statement.

“Here’s how I’ve thought about it: If we’re wanting to leave, we have to deal with the Elves. If we do what the they want us to do, then we’ll probably have to deal with people from this town chasing after us because when it comes to assassinations, typically you don’t just get away with it,” the Drow explained.

“Well fortunately for you, you have a disguise on your side,” I mentioned hinting that he technically could get away with murder.

“Yes, I do, but you know who can’t disguise? A Goliath and a winged woman!” Bal Vyr snapped at me.

“We don’t need to do the killing,” Cloudbreaker mentioned. The Drow gave him an unconvinced look. “What I’m saying is, we can help the Elves do the killing.”

“So slaughter a town?”

“Who were you planning to kill?” Abu asked. All of us were reminded right quick that Abu hadn’t been with us during the encounter with the Wood Elves. Bal Vyr took a moment to explain how the Elves want us to kill the Mayor, leader of the Sylphsbane Clade, and the manager at the lumber mill.

“But we’ve pretty much ignored that promise,” the Drow stated.

“Yes, and now the humans are blackmailing us by forcing us to work for them!” the Goliath fumed.

“Cloudbreaker! We’re not being forced to do anything! We can go back and tell the Guard Captain to shove it where the sun don’t shine and go about doing our own things,” Bal Vyr stated.

“If only we didn’t need the money,” I muttered.

“We could open a tavern if we wanted to. Honestly, I’d like to not do anything and let the Town Guard sweat it out. Eventually people are going to learn about the crime scene.”

“Yes yes,” Cloudbreaker responded. He shook his head as he continued to restrain his anger, “I’m just frustrated Bal Vyr!”

“You don’t say.”

“Everything we’ve done just hasn’t gone exactly as planned.” Welcome to my life, I thought to myself.

“Let alone the fact we’ve lost three party members; one who’s probably on a murderous rampage while the others we’ve barely gone searching for,” Bal Vyr added, ”one of them quite possibly is still alive! Very frustrating indeed!”

“If you’re referring to finding Grendel, I could careless about that man!”

“And I don’t care what you think of him because when it comes down to it, he’s marked just like you! We need more on our side!”

“Hey! We were able to make our way out of the crypts just fine!”

“Yeah, but what if he’s in trouble? What if a vampire or werewolf got to him?”

“And you think that’ll make me care?”

“You were all for going after Araja!” My stomach churned as Bal Vyr glared at the two of us. He scoffed as he eyed us up and down, “You two really are joined at the hip aren’t you!? Do you even care about anyone else in this damned party?”

“I care about you,” Cloudbreaker said softly, if not too quickly. However I had to agree with Bal Vyr about the crusader. What ever feelings I had toward Grendel, he was one of us. He, too, needed saving from whatever predicament he was in.

“Fine... let’s go find Grendel,” I muttered right as the Goliath spoke again.

“Listen, I’m very frustrated as you can see Bal Vyr. When I’m angry I don’t see clearly.” Cloudbreaker explained. Bal Vyr, who still looked irritated with the Goliath, let out a sigh and relaxed his poster a bit.

“Okay, then here’s our options as to what we can do,” the Drow began holding up a finger for each point he made, “1, we attack the town. 2, we take off out of town and hope we survive against the Elves. We don’t know where we’re going though. So maybe we could hire a ferry.”

“But if we leave, the town will have to deal with Lash and whatever Trickfoot or Grendel have become.” I stated.

“Yeah, so option 3 is look for Grendel, Trickfoot, and the killer and continue to earn money while figuring out our escape from this place.”

“Or we can try and end the war with the Elves” Abu added.

“This war seems heavily entrenched.” Cloudbreaker responded.

“Very much so. Wouldn’t be surprised if the Elves already have spies in the Sylphsbane Clade. They’re crafty like that. But sure, why not. Option 4, we work to bring peace. I doubt anything will come of it seeing we are quite amateur adventurers.”

“Well, I think we owe it to Lash to hunt her down,” Cloudbreaker said. I nodded in agreement. If we destroyed the monster she became, maybe she’ll get a second chance like Bal Vyr had.

“Okay, then it’s settled. Let’s solve this murder mystery and try to find Grendel and Trickfoot,” the Drow said, “Also,” he added quickly, “while we do this, let’s reign in our opinions so as to not have the whole town against us. I’m a stranger in this land too and have numerous people I’d like to kill already, but I’m sucking it up and need you both to do so too!”

Once more I gave a nod of my head. Cloudbreaker slowly nodded though his eyes seemed troubled.

“Bal Vyr,” the Goliath spoke, “I want you to know that I trust you. Considering all we’ve been through these past few days, you’ve earned my trust.”

“I would hope so!”

“Just do me a favor,” Cloudbreaker added, “if I start loosing my temper and there’s nothing around that you want me to swing my sword at, get me out of there!”

“Will do.”

“So what now?” I asked, “we still need to come up with the money to have Dunco scry for us.”

“Well, the gravekeeper did make it seem that Lash comes back to the graveyard. I suggest we have a stake out before we scry for her location. And lets do it tomorrow night when we are well rested and prepared for a night fight,” the Drow suggested.

As we left the graveyard behind us, Bal Vyr mused over the idea of revealing the Guard Captain’s corruption and how we, in a few years time, could become the leaders of Lake Town. Cloudbreaker refused to do such a thing. I had to agree with him, but not in the sense of being exhausted by the people of this town. I just don’t want to be a leader ever again.

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The Return of Lash pt. 2: Most Likely Not a Vampire

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Cloudbreaker and I quickly acquired our weapons and my new outfit. I would have liked to have put on the new clothes, but seeing that we had about 20 minutes to meet up with the others, I opted to wait until tomorrow to change.

On our way to the crime scene, I thought about the possibility of there being another vampire. I recalled Bal Vyr and Cloudbreaker saying they killed one. I was certain there was two.

“Um, you and Bal Vyr mentioned that you killed a vampire last night, right?”

“We did,” the Goliath confirmed

“Well, I think there’s another. I had woken up at one point and heard, whom I assumed to be, one of the vampires command another to find someone else for the ritual,” I felt a shiver run down my spine as I recalled what the vampire said to me, “that vampire called me his ‘little dove’,”

“Oh, I’m sure there was a vampire spawn we missed. That could very well be the second voice you heard,” Cloudbreaker responded.

“Are spawns intelligent?”

“As far as I know, yes.”

“Then perhaps that’s the case," I said, "I’ve never encountered vampires before. Hopefully whatever we find at the crime scene won't have anything to do with them. I suppose we’ll be finding that out right quick won't we?" Cloudbreaker gave a nod of his head.

"Yes, let us see if the Guard Captain is in the right to be frustrated with us.”

As we walked into the Commoner’s part of town, Bal Vyr called after us. He and Abu had just finished their errands and so it was we all made way to the home of the murdered family together.

When we approached, the guards there asked what we wanted. Bal Vyr quickly explained we were to investigate the scene to see if we truly were responsible for it. The guard asked if he was sure.

“Absolutely,” the Drow stated.

“And you ma’am? Are you sure?” the guard questioned me.

“I’ll be fine,” I simply replied.

We walked on past the guard into the pitifully small home. The place reeked of blood. It was no surprise either considering that every inch of the 15x15 foot home was covered in the crimson life source. In the middle of the home, laid side by side, were three bodies: Two parents and what looked to have been an 8 year old boy. They were pale, like myself, and not a drop of blood was on them.

My eyes locked on the boy. I thought about Joran, the boy Cortanna had accidentally killed. The image of Meryth’s dead body in the grave I made came to mind too. I wasn’t certain how long I stood there watching, but I snapped out of my trance as Bal Vyr and Abu crouched down to examine the bodies.

“There’s no bite wounds! Blood wasted and no bite marks?” Bal Vyr stated. The Drow turned on his heels and stormed out of the house.

Bal Vyr vehemently informed the guards that what we just saw was not done by the hands of a vampire. He asked if there was anyone in town well versed in the lore of vampires. The guard was under the assumption we were the experts. The Drow massaged his temples as he explained to the ignorant guard that there was a plethora of creatures capable of doing what we saw in the home. Abu added that vampires would not waste that much blood.

The Drow mentioned that it could very well be the work of a demon. He recommended getting someone well versed in cults to come to the site or perhaps someone from the Wizards Guild. Bal Vyr was certain it had something to do with blood magic. The guard suggested that we were more than welcome to go find assistance for the case.

Cloudbreaker was more interested in going back to the Guard Captain to get our reward now that we were certain what had happened to the family wasn’t at the hands of a vampire. Bal Vyr mused over the idea that the murder could very well be another source of income we could help the Captain out with.

So we headed back to the Captain of the Guard to inform him on our findings. He was less than persuaded by the evidence we presented. Bal Vyr pitched the idea that we’d help solve this problem for pay, but the Captain stated firmly that he would do no such thing until it was ruled out that no vampire was involved.

“Captain, we spoke to you last night about the cult we found with in the crypt. This looks to be the very works of that cult of Orcus, a message from them,” Cloudbreaker spoke, “Isn’t that proof enough?”

“If that’s the conclusion you are drawing from some tapestries you saw, then I’m afraid I’m going to need more evidence that this cult truly is up and running,” the Captain responded, “Prove to me that someone’s leading this cult. If it’s a vampire, kill it. If someone else, report them to me.”

Bal Vyr bickered some more with the Guard Captain to make sure that if we did find evidence that we’d be paid in addition to the contract we already fulfilled with the vampires. We were informed that such payment would be made if it turned out that the current problem wasn’t the result of a vampire.

We departed from the Guard house to which Bal Vyr suggested that Abu and I go to the Wizarding Guild to ask the wizards if they might know of what spells would cause what we saw. I was all for going, but once I turned around in the direction of the Guild, a knot in my stomach formed and I found myself unwilling to leave Bal Vyr and Cloudbreaker. I looked back at the guys, giving a nervous smile to Abu.

“Um,” I began, knowing I was about to sound unreasonable, “I- uh, I would rather go with one of you two,” I said, pointing at the Drow and Goliath. Bal Vyr rolled his eyes and scoffed, “Sorry. I just don’t feel comfortable going off with a guy I just met,” I quickly added (though Abu was one of those who had saved me...).

Bal Vyr placed a hand on my shoulder and turned me in the direction I ought to have been going with the cleric, stating, “Araja, focus here. We need you to do something. Now go and do it.”

“I can go alone if it’s a problem,” Abu began to say.

“Think about it,” Bal Vyr continued, “We just saved you from the bottom of the vampire’s crypt.”

“Yeah!” I snapped, looking at him in a way that I could only hope suggested that it was too soon for me to leave him or Cloudbreaker.

“All we’re asking is for you to go to the wizards guild, which is down the street. That’s it!” Bal Vyr attempted to persuade me, “And might I add, that there are very helpful wizards there available if you get into trouble.”

“No, I’ll go with Blackwing,” Cloudbreaker stated.

“No you won’t,” Bal Vyr ordered, “You don’t know jack about magic. I’d go but they’d know who I am,” the Drow then looked me in the eyes, “Please Araja- er, Blackwing, we need you to do this.”

My eyes felt wide and I could feel my heart work. I didn’t want to be a problem and I knew I was making a big deal about it. So I conceided.

“Okay,” I heard myself say.

“Abu, you said you were fine going on your own right?” Cloudbreaker asked.

“I did.”

“Then you go. Blackwing, come with us.”

“You do know we’re splitting up to canvas the neighborhood right?” Bal Vyr questioned. I nodded, but for me, at least both of them would be a little closer.

Abu took off for the Wizard’s Guild while the rest of us went back to the Commoner’s part of town. I stood around for a moment as Bal Vyr went back into the dead family’s home and while Cloudbreaker looked about the near by homes. As he looked at one of the houses, I figured I could ask the folks who lived inside if they’ve noticed anything unusual taking place last night.

“Blackwing, there’s blood on this house,” Cloudbreaker pointed out as I passed him.

“Well I was about to knock on the house door. We could ask about it,” I mentioned.

I went to the door, knocked upon it and heard the shifting of pots before footsteps coming to the door. A woman in her mid 40’s answered and eyed me and Cloudbreaker up before asking what was wanted. I asked if she knew about the blood on her roof. She looked very concerned yet upon me asking if I could investigate it, she asked us to leave her alone.

Cloudbreaker knelt down and pleaded with the woman if she had heard anything last night, in particular to something happening on her roof. The woman’s eyes grew wide as her jaw tightened. She shook her head and said she knew nothing. I placed a hand on the door to prevent her from shutting it. I could see she was terrified and that she knew something.

“Please. We want to end whatever terror is taking place here,” I said as gently as I could. The woman looked me in the eyes and pursed her lips together. She tried closing the door again, but to no avail.

“No!” she said defeated like, “It was a demon! Stay away from me!” the woman sputtered out. Cloudbreaker latched onto the first clue she gave us and prodded further, assuring her that we would protect her. The woman went on to state that nothing could save them from the dark, winged demon with glowing red eyes. As soon as she stated that I took my hand from the door. She closed it immediately while I slowly turned to face Cloudbreaker.

“Lash!” I barely stated in a whisper.

“That is not good...” Cloudbreaker said. He then knocked on the door and asked the woman if she heard the demon make any noise. The woman, through a crack in the door said she heard what sounded like nails on glass. That was the last thing I heard after Lash took off in her flight from the grave yard. Apparently Cloudbreaker had heard it too that night. The Goliath and I looked at each other and quickly retreated back to the crime scene where we last saw Bal Vyr puttering about.

“Bal Vyr!” Cloudbreaker called out. The Drow, who was coming out of the alley by the house, looked up expectantly, “It looks to be the work of Lash.”

“Really? Who was that?”

“The other female that traveled with us,” I reminded him.

“Oh yes, the one that died in the graveyard.”

Just then, Abu returned with another man following him. I was impressed with how quickly he found someone to come out to the scene.

“I have found someone,” Abu announced.

“We can see that,” Cloudbreaker replied, “Go on, introduce us.”

“Well...” the cleric began, looking at his companion, “I’ve actually forgotten his name,” he drawled. The wizard rolled his eyes before introducing himself in an exasperated tone.

“My name is Dunco from the Wizards Guild.”

We each introduced ourselves, Cloudbreaker being more formal by offering his hand. The mage politely shook hands with the Goliath, but wiped his hand afterwards.

I watched as Bal Vyr escorted Dunco to the house. The wizard, in his fine robes, had an air of haughtiness about him. In fact, there was something reminiscent about him and my once best friend’s father. Perhaps it was the way he held his nose in the air or the fact he daintily placed a hand to his nose as he opened the door to the crime scene. Without stepping in, Dunco leaned forward as he looked about. He then stepped back, closing the door once more.

The men began to pester the mage about what he knew. Dunco commented that it looked like something a friend or college of his would know. Someone named Leeland, who might know of the spell that would have caused it. The important part though was he agreed that there was magic at work there, which a vampire could have done, but likely a cultist or demon. So quickly we began to head back to the Guard Captain’s office with Dunco in tow.

Along the way, the wizard and Bal Vyr got into deep discussion about the situation. The Drow talked about the cult of Orcus as well as the tapestry and scrolls we found within the crypt. Dunco was too intrigued. I watched him interrogate Bal Vyr, who was running off with his mouth, and soon the conversation lead to our marks. Thankfully the Drow had half the mind to not state what they were and lied, stating they were magical tattoos for our mercenary group. “The only magic they possess,” Bal Vyr elaborated, “is to enable us with the ability to know if each other’s location.” I somehow managed to not laugh or scoff the whole time.

Anyways, listening to them talk, I had a very unnerving feeling that the information we were giving Dunco was not to our benefit. I felt that especially when he inquired about the magical scrolls. I placed a hand on the top of my haversack protectively even though it was never asked who had them.

We walked into the Guard Captain’s office and it was clear he was displeased to see us.

“For heaven sake! I told them not to send you up here!” the Captain fumed, “What could you possibly want now?”

“We have a wizard,” Bal Vyr stated.

“You don’t say...”

“We brought him along since we found the murders was not something done by a vampire. We assumed you’d prefer to hear it from someone else,” Abu calmly stated. I cocked an eye. I figured we had returned to once more try and persuade the Guard Captain that it was highly unlikely that a vampire had committed the murders.

“So have you ruled out the possibility that this could have been a vampire attack?” the Captain asked Dunco.

“No,” Dunco said flatly with an air of arrogance.

“You did rule out that it wasn’t a standard vampire though didn’t you?” Abu continued.

“That is correct. What I saw back there would indicate that if a vampire was involved it would need magical capabilities.”

“And the vampire we fought had no such capabilities,” Abu explained, “It and all it’s spawn, were bereft of magics.”

“Well the werewolf we fought was a mage of sorts,” Bal Vyr added.

“Yeah, he nearly killed us with that spell,” Cloudbreaker said.

“What spell?” I asked. The most I recalled from the werewolf was a skeleton being summoned.

“The one that just about killed you Blackwing,” Cloudbreaker answered.

“The woman cast that spell,” I reminded.

“Yeah, well, that woman was a disguise for a man who turned into a werewolf,” Bal Vyr explained, “Anyways,” the Drow continued on while my head worked the information of the woman being the werewolf, “We questioned a woman who had a very interesting story to tell.”

“By all means, do tell me,” the Captain said, though the tone of his voice would say he was finding amusement in our attempts to convince him.

Cloudbreaker gave the description of Lash’s new form that the woman saw, stating that she saw it in front of the victim's home before it took off and making a horrible screeching sound. Bal Vyr noted that she called it a demon.

“So one person said that they saw a winged, dark figure?” The Captain questioned, “And was there anyone else to confirm this as well?“ The silence that followed was painful. We were amature slueths. It was a pitiful attempt to get ourselves off the hook of this incident that wasn’t our fault. So it amused me greatly the response Bal Vyr gave.

“Nope, but we thought since you’re wasting our time with this quest that we’d waste some of yours.”

“Well, by all means, take your time with it. I’ll just be hanging onto your reward until you’ve taken care of this problem,” the Guard Captain simply responded. He stood up, walked around us, and opened the door to his office.

“I suppose if you can locate this ‘demon’ thing, then we can put this all to rest,” the Captain said as we began to leave. No one responded as we continued on our way.

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