Disclaimer: I do not own any of the races, classes, lore, spells, or mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition from Wizards of the Coast. This is a fanfiction story based in a personal world with original characters. No money is being made from this work. This is for pure amusement due to my fascination with D&D mechanics.

Check out my author profile for a link to the story's web page along with character art!

Missteps

Chapter 44 – A Cold Morning

"Elaine, Elaine wake up." A scared voice hissed into Elaine's ear. Elaine's eyes snapped open. Sol was huddled on the floor in front of her, a blanket wrapped around her lithe form.

Elaine dropped out of the bed next to the scared woman. "Sol, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Elaine could see that the female's eyes were red and there were tear tracks all down her face.

Sol's eyes welled up again as she pointed towards the open window where the first rays of sunlight had begun to stream through. "What is that? I tried to look at it, but it hurt me."

It took Elaine a few seconds before the issue dawned on her. She quickly walked over and shut the shutters to block out the offending light. She crossed and knelt back down next to Sol. "It's called the sun, and you're not supposed to look directly at it."

"No one told me." Sol reached up and rubbed her eyes. "Why is it so bright out there?"

"For one, the sun reflects off the snow, and two that's how it usually looks up here. The sun shines down so that we can see the world around us." Elaine quickly lit a candle and used its light to examine Sol's eyes.

Sol stuck out her lower lip "It wasn't like that earlier." The pupils on Sol's eyes were larger than anything Elaine had ever seen. Last night she'd been too exhausted to fully notice them.

Elaine set down the candle. "Last night the sun was gone, replaced by the moon which shines significantly less brightly." The Cleric dumped a Cure Wounds into the elven woman as she chided herself for not realizing that someone who'd lived their whole life underground would be susceptible to the sun. "We'll have to take getting you under the sun slowly so that you can adapt to it and it doesn't hurt you."

"My Father and Ma used to tell me stories of the sun, but they never said it could hurt me." Sol's voice was soft and no longer full of pain as she let Elaine guide her into the bed.

"Your father and mother lived aboveground?" Elaine tucked in the blanket around Sol, and made sure that her head pointed away from the window.

Sol shook her head. "Mother has always lived underground, but Father and Ma used to live above. Ma told me stories of how Father would take her to pick flowers in a meadow when she was a child." Sol yawned. "Of course, then she had to explain to me what a meadow was."

Elaine smiled. "Sounds like Ma and Father knew each other even before the Temple was sent below."

"Ma was just a little girl when the Temple fell." Sol explained. "When Mother and her people found the Temple, she married Ma to unite the two groups." The bundled woman smiled. "That's what she says, but Ma says that Mother couldn't keep her eyes off her from the moment they met, and she married Ma so that she'd never have to."

Elaine's brow furrowed. "Wait, are Ma and Mother two different people?" By now Sol's eyes had begun to slink close. Elaine wondered how long the woman had stayed up the previous night.

Sol nodded. "Ma is also a daughter of Father, so technically she's also my sister, but we don't call her that. She gave birth to Des, while Mother gave birth to me."

"Have there been many children born in the Temple?"

This time Sol shook her head drowsily. "The Tree said it needed more Followers, more to worship and care. Said it was Father, Mother, and Ma's duty to supply more. So Mother had me with Father, and then Ma had Des with one of the Chosen Ones. We're the only ones who've ever been born in the Temple since it fell." Sol's voice tapered off near the end as she fell asleep. Elaine reached out and patted her hair.

"The more I hear about this Tree, the more disconcerted I get." Kerri's voice said softly from the other bed. Before everyone had retired for the night, Jun had told them what Sol had said about the Tree and its mission with the Leylines.

"Sorry if we woke you." Elaine quietly went over to the other bed and sat down in front of it, so that she and Kerri's heads were close and they could easily converse without disturbing their roommate.

Kerri waved her off. "Don't worry about it. Do you think Ander's right? About the tree?"

Elaine nodded her head. "In everything I've learned, I've never heard of anything that survives off the blood of others as a good thing."

"Isn't Carric supposed to bring it back to Glendaia though?"

"Glendaia sent him after a sapling, not a fully-grown blood tree." Elaine reminded her. "I think Ander's right, and the tree needs to be destroyed. We can't run the risk of it actually reaching a Leyline."

"Can't you just purify it or something?"

Elaine nodded. "Oh I plan to purify it, with fire."

Kerri opened her mouth to respond, but a soft knock interrupted her. The door opened a crack and Flyta stuck her head in. She looked around the room until she found the two of them.

"Kerri, there's someone downstairs looking for you, I highly suggest you don't keep them waiting." By the tone of Flyta's voice, she didn't much care for whoever was waiting.

Kerri and Elaine shared an inquisitive look before they both clambered to their feet. They both quickly, and quietly, pulled on their clothes and made their way downstairs.

Downstairs, a woman stood by the bar, dressed in a dark heavy coat. Their white gloved hands were clenched together in front of them as their eyes skirted around the dimly lit space behind half-moon spectacles.

Kerri paused on the stairs as she saw the guest. "Kalia? What are you doing here?"

Kalia looked up, and the sour frown on her face instantly lit up. "I was made into an unwilling messenger." Kalia stepped closer as Kerri descended the rest of the stairs. Elaine and Flyta followed after, with Flyta immediately disappearing off into the kitchen, and Elaine standing awkwardly to the side.

"Oh, and here I was hoping this was a social call."

Kalia grinned. "As charming as you are Kerri, I wouldn't normally be caught dead in a place like this."

Kerri nodded in understanding. "Well then, how can I be of help?"

"A very peculiar thing happened when I went to wash my face this morning." Kalia stepped closer to Kerri as she took off one of her gloves.

"Oh?" Kerri pretended to notice as the ungloved hand moved towards her messy hair.

"There was face in it." Kalia ran her hand through Kerri's hair. "The features were much too angular to be human, I surmise they were a fey of some kind. They told me to deliver a message to Carric, and I happened to remember that Carric was the name of one those friends of yours who'd gone missing in the Cavern."

"Well, thank you for delivering the message yourself." Kerri purred as she leaned into the ministrations.

Elaine quietly slunk back into the shadows and settled herself down on a bench, her eyes averted away from the scene. Not that it mattered, Kalia's attention was focused solely on Kerri.

"Ordinarily I'd just send a messenger, but since you made quite the impression on me yesterday, I thought I'd come personally." Kalia's eyes twinkled behind the spectacles.

"I consider it a great honor." Kerri did a small bow that made Kalia laugh softly. "What's the message?"

"Glendaia wants you to kill the tree." Kalia moved her hand to under Kerri's chin and tilted her face up. "Does that mean anything to you?"

Kerri's face twisted into confusion. "Did she say which tree? There are lots of tree around here."

"So you know who Glendaia is?" Kalia's eyes narrowed.

Kerri nodded. "There was a poem about her in the Caverns, and your brother mentioned that an ancestor of yours used to be a follower of the Goddess Glendaia." Kerri shrugged. "Carric had mentioned that he'd been contacted by a goddess, I guess it was Glendaia."

Kalia removed her hand from Kerri's chin as she rolled her eyes. "Loiwin never did know when to keep his mouth shut." She put her glove back on. "Well I can't stay another minute in this place. Walk with me to my carriage outside?"

"I'd be delighted." Kerri smiled and skipped forward to get the door for Kalia, before she followed her outside.

Elaine, bemused by her friend, got up from her seat and headed for the stairs. Just as she reached the top, Jun came out of his room. He was dressed for cold weather.

"Where are you off to?" Elaine moved to the side.

"I'm going to see if I can catch the mail carriage before it leaves." Jun held up a small bundle of letters that were tied together with string. "Been meaning to send these to Kai. Flyta says I should be able to catch them at this time."

"Well good luck. Also, some woman named Kalia showed up with a message from Glendaia telling us to 'kill the tree'."

Jun's brow knitted. "Kalia? That noblewoman from yesterday? Why'd she get the message?"

Elaine shrugged. "No idea, but she just left and had Kerri walk her out."

Jun nodded. "Thanks for the info. I'll get my errand done and hurry back." He quickly descended the staircase as Elaine disappeared back into their room.

Elaine had only been in the room for a couple of minutes before she frantically threw open the door and rushed across the hall. She banged on the door of Carric's room.

"Can I help you?" The deep voice of Chaxelle said from a small crack when it was opened.

"Is Sol with you?"

"No," Chaxelle said in a bored tone as Carric said at the same time, "Wasn't she with you?"

Elaine groaned. "Last I saw she was asleep in a bed, and then Flyta called Kerri downstairs and I followed."

"You left her alone?" Carric cried. Elaine heard the bed moan and the rustle of clothes being gathered.

"Only for a few minutes." Elaine sighed worriedly. She quickly crossed to the next room, Jun and Ander's, and knocked on it. After no answer she opened it and saw it was empty.

The door to Carric's room was wrenched open as Carric stepped out in his hastily tossed on attire. "Alright, she couldn't have gone-"

Carric was interrupted by a loud thud that emanated from the last bedroom. Carric and Elaine both shared a look before they very carefully opened the door.

The scene that greeted them was an irritated and shirtless Iados sprawled on the floor, while Sol snuggled with Lia on the bed. Lia, who was fast asleep and lightly snoring, wrapped her arms around the young woman like a teddy bear.

Iados looked up and saw his audience. "Not a word." He warned as he picked himself up. Elaine reached down and tossed him a shirt that lay on the floor near the door.

Carric shut the door.

"Well, now that that mystery is solved, how about you and I grab some breakfast together?" Chaxelle wide and Chaxelle, fully dressed with a cloak over his arm walked out. Elaine disappeared into her room.

Carric crossed his arms. "Thanks for the offer, but no."

Chaxelle patted the fur down on his cloak. "No worries, I'll bring some treats by when I see you tonight."

Carric shook his head. "No, as fun as this was, I'm going to have to put a stop to it. One time is a good time, twice is a rarity, but after three times it becomes a habit and I don't form them."

The darker man pouted and stepped closer to Carric till their chests almost touched. "I think you'll find that I'm a hard habit to kick." He leant down and kissed Carric deeply.

When they broke away, Carric just chuckled. "Good bye Chaxelle, it's been fun."

Chaxelle hmphed and stepped back. "Fine, maybe I'll just see if Tiefling boy is up for something different later."

Carric chuckled again. "From the stories he'd told, I'm sure it wouldn't take much convincing."

Chaxelle only sighed and descended the staircase.

A little over an hour later, everyone, minus Kerri and Jun, was seated at one of the tables downstairs with a full breakfast spread in front of them. Sol was curled up in front of the fireplace on a bedroll fast asleep again.

"It's good to know we've got a Goddess's blessing." Iados said softly around a mouthful of pancakes.

"Tell me about it," Carric broke off a piece of bacon and fed it to Shomma who sat curled on his shoulders. "I did dream about Glendaia again last night, but it was like we had a bad connection. I saw her talking, but I couldn't hear her. Good to know she could hear me though."

"So can you speak to her whenever you want?" Lia reached over for the syrup as she finished cutting up her pancakes.

Carric shook his head. "Glendaia says I have some control over the visits, but I have no clue. I think she just reaches out when she wants something, like a status update."

The front door opened and in walked Jun and Kerri.

"Where have you been?" Elaine scooted over so the grinning bard could sit down.

"Kalia offered me a carriage ride." Kerri wiggled her eyebrows.

"Has Elaine filled you guys in on Glendaia's message?" Jun asked as he reached over and piled his plate high.

"Yeah, but we'd already planned on destroying it anyway." Ander reached over and gave himself more eggs. "Real question is, are we taking Sol down there with us?"

Lia laid down her fork. "Show of hands, who wants to take her with us?"

Kerri, Elaine, Jun, and Iados raised their hands.

"She's a native guide, not the kind of resource you don't use." Jun picked up his fork and took another bite.

"We're going down there to destroy something she's literally believed in her whole life." Carric said. "What happens if she changes her mind halfway through?"

"Those people down there are her family Carric. Maybe she can reason with them, and we don't end up just slaughtering everyone." Elaine argued. "We stand a better chance of less bloodshed with Sol by our side."

"I'm more concerned about Sol going back to the Tree." Lia added. "We don't know the extent of her connection to it. The tree could possibly use her somehow during a fight, and we might end up killing her instead of saving her and her sister."

"I'm pretty sure the sister's already dead." Jun said softly with a side-eye to the sleeping form. "The way she described her sister was pretty close to how she described the other 'Chosen Ones' who were taken away."

"That's another reason why I don't want her coming along, I don't trust her. She's literally bled who knows how many people to death in the name of this tree." Ander shook his head. "How does that not make someone evil?"

"Ander, she'd been extremely sheltered her whole life." Elaine sighed. "Look at the way she describes them even, not once has she said that they died, or expired. They just went to sleep and were taken away. I'm not even sure she understands that she did kill them."

"If we take her down there, we'll be destroying her innocence." Lia said.

"If she's going to live up here, then that innocence will get her taken advantage of, or killed." Iados said. "The world up here is much different, that's for sure. After we destroy that tree, I'm not sure it'll even be possible for her to return down there. One way or another, her life will be completely different after we do this."

"Even so, that doesn't mean she has to see it firsthand." Kerri shook her head. "I change my mind, I say she's stays here."

"You made a good point about her being useful down there though." Ander brought up. "She has knowledge that we need."

Jun took a drink. "Knowledge that she can tell us without being with us. If it's between preserving her innocence or risking her life, than I'd rather she be alive."

"I think we should vote again." Elaine suggested.

"Aren't you even going to ask me?"

Everyone turned to look at Sol, who had sat up with her back to the fire.

"We thought you were asleep." Elaine said.

"You woke me up while you argued about my life, without asking me what I wanted." Sol did not smile as she looked at the group with a disappointed stare. "I'm not stupid, I know that there's a lot of things I have to learn in order to live up here. When I made the decision to walk up the stairs and open the door, I knew I'd be out of my element, and I knew I might not go back. I don't know if my sister is this 'dead' or whatever, but I'm not leaving her down there. I came up here to get help to bring her out of the Temple, and I can either do that with or without you."

"Sol, do you even know what 'dead' means?" Elaine asked softly. Sol gave her a blank look. Elaine stood up and walked over to the woman. She knelt down on the blankets next to her. "When a person is dead, they go to sleep and never ever wake up. They stop breathing and eventually their body breaks down. When a person dies, those of us who are still alive, like you and me, can't talk or see the dead person anymore. They're no longer part of the world."

"You mean, I won't ever speak to Des again?" Sol's voice went soft. "She only got hurt because she wanted me to leave. Is she now dead because I wouldn't leave?"

"We don't know that she is dead, not really. She could just be hurt." Elaine assured her.

Sol's gaze moved to meet Jun's. "Last night, when you asked about the others, and if they'd let Des and I leave, you wanted to know if they'd fight you, right?" Jun nodded. "And if they fight, there's a chance that they'd be 'dead' too?" Another nod. Sol gulped. "I don't know if they'd fight if you just take Des and I, but if you attack the tree they will fight. They'd fight until they were 'dead', especially Ma, Mother, and Father. If my going down there can stop them from being 'dead', then I'm going, and no amount of hands will stop me."

A/N: I am so sorry this is late! The holiday season got the better of me more than I'd realized. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter. The website has been updated with new HD character portraits, as well as a group shot! Let me know what you think of Sol and this tree.

Till Next Time!