Missteps

Chapter 60 – Discussions

Iados sat against the railing on the rocking bow of The Howling King, an apple in his hand. From here he had a clear view of the hurried steps and yells as the rest of the crew readied for what would become their final adventure beneath the waves. He smiled as he heard the gentle ribbing of his old friends, as Mac dropped the same box for the fifth time. He watched the blue-haired Jahill as he stood with the halfling captain Eldon.

Just as Jahill started to make a move towards Mac, the scene blinked and restarted. That was because Iados wasn't playing his part. In the real version he'd been called to help Mac. Not even ten minutes after that everyone was in the water. The akudaem's eyes flicked down to his forearm.

In the blistery cold of the morning sun, Iados trekked out to the small outhouse behind the dormitory and quickly emptied his bladder. When he opened the door to leave, Ander stood there waiting. The akudaem grinned. "Sorry to take so long, didn't realize there was a line." He tried to move around the halfling to let him through, but Ander blocked his way.

"I'm not here for that, I need to talk to you."

"Ok," An icy wind blew through the space and the two of them shivered. "Why don't we go inside where it's warm and talk?" The akudaem offered.

Ander shook his head. "I don't want to the others to overhear us."

Iados's eyebrow raised. "Well, talk fast then."

"It's about Master Bymer, the wizard we're about to go meet. I took a few of his classes back at the Circle Academy. His main focus is enchantments, and he's got a mean streak. First day of 'Intro to Enchantment' he trapped all of us in our own individual nightmares. From what I've heard, he pulls the same schtick here with the new adventuring groups." The small wizard pulled up his sleeve and showed off a small runic circle. "After that first class, some of the older enchantment students passed around the design for this. It's basically a bail button for the nightmares."

The former pirate nodded. "So you want to give all of us that, so that we don't have to do the nightmares, good thinking."

Ander shook his head and pulled down his sleeve. "I want to give you a different mark. While Jun and I waited in Esterwill, I had the chance to peruse the library there at the Circle Chapterhouse. I found a design that should allow you to control your nightmare."

"Why would I want to control it, and not just bail?" Iados wrapped his arms around himself. "I've been through one nightmare, I'd rather not go through another one."

"That's the thing, because the nightmares are so personalized the magic pulls from a person's own experiences to form the nightscape. I can't think of a better scenario than your last pirate voyage for it to emulate." Ander took a step forward. "You said that you wanted answers to what happened. What better way than to go back to that moment? With this spell, you'd be able to stop the memory whenever and actually look around your surroundings. The enchantment will pull the scenery from your memories."

Iados shook his head. "You want to me to voluntarily choose to relive that shit?"

Ander tilted his head to the side. "I thought you wanted answers?"

The akudaem sighed and leaned his head back against the wooden bow. He did want answers, but now that he was here, he'd rather he had a 'bail' button. He flicked his eyes over the familiar scene again, but this time there was an addition.

"How the hell do people actually walk on this thing?" The small form of Ander yelled as he tried to walk straight on the rocking deck. The pirates around him ignored him as they all played out their parts of the memory. The wizard looked around, and his eyes finally settled on Iados.

"A little help?" He called out.

Dumbfounded, Iados stood up and quickly crossed the deck. He managed to get there just in time to catch the halfling as the waves pitched the craft starboard. "I'm sorry, but isn't this my nightmare?" The akudaem asked as he righted his friend.

"Bymer decided you were taking too long." Ander grumbled as he tried to steady himself again. He turned his narrowed gaze up at the former pirate. "Why aren't you underwater?"

"Haven't made it that far yet." Iados picked up the halfling and hauled him back to the bow.

Ander squirmed and tried to get of the akudaem's grasp. "Well then let's get going."

Iados sighed and set the halfling down on a crate. "No! We're not leaving this ship, not as long as I control this place."

Ander's face twisted in confusion. "Why not? The answers you want aren't up here, they're down there with that woman."

"Do you know what's also down there with her? Death." Iados pointed at the crew. "Everyone here, save for four of us, never make it back to the surface. And even then one of us still died." He pointed to a male akudaem with red skin who was in the middle of tying up the sails. "That's Timo. He grew up down the street from me, we used to play together growing up. I convinced him to come aboard just three months before this day. Told him it'd be an adventure he could tell his grandchildren." His finger moved and landed on another male, this one human with short brown hair and only one arm. "His name is Jeronim. We've been shipmates for three years, and he's one of the best carpenters I've ever known. He's saved The Howling King from being some relic on the sea floor too many times to count."

Iados scanned the deck again, and finally pointed out two figures: a male half-orc and a female gnome. Both of them were heavily scarred, and loaded down with weapons. Iados turned to look at Ander. "Their names are Shydia and Vino, the best fighters that this ship had ever seen. This was supposed to be their last mission. Shydia had just found out that she's pregnant. With the loot that Eldon promised was down there, the two of them were gonna retire on the mainland." Iados brought a heavy hand up and over his mouth. Ander could see the moisture that formed in the corner of his friend's eyes.

The halfling stood up on the crate. "Iados, nothing is going to change what happened. You can stay in this moment for a thousand years and those people will still be dead."

"They shouldn't be!" The former pirate snapped. "None of them would be dead, if it weren't for him." He pointed a shaking violet finger towards Captain Eldon.

The wizard cocked their head to the side. "You guys were pirates, isn't the threat of death part of the job description?"

The finger dropped as Iados sighed. "Well, yeah, but there are conditions. We expected to die in combat against a city's defenses or other pirates. To be grabbed by a monster and used as a snack. Hell I'd even daydreamed about being lured in by a siren song. The threat was always supposed to come from outside the ship. Inside the ship we were a family, and sometimes the only family that some of us might have known. We depended on each other for our very lives, and we trusted our captain to lead us to a better life, not to our death." He inhaled sharply. "The captain traded us away to that sea witch. He traded us away like we meant nothing to him, like we were just another bauble from his treasure room."

The two of them were quiet for a few moments. The only sounds outside of Iados's heavy breathing, were the sounds of camaraderie from the soon-to-be-dead pirates.

Finally, Ander spoke. "Why are you telling me all of this?" He inclined his head towards the pirate captain. "Eldon's right over there, go tell him."

Iados's head swiveled over to the captain as he spoke with first-mate Jahill. The akudaem's hand clenched in a fist. "If that was really him, I'd beat him till I got answers. Here now, he's nothing more than a punching bag."

Ander crossed his arms. "So? Sounds to me like he deserves to be treated like one. It's just you and me here, and I sure as hell won't stop you."

That was all Iados needed. With a growl in the back of his throat, he dashed forward and slammed a fist into Eldon's small face. Before the small man could even catch his breath the akudaem had picked him up by the foot and slammed him into the mast. Blow after blow, kick after kick, Iados poured all of the grief that he held into the small man. None of the other pirates tried to stop him. None of them reacted. All of them just went about doing their jobs to prepare for their final adventure.

Finally, the anger subsided. Iados took a step back from the bloodied and unconscious figure that slumped against the mast. Eldon's blood was all over his hands and arms, and flecked across his face.

"Is he dead?" Ander asked as he came up behind the pirate.

Iados shook his head. "Death is too good for him." He knelt down and ruffled through the captain's pockets. Finally he pulled out a jade key. He slapped the captain awake. Captain Eldon groaned and opened his eyes. Iados pulled him to his feet, and shoved the key in his face. "I know what this key represents to you. I couldn't stop you then, but I can stop you now. This time I won't let you lead them to their death."

The akudaem slipped the key into a pocket on their pant leg. He strode over to one of the open crates, pulled out a stoppered vial of a dark blue potion, and in one move removed the stopper and guzzled the contents. Iados jumped onto the railing and looked back at the bloody captain. "Consider this my resignation, you rat bastard." With that Iados jumped back into the open ocean, and swam as far from The Howling King as he could, before a bright blue wave took him over.

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When Iados next opened his eyes, he was lying on a very soft bed. He tried to move, but a hand stopped him.

Bymer grinned. "Give me a moment to move Ander, otherwise you'll toss him to the floor."

Iados looked over and saw Ander sprawled out on the bed next to him, his head facing the akudaem's feet. The marks on both of their left arms were laid out next to each other, with new patterns drawn on top that connected both of them. With a moistened rag, Bymer cut the connection between the two circles. He carefully lifted the still unconscious figure of Ander and took him over to the open door. There he handed the small wizard to Ms. E who disappeared with him down the hall. Master Bymer closed the door and came back to Iados.

"You my boy are very lucky that Ander is such a good student." The older man sat down on the bed and pulled out his pipe.

Iados sat up and crossed his legs. "Why do you say that?" His body felt very heavy, and his arm where the circle was drawn was particularly uncooperative.

Bymer picked up the rag again and gestured for Iados to hand over the arm. "If he had gotten even one symbol mixed up, you would have been stuck in your own mind with no way out." Bymer mumbled a word under his breath, and the rag glowed with a soft green light. He ran it lightly over the circle, and it began to disappear. "If I had it my way, I would have pulled you out immediately."

"Why didn't you?" Iados winced. With every swipe of the rag, more feeling came back to his arm.

"Ander convinced me to let you continue. Said you needed answers, and that this was the only way. Luckily I was able to intertwine both of the circles, so that if need be he could get the two of you out." Bymer finished rubbing away the circle.

The akudaem sighed. "After all that, and I didn't get my answers." He shook his head. "Pathetic."

Bymer gave a puff of smoke. "No, not pathetic. Therapeutic. My enchantments are designed to force someone to come face to face with people, thoughts, scenarios, or really anything that they try to hide from. You faced your darkness, it just happened to be above the water. The moment you chose a different ending to that scene, the enchantment ended. To be honest, I highly doubt you would have made it off the ship." Bymer laughed. "Ander's little magic circle impeded my spell's ability to make its own little nudges and force you to act, that's why you were allowed to just chill. I threw Ander in to make him clean up his mess."

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Iados chuckled. "Does he have to do that for everyone?"

Bymer raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Didn't Ander give the same circle to everyone?" The akudaem asked.

The older man shook his head. "I got the impression that the only reason you got one is because of those answers. He's never been very good at just letting a mystery be a mystery. He's too curious for his own good." Bymer chuckled again. "Kenton told me that he'd be a good fit for this job, and he's rarely ever wrong."

Iados stretched out his arm. "Who's Kenton?"

"Ander's master. He's a master Diviner for the Circle, and one of its biggest pains in the ass." Bymer stood up. "Rest up a bit, and when you feel up to it make your way to the sitting room at the end of the hall. I'm not quite finished with all of you yet." The older man left, leaving the door ajar behind him.

With a groan, Iados flopped back prone on the bed. He felt like he'd been hit by a cart, and then dragged down two city blocks. There was a knock on his door. He turned over and saw Elaine standing in the doorway, a glass in one hand.

She walked in and gestured for him to sit up. "This will make you feel more human." She announced as she handed the drink over.

The aroma coming off the drink made Iados's eyes water. "What's in this?"

Elaine grinned. "You'll never drink it if I tell you." She reached over and lightly tipped the glass towards his mouth. Begrudgingly he drank the whole thing. As she took the glass back, he noticed something was off.

Iados nodded towards her bare wrist. "Where's your bracelet?"

Elaine shrugged. "It was gone when I woke up. I think it fell off while they were moving us to our rooms. Ms. E's promised to keep an eye out for it. I'll have to pick up a new holy symbol before we leave town."

"Can you do magic without it?"

She nodded. "I'll be limited in what I can do. My symbol acts like a focus, and grounds me to my deity."

Iados laughed. "Not to mention it announces to the world who's in your corner." He moved to stand up, and Elaine helped him. "Any idea where this sitting room is?"

Elaine nodded and led the way. They were among the last ones to arrive. Lia sat curled up in an armchair, the bags under her eyes even darker than before. Jun stood against a window, arms crossed, as he watched the two in the middle.

In the center of the room, Carric and Kerri were in the middle of an argument. Carric's arms were crossed, and Kerri had a scowl plastered on her face. On the floor between them, Shomma gave little yips every time they yelled at each other.

"This is my decision Carric, you can't just say 'no'." Kerri yelled as she rolled her eyes.

Carric narrowed his eyes. "You are a member of this team, and a decision like this involves the whole team. You can't be selfish about this!"

"Selfish about what?" Elaine asked. Shomma ran over and jumped at the cleric's feet. Iados knelt down and began to pet the upset creature.

The ranger turned to her. "Kerri says she's leaving the group, tonight."

Elaine's eyes widened. She turned to the bard. "What? Why?"

Kerri sighed and walked over to Elaine. "It's nothing personal between us, I swear. I just don't think that I'll find what I need with this group. I don't want to leave, but I know I have to. I have to do this if I ever want to come back."

"What are you looking for? Maybe we can help you find it?" The cleric suggested.

The young girl shook her head. "I don't even know what it is yet. I don't want to pull you guys in on a wild goose chase."

Jun crossed over and laid a hand on her shoulder. "I don't like this, but I understand. When you do find it, be sure to let us know so we can help you. In the meantime, we'll focus on getting stronger so that you can count on us."

"Thank you." Kerri turned and gave Jun a hug.

Behind her, Elaine's face was hard as the idea of Kerri leaving like this rattled her to her core. She reached out to grasp her holy symbol, but instead found only bare skin. The memory of her nightmare pushed its way to the foreground of her thoughts. The cleric sighed heavily, a little amused at the foresight of her goddess. She looked over at Carric, who still fumed, his fingers turning white as he clenched his own arms. She crossed over to him.

"We can't stop her." Elaine whispered as she laid a hand on his whitened knuckle.

"How can you say that when you haven't really tried?" The ranger's voice was sharp.

"Because I've known her a lot longer than you have, and not even her own parents could change her mind once it's been set." She sighed. "If you're so worried about her, go with her."

Carric's eyes narrowed. "I offered, but she said 'no'. She said that this something she has to go at alone." His gaze flicked over to the young girl who was now speaking with Iados on the couch. "Elaine, she doesn't have a plan, a destination. Are we really just going to let her leave? What if she runs into bandits?"

"Then I image she'll unleash a wave of energy and put them on the ground. Carric, she's not a defenseless child. You've seen up-close what she can do, and it's not like we're the only friends she has in the world." Elaine reached up and moved Carric's gaze to match her own. "She'll be fine, and if she's not, then we'll be here to help her. Don't let her go with animosity, or her pride might get in the way of asking for any help."

Carric's eyes softened. "What if something happens to her? What if she gets killed and we're not there?"

The dark-skinned woman reached up and moved a stand of red hair out of his eyes. "Then not even my goddess would be able to stop me from raining down hellfire on whoever's responsible."

The ranger gave a deep sigh and finally unclenched his hands. "I'm sorry, you're right. I'm just a little touchy after that whole enchantment shit."

Elaine nodded. "I know, and this decision of hers is more than likely fueled by whatever she saw in hers. I think you should go talk to her, give her the names of any friends you have that she can lean on."

Carric's face brightened a bit. "That is a good idea." Mood lifted, Carric walked over to the couch.

The cleric shook her head with a bemused expression. Her gaze traveled over to the curled druid, who hadn't weighed in the issue yet. She walked over and knelt down in front of the elf. The moment Elaine's hand touched the elf's knee, Lia jolted up.

"Woah woah, it's just me." The cleric reassured the suddenly panicked druid.

Lia gave a few strangled breaths, before her posture loosened and she fell back into the cushions. "I'm sorry, I just got lost in my thoughts."

"I take it your nightmare didn't go well?"

The elf snorted. "That would be an understatement. I did exactly what I was afraid of, I fell right back under my uncle's influence. I thought that after all these months, I'd become strong enough to countermand him. Strong enough to fight him." She sighed. "That turned out to be a lie."

"Hey, compared to the girl I first met in those woods, you have become stronger. The issue is that you found out that the enemy is a lot more powerful than you thought." Elaine reasoned. "Give it time, and soon enough your uncle won't be able to touch the magic that you'll wield."

"Elaine, it won't matter how strong my magic is if I cower to his commands like a child." Tears began to fall silently. "I stupidly believed his lies. I truly believed that if I gave myself up to him, then I could save all of you. I forgot that to him I'm just a worthless girl no more useful or worthy of respect than a rug."

"Then you just become the kind of rug that almost ate Ander." Iados said as he leaned down behind Lia. Neither of them had heard him approach. "The kind of rug that kicks and screams, and absolutely will not be ignored. If he won't give you respect, then we'll have to make sure to take it from him." He wrapped his arms around the crying girl.

Elaine smiled as she reached out and wiped a few tears off her face. "Sounds like we're adding 'uncle ass-kicking' to our group's to-do list."

Lia reached up and cleared the rest of her tears. "That's if Bymer will sign off on us."

It was another hour before Ander finally walked in, escorting a cart full of snacks and drinks pushed by the teenage apprentice. As everyone ate their fill, they filled Ander in on the latest developments. He wasn't thrilled about Kerri leaving, but made a comment about getting a larger cut of the loot.

For the rest of the afternoon, M.A. were confined to the sitting room. It wasn't until almost dusk that Bymer and Ms. E entered the room. Both of them wore very serious expressions as they strutted in. Bymer shooed Ander out of the larger of the two armchairs, and gestured for Ms. E to sit. Once she was settled, he sat down on its arm. Scowling, Ander squeezed in on the couch.

"I hope I didn't scar all of you too much." Bymer started as he pulled out his pipe.

Iados lightly jumped up and sat on the back on the couch so that Ander would stop his muttered complaints. "I'm not sure what the normal amount is around here, but I'd appreciate not going through that again."

The older wizard chuckled. "One time is usually all I need to make a determination on groups like yourselves."

"So, how'd we do?" Carric asked. He couldn't hid the worried tint in his voice, as the other members of the groups all developed furrowed brows.

Bymer took a few puffs of his pipe. "Not all of you behaved or reacted the way I was hoping you would. One of the most important tenets that a person has to understand when they undertake this kind of work, is that you never stop. You never stop fighting, you never stop questioning, you never stop running, and most importantly you never stop believing in your comrades. The day you become complacent is the day you either leave the adventuring lifestyle, or you die." He gaze turned stern as he looked at the gathered group of M.A. "Out of the seven of you, three of you didn't pass my test."

Lia hung her head, and Carric's gulp was audible enough for everyone to hear. The rest of them started to exchange glances with each other, wondering who the third was. While they'd waited in the room, their individual experiences had been dragged out one-by-one. Eventually, all the eyes turned to the smallest one in the room.

Ander's eyes widened. "Why are you all looking at me? I didn't even take the stupid test."

Carric sighed heavily. "That's probably why you failed. At least Lia and I faced the nightmares."

The halfling's eyes narrowed as he stood on the couch and faced the ranger. "Well excuse me for not wanting to watch my mother die, again. You should count yourself lucky that you weren't with your brother when he died." The room went so silent that they could've heard a pin drop.

Lia got to her feet and rounded on the small wizard. "Apologize, right now." She pointed towards the ranger whose eyes had narrowed and fists had clenched together. Even Shomma had moved to the opposite side of the couch from her master.

Ander shook his head. "Why? He should count himself lucky that he doesn't have that memory of his brother."

Wordlessly, Carric walked out. Elaine and Kerri moved to follow, but Jun stopped them and followed the ranger out instead. A few tense minutes later the apprentice bounded in and announced that the two of them had left the chapter house.

Bymer sighed. "Well, that puts a pin in the rest of this conversation. You are all free to leave for the night, but come back tomorrow at noon."

Iados raised his hand. "Why? The whole group didn't pass, so why do we need to come back just to be told that we're disbanded?"

Ms. E tutted as she stood up. "If you are all the type to give up at a little thing like this, then maybe you don't deserve a second chance after all." Everyone's eyes widened.

"What kind of second chance? More nightmares?" Elaine asked.

Bymer shook his head. "You'll all find out tomorrow, just come back at noon." With that the two of them left. Hurriedly the apprentice led the remaining members of M.A. out of the chapter house.

The same kind of nightlife from the night before had already begun to take over the streets as they all stumbled out. It was easy enough to persuade the young bard to take her leave in the morning instead, so as to give her a proper send-off that night. Since they didn't know which way the two males had gone already, it was Iados who suggested a bar crawl.

Just a few doors down at a small indoor pub called Morley's Finest, the ranger and berserker sat on plush velvet stools at a wood-polished bar. They each had a tankard in front of them. Carric's was already half-empty as he half-listened to Jun.

"Ander's an idiot." The large human reiterated as he munched on a bowl of peanuts. "Granted he's probably the smartest idiot I've ever met, but all that smarts is ground out by his arrogance."

Carric sighed. "I should have punched him."

Jun shook his head. "My best guess is that he's been punched too much for it to have any effect."

"Would have made me feel better." The ranger took another large gulp.

"Until he started complaining about how he hit you." The berserker shoved the peanuts towards Carric. "Listen, in the long run, leaving was probably the best option. Besides, do you really want to be involved in an argument between a dead mom and a dead brother?"

Carric didn't immediately answer as he took another long drag of his drink. Finally, he shook his head and grinned. "Next time I'll just punch him, at least I'd have that sight to carry me through the complaining." Jun howled with laughter. The two of them clinked their tankards and drank.

A half hour later, the rest of M.A. stumbled in through the door, tankards in hand and calling for beer. Ander paid for the latest round, and for the drinks that Carric and Jun had already had. The group didn't even last two hours before they had their first drunken fatality.

"Why can't we just go back to the dormitory already?" Elaine asked as they walked into their fourth bar of the night. She herself was completely sober, having decided early on that this group needed a designated party member.

"Let them tire themselves out a bit more." Iados reasoned, the other mostly sober member of the party. He'd learned early in his pirate career that he couldn't hold his liquor. That didn't stop him from enabling those that could. "If it'll make you feel better, get them water instead. At this point they probably won't even notice." He gestured out at the other members who had already begun to disseminate around the small room.

The cleric rolled their eyes and headed for the bar. Out of the corner of her eyes, she watched as Ander joined a party of gnomish fellows that were discussing new brewing techniques in between strawberry scented burbs that she could smell from twenty feet away.

Kerri pulled out her pan flute and climbed atop an occupied table in the middle of the room, with Carric on her heels pleading with her to get down. The humans whose card game she'd interrupted were split on whether they wanted her down or not as she began to dance to her flute playing. Energized by the music, Lia decided that she wanted to show off a traditional petal dance from home. The recital didn't last long as the twirling dance quickly upheaved her stomach and sent her running out the door, Iados on her heels.

Just as Elaine started to make her way around the room with a tray full of water tankards, the gnomish discussions turned heated. It didn't take long for punches and tankards to start being thrown. Luckily Ander managed to duck under one such tankard. The same could not be said for Jun, who had sat down and was on the brink of passing out. All it took was the swift hit of the mug on his face for him to end up sprawled out on the floor. The whole bar went quiet as they looked at the unconscious form on the ground.

"What did you do to him!" Kerri yelled as she jumped off the table and stomped towards the gnomes. The gnomes, all speaking in gnomish, yelled back and gestured rudely for her to leave. Ander placed himself between the enraged bard and the gnomish horde, yelling in gnomish for everyone to calm down.

Eventually Carric threw the still-yelling half-elf over his shoulder and excused themselves from the bar. Ander helped Elaine wake Jun up enough that he could at least stumble out on his own. Outside Iados had a sleeping Lia already on his back. Kerri quieted and fell asleep on Carric's shoulder on the way back to the dorm.