Her cries in the night woke both men. She had awoken them almost every night, restless in the grips of her dreams. They saw how she awoke each morning more tired than the last. They were all tired.
Martenus's dreams had also been haunted by the carnage they faced day in and day out. He wasn't entirely sure how the necromancer was taking it, after all, the man's entire life revolved around death. But Martenus had noticed that Thane didn't jump headlong into the fray along side his minions anymore, he just controlled them from a short distance away, only fighting himself when under personal attack. He was lucky he could let others fight for him, Martenus and Meize didn't have that option. They had to fight.
The poor girl was so under prepared when she first arrived. She had no armor and only an old staff as her weapon. And her magic, though strong, was not of any use in battle. She knew only one offensive spell, Firebolt, but it was better for lighting the campfire than killing demons. She had to fire it many times to make a kill, and thus she depleted her mana reserves quickly.
But, he could proudly admit, she was quick and she was clever. By the end of their first day cleaning out The Blood Moore beside the rogue encampment, she had already figured out how to replenish her mana more quickly, as well as how to increase the strength of her Firebolt. They had also convinced her after another day of fighting that she would be better off carrying a club and shield instead of her staff. It didn't take much to convince her, she was finding more and more often that she couldn't kill her opponents with her spells before they reached her, and her staff was of little use at that point.
But it was after she became more efficient at killing that her dreams appeared to get worse. She didn't have a heart for killing, even if it was monsters. And killing the dark rogues plagued her the most. Martenus hadn't liked it at first either; these were once the beloved sisters of those he now helped. But when he saw their tortured souls released as their unholy bodies died, he vowed to himself that every one of them would be freed. So he slay them with purpose and conviction. But to her these were flesh and blood women, she had said so much the night they killed Cold Crow, and if they weren't so intent on killing her she could never bring herself to kill them.
The next day they'd forced their way into the graveyard and faced Blood Raven and her horde. She'd killed the dark rogues more easily since then.
But what was so terrible as to make her cry out in her dreams. She thrashed, some times murmured or muttered, but never cried out in fright. If she knew how her sleep betrayed her, she would be embarrassed. She tried so hard to be brave and strong, and she tried so hard to prove she was just as useful as the men she fought beside. But her tears as she slept gave it all away.
And his heart went out to her.
He would protect her.
Sure as spit that fool Thane wouldn't. He'd left her with Thane occasionally when he needed to pursue his opponent. Every time he turned to rejoin them he'd find her struggling to hold her own, and Thane and his minions were nowhere to be seen.
She had hired a couple of Kashya's archers to assist her, hoping they'd pick off the demons before they could get close enough to hit her while she was busy fighting others. Problem was the silly girls didn't last long enough to be of any help. It wasn't Kashya's fault, she had so few warriors left, and for the most part they were young and inexperienced. Though they had grown up with bows in their hands, they had seen little battle, and certainly not the kind of battle that was too much even for their older sisters. From a distance their arrows could inflict a decent amount of damage, but once the vermin started swarming they didn't have a hope. So, they quit hiring them. Lord knows these people had suffered enough from death already; they didn't need these newcomers to waltz in and lead all their remaining youngsters to their dooms.
And so she continued to battle on by herself. And he helped her as best he could.
She cried out again in her sleep. Martenus pulled himself up out of his blankets and crawled over to her to wake her. Just as he was about to touch her, she suddenly cast her Frozen Armor spell. A chill ran down his spine and raised the hair on his arms as the temperature instantly dropped around him. He thought to wait for the spell to dissipate, then try to wake her again, but she visibly relaxed immediately after casting the spell, so he left her to return to his own bed. He was going to be tired in the morning.
Maybe it would be better if they could convince the girl to stay in camp with the rogues. Then no one would have to worry about keeping an eye on her on the battlefield, but she could also still be here supporting them from the sidelines, meeting them at the waypoints with supplies… No. She was led here by her visions. She deserved the right to fight too. But how could he protect her without compromising his own safety?
A rustling movement on the other side of the tent told him Thane was awake and adjusting his own blankets against the spell's chill.
He and Thane needed to talk about it. Without question the necromancer would say she should have stayed home, let her worry about herself. But just maybe he could make the man a little more aware.
He forced his mind back to calm; he needed to sleep again. It was going to be another long day ahead. He'd found the Tree of Inifuss and the way to besieged Tristram.
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She was so tired. She'd had an awful dream that she was back in the underground passage to the Dark Wood again, but this time she was completely alone. Everywhere she turned a monster leered out of the darkness just beyond her mage light. She ran through the twisting maze of tunnels, calling to Martenus and Thane. No one answered her but her own echo. She had come around a corner into a well-lit cavern, and Blood Raven was waiting for her there.
"You will join my army." The demon growled.
Meize had barely time to absorb what was happening before her breast was pierced by three arrows. She stumbled back against the cavern wall and slowly slid to the ground in shock. With the last of her strength she threw up her shield, hoping desperately to survive until Martenus or Thane came. The shield caught Blood Raven just as she reached out for Meize's throat, causing her to freeze then shatter into a million pieces.
That dream had ended there, but there were others waiting to take its place, though none were quite so disturbing and she had forgotten most of them by morning.
Martenus and Thane were already up and out of the tent, leaving her time to linger in private. Her stomach rumbled, having not eaten since yesterday's breakfast, as the smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the camp.
She hurriedly dressed and joined the men by the fire with her own plate of food. Martenus smiled at her warmly and patted the ground beside him.
Thane just ignored her.
"Come, sit." Martenus encouraged her. "We need to go over our plans for today with you."
"I'm sorry I couldn't go over them with you last night. I just had to sleep."
"Completely understandable, though you don't look like you slept well."
"I had a bad dream," and she went on to tell Martenus about her encounter with Blood Raven.
He sympathetically patted her on the knee when she had finished. "That explains why suddenly you cast your shield in your sleep."
"I did? I'm so sorry I woke you!" She was appalled, and a little confused. She didn't think it was possible to cast in her sleep. There was no precedence in her schooling.
"Do not worry about it for a single moment. But let us discuss today..."
They returned to the Stony Field via the ancient waypoint. Again they had to clean out areas that had already been done the previous day before they could move forward in their quest. They quickly worked their way back to the ring of Cairn Stones. Martenus pulled out a scroll from his belt and proceeded to touch each stone in a special order. When he touched the final stone they came wildly alive with magical energy, until it finally focused and formed a single portal.
Tristram.
They stepped through the portal and into the outskirts of town. Where there should have been livestock grazing, there was only ash. The nearest buildings were charred ruins, still inhabited by the fire-loving shamans and their spawn. Suddenly they were besieged by skeletons and zombies, and they fought their way slowly forward into the heart of Tristram.
There, in the town square, was the object of their quest. The man, Deckard Cain, was hanging in a cage. Martenus rushed over to let it down, but was interrupted by the largest man Meize had ever seen.
"Griswold." Thane whispered in her ear before he directed his minions to assist the Paladin in bringing down the possessed smith. He then went and joined in the fight himself. Unable to assist and get in a clear shot with her Fire Ball, Meize left the fighting to them while she freed Deckard Cain. He was very weak and very sick, and he desperately needed Akara's healing touch. She opened a portal for him and sent him on ahead to the rogue encampment. When he was safely through, she closed the portal and joined the others in their purge of Tristram.
It was their toughest battle yet. The being Griswold would just not fall. He seemed to just absorb the attacks of Martenus's sword, and Thane and his gang had their hands full keeping the other monsters at bay. One of the skeletons got in close to Griswold, but with a single swipe of his meaty hand it flew across the square to land in a clattering mess at Thane' feet.
Helping as best she could by sending in volley after volley of fire at Griswold, slowly, so very slowly, wounds began to show on his cursed flesh. Martenus continued his assault with renewed vigor, and eventually the man-beast went down with a mighty crash.
It was a hard fought battle well won.
They were greeted with jubilation when they returned to the camp that evening. For once the focus of the outcome of their quest was life, not death, and it was as good a reason as any to celebrate. They were warmly thanked by both Akara and Deckard Cain, and then enjoined to revel with the rest of the rogues. Martenus surprised Meize when he grabbed her about the waist and swung her around in the air, laughing. He put her back down, hugged her, grabbed a tankard from a waiting rogue, and joined Gheed at the central fire in a bawdy old drinking song.
Meize and Thane took the tankards they were offered and went their separate ways into the partygoers.