14th Day of Fireseek, 565 CY
The Brass Dragon Inn, Furyondy
The rain wouldn't stop.
Elrohir sat slumped in his chair in the Tall Tales Room, staring moodily at the fireplace. He was reasonably sure that the lingering aftereffects of the lamia's touch had worn off by now, but a general malaise had settled over him; indeed, over everyone. He didn't know if the constant downpour was the cause of it all, or just a symptom.
The ranger grumbled to himself. This had been the wettest Fireseek he had yet experienced on Oerth. He longed for the snow that would ordinarily be here at this time. There should be a clean, white layer of snow over everything by now. Instead, there was just an endless sea of cold mud.
He rubbed his eyes again. He hadn't slept well these past few nights. No one had. The specter of a kidnapping (or more likely, a murder) that could strike at any time, any place, had made restfulness a thing of the past. For some reason, it seemed even worse this time than it had the last, perhaps due to the certainty that their enemy was very much alive, and just as much prone to vengeance.
Elrohir glanced over at Tojo, who was sitting in the other chair, eyes closed, apparently lost in thought. He looked normal enough, but the ranger knew that the simple fact that the samurai was sitting in a chair as opposed to standing up, or even sitting on a couch, was proof that his internal stores of energy were low. One violet eye opened slightly at the creaking of Elrohir's chair, and then closed again. Elrohir envied him his serenity, no matter how illusionary it might be. The ranger drew a deep breath. He worried again that all this anxious waiting and no actual activity was dulling his senses.
However, he had no trouble at all hearing Talass' scream.
Elrohir and Tojo exploded from their chairs, the ranger reaching the door a split-second first as the sound of metal smashing against stone came from upstairs. He wrenched it open and the two of them ran up the stairs, ignoring the wide-eyed looks of shock from the patrons and the staff in the common room, the commotion still registering upon their ears. The duo rushed to the door to Elrohir's room, the ranger drawing Gokasillion en route. He flung it open.
Talass was standing by the left wall, next to the bed she shared with Elrohir, her war hammer clutched tightly in her hand. A spot of chipped stone on the wall about three feet above the bed clearly showed where she had struck it with her weapon. Breathing heavily, she turned a wild-eyed gaze upon her husband and the samurai. They looked back at her uncertainly.
"Talass," Elrohir began.
The cleric pointed towards the far side of the room, where a small writing desk sat. She gulped and started speaking disjointedly, her voice thin and reedy. "I was... reading... I must have fallen asleep... you know what it's been like..." She gave them a look both defensive and pitiable. Elrohir and Tojo exchanged glances, the samurai lowering his eyes and stepping back a few feet in deference.
"I woke up... just barely. I saw a fly on my arm..." Talass was trying hard to maintain her composure, "I shrieked... sorry about that, I didn't mean to... it flew over to the wall there..." She pointed to the spot, then gave Elrohir a weak grin. "I got it, so I guess it wasn't him... at least there's one less fly around... our customers should be happy..." She sat down on the bed, dropped the war hammer to the floor and covered her face with her hands. She didn't cry, but her body shook with the effort to avoid it. Tojo silently moved off while Elrohir slowly sat down next to his wife.
She raised her face and stared at him; her eyes bloodshot. Elrohir was unnerved. Next to Tojo, Talass was the most unflappable one of them all. Now, she looked close to cracking.
"Is this it, Elrohir?" she asked him. "Is this his plan? To drive us insane with the worry of what he might do, what he could do, at any moment?" She shook her head violently, as if she might shake loose horrible thoughts and feelings that were plaguing her. "We have to do something. Barahir and Thorin can't stay in the Shield Lands forever. We've got to take the fight to Nodyath somehow. We've got to destroy him!" she finished, her voice growing louder now.
"Dearest," Elrohir spoke in a voice he hoped was calming, while taking her hands in his. "We've already tried that. It didn't work."
Talass snarled at him, yanking her hands free. "Then we try again! Get the Rock out, and let one of the staff try it!"
Elrohir sighed. "That's not even an option right now, Talass. You know Cygnus always keeps the key to the chest with him."
Talass threw up her hands in frustration.
"Why? Why can't he leave it with one of us? That's so damn stupid! Now we can't get at anything in the chest if we need it! He's in Willip, using all the money we just got to train up, leaving us broke again! And for what? Is it going to help us? And even if it can, will we still be alive when he gets back? We can't just sit here and wait to be picked off, one at a time! We need a plan!" Her eyes burned into her husband's. "You're our leader, Elrohir! Lead, damn it!"
Talass buried her face in her hands again. Small sobs trickled out of her.
"His Talent- magic can't even stop it. It's too much. Too much..."
Elrohir sat silently. He felt close to crying himself. He didn't fear his own death, but everyone else- they might not be saying it as directly as Talass had just done, but they were depending on him, and he wasn't delivering. He gently laid his left hand on his wife's shoulder. "Talass-"
She shook it off without raising her head. "Leave me alone."
Elrohir stood up quickly. He felt frustration building up within him. A strong urge to smash something was proving very difficult to ignore. His right hand clenched tighter, and he just then noticed that it was still holding Gokasillion. He sheathed the sword, looking around the room as if the answer to their problems might be found there.
All-Father, show me the way.
Talass was now sprawled out on their bed, her face buried in the pillow. She had forced herself to stop crying, but Elrohir could still her pained lament tolling, echoing in his ears.
Too much. It's too much...
Elrohir's gaze settled on his plate mail, laying next to Talass' chainmail in a partitioned box set up in the corner of the room.
Too much?
The continual light torch ensconced on the wall gleamed off the armor. He had cleaned it recently, and it glistened in the light. It seemed to offer security, protection.
Elrohir tried to scatter the thought. That was a false hope. Like everything else they had, it could do nothing against Nodyath's Talent. It was just a bulky impediment to-
The ranger's eyes narrowed.
Bulky?
He walked slowly over to the box and stared down at the plate mail, then at the backpacks and other traveling paraphernalia that he and Talass had carefully stored in their room. Suddenly, something clicked into place.
He whirled to face his wife. "Talass, put your armor on!"
She raised her head to look at him. Suspicion, anger and sorrow were all written on her face. "Why?" she asked.
"Just do it! I'll explain later!" Elrohir was already rushing out the door. He thundered down the steps, blowing by Tojo, who was standing by the door to the Tall Tales Room. Ignoring the curious stares and whispers of the patrons, the ranger ran to the front door, yanked it open and ran out into the rain.
Caroline Bigfellow stood in the stables, each hand holding an apple that she was feeding to the pegasi.
"Sorry guys," she said apologetically as the winged steeds sniffed, and slowly, almost disdainfully, began to chow down on the apples. "We're out of karafruit. It wasn't a very good season for them, as I understand," she explained, trying to keep a smile on her face that she knew never fooled anyone, even Gylandir and Sequester. She leaned in against Sequester, who softly whickered at her.
Caroline couldn't keep Argo out of her mind. In a few days, her husband would probably be starting his religious quest, and be out of reach. Monsrek had promised her some kind of contact, but she had heard nothing for three days now. There was a cold, hollow feeling in her chest that even a soft pillow warmed up by the fireplace couldn't touch.
She glanced back behind her. One of the stable boys, a lad of about ten, was taking a break from his grooming to play with Dudraug, Grock and Mirage. When he noticed her looking at him, he stopped and gave her a shy smile before resuming his duties. Caroline suspected that he, like most of the young male staff here, harbored a secret crush on her. She returned his smile and resumed stroking the pegasi and talking to them in a low voice. Then, she heard Tadoa's voice from outside.
"Caroline! Are you in there?"
"In here, Tad!" She replied, then frowned a little. She knew what this was probably about. Caroline had been Tadoa's primary instructor in swordplay, but he had reached the limits of what she could teach him, although she had not told him that. She supposed it was possible that Argo or Elrohir might be able to teach him more, but she suspected that he was going to need some more actual combat experience. That, she didn't look forward to. Not for Tad. As far as she was concerned, the elf was still a child. An incredibly advanced child, but nonetheless-
Tadoa appeared in the stable entranceway. The expression on his face instantly told Caroline that whatever he wanted, it had nothing to do with his training.
"Caroline, can you come and take a look at this, please?"
She put up the hood on her cloak and followed the elf outside. Although it was late afternoon, the rain made everything look dirty and dingy. When she saw where Tad was heading, she slowed her gait a little, trying to squint through the rain, but continued to follow the elf until she was standing beside him, about fifty yards to the west of the inn.
There were black stalks coming out of the ground. At least thirty of them, by Caroline's count, covering a circular area roughly fifty feet in diameter. They were all about two feet high, and, most disturbingly, black.
Caroline knelt down by one of the stalks and examined it. It was fibrous, definitely a plant-like material. Several ovoid leaves hung from a few places on the stalk. She glanced over at Tadoa, who was looking grim.
"Tad, how long have these been here?"
"I didn't notice them yesterday," the child replied.
Great Zeus, that's fast, Caroline thought. She slowly grabbed one of the stalks with both hands and began to pull. With not too much effort, she was able to uproot it. She eyed the roots. They seemed normal, although she readily admitted to not being an expert about such things. She eyed Tadoa again.
The elf shrugged. "Looks like young corn, except for it being black."
Caroline gave him a puzzled look. "Corn?"
"It's a grain that grows, or at least it did, back on Rolex," Tadoa said, with a bit of a grimace. "It's pretty much a human-grown food. I can't remember if I saw it on Aarde or not. I know I haven't seen or heard of it since we arrived on Oerth. I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be black, though."
Bigfellow regarded the plant in her hand. "This is edible? Which part?"
Tadoa moved up to her, pointing. "As it matures, a growth, called an cob, will appear on each stalk. Yellow kernels surround the cob. These kernels can be cooked and eaten." He looked down at the hole where Caroline had pulled the plant up, then his eyes widened. "Caroline, look!"
As the two of them gaped, a new black cornstalk slowly pushed its way up through the muddy soil and grew until it had reached the same size as its brethren. The entire process took less than two minutes.
Caroline stood up, dropping the stalk she held. "I assume it doesn't normally grow this fast."
Tadoa shook his head. "I think if it did, it'd be awfully popular with farmers."
A noise from their right drew their attention. They were just in time to see Elrohir, going at full tilt, pull up at the door to Aslan's cabin, yank open the door and rush in. They looked at each other, then Caroline spoke first.
"Stay here, Tad. I'll go see what's up and bring them back out here."
Aslan had been doing exercises, mostly push-ups, in his cabin, when he heard someone come running towards his door through the rain. The exercises were tedious in the extreme, but that was part of why he did them. The paladin found that routine activities could be used to strengthen his powers of concentration, by fighting the mind's natural tendency to wander while engaging in such pursuits. The cold, damp air in his cabin also helped to keep him focused. He got up from the floor, clad only in his undershorts, just as Elrohir came rushing in, out of breath and barely pausing to shut the door behind him.
"Aslan!" The ranger moved right up to the paladin, so quickly that Aslan took a step backwards in reflex. "Exactly how much weight can you transport with you?"
Aslan's face showed his confusion, but the ranger was clearly very much in earnest about this, so he decided to answer the question first. "About 250 pounds, Elrohir. Why?"
Elrohir answered his question with another one. "How sure are you of that?"
The paladin frowned, thinking back. "When I was still new to my Talent, my mother had purchased a large scale for me to experiment with. It was 250 pounds back then, and I do not believe it has changed since then." His eyes grew thoughtful. "It was not easy for my mother to acquire that scale. She had to go to-"
Elrohir cut him off. "Aslan, don't you see? Nodyath! If that's all you can transport, that's probably all he can transport as well!" He moved past Aslan into the paladin's bedroom, moving stuff around, looking for something.
Aslan followed, and stood in the archway between the two rooms, a trifle irritated now. "And this means what, Elrohir?"
Elrohir spun around to face the paladin. In his hands, he held the rest of Aslan's padded underclothing. "Suit up, Aslan! Don't you see?" He asked, tossing him the clothes. "If we all wear our armor and full gear, and maybe add some extra waterskins, we'll be too heavy for Nodyath to kidnap!"
Aslan considered. Elrohir's reasoning made sense so far as it went, but he was still a long way off from feeling euphoric. "So then, he'll simply attack, either with a weapon or with his Talent, like he did with Cygnus."
"That's right Aslan," Elrohir said, with a self-satisfied smile he hadn't dared put on in a week now. "But if he uses a weapon, his target will at least have some protection, and if he uses his Talent," and here the ranger gestured at his friend, "Now you're here. You'll be able to spot where the attack is coming from, and take action quickly, isn't that right?"
"Hmmm." The paladin considered. "True enough." He then glanced back sharply at Elrohir. "This works well for you and me, Elrohir. But Tojo doesn't wear armor, and he'd never burden himself down like that. And there's no way young Tad could manage it. I don't even know if the women will be able to, with that much weighing them down. And what about when Cygnus returns?"
The ranger nodded, a bit more soberly now. "I know it's not perfect, Aslan. But it's a start, and we need to start somewhere. Don't you think?"
Aslan eyed his friend, while putting on the remaining underclothes. He could see the underlying emotion on the ranger's face. He nodded, allowing himself a small smile now. "It is a good start, Elrohir. A good start indeed." He moved over to his plate mail, and began picking it up, then looked over at Elrohir again.
"Helping me into this faster would be a smart idea as well, you know."
Elrohir, apparently lost in thought, gave a start, then grinned at the paladin and began assisting him.
At that point, the door burst open again, and Caroline ran in.
"Ye gods, woman!" Aslan gave a jump, causing pieces of plate mail to go flying. The paladin backed away from Caroline, causing the young woman to grin like a hyena.
"Shut that door!" Aslan shouted. "It's cold in here!"
My, but he's skittish, she thought to herself wickedly. "So I see."
The paladin's face went red, but Caroline couldn't tell if it was embarrassment, anger, or both. She decided not to press the issue. "We need you two outside," she indicated. She started to leave, then stopped and peered at Elrohir. "Is everything all right, Elrohir? You came running out here pretty fast."
Aslan answered for his friend. "A possible Nodyath defense. I'll tell you about it outside. Do I have time to suit up, or-"
Caroline lowered the intensity of her grin, but still kept it. "Pick up your pieces, Aslan," she said, indicating the plate mail at his feet. "I'll see you two outside. It's only a corn problem," she added, leaving the cabin and closing the door behind her.
Elrohir and Aslan stared at each other. "A corn problem?" They asked in unison.
Fifteen minutes later, Caroline opened the door to the Bigfellow cabin and entered, Grock now at her heels. After closing the door, she found her backpack and began to fill it up with whatever she could find, while the wardog jumped on her bed and looked at her.
Elrohir's idea about bulking up to protect themselves against Nodyath seemed to have some merit, she thought. Caroline wasn't sure how much she weighed, so she didn't know how much extra encumbrance she'd have to pile on. She was guessing it'd be at least twice the maximum weight she'd normally carried, back before the group had retired. Torches, extra sling bullets for Argo's sling, anything that looked bulky went in the pack.
Aslan and Elrohir had agreed with Tad's assessment of the strange plants. It was corn, they had said, although they agreed with the elf's observation that it was not supposed to be black in color. Apparently, this grain was quite prolific on both Rolex and Aarde. The paladin had sensed no evil coming from the plants, but he wasted no time in declaring that the stalks should be destroyed. Caroline had no problem with that, although the thorny question of how to accomplish that remained unanswered. Fire seemed to be the consensus, although that would have to wait until after the rain stopped, of course.
Caroline hoisted the pack onto her back. "Whoa!" She cried out, almost toppling over backwards before she corrected her balance, leaning forward slightly to compensate for the load. "I sure hope this makes me close to 250," she grimaced to Grock, who barked at her.
Bigfellow grinned at him. "Hmmm. I'd better be sure, though. How much do you weigh, Grock? Will you fit in here?"
She moved forward, arms out, towards the wardog, who recognized the game and ran first to one corner of the cabin, and then another, barking all the while with Caroline in huffing pursuit.
Without warning, Monsrek's voice flooded into her mind.
Caroline Bigfellow, this is Monsrek. To see Argo, have Aslan bring you to Zeus' temple tonight at sunset. This is your only chance. Reply now.
Caroline stood stock-still. All rational thought seemed to have pushed out of her head by Monsrek's message. Then, like a returning tide, it hit her with a thundering crash.
Yes! Yes! She practically screamed it out with her mind. She hoped she hadn't waited too long to reply. I'll be there!
Still half-staggering, she opened the door and rushed back out towards the corn patch.
Aslan gazed with wonder as Caroline came running back at a drunken stagger. He assumed it was from the stuffed backpack she wore, although he had no idea why she'd be rushing so. Elrohir had gone back to the inn to get Talass, so he looked down at Tadoa, who shrugged, equally perplexed.
Caroline came rushing up. "Aslan! I heard from-"
Her foot slipped in the mud and she went down, face-first in the wet grass and dirt. Aslan and Tadoa helped her up. She was caked with mud but unharmed, and apparently unconcerned about the fall. She clutched onto the paladin's arms, babbling with excitement. "Aslan! Aslan! I just heard from Monsrek! A sending! He says I can see Argo tonight, but we have to be at the temple of Zeus by sundown. That's what, two or three hours from now? Plenty of time to prepare! We should be able to-"
She stopped cold. Aslan was staring at her with a very strange expression. Caroline usually had trouble reading the paladin's face, but she knew with absolute certainty, that this wasn't good.
"Aslan?" Her voice dropped low. "What is it?"
Sorrow was slowly creeping into Aslan's face. He looked at Caroline, covered with mud, wide eyes staring at him. He thought she never looked so much like a little girl as she did right now. His heart was plunging into his stomach. He replied in an equally low voice, "I can't take you, Caroline."
"What?" Caroline felt no anger at all, only confusion. Obviously, she had somehow miscommunicated something to him. She searched his eyes. "You- can't?"
Aslan swallowed hard. "If I took you Caroline, I'd only be at half-strength when we returned. We're under siege by a telepathic enemy. He's looking for weaknesses. If he attacked any one of us psionically, I'd have little chance of stopping him. I'm sorry, I can't take that chance."
Caroline's knees buckled, but Aslan held her upright. She was still beseeching him with her eyes. "Couldn't you mindrest in Willip?" she asked, her voice starting to crack.
He shook his head sadly. "Then I wouldn't be here at all, and still not at full strength when I returned. Elrohir's plan won't save Tojo or Tad if he attacks them, and I'm not here. I'm sorry Caroline, but I have to stay here, and at full strength, for all our sakes. I hope you can find it in your heart to understand."
He was looking for it, and now he saw it. The beginnings of comprehension in Caroline Bigfellow's face. Anger was not there yet, but it would follow.
"Aslan." She was whispering now, clutching even tighter onto his arms. "I don't know much about the worship of Odin, but surely his religious quests can't be that much easier than those of Zeus, can they?"
He shook his head again. "No Caroline, they're not."
She seemed to sieze upon this. "Then you know how dangerous they can be! Argo doesn't have your Talent. He might not- come back." Caroline was looking so pitiable now that Aslan was fighting to hold back tears himself. "Please, Aslan. I'll never ask you for anything else again. I didn't know when Argo left last week that I might never see him again... please... even on Sequester, I couldn't make it in time myself," she finished in a barely audible whisper, looking as if she might faint. "I'm begging you."
Aslan drew in a long, deep breath. He needed to control this situation, or he was going to give in. "Listen to me Caroline," he said in a voice that he hoped was both gentle and firm. "I have to make decisions about what can or can't be done. You may understand or you may not, but I have to deal with the greatest good; what will give the maximum number of us the maximum chance for survival in any given situation. Now, your going to see Argo is not going to increase his chances of coming back from his quest alive, but it will reduce everyone else's chance for survival by leaving them more vulnerable to Nodyath. It may seem cruel, but that's the way it has to be! Do you understand that, Caroline?"
He waited. Caroline's eyes flickered across his face. She did not faint. She slowly regained her balance and removed her hands from the paladin's arms. Her lips tightened.
Oh, no, Aslan thought.
Caroline took her first deep breath since she had come back outside, and slapped Aslan across the face. Her hand hit the side of his helm however, and she winced, squeezing the hand under her left armpit. Aslan instinctively moved forward to help, but she stepped back, a look of pure hatred upon her face.
"You son of a bitch," she seethed. "You know nothing about love; what its value is, what it means to be in love with another person. Do you know anything about that, Aslan?" she asked, her voice growing louder. "Why bother with protecting our lives if they're not worth protecting in the first place? You left Argo in Willip, you bastard, because his gambling was a weakness in your eyes. He was doing it for me, for you, for all of us!" Her eyes shot fire at the paladin. "But you don't care, do you? You hate Argo! You've always hated him! But you know what? He never hated you! He told me that! He said you were actually one of the best friends he'd ever had!" She laughed, a loud, hollow sound. "Well, I'm glad he's not here now, or he'd see how wrong he was! He can die in peace now, never knowing that the high and mighty Aslan the Paladin betrayed him, and everything that he stood for!" Caroline stepped back up to Aslan, looking him straight in the eye.
"You know what's funny, Aslan?" she asked, her voice quivering in a high tone that was almost a screech. "Nodyath; your evil counterpart who wants to kill us all- he came back for Talat! He loved her, and he came back for her! He knows about love, and you don't and never will!" Caroline staggered back into the cornfield, shrugging off her backpack and letting it drop down to the ground. She then sank down to her knees in the mud, pulling down the hood on her cloak, her agonized face upturned to the gray sky. "Nodyath? Nodyath, are you there?" she wailed.
Aslan's eyes widened. Tad looked like he was in shock.
"Take me, Nodyath! Kill me, I won't resist! I don't want to live without Argo!" Her cry turned into a keening scream, shouted out into the downpour, then slowly faded into uncontrollable sobs as she buried her face in the ground between the stalks.
Aslan didn't even notice that Elrohir, Talass and Tojo had joined them. They all stood and watched.
Aslan's voice was so soft that Elrohir almost didn't hear it. "Why does this hurt so much?"
The ranger turned to his friend. At first, he had thought Aslan was referring to Caroline, but one look at the paladin's face told him otherwise. He slowly placed his hand on the paladin's shoulder. "What we want never hurts, Aslan. What we need so often does."
The paladin turned to look at Elrohir, at all of them. With the rain streaming down his face, it seemed impossible that any of them could distinguish the tears rolling down his cheeks.
But they did.