Chapter 18

Curse of the Vistani

By the middle of the third day the group reached a crest in the mountains. It was all downhill from there and a wave of relief moved through the group as the hills stretched out below them. David was the most thankful of them all. Throughout the morning hike he had stumbled many times but managed to keep his feet under him. The downhill hike gave him a chance to rest his aching muscles. As a welcome change of pace from the previous nights, that evening was without incident other than the occasional groan and squeal from the elven lovers. Lynn sang David to sleep and he slept soundly for the first time since they had begun their quest. On the fourth day the group found themselves walking along a very strange path. They were in what once might have been a green valley but scattered about in the center were irregular pillars of volcanic glass. Most were between five and six feet high.

Lynn got a bad feeling about the pillars. Weamar got a curious feeling about them.

"They're people.", Lynn whispered as her premonition grew.

Weamar took a closer look and confirmed Lynn's suspicions. Each pillar contained the skeletal remains of a person long dead, its perpetual grinning face staring blankly into space. The remains of each appeared to be human, and each had their arms raised above their head and crossed at the wrists.

"This isn't good.", Marinae said quietly.

"What did this to them?", Lynn asked. For a moment no one answered.

Jonathan broke the awkward silence. "They didn't survive the storm.", he said dryly.

"The storm?", Lynn asked.

"The great storm that stripped these mountains.", Jonathan explained. "It was not an entirely natural event and these Vistani believed their power was strong enough to weather the storm. They were wrong."

Silence fell again in the forest of black glass. The obsidian graves and their long dead captives stood around the group hauntingly. But in spite of the stillness there was a sense of motion. When the sun caught them just right, it felt as if the bodies were moving. Weamar scratched his head and looked closer. When he looked directly at the forms, they were just corpses trapped in volcanic glass, but those that he saw from the corner of his eyes seemed to move. Weamar shrugged and wrote it off as an optical illusion, but Cujia stayed close by his heel. She seemed cautious and almost a little afraid.

"Steady girl, they aren't going anywhere.", Weamar assured her.

Rambis climbed out of Marinae's pack and crawled into her arms. "I don't like this place.", he thought to her.

"We should leave.", Jonathan said.

"I think Rambis agrees.", Marinae added.

"Cujia likewise.", Weamar chimed in.

"Look over there.", David called out. "One of the pillars is broken."

Weamar went to investigate while the others stayed put, too fearful to be curious. Lynn put her hand on her katana, and hoped that she wouldn't need to use it. Marinae got ready to throw some magic or run like hell if she had to, but nothing stirred as Weamar examined the partially shattered pillar. Weamar saw that it contained a cavity that must have been formed by the person who was encased, but the remains of that person were not present. At the base of the pillar was a pile of shattered pieces, and among them was an oddly shaped piece about the size of large man's heart.

Weamar looked closely at the fragment. One side was weathered and eroded while the other side was smooth save for many long scratches across it. Weamar poked the fragment with his sword. It didn't move or react in any way, so he picked it up. Marinae walked up to his side as her fear gave way to curiosity.

"Scratches.", Marinae said, looking at the object. "As if someone was clawing his way out."

"Yeah, maybe.", Weamar replied.

"I'm thinking that being a nun wouldn't have been so bad.", Marinae mused. "No monsters."

Weamar put away his sword and pulled out a dagger. He tried scratching the fragment with it but could only make a slight mark after exerting a respectable amount of force. Whatever the stone was made out of it was obviously not normal obsidian.

Jonathan was looking a little pale. Kiri could feel that something in the area was making her disguise waver. She knew that she had to leave soon or she would be found out.

"We really should leave.", Jonathan said nervously.

Weamar was a little surprised at the strength of Jonathan's reaction, but nodded in agreement. He placed the fragment in his backpack and, taking one last look at the broken spire, started heading towards the other side of the graveyard. Marinae grabbed Jonathan's hand and pulled him along, but he didn't need any help. Lynn turned to leave as well but noticed that David was lingering near the broken spire. She stopped.

"What is it?", Lynn asked David.

"I'm not sure.", David replied. "I guess it just reminds me of that village I told you about before."

The hairs on Lynn's body began to stand on end. "We should go.", she answered as a chill moved through her. David nodded in agreement and soon they were on the other side of the graveyard.

The further they got from the field of obsidian, the calmer Jonathan and the animals became. Travel was easy the rest of the afternoon, but by evening the path met a massive rock face. The rock face was impassible save for a fissure which was just wide enough for a person to slip through sideways. The split in the stone was the only way forward and the path seemed to indicate that the fissure was the way that they needed to go.

"Lovely.", Marinae moaned.

Lynn looked through the fissure. She could see that it was about twenty-five yards to the other side. So she took a deep breath and went first into the fissure, holding her katana in front of her. The setting sun provided little illumination but that didn't trouble Lynn very much. Using her keen sense of touch, she slowly made her way forward through the very narrow pass. The others followed behind with Weamar and David less comfortable than their thinner friends. In the tight quarters, Jonathan tickled and fondled Marinae who grabbed one of his hands and squeezed it. She glanced at him over her shoulder and smiled, but didn't stop making her way through the pass.

"It's so tight.", Jonathan whispered. "I can barely fit."

Marinae shot him a hard look, then thought that maybe he only meant that the pass was tight. The walls grew slightly narrower, pressing in on either side as they went along. From high above they could hear the scraping of stone, as though someone were up there. Weamar glanced upward and happened to catch a glimpse of something moving across the gap high above, but it disappeared too quickly to tell what it might have been. Lynn hurried towards the other end of the fissure, but when she got to the end there was a problem. The walls had come so close together that as Lynn attempted to squeeze through she couldn't make it through on the first push. The slick stone pressed in on her like a vice.

"I'm stuck.", Lynn gasped. "I need a push."

"High or low?", Marinae asked.

"High.", Lynn said, exhaling. The rock pressed tightest around her chest. She found it impossible to draw anything but the shallowest of breaths.

Marinae pushed Lynn as hard as she was able with the one arm she could extend in the tight space. Lynn exhaled completely and strained to escape. All at once Lynn popped through. She breathed deeply and dusted herself off. Then she raised her katana and looked around the other side of the fissure. The area beyond the gap was much like the other side. It was rocky and barren and there were more large stones which could be used as shelter from the weather. Lynn closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to feel if someone was hiding behind the stones, but no one was. So she stood guard at the exit of the fissure while the others worked their way through.

Marinae made it through easily, but Jonathan was too big to fit through. Kiri cursed silently and then got an idea. Jonathan closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. As he did so, his chest collapsed in slightly, allowing just enough space for him to slip past. Once through he fell to his knees, coughing and holding his chest. It was all an act. Kiri had only adjusted her disguise. But Marinae was fooled and went to Jonathan's side to make sure that he was alright.

Weamar looked up at the end of the fissure and noticed that it was wider about fifteen feet up. He looked at the wall and figured that he could scale it without much risk. So he put his toes on one wall, his back and hands on the other wall, and used his great strength to climb up to the wider part of the gap. He wriggled up to a point where he thought that he might be able to get through and began to move sideways along the fissure, but it seemed that he had misjudged the width of the pass at that height. The walls were still too close, so he went higher still. Finally, about twenty feet up, he found a spot that was wide enough for him.

"David, how strong are you feeling?", Weamar called down to him.

David looked back at Weamar. "Well, I don't think I'll be able to do that. Any ideas?"

"I don't suppose anyone down there has a levitation spell?", Weamar called down to Marinae with a hint of sarcasm, but Marinae didn't hear him. She was caring for Jonathan, who was coughing, and pretending to be getting better.

"You need to get out more.", Marinae advised. "All that indoor air got you coughing."

"I know a cure.", Jonathan said lustfully.

"Down, boy.", Marinae said in elvish with a wink. "You'll give them the wrong impression of us inscrutable Elves, you know."

"You drive me wild.", Jonathan replied in Elvish.

David looked up at the wall and decided to give climbing it a try. He did his best to scale the wall and the pain from the wounds on his arm flared as he climbed, but he gritted his teeth and soon he was at the same height as Weamar. But it didn't look like he would be able to stay there for long.

"Well, that wasn't so hard.", David groaned. "Except for the climbing part."

Marinae turned to see how David and Weamar were doing. "Let me know if I can do a little levitating.", Marinae called up to them.

Weamar sighed, but was happy that he'd finally gotten her attention. "It'd certainly make landing a little easier.", he shouted down to her, with a little more sarcasm than before.

"No doubt, but I don't know how much I can lift or for how long.", Marinae replied. "Can you drop your pack and such before I try?"

Weamar and David shed their gear quickly. As Weamar pulled off his rope he got an idea.

"I can hold the rope while you climb down.", Weamar said. David agreed and moved beneath him.

Weamar braced himself firmly between the rock faces and held on to the line of rope. David climbed around him and through the gap. Then he carefully made his way down while trying to avoid putting all his weight on the rope. Weamar's position held and David made it safely to solid ground.

"Ready with that levitation spell?", Weamar called down to Marinae.

"Yes.", Marinae replied.

Weamar edged towards the outer edge of the fissure and tried to get a grip with a foot on either side. Then he jumped away from the edge. Marinae caught him with her magic but strained to set him gently on the ground.

"Thanks much.", Weamar said as he gathered his gear.

"No...problem.", Marinae replied, her shoulders sagging.

She was exhausted, and it was late, so they decided to make camp.

"Jonathan.", Lynn asked as they ate dinner. "What can we do when the spirit returns?"

"I'm not certain.", Jonathan replied. "Marinae's spell seemed to harm it."

"Can you do that too?", Lynn asked.

"I could try.", Jonathan admitted. "But I'm out of practice."

Lynn nodded and ate quietly, wondering what she could do to help David. David sat alone and ate his rations silently. Then he curled up and tried to get to sleep. Kiri had her usual desires, and so Jonathan pulled Marinae aside.

"This is the last night before we reach the tomb.", Jonathan whispered to Marinae with an air of playful fright. "It may be our last night together."

"It might be, yes.", Marinae said tiredly. "Can we just lie down together? I need some rest."

Jonathan folded Marinae in his arms and kissed her softly on the forehead. Marinae mumbled happily and dropped off to sleep. Jonathan sighed and held Marinae close, letting her sleep in his lap, but Kiri was angry and horny, and didn't like going without. So she swore to make Marinae do something really kinky the next time that they were alone.
 

Lynn's watch was first. While watching over the group she noticed that David was lying on his back, staring up at the stars again. Lynn looked around for the spirit but didn't see him. So she sat next to David and began to sing quietly to him. David listened to Lynn's beautiful voice, and it didn't take long before his eyelids became heavy and he drifted off to sleep.

Weamar's watch came next. Halfway through his watch he noticed that his backpack was glowing with a pale green light. He opened the pack and the glow grew brighter. Jonathan, who had decided not to sleep, also noticed the glow and turned to watch Weamar, saying nothing. The light coming from the backpack pulsed slowly. Weamar unsheathed his acid sword, and slid it gently into the pack. Carefully Weamar maneuvered the black stone out of his backpack using the tip of his sword. From the stone's core a green light pulsed. Weamar couldn't tell if it was just the light creating another illusion but the stone seemed to convulse like a real heart.

Jonathan carefully slipped away from Marinae and approached the stone. As he got within six feet of it he frowned and his eyes fluttered for moment. Kiri could sense that the stone was starting to mess up her disguise just like in the graveyard and didn't come any closer.

Weamar glanced up at him. "What? You feel something from it?", he asked.

Jonathan swallowed hard. "Get rid of it. It's dangerous.", he said sternly.

The pulsing of the stone quickened and Jonathan took a few steps back. Weamar gave the stone a kick, trying to knock it over a nearby drop-off, but he only managed to get it to the edge. The stone pulsed quicker, and as Weamar watched the pulsing he was struck with a vision.
 

Weamar saw the obsidian field. A shadowed figure was walking among the spires. It reached out and touched each in passing. It's hand had no flesh. Then the figure began to sing with a deep baritone voice in a language that Weamar did not recognize. With each verse the spires glowed with bright green light. Then the figure began to dance among the pillars and the bodies still trapped in their prisons twisted and spun in place. The song's tempo picked up and the pulsating light quickened in turn. Streams of energy sprung from the tips of the towers and flowed to the dancing figure. They quickly engulfed him in a blinding nimbus.
 

With that the vision ended. Weamar stood in place, stunned.

"That's the stone from the graveyard, right?", Jonathan said nervously.

"Yes", Weamar answered, recovering from the vision.

"And you brought it with you!?", Jonathan shouted.

Marinae and Lynn woke up. They looked up at Weamar and Jonathan arguing. Then they saw Weamar walk over to a pulsing green stone and kick it into a deep crag.

"What are you shouting about?", Marinae asked. "And what the hell was that thing?"

"That was the lump of rock from the shattered spire.", Weamar answered matter-of-factly.

"And why was it glowing?", Marinae continued, feelings as though she missed something that she shouldn't have.

Jonathan calmed himself, but only a little. "Weamar brought a stone back from the graveyard.", he said to Marinae with anger in his voice. "You should leave evil magic where you find it. I should know. I've seen enough of it."

Weamar ignored Jonathan and answered Marinae. "I have no idea, but when I kicked it I had a vision.", he said. Then he described his vision while Marinae, Lynn, and Jonathan grew rather uncomfortable.

"Lovely.", Marinae groaned. "We tend to have visions that come true, too. I don't suppose anyone wants to go down the pass to see? Or maybe we should pack up and get ready to run?", Marinae looked around her. Before anyone could answer she added, "I'm for running, by the way."

"One of the cursed Vistani is free, then.", Jonathan said. "I don't know what he was doing, raising his kinsmen maybe. Who knows?"

"When you came near it did you feel anything specific, or just a general foreboding?", Weamar asked Jonathan.

Kiri wasn't about to tell the truth. "It felt, it felt like when I got too close to Kendra's dark tower.", Jonathan replied, happy with his subterfuge.

Marinae shuddered. But soon the shock wore off and sleepiness set in. They determined that there was nothing that they could do until morning and so they decided to get some sleep. Marinae and Weamar stretched out and nodded off while Jonathan took his watch. Lynn laid down but stayed awake. There was something about Jonathan that didn't feel right to her, and now with Marinae asleep she could talk to him alone. Lynn walked over and sat next to him.

Jonathan looked at Lynn as she sat down. "You should sleep.", he advised her.

Lynn bowed her head which was covered by her hood. "Do you love her?", she said softly.

Jonathan was taken aback by the directness of her question. "Excuse me?", he replied.

"Marinae.", Lynn whispered.

Jonathan thought for a moment, wondering if it was a trick. He decided to keep his act up. "Madly.", he replied.

"I don't want her to be hurt.", Lynn said softly. "Marinae feels the same way about me, and Eliza."

Jonathan nodded. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Lynn had her eyes closed as she talked, reaching out with her other senses and trying to feel anything in Jonathan's voice or movements that would tell her something other than what he was saying. As he spoke, Lynn felt a hint of deceit in Jonathan's voice. She probed deeper.

"Solance.", Lynn whispered, listening carefully to his reaction as she mentioned the slave girl's name. "What happened to her. It hurt Weamar."

Jonathan nodded. "I understand. But I love Marinae. I couldn't bear to see her hurt in any way."

Lynn sat quietly. There was smugness in Jonathan's voice. He didn't seem to be speaking the truth. And another thing bothered Lynn. She wondered how Jonathan knew about Solance since they had never met.

"I'll protect you, and Marinae.", Lynn said with quiet confidence. "It's my fault that we're here. I don't want anyone to suffer anymore."

Guilt came naturally to Lynn, but she meant what she said about protecting them. She didn't know who Jonathan really was. She thought that maybe he was one of Kendra's spies and that Solance was too. But to Lynn that didn't matter. All she wanted was for Marinae to never know the truth. She wanted Jonathan to leave her when he had to, and to leave her feeling broken hearted but not betrayed. She felt that that would be best.

"Thank you." Jonathan replied. "I'll do what I can to see us all through this."

Lynn felt a little better. She lay down and felt Eliza through her ring. Eliza was so far away, but in a way she was growing closer. Lynn went back to sleep, hoping that tomorrow would bring good fortune.