5th Day of Fireseek
The Brass Dragon Inn, Furyondy
Argo Bigfellow Jr. opened the door of his house and stepped outside, holding the door open until his dog Grock ran out past him. The tan-colored beast ran a few steps, then stopped and looked his master's right hand, which held a goose drumstick. A few scraps of meat still clung to it.
Argo hurled the bone as far as he could and smiled as he watched Grock run after it. The sun had just come up, and was painting the cloudy sky a magnificent shade of red. The last few days had been somewhat warmer, with the prevailing winds south to southeasterly, coming off the Lake of Unknown Depths. Still, this was Fireseek, so it was chilly and damp. The ranger was not quite sure why he had donned his plate mail armor this morning, but it had not yet begun to fatigue him, so he decided to keep it on for now.
Grock had worried the bone and was bringing it back to Argo when a bark rent the still morning air. Aslan's dog Mirage came tearing around the corner of the inn, followed closely by Elrohir's cooshee, Dudraug. Grock looked at the approaching dogs, then turned back to Argo, then dropped the bone and raced off to play with the other dogs.
"That's okay, Grock! You can go play with them!" Argo shouted redundantly, as the dogs raced off. The ranger chuckled to himself. "My loyal companion."
He turned to look around. If Mirage and Dudraug were outside, that meant Elrohir and Aslan were probably up already as well.
He soon spotted Elrohir and Talass. They were standing about a hundred yards away to the northwest, speaking with a man Argo recognized as the same builder from Willip that had planned the construction of his and Aslan's houses. The paladin was nowhere to be seen, but Argo assumed he was probably in the inn.
The ranger walked towards the stables that were situated on the far side of the inn, hoping to spend some time with the horses and pegasi, but there was a crowd in and around them already. A party was preparing to saddle up and head out, and a wagonload of supplies for the inn sat outside. The wagon's horses were being led into the stables, while the workers began to bring food and other supplies into the inn. Argo caught a glimpse of Thorin bringing a horse out for a guest.
Argo walked around to the front and headed into the inn, slipping past a worker carrying in a large sack of flour. None of his party was in the main room. He was about to turn to leave when he saw one of the serving girls come out of the door leading to the Tall Tales Room, carrying an empty serving tray. She nodded and smiled shyly at him as he moved past and opened the door.
Argo loved this room. The fireplace (already lit), the comfortable, padded chairs, the many mementos of their adventures. The head of the blue dragon Sandcats dominated the far wall, staring blankly at everyone who entered.
Aslan, Cygnus and Tojo were inside. Tojo was eating a type of fish stew served over rice. It was a crude approximation of a dish he had described from his native Nippon. Argo didn't care for it himself, but he noticed Cygnus enjoying a bowl of it. Aslan was putting down a glass of wine.
Argo spread his hands apart in a mock gesture of surprise. "And here I thought I was the early riser today! What news, good friends? And Aslan," he added as he plopped down into a chair next to him. The paladin gave him his own version of Argo's strained smile, then nodded towards Cygnus.
The wizard set his bowl aside on an end table and stood up rather stiffly, as if he was getting set to address fellow mages at a wizard's guild. Clasping his hands behind his back, he cleared his throat and began. "I spoke with Elrohir yesterday, and we are in agreement. We feel we should be more aggressive in dealing with our numerous enemies. Considering all that we've been through in the last year, we can still count our blessings. Despite our," and here he closed his eyes briefly, "losses, we've still managed to defy the odds and carve ourselves out a happy little home here. I want to keep things that way, and I think that involves taking the fight to some of our foes before they bring it to us."
"An example?" Argo asked. In response, Cygnus indicated the dragon's head to his right.
"Bellicose. She may not be as powerful as her father here, but she's still more than capable of destroying this inn with a surprise attack. Why wait for that? We've heard rumors that she's vowed vengeance against us, I say we hunt her down and take her out first!" He stared hard at Argo, as if waiting for an objection.
The ranger merely took a sip of wine from Aslan's glass, ignoring the paladin's glare, and asked, "Who else?"
"Chic. We know he's in the Nyr Dyv. We could charter a ship, maybe hire some help from the Sailor's Guild, maybe even a wizard or two from their guild, and go out after him."
Argo considered this. "You're the one who's usually concerned about our finances, Cygnus. How are we supposed to afford all this?"
"Depends on what we're willing to sell," Cygnus replied, while shifting his gaze towards the large chest sitting in the far corner.
Argo's mouth tightened slightly. "There's not a lot in that chest that I'd be comfortable with selling, Cygnus. But let's hold off on that for a moment. Who else do you have in your sights?"
"Well," Cygnus stared down at his feet. "I don't think Atlanter's much more of a threat to us, but Scurvy John for certain. Wouldn't you like to see him dead once and for all?"
"Let me put it this way Cygnus," Argo sighed. "I wouldn't shed any tears to see him dead, but these are basically assassination missions you're describing. That involves a lot of risk. Are you willing to risk Thorin's upbringing that easily? The boy needs his father."
Now it was Cygnus' turn to go tight-lipped. "He needs his mother too, but that obviously isn't going to happen."
Argo jumped out of his chair and strode up, nearly nose-to-nose with the wizard.
"Damn you, Cygnus! Stop feeling so sorry for yourself! We all know what happened to Hyzenthlay! We were all up there in that room," Argo indicated the upstairs with a tilt to his head, then eyeballed Cygnus again. "Your most important concern is Thorin! And if anything else conflicts with that, it has to be discarded!"
"But that's exactly what I'm talking about! Thorin's safety!"
"No, that's not what you're talking about, Cygnus! Your constant quest for more magical power, your obsession with killing- face it, Cygnus; it's Iuz you want dead. It's Iuz who killed Hyzenthlay, and you know damn well that there's no way on Oerth we can kill him! Your thirst for vengeance against all our other foes won't bring her back."
Argo slowly backed away, and sank back down into his chair, still pointing at the mage. "Now, I'm not against all of this per se, but it depends on who you want to slay, and why. I saw a lot of blood feuds at the Lone Heath, and let me tell you, it didn't create anything except heartache, widows and orphans!"
Cygnus, shaking badly now, slowly sat back down as well. "I just want us to be safe Argo, that's all," he said in a tired voice.
Argo nodded slowly. "I know, Cygnus. So do I. But we can't bite off more than we can chew here. People like Nodyath could-"
"Nodyath?" Cygnus interrupted. "You're not putting him in the same league as Iuz, are you? Nodyath we can take!"
Argo stared at Cygnus. "You're insane if you think that, my friend." He turned to eye Aslan but continued speaking to the mage. "Just imagine what Aslan here would be capable of, if he weren't bound to his paladin code. " He turned back to the wizard. "You've seen him turn into a fly, land unseen on someone's shoulder, and then poof, they're gone!" He paused briefly. "You may think this cruel, and perhaps it is, but every day for the past week I've thanked almighty Zeus that Nodyath and his allies have gone on to whatever purpose they've decided on, whether that's to return to Rolex or to cause havoc here in the Flanaess. If he decided to destroy us, I don't think there's any way we could stop him."
Aslan cleared his throat. "That may not be the case, Argo. In fact, I've been considering that very-"
The door flew open as Thorin burst in. Instantly, all four adults were on the feet.
"Thorin!" Cygnus roared. "How many times have I told you to knock before you enter this room?"
"Yes, Father. I'm sorry," the child said quietly, staring at the floor. Then his head snapped up again. "But there's a messenger from Willip here with an important message for you-for you all! He's says it's from the Lord Mayor himself!"
Thorin returned to the dining room, the quartet following him. A young man stood there, about fourteen years old, Aslan guessed. He had wild sandy hair, and light blue eyes. He held an envelope in his hands, with the seal of the Lord Mayor upon it.
Aslan, in front, strode up to the boy. "You have a message for us?"
"Yes, my lord," said the youth, looking up. It's for-"
He stopped dead as his eyes met Aslan's He looked absolutely thunderstruck for a moment, and then the expression faded, like a long, slow wave receding from a beach.
Aslan tried not to show irritation, but his impatience leaked through. "Yes, young man? May we have it?"
The youth slowly handed him the envelope and stepped back. "I'm sorry, my lord," he swallowed hard. "It's just- I mean, I've heard of the mighty Aslan, but I never thought I would see..." He gestured clumsily with his hands.
Aslan glanced up as he was breaking the wax seal. "Yes, of course. Sit down, boy. Take a rest."
"Barkeep!" exclaimed Argo. "A free drink for this lad, on the house. His choice!"
The man behind the bar nodded.
"Thank you, good sirs," the youth said, and took a seat at the bar.
The quartet clustered around the note.
Elrohir & Companions-
Mendoleer and Talat captured. Held at prison. Come at once.
-Lord Mayor LaSalle Main
The four of them locked eyes. Aslan spoke first.
"Should I teleport?"
"No," replied Argo. "If our faithful steeds don't mind a little extra exertion, we should be able to make it there by nightfall. I think we all want to be together for this. Suit up, Aslan. Thorin," he turned to the boy who was trying very hard to be close by and out of earshot at the same time. "Give Elrohir and Talass this letter, have them don their armor and join us. After we've gone, go over to my house. Wake up my wife if she's not already up and tell her where we've gone. Have her and Tadoa watch the place until we're back. Let's go, people!" he said, heading out the door. Tojo quickly caught up to him.
"Your wife not happy you reave her behind again, Argo-san."
"Yes," agreed Argo ruefully, "but this might be dangerous." He smiled at the samurai. "Hey, you never know. Maybe I'll get lucky and get killed before I have to come back and face her!"
Tojo did not return the smile.