I breathe out as soon as we touch ground and that horrible lurching sensation stops, opening my eyes at the same moment as I immediately start casting about my surroundings, hand already laid on my sword in case I need to draw it in a rush. Nothing here. Except that … shit, I guess her warning wasn’t simple caution after all, this really doesn’t look like what I expected. All I can see is dim lit cobbles and high walls, but from the look of it … gods, I’ve never seen a place so clean, certainly not outdoors. Not even when we were in Bavat.
Kesla drops to one knee immediately with a great clanking of steel from her greaves, and she barely gets her helmet off in time before emptying her stomach right onto the cobbles. She stays there for a long, drawn out moment after, head down with her helmet tucked under one arm curled at her side, the other hand pressed hard onto the ground holding her up, just gasping and moaning with each heavy breath. Fuck … it’s like she’s done before we can even get started.
Wincing in sympathy for how she must be feeling, I look to Lady Naru, who’s simply frowning down at her, but she must sense my attention because she raises her chin and meets my eyes almost immediately. I couldn’t read that look if I tried, to be honest. She’s not worried, exactly, but … I don’t know. Maybe there’s a little concern. Certainly she must be thinking the same thing I am. This was a mistake. There’s no way Kesla’s really ready for this.
“All right, that’s it.” Krakka’s already stooping beside her, reaching out to grip her thick, well-armoured arm, aiming to help her up. “This is no good, Kesla. You need to go back –”
“Fuck that …” she manages to choke out with a considerable amount of savagery, looking up at him now. It’d probably be a little more effective without the string of nasty drool dangling from her lips, but it seems to work as the cleric just steps back, frowning deep but holding his tongue. I suppose the re-greased hair and dark black line once more smeared across her eyes does its trick, too.
“Oh …” She spits hard, then hocks and spits out something a good deal more unpleasant, before finally starting to push herself up again. When Krakka starts to step in to try and help her again she waves him off with a very tight look indeed, instead just straining for a long moment as she shoves herself up enough to get her other foot under her too and then plants her free hand on her knee. After that she just shoves a little harder until finally she’s only a little bent in the back, although in the end it’s still got her breathing hard.
That fucking hurt to watch, I just can’t hold my tongue any longer. “Kesla, maybe he’s right. Do you think that maybe –”
“I ain’t sitting out on this one. Not here. Definitely not now. This is important. Not just to the effort, but …” She straightens her back out the last of the way, then leans back a bit extra as she gives it a little stretch. It makes her wince, which I doubt is a good sign, and gods it cracks pretty loud, despite all the layers … but afterwards she seems a little more comfortable, at least. “Oh … fuck … she means a lot to me. I can’t let her die. Or her family.”
Yeah … I wasn’t with them the other day, when they came here to visit Lady Thura Vezrim, but I’ve heard the stories, hell you couldn’t grow up in the Reaches without learning about Kumehn Valley and those three intense days of desperate battle. The Hellcat, what a serious legend. And from what I’ve learned, at least second-hand from the others since they made that visit, I’m told she pretty much lives up to it. It’s clear they were all very impressed with her, but more than that, I hear that she’s a very good person, too. So yeah, I suppose I can commiserate with that.
But I can also understand where Kesla’s coming from personally, too. This woman was her hero growing up, she means the world to her, and I know full well what it’s like looking up to someone so much when you’re young. I had that with my mother, Min the Reckless cast one hell of a shadow. Perhaps not quite to the extent that this Lady Thura’s cast on Kesla in her youth, but … and then to discover that she actually measured up to what she always thought? That’s a powerful thing. The need to act is clearly strong for her.
So I nod, even though I can’t help letting a little sigh go too. But I reach out, offering my hand, and after a moment frowning down at it, she takes it and gives it a good, firm pump, which is assuring. “Okay then. I’m with you, of course.”
“Thank you.” Kesla gives me a smile that actually damn near convinces, but I’m still glad for the grease because it hides the dark circles I know are still around her eyes. I know she’s not all the way better, even after Krakka laid hands on her again before we set off. Even before the jump she looked fragile, and after what happened …
Certainly the tengu wants to try and shore her up a little more as he clutches his hammer a little tighter in his gauntleted hands than truly necessary, the worry clear in his eyes. “All right, well at least let me give you one more boost –"
“For fuck’s sake leave off me.” she growls, finally just stalking away a few feet across the cobbles. “I’m all right, Krakka. And we got no more time, anyway.”
“She’s right.” Lady Naru finally sighs, clutching her staff tightly as she looks towards the nearest wall, and now, suddenly, she’s starting to look anxious again. “I don’t think … there’s something wrong here …”
Following her gaze, all I can see is a big fucking gate, one that’s clearly still very closed. It doesn’t fill me with any real confidence. “How are we going to get in?”
”Allow me.” Krakka stalks forward now, raising his weapon so he can line it up towards the gate, and it doesn’t take much to work out what he plans to do. Even before he starts to mutter under his breath the head of his hammer starts to glow.
“Wait, hold on.” Kesla calls after him, which makes him frown back in clear surprise. “No. Not like that. I’m not busting down the gate. I don’t want to break her home if I don’t have to.”
“Then how do you expect to get in? We don’t have Big Man with us.”
Frowning, Kesla takes a step towards it, then turns back, finally turning to Lady Naru. “Jump back now, bring Art and Yes. Whoever else you can manage too, bring ‘em now.” Then her frown deepens, but it seems a little less certain now. “Um … sorry. I mean … you can do that, right? Um …”
The sorcerer’s face softens. She doesn’t smile, but there’s tenderness all the same. “It’s all right, Kesla. I’m going.” Then she speaks the incantation and vanishes in that weird blinking portal effect.
That leaves just me, Kesla and Krakka on our own out here. It’s dark out, in the middle of one of the cleanest parts of Untermer I have ever seen, which is enough on its own to convince me that it’s a place the three of us have no business being in, especially at night. There’s no-one around, but I still worry about how this might look, especially since we’re all fully armoured and look ready to start a bloody war, all three of us.
After a long, quiet moment, Krakka hefts his hammer up onto his shoulder and turns back to Kesla. “I’d still feel better if you’d just let me –”
“No!” she practically yells back, giving him a particularly hot look before finally taking her helmet up in both hands, turning it upside down to shake the cowl of lame plates out again, and plants it on her head. In an instant it’s like she just vanishes, and all that remains is a genuinely intimidating phantom of a war that’s been over for more than a decade.
It’s not the first time I’ve seen Kesla fully decked out in her father’s armour, but the effect hasn’t gotten old for me yet. She looks fierce and very dangerous in this gear, especially with her impressive sword on her hip and those vicious axes hung over either shoulder. Even with her hands empty she looks ready to destroy something, and it’s almost enough to make me forget she was unconscious and bleeding heavily on an infirmary bed a little over twelve hours ago.
Scowling a little, Krakka turns away and stalks off for a half dozen paces before stopping and just tracking right back, giving her an irritable glare the whole time. Then Lady Naru’s back in a great puff of displaced air, and she has Art and Yeslee with her, the Fir Bolg looking deeply unhappy right now as she’s clearly fighting her own sharp discomfort from the jump.
She’s brought Dumoli along with them, and Brung too. The dwarf doesn’t throw up like Kesla did, at least, but he still looks deeply unhappy, doubling over while his hammer heavily thumps down on the cobbles, gulping in a few winded breaths. The goblin, on the other hand, just blinks twice, looking around, and seems entirely unfazed by the experience.
Art, at least, seems to be adapting to the transition as well as I’m starting to manage. He blinks a little after finally opening his eyes, seeming to sway just a little as he breathes out, but then on the first step he’s got his balance back, already starting to check his gear as he comes to join us. “Heard there’s a niggle, what’s up?”
“Just the man.” Kesla doesn’t look his way as she says it, now frowning up at the top of the wall. “Need you to climb that an’ get this shit open. Sharpish.”
Frowning, Art follows her gaze, then looks to the gate itself. Then he turns to me. “Easy enough, but … what’s actually on the other side? Right now, I mean.”
“That’s the problem.” I don’t see the sense in sugar-coating it. “We don’t know.”
“Lovely.” Art turns back to Kesla. “Well fuck it, guess it’s gonna be dangerous either way.”
“I’ll cover him.” Yeslee’s joined us now too, her bow already strung, ready to go. She’s just looking up the wall like Kesla. “Just in case.”
Turning back now, Kesla looks up at her friend, and it’s a little strange trying to interpret how she’s feeling when I can’t really see her face. She knows what she’s asking, though, we don’t have the first clue what’s actually happening in there, and I suspect it’s worrying her as much as me. “Okay. Good. Just be quick about it.”
“Of course.” The Fir Bolg’s face doesn’t change any more than I would have expected, but I think there’s a warmth in the face of that concern all the same. She doesn’t say anything more, instead simply slinging her bow and heading straight to the wall.
It’s a good deal lower than most fortifications I’ve seen, little more than twelve feet high, but that’s enough around here, I suppose. There are substantial spikes of sharp black iron sunk into the top, I notice, likely intended to ward off individuals attempting to do just this, but I doubt they’ll present these two with any major difficulties. Honestly, I’m more worried about whatever’s on the other side.
Yeslee takes the last few steps in a single bound and uses that last as a makeshift springboard, using simple momentum to throw herself as high as she can … and she reaches an impressive height, enough she doesn’t even need to grab onto the edge, instead shooting her hands out and, I suspect, seizing hold of some of the iron instead. I brace, waiting for the sounds of bending or even snapping and breaking, since we have no idea how old that metalwork actually is or what kind of condition it’s in … but there’s nothing, maybe the slightest squeak as something shifts a little under the strain but it seems to hold well enough all the same. Even so, my heart’s pounding in my ears watching her plant her feet on the side of the wall and pull herself the rest of the way up, and I can’t actually start breathing again until she’s on top.
“Good …” Kesla breathes, turning back to Art now. “Need a boost?”
“I’d appreciate one, yeah.” He finishes one last check of his gear and gives me a hopeful little wink that just makes me feel anxious.
“Fine.” Backing up the rest of the distance to the wall, Kesla puts her back to it and starts to stoop, forming a stirrup with her laced-together fingers. “Ready when you are.”
Art gives me another look, and this one’s a touch more reluctant, I suspect he’s come to a similar realisation to me – strong as she is, I’m not sure Kesla’s really up to this right now. But he doesn’t argue, he just takes a step back and then starts his own run, heading right for her, only to spring at the last himself, planting his boot in her hands absolutely perfectly in time as she gives a big heave upwards.
Once again I brace myself, just in case her strength gives out on her after all, but despite the loud, hard grunt of effort that she makes she doesn’t falter, and Art goes flying, just as intended. Right up to where Yeslee’s leaning down with one hand outstretched, ready to catch him, and for our prowler that’s a perfectly effortless thing to achieve.
She pulls him up with no visible effort at all, all with one arm while she holds her bow in her other hand, and I simply turn away before they’re even done, already convinced they’re both going to be fine. I’m absolutely sure of it. Of course I am …
When I catch sigh of Kesla as she pushes herself upright again with clear effort, I can see how wide her eyes are inside the gloom of that helmet, and I know she’s as unconvinced as I am. “Shit …” I mutter it under my breath as I turn away again, instead looking to the others just as Lady Naru vanishes once again in another strange, not-quite-seen uncanny blinking doorway and puff of empty air. Going back for the rest, I imagine.
I guess it’s still even odds whether we’ll even have Tulen with us for this. Given the condition of Sessa when we left, I’m not inclined to expect her, she was so genuinely distraught to see that sweet, gentle girl in such a state, and I’m sure it’s even worse for her since they’re clearly so in love. She must be suffering tortures I could never even imagine right now, having to sit by helplessly and just watch the clerics try to do … hell, whatever it is they can do. I remember Shul didn’t seem too optimistic, she made it clear enough there’s a good chance, given how extensive the damage actually was, that Sessa might lose most of her arm …
That means that, if she does sit this one out, Lady Naru will have to port Darwyn and Zuldrad here along with Driver 8, and I remember all too well the state she was in after she jumped just him on his own from the Temple to the Heath the other night. We’re already one wizard down, this could prove so much of a strain on her that we wind up going into … well, whatever we’re about to face without any …
Krakka stalks up now, stopping just short of Kesla as she gives her back another good stretch and once again I hear a distinct crackling even from under all that armour. He doesn’t say anything, but I don’t doubt he really wants to.
Then we hear the sound of a lock being turned and he stiffens up, and I see Kesla straightening up too as her hand settles on her sword’s hilt again. I find myself doing the same as I start sidestepping to the other side of the gate, taking up a wary position now even though I have no idea what to anticipate. I’ve never even been here before, after all.
I don’t have to see the others take up their own ready defensive positions to know they’re doing it, everyone’s too tense under the circumstances for anyone to slack off right now. So I just tense and tuck myself into a cautious guard and grip my sword in my left hand, laying my hand on the hilt with the right ready to draw. Just in case something comes charging right out at us.
Then there’s a significant, heavy puff of air behind me and I can’t help turning to look, even though the last bar is now being lifted on the other side and when I crane my head round I hear the gates crack as they start shifting. It ends up making me tense up even more, gripping Ashsong’s sword tight at my side and I’m sure I look like I’m about to draw as I frown at … well, whoever has actually just been ported in right behind us now. I doubt I’m alone, either, I catch sight of Kesla shifting through the corner of my eye in the same moment even as my attention’s drawn.
Bloody hell … she went and did it anyway, as I turn I see Big Man is here after all, already shifting as no doubt he’s instantly starting to take in the entirety of his surroundings to the best of his uncanny abilities. Darwyn and Zuldrad step towards us now, although Darwyn’s a little unsteady on her feet to start, clearly still having trouble getting over that unpleasant effect … and then I see Lady Naru step away from the golem as if she’s been entirely unaffected this time, simply swapping her staff back into her right hand as she steps forward with that same uncanny, silken glide she always manages, her face cool and composed.
I almost ask how the hell she actually suddenly managed to get over the strain when I see Tulen taking a rather more unsteady step up from Driver 8’s other side, having to stop before continuing as she fights for balance while she puts a hand to her head. She sways for a moment, but I can’t really tell if she’s pained or simply frowning … then she gives her head a little shake and takes a deep breath and seems to just get over it, which surprises me even more. As she looks up she sees me watching and her brows shoot right up.
“How the hell did you –” Kesla starts, clearly unable to keep it in any better than me, simply beating me to the punch.
“We shared the load.” Lady Naru interjects “Once I had her convinced that we needed her she insisted.”
“Was that, like, really stupid or am I reading too much into it?” I wonder out loud as I straighten up, starting to relax now as I realise nothing’s come out to maul us while I’ve been distracted.
Tulen winces as she draws close, which tells me everything I need to know. “Oh gods, yes.”
When I look back at the sorcerer with a cocked brow, she simply shrugs, letting her staff rest casually against her shoulder as she looks past me now. “I take it we’re going in already, then?”
Oh yeah … I turn round again as she reminds me, just in time to see Art stepping back through the gates now that he’s just pulled both open for us and, in particular, Big Man himself to come through. He looks … well, physically he’s fine, entirely unmolested, but the look on his face … I don’t like that at all.
“What? What is it?” Kesla doesn’t like that face any more than I do.
“Don’t reckon we’re in, like, immediate danger, but …” He lets a heavy sigh go as pushes his paws fretfully up and back through his tufty little mane. “It’s … a fucking mess in there.”
Kesla doesn’t bother asking what the hell he actually means by that, she just shoves right past him and stalks straight inside, barely even registering Yeslee as she drops down right next to her from the top of the overhanging lintel. Maybe it doesn’t shock her because she was mostly expecting it, already knowing she was up there, or maybe it’s just distraction now as she stalks inside, Art’s admittedly cryptic words spurring her on. Even so, it takes me a few moments to actually see what he means as I rush after her.
The first thing I see is that the house is … well it’s not completely ablaze, but I can see fire now starting to take over the west wing, more than a few of the windows on that side seemingly blown out. Now there are angry orange flames and thick, ugly dark smoke spilling out into the greater darkness around the building, while no lights seem to be on in the rest of the house. It seems to be dark and … dead. The word comes unbidden in my brain and it gives me chills through its association.
Fuck … that’s a bad enough sign on its own, but then, thanks to the fire’s fitful light, I finally see the bodies. There aren’t too many, but there are enough of them, scattered about the lawns and drive, to worry me. The closest, though … hell, I’m actually a little surprised it took me so long to spot that, it’s barely ten paces from the gate on the right. Likely this … used to be whichever guard was on duty at the gate when … whatever happened here happened.
“Gods, what the fuck …” My voice fails as I step up beside Kesla as she looks down at the … I mean hell, I got no clue what to even call this. A moment later I hear someone gag and turn just in time to see Tulen stumble away with watery eyes and a paler face than I’m used to. She clears just enough space to turn away before she drops to her knees and vomits on the grass, Krakka rushing to her side. Honestly, I doubt it’s so much disgust at the gore strewn about as simply her own realisation that this is clearly what could have happened to Sessa as well if she’d been a little less lucky. That’s just horror and grief I think perhaps even a little guilty relief all mixed together for her …
“What happened?” Dumoli’s found his second wind now, it looks like, but as he stares down at this unpleasantness he looks ready to follow the young wizard’s example.
“Nothin’ good.” Darwyn manages to choke out, looking away as fast as she can once she’s given it a cursory glance. That just brings her face to face with Art, who looks uncomfortable as I think he might be trying to work out whether or not he should give her a reassuring hug. Honestly, after what’s gone on between them this past day or so I have no idea where they are now.
“It’s fresh.” Yes drops into a crouch right next to it, leaning close, and I’m amazed how she’s able to keep so calm looking at this mess. If I didn’t know this used to be a person I’d have no idea what I’m even looking at, it’s just torn, shredded meat and shattered bone and buckets of blood splashed all around. “No more than an hour. Probably a good deal less.” She looks up at Kesla now. “Whatever did this will still be here.”
Kesla looks up at the house again, and inside the dark of the helmet her eyes are wild. “We need to get in there. Now.” And she starts running without the slightest hesitation, one hand gripping her sheathed sword at her side as she bolts across the lawn in a straight line for the mansion.
“Shit … Kesla!” I call out after her even though I know it’s not going to do anything to stop her, but others are already ahead of me, deciding to start running off right after her. Yeslee’s first, not even coming up out of her crouch to just spring into a full blown sprint, and I suspect she’ll overtake her in seconds, but Zuldrad surprises all of us by following directly after. Dumoli’s only a few beats slower going himself, having to take a moment to shoulder his hammer before setting off that again almost knocks him over, but given his growing friendship with the Fir Bolg I’m not really surprised.
Turning to look the others over, I catch sight of Driver 8 ducking through the open gate and just carrying right on, circling around us as he plods along at a simple but admittedly still impressively swift walk given his very powerful legs. Meanwhile Krakka’s the one to break the spell in the rest, taking his own hammer up in one hand as he gives his neck a little stretch. “Well, we didn’t come here just to look, did we?”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“True.” I turn back and start after them myself now, and once I start running I realise I’m starting to feel … honestly, it’s weird but I’m actually glad to be here now, doing this. I suppose I’ve just gotten so pent up after this past day just waiting around, just waiting to hear if Kesla was going to be all right, or Thel, and wondering what we were even going to do next. Actually having a clear purpose ahead of me now … it’s kind of refreshing. It puts a little spring in my step, and I use it as fuel when I start flat out sprinting like Yeslee. I’m certainly in good enough shape again that this short run doesn’t wind me.
The momentary good mood doesn’t last, though, anymore than I would’ve expected it to. Our path takes us past a few more bodies, and I realise now that more than a few of the guards, if that’s indeed who they were, were likely cut down – or whatever actually happened to them – in clumps as they either tried to defend the perimeter of the house or were caught as they ran out from it. This sight’s enough to sour my mood, making me swerve more than once to avoid slipping or skidding on wet, bloody turf, and now I’ve caught up with Kesla.
To be honest, she’s not doing so well. As she reaches the veranda she’s slowed right down, almost doubled over as she pants and wheezes inside her helmet, finally stopping short of the first step and laying her hands on her knees as she drags in some fresh breaths. Zuldrad’s stood close by, but he’s holding off from trying to interact with her, the complex frown on his face making me think he’s unsure whether it would really be welcome. It’s not the first time, I realise now – to be honest I’m starting to feel the hob might be feeling like something of an outsider in our decidedly makeshift group, at least as much as Darwyn still is with some of us. He turns my way as I arrive, his frown deepening, and for a moment I think he wants to say something, but he holds his tongue.
Yeslee’s already at the top of the veranda, stood just short of the doors, and now I realise that they’re wide open … hell, not even that, seems they’ve been torn right off their hinges, one barely hanging on by a screw while the other lies smashed in a twisted tangle halfway down the steps. There’s broken glass everywhere, and I realise it’s that big, expensive stuff these rich folk are so damn fond of. A lot of blood too, splashed about a good deal more than I would’ve expected from just the two corpses scattered about the smooth pale stone of the shallow, wide staircase. That has me wondering what that’s about.
I hear Driver 8 stalk up long before he appears beside me, stopping just short of the bottom step himself. He turns around, slow and smooth in his movements, and while he remains as inexpressive as ever I could swear there’s a strange pensiveness to his hesitation now. It definitely puts me more on edge. “What’s up, Big Man?”
“There are …” He pauses. He actually hesitates, it genuinely takes me by surprise, I’ve never known him to falter since I’ve met him, I didn’t think it was possible to shake him. “My apologies. There are … it is strange. There are conflicting signals. I am … I believe the word you would use is that I am confused?”
Kesla straightens up now, and when I look her way she’s regarding him with … actually I can’t really tell without seeing her face, but something tells me she’s as surprised as me. “What are you …” I don’t know if she frowns as she loses her words, but she looks my way again for a beat before turning back to him. “What can you feel?”
The golem’s silent for a good while, and that worries me all on its own. If he can’t make sense of what he’s picking up then what the hell are we supposed to do? I turn away now and look back to the lawn, in time to see Dumoli limping up now looking badly winded, while Art overtakes him at a modest jog, Darwyn close behind. A beat later there’s another one of those strange puffs of displaced air and Tulen appears just a few feet away arm in arm with Lady Naru, telling me the pair of them clearly through better of just running out with the rest of us. Krakka’s the last to arrive, and he looks as worn out as the dwarf, although his own arrival, fully armoured as he is, would be a good deal louder even without all his wheezing.
“Oh fuck …” the cleric half gasps, half croaks as he just lets his hammer slump onto the ground as he bends right over, gasping now. “I can’t … oh that’s … I’m not meant for that kind of … oh my …”
“There are … people alive inside. Not many, but … I cannot confirm how many. There is … interference. It is the only way I can think to explain it. There are far more signs of life in there than I would expect for the amount of people I can achieve a lock on, but … it does not seem like true life. There is something strange about it. I am sorry, I cannot designate any clearer without appropriate contextual data.”
Again, I find myself understanding less than half of what he actually said, but none of it sounds good. So I parse through it the best I can in my head and try to latch onto anything I can actually make sense of. “You can pick up on some of them, though? Is that what you’re saying? The people inside, the ones that are still alive.”
“I cannot confirm that, as I clarified there is much interference, from here my readings are very indistinct. Nor can I verify that it would improve if I were to get closer. I suspect the interference may in fact grow worse on more direct contact.”
Letting a bitter hiss go, I turn to the two mages, who are both frowning at what they’ve just heard. Tulen still looks badly shook by the whole situation, but Lady Naru at least mostly just seems a little confounded by the new development, and I suspect she’s trying to work it out for herself now. “That make any sense to either of you?”
Tulen’s eyes flicker to me now, seeming genuinely surprised that I’ve spoken to her in the first place, but the sorcerer simply shrugs as she leans into her staff. “I’m not sure. I couldn’t begin to understand how your friend’s senses actually work, golems are beyond the understanding of any of us, but it doesn’t sound very good to me. I understand he is susceptible to magical jamming?"
"Yeah.” That has Kesla stepping forward now, and Krakka straightens up too, his intrigue outweighing his exhaustion. I suppose if any of us is particularly close to the golem … “It’s caused us problems before, and not just the other day. What are you thinking?”
Lady Naru shakes her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t have an answer for you, any more than he does. I have some experience with exotic magics, but … this is largely beyond me now.”
“Great.” Kesla starts climbing the steps now.
“Wait, what are you thinking –” Krakka starts now as he drags his hammer up from the gravel underfoot and starts to clamber after her.
“We’re here for a reason, ain’t changed any.” She doesn’t turn as she reaches the top, already choosing her footing as she skirts the ruin of the remaining door while approaching the dark entrance. “It’s a complication, but not one we can do anything about.”
“But …” Krakka falters for a beat. “Kesla, I don’t know –”
“She’s right.” I start climbing too now, drawing my own sword. “I don’t like it either, but we still have to go in. We’re needed.”
“Shit …” Krakka croaks, shouldering his hammer now as he falls in behind me. “All right then. If you’re going too I have no choice in the matter. Are you really sure about that though, Big Man?”
“I cannot be certain about anything at this time, Krakka.” the golem rumbles behind us as I just forge on ahead, following Yeslee now as she ducks into the darkness ahead of me. “But Kesla is correct. There are people alive inside who are in grave danger. We are needed.”
The interior’s a good deal darker, and I realise now that while there might be a wing of this place on fire now, most of it seems dead quiet and, if I didn’t know any better, essentially abandoned. There are various candelabras and torches and a chandelier overhead , but none of it’s lit, what little light there is just what’s filtering in through the now wide open doors and the windows, and at this time it’s not overly much. There are low level shadows here but mostly just gloom, and I can already tell that Kesla’s having trouble seeing much of anything now as she casts about, not wearing her goggles now since she’s instead chosen her helmet. I imagine she’s realising her mistake now as she holds a little inside the entrance, squinting about while all tensed up with her now drawn sword low at her side.
I’m similarly cautious moving further in myself, and I can see what’s actually in here right now. Under normal circumstances, I can tell this place must be beautiful, albeit in a very classy, understated way, nothing garish about the décor like I might’ve expected from rich people. Then again, given what I’ve heard about this Lady Thura, she doesn’t sound the type for that anyway. Now, though … I don’t know, everything’s a little different, not just the atmosphere now but little details. Like there’s blood on the smooth tiled floor, dragged streaks and splashes and … fuck, I can see there are pieces of bodies in here too. But nothing constituting a full corpse, once I start looking.
Moreover, there’s a smell in here that’s putting me even more on edge. It’s not just blood, not like outside, nor the subtle smell of burning, a hint of smoke in the air filtering through from further out in the house. It’s … fuck, I couldn’t even begin to identify it, I only know that I hate it. It’s bitterly acrid, not like smoke but more like … oof, it’s like some kind of really aggressive plant stink, something that doesn’t want anyone near it. There’s something oily about it that just makes my skin crawl …
“Fuck …” Art hisses behind me, and when I turn he’s already putting the back of one of his fists up to his nose, pressing it close while he grips his long knife. “Oh my … what the fuck is that smell?”
“What smell?” Krakka’s squinting about into the gloom now too, clearly having as much difficulty as Kesla. “I can’t –”
“I can.” I interject, moving closer to Kesla now as she now starts to creep into the larger open space below the stairs. “It’s not like anything I’ve ever smelled before, though.”
“You’re right.” Yeslee growls under her breath, and I can see now she’s nocked and ready, her eyes locked on the mezzanine overhead. “It’s just … wrong.”
“No shit …” Art growls under his understandably shallow breath, casting about now.
“All right, well …” Krakka’s frown’s deeper than ever now as he lets his hammer settle on the floor as he leans into the shaft. “I’m sorry, I can’t work like this, and I suspect I’m not alone. Is there anything that can be done about the light?”
“Oh! Yes. Hold on …” Tulen stops just inside the door and immediately starts to unstrap her satchel, only for Yeslee to step up and grab her arm in order to yank her bodily out of the way as Driver 8 ducks through the gaping doorway. Needless to say his own passage makes it even darker, which doesn’t do Kesla any favours even though it has no real effect on most of us.
A blush starts to spread across the young wizard’s face as Yes lets go of her, and she falters for a moment before remembering what she was about. Throwing the flap of her satchel opening at last, she starts rummaging through her components now, and when I turn back I see Lady Naru’s starting to do the same as she steps in after Big Man. That being said, to look at her now it seems like she’s having no more trouble focusing on me in this deep gloom than Yeslee or Zuldrad, which gives me fresh pause.
“There’s some more bodies over here, but they ain’t …” Art’s voice falters from the other side of the large chamber, but our attention’s already whipping his way, Kesla stepping right over even though she’s mostly having to follow the sound right now. “I dunno, but they ain’t been torn up so bad, they’re actually … recognisable. Or … fuck …”
The way he said those last words gives me chills, and I don’t hesitate any longer, I start that way myself. I can see now that one of the smeared blood trails is leading that way, around the bottom of the stairs into the darkness beyond, and from the look the flow was particularly thick and heavy here. That can’t be a good sign.
As I reach Kesla I lay my hand as gently as I can on her shoulder, but she still jumps in surprise, blinking in the near dark towards me as she almost turns to cut me in half with her sword. “It’s me.” I breath, as calm and gentle as possible, keeping my tone soft and even to put her at ease. “Careful. I’m not sure you’ve actually thought this through.”
“You might be right.” she replies, and even in the darkness I can just about tell that she’s scowling under her helmet now. “Can’t get my goggles on under this bloody thing.”
“Just relax.” I give her shoulder a little squeeze, although I doubt she really feels it under the rigid overlapping steel plates of her pauldron. “Just wait. I think the mages are going to solve that problem. One of them, at least.”
“Who is it?” Kesla turns to Art, or at least in his general direction. Her voice doesn’t break, but … there’s a worried tone to it now, I catch.
Letting go of her now, I step up to Art’s side and look down at what he’s already taking in. Bloody hell … There’s maybe four corpses here, and while one of them is as thoroughly shredded as the rest we’ve encountered so far, the others are mostly intact, even if they have still been torn as effectively as Sessa was. Two are clearly guards, dressed in armour and simple livery that’s mostly just bloody now, but the other one is a small woman, quite old by the look of her. I can’t quite be sure of exactly what she looked like before, whoever attacked her was particularly cruel about it, but … I guess the way Art’s looking at her is enough to tell me she must’ve been a good person.
“Art …” Kesla presses now, not moving any closer but I think it’s simply by virtue of the fact she’s not really sure where to step. “Please, just … tell me.”
When he turns now I can see, even in the gloom, that his eyes are wet, as much from sorrow as shock over what he’s found. “Um … it’s the housekeeper. Mistress Til. But I can only tell cuz …” He catches the way her eyes widen inside the deeper shadow of her helmet now and winces. “The way she smells.”
“Fuck …”
“Who are the others?” I press before Kesla can start to spiral, a little slow realising that answer might not help much either.
“What?” Art hesitates, giving me a startled look, but then he finally gets what I’m driving at and turns back. “Oh … I don’t know this one, but …” He starts to lean forward to take a closer look at the most intact of the bodies now. “I think this is Captain Jinar –”
The guard in question gasps at this precise moment, and Art stumbles back so fast he trips, falling into my arms before I can quite prepare myself, so he damn near takes me down too. Instead I wrap my arms around him and stumble backwards, dragging him by his heels with me while my heart’s in my mouth and pounding so hard I can hear the throbbing of my pulse. It’s a miracle I don’t cut either of us with Ashsong’s sword while I do it.
At the same time something flares bright behind us, and much of the room is almost immediately bathed in a cool, sterile pale blue light as another one of those strange magical orbs starts to rise towards the ceiling. After a beat a second one lights up and rises after it, a little more to the left. I don’t look over enough to see who actually sparked which one, I’m already concentrating on the bodies and the now clearly still living guard too.
“Oh shit …” Kesla sheathes her sword as she shoves past us, dragging her helmet off without ceremony now as she drops to her knees in front of him, and there are already others moving to follow. As Tulen arrives, everything immediately brightens as the globe seems to follow her while she takes in the scene and for a moment, as she visibly pales, I think she might puke, but then she sees the young man Kesla’s starting to tend to. Her face falls, a look of shock but also profound sadness taking hold now.
I mean, in spite of what’s happened to him, I can clearly see he’s a young and very handsome half-elf, maybe a little more earthy and rugged than Terue, especially with his close-cropped hair, but still the same kind of cute. He’s definitely been through it, though, honestly I’m amazed he’s actually still alive, he definitely got hurt a good deal worse than Sessa did. His pallor has nothing to do with his elven blood, since most of his blood’s no longer in him. As if his missing right arm and leg, as well as the fact his stomach is torn right open and his entrails scattered wide, weren’t indicator enough …
It makes my own stomach churn badly enough just looking at it, but … no, I can understand where they’re coming from too. It hurts to look at. Nobody deserves to die like this.
“Captain?” Kesla settles as well as she can as she’s clearly making the greatest effort not to put any of her weight on any of his strewn insides, and her voice is as halting as her efforts. “Captain Jinar? Feo, are you with us?”
For a few moments his eyes just roll a little crazily behind his drooping eyelids, and it’s enough to make me think he might already be fading out right now, too far gone for her to reach, but finally he focuses enough to lock onto her, at least roughly where she is. “Who … who is it … are you … I …”
“It’s Kesla Shoon, Captain. You met me the other day? I came with Lady Naru.”
His brow furrows a little as he works out what she means, and when he tries to lick his lips his tongue mostly just lolls. “Oh … um … I think I know …” He squints some, trying to focus more, and then his eyes widen again. “Yes, it’s you … I do remember … I admit, her Ladyship seemed particularly chipper after your visit …”
Maybe Kesla’s cheeks darken a touch at that, I can’t really tell in this light. “Yes, her Ladyship. I need to know what happened here, Captain. And where she is. Please … I need to know she’s all right. And her family. Do you know?”
“Oh …” His frown deepens, and he tries to shift himself but barely manages to lift himself an inch before what pitiful tiny strength he has left fails him and he just slumps in place. “I don’t know … it’s all such a blur … something just started … attacking us … it made no sense, it was just … the shadows, they just came alive …”
I turn to regard Tulen and she looks back with a fearful look in her wide eyes while she has both hands pressed over her mouth. Lady Naru’s here too, even though I didn’t notice any further brightening, and her own look’s a lot more complicated, much harder to read.
“My men … oh, they … it tore them to pieces … whatever those things were, they … we couldn’t do anything to them, our weapons were useless …” His eyes widen more, his face becoming more urgent as his look becomes clearer now, more focused. “Fuck … you can’t beat this, whatever it is you … all you can do is just run … you won’t be able to do anything …”
“No, I have to try.” Kesla takes hold of his one remaining hand, grasping it with both of hers, but I doubt he actually feels it, not the way his arm’s just hanging like a limp noodle. “Please, where are they? Lady Thura, her children. Thadeon, Mara, Pela, Deriel. Please Captain, I need to find ‘em.”
“Separated … it was chaos … Til …” His head lolls, his eyelids starting to droop as the light washes out of his eyes again, and for a moment he doesn’t answer, he just mutters something low, terribly indistinct, under what little breath he has left. “Til … I tried to save her but … look what they did to her … and to Billa and Tay … I … I can’t ... I didn’t …”
“Fuck … no, Captain, please …” Kesla shuffles a little closer, letting his hand drop now as she reaches out and pats his face, gentle but still insistent. “Captain … Feo, come on now. Wake up, snap out of it … shit … Krakka! Krakka I need you!”
I definitely hear the cleric coming long before he finally arrives via the more oblique route, appearing behind this mess after circling round the stairs. He stops in his tracks when he sees the mess, though, and I’m impressed he doesn’t drop his hammer as he visibly slumps, his eyes widening instantly. “Oh … my, what the … My Lady, what is this?”
“Snap out of it, Krakka, I need you to help this poor bastard.” Kesla looks down at the Captain again, tapping his cheek with more urgency now. “Captain Jinar, please. Wake up. Come on.”
Finally seeming to grasp what’s happening, Krakka takes the last few steps as carefully as he can, very mindful of the state of the available footing right now, and picks the cleanest spot he can to set Bloodmoon down before dropping to his own knee. He holds onto the upturned handle all the same, I suspect as much to maintain his symbolic tether to his goddess, and takes a deep breath, reaching out with his free hand as he starts muttering low, letting it rest on the back of the half-elf’s lolling head. Steadying it now as much as anything else.
For what feels like a long time he just keeps praying, but I can’t see anything changing. Finally he opens his eyes and looks up at me, sadder than I’ve ever seen him do before. “I’m … Kesla, I’m sorry, I can’t … it’s not working. Whatever’s been done to him, the damage is too great and its nature is … too dark for My Lady to mend.”
“What?” Kesla reaches out and grabs hold of his breastplate at the collar, yanking him forward now, not enough to drag him off his feet but it still unbalances him some. “I thought your fucking goddess could –”
“She’s not all powerful, Kesla! No gods are, not any more. Not since the Sundering! There are limits to what any cleric is capable of doing, even with the most powerful of patrons. Miracles can only do so much, this young man is doomed. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
There’s a particularly charged pause as they both regard each other, and while I can’t see Kesla now I catch Krakka’s expression well enough, he’s as offended by her suggestion as he is frustrated and saddened by his inability to help. Finally Kesla lets go, at least pushing him back again enough to set him stable on his feet again, and slumps in front of me with a very heavy sigh. As I step forward so I can at least crouch down just behind her, I reach out again and rest my hand on her shoulder. “Kesla, I’m … I’m sorry. Did you –”
“He’s a good kid.” she breathes, sounding very tired now. “He don’t deserve this.”
“Fuck … nobody deserves to die like this.”
Kesla looks up at me now, and she looks so sad it hurts to look at. “Yeah.”
“Can you …” I can’t quite find the right words as I turn back to Krakka now as he starts looking through his own effects. “Is there any … do you think maybe you can at least help him along?”
That makes him frown particularly deep now. “What do you mean … oh, no. No, I couldn’t possibly. My Lady … my magic is not for helping people die faster. The best I could do is guide him along when he passes, but … I don’t know how long that might be. To be honest I’m amazed he’s lasted this long.”
There’s another long, uncomfortable pause as we realise what he means by that, then Kesla lets another deep sigh go and reaches to her belt, drawing one of her knives. She leans forward again and lays her hand on Captain Jinar’s shoulder, and he stirs a little at the touch. Something vaguely resembling focus starts to clear his eyes, but he looks like he’s fading quickly now. “Feo? I’m so sorry, I … let me help you. Are you all right with that?”
Honestly, I don’t know if he even understands what she’s asking, he just looks at her, or maybe he isn’t really even doing that, I really can’t tell if he’s even with us anymore. Certainly he doesn’t answer, so instead Kesla just lets one last sigh go and poises the knife in her hand, ready to stab.
With the armour, I know there’s no way she can get that blade into his heart, which would be the quickest, surest way to finish him. That only leaves one choice, and I realise it soon enough to act, so I lean back and stand up fast, turning to Tulen and pushing right past Zuldrad and Lady Naru both so I can fold her into a tight hug and turn her around before Kesla thrusts. Even so I hear the crunch clear enough as she jams it hard through the base of his skull, and as she tenses in my arms I know the young wizard does too, a soft little whimper letting go as she must work out what’s happened. I’m just thankful she didn’t have to see that. Not after everything else …
I hold onto her for several more beats, looking over her shoulder now as Kesla cleans her knife with another heavy sigh and puts it away before slowly pushing herself up again, while Yeslee turns and gives me a particularly dark look. Not reproach, more like commiseration, I’m sure, but it’s got a lot of uncomfortable weight all the same. Finally Tulen takes a breath and reaches up, very gently pushing against me, and I let her go, finding it hard enough to look her in the eye. I suspect she’s having similar trouble.
“Well that was …” Darwyn doesn’t finish, and the way her voice breaks I don’t think she’d be able to either. She’s looking very pale herself, and I don’t blame her after that.
Unhooking her helmet from her belt again, Kesla takes a moment to plant it back in place on her head before turning to Driver 8. “How are your senses holding up?”
“I am still picking up readings, although I am no longer able to pinpoint locations on any of the life-signs.”
“Can you at least point us in the right direction?”
“There is a cluster upstairs, towards the east wing. But there are other signals scattered down here too. I cannot make out who, or how many. The interference has grown considerably worse already.”
Looking up the staircase, Kesla takes a deep breath … and starts climbing without another word, moving as fast as she can without winding herself, I realise. She‘s gripping her sword at her side again, less to keep everything steady as just to stay prepared, I think, and her heavy footfalls are loud in here. The armour on her boots, giving her away to anyone who might be listening out for us. I don’t like that at all.
“Shit … Kesla!” Art starts right after her, not even hesitating to just jump into his own climb after her, and Yeslee’s already right behind him. I start to follow, realising she’s already forced our hand, but then it occurs to me that we’ve got a problem here all the same, and I stop a few steps up, turning back now.
Big Man can’t exactly look up at me, but I just know he’s regarding me all the same. “Damn it … I don’t think you can make it up here –”
“You should go on. I will be of little use to you up there under the circumstances, this interference will likely render my sensory capabilities entirely useless. However, I will watch out for you to the best of whatever abilities remain to me.”
Somehow that feels almost comforting, the idea that he’s at least going to try and keep track of us when he can no longer help. “All right then. Maybe you can … I don’t know, you say there are people down here too? Maybe you can try and find them too, help them if you can?”
“Yes. I will try.”
“I’ll stay with him.” Krakka lets his hammer settle across his shoulder again.
“No, we need you up here, just in case …” I shrug. “Shit, I don’t know. Folk could be hurt. We might need to move fast.” I focus on Tulen now as she starts to climb up after me, following Lacy Naru. “Not you, though.”
“What?” She gives me a rather hard look, but even so I can still see enough of her lingering shock in her eyes to tall me I’m making the right call. “No, I’m not letting you go up there without –”
“Well I’m not leaving others down here without a mage, just in case you’re needed.” I give her a hard stare that I trust brooks no argument, and while she frowns in response to it she doesn’t snap back at me like I’m sure she wants to. She must see the sense in what I’m saying after all. “Zuldrad, I want you to keep an eye on her, stay down here with Dumoli. Do what you can, but don’t take any unnecessary risks. We’ve already seen what … whatever this is, we’ve got a good idea what it’s capable of now. So just be careful.”
“Of course.” The hobgoblin gives me a simple nod as he reaches up and takes hold of Tulen’s hand, and at least she’s got enough sense to let him pull her back down to the bottom while they make way for Darwyn and Brung as they both scamper up after the rest of us.
Even so, I stay where I am for a long beat, looking down at my new friends, and the dragonhalf in particular. I don’t like splitting up the group again, not after what we’ve been through lately, and even more so given how much worse what we’re getting ourselves into now is already starting to look. I’m genuinely worried for them all, but Tulen in particular. Gael’s already missing, like her father, and I’m sure in a situation every bit as desperate which I can’t do anything to get her out of right now, and it’s been slowly killing me for a whole day now. I can’t afford to lose anyone else right now, even just temporarily.
But I can’t abandon the others, either, so I finally just suck it up and turn back around, starting to clamber up the stairs as fast as I dare. And with every step the dread anticipation of whatever unknowable horrors are waiting for us up there gnaws at me a little more hungrily.