Chapter 9 – Hope Begins to Glimmer
The wails of pain of
the innocent mixed with the cries of victory of the guilty. There was
no place to escape the sound of death. The Peninsula District was
covered in prisoners tasting their freedom in all its violent glory.
Few guards would stray far from the city center gate. No one could
protect them if they went away from safety.
No one was certain
how the prisoners were able to escape. The head gaoler had never
before allowed a single prisoner to leave their cell; an all-out
prison break was definitely the cause for worry.
Those who had
not already died boarded up their houses, covering their windows and
doors to help keep themselves alive. Yet the Wailing Death and the
escaped prisoners still found ways around the defenses.
The
streets were full of prisoners attacking anything that moved, even
other prisoners. Since they were fighting amongst themselves,
Donnia's job was growing easier as time progressed, but more
innocents would not last the night if she did not hurry.
One
of the larger prisoners had been carrying a key to the front gate of
the prison. Donnia did not want to guess as to how he came by
it.
Hoping to escape the sounds from outside, Donnia and Tomi
entered the prison. The street noises had stopped, but they were
nothing compared to the noises echoing throughout the halls and empty
cells of the prison itself.
"What do you think happened?"
Tomi asked as they walked up to a door that would lead further into
the prison.
"I'm afraid to ask. I have the strong
feeling, though, that one of the Waterdavian Creatures is to blame."
Donnia pushed open the door and met five prisoners who seemed to be
just waiting for her.
The one in the middle leered at her
through grime that looked as old as the man himself, "Aren't you
a pretty tall thing. Tell your halfling friend to wait outside and
I'll show you what it's like to have a full grown man."
The
other prisoners seemed to like the idea and all joined in with
bone-scraping laughter.
Donnia was disgusted by the idea of
even soiling her sword with their blood, but showed no outward signs
of her revulsion. "You wouldn't know what to do with me even if
I surrendered myself to you. But there is something I want from you
more than anything else."
"What's that, my
pet?"
"To rot in the hells with your friends here."
With that, Donnia quickly plunged her sword into the man who she had
spoken with. The others stupidly charged her with nothing more in
their hands than the want to close around her neck.
During
their short conversation Tomi had snuck around to the rear of the
group. When Donnia had begun her attack from the front, he charged in
from the back.
As the last ugly prisoner fell dead at their
feet Tomi grinned at Donnia, "It seems as though we make a
pretty good team. I wonder if the rest of them will be this
stupid?"
Donnia smiled grimly, "Let's find
out."
Luckily for them, they all were pretty dull. None
of them had been able to find the weaponry store rooms, so most were
unarmed. Those that were armed had not the proper training to defend
themselves with their chosen weapon.
At least that was how it
went before they got to the dungeon level.
When they reached
the lowest level Donnia saw that yes, one of the Waterdavian
Creatures was to blame for what had happened. The Intellect Devourer
had implanted itself into the Head Gaoler, subsequently releasing all
of the prisoners.
Four prison guards remained alive in the
dungeon, but only by appearance. They did not move, blink, nothing.
Donnia tried talking to one, and it did not even turn to face her at
the sound of her voice. She left them as they were and headed for the
Head Gaoler.
However, the body was only a shell; it had been
hollowed out by the Intellect Devourer. Donnia and Tomi quickly
attacked the gaoler, but only did damage to the body, not what was
invading it.
Once the body lay dead, Donnia got her first true
look at it. It appeared to be nothing more than a brain with legs. It
had no eyes, nor a face to put them on. It still attacked with
vengeance. Donnia knew that she could not allow it to enter another
body, giving it the chance to regenerate while she and Tomi attacked
the body it was hiding in.
It jumped from guard to guard,
seeming to bring them to life, but only giving it chance enough to
heal while she and Tomi were forced to kill the guard before he could
kill them. Eventually Donnia and Tomi had killed all of the guards
and had trapped the Devourer. Cornered, with no free body shell to
enter, it was quickly killed.
Donnia quickly grabbed the brain
and used her Stone of Recall to return to Aribeth.
In a blink
she was back in the Hall of Justice with Tomi.
"Donnia,
are you okay? Do you need healing?" Aribeth ran over to them,
hoping that they were uninjured.
"Lady Aribeth, I bring
you the first Waterdavian Creature." She handed her the brain.
"Apparently this is what had caused the prison break in the
Peninsula District. However, those prisoners that were not killed
were put back into cells, and some of the guards are now keeping
watch throughout the city to make sure all have been taken care
of."
Aribeth could hardly believe it. In such a short
amount of time Donnia had quickly restored hope for Neverwinter's
future. "Thank Tyr you were successful in this, Donnia. I will
place this thing in safety at once. Here is 1000 gold for your
victory. I cannot thank you enough what you have done. What we all
feared was the approaching end; you gave us light and hope that
things will turn out alright. Is there anything else you
need?"
Donnia looked at Tomi, he looked a little more
haggard than he had before, a few injuries she had not seen earlier
were bleeding slightly. Her own body was sore from the lengthy fight
throughout the prison. Though the prisoners were easily killed, there
were hundreds of them. "M'lady, if you could heal my companion
and myself, we would go at once to look for the next
creature."
Aribeth nodded slowly and cast her healing
spell granted by Tyr. "I wish you more success like this first
one you have completed. But before you leave, I want you to know how
much your doing this means to me. I would do this if Lord Nasher
would allow it. However, I must stay here and help keep things under
control." Her voice thickened, betraying hidden emotions. Donnia
was unsure of what to say, what to do, but Lady Aribeth continued on
despite whatever was bothering her. "Please know that what you
do is everything. Thank you. And if you should ever have need of
anything, please, do not hesitate to ask me. I will find a way that
you should have all you deserve and more."
Right now,
I just need a friend, someone, anyone. But that's not fair to Tomi.
But you, Lady Aribeth, are something all together different.
"There is something that I require, but it must wait until
another time. I will return with the second part of the cure for the
plague."
Lady Aribeth could do little more than nod as
Donnia and Tomi left. You don't even realize how important you
are. Anyone else would have immediately asked for more money. You
truly are something amazing, Lady Donnia. May Tyr protect you and
your companion on this journey.
As Donnia left the Hall
of Justice she heard Aribeth telling Fenthick and Desther of her
success in locating the first of the Waterdavian Creatures. Fenthick
rejoiced much in the way Aribeth had. Desther just started in again
on the lack of morals, honor, and virtue of their apparent
'savior'.
"Donnia, do you have
a moment?" Tomi asked as they headed for Beggar's Nest.
"Yes,
Tomi?"
"I heard the amount of gold that Aribeth gave
you. Don't you think you should buy some better armor? What you are
wearing would be fine, but I fear that it's only going to get worse
from here on out. I don't want to see you hurt when you could be kept
safe."
"Okay then. I know just where to go."
Donnia led Tomi to her old place of business.
She walked in
expecting to feel different, but nothing had changed. She was the
only difference. Some of the armor on display was new, as were some
of the weapons, but the heat and smell were ever the same.
"Can't
you see the sign on the door?" a booming voice called out from
the back of the shop. "We're closed! Get on out of here before I
call the guards!"
Donnia could hardly suppress a laugh.
Grot'yah was ever the same burly old man as he ever was. "I am
the city guard!" she called back.
"No matter. Closed
is closed. I wouldn't serve you now even if you were Lord Nasher
himself!" With that final shout he came around the corner and
saw who he had been about to kick out of his shop. "Donnia? Is
it truly you?"
Donnia's grin only widened. "Honestly
and truly. But I'm not here for a visit. I'm a paying customer. I
need some new armor."
Grot'yah looked at her, "Aye,
you do, my girl. I think I know just what you need." He led her
to the back of the shop. "I just finished this not long ago. I
made it with you in mind." He held up a bright silver
breastplate and accompanying gear. Its surface was smooth with no
imperfections.
She gingerly reached her hand out to touch it.
It was cool to the touch but it felt very strong. "It's
beautiful. I've never seen such armor."
Grot'yah grinned.
"It's yours, my dear."
Donnia had never longed for
something material in the way she yearned to own that armor. "How
much gold?"
Grot'yah appeared to be insulted. "First
thing out of your mouth when you see this is how much it costs? Silly
girl. I'll tell you what. It's yours, the whole of the armor set, for
200 gold."
Donnia looked at him in shock. "200
gold?!? Are you serious? You'll be out of business before I'm halfway
out the door!"
"It's yours, Donnia. No one else
could wear this as I knew you would when I made it. Now hurry up and
put it on, I can't wait to see you wearing it."
She
looked from Grot'yah back to the armor, indecision on her face. She
needed to protect herself more than she needed to protect his
profits. Donnia quickly handed him the gold and took the armor. She
disappeared around the wall and came out after not much time had
passed wearing her new armor. She could not stop smiling. The armor
fit her almost too perfectly. It did not feel heavy on her, but
seemed to way no more than her cotton clothes she wore as a girl.
"I
don't know how to thank you." Donnia gave him a brief hug and
left the shop.
Tomi looked at her new armor, "I suppose
that will do in a pinch."
Donnia looked down at him,
trying to smile, but her heart still felt battered despite her first
victory. "I'm so glad you approve." She reached in her pack
for the gold coin. Three pictures of strange creatures still stared
up at her. True, she had one success, but there was still so much to
be done. She traced over the pictures with her thumb and sighed. She
placed it back in her pack. "Where do you think we should go
next?"
"I'll follow your lead, Donnia. Wherever you
think we should go next I'll be right beside you."
Donnia
looked at him with surprise. "Okay then. Let's head for Beggar's
Nest."