“Lo’Kryn!” Ceylas cried, darting forward.
Cambrin was faster, but the woman, Fenlyn, was faster still. She pushed the weight of the alligator off me and hauled me back to my feet. I groaned, every muscle in my body aching from the bruises and tears in my flesh.
All six of us stood, looking around both wary and a little dumbfounded. Fenylyn was the first of us to recover. “You are the man in my dreams,” she whispered, staring at my face.
I lifted a brow. “Well, I’ve never been the man of someone’s dreams before,” I said with a grin, then groaned as my muscles screamed. I sank to my knees. “Ouch.”
The water sloshed around my middle. It was still growing more and more rank with the blood of the alligator. Fenlyn looked down on me and reached out an arm. “That is probably not the healthiest of resting places. Come, let us tend your wounds.”
When I reached out to let her pull me up I could feel the well-defined muscles in her forearm. I hadn’t noticed while we’d been busy fighting but her half-elven features were stunning with just the right hint of exotic in the lilt of her nose, the fullness of her lower lip, and the lines of her cheekbones that lead to slightly pointed ears. Her eyes were a penetrating crystal green and, although it was streaked with filth, her hair fell around her face in soft, blonde strands.
“Hi,” I said, feeling kind of foolish. “I’m Ni- I mean, Lo’Kryn. Nikolodeon Kryn.” It wasn’t until I said Lo’Kryn’s full name that I realised it contained my own. That wasn’t true for either Ceylas or Cambrin so it must have been a coincidence.
“Fenlyn Tarantha, Hand of Dunerath, Paladin of the Temple of the Gods in Talazen.” Her gaze fixed on me so intently I wondered what she was seeing. Then her whole body lit up in a beam of light that seemed to fall from the ceiling. From where her fingers still touched my arm I felt warmth flood into me. I winced as I felt my wounds knitting together, my bruises easing, and my strength returning (Lay on hands: 10hp).
Ceylas was glaring at us both but Cambrin tapped her on the shoulder. “Come, we should investigate this creature’s lair before divising how we might return to the surface with its carcass.”
She flushed, but nodded her head and they set about searching the room (Investigation (help advantage): 10/5+4=14).
“What are you doing here?” Fenlyn asked, her gaze still fixed on me although her hand had fallen away as she’d pulled me out of the sludge.
We walked a short distance to stand on a ledge of dry-ish earth a short distance from her companions. They were binding each other’s wounds, with Taymore fussing over how injured Damerin still appeared to be.
“Will you just heal yourself already? Don’t make me pump what’s left of my day’s pool into your veins,” Taymore said, his voice firm and demanding.
“We may have need of the last reserves of my power,” Damerin replied, but his voice was weak and it was clear he was in severe pain.
“You are practically at death’s door, Damerin. Your power serves no one if you die before you can call upon it.”
Damerin gritted his teeth but nodded. He traced the pattern of an intricate shape within a disk, onto his own arm and spoke a word beneath his breath. A wash of soft yellow energy flooded into his body from the symbol (Cure wounds: 4+3=7). He coughed, still looking worse for wear but less as if he were imminantly at death’s door.
“Lo’Kryn,” Fenlyn said, drawing my attention back to her question. “Tell me, why are you here?”
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I gestured to the corpse of the alligator. “We were sent to rid the city of that.”
Her gaze narrowed and she shook her head. “No, there is more than that.” She frowned but didn’t say more.
A long silence grew between us before I ventured to break it. “What did you mean, you dreamed of me?”
She swallowed and looked away. Her companions had begun aiding Cambrin and Ceylas in scouring the room. Cambrin had found the makings of a clay and debris-filled nest tucked in a corner. He was pulling objects from it and handing them to Ceylas who shuddered as she shoved them into a bag that could not have been big enough to hold so much.
Beside me, Fenlyn sighed. “It is not simple to tell. Will you meet with me? Tonight, after we’ve all rid ourselves of this filth and delivered the alligator to the authorities.”
I nodded. I wasn’t sure why I was drawn to this woman but there was something about her intensity that captivated me. There were haunted shadows in her eyes, but a kindness and honest goodness in her stance (Insight: 17+2=19).
“Ask for me at Dragon’s Breath. I’ll reserve a table where we can sit and talk.”
“Cambrin and Ceylas too?” I said, gesturing to my friends.
She fixed them with a narrow glare as if assessing them herself but eventually nodded. “Yes, bring your companions if you wish.” She sighed, tapping my shoulder with one hand before taking a step away from me and back to the centre of the room. “Come, we should see what we can do about hauling this monster out of here.”
Together, Fenlyn and I bound the corpse with rope. By the time we had it secure enough to drag the others had finished salvaging what they could.
“Do let us know if any of what you found could benefit the temple,” Damerin was saying to Ceylas who was mostly ignoring him. “We accept donations, of course, in the aid of all that is holy.”
Ceylas scoffed at that, attempting to hide her amusement behind her hand. Damerin scowled, clearly not convinced, but he didn’t make to insist she give up on the spoils they’d found. I’d have to have words with her later about at least giving them a portion since we’d united to defeat the beast.
Together, Fenlyn, Damerin, Taymore, and I all pulled the ropes holding the beast. We lugged it back through the narrow channel and, using the buoyancy of the water, dragged it back out to the intersection. There we hesitated. Cambrin and Ceylas were already heading further south but Fenlyn and her friends had turned to move west. Fenlyn paused, letting the rope in her hand grow slack.
“The east gate is closer,” she said simply. “If you come with us we can show you the way.”
Ceylas looked to me. She gave a slight shake to her head but I lifted a shoulder. “We’d come a long way north,” I admitted and Ceylas glared at me as if I were betraying her.
Cambrin put a hand on her shoulder. “It makes sense to choose the path of least resistance.”
She sighed, stomped slightly on the wet path where water had sloshed up the edges of the channel. “Give me directions so I can scout ahead.”
“It isn’t difficult. Follow west here and then immediately north at the next intersection. Two blocks, move past the bridge and you’ll find the stairs that lead up to the street.”
Ceylas nodded. She darted ahead and disappeared into the shadows (Stealth: 19+3=22).
By the time we’d negotiated with the unknown guards at the east sewer gate the sun was starting to sink into the distant ocean. All six of us had been given scrits of service. Apparently we had to present these at the House of Lords to be paid for eliminating a threat to the city.
The corpse of the alligator had been salvaged by a boy who’d arrived with a large cart drawn by lumbering elk with spiked antlers. The creature snorted in distaste at the corpse of the alligator and ruffled its fur, stomping a hoof as it waited impatiently while we hauled the beast into the tray. The worlds “Nonagon’s Fish and Fine Cuts” was painted on the side of the wagon. The boy spent a few minutes examining the corpse before nodding and handing Fenlyn a pouch that clinked as if it contained a fair size of coin.
She turned, handing it to me. “For your aid,” she said. “Dragon’s Breath, in say, two hours?”
I nodded and she returned the gesture before turning to her companions. “Come, we will report to the temple and get outselves cleaned up. Perhaps Vareem can look to our injuries.”
It was then, as they were walking away from us in the direction of the bridge, I realised she was actually still seriously hurt. She cradled her arm and favored a hip slightly. Streaks of blood had stained her cheek. I must have been watching them go for more than a minute because Cambrin cleared his throat.
“Come, friend. We should return to the Rise and get cleaned up.”
I nodded, following the twins. Something had happened and I really didn’t understand what. But Fenlyn seemed important somehow. She’d dreamed of me? What did that even mean. Did she dream of Lo’Kryn or was it something more than that? And where would a dream like that come from? I guess, maybe, I’d find out more if she kept to our meeting.