At long last, an update. :) I hope you enjoy, and as always, comments and constructive criticisms are welcome. :)
Disclaimer: Celestine and Xalia are mine. All other places and characters belong to WotC and Bioware.
Chapter 2: Please Don't Kill The Kobold
Celestine wasn't exactly sure what she expected to see when she reached the caravan, but it was most certainly not this.
"Aaahh! No hurts Deekin! Please, Deekin is sorry," came a frightened voice from behind a pair of wooden barrels. Whomever the voice belonged to had every right to be scared out of his mind. Mere feet away stood the imposing form of a very large half-orc, and from the looks of it, he was angry enough to kill. Luckily for the mystery voice, however, this particular half-orc was being held back by two equally irate women--one human and one dwarf. The dwarf had both arms wrapped around one of his legs, while the human had his upper body grappled and was holding on with every ounce of her strength. From the looks of it the enraged half-orc was none too thrilled about this arrangement; various heavily-accented insults poured out of his mouth in a nearly unintelligible stream. What few words Celestine could make out made her toes curl in disgust.
"Um, good morning?"
No one seemed to hear her.
"He apologized! Leave him be, ya big lug," grated the dwarf.
"Let go of Xanos, wench!"
"Not until you calm down," The human added as she tightened her grip on the half-orc's arms. Is that Xalia? Celestine looked at the woman carefully. Xalia certainly looked a lot different than Celestine had remembered her. When the young woman had come to Drogan's tutelage she was about twenty years of age, timid, far too thin, and extremely weak. Celestine's own training kept her constantly busy, so she never had the chance to talk to Xalia much during the few months they spent living under the same roof. Five years later, it was more than clear that Drogan's training had done the human a world of good. If the fact that she was successfully holding a half-orc at bay was any indication, that is. . .
"Killing the kobold is not going to solve anything!" Xalia yelled.
Kobold?"Yes it will," Xanos insisted, "it will save Xanos from having to endure his cooking! Now let me go!"
Celestine's eyes widened. A kobold cook? This 'Deekin' creature behind the barrel was a kobold? Celestine quickly and quietly circled around the camp to where she could get a clear view behind the barrel. The scaly features and reptilian snout confirmed it; Deekin was indeed a kobold, and Celestine was more confused than ever. Why was this caravan harboring a kobold? Celestine had had the displeasure of tangling with kobolds before and had found them to be little more than savages bent on wreaking havoc. Yet this one didn't look savage at all; she couldn't quite place it yet, but there was something about Deekin's very countenance that seemed to set him apart from others of his race. His eyes were bright and alert, hinting that this particular kobold was more intelligent than most.
Suddenly those eyes darted in Celestine's direction.
"Aaah! Who is you!"
Now they noticed her.
Before Celestine knew it she was surrounded by eight halflings, two humans, a half-orc, and a dwarf. Somewhere in the confusion the kobold had disappeared, but that was the least of Celestine's concerns at the moment. Twelve weapons were now pointed in her direction, and she didn't dare to move for fear that someone would strike first before asking questions. After a few moments of intense standoff, one of the halflings stepped forward--a woman--with an air of authority that set her apart as the obvious leader of the group. Her gaze was intense and her expression stone-cold as she approached with twin daggers drawn. Suddenly the woman stopped, her eyes widening in sudden recognition as she dropped her daggers to the ground.
"Sister, please forgive me. I did not know who you were," the woman spoke, bowing her head in a show of reverence. She turned to her companions. "Lower your weapons! Can you not see the mark of the Halfling-Mother upon her? She means no harm!" Immediately all seven of the other halflings either dropped or sheathed their weapons. The other four were a little more reluctant to comply, but soon enough they too had disarmed themselves. Celestine breathed a sigh of relief; the standoff was over and no harm was done. "I am Katriana, leader of this caravan. You are welcome here, sister."
"A halfling stranger you trust easily, yet you still eye Xanos with a hawk's gaze," Xanos grumbled, folding his massive arms across his chest.
"I would sooner trust a fellow halfling than a belligerent ass like yourself," Katriana flatly replied. "We halflings have nothing to fear from a holy woman of Arvoreen."
"Fools, you do not even know why she is here!" Xanos practically shouted; he glared down at Celestine. "So?"
"I am Celestine Oakbridge, former student of Drogan Droganson. He summoned me here," Celestine replied. She saw Xanos' eyes widen.
"I thought you looked familiar," Xalia spoke up with a grin. "Good to see you again."
"You are the Celestine that Master Drogan was talking about?" Xanos' voice had a hint of incredulity to it. "A little halfling girl? This is ridiculous!" By now Celestine's patience was beginning to wear thin. So this Xanos is one of Drogan's students? How could he take this. . .this obnoxious thing into his instruction? "This is the one whom is supposed to protect us? Ha! We shall see who does the protecting, tiny little Celestine."
"Watch yourself, Xanos," chuckled Xalia. "Never get on a healer's bad side, else you wind up in a lot of pain."
"It is difficult to have confidence in a healer whom can be easily squished."
"If Master Drogan sent her here, she must be more than capable."
"Not necessarily," Xanos jibed. "He sent you here, did he not?"
"And he sent you here too, you narcissistic oaf!"
"Misplaced tavern wench!"
Celestine watched the exchange turn into a full-blown argument and stepped forward to put an end to it. Before she could say anything, however, she felt a hand on her shoulder. The dwarf stood behind her, shaking her head.
"They do this constantly. Just let 'em be." The dwarf ushered Celestine away from the ensuing fray and to the nearby campfire, where a boiling pot of coffee awaited them. "Name's Dorna, by the way. One of Master Drogan's students." Celestine nodded in acknowledgement, still concerned about the argument.
What ever possessed Drogan to take such a violent man into his instruction?"He's harmless. . .mostly," Dorna stated, almost as if replying to the cleric's thoughts. "All bark and no bite. Unless you embarrass him, then you'd better watch out."
"I take it that's what happened this morning?" Celestine asked. Dorna's mouth contorted into a twisted grin and she shook her head at the sheer absurdity of the whole situation.
"Yeah, that's what happened. Deekin, as you may have already figured out, is our cook--"
"A mistake that I already regret," Katriana interjected.
". . .yeah, so do most of us. Kobold cuisine is. . .er. . .different from what most normal people consider palatable," Dorna continued. "He uses ingredients that are too disgusting to mention, and his stew tastes like it came out of the back end of a goblin. You'll find out soon enough."
Celestine cringed at the imagery. And she thought that Tomi's cooking was bad…
"So this. . .somehow embarrassed Xanos?"
"Not Deekin's cooking, per se," the dwarf replied, "but what happened to Xanos after eating it." Again Celestine cringed. "And of course, Xalia being Xalia, she just had to point out how many of us bore witness to his. . .er. . .problem. Couldn't have made him any madder if she'd flat out laughed at him." Dorna chuckled slightly.
"Ah."
"At least Xanos has arcane abilities at his disposal!" Xanos shouted.
"At least I know how to wield a sword without nearly killing myself," came Xalia's retort.
"By all that is. . ." Katriana grumbled. "Shut up, both of you! You want every stinger for miles to know where we are!"
"You stay out of this!" Xanos and Xalia yelled in perfect unison.
"Here, sit down and have a bit of coffee," One of the other halflings invited with a smile. "We've still got about another half-hour to kill before we head out on the trail again. Zidan--that's our Bedine guide--always wants to scout things out first, and he just left." With a silent nod Celestine removed the pack from her back and extracted a small tin mug, which the young man immediately filled with steaming coffee. It wasn't quite as good as what Sharwyn would make, but it was at least palatable, and Celestine figured that she could use the extra energy boost. It was bound to be a long day.
"So, I gather that you know what's going on?" Dorna asked.
"Drogan's letter explained a lot," Celestine replied between sips. "Where is this crystal now?"
"Xalia's got it," the dwarf grunted. "Won't let either Xanos or me touch the thing, an' no amount of convincing will make her change her mind. . ."
"Nothing will make me change my mind," interjected Xalia as she approached the campfire. The argument appeared to be over, and Xanos was nowhere to be found. "And unless something happens to me, that's exactly where the crystal will stay. I don't care what Dorna says."
"Look, all I'm sayin' is that you're always on the front lines. There's a better chance that this thing will break if someone strikes ya' down!" The dwarf defended herself. "Besides, I'm shorter and sneakier than ya. I can get past a thief easier than you can with that loud chainmail of yers."
"Well. . .if Drogan entrusted it to Xalia, he must have had a good reason for it," offered Celestine. "Would you mind if I had a look?" Xalia pursed her lips together for a moment in contemplation.
"Certainly. . .only, not out here." The human gazed warily at one of the halflings sitting around the campfire--a young man with dark hair and a tin cup in one hand. Celestine knew the type just by appearance; so many of her kind were prone to thievery, a path that Celestine had only barely avoided herself. He reminded her somewhat of Tomi, except this young man looked a little. . .shadier. "I wouldn't wish to tempt Torias again." At this Celestine heard Katriana snort with laughter.
"They're onto you, cousin."
"I resent that accusation. I was merely looking at it," came Torias's rebuttal. "There is nothing wrong with that!"
"That's not what the bloody orc thought," another halfling spoke up. His twin, or at least, a man who looked like his twin, mumbled something unintelligible to Celestine's ears in response. "Watch your language, brother. We're in the company of a holy woman now, you know." More mumbling. "Just be glad that she didn't hear that. I don't like him either, but--"
"Regardless," Xalia interrupted, rolling her eyes. "It is best that the crystal not be in a position to attract unwanted attention." The human motioned toward one of the wagons. "My quarters. Let's go."
Celestine obediently nodded. She quickly finished what remained of the liquid in her cup and stood to follow the human.
OoOoOoOoOBeautiful could hardly describe the jewel that now lay in Celestine's hands. Everything about the crystal seemed otherworldly, from the faint blue glow emanating from deep within to the more than seventy perfect facets that cut its almost opalescent surface. Whomever or whatever had created this crystal imbued it with a great power, that much was evident. Beyond that, however, Celestine could not even begin to discern its true nature.
"Incredible…" Celestine breathed. "The sheer power of this…I have never felt its equal."
"Neither has Drogan," replied Xalia. "Until Deekin broke the statue, none of us even knew that this crystal existed. The crystal is ancient, that much we know."
"Netherese?"
"Most likely," Xalia sighed," which is why we are heading to the Anauroch. This Garrick-something-or-other fellow will know--at least we hope he'll know. Otherwise, this whole journey will come to nothing." Celestine could sense a bit of frustration in the human's words.
"Whomever or whatever is looking for this crystal knows of its power and will obviously take any measure to obtain it," Celestine offered. "That alone justifies the journey no matter the outcome." She handed the crystal back to Xalia, who immediately placed it back in its rune-protected pouch. "If it is indeed Netherese, this person could be even more dangerous than Drogan anticipated."
"All the more reason why he should have come," Xalia grunted. "Any creature able to bring Drogan to his knees could kill the lot of us without a second thought. And if the crystal were to somehow fall into its hands…" Her voice trailed off. Celestine opened her mouth to speak, but a sudden commotion outside the wagon caught her attention as well as Xalia's. She heard a strange hissing sound and the shuffling of many feet, then the harsh clang of metal against metal. A sudden familiar nervousness settled upon the cleric; those were the unmistakable sounds of battle.
"We're under attack!"
End Chapter 2