Chapter 21 Shards
David looked down at his hands. They looked like his father's hands, worn, dry, and old. Since he'd gone to Falkovnia he'd felt as though he'd lived through a lifetime of war and hardship. Now he looked it. He wondered if Kendra could make him young again, and if it would be worth the price. But he shook his head and decided that he could live with what the hands of Balican had done to him. Even though it had been an act of mercy, he knew that there were many times in his short life that he had brought death for less noble causes. Deep down he felt that he deserved his fate. He watched Weamar carefully counting the gold pieces in the chest. That took his mind off what had happened."So what do you have in mind for all of that gold?", David asked Weamar.
"Not really sure, something better than sitting in a chest near a corpse.", Weamar said with a smirk. "I wasn't joking when I asked about orphanages. But I could also do with some new clothes."
"There are many orphanages in Falkovnia.", David replied. "Lord Drakov's many failed campaigns have seen to that. They wouldn't be able to spend the money directly, though. Tossing about a large amount of
foreign currency around would draw too much attention.""I guess it's not entirely up to me though.", Weamar conceded. "I figure we each get a share. And do with it as we see fit."
Lynn felt through her ring, sending a feeling of warmth, love, and longing to Eliza who promptly returned it. Lynn let the feeling fill her heart. It had been so long since she'd felt anything so strong come from the ring. She smiled and looked at David who appeared so much older than he had before. His sadness touched her and she wanted to help him.
"Maybe the life hand will make you young again.", Lynn said softly.
David looked down at his weathered hands once more. "I would rather not risk using either of the relics again unless the need was dire.", he said, quelling any feeling of hope. "For all we know, the right hand might require the same price."
Lynn nodded and sighed.
David turned back to Weamar. "You seemed stronger wearing the gauntlets.", David said.
"Much.", Weamar concurred. "I thought maybe they'd help counterbalance the effect the hand had, even if only as far as your strength."
David nodded. "Maybe. I suppose it's worth a try."
Weamar removed the gloves, and passed them to David who slipped the gauntlets on and flexed each hand.
"I don't feel any different.", David said, a little disappointed. He drew a knife from his belt and flicked it into the ground. The blade flew with amazing speed towards the earth and embedded itself into the rocky ground ejecting a small plume of chipped rock and dust.
"Just remember to remove them before shaking someone's hand.", Weamar joked. "And now you get to carry the gold."
David laughed and retrieved his knife. He sat down next to Lynn and watched her. Lynn had closed her eyes and was seeing the camp in her mind, keeping watch without watching.
"Are you asleep?", David whispered.
Lynn shook her head.
"You're certain she's awake?", David asked.
Lynn nodded.
"What will you do now?", David wondered.
"Go home again.", Lynn said happily. David sighed to himself. He wished that he could go home.
"There's an inn in Port-a-Lucine where I sing.", Lynn said to David. "I'd like it if you could come and listen to me there."
David rolled out his blanket and said nothing. Lynn felt guilty. She wanted to say more but she didn't know what to say. She wished that she knew the magic words that would make everything better.
As he was putting the gold pieces back into the chest, Weamar happened to glance upward and noticed several stars disappear and return in a brief instant. Something had just flown overhead, he surmised, though he could not determine its size or nature from the quick glimpse. Weamar moved a little way away from the fire and stretched out on his back looking up into the night sky. He watched for a while, seeing nothing, and then he slowly fell asleep.
Morning broke over the mountains, rousing the group from their slumber. David was already awake and sitting on the edge of one of the sheltering boulders. His gear was packed and he was wearing the gauntlets. He was ready to get moving. Weamar got his bedroll and pack together after quickly attending to his morning ablutions. Lynn woke up feeling as good as she had in weeks. Everything seemed wonderful and filled with hope. She pulled back her hood and looked around her, a smile on her face. She felt hunger pangs and pulled out her breakfast. It was dry and tasteless, but to Lynn it was delicious.
Jonathan rolled awake and looked over at Marinae. Marinae was dreaming of her Inn, and looked beautiful and innocent as she slept. But Kiri no longer cared about her, having gotten what she wanted, and now her thoughts turned to Lynn. Jonathan dressed and walked into camp for breakfast.
Marinae woke up to find Jonathan gone. Marinae felt the soreness from last night and devoutly wished for a hot bath as she got dressed and gingerly headed off after her lover. When she got to camp, she noticed Jonathan sitting across from Lynn, staring at her fair, sunlit features.
Marinae smiled at Lynn. "Good morning!", she said, pleased to see Lynn in such a good mood.
Lynn nodded. "What a wonderful day.", she replied.
"How did you two first meet?", Jonathan said, looking at Lynn.
Lynn glanced indirectly at Jonathan and Marinae, then looked off into the distance. "Sturben.", she said between bites.
Weamar muttered "Wolves" and then got a slightly nostalgic look on his face as he remembered the forests of Verbrek.
"And?", Jonathan asked Lynn playfully.
"And the wolves attacked us.", Lynn said. "I don't remember much. But Marinae was there. She helped us defeat them."
"I got a nice set of tooth marks on my thigh.", Marinae interjected. She paused and waited for Jonathan to turn and look, but he didn't. She began to get angry as she tried to get his attention again. "...from that wolf attack."
"I've never seen your face before.", Jonathan said to Lynn charmingly. "You're always hiding underneath that hood."
Lynn blushed a little and turned her head away.
"I don't know why you hide.", Jonathan added. "You're beautiful."
"Good thing he knows I'll kill him if he tries something.", Marinae thought to herself.
Lynn reached up to cover herself and stopped. She shook her hair around her. "Have you heard me sing?", she asked.
"I'd love to.", Jonathan answered. Marinae stewed. She considered the benefits of letting Kendra keep him.
David was also getting uncomfortable with the attention that Jonathan was paying to Lynn. He called out over the group, "We really should get moving."
Lynn sprang to her feet and gathered her things. David scowled down at Jonathan from his perch on the stone. He shook his head and turned to observe the rest of the area while camp was broken. Weamar decided that stoicism was the best bet for those not involved in any of the inter-personal relationships and thus said nothing.
The group started off down the path back to the castle. Jonathan walked in front of Lynn, turning to talk to her so much that he was often walking backwards. Lynn was happy and talkative and chatted about anything and everything. Jonathan wanted to know all about her and was delighted by her every answer. Marinae raged, feeling betrayed and used, but she kept it all inside.
After a few hours of hiking, they found themselves at the narrow fissure once again.
David frowned. "There is no way this chest is going to fit in there.", he said.
Jonathan suddenly snapped to attention. "This is a good place for an ambush.", he said with a start.
"We have the rope. We could go over the top, perhaps?", Weamar suggested.
"Someone should go up there.", Jonathan advised.
"You go first, so you won't be looking at Lynn's ass on her way up, you jerk.", Marinae thought at Jonathan.
Lynn walked up to the fissure and tried to fit through again. She made it in a short way before coming to the narrowest point. The cold stone walls pressed in again from both sides. It might have been her imagination but the walls seemed even closer than before. Lynn frowned and came back out.
Weamar started trying to find the best path to the top of the fissure. He tried several times but was unable to find any decent handholds. David took off the gauntlets and handed them to Weamar.
"Maybe these will help.", David said hopefully.
"Thanks, yeah, maybe.", Weamar replied.
Weamar attempted to scale the rock while wearing the gauntlets but only succeed in removing fistfuls of stone. Then he got an idea and started digging handholds out of the rock face. Slowly he climbed up the wall, making new handholds as he went. One particularly forceful tug sent a large chunk of rock sailing within inches of Jonathan's head. He ducked just in time to avoid it.
"Sorry about that Jonathan.", Weamar called out as Jonathan took Lynn by the hand and pulled her back away from the wall.
Lynn pulled her hand away from Jonathan's gently as Marinae gave the errant, unfaithful, oversexed male elf a hard look. But Jonathan didn't see Marinae's glare, he was looking at Lynn. Marinae rolled her eyes and muttered a caustic curse in elvish.
Lynn looked away. "Marinae.", she whispered.
Jonathan looked back at Marinae. He walked over to her and tried to put his arms around her but she would have nothing of it. Marinae stared deep into his eyes.
"I know what you're trying to do.", Marinae hissed.
"Don't be jealous.", Jonathan pleaded. "Please, Marinae."
"Why not?", Marinae shot back.
"She's alone. And everyone ignores her.", Jonathan said apologetically. "You're the one that I love."
"She's attached, she's not ignored.", Marinae replied. "And you're trying to change the subject."
Weamar had climbed to the top of the cliff. He lowered the rope down and called out to the others.
"I'll go.", Marinae said quickly. She turned and walked over to the rope. Jonathan sighed and said nothing.
Marinae was beside herself as she held tightly to the rope. "Damn him! He's trying to push me away...and here I am so mad it's working!"
Weamar pulled Marinae up to the top easily, then lowered the rope down again. David suggested that Lynn go next and soon he was alone with Jonathan. Weamar pulled Lynn up and she walked over to Marinae. From their vantage point on top of the rock face they could see the obsidian field. They noticed that something was very wrong. All of the spires were gone.
"Umm. I've got a bad feeling about several things right now.", Marinae said, getting shaken out of her funk.
Weamar turned to look and scratched his head. He was unsure of the portent. He knew that it wasn't good that the Vistani were in the obsidian blocks, and he thought that maybe it was good that they were out now.
"Your vision.", Lynn said softly. Weamar nodded and wondered what it all meant.
At the base of the stone, Jonathan moved to grab the rope but was taken by surprise as David spun him around and pinned him up against the rock. David's fingers wrapped tightly around the elf's throat. Through clenched jaws David whispered, "Stay away from her or I swear I will see you dangling from a pike in Drakov's dining hall."
Jonathan gulped and grabbed David's wrists. "Which...?", Jonathan gasped.
David squeezed harder. "Don't play stupid with me."
"Lynn?", Jonathan could barely get the words out.
Kiri had been in tighter scrapes, and mostly for the same reasons. Jealous boyfriends, jealous girlfriends, angry husbands, over-protective fathers, gangs of morally enraged townspeople, entire congregations upset about finding their holy father dead on the altar without any pants on, etcetera, she'd dealt with them all, and so she knew when to give in. This was the time.
A look of fear came over Jonathan's face. David let his hand drop and took a step back.
Jonathan coughed and grabbed his throat. "Okay, okay.", he said between gasps.
David glared at Jonathan and nodded at the rope. "Move."
"You're okay with Marinae and I?", Jonathan asked as Weamar pulled him up.
"She can handle herself.", David responded. "Hopefully she'll see you for what you are."
Jonathan arrived at the top looking more than a little frazzled. David tied the rope around the chest and climbed up easily. Then Weamar hefted the chest up to the top with Cujia holding on to it for dear life. Meanwhile, Jonathan tried to make peace with Marinae.
"I love you.", Jonathan said to Marinae earnestly in elvish. "And I won't talk to her again."
"This isn't a good time to talk to me.", Marinae replied.
Jonathan looked away sadly. Then he said with a start, "Fuck!"
Marinae turned to look. Jonathan was staring out at the empty graveyard.
"We...are...so...dead.", Jonathan said slowly. Kiri had no idea what the missing spires meant, but she knew that it wasn't good.
"Not yet we aren't.", Weamar countered. "It might be an idea to think about what we'll be facing before we climb down though."
"We need to get away, now.", Jonathan continued.
"To where?", Weamar asked. "Is there another way to Kendra's other than through that graveyard?"
"It doesn't matter.", Jonathan lowered his head. "I'm dead either way."
"If you're so convinced, I'm sure we can make your death much quicker and less painful than your other options.", Weamar said, half-seriously. "Or, you could start having a little hope and trying to think of ways to avoid your death altogether."
Lynn spoke up. "We have to go on.", she said.
David knelt at the far edge of the cliff. To no one in particular he said, "If you were a prisoner and were suddenly freed, would you linger at the site of your former bondage?"
"No, what I'd do is try, if I could, to take revenge on my captor.", Weamar answered David.
"It's a good bet I'm not the captor.", Marinae said to Weamar. "Are you?"
"Not unless my sleepwalking has started again in earnest.", Weamar answered with a grin.
"That is so not funny, human.", Marinae replied with a half smile.
"Practice makes perfect.", Weamar said, happy to get the last word.
"I thought that love could set me free.", Jonathan said to no one in particular. "I was wrong."
"You're not in chains yet. You don't have to go back.", Marinae replied. But Jonathan looked away, staring off into space towards the castle.
They climbed down the other side of the stone and resumed hiking down the path. Before long they found themselves at the edge of the obsidian field. All of the spires that once stood there had been shattered. Nothing moved within.
Cujia sniffed the air and began to growl. Weamar drew his pistol.
"What? Where?", Weamar said quietly to Cujia, who looked back the way they had come and continued to growl.
"You awake, cat?", Marinae thought to Rambis.
"What? I was having the best dream.", Rambis replied sleepily. "You let me loose in a butcher's shop."
"You can sleep when we're not being chased around.", Marinae scolded him lightly. "Something's coming."
Lynn put her hand on her katana as Weamar looked behind them. From around the bend three men appeared. They were dressed in Falkovnian armor and each one had a rifle trained on the group.
"Drop your weapons! Do it now!", one of the soldiers shouted.
"Oh. Fuck.", Marinae moaned.
Lynn pulled her hand away and turned to face them. She was scared, but she wanted to avoid bloodshed if she could help it. Weamar was scared too, and did what he was told. He dropped his pistol, and then over the next few minutes slowly dropped his other pistol, his rifle, his knives and his sword. Meanwhile Marinae wondered if she could hit all three soldiers with a quick spell.
David stood fast, slowly reaching around for the knife at the back of his belt. "I will not be captured by these animals.", he whispered. Marinae nodded in agreement.
The soldiers began to carefully approach, spreading out as they did so.
"Fuckers!", Marinae thought to herself. "Stay together so I can kill you all at once!"
"Looks like you will need to meet your new masters, girl.", Weamar said to Cujia, making her growl even more fiercely.
"Middleman...now.", Weamar quietly commanded his dog.
"No!", Lynn shouted, but it was too late.
Cujia bolted forward towards the center man who quickly changed targets and fired at the dog. The shot exploded in the dirt behind her as she leaped up and latched on to one of the man's arms. The unlucky soldier's rifle fell to the ground and he struggled to free himself from the dog's powerful jaws. Simultaneously Marinae cast forth her hands and two swirling bolts of light flew from each. In quick succession they slammed into another one of the soldiers who dropped to the ground without even having a chance to fire. The third man took aim at Jonathan and fired but he was surprised to see that his target had disappeared. He had little time to comprehend what happened as David's knife flew past his face, raising a thin line of blood across his cheek. The soldier then went for his sidearm. Weamar thought fast and dove for his pistol. While both Weamar and the soldier aimed their weapons in tandem, Weamar's shot was true and the soldier fell to the ground with a hole in his chest.
The remaining soldier was still fighting with Cujia and managed to draw a wicked looking knife.
"Break off!", Weamar shouted to Cujia.
The dog immediately obeyed and darted just out of the arc of the soldier's blade. The soldier gripped his wounded arm while Weamar grabbed up his sword.
"Your turn to drop your weapons.", Weamar said, approaching the soldier. "And if I so much as give you a close shave with this you'll bleed to death by nightfall. You don't want that."
The wounded soldier sneered up at Weamar and a voice called from behind the group. "Bravo! That was spectacular."
At the sound of the voice David's face blanched and he turned to face the newcomer. Lynn and Marinae turned as well, but Weamar kept his gaze trained on the injured soldier. Rather than only three, they now faced an additional twelve Falkovnians. Three bore officers markings, including the one that spoke.
"When I was assigned to this detail I never expected to encounter such an entertaining diversion.", said the officer with the most impressive uniform.
Lynn walked slowly towards the leader who was approaching her at a quick walk. David drew two knives and hurried after Lynn.
"You're worth nothing as a hostage, you know that, don't you?", Weamar said to the solider who lay on the ground. "I doubt your commander would even blink if I threatened to kill you."
The soldier's sneer faded but he said nothing.
"So if you so much as blink strangely you're as good as dead.", Weamar continued.
The soldier's knife fell to the ground.
"It's good to see you still value your life.", Weamar said.
Marinae looked at the group of approaching soldiers. They all looked like tough characters. The leader in particular looked like he had seen many years of military service. Jonathan was nowhere to be seen and that made Marinae suspicious. The two other officers stepped in front of their leader, preventing Lynn from approaching closer than about eight feet. While the lesser soldiers each brandish a sword, the two in front of their commander carried no visible weapons.
"You may stand down for the moment, gentlemen.", the lead officer ordered. The two other officers stepped aside.
"I am Colonel Marcos Vedarrak of the Falkovnian Army, glorious arm of my Lord Drakov.", the lead officer spoke. "Who might you be, my dear?"
"Lynn.", Lynn said softly.
"Well, Lynn, we have a bit of a problem. You see, you have something that we want. Do you know what it is?" The man's eyes moved across the group, lingering on David.
Lynn nodded. She didn't know what to do, but she knew that she had to stall the soldiers so that she could give her friends time to figure a way out.
Jonathan snuck invisibly around to the other side of the graveyard. He found a broken spire to hide behind and began to think of a plan.
"It doesn't matter if the others die.", Kiri thought to herself. "As long as Lynn survives. Well, come to think of it, she can die too. All Kendra wants is the hands. But if Falcons kill everyone I'll have to figure out a way to steal the hands back. Well, whatever happens, the more people that die here the better."
Kiri imagined the best thing that could happen. Everyone dead except Lynn. Then they could ride off to the castle together, stopping frequently along the way of course.
Weamar was suspicious. He started to wonder about how easily Jonathan escaped a bondage he'd been in for an extended period. Then he thought about Jonathan's recent behavior: his panic and resignation on the rock-top; his spurning of Marinae; his continued disappearance; and how the soldiers didn't seem to care that he wasn't visible. Weamar wondered if it was all an illusion, fabricated by the young elf.
Weamar closed his eyes. He concentrated on what he knew was real. He told himself that the soldiers were illusions. He tried to calm himself. Then turned around and opened his eyes. To his dismay the soldiers did not go away. He cursed himself and then got another idea.
"Puss, puss.", Weamar whispered to Rambis. "Puss, puss."
The cat poked its head out of Marinae's pack. He scrambled out, hopped down to the ground, and sat in front of Weamar. Weamar told the cat about his suspicions and Marinae listened quietly. Now that she thought about it, Marinae wondered how it was that she felled one of the soldiers so easily. She whispered a few magic words so that she could see things more clearly.
David matched the colonel's gaze. The officer's face was filled with sudden recognition. "I know you."
David froze.
"Yes, the traitor. Private Erickson. We've been looking for you for a very long..." The colonel stopped in mid sentence and turned his attention to Marinae.
For Marinae, the scene changed. There were no soldiers anymore, only one ghostly apparition near Lynn and David. Also, the field was not empty. The obsidian spires were whole and complete, each glowing with a bright green hue. Marinae fired a single magical bolt at the apparition. Her spell struck the grinning visage of the colonel which shattered like glass. A split second later each of the soldiers followed suit. When the sparkling shards came to a rest, the air around the graveyard wavered and pulsed. The many spires of obsidian suddenly appeared to everyone else and ceased to glow.
"I think we've been distracted.", Marinae said with an air of cleverness and pride.
Lynn turned to look at Marinae. She was surprised, happy, and grateful. Weamar sagged in relief and turned to take in the scene. There was still no sign of Jonathan.
Marinae's happiness quickly turned into a huff. "Jonathan did this.", she said to herself. "He wants to steal the hands for himself. He wants to kill us all and take the hands back to Kendra." The more Marinae thought, the angrier she became.
"Where's Jonathan?", Lynn said, looking around.
"Invisible I bet.", Marinae said, her voice full of venom. "And running back home."
"I don't know if he'd head back toward the castle.", Weamar said. "Is there any track that you can pick up? Cujia? Rambis?"
"Can you sense him?", Marinae thought to Rambis.
"Not with these things around.", the cat replied.
"Things?", Marinae asked. "The spires?"
"Yes.", Rambis answered.
"Right at the moment, I have no idea if Jonathan was ever really with us.", Weamar said quietly.
"I wonder.", Marinae began. "But then who was I...", she stopped, realizing how painfully embarrassing that line of thought was.
Marinae checked her arms for knife marks and found none, then she turned to David. "How is your arm?", she asked.
David looked down at his forearm. It was soaked with blood. David rolled the sleeve back. There were no new cuts but the old ones were bleeding freshly.
"Oh no.", Lynn said, seeing the blood and then looking away.
Marinae tossed her pack to Weamar. "The aid kit is in the outer pocket.", she said as she kept looking around for something moving and magical. She saw nothing. Marinae took a deep breath "Shit!!", she screamed. Then she got herself back under control with a great effort of will.
Weamar took no time about dressing David's wounds. Marinae decided to help as well.
"The spirit.", Lynn said. "It must have been him."
Lynn closed her eyes and listened intently. It was so quiet in the graveyard that she could hear everything, even the sound of each person breathing. She heard her friends close by, and she also heard someone else farther away. Lynn turned slowly as she tried to find out where he was. In the still air she could hear the him on the far side of the field, near the path that led back to the castle.
"We have to get it stopped!", Marinae shouted as David began to look a little wobbly. "Make the bandages tight. I fear we're being 'delayed' again."
Marinae grabbed a roll of bandages and wrapped one of David's arms as tightly as she dared. Soon they had the bleeding stopped.
"He's waiting for us.", Lynn said softly. "Down the path ahead. But it's not the spirit."
"You up for a little stalking?", Marinae thought to Rambis.
"What am I looking for?", Rambis asked.
"Jonathan.", Marinae said out loud. "He's waiting for us, and we could use a spy, my lad."
"Sure.", Rambis replied and trotted off across the graveyard.
"We can't have a free-for-all on him until we catch him after all.", Marinae said, the hate returning to her voice.
"Don't hurt him.", Lynn said softly.
"Hurting him isn't what I have in mind.", Marinae replied, her mind filling with evil thoughts. "Though I suppose it would be fair to give him a few moments to come clean."
Lynn nodded and started walking up the path.
"Maybe I can just make him think I'm going to kill him.", Marinae said to no one in particular. "You guys can try to hold me back."
"Or I could give him a staffing.", Marinae though to herself. "The same way as he did me last night."
Rambis wandered down the path, looking for something that he couldn't find. His senses were still clouded by the presence of the obsidian spires and he had no idea where Jonathan was.
"Don't get too close to him, assuming you can even find him.", Marinae thought to him. "Give it another few minutes and come back."
Rambis sighed. "Are you sure he's even over here?", he asked.
"Lynn thinks he's hiding on the path.", Marinae replied. "She's got better senses than either of us, it would seem.", she thought to herself.
Lynn found herself a ways ahead of the rest of the group. The gestalt image provided by her senses was of unusual clarity. She was able to feel Jonathan's every movement down to the beating of his heart. She knew exactly where he was. As she walked towards him she noticed that he didn't move. He seemed to be waiting for her and wasn't at all worried. He had no idea of the suspicions Marinae and Weamar had about him. Lynn walked past Rambis and stood next to Jonathan.
"Here, kitty, kitty.", Lynn called out.
Rambis happily walked over to Lynn and rubbed around her feet.
Lynn scratched Rambis' head and pet him. "Good kitty.", she cooed.
"Anything, yet?", Marinae thought to Rambis.
"Just good scratching.", Rambis replied purring.
"You're so sweet.", the invisible elf whispered to Lynn. "I want you.", he said lustfully.
Rambis stopped and looked up at the source of the voice. Then he relayed what Jonathan had said to Marinae.
"She's found him.", Marinae said to Weamar and David. "The bastard.", she whispered to herself.
Lynn kept petting Rambis. "I can't.", she answered Jonathan happily. "I love another."
"David?", Jonathan whispered.
Lynn stopped for a moment. "Eliza.", she answered. And picked Rambis up.
"Oh.", Jonathan replied. He said nothing more.
"Great.", Kiri thought to herself angrily. "She's a dyke."
Kiri was kicking herself for not figuring it out on her own. Here she was in a man's body trying to hit on a lesbian. Then she realized that she'd given up everything that she had with Marinae for nothing and that made her even more upset.
"Okay, so I get it. I get it!", Kiri cursed herself silently. "Eliza and Lynn are lovers. Crap! Stupid dykes. They should all be forced to wear labels so that I know who I have to be so that I can do them!"
Lynn cuddled Rambis lovingly, scratching his belly and underneath his chin. Rambis purred loudly in her arms. Kiri watched Lynn playing with Rambis and imagined her in bed with Eliza, but it didn't turn her on very much. "Dykes suck.", Kiri though exasperatedly. "Neither one has a dick so they can't fuck. It's just a bunch of carpet-munching. Pbbbt."
"Unless they do fisting.", Kiri added. Then the image of Lynn and Eliza fisting each other appeared in her mind and Kiri could think of nothing else for while. She got horny again and began working on a scheme to have them both when they returned to the castle.
David hoisted the large chest of gold up onto his shoulder and looked around the field. He wondered what other surprises were waiting for them. Weamar stood next to him and reloaded his firearms.
"Times like this, I wish I'd taken the sword and shield we found back there.", Marinae said, remembering the things they had left behind in the tomb.
"Aye, though you'd look a bit silly trying to cast a spell with a shield on your arm.", Weamar replied.
"I'd have enough sense to drop the shield, you know.", Marinae snapped back. She was in no mood for humor. She was in no mood for anything but hurting Jonathan.
David grinned a little and said, "Come on, let's get moving. This thing is heavy." He shrugged his load bearing shoulder, obviously having no trouble carrying the chest.
Marinae pretended not to be impressed
"Just don't stress your wounded arm.", Weamar said, grinning. He tucked his pistols into his sword belt and waved to Lynn. "Sorry to keep you, we're on our way.", he called out.
As they walked toward Lynn, David watched her cuddling Rambis. A faint, sad smile crossed his lips. Soon they were all together at the edge of the obsidian field.
"What a relief.", Jonathan's voice came out of thin air.
Marinae rolled her eyes.
"I was totally fooled. Good thing you weren't, Marinae.", Jonathan added.
Weamar put his hands on his pistol butts, wary of the invisible traitor. Marinae looked around for any trace of Jonathan. Kneeling near Lynn she could see the vague outline of a male figure. Faint wisps of illusion magic flowed around him. She got the sense that the residual effect of the spell could only be seen because of the unusual and disruptive nature of the obsidian field.
"Show yourself!", Marinae called out angrily, pretending not to see him.
"I was going to scout up ahead for soldiers.", Jonathan replied. "Until this spell wears off."
Marinae decided to change her approach. She cast a spell. Kiri picked up on it and tried to resist, but Marinae's spell broke through. Kiri knew the spell all too well. It was the one she used to read their minds in Falkovnia. Now Marinae had turned the tables on her.
A low humming sound filled Marinae's mind. As she concentrated in the direction of the invisible elf the sound grew louder and more like speech. Finally, some words became clear.
"What a bitch.", Jonathan was thinking, and thinking it rather loudly.
"Bitch, am I?", Marinae thought to herself. "You'll find out what a bitch I can be, bucko."
Marinae kept up the pretense of not seeing, and schooled her expression accordingly. "Where are you?", she asked. "I've...I've missed you, Johnny."
Marinae was kicking herself. "It's unfortunate that I'm so honest that I never read his mind before.", she thought to herself.
"Right here, love.", Jonathan replied. "Look, my spell is going to run out and I should scout up ahead."
"Ethics can get in the way...but if I didn't have them, I'd be another Kendra.", Marinae pondered. "And I'll just bet you're going to scout ahead you little..."
"Jonathan, there's been no sign of anyone else on the trail. Not one.", Weamar said. "No smell, no sound, no footprints, just men popping out of nowhere, and vanishing just as quickly."
"There's got to be more Falcons around.", Jonathan said, sounding very sure of himself.
"More? Are you not listening?", Weamar replied, trying to be argumentative. "There haven't been any yet. There's no reason to scout ahead."
Marinae read the young elf's mind. She could feel that he truly believed what he was saying, as if he knew that there were soldiers ahead. Indeed Kiri did know. Kendra's raven had seem them, and Kendra had warned her often faithful servant.
"There were some in the cave.", Jonathan answered back.
"I'm not a mage, but I wonder how powerful someone would have to be to create an illusion that either affects several individual minds, or such a large area as the spire-ground?", Weamar speculated with an insinuating tone.
"He is being so stupid.", Jonathan thought to himself, and to Marinae.
"And at what distance they could do so.", Weamar added. "The cave is behind us. Whether they were there or not, is irrelevant, and also suspect, now."
"ENOUGH!", Marinae shouted. And she began to cast a spell. Jonathan stared at her, still clueless about the fact that Marinae and Weamar thought that he was the one responsible for the illusion.
"It was the spirit.", Lynn said softly. But again she was too late.
Marinae launched a single shard of light toward the seemingly empty space near Lynn. The bolt struck something, causing a bright shimmering in the air that quickly faded. Marinae listened for a shriek of pain or the sound of a body hitting the ground but heard nothing.
"He's right there.", Marinae shouted, pointing at the glimmering figure.
"No!", Lynn shouted.
Marinae's concentration was shifting as she cast her spell but the last thoughts that she heard were laced with confusion. "The crazy bitch is trying to kill me."
"I'm not a crazy bitch!", Marinae shouted out loud. "I'm an angry one! And you need to show yourself and explain a few things so that this STUPID bitch can understand them."
"What makes you think it is the 'spirit'?", Weamar asked Lynn, keeping an eye on the place that Marinae blasted with magic.
"The wounds on David's arms.", Lynn explained. "They bled."
Cujia started barking in the direction that the path led. Weamar could hear the hurried footfalls of someone running away. David stood back, completely confused. Weamar drew his pistol and aimed low in the direction of the footfalls, trying to shoot Jonathan's legs out from under him.
"Crazy bitch, am I? I think not...I am nothing more than a fool.", Marinae thought to herself. "Lynn's probably right. And I've let my anger cloud my thinking."
Weamar aimed his weapon toward the fleeing elf and pulled the trigger. As he did so, Lynn leaped at him and grabbed his arm. The shot struck nothing but earth, sending up a cloud of dust and debris.
"It wasn't him.", Lynn pleaded.
Marinae sagged to the ground, wondering what to do.
"David's arm could be explained by the spire-ground as easily as the spirit.", Weamar said, thinking out loud. "The illusion of the Falkovnians not so easily."
"David, who is Colonel Marcos Vedarrak?", Lynn asked softly.
David lowered the chest to the ground and sat down on it. Quietly he said, "He was my commanding officer when I...when we took that village."
Lynn was quiet, feeling that her suspicions were true. After a long silence Lynn spoke up again. "We should go."
"Yes. We should.", Weamar replied. But he was not convinced. And he thought up some more questions as they walked along the path.
"When the spirit-thing cut your arm, Jonathan asked you about the earlier scarring.", Weamar asked David. "Did you tell him about your commander then?"
"I think he and Marinae were off...", David changed his mind about what he wanted to say. "That is he wasn't around when I mentioned the captain. I guess he would be a colonel by now."
"And did you recognize him, or rather his illusion, as easily as he, umm it, recognized you?", Weamar asked.
"It took me a moment but the image did feel familiar.", David replied.
"So why wouldn't he show himself?", Marinae asked, still a little skeptical.
"Scared shitless of what might happen to him?", Weamar suggested.
"I suppose.", Marinae confessed. "I'm a fool."
"Maybe, if you think that.", Weamar consoled her. "You were actually reading his thoughts back there, weren't you?"
"Yes.", Marinae answered. "I heard him thinking 'What a bitch'...then about you, that you were 'being so stupid' when you were talking about illusions."
"He was surprised when I opened fire.", Marinae added. He thought, "'Crazy bitch is trying to kill me!'"
David had to fight to stifle a laugh. Weamar just nodded.
The mood on the continued hike was a sullen one. But before long Marinae's reverie was broken as her elven ears picked up the sound of heavy feet marching up the path in her direction.