Chapter 21

Through the Mists

David lay face down on the hard earth of a well-worn road. His entire body ached from the shock of being thrown to the ground when his exhausted mount had collapsed suddenly beneath him. Several of the wounds he had suffered in recent days had reopened and were bleeding freely. All that David could hear, other than the ringing in his ears, was the soft rustle of the wind and the dying gasps of his horse. He almost envied the beast. Its suffering was over. His, it seemed, refused to end.

The young man fought back the haze of unconsciousness that threatened to steal over him and struggled to his feet. One arm hung limply at his side as he stumbled over to his dead horse. He had to keep moving. He didn't know where he was but he knew that there was a good chance that some predator would come to make a meal of the horseflesh shortly and he didn't intend to serve as a second course.  With one hand, David tried futilely to recover his gear but much of it was pinned beneath the body of the horse. Every tug sent a shock of pain through his wounded arm. One particularly forceful pull caused him to slip and fall hard to the ground.

David could feel that his shoulder had been dislocated and there was no way to get his equipment with only one hand. Settling on his knees, he gripped his limp arm and closed his eyes. With a sharp pull and twist the joint slipped into place but in his weakened state, the pain was too much and his vision blacked out.  His dreams were filled with visions of war and death. Somewhere in the distance beyond the carnage an angel's song carried on the wind.


Marinae was out the gate before she remembered what Aselid had given to her. "The ring!", she thought to herself. "I'd almost forgotten it. Now where did I put the silly thing. I've become quite the pack-rat of late."

Marinae found the ring in her belt pouch and put it on.

"Knowing him, it'll take me right to him. We'll be cell-mates!", Marinae mused.

As soon as she put on the ring, Marinae had the strange urge to ride north instead of south. There was nothing north of Neblus but the Mists. But Marinae followed the urge, hoping like hell that Aselid knew what he was doing. After a few miles of riding along the Nesron river, Marinae saw the Mists rolling over the land. Like a wall they guarded the northern border of Darkon.

"I don't like this.", Marinae said out loud, but the ring still urged her forward.

Marinae glared at the ring, then she shook her head and urged Maelstrom into the unknown.

"It is good to see that Maelstrom was well cared for while we were gone, and while we were in prison.", Marinae said to Rambis, but mostly to herself keep from getting scared. "Though I am surprised no one went through my saddlebags.", she added as she thought about the gem.

Then Marinae disappeared into the Mists. At first they were like a fog, making it hard to see, then they grew thicker, and Marinae could see nothing else. She put her hand in front of her face and could only see the outline.

"Shit. I bet I get attacked by wolves again.", Marinae though, wondering if she was going to show up in Sturben.

"Don't say that.", Rambis replied, shivering at the thought of wolves.

"You're such a baby.", Marinae said, reaching into her robe and scratching the cat's chin. "Grandmother tells me that you've started a trend. Now all the young ladies have cats."

"It wasn't me.", Rambis insisted. "I was with you the whole time. Besides, I don't do that sort of thing anymore."

Marinae thought about that for a moment, but then she heard the clopping sound of hooves on wood. She slowed Maelstrom to a stop and listened.

"Bide a moment...I hear hooves.", Marinae said.

The sound stopped. Then Marinae realized that the sound was Maelstrom's hooves. The fog began to clear and she found herself at the wharf in Port-a-Lucine.

"That old son of a...", Marinae said smiling. "Well, that saved us the time aboard a boat."

Then Marinae realized that she hadn't planned out what to do when she got to Port-a-Lucine. Quickly she thought things through.

"I'm not about to go directly to Aselid's", she thought to herself. "If he's been taken, the church or whomever will surely be watching his home for other 'conspirators'."

"And with these ears, and Rambis' ears, I should be able to pick up some local gossip.", she thought some more. "No fancy dress this time. Why would anyone look twice at an elf-wench in riding clothes?"

Marinae took a few moments to make sure her shirt was laced up just so, not showing too much, but not choked up around her neck like a nun. A few of the dock hands looked at Marinae strangely. She looked behind her and noticed that the pier that she was riding down ended with no ship tied to it.

"Aselid probably did that on purpose, too!", Marinae wondered.

Then Marinae beamed them a smile and did a couple of tricks, like pulling illusory doves out of her cleavage and sending them flying into the mists. The men shrugged and went back to their work.

"Everyone's a critic.", Marinae whispered to herself.

"Maybe it happens here every day.", Rambis replied.

"Aselid does live here.", Marinae answered. "You could be right."


David awoke in a small cottage on a mattress which lay on the floor. His wounds were either healed or bandaged, and most of them were healed. He sat up groggily, wondering where he was. It was no prison, and he was still alive, so his pursuer had not found him. He looked around the room and listened.  To his surprise a familiar figure walked through the bedroom door. Lynn. Of all people, Lynn. She gave him a good morning and a smile and began making breakfast.

"Lynn? What are you doing here?", David asked. "Where are we?"

"We found you in the ditch and brought you here.", Lynn said. "Eliza healed you."

David remembered that Lynn and Eliza owned a cottage in Dementlieu. He had no idea that he had traveled so far. No wonder his horse had died.

"I suppose I should thank her.", David replied. "How long have I been here?"

"Just one night.", Lynn answered.

The crackling of breakfast in the pan and the musty smells awakened Eliza, who rolled out of bed. Eliza stretched and dressed casually. David's sudden appearance had caused her some concern. She could guess, given his state, that he had trouble on his heels and that it would probably be following fast.  She also knew that things happened for reasons. Perhaps she was meant to bring the young warrior to Ezra. Or perhaps he was meant to serve as a reason to begin her travels to spread the word. She didn't know but there was only one way to find out.

"You're welcome to stay until you're better.", Lynn said as she laid three plates full of food around a small table. "Or longer."

David approached the table. "I can't stay.", he said grimly. "I'm being... hunted."

Lynn gasped. "We thought that you'd just fallen.", she said softly.

"Do you remember the Falkovnians we fought in the mountains?", David asked.

Lynn nodded as they both sat down to eat.

"And the officer, Vedarrak, my old commander?", David continued. "Somehow he survived. He's been after me ever since I went back to Falkovnia."

Lynn gasped and dropped her fork. "I saw...", she began and stopped.

David looked at her. "What?"

"He was dead.", Lynn whispered. "But the spirit...went into him."

David frowned. "The spirit? The one that...", he stuttered. Then his hand strayed across his other forearm where old scars used to be.

Lynn nodded with a worried and guilty look on her face.

"Why didn't you tell me?", David replied, his voice seemed lost and confused.

Lynn put her hands over her face. "We got rid of the marks. I didn't...", she said, trying not to cry.

David barely kept himself from reaching out to Lynn, longing to comfort her. He fought the feelings, which never seemed to die, and kept his mind off of them by thinking about Vedarrak.

"That explains how he could find me so easily.", David said. Then he looked at Lynn and knew what Marcos would do to her, and Eliza, if he found them. "I can't stay here. He'll be coming."

Eliza appeared in the doorway. "You can't keep running forever.", she said, speaking calmly and confidently.

David looked at Eliza. "What else can I do?", he said, almost exasperated. "I can't fight him, I don't have the tools."

"I'll help you.", Lynn said quietly, feeling ashamed and wanting to make things right.

Eliza thought about her place as an Anchorite. Protection was her mandate. "We both will.", she said. "Just like you helped us."

David sat back down on the mattress, holding his head in his hands. "You haven't seen what I've seen.", he replied. He struggled, wondering how much he should tell them, but he knew that he shouldn't hold back. They were the only friends he had left now.

"After we parted in Richemulot I went to speak with Lady Renier.", David began. "She told me that the resistance was broken. The loss of the prison and Meech's death angered Drakov greatly. He set the Talons to dig out my brothers and sisters at any cost. I knew I had to help them. I had a duty to them. They had trusted me lead them and when they needed me most, I wasn't there. So I returned home. I found what was left of my cell in the Nachtfliegen. Just as Lady Renier had said, they were broken and afraid."

"I gathered them to me and spoke of glory and honor and victory. Of darkest nights before the dawn.", David said, laughing bitterly at himself. "I told them what I thought they needed to hear but it was all shortly to be proven meaningless. Still, they believe me. They trusted me. We sent riders to gather the other cells. We were to meet near Stangengrad but we were ambushed. Vedarrak."

"No.", Lynn whispered.

"They came from nowhere. More than half of the men with me fell in that field. The rest of us fled.", David continued. "No matter where I went he was there, waiting. He seemed to know exactly where we were. I lost more men with each battle."

"No. Oh, no.", Lynn whispered again, shaking her head.

David nodded grimly. "We made for Lekar, hoping to find reinforcements but still we were followed.", he replied, fighting back the lump in his throat. "Somehow, I knew that it was me Vedarrak was tracking. So, I ran. I abandoned my men. When we left the Nachtfliegen there were seventy-three of us. When I fled the battle at Lekar, there were no more than a dozen still standing."

Eliza came to stand near Lynn as David told his story. She listened and shared Lynn's pain through the rings.

"It's my fault.", Lynn confessed. "I should have warned you."

Eliza quietly put an arm around Lynn. David looked up and saw the two so close together. He swallowed hard and looked away. "I doubt it would have made any difference. They were too strong.", he said. And inside he thought to himself. "And I wouldn't have listened. I would have gone to Falkovnia anyway."

No one had anything to say for a long time.

Eliza knelt down in front of David. "We'll still help you however we can.", she said, her voice full of compassion.

David looked the priestess in the eye and then nodded quietly. He didn't deserve their help. He didn't deserve to intrude upon their lives at all. Still, he was too drained to argue.

"Have you heard the story of The Lady our Guardian?", Eliza asked.

David shook his head and Eliza began to speak. All that day she told him stories about Ezra. About Ezra's struggles, her grace, and her compassion. At first Eliza talked to him as she used to do, just repeating the stories that the church had told her. But then she realized that some of the stories that she was telling were probably just stories. She told them anyway, but this time she thought deeply about them, not just the about messages, but about whose messages they were. She re-examined her beliefs. That was something that she needed to do.

David listened quietly, saying very little. The stories helped him to re-examine his life, and most of the time he found himself deep in thought as Eliza talked. He found comfort in knowing that others had suffered much more than he had and who had persevered and triumphed in the end. He also found comfort in Ezra's story, how she sacrificed herself to help others. In his dark mood he felt like death would be a welcome release, but to just die, like his horse did, seemed like such a waste of life. That wasn't how he wanted to go. Instead David decided that dying in the service of those who he loved was how he wanted to meet his end. He had to go back to Falkovnia.

Lynn practiced her drills and took care of the chores as Eliza talked to David. By evening David was feeling better and lay down to sleep. That night, in their bedroom, Eliza looked at Lynn and felt her guilt.

"Are you alright?", Eliza asked her lover.

"I should have said something.", Lynn confessed. "I cost him so much."

"There was a lot going on at the time.", Eliza replied.

Lynn nodded. "I want to make it up to him, but I don't know how.", she added softly.

Eliza took Lynn's hand. "He's lost faith, in himself and his place in the world.", she said quietly. "Maybe we can find a way to give it back. I suppose I owe him that much for helping to save me and for keeping you safe."

"He saved my life on our quest, when I fell.", Lynn said.

"Then I owe him even more.", Eliza said with a smile. "He's a good man at heart, I believe. I can see why you still love him."

"No matter how much he changes, I always see that nervous young boy I met years ago.", Lynn replied. Then she felt a hint of reservation coming from Eliza. She knew that Eliza wasn't comfortable when David was around. So she reached over and held Eliza close to her. "I love you so much.", she said warmly, feeling it as well.

Eliza relaxed into Lynn's arms, letting her own feelings flow through the ring. "I love you too.", she answered, letting the pangs of jealousy melt away inside her.


Marinae made her way to the inn. The innkeeper recognized her. He was one of the names on her list of places to contact her that she'd given to her grandmother.

"Your usual room?", the innkeeper asked.

"Yes, please.", Marinae replied graciously.

The man handed Marinae a familiar looking key. When she got to her room everything was as she remembered it. Marinae settled in.

"Sausages?", Marinae asked her familiar.

"Mmmm. Yes.", Rambis purred.

Marinae headed down to the common room and ordered a mead, the stew of the day, and a pair of sausages. The innkeeper's daughter brought out the meals and Rambis eagerly jumped up into the chair beside his mistress and sniffed at his plate. Then, surprising Marinae, the cat hissed loudly at the food. He arched his back and hissed again.

Marinae set her spoon down. She hadn't taken a bite and wasn't about to now. "Talk to me. What do you smell?", she thought to him.

Marinae pretended to sample her mead and looked around her to see if anyone was watching. No one was, and she was pleased that she had picked a corner where she couldn't be grabbed from behind.

"I don't know.", Rambis moaned.

"Good, bad, what?", Marinae asked.

The cat sniffed at the sausages once more, hissed again, and then hid underneath Marinae's chair. Marinae kept pretending to drink and eat while looking around the room as if bored and tired.

"Whenever I, whenever I want to eat one I see this image.", Rambis said, rattled and terrified. "Rotted human fingers."

Marinae didn't like what she heard. She disguised a spell as a stretch and a yawn and then looked all around, but the only magical things that she saw were the things that she had brought with her.

"Try smelling my stew.", Marinae asked, lowering her bowl below her chair.

Rambis sniffed at the bowl, then started lapping up the broth.

"Good, we can both eat something, then.", Marinae said as she relaxed slightly. She thought for a moment and added, "But considering some of the things we saw in the war, I'm not surprised."

Rambis snatched one of the chunks of meat on the stew and started eating it. Marinae ordered another bowl for herself. Finally Rambis calmed down, but he didn't go back to the sausages.

"I never thought I'd see the sausage you wouldn't eat.", Marinae thought to her familiar.

"I don't know what's wrong with me.", the cat moaned.

"Nerves. Maybe the Mists.", Marinae guessed. "I'll get you to a Healer."

"Yes. It was the Mists.", Rambis replied. "I felt fine before we went into them."

"We went north, but Port-a-Lucine is far west.", Marinae said, trying to remember the image of the maps that she had seen. "Maybe we passed through the City of the Dead, in some metaphysical manner."

Rambis finished the last chunk of meat in the stew and crawled into Marinae's lap. "I don't want to go near that place again.", he said.

Marinae called the serving girl over who asked if everything was okay.

"Fine, thank you.", Marinae replied. "The travel has unsettled Rambis a little. Has Lynn been around?"

"Every night.", the girl replied.

"Good. I haven't seen her in a long while.", Marinae answered. "Any interesting gossip?"

"Aselid is on trial.", the girl said with a frown. "By the church."

Marinae felt herself going pale. "What do people say about it?", she asked.

"The church says that he was summoning demons.", the girl explained. "But most people say that it's just a power grab by the church."

"I feel another Adventure coming.", Marinae thought to Rambis. "Maidens rescuing brave men from dragons, and all that."

"I don't believe it.", Marinae exclaimed to the barmaid.

"Yeah. But some people will believe anything, especially when the White Knights are involved.", the girl said with a sigh.

"Does he have an attorney?", Marinae asked. "Any representation?"

"I don't know.", the daughter answered. "All I know is that it's somewhere down in Richemulot."

"I will be careful not to attract attention, then.", Marinae said. "I'd hoped that maybe he was still here."

"If he is harmed...", Marinae thought, then she put the thought aside. "Revenge would gain me nothing."

"No. They took him away in the night.", the girl explained.

"Did they.", Marinae replied with a grim, angry expression.

The girl nodded, happy to be the one telling Aselid's apprentice about what had happened. "Aselid has a lot of friends here.", she said.

"He has one more, now. I came as soon as I could.", Marinae replied. "But I came too late to protect him."

"I hope that you can help him.", the girl said. Then she was pulled away by another customer.

"So do I.", Marinae said to herself.


The trail to Alyssum was peaceful, which didn't make Weamar feel any better. The idyllic forests of Verbrek now seemed full of lurking dangers. But Tshaya didn't seem too put off by what they had just found in Tricco. That was the way of the world, she thought: mindless slaughter. First her kumpania, then at the Old Oak, and now Tricco. One thing continued to gnaw at her though, why the bard, Damon, had risked his life to save hers.

"How well do you know Damon?", Tshaya asked Weamar in an almost disinterested way.

Weamar snapped out it. He was used to riding and thinking and Tricco was weighing heavily upon his mind. He'd almost forgotten about Tshaya when she spoke up.

"Via his daughter, I sort of bumped into her a few years ago.", Weamar replied after gathering his thoughts. "And then some time later we bumped into Damon."

"Do you trust him?", Tshaya asked.

"Hmmm, depends on what it was with, I think.", Weamar said, pondering the question. "Most things, yes. If he gave his word on something, certainly."

"Why do you trust him?", Tshaya asked.

"Many small things. He's just trustworthy.", Weamar replied, not happy with that answer. "But mostly because he seems to put other people ahead of himself."

"And he expects something in return?", Tshaya asked, almost accusingly.

"As payment?", Weamar replied. "No, I've seen him give to those who had nothing to pay, who could not conceive of his gift."

"Why?", Tshaya asked, surprised that anyone would do such a thing.

Weamar smiled. "You almost sound as though you want to find fault with him.", he answered wryly. "He has them, but you're looking in the wrong place."

"Gaje ways are strange.", Tshaya said.

Weamar chuckled. "I guess we are. But I wouldn't call Damon a typical example.", he replied. "What does 'Gaje' mean? 'Foreigner'?"

"It means anyone who is not Vistani.", Tshaya said curtly. "What makes him so different?"

"That he is trustworthy.", Weamar said, having trouble explaining something which seemed like such an obvious concept. "That he is compassionate."

"You don't understand.", Tshaya said, frustrated. "Why is he that way? Is he insane? Did someone hit him on the head when he was a child?"

"I don't know.", Weamar answered honestly. "I don't care, either. He is as he is. I am as I am. You are as you are."

"If I gave my things away and got nothing in return, soon I would have nothing.", Tshaya said. "Like Damon. He has nothing but his lute."

"And people willing to do favors for him at no cost in return for simply knowing him. Friends.", Weamar pointed out.

"Ah, so he does get something in return.", Tshaya said triumphantly.

"Gifts, not payment.", Weamar tried to clarify. "Tokens of appreciation, not taxes"

"But he rescued me and I gave him nothing. So his way doesn't work.", Tshaya said with a half-smile.

"Perhaps he can make do with self-satisfaction from time to time.", Weamar answered. "Were you pleased to be rescued?"

"My fate is my fate.", Tshaya said.

Weamar looked puzzled. He thought that he had the young woman, trapping her with logic, but instead she found a way out.

"We don't decide out fates.", Tshaya explained. "That's why we Vistani can read our future in the cards. It has already happened."

Weamar looked disappointed. He considered knowing his fate for a moment, then grew very uncomfortable with how constricting that would be. "That must be very convenient.", he replied. "And very disheartening for many, I suppose."

"I knew that I would live. The cards said that I would do more things.", Tshaya added.

Weamar didn't want to scoff, there were too many odd little coincidences in his life, but Tshaya made it sound like she couldn't decide whether to cut her food from the left or the right, and that the cards had already decided it for her.

"What sort of things?", Weamar asked.

"The stone-faced man, Petrov.", Tshaya said flippantly. "I am supposed to help him, so I will."

Weamar looked startled. "Help him?", he thought to himself. "The man has to be stopped."

"But you don't want to help him, do you?", Weamar said, setting another logical snare. "Even if your desires won't affect your fate."

"I don't understand how I am to help him either, but that is my fate.", Tshaya explained. "My desires mean nothing."

Weamar frowned as Tshaya slipped out of another trap. "Desires seem an odd thing to have, if they are without meaning.", he said shrugging.

"That's why you must learn to control them.", Tshaya said.

Weamar was chilled by the thought. He felt that there was a whole world out there that Tshaya was refusing to see.

"Certainly, desires must be bounded, but surely not disregarded entirely?", Weamar protested.

"You can fight against your fate and it will happen anyway.", Tshaya said. "And that will make you unhappy too."

Weamar tried another angle. "You seemed mildly pleased that you had bested Damon, as though you desired that victory. Was that therefore wrong of you?", he asked.

"Damon wanted to sleep with me. That's why he rescued me.", Tshaya replied. "But I didn't allow him. He let his desires get the best of him."

"I'm not surprised he found you attractive, but I doubt his motives were quite as shallow as you say.", Weamar countered, remembering Adederia and knowing that there was more to Damon than just desire.

"What other reason would there be?", Tshaya asked.

"Maybe he just didn't want to see someone who didn't deserve it, die?", Weamar suggested.

"Deserve means nothing. Fate decides.", Tshaya said firmly.

"At times, perhaps.", Weamar said, trying to find a crack in Tshaya's beliefs. "Unless someone doesn't control their desire to act as they think is right."

"But you can't resist your fate, no matter what you do.", Tshaya explained, growing a little angry.

Weamar wondered if he should keep stirring up the young woman. He decided to drop it. He knew that she would learn eventually, but not today.

"What do you know of this Petrov?", Tshaya asked.

"I met him a few years ago, soon after I met Damon's daughter. He seemed a good, very...moral...man." , Weamar said, not sounding convinced that 'moral' was quite the word he wanted. "But events seemed to make him cold, hard. I haven't seen him in over a year now. What I hear indicates he is ruthless, apparently in pursuit of a cause he sees as right."

"The cards say that he serves two mistresses.", Tshaya said.

"I suppose that's possible.", Weamar answered. Then he got an idea. "Is it possible that a Vistani's fate includes misreading the cards?"

"No Vistani can read the cards perfectly.", Tshaya admitted.

"I guess life would get pretty dull if you could, eh?", Weamar replied.

Tshaya didn't feel comfortable talking about Vistani shortcomings and so she changed the subject. "So Ezra is one of his mistresses, but who is the other?", she asked.

Weamar looked around the surrounding woods, becoming aware that he'd been too distracted by Tshaya to look out for dangers.

"If there is another, I wouldn't know who it is.", Weamar said with a shrug. He thought of Eliza. "I know who another was, when I last saw him. But she is with another now."

Weamar said no more and Tshaya didn't seem to care enough to ask more questions. Weamar started to get an uneasy feeling about Tshaya's fate to help Petrov. He wondered what she would do when they met him and if she'd have any moral qualms about it whatsoever. The rest of the trip was very quiet.