image [https://i.imgur.com/OSmcMVi.png]

"Think quickly, as sure as the full moons there must be something."

Auryen's tone was sharp and quick, piercing the ears but keeping quiet.

"What else is here?"

"The Vault I saw was submerged beneath water, if your theory is true then there is no reason it could not continue underground. You boys, look for hatches or some other passage down! Stick close to the ground."

Tannen commanded, less concerned with stealth and more so with haste. The three young Men complied and returned to the corridors on either side, moving slowly to carefully study the floor. The innkeep remained in the center chamber with Tannen and Auryen, asking any question that came to mind that might stir their thinking. Auryen and Tannen took turns to humor or ignore each idea.

"Could he be above?"

The innkeep asked, to which Auryen replied.

"It's possible, but I saw no way up, not within nor without."

"After finding it, maybe he rode back home?"

She retorted the innkeep.

"There is only the one path up here, we would have seen him as we arrived or before that even."

"Then what of his horse?"

Auryen again answered the innkeep.

"The boy is eight, if he couldn't tie the horse then it was spooked and ran. But if he could then-"

"-It would be taken by the Oger. Most likely of which because we did not see it."

The innkeep answered his own question, silently chastising himself for not thinking of it first.

"Then what of the Artifact he found. The cape, what does it do?"

"I don't know, Auryen, what do you make of it?"

"It could do any number of things. But taking its form into account, capes are meant to protect, whether from the elements, or from detection."

"Concealment."

The innkeep responded quickly.

"Perhaps, if so that would mean that even now he is using it to hide."

"He's frightened, without a weapon to fight back and only a measly cloak for his troubles and daring. Of course he is hiding."

Tannen rebutted the innkeep.

"If he could conceal himself, then why not escape and go home, then he would have revealed himself on the road when we passed."

"Then which is it?"

The innkeep was sweating, betraying his otherwise calm demeanor. He even raised his voice, which seemed to rattle the grating on which they stood. Auryen tried to calm him.

"We don't know. But, if the cloak allows him to conceal himself I still believe it's most likely that he is hiding, and not running."

The innkeep looked to Tannen, she nodded in agreement. There were a thousand possibilities, and as small as it was, the boy hiding within the temple had the greatest chance of all of them. None of them could think of a more likely alternative, at least, not one so grim. She spoke to confirm it.

"We are forced to faith, it seems."

The innkeep sighed.

"If he's hidden, then where do we look?"

Auryen had a strange and very risky proposition.

"He needs to be coaxed back out. We just need to ask, I think."

"Ask?"

"Call out to him, and bring him out from whatever shadows he's slinked away to."

The innkeep's eldest returned in time to hear.

"We're doing what?"

"You expect us to yell?"

The innkeep asked, Auryen was now defensive, realizing that a bit more explanation was necessary.

"We'll need to be smart about it, but... Yes. We'll wait for the right moment of course! How long ago did the Oger drag the horse away? Four, five minutes ago. For now we'll wait and count, see how far away the Oger is. Chances are, it's not to let those other two horses go to waste, it will be back for them. Thankfully, or maybe unfortunately, it wasn't smart enough to carry them all at once. But, when it next leaves, about halfway before we expect it to return, we can yell and cry out for the boy with as much urgency as we need. Until then, I suggest we do much the same but with a bit more... tact."

"That's quite the gamble. Too soon and it turns right back around with not enough time to find the boy. Too late and it will already be back."

Tannen continued.

"I like it."

"We'll see how much you like it when we find out how much time we have."

Just Auryen finished speaking, the cruelest of coincidences. The murmured thumping and stomping of the Oger could be heard, muffled only by the water fall.

"Oh shit..."

The Oger stumbled over to the two horses, lazily grabbing by one of its spindly legs with both arms. It's un-dexterous and clumsy jerking ripped the horse's muscles as it was dragged into the forest. Auryen was a bit anxious, as were the others, though Tannen was closer to annoyed.

"Whisper gild and beggars knock, is that the saying?"

Auryen turned back to the rest of the group as Browyn and Gyile returned from their short search.

"Two minutes, then we'll have one to find him as we yell. Until then, quiet calls."

They did as such, passing the two excruciatingly long minutes with hushed and hurried tones, calling out to the boy and hoping that he would reveal himself. It was fruitless, the air did not stir. As the two-minute deadline slowly turned to the present, their calls turned to yells, worried and fast. The elder brother yelled the loudest as the time came.

"Brother! Come on out! The adventures over, it's dangerous away from home!"

The innkeep was far more direct.

"Boy!"

Whether the rushing water or the vibrations of their yells, the floor almost shook. In fact it did shake, violently at that. The shaking turned to a clanging and strong striking. The sound came from the loose grating. A great crashing crescendo. Before anyone had the chance to investigate it, a softer but higher pitched yell reverberated through the temple. The sound had no origin, diluted through echo. The boy that they were searching for cried out, a simple and worried warning.

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"HIDE!"

Tannen turned in place peering out to the entrance, the shaking now had a credible source. The light that once barely shone in was gone, in its place was a horrible and hideous visage. It was strangely Man like, though its skin was a blue gray, tough and raw, but mostly wet, glimmering with sweat and river water. Its stink, putrid like waste, sick and sea vine filled the room as it blocked the entrance, only made tolerable by the open air of the temple and free movement of the winds. Its face had furred ears, engorged lips and chin pushing far out from its head, the massive jaw of a true beast. It had no nose and massive teeth that poked down like tusks from its large mouth.

Its face held an expression that could almost be recognized. It's soulless black eyes were at peace, but its breathing and demeanor showed an unquenchable rage. It was a passive malice towards the living. It could not be known if it truly hated them, or simply had to see them dead, but it was undeniable that it would do everything in its power to kill them.

She hated that it was ugly, she wanted to kill it too. However...

"He's still here! Look for him, we'll hold it off!"

The Oger could hear the innkeep's command, and moved to interrupt him. It could not fit through the small entrance, and so it elected to grapple to the stonework. It wrestled with the masonry for a short time, before it began to crumble and crack.

Auryen sprinted to the front, murmuring and cursing to himself, struggling to maintain his concentration.

"It's far too early, quick, quick, quick!"

He reached to his pocket and procured his quill. Like a dart he launched it, it glided through the air before accelerating. It passed between the Ogers legs and just out of sight it banked around to strike from behind. The Oger reeled and turned to find its tiny and nimble aggressor, giving chance to the rest to escape onto the open platform, away from Tannen and the first son to continue their search.

War-cries wrung the leaves from trees, shaking stone and unsteady foundation, the two could barely stand. The innkeeps older son was panicked but determined, Tannen was stoic, and struggling. Their stances widened to better brace the impacts of the combat outside, and the shaking foundation of the temple. The older son continued to yell, no further point in restraint after all.

"We heard him! Where was he? Did you see him?"

"I don't know, is there anywhere we haven't looked?"

"I can't think of any, but he has to be here!"

Tannen looked outside, between the crashing and the screaming, at some point the entryway had been cleanly torn off by the Oger. She could see cleary outside as the Oger wielded a massive log. It would bring it down with a great ferocity, each time it would, the assailed would barely escape the arc of the swing. Other times the thing would sweep its log across the ground. At one time, Gyile was forced to vault over it, as he was caught between the wall of the temple and the Oger.

In depressing comparison, the Oger took no action to defend itself or to negate the damage that was dealt it. Its thick skin caught Browyn's spear, the innkeeps sword glided cleanly across it drawing no blood. The quill struck quickly, though not hurting the creature. More than once, the well-timed striking of the quill pulled its attention away from an otherwise fatal blow, Auryen had saved them all ten times or more. But their stamina would not last against it. They needed to find the boy quickly. Tannen struggled to think as she watched them battle. But within the shaking ground and reverberations, she was reminded of the hollow foundation, and the waters that passed just below the temple.

"You're sure there was no path downward?"

"No ladder, no hatch, no drop nor stairs. There is no way down!"

She held Feathered Edge so tightly that blood again oozed from her hand, opening the left wound. Out here, amidst chaos and strife, she knew what it was she would pray for. She held Feathered Edged as her medium, and prayed beneath her breath. A short and succinct prayer. One to find the missing boy.

For a moment, though nothing changed, she felt her prayer was answered. She looked around in desperation, that the boy might have suddenly appeared, but it was not so. Looking back outside to the battle, she felt a sudden tug upon her temple, or a gentle push upon her cheek. Within the corner of her eye, and for only the faintest of moments, she saw a giant from. Something passed behind the swimming statue and moved through the grating like a ghost. It swam through stone and metal.

She turned fully back to the statue, and her gaze dropped just below it, to the grating that lied atop the rushing water.

"Or maybe there is."

She sprinted, as much as her wounds would allow. Behind the statue and cutting through the grating was the open floor, it showed the river just below them, and the trench like hole led all the way through the temple to the edge of the waterfall.

"Did you hear the clanging?"

"The whole building clangs, what are you talking about?"

"The grating here rang out so loudly, like it was being unseated and struck back down. Maybe he was rattling it to get our attention."

"That would mean that he's beneath the water, he would have drowned!"

"Then where else is he, just look in the water!"

She watched the water, forced to be patient amidst the chaos. Dim light was not enough to see, white foam and fighting waves made it all the more difficult a task to divine what lurked below.

There was a short moment where she saw something. The glimmer of scales beneath the waves. Perhaps it was him.

For her, it had to be him.

"Beneath the water, I saw him!"

"Are you sure?"

She slid down smoothly, positioning herself to fall into the water. The first son seeing this, quickly found his resolve. He was far more brash, blindly jumping in before her. For him too, it had to be his brother. There was a moment in her mind that she scolded him, to so recklessly risk his life. She recognized the hypocrisy and couldn't find reason to blame him. She knew that only one need jump in, but she couldn't help herself from slipping into the water.

When first the water washed over her, her heart quickened. Out the corner of her eye she saw again the fish-man, it coiled in the water and pounced. She turned to defend and found it was not there. Her tired, weak and frightful mind had conjured the illusion. In its place was the eldest son, desperately swimming downward, reaching to the river bed for something she could not yet see, something the muddy waters kept concealed. She pushed off the grating to approach, seeing that at the floor was the shimmering scales from just moments before. The eldest could not fight against the running water as it ran in such a way to send him back to the surface. She tapped his shoulder grabbing his attention. She pointed to her foot as he turned to see her, somehow it was enough to convey her intention.

She held the grating and extended herself as much as she could. The first son maneuvered himself to plant his feet upon hers, a precarious position and unsteady posture. He winced and tried to close his nose, but quickly resigned himself to the sting of river water that would surely flood his nose when he pushed off her. They both bent their legs to better launch him downward, and as he nodded they both pushed. The pressure must have been a bitter bitch, but the young Man pushed through it anyway, aiming for his brother and reaching as far as he could.

Such was his want to grab his brother and bring them both to surface that his reaching might have removed his arm from his body entirely. His hand held tightly, grabbing the cloak of scales. But the brother would not come, paralyzed by fear. As much as he tugged, the younger would not move, and air was becoming scarce. She needed to act quickly, but was faced by the same obstacle as the eldest, she could not approach. The eldest was already within the current and held to the surprisingly unwavering younger son.

She decided to turn herself upside down, and to stand downwards towards the two, pushing off against the grating. It was loose and unsteady, but held true enough to let her extend out. Still her reach was not enough. She unsheathed the Feathered Edge, reaching out towards them, just enough to draw the weapon against the eldest's shoulder. It tore his shirt, shearing it with ease, but drew no blood against his skin no matter how much it pushed and deformed it. The eldest turned to see it, surprised and worried, he was beginning to lose his faculties. Already they were approaching a minute underwater, their lungs were beginning to crush like vices within their chests. He still had enough sense to again translate her vague motions as communications.

He held to the blade after quickly drawing a finger against it, marveling at the strange weapon for the shortest time, and testing to ensure he would not cleave his fingers off of course. He reinsured his grip where the blade widened and began to pull his brother upwards. Time was coming short and the ordeal seemed to turn into pointless punishment. Try as she might, she could not reach back up to grab the grating in time, her reach failed her as their attempt to anchor themselves backfired. The eldest's efforts instead pulled both of them further down. The sudden jerking downwards pushed some water into her throat, more than her first unfortunate encounter with the depths. It almost rushed past into her lungs but something caught the water. An involuntary reflex, she could not feel her throat, she knew that even if she wished she could not breath in. The crushing of her lungs turned to a kind of feeling that they might explode instead. It was now or never. She gathered all her strength and used the turn in luck to her advantage. She held to the sword as it dragged her down and followed it. The eldest brought her into reach of the youngest and she grabbed on. The pressures equalized in a vicious harmony, she could not decide if she would be torn apart, or be crushed.

She found the boy's arm and grabbed it. Placing her feet on the river bed and jumping, she began to move the boy. The eldest joined her.

Both pushed upon the loose ground, filling the water with clouds of dirt and sand. The feeling of terror that compelled them was vast and all consuming, but neither of them for even a moment thought to abandon the boy and save themselves. They would rather die. He was motivated by his need to protect and his unwavering love for his brother. She was not motivated so, but instead, bound by her duty.

The boy was finally loosed from whatever he held onto. They rose quickly through the water, before they crested the waves, her ears exploded from the changing pressure. From one trial to the next, as they came to the surface, her ears ringing with pain and lungs crying with agony she saw that they were being swept away with the current over the edge of the water fall.

Consciousness waning, when she took a breath to relieve the pure pain in her chest, her grip loosened on the boy. Something similar with the eldest son must have overcome him, as the boy began to head for the edge. Though the eldest still held to him, he had no control over him. Reaching recklessly and letting the water take her, she grabbed the boy just before he was dragged over the waterfall. She anchored herself on a decorative inlay, and so too the eldest on the opposite side. Through a great effort, they hoisted the boy back and maneuvered him to the side on which the eldest was on.

With her last burst of movement through the water, she launched herself toward where the eldest and the boy now sat after climbing out of the water. She would have missed had the eldest not noticed and reached out himself to grab her too. She mounted up and nearly collapsed upon the soaked floor.

"My god... How is he?"

The question came with a subtle gurgle of water. The eldest turned to his sobbing brother, they embraced before he answered her.

"By hell, he's alright."