Serin woke to the sounds of Dalene babbling. It was endearing how happy of a baby she was. Quillis hadn't been like that. He was a fussy child that gave her no reprieve.
As Serin got up from bed she cast [Shadow Mockery] and in her palm a soft mote of blue light was created. In the dark room she was guided by the light to Dalene. The baby had crawled out of her nest of blankets and was pulling on her father's beard. Quillis did not stir even the slightest from the infants actions.
He needed the rest. It was unlikely he managed to get much sleep on his flight to Gilcrest. Serin scooped Dalene from the bed. Many babies feared strangers, but Dalene looked up at Serin with a joyous grin. With smile of her own Serin left the room with Dalene, leaving Quillis to get more rest.
"Lets go eat, huh," Serin said as she gently bopped the baby's nose.
It was late evening now and the inn was serving dinner. Serin fed Dalene a mashed version she managed to get from the cooks. With the infant fed, Serin had her own meal quickly then left the inn with the child comfortably in her arms.
The upcoming journey would be long and Serin wanted to restock her storage before they left. The options were few at this time of day. However, the businesses that were still open had many of the shopkeepers being charmed by Dalene and when an item was specifically for her it often came with a discount.
Primarily she sought fresh food that Dalene would be able to eat along the journey, various clothing for all them fit for either hot or cold, and maps of water sources. Her storage ring could only handle a finite amount of mass, so as much as she wanted to have a pools worth of drinking water. It simply wasn't feasible. So most of the water they need would have to be sourced on the way. Which in an environment not known for many places of water it was important to know where to go ahead and plan the route based on these points.
Serin enjoyed the outing with her granddaughter. While she had obtained everything of critical importance, she hadn't found everything she wanted. It would have to be enough. There was some regret that she didn't shop first before sleeping. Though rest had been needed for all of them.
On her way back to the inn she came across a blurred figure moving towards them. She instantly recognized it as Quillis running while enhanced by his skills.
Quillis hardly slowed as he approached her and snatched Dalene from her arms.
"Don't do that, Mother." Gasping for breathe he held the baby tightly against his chest. His voice wavered as , he continued, "I thought she was gone. Don't ever do that to me again."
Serin felt emotional whiplash as her mood went from enjoyment to being reprimanded. Deep inside she saw the mistake from his perspective. Her pride though wouldn't let her admit it.
"She's fine no need to be dramatic. Now that you're rested we should leave. I have everything we need to make the journey."
Quillis looked at her with irritation. He clearly had more to say, but kept whatever it was to himself.
They took the same portal that brought them in to get them out. Outside bright moonlight shined down on the desert dunes. The air was cool near freezing. From her storage ring Serin pulled a warm blanket for Dalene. She handed it to her son wordlessly. Dalene giggled as she was bundled up into the fuzzy material.
Serin cast [Shadow Mockery] envisioning a creature that would expediate their travel across the sand. She remembered a creature from a dungeon she had encountered. A reptilian monster with wide feet that kept it from sinking in sand. She kept those features but modified its back to include a large shield to cover under from the cold wind. As well as forming two natural seats for them out of its scales. From the fog this monster reveled itself. It reptilian eyes blinked as it took in the surroundings. With a mental command it lowered itself for the the two of them to board.
Dalene was excited to see the monster. All manner of squeaks and arm movements came out in response as she demanded a closer look, which Quillis acquiesced to. While they explored the monster Serin climbed up onto it.
Serin sighed as she placed herself into the saddle like seat. She was preparing her body for the aching that would soon grace her from the journey. Beside her Quillis was doing the same and finding a comfortable to hold Dalene. When they were both settled she commanded the creature to run south. The mount crossed the sands easily and their journey into the desert began.
"You never said who is going to be inspecting Dalene." Quillis said hours into the night of travelling.
"You've met him before when you were a boy. Its Azahl."
"What!? That mad man is still alive? He was ancient even then."
Serin laughed. "I suspect he managed to get some opportunity in one of the Kyirix ruins he obsesses over. He is the only person crazy enough to not care about whatever he sees on Dalene's status."
As she thought about him she found herself realizing that even after all this time Azahl was still one of her closest friends and party members. As an adventurer people come and go. Death was a constant in their path and had taken many people from her. Then many survivors found the guilt crushing and they left to hide away from anything that reminded them of their failure. Few could press on after such tribulations along their path to ascend the ranks.
"You know if he cared about anything other than the past I would have married him. I tried everything I could to get him to look at me. In a different life he would have been your father."
"That's something I didn't need to know." Quillis dryly, however curiosity must have gripped him as, he asked, "What was so great about that bookworm?"
"That's just what people see when you look at him. Some fragile scholar to be pushed around. But he had a dangerous side to him. He would to do anything to learn more about the Kyirix and protect what was left of their civilization. That passion was so--
"Okay, okay that's all I need to know mother."
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
They did not speak much more after that and soon the sun began to rise. Dismounting from the creature Serin left it for the sun to disperse. Instead she searched through her storage ring. A moment later she produced a folded tent from the ring.
"Set the tent," she demanded. "I'll hold the girl."
Quillis looked reluctant to obey, but eventually handed Dalene over and began his work. With aching hips Serin sat into the shadowed side of a dune as he toiled. In her arms the infant appeared bored. So Serin decided to occupy her in the meantime. In a puff of fog a colorful dragonfly appeared as Serin casted her skill. Dalene was instantly captivated by the illusionary insect. Serin commanded the bug to fly circles above them and sometimes dip down in feats of flight landing on her the baby's face. Dalene would burst out in laughter as touched her face.
Soon the sun finally rose above the dune and both the mount and dragonfly burst into streams of fog. This was not as entertaining as Serin thought it would have been for the child. For the second time Serin heard her granddaughter cry. It was a piercing sound that hurt her ears. Serin tried her best to soothe the child. Rocking her and making soothing noises to no success.
Eventually, Quillis came over once he finished the tent preparation.
"She is probably just hungry. The tent is up, but what is it enchanted with? There was a lot of inscriptions on it." He said, speaking loudly over the cries.
"Camouflage and heat control," Serin said as she handed off Dalene. "I've had it for years and nothing comes close to it. It was a gift after I helped out a near legend enchanter. So efficient it barely needs any mana to operate."
"Sounds like its worth a fortune."
"It is, now help me up. My hips are killing me."
Quillis looked down at her and sighed before he extended his free hand to her.
"Ow, ow, ooh my hips." She griped as he lifted her up.
They then went to eat some rations Serin kept in her ring and quickly retired to the tent before it was too hot. Powered with some of Serin's mana the tent adapted to its surroundings appear like sand. Inside the temperature regulated and was soon refreshing cool. Serin spent the rest of the day sleeping off and on or playing with Dalene.
When it was finally night Serin had Quillis fold the tent and they were once again off on the reconjured mount. For eleven nights they travelled this way.
It was on the morning of the twelfth day that an event disrupted their routine. Quillis had just finished setting up the tent while Serin and Dalene rested in the shade of a dune.
There was no sound to announce their presence. It was only Serin's instincts honed over the years of dungeon delving that screamed for her to move. With all the strength she could muster Serin leapt to the side. She twisted to land on her back to protect Dalene. Within a blink an arrow explosively burrowed itself in the sand where she had been sitting. She looked up and under the cover the sun the silhouette of a figure crouched at the crest of the dune.
"Attack!" She yelled. "Get Dalene!"
She casted [Fog of Slumber]. Serin pumped mana quickly into her free hand and orb appeared nearly instantly. She hastily fired the projectile towards the middle of the dune. Upon contact with the sand it exploded in a wave of fog creating a barrier in between them and the assassins.
In a blur of motion Quillis was kneeling over Serin. He quickly swept Dalene from her arms. The girl was crying from the suddenness of everything.
"Help me up," Serin whispered. Quillis yanked her up obviously harder than he meant to. The adrenaline pumping right now causing him to misjudge his strength. Serin ignored it as she took note of his shaking hands. "I only saw one, but I'm sure there's more. They're probably circling the fog. Don't leave this valley. I wont be able to keep up if they chase. Just worry about the girl."
"Okay," Quillis said with clear tension in his voice.
Serin breathed out deeply composing herself for the upcoming fight.
In preparation of close combat she cast [Paralysis] and focused the mana into becoming a whip in her right hand. A translucent tendril of mana materialized in response that was slowly draining her mana as she maintained its form. Serin followed it by layering the whip with [Poison] and [Curse]. She willed [Poison] to add necrosis and [Curse] to weaken their resistances to status effects.
Finally she casted [Poison] again and gathered it into her left hand. It swirled as a green mist in her palm. With this use of the skill she willed it to damage the lungs of those that breathed it in.
Then all she could was wait for them to make the first move. The only sound was the cries of Dalene, which echoed in this valley of sand.
Two assassins appeared suddenly behind Serin as their stealth skills ended. Both of them were going for the kill their dual daggers raised to be plunged into her. Quillis blurred away gaining distance from the assassins.
Serin grit her teeth as she attempted to turn to meet her foes as fast as she could while she simultaneously slinging her whip. She aimed to disable their arms and thankfully the whip reached them in time. The whip in its momentum managed to lightly wrap around their forearms.
The paralysis was quickly acting and resulted in their grips weakening. Unable to hold their daggers any longer the blades dropped into the sand. She was unsure if the poison managed to be inflicted. They made no noises of pain, so it was likely they had high resistances to poison. The curse will slowly debilitate these resistances, however.
What Serin was unable to do anything about was the momentum of the assassins as their limp hands collided with her. With a grunt she went down on to the sand. The assassins not missing a chance went to start kicking and stomping. Serin rapidly released the [Poison] in her left hand. It burst out in wave of mist towards the assassins. This time she knew it was effective as they instantly started to cough.
Serin rolled away and with the kinetic energy managed to push herself up. With the assassins down here at the very least distracted she scanned the crest of the dune. She saw nothing which did nothing to ease her worry. She doubted one of these two were the archer.
She readied another [Fog of Slumber] and sent it further down the dune. She hoped that would buy her enough time to finish off these two first.
One was clearly more affected by the lung poison as they were knelt on the ground viciously coughing. The other seemed to have recovered not only from the poison but also the paralysis and she saw him grabbing his blades.
Serin quickly sent the whip after his legs. In an athletic feat the assassin leapt over the length of the whip in a front flip while throwing one of his daggers. Serin tried to dodge backwards, but had no time to get completely out of the way in time. The blade from its upward trajectory tore down into her thigh sliding in just beside her femur.
The pain made her let out a scream, but she stayed focused on the fight never letting her eyes leave the assassin. As the assassin landed she jerked the whip back and the assassin made movement to dodge. It was futile though and the whip caught him along the neck and torso.
Their head lolled back from the paralysis, but Serin did not let up. She swiftly sent the whip back against the assassin. Over and over again she hit them until they fell over into the sand limp. At this point the necrotic poison had long since taken affect and she could see their skin had turned ghastly and rotted in appearance where the whip had struck.
It was then that the archer made themselves known.
Serin felt her instincts scream as an arrow came empowered by a skill screaming towards her from behind. With her good leg she pushed herself to the side. Yet it was not enough and the arrow pierced her right side just under her ribs. Serin's face scrunched in pain.
No longer concerned with these two she turned to face the dunes. Still though she could not spot the archer. No matter how hard she scanned. Judging by the angle of the arrow in her abdomen she figured they weren't actually at the crest any longer. Most likely using a skill to hide along the sides of the dune.
Serin was woozy from blood loss at this point and knew she needed to end this fast. She stopped supplying mana to the whip and its form quickly dispersed. Serin double cast [Nightmare] dumping a significant chuck of mana in to the skill and forming orbs of mana into each palm.
The next exchange would determine the fight.