Rain and Brimstone
"How long now?"
The tiefling and the kobold trudged through the snow, the latter struggling a bit as the snow was very deep and he had quite short legs.
"Oh, not far. We is almost there!" Deekin puffed a bit as he led the way. Valen was having to walk quite slowly owing to the kobold's slow progress. "You nots like the cold, huh?" Deekin said.
"No," scowled Valen. "It does not agree with my fiery blood."
"If you blood so fiery, why you nots melt the snow?"
Valen's scowl deepened. "I don't know. Are you sure this is the right way?"
Deekin stopped, and Valen almost knocked him over. The kobold's head swivelled from side to side as he surveyed the area, and he seemed to cheer up. "Yeps! This is definitely the right way."
Deekin resumed the gruelling trek through the snow, and Valen followed, grumbling death-threats under his breath.
He stopped thoughtfully. "Almost where, just as a matter of interest?"
Deekin did a 360 in the snow and looked up at Valen. "Oh, we gots a long time to gets to Hilltop. But we is almost at inn..."
Valen sighed and waved a hand. "Lead on, then."
"Halflings are certainly very hard to entertain," Lineth remarked to Mischa as the sun descended towards the horizon.
"Though I'm glad they're gone," she continued, sitting next to Mischa on the bench.
"Really? I don't know. I'm a bit worried, to tell the truth...I mean, Katriana said they'd be able to make it to Sundabar, but..." Mischa frowned and bit her lip, glancing around the empty house.
The halflings had evacuated an hour or so before, and had left a lot of mess behind them. Fortunately, Mischa didn't mind doing housework, and had cleaned it up in record time with Lineth's assistance.
"You really are good, aren't you, Mischa?" Lineth said thoughtfully as she gazed at the human.
She reflected on how much her old friends had changed. They were still the same people, essentially - Xanos was still the bad-tempered brute he had always been, Dorna was still...well, Dorna, and Mischa was as naive as ever.
But ever since Drogan's death, there was something fundamentally different about them. They'd all had to...make do. Take care of themselves, rather than relying on the old dwarf to protect them.
"You're Good, too," Mischa reminded her. "Unless...don't tell me you have forsaken your god and your calling in the course of your adventure...?" She looked worried.
Lineth laughed, trying to make light of the situation, but Mischa's words were truer than she knew. There were times when she had contemplated turning to the side of Evil..."No, Mischa. My faith in Lathander is as strong as ever. Sometimes, though, I suspect it is Ilmater rather than the Morninglord looking over me."
"Ilmater...God of martyrdom..." Mischa frowned. "Has your time abroad really been that awful, Lineth?"
"At times," the Elf sighed. "Mystra has certainly been kind to you, though."
"Well, the goddess of magic doesn't really hold with dangerous adventures, I don't think," smiled Mischa. She twisted her hands, a familiar habit Lineth remembered.
"No? I think Drogan would have disagreed with you on that." Lineth knew, a second after she had said it, that it was the wrong thing to say. Mischa's smile melted like a candle in Hell, and her face darkened. She looked down.
"I'm sorry," Lineth said quietly.
"No, it's all right," Mischa said, standing up. "Drogan was...an adventurer. Mystra led him on the path that he took. I...should not be sad. It was his time, I suppose."
"I suppose so," agreed Lineth heavily.
"Now, let's not talk about that," said Mischa lightly. "I think we've all had a long day. You look quite exhausted, Lineth. We'd all feel better for some sleep."
"Yes...sleep," Lineth murmured, getting to her feet. Suddenly, she felt quite tired. She frowned slightly at the paladin, wondering if she mightn't have heard her whisper a sleep-spell under her breath.
No matter. There was a warm bed waiting upstairs.
"I hope I didn't overdo it with the spell," Mischa muttered to herself, once Lineth had staggered up the stairs.
Lineth Raine slept all night, and most of the following day, too.