Chapter 21
I do not own Claymore
It was nearly dawn when Teresa called a halt at a cane break, she had set up a fearsome pace designed to shake off any lesser warriors who may have followed them from Hanel village.
The cane break would provide them a form of shelter for the day and after catching her breath, Sheila uncorked her precious cider jug and handed it over to her companions who drank from it to wash down their way rations and quench their thirst.
After they ate and drank, Teresa said quietly, "Riful, you and Cynthia and Sheila catch some shut eye. Clare and I will stand watch for a couple of hours while you three get some rest."
Riful literally flung herself upon the floor of the cane break while Sheila and Cynthia joined her in a bit more of a dignified manner.
While they slept, Teresa and Clare sat quietly gazing outward, alert for any signs of pursuit.
Teresa murmured, "Before I met you I was a proud number one, I thought I knew the way of things. The organization gave me an order and I carried it out, I was their top warrior and I was strong!"
She smiled at Clare and said softly, "Then a little orphan girl came into my life, the most stubborn child I ever met. She turned my whole sense of order inside out and turned me against the very thing that had created me. Now some fifteen years later, I am sitting here with that same girl, except she now carries her own sword and was once with the organization too."
Clare looked at Teresa for a long moment and then asked her, "If we should run into Priscilla and she attacks, have you thought about what you or we, will do?"
Teresa looked up at the fading stars above for a long moment and said half to herself, "Trying to survive will be my first priority, and part of that will involve running like hell, if needs be."
Clare blurted out in strangled voice, "But you're the strongest warrior! You fought against Riful and beat her..."
"I fought her to a standstill. She backed off because I had wounded Dauf pretty badly and he needed help. I took advantage of her being so distracted to get the hell out of there!
"That was part of the reason I never mentioned it to the organization, as failure to complete a mission was severely punished. Even if it wasn't a part of the mission originally." Interjected Teresa.
She smiled at Clare and said softly, "I am still a human you know, I may be the strongest warrior right now, but the organization is no doubt working on a warrior who could even take me out."
A rustling in the cane came to their ears and they saw Riful sit up and look around at them.
Rising to her feet, she came over and sat down with them.
She said, "I could hear you guys talking and you've mentioned something I've wondered about myself. What to do if we meet Priscilla? She's crazy strong and defeated Isley within seconds, she always seems to be out of it, but in battle she is frightening.
"I couldn't tell you why she spared me and Dauf that day, maybe that big man she was with has a calming influence over her or something."
She grinned at Teresa and remarked, "I did back off from our fight because I was concerned about Dauf and yes, it was a very big distraction. Not that I plan on picking another fight with you, you proved to me that you are a true number one and a monster in your own right."
Riful looked off into the darkness and said quietly, "If you awakened, you would definitely become an abyssal, perhaps the strongest ever, of that I have no doubts."
Riful shrugged and commented, "Running would be a good survival strategy, that and avoiding Priscilla altogether, would be another good idea."
Clare muttered, "I am curious as to who that big man could be, the description you gave me made him sound like he was Raki, but he knows about yomas and awakened beings. He lost his entire family to a yoma and I can't imagine him knowingly traveling with an awakened being on his own volition."
Teresa shrugged and remarked, "I'd like to meet this "Raki" I've heard so much about, he must be quite the character!"
Clare smiled wistfully and said quietly, "He was brave, stupidly brave. When Ophelia was tormenting me, he took a swing at her with a sword and cut her. He really had no idea what he was up against, she could have killed him with her bare hands in seconds even if he was highly trained and well armed.
"There was a reason why they called her "The Blood soaked Warrior", she was certifiably crazy. She turned our encounter into a cruel game where she cut off both of my legs and gave me just so much time to reattach them before she finished off Raki.
"Fortunately the awakened being we had been sent to hunt appeared and in all the confusion, Raki and I made our escape and were separated."
Sheila sat up and yawned hugely, Cynthia soon joined her and after a big yawn and a stretch, they were officially awake.
Cynthia looked over at the trio sitting watch and asked, "Is it our turn now?"
Teresa replied, "We'll be leaving soon, don't worry about it."
Gathering their few belongings, they set out again towards the town of Stora.
About midday they noticed the smell first, the sickeningly sweet odor of rotting flesh.
Next, they found a corpse, it was a yoma's all bloated and very putrid, the air abuzz with flies.
A short distance away, more dead yomas lay, their carcasses also crawling with flies, maggots and small beetles.
Teresa muttered, "That's three so far, what else are we going to find?"
Soon enough, they got their answer, a small area littered with bodies and bits of bodies all covered with flies.
Lying amongst this carnage was the body of a warrior, her massive sword buried in the chest of her final assailant, his clawed hand had thrust into her chest right through her heart.
Riful murmured, "She died a warrior's death, she deserves a warrior's grave!"
Wordlessly, they set to work using their matchless swords for digging a large hole.
To Sheila fell the task of preparing her corpse for burial, first she pulled the sword from the dead yoma's corpse and cleaned it up.
Next, after removing the dead yoma's arm from her chest and closing the rents in her uniform.
Sheila noticed that the warriors face was remarkably unspoiled.
It was while gazing at her tranquil face that Sheila realized who she had been.
Tears came unbidden to Sheila's eyes and soon, she was crying as her grief poured out of her.
Looking up from the dead woman's face, Sheila saw the others gathered around looking at her.
"I know who she is or was, I didn't really know her, but I remember her from training."
Seeing the questions on their faces, Sheila continued, "She was that muscular girl who confronted you right after you were revived Teresa. I think she is the one they were looking for back at Hanel!"
Teresa said quietly, "She was a true warrior after all, she has earned my respect!"
Teresa took her huge sword and saluted the dead warrior.
Then she knelt beside her corpse and tenderly wrapped her short cape around her for a burial shroud, Teresa then gently lifted the wrapped bundle and laid her in her grave gently.
They spent a little while filling in the grave and arranging whatever rocks or logs they could find as a marker.
Lastly, Teresa took the warrior's great gleaming sword and thrust it deeply into the ground for all to see.
They formed a silent circle around the grave and saluted her.
Teresa declared, "I am sorry we didn't meet again in a more pleasant manner. Rest in peace, young warrior."
Leaving the grave behind, they pressed on towards Stora and soon stood at the banks of the river.
It had rained up river recently and the waters had risen in response to the downpour. Occasionally an animal carcass, a clump of vegetation or a tree torn loose would drift past on its way to the sea.
Eyeing the murky water, Cynthia muttered, "Even I am having a hard time mustering up any enthusiasm here. All I see here is a long, cold swim ahead of me. This is what we get for being in hiding, if we were still with the organization, we'd just walk about as if we owned the place."
She sighed, "Instead, we sneak about like thieves and swim across rivers instead of using the bridges."
Clare frowned at her and retorted, "If we were still with the organization, we'd be dead by now. Don't forget who threw us under the wagon up there at Pieta!"
Cynthia shot back, "I haven't forgotten Clare, I lost friends there too, remember?"
"If you two have the time to argue over nothing, then you have the time to figure out a way across, instead of wasting time!" Snapped Teresa.
The four warriors looked back and forth at each other until their mutterings were interrupted by a girlish laugh.
Riful stepped forward and said brightly, "I can carry all of you ladies at once you know, you won't even get your feet wet!"
Teresa quickly grinned at her and replied, "Okay, you're on. This, I gotta see!"
Riful grinned at them and stripped off her clothing until she resembled a young girl in the nude.
Handing her clothing to Sheila and stepping back, she began changing in shape and growing in size until her immense true form loomed over all of them, a vast, open structure of dark, ribbonlike strands writhing and weaving themselves into a great, basketlike form with Riful's upper body at the peak.
She smiled at them and said cheerfully, "Hop on!"
One by one, they leapt into the air and landed on Riful's springy network of strands.
Teresa said to her jokingly, "Now that you have us, what're you going to do with us?"
Riful replied happily, "In the old days, I wouldn't have believed my good fortune in having four warriors voluntarily coming along with me!" and she laughed.
The warriors held on as best they could while Riful rose on her tendrils and extended some of them across the river to grasp onto the opposite bank.
Once she was anchored, Riful simply shifted her body mass along the springy bridge created by her tendrils and the warriors rode along with her.
After making the crossing, Riful withdrew her tendrils from their former anchorage and after the warriors hopped off, she returned to her human form.
Sheila handed her her clothing and she quickly dressed again.
Glancing back the way they had come, Teresa remarked, "No wonder so few warriors could get away from you, a trick like that is hard to beat!"
Riful just shrugged and replied, "To tell you the truth, I never really had to resort to crossing any rivers if I was after someone. I usually just sprang the trap before they knew they were in one."
Having crossed the rain swollen river, the scouting party set out once again for Stora.
It lay downstream and was an easy day's walk distance away.
They walked until evening fell and settled down for the night, not bothering to build a fire, they quickly fell into a sound sleep.
Just before daybreak, Sheila gently shook her companions awake and after the morning's ritual of stretching and bending to relieve the kinks that always settled in during the night, they resumed their trek.
Before long they encountered the sluice gate that diverted a part of the river's current to flow through the large stone building alongside the river.
It was the mill, the mill contained a series of water powered machines and depending on which machine was in use, it could either grind various cereal grains into flour or it could hammer out a heavy iron forging with large trip hammers.
Stora was a prosperous town that nearly rivaled the city of LaCroix in its wealth and industry, only the Holy City of Rabona exceeded them both.
For the moment, the mill was closed and the great waterwheel was stationary.
"Is there a market day coming up?" muttered Riful, "Ordinarily, this place is humming with activity, it's kind of funny to see it closed."
Cynthia called out, "Hey you guys! Look at this!"
Quickly joining her, they saw a notice tacked up on the heavy door.
'Gone to the Marketplace in town, back in two days.'
They glanced at each other and as one, they rooted around in their pouches looking for money.
"I've got enough for some ale and a joint of meat." remarked Teresa, "I'm good for a meat pie and some wine." quipped Cynthia, Clare muttered, "I'm just about broke!"
Sheila just handed her some dull gray coins and said cheerfully, "Not any more!"
Riful frowned and said morosely, "And, I'm the charity case...Again."
Sheila grinned and had reached into her coin purse again to hand Riful some coins when Cynthia remarked, "Um...Guys?...How long does it take for that big of a spider's web to form?"
They all glanced in the direction she was pointing and saw that on closer inspection, the mill works had webs running all across the interior and out across the mill yard, where there were many individual lines strung just above the ground.
Teresa muttered, "Good thing we didn't just go blundering in here, those look like an alarm system of some kind."
Clare looked a bit glassy eyed for a few moments, then she commented, "I'm not getting any youki readings, whatever or who ever it is, is very good at hiding their youki signature."
They stood for a few moments looking at each other until Riful spoke up, "Let me go ahead..."
"But...What if it's an awakened?" asked Sheila.
Riful looked at her with one eye brow raised for a moment, then said drily, "And what if it is? The only awakened being I fear is Priscilla. Anyone less than her will be easy to beat!"
"Don't get cocky Riful. You may be tough, but even a nobody can get in a lucky shot, it happened to me!" Remarked Teresa.
Riful grinned at her and replied playfully, "Why Teresa, you actually care what happens to me!"
Teresa 'harrumphed' and muttered, "Don't let it go to your head... Just be careful, that's all!"
Riful smiled at the warriors and said calmly, "I haven't lived this long by being foolhardy and charging blindly into something!"
They watched as she turned and walked into the mill yard, seemingly oblivious to any danger.
She had gone about halfway across the yard when she stopped suddenly and pointed at a huge mass of webbing tucked into a corner, she was about to say something when an almost invisible strand shot out of nowhere and snagged her.
An instant later, Riful of the West, the last surviving abyssal was snatched from view.
Sheila, the youngest warrior leapt forward and dashed around the corner of the building Riful had disappeared behind and skidded to a halt.
The others followed suit and they too, skidded to a halt.
Before their unbelieving eyes they saw an immense, many legged creature struggling to subdue a writhing mass of dark tendrils by hastily wrapping it with strands of steel strong silk.
For every strand restrained, another would pop out and slash furiously at the creature's efforts before it too, got bound up by webbing.
Maneuvering Riful's struggling mass around, the creature sank its venomous fangs into her and soon, she ceased her writhing while the giant spiderlike creature continued trussing her up.
Teresa cursed and spat, "I thought these things were extinct!"
Cynthia cried, "You've seen this before? What is it?"
Teresa set her jaw and replied grimly, "They were another little experiment of Lord Dae's, he had this idea of breeding a giant version of the tarantulas we see around the organization's headquarters. He tried to add yoma flesh to a couple of them and they proved to be 'unmanageable' as he put it."
She drew her massive sword and commented grimly, "I was told to kill them all, I guess I missed one!"
The warriors drew their swords and advanced on the massive creature while it continued to wrap webbing around Riful's now inert form.
Sheila muttered,"Where do we start?"
"We start by taking off its legs!" shouted Clare as she dashed forward and in a blur of motion, took off three of its hairy legs with a sweep of her heavy blade.
Cynthia cried out, "Just like we did with Bloody Agatha in Rabona!" and she too, clipped off two legs.
The creature scrambled around on its remaining three legs, trying to avoid the warriors and their sharp swords.
Sheila stepped in and with a great downward slash, sheared off the creature's bulbous lower abdomen, cutting away its spinneret and its web spinning ability.
It flopped onto its back and curled up its remaining legs in a defensive posture, but to no avail as Teresa shattered its head with a single blow, killing it instantly.
Sheila hastily wiped its greenish ichor off of her blade and went to see about Riful, she drew a small knife and tenderly cut the webbing away from her face.
Sheila held her face close to Riful's and after a few moments she said in relief, "She's alive!"
Teresa commented, "That's good. We got to her in good time. The spider monster hadn't given her the final injection to kill her and dissolve her flesh."
She continued,
"She'll be out of it for awhile and she'll wake up in a couple of days feeling like absolute crap!"
Cynthia knelt beside her and said, "You guys check this place out and I'll deal with Riful here!"
She drew her small knife and began delicately cutting away the webbing from Riful's deathly still form.
Leaving Cynthia to her labors, the others, with swords at the ready, began exploring the mill yard's extent.
It wasn't long before they found other signs of the creature's handiwork, dried up and cast aside remnants of its earlier meals.
Sheila cut one of the dried out bundles open and found it was filled with the bones of a victim, in this case, it was a dog's remains.
"Probably the watchdog, took it out first so it couldn't raise an alarm." remarked Clare, another bundle held human remains, as did several others they found.
A particularly bulky one held the remains of a warrior, her armor was mingled in with her bones and her sword was found hidden in the dry grass.
Teresa muttered angrily, "How typical of them, sending a young warrior to her death. I wonder who she was?"
Sheila replied sadly, "I have no idea, her rune is not familiar to me."
Teresa bent over and gently teased the dead warrior's ascot from amongst her bones.
Straightening up again she said quietly, "We'll give this to the first warriors we see, and they can report her death."
Having finished their investigation of the mill yard and surrounding buildings.
They carefully gathered up the warrior's bones, armor and great sword.
Selecting a quiet spot, they dug a grave, one deep enough to ensure her rest would not be disturbed and carefully laid her to rest.
After a brief moment of reflection, her great sword was thrust deeply into the ground to mark her place.
Placing Riful's inert form on an improvised litter, they carried her into Stora town.
The gate guards looked warily out at them as they approached the town's heavy gates, they saw four travel stained, silver eyed women carrying a fifth person on a litter.
Stopping just outside the gates, they set down the litter and one of them stepped forward.
The gate guards looked at each other uncertainly, these were clearly women and they were obviously armed from the great sword handles sticking up behind their heads.
The busty one smiled at them and said pleasantly, "Greetings! We've come a long ways and are seeking a meal, a bath and a bed, not necessarily in that order!"
The guard with the two chevrons on his sleeve turned and called out, "Lieutenant! We have some armed travelers who are seeking admission!"
Moments later, a well fed looking man emerged from a room alongside the gate and squinted at them.
He beckoned to the corporal and the two conferred whilst the guard with no marks on his sleeve watched them casually.
Finally, the lieutenant asked Teresa, "Where did you come from?" as he gazed at her bosom. Teresa rolled her eyes and replied, "We came from the west and are traveling to Rabona, the Holy City."
The guard with a blank sleeve spoke up, "Beggin' yer pardon sir. I saw these ladies comin' from the direction of the mill yard."
The lieutenant looked at Teresa and without staring at her breasts this time, asked carefully, "Did you see anything at the mill yard, anything unusual? A monster perhaps?"
Teresa grinned at him and replied modestly, "Yes, we saw something at the mill yard. It attacked us and we killed it. It bit one of our party and she needs a couple of days to recover from the venom."
The lieutenant looked down at Riful's still form and remarked, "She's so small, who's child is she?"
He looked up and saw the rest of the women stifling grins.
He frowned and snapped, "Is something funny?"
Teresa grinned at him and said politely, "No lieutenant, nothing's funny. You're not the first to think she is a child, while she is just small statured."
The lieutenant shrugged and said, "As I was saying before, you say you killed a monster? What did it look like?"
Teresa shrugged and replied, "The biggest damn spider I ever saw, that's as close a description as I can give, lieutenant."
The lieutenant broke out into a big grin and replied cheerfully, "That's the answer I wanted to hear!"
He turned to the guards and said crisply, "Open the gates men, these ladies killed the monster that attacked the mill yard!"
He grinned at them and said happily, "Boy, the organization responded so quickly this time! Last time they sent one warrior and she disappeared. Now you ladies show up and already the monster is dead... That's service for you!"
He raised his hand, the guards raised the wooden barrier pole and the warriors entered the city of Stora, carrying the inert Riful of the West.
They stopped at the nearest inn and got themselves a room and a bath, the meal would come later.
After her own bath, Sheila carefully undressed Riful and bathed her as best she could, it was not easy as Riful was limp and not easy to handle.
When finished, she laid the small abyssal back on her litter and covered her with a blanket.
Going downstairs to the tap room, she found her friends and ordered a plate of roasted fowl, buttered bread and boiled potatoes.
When she ordered apple cider instead of ale to drink, the barmaid looked at her in surprise and Sheila quipped, "I'm not of age yet for drinking ale."
The bar maid looked her up and down and remarked, "I wouldn't have guessed that, as tall as you are, cider it is then!"
"How fares Riful?" asked Cynthia.
"As still as a corpse, I'm afraid. She's breathing okay and her pulse is strong, she is just unconscious." replied Sheila.
They all looked at Teresa and Clare asked her, "Just what, was that thing we fought?"
Teresa set her jaw and grimly replied, "Lord Dae has this idea of a weapon that had no youki aura, at least not enough of one to be detected by ordinary warriors.
"Those big tarantulas we've all seen around the organization headquarters were chosen and he found a way to make them really, really big. Don't ask me how, because I don't know."
She supped at her ale and continued, "The really big ones were a little weak for his needs, so he added some yoma flesh to a few of them.
"Those turned out to be a mistake as they were too uncontrollable and very strong. One of them nearly killed him and he ordered me to exterminate them all."
Teresa paused for a moment and said quietly, "They were real horrors, a couple of warriors were sent in before me and one of them was killed while the other was trussed up like poor Riful.
"I killed the monsters and rescued the bitten warrior, she woke up a day or so later and she was pretty out of it for a little while."
Teresa shook her head and remarked grimly, "Had I any idea that one of those things was in that mill yard. I would not have allowed Riful to go in alone, we all saw how quickly that creature overpowered her.
"Had she been really alone, she would be dead by now and waiting to be eaten. That young warrior never had a chance and had that creature not been preoccupied with Riful, we would've had a real fight on our hands!"
Cynthia set down her ale jack and muttered, "I wonder how long she will be out of it like she is?"
Clare shrugged and commented tersely, "She is an abyssal and she is very powerful, only Priscilla is really stronger now. Had that creature not gotten the drop on her, I'd say the creature would've been quickly defeated." The warriors finished up their meal and quietly left the taproom.
Returning to their room, they saw that Riful was now awake and looking blearily about.
Sheila quickly stepped to her side and asked earnestly, "How are you feeling? Do you need anything? Shall I get you some food?"
Riful smiled weakly at her and held up her pale hand as she asked, "What happened? I saw this thing in a giant web and the next thing I know is, I'm waking up here?"
Teresa smiled at her and to Riful's surprise, she knelt beside her and bowed her head.
Looking up at Riful, Teresa said earnestly, "I humbly apologize, Riful. Had I any idea that thing was in there, I never would have allowed you to go in there alone."
Riful smiled at her and said soothingly, "Anybody could have made that mistake. Evidently, you all defeated it and brought me here. Just what was it I saw? I really only got a glimpse of it."
Teresa gave Riful a brief rundown on the giant spider experiment and the results, including the day's events.
Riful set her adorable little jaw and declared firmly, "They've just given me one more reason to bring that place down around their ears!"
She laid her head back down, exhausted from the outburst.
Soon she was asleep again, this time it was a natural slumber.
Not one induced by a venom.
Sometime in the night, Sheila felt Riful's tiny form insinuate itself into her bed.
Without really awakening, Sheila moved over slightly and the small form of Riful burrowed into her much larger form and began softly snoring.
Shortly after dawn, Cynthia whispered hoarsely, "Wake up everyone! I'm sensing several warriors nearby!"
Wordlessly, they snapped awake and pulled on their boots, picked up their packs and grabbed their swords.
Teresa peered out the window at the street below and muttered tersely, "I see four of them over by the gate, they don't seem to be looking this way. Let's beat it out the back door and slip away before we are seen."
Moments later she spat and said vehemently, "Damn...There's a man in black with them and he's talking to the gate guards...Shit! He's looking this way, those idiots probably told him about us and where we went!"
Sheila quickly bundled up the still weak Riful and they slipped out the door, tiptoed down the stairs and went out the back door of the inn, all without being seen.
Before leaving Stora, Teresa took a moment to lay the dead warrior's ascot where it would be easily found by any pursuers.
Clambering over the town's protective wall took little effort and soon, the town lay far behind them.
From Stora to Rabona was about one hundred miles or so across the rolling grass lands surrounding Rabona, the Holy City.
The little group of four warriors and one sickly abyssal covered almost a third of that distance in the first day after leaving Stora.
Teresa had set a torrid pace intended to wear out lesser pursuers.
A tactic she resorted to without compunction or hesitation.
As evening fell, Teresa called a halt in the middle of literally nowhere, the warriors stood about catching their breaths as a sea of grass stretched away from them in all directions.
Having laid her small burden down, Sheila stood as tall as she could and looked all around them.
Sitting down in the tall grass she remarked, "Nothing as far as I can see, if Riful was up to it, she could stand on my shoulders and get a better look."
"Riful is not up to it, Riful wants to die... I haven't felt like this in ages...Ughh!" Came a small voice from her small burden as Riful sat up and looked around. "I take it we had to leave the inn?"
She asked, "What happened?"
"The damn organization happened!" grumbled Teresa, "They showed up and the idiot gate guards must've told them about us, as they came right to the inn while we snuck out the back way. I'm getting a little tired of running from them!"
"Where are we now?"
"The grasslands, a long day's march from Stora." replied Clare, "Sheila just looked around and didn't see anything to report." she concluded.
"Clare? You could stand on my shoulders and look around if you'd like, instead of Riful." remarked Sheila.
Clare simply nodded and Sheila stooped slightly to make a stirrup of her hands.
Clare slipped a booted foot into the stirrup and as Sheila straightened up she clambered onto her shoulders and stood up straight.
Clare spent a couple of minutes looking around, then she hopped off Sheila's shoulders.
Clare remarked tersely, "I didn't see anything either, we really are in the middle of nowhere!"
Teresa shrugged and commented drily, "No one's likely to find us here either. No fires tonight ladies, this grass is too dry and we are warriors, we don't need comforts!" She finished with a wry grin.
"Speak for yourself Teresa, I wouldn't mind a hot bath and a comfy bed myself with a couple of handsome men to tuck me in!" said Riful with a sly smile.
Then she frowned and commented wryly, "Of course with my luck, they'll just pat me on the head and tell me a bedtime story! Being so adorable can be a curse sometimes."
Sheila just 'harrumphed' and started making shoveling motions with her hands.
Riful sulked briefly and muttered, "Are you saying I'm full of it?"
Cynthia smiled slightly and said drily, "There is an implication of it, in her actions!"
"Yeah, yeah!" grumped Riful.
"So, what's next?" Asked Riful.
"We are drawing near to Rabona and we're more likely to encounter pilgrims, bandits and maybe a caravan or two. We also might bump into some of our own scouts and a stray warrior or two." Replied Cynthia.
"In other words, we need to be discreet. The official city policy is still 'No unnatural beings allowed inside Rabona' even though the church itself plays host to our group on the QT, so long as we don't draw attention to ourselves." Commented Teresa.
Riful shrugged and said blithely, "Discreet I can do without any problems, I'm very good at discreet. It's being allowed in Rabona I find interesting, we were always told to stay out of there and it became second nature to avoid the place even after I had awakened and could have leveled the city with ease. Now we're unofficially welcome, times sure have changed!"
As they talked back and forth, clouds slowly crept across the sky, blotting out the stars one by one.
Glancing upwards, Cynthia remarked cautiously, "I think it might rain tonight, the dry spell seems to be almost over."
Sheila sniffed and said glumly, "I can smell the moisture, It was nice while it lasted. While I may be able to endure any kind of weather, it still doesn't mean I enjoy getting rained on!" She took her sword and cut a wide swath of the dense grass, then gathered it up into a low mound and spread out her long cloak to roll up in it.
Riful giggled and said cheerfully, "All the years I spent out in the weather and I never once thought to do this! Derp!"
Before long, all five of them had done the same thing and shortly afterwards, rolled themselves up in their long cloaks.
The heavens, bit by bit, opened up, with the rain eventually gaining strength until it was coming down in sheets, drenching the dried grass while the group slept soundly, knowing that no one was going to be out sneaking around in the heavy rain.
In her dreams, Sheila felt a small form burrowing into her cloak and pressing itself against her long form.
Towards dawn the rains let up, leaving only a gray sky overhead, it was not going to be a sunny day.
Stiff from the cold, they rose and worked out the kinks and knots that had set in during the long rainy night.
Teresa stood with her hands clasped behind her back and lifted up and in against the bottom of her rib cage until a soft 'crunch!' was heard and she sighed in relief before saying, "I'm getting too damn old for this crap, chasing around the countryside looking for trouble is definitely for younger women!"
"Tell me about it!"replied a bedraggled looking Riful,"We had a nice, cozy little arrangement, we abyssals ignored each other and the organization pretended we weren't there and everyone got along just fine...Then Priscilla happened!"
She frowned at her messy hair and moments later, it writhed and stretched and arranged itself into her preferred hair style.
Longish bangs across her forehead and longer down her small back and sides.
Cynthia, who was fussing with her own braids said drily, "I sure wouldn't mind being able to do that with my hair!"
Riful merely grinned at her.
All that morning they slogged through the intermittent rain, five gray forms out on a gloomy gray day, their long cloaks the only protection against the weather.
They had the grasslands all to themselves, all others were safely under cover and seated near a fire.
By late afternoon, the great stone bridge across the river emerged from the misty weather. They paused to reconnoiter, it wouldn't do to encounter a group of warriors while crossing the bridge with nowhere to hide.
Especially not a group of warriors accompanied by a couple of men in black.
By an unspoken agreement they had resolved never to shed a fellow warrior's blood, not if it could be avoided.
In twos, the gray cloaked warriors slipped across the bridge, always ready to leap over the stone railing to avoid discovery.
Riful on the other hand, strolled across as if she owned the bridge and no one questioned it.
Most younger warriors would not have recognized her anyway, so her secret was safe.
Once across, they gathered near some bushes to confer.
"How much further to Rabona from here?" asked Riful.
Clare looked surprised at her question and commented, "You mean you don't know how close we are?".
Riful frowned and remarked tartly, "I've never been this close to the Holy City before, so this is terra incognita for me."
Clare replied, "The city lies about three leagues from here and it's an easy walk. Given the city's position on 'unnatural beings', we shouldn't be encountering any warriors or their handlers this close to the city."
"So we just walk right up to the gates and they let us in? My eyes may look normal but your silver eyes kinda stand out." Commented Riful.
Cynthia smiled and remarked, "Officially, we're not welcome, but we did clean up after Bloody Agatha and so 'unofficially' we're welcome, so long as we keep a low profile."
She grinned and added cheerfully, "Besides, we do know where the secret entrance is and make use of it regularly!"
Resuming their trek, they steadily drew closer to the Holy City.
For several leagues around the city, farms stretched across the gently rolling meadows and flocks of sheep or herds of cattle grazed placidly before bedding down for the approaching night.
The main highway passed through a small hamlet that was large enough to support a tavern called the Broken Plow and there, the road weary party stopped for a drink.
The Broken Plow tavern had a large tap room with a large fire place at one end and because of the recent rain, a fire crackled merrily in the stone fireplace.
Seeing an empty table not too far from the fire's warmth, the road weary travelers made for it and sat down with sighs of relief.
They may have been battle hardened warriors, but they still enjoyed getting off their feet at the end of a long walk.
A buxom tavern wench with her reddish hair tied up into a bun came up to them with a smile on her face and a low cut to her blousey top.
Traveling soldier types always tipped well if she let them see a bit of her ample bosom.
Her smile froze slightly when she realized they were women and had plenty of bosoms of their own to admire.
Still, they were travelers and likely quite thirsty.
"What'll you ladies have?" She asked pleasantly.
Teresa grinned at her and said, "A platter of roasted fowl and tankards of ale for all of us!" The wench smiled as she squinted at Riful's diminutive form and asked, "Even for the young'n? We don't usually serve ale to youngsters, but if you'll vouch for her, it'll be no problem."
Teresa glanced over at the pouting Riful and remarked, "She's of age alright, she just doesn't look like it. I can vouch for her!"
Grinning at them, she swept away in a whirl of skirts and flashing legs to fetch their order.
Sheila asked quietly, "So I can drink now?"
Teresa looked at the towering young warrior and replied, "Only until we get back to town, then it's back to ciders for you missy!"
Riful grinned when Sheila stuck her tongue out at Teresa in reply.
Minutes later, the tavern wench returned with foaming jacks of ale for each of them then she whirled away, only to quickly return, bearing a large wooden platter laden with roasted fowl, fresh off the roasting spits in the kitchen.
Placing the heavy platter before them they were treated to the sight and smells of steaming, hot, roasted fowl.
She grinned at all of them before saying a cheery, "If you need anything else, just holler!" and whirling away to serve the other patrons.
The five of them looked over the steaming platter of roasted fowl, enticing them with its savory aromas.
Teresa muttered morosely, "Once upon a time, I could have eaten most of this by myself and dared the boys to try taking any."
Clare reached out and tore a drumstick from one of the roasted birds, the rest followed suit, leaving a still generously laden platter taking up the center of the table.
Riful smiled and began eating, her appetite was just fine and after her ordeal with the spider monster, she needed the protein.
The four former warriors forced themselves to eat a second drumstick, while Riful cheerfully devoured the remainder of their serving and belched loudly before blushing, and breaking into the giggles.
"Was that me just now? How rude!" She tittered.
"Yes, that was you and yes, it was very unladylike!" Remarked Teresa drily.
Riful gave her a dimple cheeked grin and said gaily, "Blame it on the ale, it's gone right to my little head!"
Clare merely rolled her eyes and kept her opinion to herself while Cynthia giggled and said quietly, "I wonder if anyone else found anything? We know that Isley and Luciela of the south are both dead now and we destroyed those things going after Riful. We think the organization took that weird thing Riful had found. What they'll do with it remains to be seen and I am not looking forward to it."
Riful looked into her now empty tankard and commented, "It looked like Luciela and Rafaela had kinda melted together. It did not react to anything I had Dauf do to it. I suspect there is a consciousness deeply buried in it, just waiting for someone who can reach it."
Sheila asked, "What do you think could happen if it was awakened?"
Burping slightly, Riful replied frankly, "Honestly? I haven't a clue, either nothing happens or all hell breaks loose. Kinda scary really."
"I vote we drop it into the sea." muttered Clare.
"We still have to deal with the organization and Priscilla, either one could be the end of us." Remarked Teresa who then shrugged and said,"I've been dead before...It wasn't so bad, just oblivion really."
Cynthia looked thoughtful and said quietly, "I survived Pieta in spite of the organization's wishes, we seven ghosts survived despite nearly zero odds in our favor. Somehow, we'll survive this too."
Their mood was interrupted by the cheery tavern wench who bustled up to them and said brightly, "Is there anything else I can get you ladies?"
She smiled upon seeing the empty food platter, now laden with only bones. "Refills anyone?" She continued.
Clare smiled at her and replied pleasantly, "I think we're all good here, the food and drink really hit the spot and we do need to keep going. Even if one of us will be getting carried."
She glanced over at Riful who had fallen asleep while leaning against the much larger Sheila.
The tavern wench grinned and quipped, "I'd rather have a sleepy drunk than one looking for a fight!"
They all nodded in agreement as they settled the bill and left her a generous tip.