Missteps V.2

Chapter 50 – Eggshells

Much to everyone's dismay it was still snowing in the morning. Granted it wasn't as strong as the previous night, but the wind still had enough gusto in it to make them rethink going out.

Carric stretched and headed towards the kitchen to make some food. Ander went to follow but the ranger lightly pushed Ander back into his seat. "You make us food all the time, let the rest of us have a chance." He grinned and disappeared into the kitchen.

Kerri stretched and stood up. "I'm going to go and find a place to freshen up." The bard grabbed their bag and headed towards the stairway.

"Want some company?" Elaine called after.

Kerri waved her off. "Nope, just do your spell thing."

Elaine's brow furrowed as she watched her friend disappear. She knew that Kerri had spent the night tossing and turning. She knew because she'd barely slept. All night dark shadows invaded her dreams, but a bright light jolted her awake every time. At times the shadows seemed to have a face. Her eyes turned towards Vowil's symbol at the front of the church. One would think that a demon's influence couldn't enter Vowil's home.

Ander settled himself on one of the pews, and pulled out not only his spellbook but the two from the caverns as well.

Lia sat under one of the stain glass windows. She put her hand on the window. She could feel the coldness of the snow, but also the faint heat from the morning sun. The glass trembled under her palm from the wind. Lia let herself get lost in the conflicting sensations that came from nature.

The previous night, as everyone had put the pews back from Jun's sleepwalk incident, Jun had insisted that the pew in front of Zaire be faced backwards. So, when Zaire eventually woke up the next morning, the first thing he saw was Jun spit shining his warhammer.

Jun grinned as he watched Zaire's gaze move from the weapon to his face. "Good morning, how'd you sleep?"

The teen slowly sat up. "What do you care?"

Jun shrugged. "I don't, just being polite. As soon as this storm clears, we'll take you to the town guard. Leave it to them to figure out what to do with you."

Zaire's eyes narrowed. "Why not hand me over to Kalia yourself? Is this the reward not enough?"

"Honestly kid, there's no reward on you." The berserker chuckled. "Kalia's not even in town anymore. She left once she killed Loiwin."

The teen's eyes widened. "She killed Loiwin?" Zaire's voice dropped to a whisper as his gaze dropped towards the floor.

"So, Loiwin was the nice one?" Jun set the warhammer on the pew next to him.

Zaire gave a small chuckle. "I wouldn't call him 'nice', but he did save me. When I was little, I saw Kalia kill our parents. I told Loiwin, and he hid me in that house. He told Oohgac to protect me, care for me, and keep me in the house."

"Why'd Kalia kill your folks?"

Zaire shrugged. "Don't really remember. I hid in a closet and watched Kalia poison them through a crack."

"Your sister sounds like a real winner." Jun gave a wry smile, but the teen didn't see it. "So, what was it like growing up with a demon?"

Another shrug. "He left sometimes, said he had business to conduct with some acquaintances. It was Anyssa's job to care for me."

"And the zombies?"

"Oohgac said they were for my protection." Zaine reached up to grab something around his neck, but his fist only curled around empty air. "It was easy to pretend they were my friends."

Jun raised an eyebrow. "Even the ghouls?"

"They came for the zombies and got stuck. Oohgac kept them in line." Zaine brought his knees-up and rested his forehead on them.

Up above, Iados leaned over the balcony and watched. He'd gone up there to do his morning exercises. He watched as Jun continued to try to talk to Zaire, but the boy had clammed up. The other three were focused on their own studies, and he quickly grew bored. He left the balcony and instead walked over to the back of the sanctuary. On his way to the staircase upstairs, he passed by the kitchen and watched Carric add a whole fistful of white powder to a bowl. He leaned against the kitchen's door frame. "What are you making?"

Carric didn't look up as he started to crack eggs into the bowl. "Eggs and oatmeal, maybe some toast if I can find the bread." The ranger deposited the eggshells into a nearby mortar. "Probably won't be as good as Ander's food, but it'll be edible."

Iados nodded. "Alright, I look forward to trying it." The akudaem left Carric to his task and headed upstairs. He bypassed the room he knew Anyssa was in, but tried the door handles of the others. Unsurprisingly the doors were unlocked for the most part. Some of them were empty save for empty paint pails and strong smelling walls. In one room there was a wall in the process of being dismantled.

For the doors that were locked, Iados used it as a good chance to practice his lock-picking. Behind the doors he could open were large crates of church and town records, various furnishings, clothing, or other unmarked containers. Stacked furniture pieces filled one of the larger rooms.

Near the end of the hall, Iados picked the lock and the door opened silently. This room was mostly empty save for one or two work benches. Sheets covered the floor and the room was lit by a large window. In the middle, sitting on an overturned bucket with their back to the door, was Kerri.

She was topless, but what caught Iados's eye was the dagger in her hand. With pain-filled gasps, Kerri lightly stabbed herself. Blood covered her whole shoulder-blade.

"What the hell?" Iados rushed forward and snatched the blade from her. He picked up her shirt and applied pressure to her shoulder.

"Did I get it?" Kerri's voice was low, and he could hear the pain in it.

"Get what?" Iados used the fabric to clear away some of the blood. He found his answer before she said it.

"The mark."

Even though Kerri had stabbed in the same general area, the mark was untouched. All around it the skin was bloody and blistered, but the small amount of skin that could be seen through the overlapping designs was pristine.

"All last night, I heard that demon in my dreams." Kerri tried to curl in on herself, but stopped with a wince. "He said that the mark would change me. Maccus had said that it would lead me. I treated being able to talk about it openly as a victory, but now it feels hollow." Kerri reached up and grasped her shoulder. Her fingers turned white as her whole hand shook. "I'm scared. Not of the mark itself, but of not knowing what it means. From not having any answers, just questions."

Iados reached out and covered Kerri's hand with his own. His mind flashed back to the woman in the water, and his own lack of answers. "We'll find the answers, even if we have to go to Maccus himself."

Kerri sniffled. "He won't tell us anything."

"He will if we have something worth the answer in trade." Iados moved around and kneeled in front of Kerri. He titled her head up till she looked him in the eye. "Everyone has a price, we just have to find his. We keep on this adventuring path, and I'm certain we'll find something."

"What if it changes me before then?" Kerri's eyes were filled with fear and uncertainty.

He reached out and cupped her face. "The way I see it, you only have two options. You can sit back and wait for whatever the damn mark is gonna do to you, or you keep moving and try like hell to take back your life." Iados removed his hand. "Truthfully, from what I've seen, you don't seem like the type to let anyone tell you who to be."

Kerri couldn't help but scoff at the statement. "Kory Unlon would beg to differ." A small bit of resentment curled up her spine at the mention of her Lirathan noble alter-ego. "Taking back my life is how this mark was put on my back in the first place."

Iados sighed and stood up. "I'm going to go get Elaine so she can heal up your back. Stay here." The former pirate held up the dagger. "Also, this is coming with me." He left.

Kerri shivered as she sat in the cold room. She appreciated Iados's attempts to get her spirits up, but she wasn't in the mood. Right now, the mark was a heavy weight, both physically and mentally.

Kerri wasn't aware of how long it took before Elaine entered the room with her pack.

The cleric gasped from behind her as she approached. "You could have asked for help." She settled herself behind the bard. "Could have avoided this mess."

"Are you seriously giving me a lecture on how bad a self-harm job I did?" Kerri tried to turn around to face her friend, but Elaine stopped her.

She wetted some rags from her healer's kit and started to clean the shoulder blade. Most of the cuts were shallow and had already clotted. "I would have thought you'd put more care into this endeavor, seeing as you are a bard by profession. Didn't you once tell me that if you could avoid a scar you would?"

Kerri didn't answer immediately. A shiver went up her spine as she felt Elaine smear some sort of cold slime onto her injuries. "Why bother with that? Just give me a healing spell and we'll be done."

"No." Elaine finished with the poultice. She reached into the bag and pulled out long strips of rags.

"No?" Kerri questioned.

"No." The cleric repeated as she started to wrap the bandages around Kerri's torso and shoulder. "You have healing spells of your own. If you want magical healing, then do it yourself."

Kerri narrowed her eyes. "I see, this is your way of punishing me for this little stunt." She hissed as Elaine pulled the bandages tight. "Tough love, huh?"

"No," Elaine tied off the bandage. "I just don't see the point of wasting a healing spell on someone who doesn't want to be healed." She packed her healing supplies away and then pulled out a new shirt and tossed it over Kerri's shoulder. "Breakfast will be ready in about ten minutes or so. Come down if you want some. In the meantime, I'll make sure everyone leaves you alone. Give you time to work out your demons."

To Kerri's surprise, Elaine actually left. A few seconds after the door closed, Kerri yelled out and flipped over a workbench.

In the hallway, Elaine furiously wiped away the tears that streamed down her face.

Iados handed over a handkerchief as they heard Kerri flip another table. "You sure we should leave her alone?"

Elaine nodded. "She's scared. I think that demon brought up every fear that she's pushed down. I don't think she's ready to accept our help yet." She yawned.

Iados raised an eyebrow. "Didn't sleep much?"

Elaine shook her head. "Not really. I'm going to go check on the food, coming?"

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"Nah," Iados slid down the wall. "I'm gonna sit here for a while, just in case she needs help."

Elaine smiled. She reached into her pack and handed him the healing kit. "If you guys don't come down, I'll bring up some food." She headed off down the hall.

Downstairs, Jun had left Zaire under the watchful gaze of Lia and gone to check in on Carric. As he walked into the kitchen, there was a slight bitter smell to the air. "How's it going?"

"Not too bad." Carric pointed to the bowl of scrambled eggs, which sat next to a high-stacked plate of slightly burned toast. He turned to the wood-burning stove and stirred a pot. "I've got some oatmeal finishing up here."

Jun peered into the bowl. The eggs looked more white than yellow. He reached in and pinched some off, and his head tilted as the not-right taste hit his senses. "It's a little chewy, and slimy, and I think you were a little heavy-handed with whatever that seasoning is. What's the crunchy part?"

Carric gestured towards the stone mortar bowl. "I tried to grind the shells as much as I could, but there were still some big chunks."

Jun's jaw dropped. "You ground up the egg shells, and added them? Why?"

Carric shrugged. "Protein?"

"Eggs are the protein!"

The half-elf rolled his eyes. "Fine, fiber then." He scooped up some of the oatmeal and held it out. "Try this."

Jun hesitantly took the offered utensil. His face immediately screwed up from the bite. "What did you put in that?"

"Some oats, water, bit of milk, salt, and a bit of cinnamon." Carric moved over and pointed to two brown bags on the shelf. One of the bags was nearly half the size of the other.

Jun walked over and took down both bags. He opened the smaller bag, and inside was a brown powder. "How much of this did you use?"

"Just a couple of pinches." Carric demonstrated how big the pinch was.

Jun moved onto the second bag. Inside was a white powder that had a bright sheen to it. Jun tasted it, and immediately everything made sense. "How much of this did you use?"

Carric shrugged. "A handful at least."

Jun hung his head. "This is sugar, not salt. Did you use this on the eggs too?"

Carric nodded.

Elaine poked her head into the kitchen. "How much longer on food?"

Jun ran a hand through his hair. "I'll get back to you."

"Everything alright?" Carric crossed over to Elaine. "Have you been crying?"

The woman sighed. "It's been a very poor morning, and I didn't get any sleep last night."

"Want to talk about it?" Carric asked. Behind him, Jun took the eggs and added them to the oatmeal. He set the whole pot aside and covered it with a lid.

"Not really," Elaine grinned wryly. "I think I might try to get a cat nap in before food. Come get me when it's ready?"

"Just take him with you." The bearded berserker pulled down bags off the shelf and set about identifying them. "No offense Carric, but I don't think you belong in a kitchen."

Carric scoffed. "No one's ever complained about my cooking before."

Jun paused and looked over. "They were either being polite, or dead."

Elaine laughed. "It can't be that bad." She walked over to the pot, grabbed the spoon, and took a bite of the oatmeal and egg together. She gagged. She looked at Carric with wide eyes. "Why is this crunchy?"

Jun leaned over. "That would be the egg shells."

The cleric gingerly set down the utensil and walked back over to the ranger. "I agree with Jun, you are off kitchen duty for a while." She pulled him out into the sanctuary and left Jun to start breakfast anew.

About an hour later, Jun called everyone to a breakfast of pancakes and properly scrambled eggs. Carric pointedly didn't make eye contact as he ate his share, while Elaine took two plates upstairs before she ate hers. Zaire was sat down in the kitchen doorway to eat his food, Lia next to him. The priest also came into the room for some food, but disappeared with their and Anyssa's portions back upstairs.

Just past noon the storm finally died down.

For the next week until the End of Year Festival, the group enjoyed their downtime.

Ander split his time between copying new spells into his spellbook, and assisting with the massive prep and cook for the Festival. Flyta explained that this was the only time during the winter months to truly make money or bargain for items to last them the rest of winter. Ander was more than happy to help, for a small fee. In addition, the small wizard also managed to find Chaxelle's wagon, and the book salesman was more than willing to buy Pova's spellbook. Ander was paid quite a bit for it, more than he was expecting honestly. He wasn't about to question it. He used the funds to pay for the spells he wanted in the second spellbook. He didn't sell the second book. The leftover money he gave to Elaine for her healing potions.

Every day Elaine went to the church and made one potion. These were of much better quality than the ones she'd made previously. The better quality though meant that she could only make one per day. She also helped the priest with Anyssa.

In the days since her rescue, the full weight of what she had endured hit the injured wizardess. She found it very hard to sleep without being plagued by nightmares, and she was in constant fear of the dark and shadows. Several times, she would just reach out and touch Elaine, and was soothed by the warmth of the other's skin. Friends and family in the area, awestruck that she was still alive, swarmed the church, but were kept away except for small single-person visits. Kerri kept to herself, locked in her inn room. Music was heard constantly as she buried herself into a new composition for the festival. Elaine tried to speak to her more about what had occurred, but found herself frozen out. Iados had better luck with the bard, and the two frequently shared meals together in the room. Iados didn't press the issue, but was a source of information for the others.

In his own downtime, the akudaem decided to keep a very low profile. He stayed in the inn, and spent his days on a personal project. Before they'd left the fortress, Iados had "borrowed" a book out of Orbris's collection, a dictionary. A Dwarven-to-Common dictionary. Without Lia knowing, Iados attempted to translate the journal that had belonged to the dead priest in the dwarven settlement, Vorcrum. He trusted that Lia had told him the truth about what was in it, but he wanted to see for himself. The work was slow, and he'd only managed to get through a few pages so far. It was also incredibly boring.

Carric had taken to spending the majority of his time at the guardhouse. Being a part-time member of the Osthom guard meant that he was a given a bit more of a warmer welcome than his party members. While there, Carric got the chance to listen in, and sometimes join in, the various interrogations of Zaire.

There was a lot of discussion on what was going to be done with him. Some of the guards thought that Zaire should be killed in retribution for the deaths of those in the house. Others argued that those deaths were the demon, not Zaire, and that Zaire was a victim. There were even some who stated that Zaire should be held accountable for the crimes of his siblings. It was not a good time to be a member of the Wanit family. The only real ally Zaire had, was the Wanit family servant Deine. Deine argued every day with the Magistrate on Zaire's victimhood; that Zaire had been a prisoner just as Anyssa had.

Lia found herself to be a frequent visitor to the Magistrate's home. She was called in as a witness to what transpired in the caverns and the house. When she wasn't serving as a witness, the Magistrate allowed her to go through town records. Lia scoured through the historical records, real estate records, and even some personal journals looking for anything relating to the Wanits or the temple. She looked for some breadcrumb as to where Kalia could have gone, and just how big their family business might be.

She found that at one point the family had owned around three-fifths of all the land in the town. They made their money off the rent they charged to the businesses and families. When the town started to become more of a tourist trap, they invested heavily in some of the first attractions and inns. Around two hundred years ago, the family began to sell off their properties at an alarming rate. Today, the family only owned four properties outright: their home, Charnin Caverns, House of the Hollow, and the family graveyard. They still invested in other businesses around town, but just enough to stay relevant and not the majority share.

Jun busied himself by finding work as a contract laborer. He flitted around town doing odd jobs, mostly putting together carnival games or market stalls. Near the end of the week, merchants and visitors began to stream into town, and Jun was tapped to help various merchants unload their wares.

Carric also got tapped to help with the new influx of bodies. He began to pick up shifts for security patrols. The ranger would bring a leashed Shomma with him on these patrols, to get her used to crowds.

The day before the festivities were due to start, Lia was stopped in the street by a familiar voice.

Lia's eyes widened as she took in the light-skinned, blonde-headed male in front of her. "Hadarai? What are you doing?"

The man smiled and walked closer, his hazel eyes soft. "You can't be that surprised to see me. You did drop the name 'Silverfrond', and that kind of news gets around fast."

Lia crossed her arms. "I didn't expect anyone to show up here in less than a week."

"I was already in Riverbridgeton when I got the news, and of course you know there are ways to cross the bridge quickly if you pay enough." Hadarai shifted the pack on his shoulder. "Don't suppose you know a place around here where I can get a room do you?"

"If you'd gotten here two days ago you would have gotten your pick." Lia started to walk again. "Follow me, we should be able to squeeze you in with my group."

Hadarai grinned and followed. "That's your recovery group, right?"

"We go by M.A." Lia side-eyed her brother. "I half-expected Himo to come here himself."

"He wanted to, but I talked him down. Told him you'd probably talk more to me than him, especially after that resignation letter you sent." Hadarai moved closer to Lia as a laden-full cart moved past. "To be honest, you're only part of the reason I was sent. The other is that temple that was uncovered. I'm here to inspect the area and see if the Sanctum needs to get involved."

Lia scoffed. "The Sanctum or the Order?"

Hadarai shrugged. "Depends on how dangerous that blood-sucking tree I heard about is."

Lia shook her head. "The tree is dead, you don't have to worry about it. Ander burnt it to a crisp."

He paused. "Did you and your group discover the temple?"

She nodded.

"How do you know the tree was 'dead'?"

The elven maiden rolled her eyes. "The people it had under its control were released."

Hadarai raised an eyebrow. "That's it? You assumed that a vampiric tree was dead, just because it let go of its hostages? Did you dig up the roots? Pour acid into the trunk? Did you do anything besides just let it burn for a bit in a presumably low-oxygen environment?"

Lia averted her gaze. "We were a little busy getting the people of the temple to safety."

"Alright, so after they were saved, did you go back and take the necessary precautions?"

Her shoulders stiffened. "No, the passage was caved in after we left."

Hadarai groaned and rubbed his nose between his eyes. "What kind of excavation has been started on the passage?"

Lia didn't answer.

"Alright, I'll get started on the excavation plans after the Festival." Hadarai ran a hand through his hair and started to walk again. "Who will I need to talk to about that?"

"At this point it'll be the Magistrate. Most of the Wanit properties, aside from their mansion and family graveyard, are under the Magistrate's control."

"Where's the family now?"

"One's dead, one's in the wind, and the youngest is in jail." Lia rattled off. "There is something you should know about the temple itself."

"Oh?"

"It was dedicated to Glendaia, a minor Goddess."

Hadarai nodded. "She's one of Ekolord's kids, right?"

"Exactly. The tree came from her as a sapling to the temple. The tree was supposed to connect with a ley line, but the temple sank before it could."

Hadarai's eyes widened. "You mean in addition to being vampiric, this thing could be celestial?"

Lia nodded. The duo turned into a corner and came into the small square in front of Flyta's inn. The ice rink was a buzz of activity, and several of the vendor carts (including Flyta's) was already operational. On one of the benches that had been set up around the rink sat Elaine and Carric.

Elaine saw Lia and waved her over. "Who's your friend?" The cleric asked as the two of them got closer. She and Carric shared a small bowl of toasted nuts.

"This is my brother Hadarai. Hadarai, meet Elaine and Carric." Lia introduced. "If you want to know more about Glendaia, I'd suggest you speak with Carric. He works for Glendaia."

Carric stood up. "Why do you want to know about Glendaia?"

The elven man grinned and shifted his bag on his shoulder. "I work at the Sanctum and I'm here to evaluate the temple and tree. Lia just told me that the temple was for Glendaia. Knowing more about her might help with my research."

Carric glanced over at Lia, who nodded. "Fine, let's go grab a drink and I'll answer any questions you got."

Hadarai beamed. "Great." He looked over at Lia. "Do you mind showing me the room first? I'd like to set my pack down."

Lia smiled and looked at Carric. "I hope you don't mind Carric, but I was wondering if it'd be alright if my brother shared your room? I'm not sure he could get a room anywhere else in town right now." Lia wasn't sure if Hadarai caught Carric's slight glance up and down his body, but she did.

Carric shrugged. "Alright with me, probably be easier to talk up there anyway, the first-floor tavern is kind of loud." He inclined his head and led the way into the inn.

Lia settled down next to Elaine, and they watched the skaters on the rink. Amongst them, Lia spotted Kerri, Ander, and Iados. Kerri guided a very slow Ander around the rink. Even from where they sat, they could see the rigid posture of the halfling, and the intense concentration on his face. Even though her form was still shaky as well, Kerri kept a firm grip on the halfling. On the other hand, Iados literally skated circles around the pair as he kept up a barrage of encouragement. On the side of the rink, Jun still worked to get some kind of booth ready.

Elaine offered Lia some of her toasted nuts. "So, this brother, do we like him?"

Lia took a nut. "Out of all of my siblings, he's the one I'm closest to. He is good at his job. He brought up some good points about the evil tree."

Elaine tilted her head. "Like what?"

"Making sure that it was actually dead. One of the things he suggested was pouring acid in the trunk, or tearing up the roots."

"Ah," Elaine reached in and grabbed another nut. "Aniksil was pretty sure that it was dead, but I do remember Pova pouring some sort of liquid down into its roots. Do you trust your brother to do the job? Make sure it's dead?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I also don't know if we could really do anything if he's not. I mean, we're slated to leave here, finally, the day after tomorrow." She leaned back. "Did you hear the latest on Zaire?"

Elaine shook her head.

"Deine convinced the Magistrate to send Zaire to Silverbank for judgment. He argued that Silverbank was better prepared to accommodate magic practioner prisoners. As well as a judge and jury who aren't already biased." Lia ate another nut.

The cleric sighed. "Well, he's not wrong. Deine is probably the only person in this town who doesn't wish some form of evil on Zaire. When's he leaving?"

The light-skinned elf shrugged. "Don't know yet. The details were still being hammered together when I left." She stretched her arms above her. "I'm looking forward to just having fun tomorrow, and then getting back on the road."

Elaine nodded. "I agree. Yeabrook is nice and all, but I'm ready to go someplace where people don't know who we are." The ice trio skated past. Elaine waved, and when Kerri went to wave back, Ander got distracted and lost his footing. Both Elaine and Lia winced as they saw Ander hit the ice. Iados skated over and helped him back on to his feet.

Lia nudged the cleric. "Want to go give it a try?" Elaine smiled and nodded. The two of them ran over to the vendor renting out ice skates and each grabbed a pair. Elaine was perfectly at home on the skates, and gave Kerri and Ander a quick lesson. Lia could barely keep her balance, but was fine with that. Iados pushed and pulled her around the rink, much to her delight. Not long after, Jun joined the fun on the ice. Upstairs, Carric and Hadarai had their own fun.